UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 PEL HI 
 
 III 
 
 00022085690 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/goldhuntersstoryOOcurw 
 
THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
The canoe sped out into the gloom Page 91 
 
I 
 
 THE 
 GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 A Story of Life and Adventure in the 
 Hudson Bay Wilds 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 KAZAN, THE WOLF HUNTERS, 
 THE DANGER TRAIL, Etc. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 
 C. M. RELYEA 
 
 iNEW YORK 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP 
 
 PUBLISHE RS 
 
 Made in the United States of America 
 
Copyright 1909 
 The Bobbs-Merrill Company 
 
 October 
 
To the sweet-voiced, dark-eyed little 
 half-Cree maiden at Lac-Bain, who 
 is the Minnetaki of this story ; and to 
 "Teddy" Brown, guide and trapper, 
 and loyal comrade of the author in 
 many of his adventures, this book is 
 affectionately dedicated. 
 
THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE PURSUIT OF THE HUDSON BAY MAIL 
 
 THE deep hush of noon hovered over the 
 vast solitude of Canadian forest. The 
 moose and caribou had fed since early 
 dawn, and were resting quietly in the warmth 
 of the February sun ; the lynx was curled away 
 in his niche between the great rocks, waiting 
 for the sun to sink farther into the north and 
 west before resuming his marauding adven- 
 tures ; the fox was taking his midday slumber 
 and the restless moose-birds were fluffing them- 
 selves lazily in the warm glow that was begin- 
 ning to melt the snows of late winter. 
 
 It was that hour when the old hunter on the 
 trail takes off his pack, silently gathers wood 
 
2 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 for a fire, eats his dinner and smokes his pipe, 
 eyes and ears alert; — that hour when, if you 
 speak above a whisper, he will say to you, 
 
 "Sh-h-h-h! Be quiet! You can't tell how 
 near we are to game. Everything has had its', 
 morning feed and is lying low. The game 
 won't be moving again for an hour or two, and ,. 
 there may be moose or caribou a gunshot 
 ahead. We couldn't hear them — now!" 
 
 And yet, after a time one thing detached 
 itself from this lifeless solitude. At first it 
 was nothing more than a spot on the sunny 
 side of a snow-covered ridge. Then it moved, 
 stretched itself like a dog, with its forefeet ex- 
 tended far to the front and its shoulders 
 hunched low — and was a wolf. 
 
 A wolf is a heavy sleeper after a feast. A 
 hunter would have said that this wolf had 
 gorged itself the night before. Still, some- 
 thing had alarmed it. Faintly there came to 
 this wilderness outlaw that most thrilling of' 
 all things to the denizens of the forest — the 
 scent of man. He came down the ridge with 
 the slow indifference of a full-fed animal, and 
 
THE PURSUIT 3 
 
 with only a half of his old cunning; trotted 
 across the softening snow of an opening and 
 stopped where the man-scent was so strong 
 l that he lifted his head straight up to the sky 
 and sent out to his comrades in forest and 
 plain the warning signal that he had struck a 
 human trail. A wolf will do this, and no 
 more, in broad day. At night he might fol- 
 low, and others would join him in the chase ; 
 but with daylight about him he gives the 
 warning and after a little slinks away from the 
 trail. 
 
 But something held this wolf. There was a 
 mystery in the air which puzzled him. 
 Straight ahead there ran the broad, smooth 
 trail of a sled and the footprints of many dogs. 
 Sometime within the last hour the "dog mail" 
 from Wabinosh House had passed that way 
 on its long trip to civilization. But it was not 
 the swift passage of man and dog that held 
 the wolf rigidly alert, ready for flight — and 
 yet hesitating. It was something from the op- 
 posite direction, from the North, out of which 
 the wind was coming. First it was sound i 
 
4 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 then it was scent — then both, and the wolf 
 sped in swift flight up the sunlit ridge. 
 
 In the direction from which the alarm came 
 there stretched a small lake, and on its far- 
 ther edge, a quarter of a mile away, there sud- 
 • \Jenly darted out from the dense rim of balsam 
 forest a jumble of dogs and sledge and man. 
 For a few moments the mass of animals, 
 seejned entangled in some kind of wreck or 
 engaged in one of those fierce battles in which 
 the half-wild sledge-dogs of the North fre- 
 quently engage, even on the trail. Then there 
 came the sharp, commanding cries of a hu- 
 , man voice, the cracking of a whip, the yelping 
 of the huskies, and the disordered team 
 straightened itself and came like a yellowish- 
 " gray streak across the smooth surface of the 
 [ lake. Close beside the sledge ran the man. He 
 j was tall, and thin, and even at that distance; 
 /one would have recognized him as an Indian. 
 Hardly had the team and its wild-looking 
 driver progressed a quarter of the distance 
 across the lake when there came a shout far- 
 ther back, and a second sledge burst into view 
 
 • > -r -■ 
 
THE PURSUIT 5 
 
 from out of the thick forest. Beside this 
 sledge, too, a driver was running with des- 
 perate speed. 
 
 The leader now leaped upon his sledge, his 
 voice rising in sharp cries of exhortation, his 
 whip whirling and cracking over the backs of 
 his dogs. The second driver still ran, and thus 
 gained upon the team ahead, so that when they 
 came to the opposite side of the lake, where 
 the wolf had sent out the warning cry to his 
 people, the twelve dogs of the two teams were 
 almost abreast. 
 
 Quickly there came a slackening in the pace 
 set by the leading dog of each team, and half 
 a minute later the sledges stopped. The dogs 
 flung themselves down in their harness, pant- 
 ing, with gaping jaws, the snow reddening 
 under their bleeding feet. The men, too, 
 showed signs of terrible strain. The elder of 
 these, as we have said, was an Indian, pure 
 breed of the great Northern wilderness. His 
 companion was a youth who had not yet 
 reached his twenties, slender, but with the 
 strength and agility of an animal in his limbs, 
 
6 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 his handsome face bronzed by the free life of 
 the forest, and in his veins a plentiful strain 
 of that blood which made his comrade kin. 
 
 In those two we have again met our old 
 friends Mukoki and Wabigoon : Mukoki, the 
 faithful old warrior and pathfinder, and 
 Wabigoon, the adventurous half-Indian son 
 of the factor of Wabinosh House. Both were 
 at the height of some great excitement. For a 
 few moments, while gaining breath, they 
 gazed silently into each other's face. 
 
 "I'm afraid — we can't — catch them, Muky," 
 panted the younger. "What do you think — " 
 
 He stopped, for Mukoki had thrown him- 
 self on his knees in the snow a dozen feet in 
 front of the teams. From that point there ran 
 straight ahead of them the trail of the dog 
 mail. For perhaps a full minute he examined 
 the imprints of the dogs' feet and the smooth 
 path made by the sledge. Then he looked up, 
 and with one of those inimitable chuckles 
 which meant so much when coming from him, 
 he said: 
 
 "We catch heem — sure! See — sledge heem 
 
THE PURSUIT 7 
 
 go deep. Both ride. Big load for dogs. We 
 catch heem — sure !" 
 
 "But our dogs!" persisted Wabigoon, his 
 face still filled with doubt. "They're com- 
 pletely bushed, and my leader has gone lame. 
 See how they're bleeding!" 
 
 The huskies, as the big wolfish sledge- 
 dogs of the far North are called, were indeed 
 in a pitiable condition. The warm sun had 
 weakened the hard crust of the snow until at 
 every leap the feet of the animals had broken 
 through, tearing and wounding themselves on 
 its ragged, knife-like edges. Mukoki's face 
 became more serious as he carefully examined 
 the teams. 
 
 "Bad — ver' bad," he grunted. "We fool — 
 fool!" 
 
 "For not bringing dog shoes?" said Wabi- 
 goon. "I've got a dozen shoes on my sledge — • 
 enough for three dogs. By George — " He 
 leaped quickly to his toboggan, caught up the 
 dog moccasins, and turned again to the old In- 
 dian, alive with new excitement. "We've got 
 just one chance, Muky!" he half shouted. 
 
8 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "Pick out the strongest dogs. One of us must 
 go on alone!" 
 
 The sharp commands of the two adventur- 
 ers and the cracking of Mukoki's whip 
 (brought the tired and bleeding animals to 
 their feet. Over the pads of three of the larg- 
 est and strongest were drawn the buckskin 
 moccasins, and to these three, hitched to 
 iWabigoon's sledge, were added six others that 
 appeared to have a little endurance still left 
 in them. A few moments later the long line 
 of dogs was speeding swiftly over the trail of 
 the Hudson Bay mail, and beside the sled ran 
 iWabigoon. 
 
 Thus this thrilling pursuit of the dog mail 
 had continued since early dawn. For never 
 more than a minute or two at a time had there 
 been a rest. Over mountain and lake, through 
 dense forest and across barren plain man and 
 dog had sped without food or drink, snatch- 
 ing up mouthfuls of snow here and there — 
 always their eyes upon the fresh trail of the 
 flying mail. Even the fierce huskies seemed 
 to understand that the chase had become a 
 
THE PURSUIT 9 
 
 matter of life and death, and that they were to 
 follow the trail ahead of them, ceaselessly and 
 without deviation, until the end of their mas- 
 ters was accomplished. The human scent was 
 becoming stronger and stronger in their wolf- 
 like nostrils. Somewhere on that trail there 
 were men, and other dogs, and they were to 
 overtake them ! 
 
 Even now, bleeding and stumbling as they 
 ran, the blood of battle, the excitement of the 
 chase, was hot within them. Half-wolf, half- 
 'dog, their white fangs snarling as stronger 
 Vvhiffs of the man-smell came to them, they 
 Were filled with the savage desperation of the 
 youth who urged them on. The keen instinct 
 of the wild pointed out their road to them, and 
 they needed no guiding hand. Faithful until 
 the last they dragged on their burden, their 
 tongues lolling farther from their jaws, their 
 hearts growing weaker, their eyes; bloodshot 
 until they glowed like red balls. Now and 
 tfien, when he had run until his endurance was 
 gone., Wabigoon would fling himself upon the 
 sledge to regain breath and rest his limbs, and 
 
io THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 the dogs would tug harder, scarce slackening 
 their speed under the increased weight. Once 
 a huge moose crashed through the forest a 
 hundred paces away, but the huskies paid no' 
 attention to it; a little farther on a lynx, 
 
 j aroused from his sun bath on a rock, rolled. 
 
 /like a great gray ball across the trail, — the 
 dogs cringed but for an instant at the sight 
 of this mortal enemy of theirs, and then went 
 on. 
 
 Slower and slower grew the pace. The 
 rearmost dog was now no more than a drag, 
 and reaching a keen-edged knife far out over 
 the end of the sledge Wabi severed his breast 
 strap and the exhausted animal rolled out free 
 beside the trail. Two others of the team were 
 pulling scarce a pound, another was running 
 lame, and the trail behind was spotted with 
 pads of blood. Each minute added to the de- 
 spair that was growing in the youth's face. 
 His eyes, like those of his faithful dogs, were 
 
 ired from the terrible strain of the race, his 
 lips were partedy his legs, as tireless as those 
 of a red deer, were weakening under him. 
 
THE PURSUIT II 
 
 More and more frequently he flung himself 
 upon the sledge, panting for breath, and 
 shorter and shorter became his intervals of 
 running between these periods of rest. The 
 end of the chase was almost at hand. They 
 could not overtake the Hudson Bay mail! 
 
 With a final cry of encouragement Wabi 
 sprang from the sledge and plunged along at 
 the head of the dogs, urging them on in one 
 last supreme effort. Ahead of them was a 
 break in the forest trail and beyond that, mile 
 upon mile, stretched the vast white surface of 
 Lake Nipigon. And far out in the glare of 
 sun and snow there moved an object, some- 
 thing that was no more than a thin black 
 streak to Wabi's blinded eyes but which he 
 knew was the dog mail on its way to civiliza- 
 tion. He tried to shout, but the sound that fell 
 from his lips could not have been heard a hun- 
 dred paces away; his limbs tottered beneath 
 him; his feet seemed suddenly to turn into 
 lead, and he sank helpless into the snow. The 
 faithful pack crowded about him licking his 
 face and hands, their hot breatK escaping be- 
 
12 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 tween their gaping jaws like hissing steam. 
 For a few moments it seemed to the Indian 
 youth that day had suddenly turned into night. 
 His eyes closed, the panting of the dogs came 
 to him more and more faintly, as if they were 
 moving away; he felt himself sinking, sinking 
 slowly down into utter blackness. 
 
 Desperately he fought to bring himself back 
 into life. There was one more chance — just 
 one! He heard the dogs again, he felt their 
 tongues upon his hands and face, and he 
 dragged himself to his knees, groping out with 
 his hands like one who had gone blind. A few 
 feet away was the sledge, and out there, far 
 beyond his vision now, was the Hudson Bay 
 mail! 
 
 Foot by foot he r drew himself out from 
 among the tangle of dogs. He reached the 
 sledge, and his fingers gripped convulsively 
 at the cold steel of his rifle. One more chance! 
 One more chance! The words — the thought — 
 filled his brain, and he raised the rifle to his 
 shoulder, pointing its muzzle up to the sky 
 so that he would not harm the dogs. And then, 
 
THE PURSUIT 13 
 
 ©nee, twice, five times he fired into the air, 
 and at the end of the fifth shot he drew fresh 
 cartridges from his belt, and fired again and 
 again, until the black streak far out in the wil- 
 derness of ice and snow stopped in its progress, 
 —and turned back. And still the sharp sig- 
 nals rang out again and again, until the barrel 
 of Wabi's rifle grew hot, and his cartridge belt 
 was empty. 
 
 Slowly the gloom cleared away before his 
 eyes. He heard a shout, and staggered to his 
 feet, stretching out his arms and calling z 
 name as the dog mail stopped half a hundred 
 yards from his own team. 
 
 With something between a yell of joy and a 
 cry of astonishment a youth of about Wabi's 
 age sprang from the second sleigh and ran to 
 the Indian boy, catching him in his arms as, 
 for a second time, he sank fainting upon the 
 snow. 
 
 "Wabi — what's the matter?" he cried. "Are 
 you hurt? Are you — " 
 
 For a moment Wabigoon struggled to over- 
 come his weakness. 
 
14 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "Rod — " he whispered, "Rod — Minne- 
 taki— " 
 
 His lips ceased to move and he sank heavily 
 in his companion's arms. 
 
 "What is it, Wabi? Quick! Speak I" urged 
 the other. His face had grown strangely 
 white, his voice trembled. "What about — ■ 
 Minnetaki?" 
 
 Again the Indian youth fought to bring 
 himself back to life. His words came faintly, 
 
 "Minnetaki — has been captured — by — the 
 I — Woongas !" 
 
 Then even his breath seemed to stop, and he 
 lay like one dead. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 MINNETAKI IN THE HANDS OF THE OUTLAWS 
 
 OR a brief time Roderick believed that 
 life had indeed passed from the body 
 of his young friend. So still did Wabi 
 lie and so terrifying was the strange pallor in 
 his face that the white boy found himself call- 
 ing on his comrade in a voice filled with chok- 
 ing sobs. The driver of the dog mail dropped 
 on his knees beside the two young hunters. 
 Running his hand under Wabi's thick shirt he 
 held it there for an instant, and said, 
 "He's alive!" 
 
 Quickly drawing a small metal flask from 
 one of his pockets he unscrewed the top, and- 
 placing the mouthpiece to the Indian youth's 
 lips forced a bit of its contents down his 
 throat. The liquor had almost immediate ef- 
 fect, anc! Wabigoon opened his eyes, gazed 
 
 15 
 
i6 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 into the rough visage of the courier, then 
 closed them again. There was relief in the 
 courier's face as he pointed to the dogs from 
 iWabinosh House. The exhausted animals 
 were lying stretched upon the snow, their 
 heads drooping between their forefeet. Even 
 the presence of a rival team failed to arouse 
 them from their lethargy. One might have 
 thought that death had overtaken them upon 
 the trail were it not for their panting sides and 
 lolling tongues. 
 
