The winter was relentless and the men were slow-moving, barely able to see in front of them, cursing the wind that was cutting at their exposed skin. Humphrey was next to be sacrificed, followed before too long by George Noon. At last it was just down to Bell and Packer. He claimed that the two men swore on Almighty God not to eat each other. They each had a rifle at this point and a couple of thousand dollars of Swan's cash, and presumed that two men would fare well on the remainder of their trip with what minimal game there was to be found. They agreed they would say the four men had perished from the elements and were buried with dignity, vowing never to speak of the cannibalism. They felt no one would ever believe it was "necessary", as they had. After trekking for a few days, with little else eaten other than a rabbit and some roots, the men were exhausted and set up camp next to a large lake that was skirted on one side by a large grove of hemlock trees. Packer said that a few days after this, Bell snapped up out of his blanket and screamed that he could not take it anymore. He told Packer that one of them was going to die for food. He snatched his rifle and sprinted at Packer with it readied to bash his skull in. Packer deflected the blow and struck Bell in the head with the hatchet. He claimed that at this point the only fear he had left was to starve to death. He then butchered Bell, eating as much as he could in preparation for the remaining leg of his journey, and packed a good amount away. He relieved Bell of his share of Swan's money and then headed on, unsure how far he was from anywhere or whether he was even going to survive. After a while he mounted a hill and saw at long last the Los Pinós Indian Agency. He threw the remaining strips of Bell's flesh away, presuming that an animal would hastily eat them, and admitted that he did so with a fair degree of hesitation. He confessed that he had grown quite fond of human flesh, and found the portion around the breasts to be especially delicious.