In chapter 2, one of the littluns with a mulberry-colored birthmark on his face tells the group of boys during an assembly that he saw a snakelike "beastie" the previous night, and the older boys assure the littluns that he was simply experiencing a nightmare. Later on, Ralph proposes that the boys climb to the top of the mountain and create a signal fire so that passing ships will stop to rescue them. The boys get excited and gather a large bundle of dead wood for the signal fire. They then use a lens from Piggy's glasses to magnify the sun and start the fire. Suddenly the fire bursts into flames, and the wind carries the flames down the side of the mountain, causing a small forest fire. Piggy immediately begins criticizing the older boys for their lack of responsibility and asks if anyone thought to take count of how many littluns are in the group. Piggy then mentions that some of the littluns were playing in the location of the forest fire by saying,

and them little 'uns was wandering about down there where the fire is. How d'you know they aren't still there? (Golding, 36).

One of the boys then says, "Him that talked about the snakes. He was down there," and Golding writes,

A tree exploded in the fire like a bomb. Tall swathes of creepers rose for a moment into view, agonized, and went down again. The little boys screamed at them (36).

When the boys continue to ask if they saw the littlun with the mulberry-colored birthmark, Golding writes,

Ralph muttered the reply as if in shame. "Perhaps he went back to the, the—" Beneath them, on the unfriendly side of the mountain, the drum-roll continued (36).

While Golding does not explicitly describe what happens to the littlun with the mulberry-colored birthmark, he implies that the littlun dies in the forest fire, which is created when the boys initially attempt to create a signal fire.