 "He's not hurt!" exclaimed the driver, "see 
 the dogs! He's been running — running until 
 he dropped in his tracks!" 
 
 The assurance brought but little comfort to 
 Rod. He could feel the tremble of returning 
 life in Wabi's body now, but the sight of the 
 exhausted and bleeding dogs and the memory 
 of his comrade's last words had filled him with 
 a new and terrible fear. What had happened 
 to Minnetaki? Why had the factor's son come 
 all this distance for him? Why had he pur- 
 sued the mail until his dogs were nearly dead, ; 
 and he himself had fallen unconscious in his 
 
MINNETAKI WITH THE OUTLAWS 17 
 
 tracks? Was Minnetaki dead? Had the 
 Woongas killed Wabi's beautiful little sister? 
 
 Again and again he implored his friend to 
 speak to him, until the courier pushed him 
 jback and carried Wabi to the mail sled. 
 
 "Hustle up there to that bunch of spruce 
 and build a fire," he commanded. "We've got 
 to get something hot into him, and rub him 
 down, and roll him in furs. This is bad 
 enough, bad enough!" 
 
 Rod waited to hear no more, but ran to the 
 clump of spruce to which the courier had di- 
 rected him. Among them he found a number 
 of birch trees, and stripping off an armful of 
 bark he had a fire blazing upon the snow by 
 the time the dog mail drew up with its uncon- 
 scious burden. While the driver was loosen- 
 ing Wabi's clothes and bundling him in heavy 
 bearskins Rod added dry limbs to the fire un- 
 til it threw a warm glow for a dozen paces 
 around. Within a few minutes a pot of ice and 
 snow was melting over the flames and the 
 courier was opening a can of condensed soup. 
 
 The deathly pallor had gone from Wabi's 
 
18 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 face, and Rod, kneeling close beside him, was 
 rejoiced to see the breath coming more and 
 more regularly from between his lips. But 
 even as he rejoiced the other fear grew heavier' 
 at his heart. What had happened to Minne- 
 taki? He found himself repeating the ques J 
 tion again and again as he watched Wabi.,. 
 slowly returning to life, and, so quickly that 
 it had passed in a minute or two, there 
 flashed through his mind a vision of all that 
 had happened the last few months. For a few 
 moments, as his mind traveled back, he was 
 again in Detroit with his widowed mother; he 
 thought of the day he had first met Wabigoon, 
 the son of an English factor and a beautiful 
 Indian princess, who had come far down into 
 civilization to be educated; of the friendship 
 that had followed, of their weeks and months 
 together in school, and then of those joyous, 
 Hays and nights in which they had planned a 
 winter of thrilling adventure at Wabi's home 
 in the far North. 
 
 And what adventures there had been, when, 
 as the Wolf Hunters, he and Wabi and Mu- 
 
MINNETAKI WITH THE OUTLAWS 19 
 
 koki had braved the perils of the frozen soli- 
 tudes ! As Wabigoon's breath came more and 
 more regularly he thought of that wonderful 
 canoe trip from the last bit of civilization up 
 into the wilds ; of his first sight of moose, the 
 first bear he had killed, and of his meeting 
 with Minnetaki. 
 
 Kis eyes became blurred and his heart grew, 
 cold as he thought of what might have hap- 
 pened to her. A vision of the girl swept be- 
 tween him and Wabi's face, in which the glow 
 of life was growing warmer and warmer, a 
 vision of the little half-Indian maiden as he 
 had first seen her, when she came out to meet 
 them in her canoe from Wabinosh House, the 
 sun shining on her dark hair, her cheeks 
 Hushed with excitement, her eyes and teeth 
 sparkling in glad welcome to her beloved 
 brother and the white youth of whom she had 
 heard so much — the boy from civilization — 
 Roderick Drew. He remembered how his cap 
 had blown off into the water, how she had 
 rescued it for him. In a flash all that passed 
 after that came before him like a picture ; the 
 
20 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 days that he and Minnetaki had rambled to- 
 gether in the forest, the furious battle in 
 which, single-handed, he had saved her from 
 those fierce outlaw Indians of the North, the 
 Woongas; and after that he thought of the 
 weeks of thrilling adventure they three — Mu- 
 koki, Wabigoon and himself — had spent in the 
 wilderness far from the Hudson Bay Post, of 
 their months of trapping, their desperate war 
 with the Woongas, the discovery of the cen- 
 tury-old cabin and its ancient skeletons, and 
 their finding of the birch-bark map between 
 the bones of one of the skeleton's fingers, on 
 which, dimmed by age, was drawn the trail 
 to a land of gold. 
 
 Instinctively, as for an instant this map 
 came into his mental picture, he thrust a hand 
 into one of his inside pockets to feel that his 
 own copy of that map was there, the map 
 which was to have brought him back into this 
 wilderness a few weeks hence, when they three 
 > would set out on the romantic quest for the 
 gold to which the skeletons in the old cabin 
 had given them the key. 
 
MINNETAKI WITH THE OUTLAWS *J 
 
 The vision left him as he saw a convulsive 
 shudder pass through Wabigoon. In another 
 moment the Indian youth had opened his eyes, 
 and as he looked up into Rod's eager face he^ 
 smiled feebly. He tried to speak, but words 
 failed him, and his eyes closed again. There 
 ivas a look of terror in Roderick's face as he 
 turned to the courier, who came to his side. 
 Less than twenty-four hours before he had 
 left Wabigoon in the full strength of his 
 splendid youth at Wabinosh House, a lithe 
 young giant, hardened by their months of ad- 
 venture, quivering with buoyant life, anxious 
 for the spring that they might meet again to 
 take up another trail into the unexplored 
 North. 
 
 And now what a change! The glimpse 
 he had caught of Wabi's bloodshot eyes, 
 the terrible thinness of the Indian youth's 
 face, the chilling lifelessness of his hands, 
 made him shiver with dread. Was it possible 
 that a few short hours could bring about that 
 remarkable transformation? And where was 
 Mukoki, the faithful old warrior from whose 
 
22 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 guardianship Wabigoon and Minnetaki wei'3 
 seldom allowed to escape? 
 
 It seemed an hour before Wabi opened his 
 eyes again, and yet it was only a few minutes. 
 This time Rod lifted him gently in his arms 
 and the courier placed a cup of the hot soup 
 to his lips. The warmth of the liquid put new 
 life into the famished Indian youth. He drank 
 slowly of it at first, then eagerly, and when he 
 had finished the cup he made an effort to sit 
 up. 
 
 "I'll take another," he said faintly. "It's 
 mighty good!" 
 
 Fie drank the second cup with even greater 
 relish. Then he sat bolt upright, stretched out 
 his arms, and with his companion's assistance 
 staggered to his feet. His bloodshot eyes 
 burned with a strange excitement as he looked 
 at Rod. 
 
 "I was afraid — I wouldn't — catch you!" 
 
 "What is it, Wabi? What has happened? 
 You say — Minnetaki — " 
 
 "Has been captured by the Woongas. Chief 
 Woonga himself is her captor, and they are 
 
MINNETAKI WITH THE OUTLAWS 23 
 
 taking her into the North. Rod, only you can 
 save her!" 
 
 "Only — I — can — save — her?" gasped Rod 
 slowly. "What do you mean?" 
 
 "Listen!" cried the Indian boy, clutching 
 him by the arm. "You remember that after 
 our fight with the Woongas and our escape 
 from the chasm we fled to the south, and that 
 the next day, while you were away from camp, 
 hunting for some animal that would give us 
 fat for Mukoki's wound, you discovered a 
 trail. You told us that you followed the sledge 
 tracks, and that after a time the party had been 
 met by others on snow-shoes, and that among 
 the imprints in the snow was one that made 
 you think of Minnetaki. When we reached 
 the Post we learned that Minnetaki and two 
 sledges had gone to Kenegami House and at 
 once concluded that those snow-shoe trails 
 were made by Kenegami people sent out to 
 meet her. But they were not! They were made 
 by Woongas! 
 
 "One of the guides, who escaped with a se- 
 vere wound, brought the news to us last night, 
 
24 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 and the doctor at the Post says that his hurt is 
 fatal and that he will not live another day. 
 Everything depends on you. You and the 
 dying guide are the only two who know where 
 to find the place where the attack was made. 
 fit has been thawing for two days and the trail 
 may be obliterated. But you saw Minnetaki's 
 footprints. You saw the snow-shoe trails. You 
 ■ — and you alone — know which way they 
 went!" 
 
 Wabi spoke rapidly, excitedly, and then 
 sank down on the sledge, weakened by his ex- 
 ertion. 
 
 "We have been chasing you with two teams 
 since dawn," he added, "and pretty nearly 
 killed the dogs. As a last chance we doubled 
 up the teams and I came on alone. I left Mu- 
 ko'ki a dozen miles back on the trail." 
 
 Rod's blood had turned cold with horror at 
 the knowledge that Minnetaki was in the 
 clutches of Woonga himself. The terrible 
 change in Wabi was no longer a mystery. 
 Both Minnetaki and her brother had told him 
 more than once of the relentless feud waged 
 
MINNETAKI WITH THE OUTLAWS 23 
 
 against Wabinosh House by this bloodthirsty 
 savage and during the last winter he had come 
 into personal contact with it. He had fought,, 
 had seen people die, and had almost fallen a 
 victim to Woonga's vengeance. 
 
 But it was not of these things that he 
 thought just now. It was of the reason for the 
 feud, and something rose in his throat and 
 choked him antil he made no effort to speak. 
 Many years before, George Newsome, a young 
 Englishman, had come to Wabinosh House, 
 and there he had met and fallen in love with 
 a beautiful Indian princess, who loved him in 
 tur#, and became his wife. Woonga, chief of 
 a warlike tribe, had been his rival, and when 
 the white man won in the battle for love his 
 fierce heart blazed with the fire of hatred and 
 revenge. From that day the relentless strife 
 against the people of Wabinosh House began.. 
 The followers of Woonga turned from trap- 
 pers and hunters to murderers and outlaws, 
 and became known all over that wilderness 
 country as the Woongas. For years the feud 
 had continued. Like a hawk Woonga watched 
 
2& THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 his opportunities, killing here, robbing there, 
 and always waiting a chance to rob the factor 
 of his wife or children. Only a few weeks be- 
 fore Rod had saved Minnetaki in that terrible 
 struggle in the forest. And new, more hope- 
 lessly than before, she had fallen into the 
 clutches of her enemies, and alone with 
 Woonga was being carried into the far North 
 country, into those vast unexplored regions 
 from which she would probably never return! 
 
 Rod turned to Wabi, his hands clenched, his 
 eyes blazing. 
 
 "I can find the trail, Wabi! I can find the 
 trail — and we'll follow it to the North Pole 
 if we have to! We beat the Woongas in the 
 chasm — we'll beat them now! We'll find Min- 
 netaki if it takes us until doomsday!" 
 
 From far back in the forest there came the 
 faint pistol-like cracks of a whip, the distant 
 hallooing of a voice. 
 
 For a few moments the three stood listening. 
 
 The voice came again. 
 
 "It's Mukoki," said Wabigoon, "Mukoki 
 £nd the other dogs 1" 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 ON THE TRAIL OF THE WOONGAS 
 
 |HE cries came nearer, interspersed 
 with the cracking of Mukoki's whip as ,., 
 he urged on the few lagging dcgs that 
 Wabi bad left with him upon the trail. In an- 
 other moment the old warrior and his team 
 burst into view and both of the young hunters 
 hurried to meet him. A glance showed Rod 
 that a little longer and Mukoki would have 
 dropped in his tracks, as Wabi had done. The 
 two led their faithful comrade to the heap of 
 bearskins on the mail sled and made him sit 
 there while fresh soup was being made. 
 
 "You catch heem," grinned Mukoki joy- 
 ously. "You catch heem — queek!" 
 
 "And pretty nearly killed himself doing it, 
 Muky," added Rod. "Now—" he glanced 
 from one tc the other of his companions, . 
 "what is the first thing to be done?'* 
 
 27 
 
28 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "We must strike for the Woonga trail with- 
 out a moment of unnecessary delay," declared 
 Wabi. "Minutes are priceless, an hour lost or 
 gained may mean everything !" 
 
 "But the dogs—" 
 
 "You can take mine," interrupted the 
 courier. "There are six of them, all good 
 heavy fellows and not overly bushed. You can 
 add a few of your own and I'll take what's left 
 to drive on the mail. I would advise you to 
 rest for an hour or so and give them and your- 
 selves a good feed. It'll count in the long run." 
 
 Mukoki grunted his approval of the driver's 
 words and Rod at once began gathering more 
 fuel for the fire. The temporary camp was 
 soon a scene of the liveliest activity. While the 
 courier unpacked his provisions, Mukoki and 
 Wabigoon assembled the teams and proceeded 
 to select three of the best of their own animals 
 to put in harness with those of the Hudson Bay 
 mail. The dogs from Wabinosh House were 
 wildly famished and at the si^»t and odor of 
 the great piece of meat which the courier be- 
 gan cutting up for them they set up a snarling 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF THE WOONGAS 29 
 
 and snapping of jaws, and began fighting 
 indiscriminately among themselves until the 
 voices of their human companions were almost 
 drowned in the tumult. A full pound of the 
 meat was given to each dog, and other pieces 
 of it were suspended over beds of coals drawn 
 out from the big fire. Meanwhile Rod was, 
 chopping through the thick ice of the lake in 
 search of water. 
 
 After a little Wabi came down to join him. 
 
 "Our sledge is ready," he said, as Rod 
 stopped to rest for a moment. "We're a little 
 short on grub for nine dogs and three people, 
 but we've got plenty of ammunition. We 
 ought to find something on the trail." 
 
 "Rabbits, anyway," suggested Rod, resum- 
 ing his chopping. A few more strokes, and 
 water gushed through. Filling two pails the 
 boys returned to camp. 
 
 The shadows from the sharp pointed cedars 
 of the forest were falling far out upon the 
 frozen lake when the meal was finished, and 
 the sun, sinking early to its rest beyond the 
 homeless solitudes, infused but little warmth 
 
3 o THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 as the three hunters prepared to leave. It was 
 only three o'clock, but a penetrating chill was 
 growing in the air. Half an hour more and 
 only a reddish glow would be where the 
 northern sun still shone feebly. In the far 
 North winter night falls with the swiftness of 
 wings ; it enshrouds one like a palpable, mov- 
 ing thing, a curtain of gloom that can almost 
 be touched and felt, and so it came now, as the 
 dogs were hitched to their sledge and Rod, 
 Mukoki and Wabigoon bade good-by to the 
 driver of the Hudson Bay mail. 
 
 "You'll make the other side in four hours," 
 he called, as Mukoki's cries sent the dogs trot- 
 ting out upon the lake. "And then — I'd 
 camp!" 
 
 Running on ahead Mukoki set the pace and 
 marked the trail. Wabi took the first turn on 
 the sledge, and Rod, who was fresher than 
 either of his comrades, followed close behind. 
 After a little he drew up beside the young In- 
 dian and placed a hand on his shoulder as he 
 ran. 
 
 "We will reach our old camp — in the plain 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF THE WOONGAS 31 
 
 —to-morrow?" he questioned^ between 
 breaths. 
 
 "To-morrow," affirmed Wabi. "Mukoki 
 will show us the shortest cut to it. After that s> 
 after we reach the camp, everything will de-« 
 pend upon you." 
 
