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The Prisoner
165
threw his arm about him, and the boy felt the grip of the strong fingers upon his shoulder.
"You're all right, son! The joke's on me—but, laying the joke aside, you've got a head that's a credit to the service. And as for your nerve—the real courage, that shows what stuff a man's made of—the big test that comes sometimes to some men—I know you must have been mighty close to the timber-line, son, yesterday morning. You could have saved yourself, sure. And, instead—you turned back! You took a long chance in the face of the worst death of all for them. That's the kind of thing, son, that men are remembered for. It's above gold, above power, above fame—this big test of a man is. And you have stood the test, son—the test by fire."
