Bummer continued alone, although Mark Twain reported a year later in the "Daily Morning Call" that he had taken a small black puppy under his wing. Nothing more was heard of the puppy and without his companion, Lazarus, Bummer was of less interest to the press. He died a lingering death in November 1865 after being kicked by a drunk, Henry Rippey. Bummer was still popular enough that, to avoid violence, the city immediately arrested Rippey. He also did not escape popular justice: on learning of his crime, his cellmate, David Popley, "popped him in the smeller".