 Rod fell behind in the path made by the 
 sledge, and saved his breath. His mind was 
 working as never before in his life. When 
 they reached the camp in which the wounded 
 Mukoki had lain after their escape from the 
 Woongas, could he find the old trail where he 
 had seen Minnetaki's footprints? He was 
 quite sure of himself, and yet he was conscious 
 of an indefinable something growing in him as 
 he noticed more and more what the sun had 
 done that day. Was it nervousness, or fear? 
 Surely he could find the trail, even though it 
 was almost obliterated! But he wished that it 
 had been Mukoki or Wabigoon who had dis- 
 covered it, either of whom, with the wood- 
 craft instinct born in them, would have gone 
 to it as easily as a fox to the end of a strong 
 trail hidden in autumn leaves. If he did fail — 
 
32 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 He shuddered, even as he ran, as he thought 
 of the fate that awaited Minnetaki. A few 
 hours before he had been one of the happiest 
 youths in the world. Wabfs lovely little sister, 
 he had believed, was safe at Kenegami House; 
 he had bade adieu to his friends at the Post; 
 every minute after that had taken him nearer 
 to that far city in the South, to his mother, and 
 home. And now so suddenly that he had 
 hardly come to realize the situation he was 
 plunged into what gave promise of being the 
 most thrilling and tragic adventure of his life. 
 A few weeks more, when spring had come, he 
 would have returned to his friends accom- 
 panied by his mother, and they three — Mu- 
 koki, Wabigoon and he — would have set out 
 on their romantic quest for the lost gold-mine 
 that had been revealed to them by the ancient 
 skeletons in the old cabin. Even as these vi- 
 sions were glowing in his brain there had come 
 the interruption, the signal shots on the lake, 
 the return of the dog mail, and now this race 
 to save the life of Minnetaki! 
 
 In his eagerness he ran ahead of the sledge 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF THE WOONGAS 33 
 
 and urged Mukoki into a faster pace. Every 
 ten minutes the one who rode exchanged place 
 with one of the runners, so that there were in- 
 tervals of rest for each two times an hour. 
 Quickly the red glow over the southwestern 
 forests faded away; the gloom grew thicker; 
 far ahead, like an endless sheet losing itself in 
 a distant smother of blackness, stretched the 
 ice and snow of Lake Nipigon. There was no 
 tree, no rock for guidance over the trackless 
 waste, yet never for an instant did Mukoki or 
 Wabigoon falter. The stars began burning 
 brilliantly in the sky; far away the red edge 
 of the moon rose over this world of ice and 
 snow and forest, throbbing and palpitating 
 like a bursting ball of fire, as one sees it now 
 and then in the glory of the great northern 
 night. 
 
 Tirelessly, mile after mile, hour after hour, 
 broken only by the short intervals of rest on 
 the sledge„ continued the race across Lake 
 Nipigon. The moon rose higher; the blood 
 in it paled to the crimson glow of the moose 
 flower, and silvered as it climbed into the skVg 
 
34 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 until the orb hung like a great golden-white 
 disk. In the splendor of it the solitude of ice 
 and snow glistened without end. There was 
 no sound but the slipping of the sledge, the 
 pattering of the dogs' moccasined feet, and 
 now and then a few breathless words spoken 
 by Rod or his companions. It was a little after 
 eight o'clock by Rod's watch when there came 
 a change in the appearance of the lake ahead 
 of them. Wabi, who was on the sledge, was the 
 first to notice it, and he shouted back his dis- 
 covery to the white youth. 
 
 "The forest! We're across!" 
 
 The tired dogs seemed to leap into new life 
 at his words, and the leader replied with a 
 whining joyous cry as the odors of balsam and 
 fir came to him. The sharp pinnacles of the 
 forest, reaching up into the night's white glow, 
 grew more and more distinct as the sledge sped 
 on, and five minutes later the team drew up in; 
 a huddled, panting bunch on the shore. That 
 day the men and dogs from Wabinosh House 
 had traveled sixty miles. 
 
 "We'll camp here!" declared Wabi, as he 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF THE WOONGAS 35 
 
 dropped on the sledge. "Well camp here— 
 unless you leave me behind!" 
 
 Mukoki, tireless to the last, had already 
 ,'\ found an ax. 
 
 "No rest now," he warned. "Too tired I 
 You rest now — build no camp. Build camp— 
 tlien rest!" 
 
 "You're right, Muky," cried Wabi, jump- 
 ing to his feet with forced enthusiasm, "if I 
 sSit down for five minutes I'll fall asleep. Rod, 
 you build a fire. Muky and I will make the 
 shelter." 
 
 In less than half an hour the balsam bough 
 shelter was complete, and in front of it roared 
 a fire that sent its light and heat for twenty 
 paces round. From farther back in the forest 
 <-he three dragged several small logs, and no 
 Sooner had they been added to the flames than 
 fboth Mukoki and Wabigoon wrapped them- 
 selves in their furs and burrowed deep into the 
 sweet-scented balsam under the shelter. Rod's 
 experience that day had not been filled with 
 the terrible hardships of his companions, and 
 for some time after they had fallen asleep he 
 
36 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 sat close to the fire, thinking again of the 
 strangeness with which his fortunes had 
 changed, and watching the flickering firelight 
 as it played in a thousand fanciful figures in 
 the deeper and denser gloom of the forest. 1 ; 
 The dogs had crept in close to the blazing logs',' 
 and lay as still as though life no longer ani-jr. 
 mated their tawny bodies. From far away 
 there came the lonely howl of a wolf; a great 
 white man-owl fluttered close to the camp and 
 chortled his crazy, half-human "hello, hello, 
 hello;" the trees cracked with the tightening 
 frost, but neither wolf howl nor frost nor the 
 ghostly visitant's insane voice aroused those 
 who were sleeping. 
 
 An hour passed and still Rod sat by the fire ; 
 his rifle lying across his knees. His imagina- 
 tion had painted a thousand pictures in that 
 time. Never for an instant had his mind 
 ceased to work. Somewhere in that great wil- 
 derness there was another camp-fire that night, 
 and in that camp Minnetaki was a captive. 
 Some indefinable sensation seemed to creep 
 into him, telling him that she was awake, and 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF THE WOONGAS 37 
 
 that she was thinking of her friends. Was it a 
 touch of sleep, or that wonderful thing called 
 mental telepathy, that wrought the next pic- 
 ture in his brain? It came with startling vivid- 
 ness. He saw the girl beside a fire. Her beau- 
 tiful hair, glistening black in the firelight, 
 hung in a heavy braid over her shoulder; her 
 eyes were staring wildly into the flames, as if 
 she were about to leap into them, and back of 
 her so close that he might have touched her, 
 was a figure that sent a chill of horror through 
 him. It was Woonga, the outlaw chief! Ke 
 was talking, his red face was fiendish, he 
 stretched out a hand! 
 
 With a cry that startled the dogs Rod 
 sprang to his feet. He was shivering as if 
 in a chill. Had he dreamed? Or was it 
 something more than a dream? He thought 
 of the vision that had come to him weeks 
 before in the mysterious chasm, the vision of 
 the dancing skeletons, and which had revealed 
 the secret of the old cabin and the lost gold. 
 In vain he tried to shake off his nervousness 
 and his fear. Why had Woonga reached 
 
38 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 out his hands for Minnetaki? He workea to 
 free himself of the weight that had fallen on 
 him, stirred the fire until clouds of sparks shot 
 high up into the gloom of the trees, and added, 
 new fuel. 
 
 Then he sat down again, and for the twen- 
 tieth time since leaving Wabinosh House 
 drew from his pocket the map that w r as to have 
 led them on their search for gold, when he re- 
 turned with his mother. It was a vision that 
 had guided him to the discovery of this pre- 
 cious map, and the knowledge of it made him 
 more uneasy now. A few moments before he 
 had seen Minnetaki as plainly as though she 
 had been with him there beside the fire; he 
 fancied that he might almost have sent a bul- 
 let through the Indian's chief face as he 
 reached out his long arms toward the girl. 
 
 He stirred the fire again, awakened one of 
 the dogs to keep him company, and then went 
 in to lie down between Mukoki and Wabigoon 
 in an attempt at slumber. During the hours 
 that followed he secured only short snatches of 
 sleep. H& dreamed, dreamed constantly of 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF THE WOONGAS 39 
 
 Minnetaki whenever he lost consciousness. 
 Now he saw her before the fire, as he had 
 seen her in his vision; again, she was strug- 
 gling in the Woonga's powerful grasp. At 
 one time the strife between the two — the 
 young girl and the powerful savage — became 
 terrible for him to behold, and at last he saw 
 the Indian catch her in his arms and disap- 
 pear into the blackness of the forest. 
 
 This time when he wakened Rod made no 
 further effort to sleep. It was only a little 
 past midnight. His companions had obtained 
 four hours of rest. In another hour he would 
 arouse them. Quietly he began making prep- 
 arations for breakfast, and fed the dogs. At 
 half-past one o'clock he shook Wabigoon by 
 the shoulder. 
 
 "Get up !" he cried, as the Indian youth sat 
 erect. "It's time to go!" 
 
 He tried to suppress his nervousness when 
 Mukoki and Wabi joined him beside the fire. 
 ,He determined not to let them know of his 
 visions, for there was gloom enough among 
 them as it was. But he would hurry. He was 
 
40 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 the first to get through with breakfast, the first 
 to set to work among the dogs, and when Mu- 
 kcki started out at the head of the team 
 through the forest he was close beside him, 
 urging him to greater speed by his own en- 
 deavors. 
 
 "How far are we from the camp, Mukoki?" 
 he asked. 
 
 "Four hour — twent' mile," replied the old 
 pathfinder. 
 
 "Twenty miles. We ought to make it by 
 (dawn." 
 
 Mukoki made no answer, but quickened his 
 pace as the cedar and balsam forest gave place 
 to an open plain which stretched for a mile 
 or two ahead of them. For an hour longer 
 the moon continued to light up the wilderness ; 
 then, with its descent lower and lower into 
 the west, the gloom began to thicken, until 
 only the stars were left to guide the pursuers. 
 Even these were beginning to fade when Mu- 
 koki halted the panting team on the summit 
 of a mountainous ridge, and pointed into the 
 north. 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF THE WOONGAS 41 
 
 "The plains!" 
 
 For several minutes the three stood silent, 
 gazing out into the gloom of the vast soli- 
 tudes that swept unbroken to Hudson Bay. 
 Again Rod's blood was thrilled with the ro- 
 mance of what lay at his feet and far beyond s 
 thrilled with the romance and mystery of that 
 land of the wild which reached for hundreds 
 of miles into the North, and into which the 
 foot of the white man had as yet scarce left its 
 imprint. 
 
 Before him, enveloped now in the deep 
 gloom of the northern night, slept a vast un- 
 explored world, a land whose story the 
 passing of ages had left unrevealed. What 
 tragedies of nature had its silent fastnesses 
 beheld? What treasure did they hold? Half 
 a century or more ago the men whose skele- 
 tons they had found in the old cabin had 
 braved the perils of those trackless solitudes, 
 and somewhere hundreds of miles out in that 
 black gloom they had found gold, the gold 
 that had fallen as an inheritance to them in 
 the discovery of the old birch-bark map. 
 
42 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 And somewhere, somewhere out there was 
 Minnetaki! 
 
 Across the plain at their feet the three ad- 
 venturers had raced for their lives from the 
 bloodthirsty Woongas only a week or so be- 
 fore; now they crossed it a second time and at 
 even greater speed, for then they had pos- 
 sessed no dogs. At the end of another hour 
 Mukoki no longer traveled faster than a walk. 
 His eyes were constantly on the alert. Occa- 
 sionally he would stop the dogs and strike off 
 to the right or the left of the trail alone. He 
 spoke no word to his companions, and neither 
 Rod nor Wabigoon offered a suggestion. 
 They knew, without questioning, that they 
 were approaching their old camp, and just 
 as the experienced hunter makes no sign or 
 sound while his dog is nosing out a half-lost 
 'trail so they held back while Mukoki, the 
 most famous pathfinder in all those regions, 
 led them slowly on. The last of the stars went 
 out. For a time the blackness of the night 
 grew deeper; then, in the southeast, came the 
 first faint streak of dawn. Day is born as sud- 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF THE WOONGAS 45 
 
 denly as it dies in these regions, and it was 
 soon light enough for Mukoki to resume his 
 trail at a trot. A few minutes more and a 
 clump of balsam and spruce loomed up out 
 of the plain ahead of them. Neither Rod nor 
 Wabigoon recognized it until the old warrior 
 halted the dogs close in its shadows and they 
 saw the look of triumph in his face. 
 
 "The camp!" breathed Wabi. 
 
 "The camp!" 
 
 Trembling, his voice quivering with sup- 
 pressed excitement, the Indian youth turned 
 to Roderick Drew. 
 
 "Rod — it's all up to you!" 
 
 Mukoki, too, had come close to his side. 
 
 "There — camp!" he whispered. "Now — 
 where Minnetaki's trail?" 
 
 The old warrior's eyes were blazing. 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 A dozen paces away was the balsam shelter 
 they had built. But that was all. Not a track 
 was left in the snow. The warm sun had ob- 
 literated every sign of their presence of a short 
 time before! 
 
44 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 If their own trail was gone what could he 
 hope to find_of Minnetaki's dainty foot- 
 prints? 
 
 Deep down in his heart Rod prayed for 
 guidance in this moment of terrible doubt 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 ROD FOLLOWS THE MAN-FOOTED BEAR 
 
 1"~~" MUST wait until it is lighter," he said. 
 He tried to control himself, to fortify 
 himself with the assurance which he no 
 longer felt. 
 
 "We will have breakfast," suggested Wabi. 
 "We have cold meat and there will be no need 
 of a fire." 
 
 Finishing before the others, Rod grasped 
 his rifle and walked out from among the trees. 
 Wabi made a movement as if to follow, but 
 Mukoki held him back. There was a shrewd 
 light in his eyes. 
 
 "He do better — alone," he warned. 
 
 The red glow of the sun was rising above 
 
 the forest and Rod could now see far about 
 
 him. He had come out from the cedars, like 
 
 this, on the afternoon that he had gone to hunt 
 
 45 
 
46 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 and had found Minnetaki's trail. A milp 
 away he saw the snow-covered ridge where he 
 had hunted for moose. That ridge was hi? 
 first guide, and he hurried toward it while 
 Mukoki and Wabigoon followed far behind 
 him with the dogs and the sledge. He was 
 breathless when he reached the top. Eagerly 
 he gazed into the North. It was in that direc- k 
 tion he had gone on the afternoon of his dis- 
 covery of the strange trail. But nothing that 
 he recognized met his eyes now, no familiar 
 landmark or tree to guide him again over his 
 wandering footsteps of that day. Vainly he 
 sought along the ridge for some slight sign 
 of his former presence there. But every-' 
 thing was gone. The sun had destroyed his 
 last hope. 
 
 He was glad that Mukoki and Wabigoon 
 were at the foot of the ridge, for he knew that 
 his despair almost brought tears to his eyes,' 
 Minnetaki's fate was in his hands — and he 
 had failed. He dreaded to tell his compan- 
 ions, to let them see his face. For once in his 
 life, though he was as courageous a youth as 
 
THE MAN-FOOTED BEAR 47 
 
 ever lived, Roderick Drew almost wished that 
 he was dead. 
 
