When Tom hears of the sealing two weeks later, he is horror-stricken, knowing that Injun Joe is still inside. He directs a posse to the cave, where they find Injun Joe's corpse just inside the sealed entrance, starved to death after having desperately consumed raw bats and candle stubs as a last resort. The place of his death and the in situ cups he used to collect water from a dripping stalactite become a local tourist attraction.