A boy grows to manhood in war. After the war he has an obsession with death and encounters a man who murders.
He becomes an amateur geologist under the tudalege of a professional geologist. The knowledge he gains is held i
n high esteem by prospectors. He travels with the geologist exploring and prospecting for gold and other minerals.H
e forms close relationships with many…some of whom die. Without family, he finds and loses one that re regards as f
amily only to lose them in the violence he encounters.