The loneliness in the presence of those tremendous ruins was overpowering.
He longed for human companionship.

A peon, despite the danger otherwise, would have been welcome.

The whole land took on fantastic aspects.

It was not normal and healthy like the regions from which he came north of the Rio Grande.

Every nerve quivered.
Then he did the bravest thing that one could do in such a position, forcing his will to win a victory over weirdness and superstition.