Summary

Two years passed for the narrator as he worked for the newspaper. On another hot, summer night, the narrator stayed late at the office to publish the newspaper. When he was about to leave, “what was left of a man” “crept into [his] chair” (24). He had a “drawn face, surmounted by a shock of gray hair” (24). The man declared he was Peachey Carnehan, and that he and Dravot had been kings. The narrator was surprised and asked him to recount the events that took place. Carnehan’s body was mangled and he could barely walk. He begged the narrator to “keep looking at [him] in his eyes” to hold his attention (25).

Carnehan explained that Dravot was enjoyable company with the caravan, and that they turned off from the path earlier than planned. They changed their disguises to “be heathen” and gain the trust of...