Bunny's birthday happens, and the four stop by a river. Bud catches a fish, a cake is fashioned from the sand, and Stubby offers up some canteened water as a toast. The toast is interrupted by gunshots, and the spit cooking the fish is neatly destroyed. Demonstrating his accuracy with a gun, a wanderer named Chaco invites himself to their group. Stubby is immediately suspicious, but for a while things go well. Three gunmen approach and Chaco saves the group from them, but the gunmen turn out to be lawmen and Chaco tortures the surviving deputy. Despite this, the group accepts the peyote buttons Chaco gives them one night by the campfire. Stubby chews some, but spits out most, retaining his senses when Chaco uses the promise of whiskey to persuade Clem to tie them up...starting with Stubby. Stubby resists But is thwarted by Chaco, who binds Stubby and Bud together, and Bunny to a tree. Chaco rapes Bunny, taunts Stubby, then tells Clem to “be quick about it” if he wants to rape Bunny also and go with Chaco. Clem realizes what he did and tries to stop Chaco, who shoots Clem in the leg and leaves them all for dead. Clem manages to free Stubby, who frees the others, then Bud builds a stretcher for Clem, and the four set out again.