I'd jest as soon lie down an' stop breathin' by the side o' him." While speaking he moves on towards the palmilla.

A few strides bring him so near the tree that he can see the ground surface about its base.
There is something black among the stems of the sage-bushes.

It is not the dead body of a man, but a buzzard, which he knows to be that he had shot before starting off.

The sight of it causes him again to make stop.

It looks draggled and torn, as if partially dismembered.
"Kin he hev been eatin' it?
Or war it themselves, the cussed kannybals?
Poor Frank, I reck'n I'll find him on t'other side, his body mangled in the same way.