The feast ended some time later, and everyone began returning to their own huts to sleep. A few men, under the order of the chief, came to return Alex's bed into the room, but Alex requested that they keep it outside.
"I'd like to stay outside tonight," he said. "I don't know if I will be sleeping at all."
"Outside?" the chief asked with a confused look. "It's quite dangerous to stay outside in the night."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Are there beasts that come at night?"
"No, not the beasts, the cold."
"Ah! That's alright. I can handle the cold," Alex said.
The chief wanted to argue, but Alex gave him no chance. In the end, the man had to return to his large hut to sleep the night, while Alex alone stayed outside in the deep night, his only companion the howling wind and the splashes far along the shore.