 Suddenly, as in their hopeless search for 
 some familiar object Rod's eyes traveled 
 
 i 
 
 again over the endless waste of snow, he saw, 
 jfar away, something that glittered in the 
 morning sun like a pane of glass, and from his 
 lips there fell a low exultant cry. He remem- 
 bered now that he had seen that strange gleam, 
 before, that he had gone straight to it from the 
 ridge and had found it to be a sheet of crystal 
 ice frozen to the side of a rock from above 
 which the water of a spring gushed forth„. 
 [Without waiting for his companions he hur- 
 ried down the ridge and sped like a deer 
 across the narrow plain at its foot. A five- 
 minute run brought him to the rock, and for 
 a moment he paused, his heart almost choking 
 him in its excitement. Just beyond this he 
 had first encountered the strange trail. There 
 were no signs of it left in the snow, but he saw 
 other things which led him on: a huge rock 
 thrusting itself out of the chaos of white, a 
 Head poplar which stood in his path, and at 
 
48 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 last, half a mile ahead, the edge of a dense 
 forest. 
 
 He turned and waved his arms wildly to 
 Mukoki and Wabigoon, who were far behind. 
 Then he ran on, and when he reached the for- 
 est he waved his arms again, and his joy was 
 flung back in a thrilling shout to his com- 
 rades. There was the log on which Minne- 
 taki had been forced to sit while awaiting the 
 pleasure of her savage captors; he found the 
 very spot where her footprint had been in 
 the snow, close to a protruding stub! The 
 outlaw Indians and their captives had rested 
 here for a brief spell, and had built a fire, and 
 so many feet had beaten the snow about it that 
 their traces still remained. 
 
 'He pointed to these signs as Mukoki and 
 Wa"bigoon joined him. 
 
 For several minutes no one of the three 
 spoke a word. Crouched over until his eyes 
 were within a foot of the snow the old path- 
 finder examined every inch of the little clear- 
 ing in which the Woongas had built their fire, 
 
THE MAN-FOOTED BEAR 49 
 
 and when at last he drew himself erect his face 
 betrayed the utmost astonishment. 
 
 The boys saw that in those faint marks in 
 the snow he had discovered something of un- 
 usual if not startling significance. 
 
 "What is it, Muky?" asked the young In- 
 dian. 
 
 Mukoki made no reply, but returning to 
 the charred remains of the fire he again fell 
 upon his hands and knees and repeated his 
 strange scrutiny of the snow even more closely 
 than before. When he arose a second time the 
 astonishment had grown deeper in his face. 
 
 "Only six!" he exclaimed. "Two guides 
 from Post — four Woongas !" 
 
 "But the wounded driver told us that there 
 were at least a dozen Woongas in the attack- 
 ing party;," said Wabi. 
 
 The old warrior chuckled, and for a mo- 
 ment his face twisted itself into a ludicrous 
 grimace. 
 
 "Driver lie!" he declared. "He run when 
 fight begin. Shot in back while heem run!" 
 
So THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 He pointed into the cold depths of the 
 forest. 
 
 "No sun there! Follow trail easy!" 
 
 There was no uneasiness in Mukoki's man- 
 ner now. His eyes gleamed, but it was with 
 the fire of battle and resolution, not with ex- 
 citement. Once before Rod had seen that look' 
 in the old warrior's face, when they two had 
 •fought to save Wabigoon's life as they were 
 now about to fight to save Minnetaki. And 
 he knew what it meant. Cautiously they pen- 
 etrated the forest, their eyes and ears alert, 
 and, as Mukoki had predicted, the trail of the 
 retreating savages was quite distinct. They 
 had taken both of the captured sledges, and 
 Rod knew that on one of these Minnetaki was 
 being carried. Hardly had the three pro- 
 sgressed a hundred paces when Mukoki, who 
 was in the lead, stopped short with a huge 
 grunt. Squarely across the trail lay the body 
 of a dead man. A glance at the upturned face 
 showed that it was one of the two drivers from 
 Wabinosh House. 
 
 "Head split," said Mukoki, as he led the 
 
THE MAN-FOOTED BEAR 51 
 
 team around the body. "Shot, mebby— then 
 killed with ax." 
 
 The dogs sniffed and cringed as they passed 
 the slain man, and Rod shuddered. Involun- 
 tarily he thought of what might have hap- 
 pened to Minnetaki, and he noticed that after 
 passing this spectacle of death Mukoki dou- 
 bled his speed. For an hour the pursuit con- 
 tinued without interruption. The Woongas 
 were traveling in a narrow trail, single file, 
 with the two sledges between their number. 
 At the end of that hour the three came upon 
 the remains of another camp-fire near which 
 were built two cedar-bough shelters. Here 
 the tracks in the snow were much fresher; in 
 places they seemed to have been but lately 
 made. Still there were no evidences of the 
 captured girl. The boys could see that Mu- 
 koki himself had found no explanation for 
 the sudden freshness of the trail and for the 
 absence of Minnetaki's footprints among the 
 tracks. Again and again the shrewd old path- 
 finder went over the camp. Not a sign es- 
 caped his eyes, not a mark or a broken stick 
 
52 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 but that was examined by him. Rod knew 
 that Minnetaki's capture must have occurred 
 at least three days before, and yet the tracks 
 about this camp were not more than a day old, 
 if they were that. What did it mean? 
 
 The very mystery of the thing filled him 
 with a nameless fear. Why had not the out- 
 law Woongas continued their flight? Why 
 this delay so near the scene of their crime? 
 He glanced at Wab'i, but the Indian youth 
 was as bewildered as himself. In his eyes, 
 too, there was the gleam of a fear which he 
 could not have named. 
 
 Mukoki was beside the charred remains of 
 the fire. He had buried his hand deep among 
 them, and when he rose he made a sign to- 
 ward Rod's watch. 
 
 "Eight o'clock, Mukoki." 
 
 "Woonga here las' night," declared the old 
 Indian slowly. "Leave camp four hour ago!" 
 
 What did it mean? 
 
 Had Minnetaki been hurt, so "dangerously 
 hurt that her captors had not dared to move 
 her? 
 
THE MAN-FOOTED BEAR 53 
 
 Rod asked himself no more questions. But 
 he was trembling. And Mukoki and Wabi- 
 goon went on with strange, unnatural faces 
 and breathed not the whisper of a word be- 
 tween them. The mystery was beyond them 
 all. But one thing they realized, whatever 
 ! had happened they were close upon the heels 
 of the savages. And each step brought them 
 nearer, for with every mile the freshness of 
 the trail increased. Then came another great 
 surprise. 
 
 The trail divided! 
 
 'At the cage of a small opening the Indians 
 had separated themselves into two parties. 
 The trail of one sledge led into the northeast, 
 that of the other into the northwest! 
 
 With which sledge was Minnetaki? They 
 looked at one another in bewilderment. 
 
 Mukoki pointed to the trail into the north- 
 cast. 
 
 "We must fin' sign — sign of Minnetaki. 
 You take that — I take this!" 
 
 Rod started off at a dog trot over the east- 
 ernmost trail. At the farther side of the 
 
54 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 opening, where the sledge had plunged into a 
 clump of hazel, he suddenly stopped, and 
 for a second time that morning a thrilling cry 
 escaped his lips. On a projecting thorny 
 twig, glistening full in the sun, there fluttered 
 a long, silken strand of hair. He reached out 
 for it, but Wabi caught his hand, and in an- 
 other moment Mukoki had joined them. 
 Gently he took the raven tress between his fin- 
 gers, his deep-set eyes glaring like red coals of 
 fire. It was a strand of Minnetaki's beauti- 
 ful hair, not for a moment did one of them 
 doubt that; but what held them most, what 
 increased the horror in their eyes, was the 
 quantity of it! Suddenly Mukoki gave it a 
 gentle pull and the tress slipped free of the 
 twig. 
 
 In the next breath he uttered the only ex- 
 pression of supreme disgust in his vocabulary, 
 a long-drawn, hissing sound which he used 
 only in those moments when his command of 
 English was entirely inadequate to the situa-^, 
 tion. 
 
 "Minnetaki on other sledge!" 
 
THE MAN-FOOTED BEAR 55 
 
 He showed the end of the strand to his 
 young companions. 
 
 "See — hair been cut! No pulled out by 
 twig. Woonga hang heem there — make us 
 think wrong." 
 
 He waited for no reply, but darted back to 
 the other trail, with Wabi and Rod close be- 
 hind him. A quarter of a mile farther on the 
 old pathfinder paused and pointed in exultant 
 silence at a tiny footprint close beside the path 
 of the sledge. At almost regular intervals now 
 there appeared this sign of Minnetaki's moc- 
 casin. Her two guards were running ahead 
 of the sledge, and it was apparent to the pur- 
 suers that Wabi's sister was taking advantage 
 of her opportunities to leave these signs be- 
 hind for those whom she knew would make 
 an attempt at her rescue. And yet, as they left 
 (farther and farther behind them the trail 
 which ran into the northeast, an inexplicable 
 feeling of uneasiness began to steal over Rod. 
 What if Mukoki had made a mistake? His 
 confidence in the old warrior's judgment and 
 sagacity was usually absolute, but it occurred 
 
S6 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 to him, like an ugly humor to stir up his fears, 
 that if the Woongas could cut off a bit of the 
 girl's hair they could also take off one of her 
 shoes! Several times he was on the point of 
 giving audible voice to his suspicions but re- 
 frained from doing so when he saw the as- 
 surance with which both Wabi and Mukoki 
 followed the trail. 
 
 Finally be could hold himself no longer. 
 
 "Wabi, I'm going back," he cried softly, 
 forging alongside his companion. "I'm going 
 back and follow the other trail. If I don't 
 find anything in a mile or so I'll return on 
 the double-quick and overtake you!" 
 
 Wabi's efforts to dissuade him were futile, 
 and a few minutes later Rod was again at the 
 clearing. What presentiment was it that 
 caused his heart to beat faster and his breath 
 to come in tense excitement as he stole through 
 the bushes where they had found the silken 
 tress of hair? What something was it, away 
 down in his soul, that kept urging him on 
 and on, even after he had gone a mile, and 
 then two miles, in fruitless search? Rod could 
 
THE MAN-FOOTED BEAR 57 
 
 not have answered these questions had he 
 stopped to ask them of himself. He was not 
 superstitious. He did not believe in dreams. 
 And yet each moment, without apparent rea- 
 son, added to his conviction that Mukoki had 
 made a mistake, and that Minnetaki was on 
 the sledge ahead of him. 
 
 The country into which he was penetrating 
 grew wilder. Rocky ridges rose before him, 
 split by rifts and gullies through which the 
 water must have rushed in torrents in the 
 spring. He listened, and proceeded more cau- 
 tiously; and through his mind there flashed 
 a memory of his thrilling exploration of the 
 mysterious chasm of a few weeks before, when, 
 in his lonely night camp, he had dreamed 
 of the skeletons. He was thinking of this 
 when he came around the end of a huge rock 
 which lay as big as a house in his path. Upon 
 the snow, almost at his feet, was a sight that 
 froze the blood in his veins. For the second 
 time that day he gazed upon the distorted fea- 
 tures of a dead man. Squarely across the trail, 
 as the other had lain, was the body of an 
 
58 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 Indian, his arms outstretched, his twisted face 
 turned straight up to the clear sky, the snow 
 about his head glistening a sickening red in 
 the sun. For a full minute Rod gazed in si- 
 lent horror on the scene. There was no sign 
 of a struggle, there were no footprints in the 
 snow. The man had been killed while upon 
 the sledge, and the only mark he had made 
 was when he had fallen off. 
 
 Who had killed him? 
 
 Had Minnetaki saved herself by taking her 
 captor's life? 
 
 For a moment Rod was almost convinced 
 that this was so. He examined the stains in 
 the snow and found that they were still damp 
 and unfrozen. He was sure that the tragedy 
 had occurred less than an hour before. More 
 cautiously, and yet swifter than before, he fol- 
 lowed the trail of the sledge, his rifle held in 
 readiness for a shot at any moment. The path 
 became wilder and in places it seemed almost 
 inaccessible. But between the tumbled mass 
 of rock the sledge had found its way, its sav- 
 age driver not once erring in his choice of the 
 
THE MAN-FOOTED BEAR 59 
 
 openings ahead. Gradually the trail ascended 
 until it came to the summit of a huge ridge. 
 Hardly had Rod reached the top when an- 
 other trail cut across that of the sledge. 
 
 Deeply impressed in the softening snow 
 were the footprints of a big bear! 
 
 The first warm sunshine, thought Rod, had 
 aroused the beast from his winter sleep, and 
 he was making a short excursion from his 
 >den. From where the bear had crossed the 
 trail the sledge turned abruptly in the direc- 
 tion from which the bear had come. 
 
 Without giving a thought to his action, Rod 
 began his descent of the ridge in the trail 
 made by the bear, at the same time keeping 
 his eyes fixed upon the sledge track and the 
 distant forest. At the foot of the ridge the 
 great trunk of a fallen tree lay in his path, 
 and as he went to climb over it he stopped, a 
 cry of amazement stifling itself in his throat. 
 Over that tree the bear had scrambled, and 
 upon it, close to the spot where the animal 
 had brushed off the snow in his passage, was 
 the imprint of a human hand! 
 
60 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 For a full minute Rod stood as motionless 
 as if he had been paralyzed, scarcely breath- 
 ing in his excitement. The four fingers and 
 thumb of the hand had left their impressions 
 with startling clearness. The fingers were 
 long and delicately slender, the palm narrow. 
 The imprint had assuredly not been made by 
 the hand of a man! 
 
 Recovering himself, Rod looked about him. 
 There were no marks in the snow except those 
 of the bear. Was it possible that he was mis- 
 taken? He scrutinized the mysterious hand- 
 print again. As he gazed an uncanny chill 
 crept through him, and when he raised his 
 head he knew that he was trembling in spite of 
 his efforts to control himself. Turning about 
 he swiftly followed the trail to the top of the 
 ridge, recrossed the sledge track, and de- 
 scended again into the wildness of the gorge 
 .on the other side. He had not progressed 
 twenty rods when without a sound he dropped 
 behind a rock. He had seen no movement 
 ahead of him. He had heard nothing. Yet 
 
THE MAN-FOOTED BEAR 6t 
 
 in that moment he was thrilled as never before 
 in his life. 
 
 For the bear trail had ceased. 
 
 And ahead of him, instead of the tracks of 
 a beast, there continued the footprints of a 
 man! 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 rod's fight for life 
 
 IT was some time before Roderick moved 
 from his concealment behind the rock. 
 It was not fear that held him there, but 
 a knowledge within him that he needed to 
 think, to collect his senses as he would have 
 expressed it if Wabi had been with him. For 
 a brief spell he was stunned by the succession 
 of surprises which he had encountered, and 
 he felt that now, if ever in his life, he needed 
 control of himself. He did not attempt to 
 solve the mystery of the trail beyond the fact 
 that it was not made by a bear and that the 
 handprint on the log was not made by a man. 
 But he was certain of one thing. In some way 
 Minnetaki was associated with both. 
 
 When he continued his pursuit he made his 
 way with extreme caution. At each new turn 
 
 62 
 
ROD'S FIGHT FOR LIFE 63 
 
 in the trail he fell behind some rock or clump 
 of bushes and scanned the gorge as far as he 
 could see ahead of him. But each moment, 
 these distances of observation became shorter.* 
 The ridge on his left became almost a sheer ? 
 wall; on his right a second ridge closed in, 
 until the gorge had narrowed to a hundred 
 feet in width, choked by huge masses of rock 
 thrown there in some mighty upheaval of past 
 ages. It was very soon apparent to Rod that 
 the mysterious person whom he was pursuing 
 was perfectly at home in the lonely chasm. 
 As straight as a drawn whip-lash his trail led 
 from one break in the rocky chaos to another. 
 Never did he err. Once the tracks seemed to 
 end squarely against a broad face of rock, 
 but there the young hunter found a cleft in 
 the granite wall scarcely wider than his body, 
 through which he cautiously wormed his way.j 
 iWhere this cleft opened into the chasm again 
 the fugitive had rested for a few moments, 
 and had placed some burden upon the snow 
 at his feet. r A single glance disclosed what 
 this burden had been, for in the snow was that 
 
64 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 same clearly-defined impression of a human 
 hand! 
 
