He was worried about her.

The pneumonia of the previous winters had left its mark.

And Keok, her rival in prettiness! He smiled in the darkness, wondering how Tautuk's sometimes hopeless love affair had progressed.

For Keok was a little heart-breaker and had long reveled in Tautuk's sufferings.

An archangel of iniquity, Alan thought, as he grinned--but worth any man's risk of life, if he had but a drop of brown blood in him! As for his herds, they had undoubtedly fared well.