Peter and Mary, shocked at potentially losing their only hope for survival, follow him. Peter attempts to communicate with him through gestures of eating and drinking, and the bush boy quickly comes to comprehend their plight. He indicates that they should follow him, which they do. He arrives at a waterhole where the children drink their fill. Then, the bush boy prepares food for the hungry children. After this, he begins to lead the children to the next waterhole. The bush boy misinterprets Mary's look of disgust at his nakedness as her having seen the spirit of death, and falls into a mental euthanasia. While the children are resting, the bush boy withdraws to reflect on the situation, as this has unwittingly placed him in an ethical and moral quandary. He had been on his walkabout, or test of manhood, prior to crossing paths with the white children. According to tribal law, he is not to be with any other people while he is on his walkabout. But the children need help or they will surely perish, and he is disturbed that leaving them behind would be the wrong course of action.