 There was no longer a doubt in Roderick's 
 mind. He was on the trail of Minnetaki's cap- 
 tor, and the outlaw was carrying his victim in 
 his arms! Minnetaki was injured! Perhaps 
 she was dead. The fear gripped at his heart 
 until he looked again at the imprint in the 
 snow — the widely spread fingers, the flat, firm 
 palm. Only a living hand would have left its 
 mark in that manner. 
 
 As on that autumn day in the forest, when 
 he had fought for Minnetaki's life, so now all 
 hesitation and fear left him. His blood leaped 
 with anticipation rather than excitement, and 
 he was eager for the moment when he would 
 once more throw his life in the balance in be- 
 half of Wabi's sister. He was determined to 
 take advantage of the Woonga fighting code 
 and fire upon his enemy from ambush if the 
 opportunity offered, but at the same time he 
 had no dread at the thought of engaging in a 
 closer struggle if this should be necessary. He 
 looked well to his rifle, loosened his big army 
 
ROD'S FIGHT FOR LIFE 65 
 
 revolver in its holster, and saw that his hunt- 
 ing-knife did not stick in its scabbard. A short 
 distance from the cleft in the wall of rock the 
 outlaw had rested again; and this time, when 
 he continued his flight, Minnetaki had walked 
 beside him. 
 
 A peculiarity in the new trail struck Rod, 
 and for some moments he was at a loss to ac- 
 count for it. One of the girl's dainty feet left 
 its moccasin imprint very distinctly; the mark 
 of the other was no more than a formless 
 blotch in the snow. Then the youth thought 
 of the footprints that were leading on Mukoki 
 and Wabigoon, and despite his desperate situ- 
 ation he could not repress a smile. He had 
 been right. The Woongas had taken off one 
 of Minnetaki's moccasins and were using it to 
 make a false trail into the northwest. Those 
 formless tracks ahead of him meant that onei 
 of the Indian maiden's feet was wrapped with 
 a bit of cloth or fur to protect it from the cold. 
 
 Rod soon perceived that the flight of the 
 outlaw and his captive was now much more 
 tapid, and he quickened his own pace. The, 
 
66 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 chasm grew wilder. At times it appeared im- 
 passable, but always the trail of the fugitives 
 led straight to some hidden cleft through 
 which the boy followed, holding his breath in i 
 tense expectancy of what might happen at any 
 instant. 
 
 Suddenly Rod stopped. From ahead of him 
 he was' sure that he had heard a sound. He 
 scarcely breathed while he listened. But there 
 came no repetition of the noise. Had some 
 animal, a fox or a wolf, perhaps, set a stone 
 rolling down one of the precipitous walls of 
 the chasm? He went on slowly, listening, 
 watching. A few paces more and he stopped 
 again. There was a faint, suspicious odor in 
 the air; a turn around the end of a huge mass 
 of rock and his nostrils were filled with it, the 
 pungent odor of smoke mingled with the sweet 
 scent of burning cedar! 
 
 There was a fire ahead of him. More than 
 that, it was not a gunshot away! 
 
 For a space of sixty seconds he stood still, 
 nerving himself for the final step. His resolu- 
 tion was made. He would creep upon the out- 
 
ROD'S FIGHT FOR LIFE 67 
 
 law and shoot him clown. There would be no 
 warning, no quarter, no parley. Foot by foot 
 he advanced, as stealthily as a fox. The odor 
 of smoke came to him more plainly; over his 
 head he saw thin films of it floating lazily up 
 the chasm. It came from beyond another of 
 those walls of rock which seemed to bar his 
 way, creeping up over it as though the fire 
 were just on the other side. With his rifle half 
 to his shoulder Rod stole through the break 1 
 in this wall. At its farther end he peered out 
 cautiously, exposing his face an inch at a time. 
 [Wider and wider became his vision. There 
 was no trail ahead. The outlaw and his cap- 
 tive were behind the rock! 
 
 With his rifle now full to his shoulder Rod 
 stepped boldly forth and whirled to the left. 
 Twenty feet away, almost entirely concealed 
 'among the tumbled masses of boulders, was a 
 small cabin. About it there were no signs of 
 life with the exception of a thin wreath of 
 smoke rising like a ghostly spiral up the side 
 of the chasm wall; from it there came no 
 sound. Rod's index finger quivered on the 
 
68 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 trigger of his rifle. Should he wait — until the 
 outlaw came forth? Half a minute he stood 
 there, a minute, two minutes, and still he heard 
 nothing, saw nothing. He advanced a step,: 
 then another, and still another, until he saw 
 the open door of the cabin. And as he stood 
 there, his rifle leveled, there came to him a 
 faint, sobbing cry, a cry that reached out and 
 caught him like a strong hand and brought 
 him in a single desperate leap to the door it- 
 self. 
 
 Inside the cabin was Minnetaki, alone! She 
 was crouched upon the floor, her beautiful 
 hair tumbling in disheveled masses over her 
 shoulders and into her lap, her face, as white 
 as death, staring wildly at the youth who had 
 appeared like an apparition before her. 
 
 In an instant Rod was at her side, upon his 
 knees. For that brief moment he had lost his 
 caution, and only a terrible cry from the girl 
 turned him back again, half upon his feet, to 
 the door. Standing there, about to spring upon 
 him, was one of the most terrifying figures he 
 had ever seen. In a flash he saw the huge form 
 
ROD'S FIGHT FOR LIFE 69 
 
 of an Indian, a terrible face, the gleam of an 
 uplifted knife. In such a crisis one's actions 
 are involuntary, machine-like, as if life itself, 
 hovering by a thread, protects itself in its own 
 manner without thought or reasoning on the 
 part of the human creature it animates. Rod 
 neither thought nor reasoned ; without any mo- 
 tive on his own part, he flung himself face 
 downward upon the cabin floor. And the 
 move saved him. With a guttural cry the 
 savage leaped toward him, struck out with his 
 knife and missed, stumbled over the boy's 
 prostrate form and fell beside him. 
 
 Months of hardship and adventure in the 
 wilderness had made Rod as lithe as a forest 
 cat, his muscles like steel. Without rising he 
 flung himself upon his enemy, his own knife 
 raised in gleaming death above the savage's 
 breast. But the Woonga was as quick. Like a 
 flash he struck up with one of his powerful 
 arms and the force of the blow that was de- 
 scending upon him fell to the earth floor. In 
 another instant his free arm had encircled 
 Rod's neck, and for a few brief moments the 
 
70 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 two were locked in a crushing embrace, 
 neither being able to use the weapon in his 
 hand without offering an advantage to the 
 other. 
 
 In that respite, which only death could fol- 
 low, Rod's brain worked with the swiftness of 
 fire. He was lying face downward upon his 
 enemy; the Woonga was flat upon his back, 
 the latter's knife hand stretched out behind his 
 head with Rod's knife hand locking it. For 
 either to strike a blow both of their fighting 
 hands must be freed. In the first instant of that 
 freedom, the savage, with his arm already ex- 
 tended, could deliver a blow sooner than his 
 antagonist, who would have to raise his arm 
 as well as strike. In other words, by the time 
 Rod's knife was poised his enemy's would be 
 buried in his breast. With a curious thrill the 
 w r hite youth saw the fearful odds against him 
 in their position. If he remained clutched in 
 the Indian's embrace there would be only one 
 end. He would die, and Minnetaki would be 
 more than ever in the power of her captor. 
 
 There was only one chance now, and that 
 
In a flash he saw the Indian with uplifted knife Page 68 
 
ROD'S FIGHX FOR LIFE 71; 
 
 was to break away, at least to free himself 
 enough to get hold of his revolver. He was 
 nerving himself for the strain when, turning 
 his head a trifle sidewise, he saw Minnetaki. 
 The girl had risen to her feet, and Rod saw 
 that her hands were bound behind her. She, 
 too, realized the disadvantage of Rod's posi- 
 tion in the contest, and now with a thrilling 
 cry she sprang to the outlaw's head and 
 stepped with all her weight upon his extended 
 arm. 
 
 "Quick, Rod— quick!" she cried. "Strike' 
 Strike!" 
 
 With a terrible yell the powerful savage 
 wrenched his arm free; in a last superhuman 
 effort he swung his knife upward as Rod's 
 blade sank to the hilt in his breast, and the 
 blow fell with a sickening thud under Rod's 
 arm. With a sharp cry the young hunter stag- 
 gered to his feet, and the Indian's knife fell 
 from him, red with blood. Making an effort 
 to control himself he picked up the knife and 
 loosed the captive girl's arms. 
 
 There came over him then a strange dizzi- 
 
72 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 ness, a weakness in his limbs. He was con- 
 scious that his head was sinking, and he knew, 
 too, that a pair of arms was about him, and 
 that from what seemed to be a great, great dis- 
 tance a voice was calling to him, calling his 
 name. And then he seemed to be sinking into 
 a deep and painless sleep. 
 
 When he regained consciousness his eyes 
 were first turned to the door, which was still 
 open, and through which he caught the white 
 gleam of the snow. A hand was pressed gently 
 upon his face. 
 
 "Rod—" 
 
 Minnetaki spoke in a whisper, a whisper 
 that trembled with gladness, with relief. Rod 
 smiled. Weakly he lifted a hand and touched 
 the sweet, white face above him. 
 
 "I'm glad to see you — Minne-taki — " he 
 breathed. 
 
 The girl quickly put a cup of cold water to 
 his lips. 
 
 "You mustn't try to move," she said softly, 
 her eyes glowing. "It isn't a very bad wound, 
 and I've dressed it nicely. But you mustn't 
 
ROD'S FIGHT FOR LIFE 73 
 
 move — or talk — or it may begin bleeding 
 again." 
 
 "But I'm so glad to see you, Minnetaki," 
 persisted the youth. "You don't know how 
 disappointed I was to find you gone when we* 
 returned to Wabinosh House from our hunt- 
 ing trip. Wabi and Mukoki — " 
 
 "Sh-h-h-h!" 
 
 Minnetaki placed her hand upon his lips. 
 
 "You must keep quiet, Roderick. Don't 
 you know how curious I am to know how you 
 are here? But you must not tell me — now. 
 Let me do the talking. Will you? Please!" 
 
 Involuntarily the young girl's eyes left his 
 face, and Rod, weakly following her gaze, 
 saw that a blanket had been spread over a hud- 
 dled heap in the middle of the floor. He shud- 
 dered, and feeling the sudden tremor in his 
 hand Minnetaki turned to him quickly, her 
 cheeks whiter than before, but her eyes shining 
 like stars. 
 
 "It is Woonga," she whispered. In her 
 voice was a thrilling tremble. "It is Woonga, 
 and he is dead!" 
 
74 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 i 
 
 Rod understood the look in her face now. 
 Woonga, the Nemesis of her people, the out- 
 law chief who had sworn vengeance on the 
 house of Wabinosh, and whose murderous 
 hand had hovered for years like a threatening 
 cloud over the heads of the factor and his wife 
 and children, was dead! And he, Roderick 
 Drew, who once before had saved Minnetaki's 
 life, had killed him. In his weakness and pain 
 he smiled, and said, 
 
 "I am glad, Minne — " 
 
 He did not finish. There had come a 
 stealthy, crumbling step to the door, and in an- 
 other moment Mukoki and Wabigoon were 
 in the little cabin. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE SHADOW OF DEATH 
 
 OD was hardly conscious of what 
 passed during the next half-hour. 
 The excitement of the sudden en- 
 trance of Minnetaki's brother and the old In- 
 dian set his head reeling, and he sank back 
 upon the blankets, from which he had partly 
 raised himself, fainting and weak. The last 
 that he heard was Minnetaki's warning voice, 
 and then he felt something cool upon his face. 
 It seemed a long time before he heard sound 
 again, and when he stirred himself, struggling 
 toward consciousness, there came a whisper in 
 his ear urging him to be quiet. It was Minne- 
 taki, and he obeyed. 
 
 After a little he heard low voices, and then 
 movement, and opened his eyes. He could 
 feel Minnetaki's gentle hand stroking his face 
 and hair, as if weaning him to sleep, and at 
 
 75 
 
76 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 his feet he saw Mukoki, the old warrior, 
 crouching like a lynx, his beady eyes glaring 
 at him. The glare fascinated Roderick. 'He 
 had seen it in Mukoki's eyes before, when the 
 Indian believed that injury had come to those 
 he loved; and when the white boy saw it now, 
 bent upon himself, he knew that he, too, had 
 become more than a friend to this savage path- 
 finder of the wilderness. Minnetaki's caress- 
 ing hand and the fearful anxiety in the crouch- 
 ing posture of the old hunter thrilled him, and 
 two words fell from his lips before they knew 
 that he had come back into life. 
 
 "Hello, Mukyi" 
 
 Instantly the old Indian was at his side, 
 kneeling there silent, trembling, his face 
 twitching with joy, his eyes gleaming, and 
 where he had crouched a moment before there 
 came Wabigoon, smiling down upon Rod in 
 his own bursting happiness, which was only 
 held in check by Minnetaki's hand and the al- 
 most inaudible "Sh-h-h-h!" that fell from her 
 lips. 
 
 "You right — me wrong," the white boy 
 
THE SHADOW OF DEATH 77 
 
 heard Mukoki saying. "You save Minnetaki 
 — kill Woonga. Very much dam' — dam' — 
 — dam' — brave man!" 
 
 Mukoki was pressed back by Wabi's sister 
 before he could say more, and a cool drink of 
 spring "water was placed to Roderick's lips. 
 He felt feverish and the water gave him new 
 strength. He turned his face to Minnetaki, 
 and she smiled at him. Then he saw that the 
 dead outlaw had been removed from the 
 cabin. When he made an effort to raise him- 
 self a little the girl helped him, and rolled a 
 blanket under his shoulders. 
 
 "You're not so badly hurt as I thought you 
 were, Rod," she said. "That is, you're not 
 dangerously hurt. Mukoki has dressed your 
 wound, and you will be better soon." Wabi- 
 goon, coming nearer, put both arms around 
 his lovely little sister and kissed her again and 
 again. 
 
 "Rod, you're a hero!" he cried softly, grip- 1 
 ping his comrade's hand. "God bless you!" 
 
 Rod blushed, and to restrain further effu- 
 sions closed his eyes. During the next quarter 
 
78 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 of an hour Minnetaki prepared some coffee 
 and meat, while both Mukoki and Wabi cared 
 for the sledge-dogs outside. 
 
 "To-morrow, if you are stronger, we're go- 
 ing to take you on to Kenegami House," the 
 girl said to him. "Then you can tell me all 
 about your adventures during the winter. 
 Wabi has told me just enough about your bat- 
 tles with the Indians and about the old skele- 
 tons and the lost gold-mine to set me wild. 
 Oh, I wish you would take me with you on 
 your hunt for gold!" 
 
 "By George, I wish we could!" exclaimed 
 Rod with enthusiasm. "Coax Wabi, Minne- 
 taki — coax him hard." 
 
 "You'll coax him, too, won't you, Rod? 
 But then, I don't suppose it will do any good. 
 And father and mother wouldn't listen to it 
 for a moment. All of them are so afraid that 
 some harm is going to befall me. That's why 
 they sent me from Wabinosh House just be- 
 fore you boys returned. You see the Indians 
 were more hostile than ever, and they thought 
 I would be safer at Kenegami House. How? 
 
THE SHADOW OF DEATH 79 
 
 I do wish they'd let me go! I'd love to hunt 
 bears, and wolves, and moose, and help you 
 find the gold. Please coax him hard, Roder- 
 ick!" 
 
