Chapter 23 Summary

The man is traveling in North Texas and shares a camp and a few memories with an old buffalo hunter. A while later, he comes across a group of bone pickers. During the night while making camp near the bone pickers, a group of boys come over to talk to him. They are interested in the necklace of human ears he wears. One of the boys, Elrod, becomes disrespectful toward the man, calling him a liar. The man embarrasses Elrod in front of his friends and his brother. Later that night, Elrod comes back and attempts to shoot the man, but the man shoots him first. The next day, he watches as the boy's brother and friends come and collect his body.

The man enters a town the next day and goes to the tavern for a drink. There, he runs into the...