“Tough Old Man”
by L. Ron Hubbard

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Publication date: November 1950

Original publication: Startling Stories

Genre: Science Fiction

Story description: A Frontier Patrol trainee, sent for grueling testing on planet Ooglach, is about to fail when he finds the willpower to go on and discovers a secret that secures his future.

Currently available as part of the Stories from the Golden Age series, in the title When Shadows Fall.