 And that very day, when he was strong 
 enough to sit up, Rod did plead with his half- 
 Indian comrade that Minnetaki might be al- 
 lowed to accompany them. But Wabi stanchly 
 refused even to consider the proposition, and 
 Mukoki, when he learned of the girl's desire, 
 grinned and chuckled in his astonishment for 
 the next half-hour. 
 
 "Minnetaki ver' brave — ver' brave girl," he 
 confided to Rod, "but she die up there, I guess 
 so! You want Minnetaki die?" 
 
 Rod assured him that he did not, and the 
 subject was dropped. 
 
 That day and night in the old cabin was one 
 of the pleasantest within Rod's memory, de- 
 spite the youth's wound. A cheerful fire of 
 dry pine and poplar burned in the stone fire- 
 place, and when Minnetaki announced that 
 the evening meal was ready Rod was for the 
 first time allowed to leave his bunk. For the 
 
8o THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 greater part of the day Wabi and Mukoki had 
 searched in the chasm and along the moun- 
 tains for signs of the outlaw Indian's band, but 
 their search had revealed nothing to arouse 
 their fears. As mysterious and unaccountable 
 as the fact seemed, there was no doubt that the 
 old cabin was a retreat known only to Woonga 
 himself, and as the four sat in the warm glow 
 of the fire, eating and drinking, the whole ad- 
 venture was gone over again and again until 
 there seemed no part of it left in doubt. Min- 
 netaki described her capture and explained 
 the slowness of their flight after the massacre. 
 Woonga was ill and had refused to move far 
 from the scene of the slaughter until he had 
 fully regained his strength. 
 
 "But why did Woonga kill the Indian back 
 on the trail?" asked Rod. 
 
 Minnetaki shuddered as she thought of the 
 terrible scene that had been enacted before her 
 eyes. 
 
 "I heard them quarreling," she said, "but I 
 couldn't understand. I know that it was about 
 me. We had gone but a short distance after 
 
THE SHADOW OF DEATH 8r 
 
 the sledges separated when Woonga, who was 
 ahead of me, turned about and shot the other 
 in the breast. It was terrible! And then he 
 drove on as coolly as Chough nothing had hap- 
 pened." 
 
 "I'm curious to know how he used the bear's 
 feet," exclaimed Rod. 
 
 "They were huge pads into which he 
 slipped his feet, moccasins and all," explained 
 Minnetaki. "He told me that the dogs would 
 go on to Kenegami House, and that if pursuers 
 followed us they would follow the sledge trail 
 and never give a thought to the bear tracks." 
 
 Mukoki chuckled deep down in his throat. 
 
 "He no fool Rod," he said. "Nobody fool 
 Rod!" 
 
 "Especially when he's on MiQiietaki's trail," 
 laughed Wabi happily. 
 
 "Wasn't it Rod who discovered the secret of 
 the lost gold, after you had given up all 
 »hope?" retorted Minnetaki. 
 
 The lost gold! 
 
 How those three words, falling clearly from 
 the girl's lips, thrilled the hearts of Mttfceki 
 
82 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 and the young adventurers. Night had closed 
 in, and only the fitful flashes of the fire il- 
 lumined the interior of the old cabin. The 
 four had finished eating, and as they drew 
 themselves close about the fire there fell a 
 strange silence among them. The lost gold! 
 Rod gazed across at Wabigoon, whose 
 bronzed face was half hid in the dancing 
 shadows, and then at Mukoki, whose wrinkled 
 visage shone like dull copper as he stared like 
 some watchful animal into the flame glow. 
 But it was Minnetaki who sent the blood in a 
 swift rush of joy and pride through his veins. 
 He caught, her eyes upon him, shining like 
 stars from out of the gloom, and he knew that 
 she was looking at him in that way because he 
 was her hero. 
 
 For many minutes no one broke the stillness. 
 The fire burned down, and with its slow dying 
 away the gloom in the corners of the old cabin 
 thickened, and the faces became more and 
 more like ghostly shadows, until they re- 
 minded Rod of his first vision of the ancient 
 skeletons in that other old cabin many miles 
 
THE SHADOW OF DEATH 83 
 
 away. Then came Wabigoon's voice, as he 
 stirred the coals and added fresh fuel. 
 
 "Yes, it was Rod. This is the map he found, 
 Minnetaki." 
 
 He kneeled close beside his sister and drew 
 forth his copy of the precious secret which the 
 skeletons had guarded. With a little cry of ex- 
 citement the girl took the map in her hands, 
 and step by step, adventure by adventure, was 
 gone over the thrilling story of the Wolf 
 Hunters, until the late hours of night had 
 changed into the first of morning. Twice did 
 Minnetaki insist on having repeated to her the 
 story of Rod's wild adventure in the mysteri- 
 ous chasm, and when he came to the terrors of 
 that black night and its strange sounds Rod 
 felt a timid little hand come close to him, and 
 as Wabigoon continued the narration, and told 
 jOf the map in the skeleton hand, and of the tale 
 'of murder and tragedy it revealed, Minne- 
 taki's breath came in quick, tense eagerness. 
 
 "And you are going back in the spring?" 
 she asked. 
 
 "In the spring," replied Rod. 
 
84 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 Again Wabigoon urged Rod, as he had 
 done at the Post, to send down to civilization 
 for his mother instead of going for her him- 
 self. Time would be saved, he argued. They 
 could set out on their search for the gold with- 
 in a few weeks. But Rod was firm. 
 
 "It would not be fair to mother," he de- 
 clared. "I must go home first, even if I have 
 to arrange for a special sledge at Kenegami 
 House to take me down to civilization." 
 
 But even while he was stoutly declaring 
 what it was his intention to do, fate was 
 stealthily at work weaving another of her 
 webs of destiny for Roderick Drew, and his 
 friends' anxious eyes saw the first signs of it 
 when they bade him good night. For fever 
 had laid its hand on the white youth, the fever 
 that foreshadows death unless a surgeon is 
 near, the fever of a wound going bad. Even 
 Mukoki, graduated by Nature, taught by half 
 a century's battle with life in this great desola- 
 tion of the North, knew that his own powers 
 were now of no avail. 
 - So Roderick was bundled in blankets, and 
 
THE SHADOW OF DEATH 85 
 
 the race for life to Kenegami House was be- 
 gun. It was a race of which Rod could only 
 guess the import, for he did not know that 
 Death was running a fierce pursuit behind. 
 Many days and nights of delirium followed. 
 One morning he seemed to awaken from a ter- 
 rible dream, in which he was constantly burn- 
 ing and roasting, and when he opened his eyes 
 he knew for the first time that it was Minne-' 
 taki who sat close beside him, and that it was 
 her hand that was gently stroking his fore- 
 head. From that day on he gained strength 
 rapidly, but it was a month before he could sit 
 up, and another two weeks before he could 
 stand. And so it happened that it was full two 
 months after he had made his assertion in the 
 old cabin before Rod was in good health 
 again. 
 
 One day Minnetaki had a tremendous sur- 
 prise in store for him. Rod had never seen her 
 look quite so pretty, or quite so timid, as she 
 did on this particular morning. 
 
 "Will you forgive me for — for — keeping 
 something from you, Rod?" she asked. She 
 
*6 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 did not wait for the boy's reply, but went on. 
 "When you were so sick, and we thought you 
 might die, I wrote to your mother and we sent 
 the letter down by a special sledge. And — 
 and — oh, Rod, I just can't keep it in any 
 longer, no matter if you do scold me! Your 
 mother has come — and she is at Wabinosh 
 House now!" 
 
 For a moment Rod stood like one struck 
 dumb. Then he found his voice in a series of 
 war-whoops which quickly brought Wabi in, 
 only to see his friend dancing around Minne- 
 taki like one gone crazy. 
 
 "Forgive you!" he shouted again and again. 
 "Minnetaki, you're a brick — you certainly are 
 a brick!" 
 
 As soon as Wabi was made acquainted with 
 the cause of Roderick's excitement he also 
 joined in the other's wild rejoicing, and their 
 antics startled half the house of Kenegami. 
 Mukoki shared their joy, and Wabi hugged 
 and kissed his sister until her pretty face was 
 like a wild rose. 
 
 "Hurrah!" shouted Wabi for the twentieth 
 
THE SHADOW OE DEATH 87 
 
 time. "That means we start on our hunt for 
 the lost gold-mine within a fortnight!" 
 
 "It means — " began Roderick. 
 
 "It means — " interrupted Minnetaki, "it 
 neans that you're all happy but me — and I'm 
 glad for Rod's sake, and I want to know his 
 mother. But you're all going — and I'm to be 
 left behind!" 
 
 There was no laughter in her voice, and 
 Rod and Wabigoon became suddenly quiet as 
 she turned away. 
 
 "I'm sorry," said Wabi. "But — we can't 
 help it." 
 
 Mukoki broke the tension. 
 
 "How bright the sun shine!" he exclaimed.; 
 "Snow an' ice go. Spring — heem here!" 
 
CHAPTER VJI 
 
 ON THE TRAIL OF GOLD 
 
 A ND each day thereafter the sun rose 
 /-% earlier, and the day was longer, and 
 the air was warmer; and with the 
 warmrh there now came the sweet scents of the 
 budding earth and the myriad sounds of the 
 deep, unseen life of the forests, awakening 
 from its long slumber in its bed of snow. The 
 moose-birds chirped their mating songs and 
 flirted from morning till night in bough and 
 air, and the jays and ravens fluffed themselves 
 in the sun, and the snowbirds, little black and 
 white beauties that were wont to whisk about 
 like so many flashing gems, became fewer 
 and fewer, until they were gone altogether. 
 The poplar buds swelled more and more in 
 their joy, until they split like over-fat peas, 
 and the partridges feasted upon them. 
 
 And Mother Bear came out of her winter 
 88 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF GOLD 89 
 
 den, accompanied by her little ones born two 
 months before, and taught them how to pull 
 down the slender saplings for these same buds ; 
 and the moose came down from the blizzardy 
 tops of the great ridges, which are called 
 mountains in the North, and where for good 
 reasons they had passed the winter, followed 
 by the wolves, who fed upon their weak and 
 sick. Everywhere there were the rushing tor- 
 rents of melting snows, the crackle of crum- 
 bling ice, the dying frost-cries of rock and 
 earth and tree, and each night the cold, pale 
 glow of the Aurora Borealis crept farther and 
 farther toward the Pole in fading glory. 
 
 It was spring, and at Wabinosh House it 
 brought more joy than elsewhere, for there 
 Roderick Drew joined his mother. We have 
 not time here to dwell on the things that hap- 
 pened at the old Hudson Bay Post during the 
 ten days after their first happy reunion — of 
 the love that sprang up between Rod's mother 
 and Minnetaki, and the princess wife of 
 George Newsome, the factor; of the departure 
 of the soldiers whose task of running down 
 
90 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 Woonga ended with Rod's desperate fight in 
 the cabin, or of the preparations of the gold 
 hunters themselves. 
 
 On a certain evening in April, Wabi, Mil- 
 
 koki and Rod had assembled in the latter's 
 
 i 
 
 room. The next morning they were to start 
 on their long and thrilling adventure into the 
 far North, and on this last night they went; 
 carefully over their equipment and plans to 
 see that nothing had been forgotten. That 
 night Rod slept little. For the second time in 
 his life the fever of adventure was running 
 wild in his blood. After the others had gone 
 he studied the precious old map until his eyes 
 grew dim; in the half slumber that came to 
 him afterward his brain worked ceaselessly, 
 and he saw visions of the romantic old cabin 
 again, and the rotting buckskin bag filled with 
 nuggets of gold on the table. 
 
 He was up before the stars began fading 1 
 in the dawn, and in the big dining-room of the 
 Post, in which had gathered the factors and 
 their families for two hundred years, the boys 
 ate their last breakfast with those whom they 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF GOLD 91 
 
 "were about to leave for many weeks, perhaps 
 months. The factor himself was boisterously 
 cheerful in his efforts to keep up the good 
 cheer of Mrs. Drew and the princess mother, 
 and even Minnetaki forced herself to smile 
 and laugh, though her eyes were red, and all 
 knew that she had been crying. Rod was glad 
 when the meal was over and they went out 
 into the chill air of the morning, and down to 
 the edge of the lake, where their big birch- 
 bark canoe was loaded and waiting for their 
 departure, and he was still more relieved when 
 they had bade a last good-by to the two 
 mothers. But Minnetaki came down to the 
 canoe with them, and when Wabi kissed her 
 she burst into tears, and Rod felt a queer 
 thickening in his throat as he took her firm lit- 
 tle hand and held it for a moment between 
 both his own. 
 
 "Good-by, Minnetaki," he whispered. 
 
 He turned and took his position in the mid- 
 dle of the canoe, and with a last shout Wabi 
 shoved off and the canoe sped out into the 
 gloom. 
 
-92 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 For a long time there was silence, except for 
 the rhythmic dip of the three paddles. Once 
 Minnetaki's voice came to them faintly, and 
 they answered it with a shout. But that was 
 all. After a time Rod said, 
 
 "By George, this saying good-by is the 
 toughest part of the whole business!" 
 
 His words cleared away the feeling of op- 
 pression that seemed to have fallen on them. 
 
 "It's always hard for me to leave Minne- 
 taki," replied Wabigoon. "Some day I'm go- 
 ing to take her on a trip with me." 
 
 "She'd be a bully fellow!" cried Rod with 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 From the stern of the canoe came a de- 
 lighted chuckle from Mukoki. 
 
 "She brave — she shoot, she hunt, she be 
 dam' fine!" he added, and both Rod and Wabi 
 burst out laughing. The young Indian looked 
 at his compass by the light of a match. 
 
 "We'll strike straight across Lake Nipigon 
 instead of following the shore. What do you 
 say, Muky?" he called back. 
 
 The old pathfinder was silent. In surprise 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF GOLD 9^ 
 
 Wabi ceased paddling, and repeated his ques- 
 tion. 
 
 "Don't you think it is safe?" 
 
 Mukoki wet his hand over the side and held 
 it above his head. 
 
 "Wind in south," he said. "Maybe no get 
 stronger, but — " 
 
 "If she did," added Rod dubiously, noting 
 how heavily laden the canoe was, "we'd be in 
 a fix, as sure as you live!" 
 
 "It will take us all of to-day and half of to- 
 morrow to follow the shore," urged Wabi, 
 "while by cutting straight across the lake we 
 can make the other side early this afternoon. 
 Let's risk it!" 
 
 Mukoki grunted something that was a little 
 less than approval, and Rod felt a peculiar 
 sensation shoot through him as the frail birch 
 headed out into the big lake. Their steady 
 strokes sent the canoe through the water at 
 fully four miles an hour, and by the time 
 broad day had come the forest-clad shore at 
 Wabinosh House was only a hazy outline in 
 the distance. The white youth's unspokea 
 
94 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 fears were dispelled when the sun rose, warm 
 and glorious, over the shimmering lake, driv- 
 ing the chill from the air, and seeming to 
 bring with it the sweet scents of the forests far 
 [away. Joyfully he labored at his paddle, the 
 mere exhilaration of the morning filling his 
 arms with the strength of a young giant. Wabi 
 whistled and sang wild snatches of Indian 
 song by turns, Rod joined him with Yankee 
 Doodle and The Star Spangled Banner, and 
 even the silent Mukoki gave a whoop now and 
 then to show that he was as happy as they. 
 
 One thought filled the minds of all. They 
 were fairly started on that most thrilling of 
 all trails, the trail of gold. In their possession 
 was the secret of a great fortune. Romance, 
 adventure, discovery, awaited them. The big, 
 silent North, mysterious in its age-old desola- 
 tion, where even the winds seemed to whisper 
 of strange things that had happened countless 
 years before, was just ahead of them. They 
 were about to bury themselves in its secrets, 
 to wrest from it the yellow treasure it guarded, 
 and their blood tingled and leaped excitedly 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF GOLD 95 
 
 at the thought. What would be revealed to 
 them? What might they not discover? What 
 strange adventures were they destined to en- 
 counter in that Unknown World, peopled only; 
 by the things of the wild, that stretched track- 
 less and unexplored before them? A hundred 
 thoughts like these fired the brains of the 
 three adventurers, and made their work a play, 
 and every breath they drew one of joy. 
 
