when it came he slumped into a berth and wondered through the grey brutal oppression of his broken will and patchwork thoughts if he was doing the right thing , but a voice laughed back that there is no right thing , just the least amount of pain , and he had no strength to disagree , and he was on the verge of sleep when heard a passenger remark that they 'd found that crippled boy 's metal braces in the mud down by the river like an empty cocoon .