 The lake was alive with ducks. Huge flocks 
 of big black ducks, mallards, blue bills and 
 whistlers rose about them, and now and then, 
 when an unusually large flock was seen float- 
 ing upon the water ahead of them, one of the 
 three would take a pot-shot with his rifle. Rod 
 and Mukoki had each killed two, and Wabi 
 three, when the old warrior stopped the fun. 
 
 "No waste too much shooting on ducks," he 
 advised. "Need shells — big game." 
 
 Several times during the morning the three 
 rested from their exertions, and at noon they 
 ceased paddling for more than an hour while 
 they ate the generous dinner that had been put 
 up for them at Wabinosh House. The farther 
 
96 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 side of the lake was now plainly visible, and 
 when the journey was resumed all eyes eagerly 
 sought for signs of the mouth of the Om- 
 babika, where their stirring adventures of the 
 winter before had begun. For some time 
 Wabi's gaze had been fixed upon a long, white 
 rim along the shore, to which he now called 
 his companions' attention. 
 
 "It seems to be moving," he said, turning to 
 Mukoki. "Is it possible — " He paused doubt- 
 fully. 
 
 "What?" questioned Rod. 
 
 "That it's swans!" he completed. 
 
 "Swans!" cried the young hunter. "Great 
 Scott, do you mean to say there could be 
 enough swans — " 
 
 ^They sometimes cover the lake in thou- 
 sands," said Wabi. "I have seen them whiten- 
 ing the water as far as one could see." 
 
 "More swan as you count in twent' t'ous'nd 
 year!" affirmed Mukoki. After a few mo- 
 ments he added, "Them no swan. Ice!" 
 
 There was an unpleasant ring in his voice 
 as he spoke the last word, and though Rod did 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF GOLD 97 
 
 not fully understand what significance the dis- 
 covery held for them he could not but observe 
 .that it occasioned both of his comrades con- 
 siderable anxiety. The cause was not long in 
 1 doubt. Another half hour of brisk paddling 
 brought them to the edge of a frozen field of 
 ice that extended for a quarter of a mile from 
 the shore. In both directions it stretched be- 
 yond their vision. Wabi's face was filled with 
 dismay. Mukoki sat with his paddle across 
 his knees, uttering not a sound. 
 
 "What's the matter?" asked Rod. "Can't we 
 make it?" 
 
 "Make it!" exclaimed Wabigoon. "Yes — 
 perhaps to-morrow, or the next day!" 
 
 "Do you mean to say we can't get over that 
 ice?" 
 
 "That's just exactly the predicament we are 
 in. The edge of that ice is rotten." 
 
 The canoe had drifted alongside the ice, 
 and Rod began pounding it with his paddle. 
 For a distance of two feet it broke off in 
 chunks, then became more firm. 
 
 "I believe that if we cut our way in for a. 
 
g8 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 canoe length or so it would hold us," he "de- 
 clared. 
 
 Wabi reached for an ax. 
 
 "We'll try it!" 
 
 Mukoki shook his head. 
 
 But for a second time that day Wabigoon' 
 persisted in acting against the old pathfinder's 
 judgment, something that Rod had never 
 known him to be guilty of before. Foot by 
 foot he broke the ice ahead of the canoe, until 
 the frail craft had thrust its length into the 
 rotten field. Then, steadying himself on the 
 bow, he stepped out cautiously upon the ice. 
 
 "There!" he cried triumphantly. "You 
 next, Rod! Steady!" 
 
 In a moment Rod had joined him. What 
 happened after that seemed to pass like a ter- 
 rible nightmare. First there came a light 
 cracking in the ice under their feet, but it was 
 over in an instant. Wabi was laughing at him 
 for the fear that had come into his face, and 
 calling his name, when with a thunderous 
 crash the whole mass gave way under them, 
 and they plunged down into the black depths 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF GOLD 99 
 
 of the lake. The last that Rod saw was his 
 friend's horror-stricken face sinking in the 
 crumbling ice; he heard a sharp, terrible cry 
 from Mukoki, and then he knew that the cold 
 waters had engulfed him, and that he was bat- 
 tling for his life under the surface. 
 
 Fiercely he struck out with arms and legs 
 in an effort to rise, and in that moment of ter- 
 ror he thought of the great sheet of ice. What 
 if he should come up under it? In which di- 
 rection should he strike out? He opened his 
 eyes but all was a black chaos about him. The 
 seconds seemed like ages. There came a split- 
 ting, rending sensation in his head, an almost 
 overpowering desire to open his mouth, to 
 gasp, gasp for air where there was nothing but 
 Heath! Then his head struck something. It 
 was the ice! He had come up under the ice, 
 and there was but one end to that! 
 
 He began to sink again, slowly, as if an in- 
 visible hand were pulling him down, and in 
 his despair he made a last frantic effort, strik- 
 ing out blindly, knowing that in another sec- 
 ond he must open his mouth. Even under the 
 
ioo THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 water he still had consciousness enough left 
 to know that he tried to cry out, and he felt the 
 first gurgling rush of water into his lungs. 
 But he did not see the long arm that reached; 
 down where the bubbles were coming up, he! 
 did not feel the grip that dragged him out 
 upon the ice. His first sense of life was that 
 something very heavy was upon his stomach, 
 and that he was being rubbed, and pummeled, 
 and rolled about as if he had become the play- 
 thing of a great bear. Then he saw Mukoki^ 
 and then Wabigoon. 
 
 "You go build fire," he heard Mukoki say, 
 and he could hear Wabi running swiftly 
 shoreward. For he knew that they were still 
 upon the ice. The canoe was drawn safely up 
 a dozen feet away, and the old Indian was 
 dragging blankets from it. When Mukoki 
 turned he found Rod resting upon his elbow, 
 looking at him. 
 
 "That — w'at you call heem — close shave!" 
 he grinned, placing a supporting arm under 
 Rod's shoulder. 
 
 With Mukoki's assistance the youth rose to 
 
ON THE TRAIL OF GOLD 101 
 
 his feet, and a thick blanket was wrapped 
 about him. Slowly they made their way shore- 
 ward, and soon Wabi came running out to 
 ( meet them, dripping wet. 
 
 "Rod, when we get thawed out, I want you 
 to kick me," he pleaded. "I want you to kick 
 me good and hard, and then I'll take great 
 pleasure in kicking you. And ever after this, 
 when we do a thing that Mukoki tells us not 
 to do, we'll kick some more!" 
 
 "Who pulled us out?" asked Rod. 
 
 "Mukoki y of course. Will you kick me?" 
 
 "Shake!" 
 
 And the two Gripping, half-frozen young 
 adventurers shook hands, while Mukoki 
 chuckled and grunted and gurgled until he 
 set the others bursting into laughter. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE YELLOW BULLET 
 
 EFORE a rousing fire of logs Rod ami 
 Wabigoon began to see the cheerful 
 side of life again, and as soon as Mu- 
 koki had built them a balsam shelter they 
 stripped off their clothes and wrapped them- 
 selves in blankets, while the old Indian dried 
 their outfits. It was two hours before they 
 were dressed. No sooner were they out than 
 Wabi went into the bush and returned a few 
 minutes later brandishing a good-sized birch 
 in his hand. There was no sign of humor in 
 his face as he eyed Rod. 
 
 "Do you see that log?" he said, pointing to 
 the big trunk of a fallen tree near the fire. 
 "That will just fit your stomach, Rod. It will 
 be better than kicking. Double yourself over 
 that, face down, pantaloons up. I'm going to 
 
 102 
 
THE YELLOW BULLET 103 
 
 lick you first because I want you to know just 
 how much to give me. I want it twice as hard,, 
 for I was more to blame than you." 
 
 In some astonishment Rod doubled himself 
 over the log. 
 
 "Great Scott!" he ejaculated, peering up in 
 dismay. "Not too hard, Wabi !" 
 
 Swish! fell the birch, and a yell of pain 
 burst from the white youth's lips. 
 
 Swish ! — Swish ! — Swish ! 
 
 "Ouch! Great Caesar — Let up!" 
 
 "Don't move!" shouted Wabi. "Take it 
 like a man — you deserve it!" 
 
 r Again and again the birch fell. Rod 
 groaned as he rose to his feet after Wabi had 
 stopped. "Oh, please — please give me that 
 svhip!" 
 
 "Not too hard, you know," warned Wabi, 
 'as he fitted himself over the log. 
 
 "You chose your own poison," reminded; 
 Rod, rolling up his sleeve. "Just twice as 
 hard, no more!" 
 
 S^nd the birch began to fall. 
 
 When it was over Rod's arm ached, and 
 
104 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 Wabi, despite his Indian stoicism, let out a 
 long howl at the last blow. 
 
 During the entire scene of chastisement 
 Mukoki stood like one struck dumb. 
 
 "We'll never be bad any more, Muky," 
 promised Wabigoon, rubbing himself gently. 
 "That is, if we are, we'll whip ourselves again, 
 eh, Rod?" 
 
 "Not so long as I can run!" assured Rod 
 with emphasis. "I'm willing to lend a helping 
 hand at any time you think you deserve an- 
 other, but beyond that please count me out!" 
 
 For an hour after the self-punishment of 
 the young gold hunters the three gathered fuel 
 for the night and balsam boughs for their 
 beds. It was dark by the time they sat down to 
 their supper, which they ate in the light of a 
 huge fire of dry poplar. 
 
 "This is better than paddling all night, even 
 if we did have a close shave," said Rod, after 
 they had finished and settled themselves com- 
 fortably. 
 
 Wabi gave a grimace and shrugged his 
 shoulders. 
 
THE YELLOW BULLET, 105 
 
 "Do you know how close your call was?" he 
 asked. "It was so close that just by one chance 
 in ten thousand you were saved. I had pulled 
 myself upon the ice by catching hold of the 
 bow of the canoe and when Muky saw that £ 
 was safe he watched for you. But you didn't 
 show up. We had given you up for dead when 
 a few bubbles came to the surface, and quicker 
 than a wink Mukoki thrust down his arm. He 
 got you by the hair as you were sinking for the 
 last time. Think of that, Rod, and dream of it 
 to-night. It'll do you good." 
 
 "Ugh!" shuddered the white youth. "Let's 
 talk of something more cheerful. What a 
 glorious fire that poplar makes !" 
 
 "Mak' light more as twent' t'ous'nd can- 
 dles 1" agreed Mukoki. "Heem bright!" 
 
 "Once upon a time, many ages ago, there 
 was a great chief in this country," began 
 Wabigoon, "and he had seven beautiful 
 daughters. So beautiful were they that the 
 Great Spirit himself fell in love with them, 
 and for the first time in countless moons he 
 appeared upon earth, and told the chief that if 
 
io6 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 he would give him his seven daughters he, in 
 turn, would grant the father seven great 
 desires. And the chief, surrendering his 
 daughters, asked that he might be given a day 
 without night, and a night without day, and 
 his wish was granted; and his third and fourth 
 and fifth desires were that the land might al- 
 ways be filled with fish and game, the forests 
 remain for ever green, and fire be given to his 
 people. His sixth desire was that a fuel be 
 given to him which would burn even in water, 
 and the Great Spirit gave him birch; and his 
 seventh desire was that he might possess an- 
 other fuel, which would throw off no smoke, 
 and might bring comfort and joy to his wig- 
 wams — and the poplar sprang up in the for- 
 ests. And because of that chief, and his seven 
 beautiful daughters, all of these things are true 
 even to this day. Isn't it so, Mukoki?" 
 
 The old warrior nodded. 
 
 "And what became of the Great Spirit and 
 the seven beautiful daughters?" questioned 
 Rod. 
 
 Mukoki rose and left the fire. 
 
THE YELLOW BULLET ixfjt 
 
 "He believes in that as he believes in the 
 *5un and the moon," spoke Wabi softly. "But 
 he knows that you do not, and that all white 
 people laugh at it. He could tell you many 
 wonderful stories of the creation of these for-. 
 ests and mountains and the things in them if 
 he would. But he knows that you would not 
 believe, and would laugh at him afterward." 
 
 In an instant Rod was upon his feet. 
 
 "Mukoki!" he called. "Mukoki!" 
 
 The old Indian turned and came back 
 slowly. The white youth met him half-way, 
 his face flushed, his eyes shining. 
 
 "Mukoki," he said gently, gripping the 
 warrior's hand, "Mukoki — -I love your Great 
 Spirit! I love the one who made these glori- 
 ous forests, and that glorious moon up there, 
 and the mountains and lakes and rivers! I 
 want to know more about him. You must tell 
 me, so that I will know when he talks about 
 me, in the winds, in the stars, in the forests! 
 Will you?" 
 
 Mukoki was looking at him, his thin lips 
 parted, his grim visage relaxed, as if he were 
 
'io8 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 weighing the truthfulness of the white youth's 
 words. 
 
 "And I will tell you about our Great Spirit, 
 the white man's Great Spirit," urged Rod. 
 "For we have a Great Spirit, too, Mukoki, 
 and He did for the white man's world what 
 yours did for you. He created the earth, the 
 sky and the sea and all the things in them in 
 six days, and on the seventh He rested. And 
 that seventh day we call Sunday, Mukoki. 
 And He made our forests for us, as your Great 
 Spirit made them for you, only instead of giv- 
 ing them for the love of seven beautiful wom- 
 en He gave them for the love of man. I'll tell 
 you wonderful things about Him, Mukoki, if 
 you will tell me about yours. Is it a bar- 
 gain?" 
 
 "Mebby — yes," replied the old pathfinder 
 slowly. His face had softened, and for the 
 j second time Rod knew that he had touched 
 ' the heartstrings of his red comrade. They re- 
 turned to the fire, and Wabi made room for 
 them upon the log beside him. In his hand 
 he held a copy of the old birch-bark map. 
 
THE YELLOW BULLET: 10^ 
 
 "I've been thinking about this all day," he 
 said, spreading it out so that the others could 
 see. "Somehow I haven't been able to get the 
 idea out of my head that — " 
 
 "What?" asked Rod. 
 
 "Oh,, nothing," hastily added Wabi, as if he 
 regretted what he had said. "It's a mighty 
 curious map, isn't it? I wonder if we'll ever 
 know its whole story." 
 
 "I believe we know it now," declared Rod. 
 "In the first place, we found it clutched by 
 one of the skeletons, and we know from the 
 knife wounds in those skeletons, and the 
 weapons near them, that the two men fought 
 and killed themselves. They fought for this 
 map, for the precious secret which each 
 wished to possess alone. Now — " 
 
 He took the map from Wabi's fingers and 
 held it up between them and the fire. 
 
 "Isn't the rest of it clear?" 
 
 For a few moments the three looked at it in 
 silence. 
 
 From the faded outlines of the original it 
 had been drawn with painstaking accuracy. 
 
no THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 iWith a splinter Rod pointed to the top of the 
 map, where were written the words, "Cabin 
 and head of chasm." 
 
 "Could anything be clearer?" he repeated. 
 "Here is the cabin in which the men killed 
 themselves, and where we found their skele- 
 tons, and here they have marked the chasm in 
 which I shot the silver fox, and down which 
 we must go to find the gold. According to this 
 we must go until we come to the third water- 
 fall, and there we will find another cabin — 
 and the gold." 
 
 "It all seems very simple — by the map," 
 agreed Wabi. 
 
 Under the crude diagram were a number of 
 lines in writing. [They were : 
 
 "We, John Ball, Henri Langlois, and Peter 
 Plante, having discovered gold at this fall, do 
 hereby agree to joint partnership in the same, 
 and do pledge ourselves to forget our past dif- 
 ferences and work in mutual good will and 
 honesty, so help us God. Signed, 
 
 "John Ball, Henri Langlois, 
 Peter Plante." 
 
THE YELLOWi BULLET SHE 
 
 Through the name of John Ball had been 
 drawn a broad black line which had almost 
 destroyed the letters, and at the end of this 
 line, in brackets, was printed a word in 
 'Trench, which for the hundredth time Wabi 
 translated aloud: 
 
 "Dead!," 
 
 "From the handwriting of the original we 
 know that Ball was a man of some education," 
 continued Rod. "And there is no doubt but 
 that the birch-bark sketch was made by him. 
 All of the writing was in one hand, with the 
 exception of the signatures of Langlois and 
 Plante, and you could hardly decipher the 
 letters in those signatures if you did not al- 
 ready know their names. From these lines 
 it is quite certain that we were right at the 
 cabin when we concluded that the two French- 
 men killed the Englishman to get him out of 
 the partnership. Isn't that story clear 
 enough?" 
 
 "Yes, as far as you have gone," replied 
 iWabi. "These three men discovered gold ? 
 quarreled, signed this agreement, and thera 
 
ii2 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 Ball was murdered. The two Frenchmen, as 
 Mukoki suggested at the cabin, came out a 
 little later for supplies, and brought the buck- 
 skin bag full of gold with them. They had 
 come as far as the cabin at the head of the 
 chasm when they quarreled over possession 
 of the map and agreement, fought, and died. 
 From the old guns and other evidences we 
 found near them we know that all this hap- 
 pened at least fifty years ago, and perhaps 
 more. But — " 
 
 He paused, whistling softly. 
 
 "Where is the third waterfall?" 
 
 "I thought we settled that last winter," re- 
 plied Rod, a little irritated by his companion's 
 doubt. "If writing goes for anything, Ball 
 was a man of education, and he drew the map 
 according to some sort of scale. The second 
 fall is only half as far from the first fall as 
 the third fall is from the second, which is con- 
 clusive evidence of this. Now Mukoki dis- 
 covered the first waterfall fifty miles down the 
 chasm!" 
 
 "And we figured from the distances be- 
 
THE YELLOW BULLET 113" 
 
 tween John Ball's marks on the birch, that 
 the third fall was about two hundred and 
 fifty miles from our old camp at the head of 
 the chasm," rejoined Wabigoon. "It looks 
 reasonable." 
 
 "It is reasonable," declared Rod, his face 
 flushed with excitement. "From the head of 
 the chasm our trail is as plain as day. We 
 can't miss it!" 
 
 Mukoki had been listening in silence, and 
 now joined in the conversation for the first 
 time. 
 
 "Must get to chasm first," he grunted, giv- 
 ing his shoulders a hunch that suggested a 
 great deal. 
 
 Wabi returned the map to his pocket. 
 
 "You're right, Muky," he laughed. "We're 
 climbing mountains before we come to them. 
 It will be tough work getting to the chasm." 
 
 "Much water — ver' swift. River run lak 
 twent' t'ous'nd cari-boo!" 
 
 "I'll bet the Ombabika is a raging torrent," 
 said Rod. 
 
 "And we've got forty miles of it, all up* 
 
a 14 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 stream," replied* Wabi. "Then we come to 
 the Height of Land. After that the streams 
 run northward, to Hudson Bay, and when we 
 reach them we'll hold our breath and pray 
 instead of paddling. Oh, it will be exciting 
 fun rushing down-stream on the floods I" 
 
 "But there is work before us to-morrow — 
 hard work," said Rod. "And I'm going to 
 bed. Goodnight!" 
 
 Mukoki and Wabigoon soon followed their 
 companion's example, and half an hour later 
 nothing but the crackling of the fire dis- 
 turbed the stillness of the camp. Mukoki 
 was as regular as clockwork in his rising, and 
 an hour before dawn he was up and preparing 
 breakfast. When his young comrades aroused 
 themselves they found the ducks they had shot 
 the preceding day roasting on spits over the 
 fire, and coffee nearly ready. Rod also no- 
 ticed that a part of the contents of trie canoe 
 were missing. 
 
 "Took load up to river," explained Mu- 
 koki in response to the youth's questioning. 
 
 "Working while we sleep, as usual," ex- 
 
THE YELLOW BULLET ng 
 
 claimed the disgusted Wabigoon. "If it keeps 
 on we'll deserve another whipping, Rod!" 
 
 Mukoki examined a fat bluebill, roasted to 
 a rich brown, and gave it to Rod. Another 
 he handed to Wabigoon, and with a third in 
 his own hands he found a seat for himself 
 upon the ground close to the coflee and bread. 
 
 "Ah, if this isn't fit for a king!" cried Rod, 
 poising his savory bluebill on the end of a 
 fork. 
 
 Half an hour later th.Q three went to their 
 canoe. Mukoki had already packed a half 
 of its contents to the river, a quarter of a mile 
 away, and he now loaded himself with the 
 remainder while the two boys hoisted the light 
 birch upon their shoulders. As Roderick 
 caught his first glimpse of the Ombabika in 
 the growing light of day he gave a cry of 
 astonishment. iWhen he had gone up the 
 stream the preceding winter it was scarce 
 more than a dozen gun lengths in width. Now 
 it was a veritable Amazon, its black, ugl$ 
 waters rolling and twisting like the slow boil- 
 ing of a thick liquid over a fire. There was 
 
Ji6 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 'little rush about it, no frenzied haste, no 
 mountain-like madness in the advance of the 
 torrent. Rod had expected to see this, and 
 he would not have been startled by it. 
 
 But there was something vastly more ap- 
 palling in the flood that rolled slowly before 
 his eyes, with its lazily twisting whirlpools, 
 its thousand unseen currents, rolling the water 
 here and there — always in different places — 
 like the gurgling eruptions he had often ob- 
 served in a pot of simmering oatmeal. There 
 was something uncanny about it, something 
 terribly suggestive of giant hands under the 
 surface, waiting to pull them down. He 
 knew, without questioning, that there was 
 more deadly power in that creeping flood than 
 in a dozen boisterous torrents thundering 
 down from the mountains. In it were the 
 cumulative waters of a score of those torrents, 
 and in its broad, deep sweep into the big lake' 
 the currents and perils of each were combined 
 into one great threatening force. 
 
 The thoughts that were in Rod's mind be- 
 trayed themselves as he looked at his com- 
 
THE YELLOW BULLET 117 
 
 panions. Mukoki was reloading the canoe. 
 Wabi watched the flood. 
 
 "She's running pretty strong," said the In- 
 dian youth dubiously. "What do you think 
 of it, Muky?" 
 
 "Keep close to shore," replied the old war- 
 rior, without stopping his work. "We mak' 
 heem — safe!" 
 
 There was a good deal of consolation in 
 Mukoki's words, for both youths still bore 
 smarting reminders of his caution and good 
 judgment. In a short time the canoe was 
 safely launched where a small eddy had 
 worked into the shore, and the three adventur- 
 ers dug in their paddles. Mukoki, who held 
 the important position in the stern, kept the 
 bow of the birch within half a dozen yards 
 jof the bank, and to Rod's mind they slipped 
 up-stream with amazing speed and ease. Now 
 and then one of the upheavings of the currents 
 would catch the canoe,, and from the way in 
 which it was pitched either to one side or the 
 other Rod easily imagined what perils the 
 middle of the stream would have held for 
 
lit THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 them. Quick action on the part of Mukoki 
 and Wabigoon was always necessary to coun- 
 teract the effect of these upheavals, and in the 
 bow Wabi was constantly on the alert. At no 
 time could they tell when to expect the attacks 
 of the unseen forces below. Ten feet ahead 
 the water might be running as smooth as oil, 
 then — a single huge bubble, as if a great fish 
 had sent up a gasp of air — and in an instant it 
 would be boiling like a small maelstrom. 
 
 Rod noticed that each time they were 
 caught near one of these some unseen power 
 seemed sucking them down, and that at those 
 times the canoe would settle several inches 
 deeper than when they were in calm water. 
 The discovery thrilled him, and he wondered 
 what one of the big eruptions out in mid- 
 stream would do to them if they were caught 
 in it Other perils were constantly near them.< 
 Floating logs and masses of brush and other 
 debris swept down with the flood, and Wabi's 
 warning cries of "right," "left," and "back" 
 came with such frequency that Rod's arms 
 ached with the mighty efforts which he made 
 
THE YELLOW. BULLET 1 19 
 
 with his paddle in response to them. !Again ( 
 the stream would boil with such fury ahead of 
 them that Mukoki would put in to shore, and 
 a portage would be made beyond the danger 
 point. Five times during the day were the 
 'canoe and its contents carried in this manner, 
 so that including all time lost an average of 
 not more than two miles an hour was made. 
 IWhen camp was struck late that afternoon, 
 however, Mukoki figured that they had cov- 
 ered half the distance up the Ombabika. 
 
 fThe following day's progress was even 
 slower. With every mile the stream became 
 narrower and swifter. The treacherous up- 
 heavals caused by undercurrents no longer 
 harassed the gold seekers, but logs and debris 
 swept down with greater velocity. Several 
 times the frail canoe was saved from destruc- 
 tion only by the quick and united action of 
 the three. fThey worked now like a well-reg- 
 ulated machine, engineered by Wabigoon,, 
 whose sharp eyes were always on the alert for 
 danger ahead. This second day was one of 
 thrills and tense anxiety for Rod, and he was 
 
120 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 glad when it came to an end. It was early, 
 and the sun was still two hours high, when 
 they stopped to camp. 
 
 Mukoki had chosen an open space, backed 
 by a poplar-covered rocky ridge, and scarce 
 had the bow of the canoe touched shore when 
 Wabi gave an excited exclamation, caught up 
 his rifle, and fired three rapid shots in the di- 
 rection of a small clump of spruce near the 
 foot of the mountain. 
 
 : "Missed, by all that's good and great!" he 
 yelled. "Quick, Mukoki, shove her in! 
 There's the biggest bear I've seen in all my 
 life!" 
 
 % "Where?" demanded Rod. "Where is 
 he?" 
 
 He dropped his paddle and snatched his 
 own rifle, while Mukoki, keeping his self- 
 possession, brought the canoe so that Wabi 
 could leap ashore. Rod followed like a flash, 
 and the two excited youths sped in the direc- 
 tion of the bear, leaving their companion to 
 care for himself and the heavily-laden birch. 
 A short, swift run brought them to the edge 
 
THE YELLOW. BULLET 121 
 
 of the spruce, and with hearts beating wildly 
 the two scanned the barren side of the moun- 
 tain ahead of them. There was no sign of the 
 bear. 
 
 "He turned down-stream!" cried Wabi. 
 "We must cut—" 
 
 "There he is," whispered Rod sharply. 
 
 Just beginning the ascent of the mountain, 
 four or five hundred yards below them, was 
 the bear. Even at that distance Rod was 
 amazed at the size of the beast. 
 
 "What a monster!" he gasped. 
 
 "Blaze away!" urged Wabi. "It's four 
 hundred yards if it's a foot! Aim for the top 
 of his back and you'll bring him I" 
 
 Suiting action to his words he fired the two 
 remaining shots in his rifle, and as he slipped 
 in fresh cartridges Rod continued the long- 
 range fusillade. His first and second shots 
 produced no effect. At his third the running 
 animal paused for a moment and looked 
 down at them, and the young hunter seized! 
 his opportunity to take a careful aim. At the 
 report of his gun the bear gave a quick lunge 
 
122! THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 forward, half-fell among the rocks, and then 
 was off again. 
 
 "You hit him!" shouted Wabi, setting off 
 on a dead run between the spruce and the 
 mountain. 
 
 For a few brief moments Rod studied the 
 situation as he reloaded. The bear was rap- 
 idly nearing the summit of the ridge. By 
 swift running Wabigoon would have another 
 fair shot before the animal got out of range. 
 If that shot were a miss they would lose their 
 game. In a flash he discerned a break in 
 the mountain. If he could make that, and the 
 bear turned in his direction — 
 
 Without further thought he ran toward the 
 break. He heard the sharp reports of Wabi's 
 rifle behind him, but didn't stop to see the 
 effect of the fire. If it was another miss — 
 every second counted. The cut in the moun- 
 tain was clear. Breathlessly he dashed 
 through it and stopped on the opposite side, 
 his eyes eagerly scanning the rock-strewn 
 ridge. He made no attempt to suppress the 
 exclamation of joy that came to his lips when, 
 
THE YELLOW BULLET 123 
 
 fully eight hundred yards away, he discerned 
 the bear coming down the side of the moun- 
 tain, and in his direction. Crouching behind 
 a huge boulder Rod waited. Seven hundred 
 yards, six hundred, five hundred, and the bear 
 turned, this time striking into the edge of the 
 plain. The animal was traveling slowly, 
 partly stopping in his flight now and then, 
 and Rod knew that he was badly wounded. 
 It was soon evident that the course being 
 taken by the game would bring it no nearer, 
 and the young hunter leveled his rifle. 
 
 Five hundred yards, more than a quarter 
 of a mile! 
 
 This was desperate shooting, shooting that 
 sent a strange thrill through Roderick Drew. 
 The magnificent weapon in his hands was 
 equal to the task. It would kill easily at that 
 distance. But would he fail? He was confi- 
 dent that his first shot went high. His second 
 had no effect. To his third there came the 
 sharp response of a fourth from the top of the 
 mountain. Wabigoon had reached the sum- 
 mit, and was firing at six hundred yards ! 
 
124 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 The bear stopped. With deadly precision 
 Rod now took aim at the motionless animal. 
 An instant after he had fired a wild shout 
 burst from his throat, and was answered by 
 Wabigoon's joyful yell from the mountain. 
 It was a wonderful shot, and the bear was 
 down! 
 
 The animal was dead when the triumphant 
 young hunters reached its side. It was some 
 time before either of them spoke. Panting 
 from their exertions, both looked down in 
 silence upon the huge beast at their feet. That 
 he had made a remarkable kill Rod could see 
 by the look of wonder in his companion's face. 
 They were still mutely regarding the dead 
 animal when Mukoki came through the break 
 in the ridge and hurried toward them. His 
 face, too, became filled with amazement when 
 he saw the bear. 
 
 "Big bear!" he exclaimed. 
 
 There was a world of meaning in his words, 
 and Rod flushed with pleasure. 
 
 "He weighs five hundred," said Wabi, 
 
THE YELLOW BULLET 125 
 
 "and he stands four feet at the shoulders if 
 an inch." 
 
 "Fine rug!" grinned Mukoki. 
 
 "Let's see, Rod ; he'll make a rug — " Wabi 
 walked critically around the bear. "He'll 
 make you a rug over eight feet long by about 
 six in width. I wonder where he is hit?" 
 
 A brief examination showed that while the 
 honors of the actual kill were with Rod, at 
 least one, and perhaps two, of Wabi's shots 
 had taken effect. The last shot from the white 
 youth's rifle had struck the bear just below 
 the right ear, causing almost instantaneous 
 death. On this same side, which had been ex- 
 posed to Rod's fire, was a body wound, un- 
 doubtedly made by the shot on the mountain 
 side. When the animal was rolled over by; 
 the combined efforts of the three two more 
 wounds were discovered on the left side, 
 which had mostly been exposed to Wabigoon's 
 fire. It was while examining these that the 
 sharp-eyed Mukoki gave a sudden grunt of 
 surprise. 
 
126 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "Heem shot before — long time ago! Old 
 wound — feel bullet!" 
 
 Between his fingers he was working the 
 loose hide back of the foreleg. The scar of an 
 old wound was plainly visible, and both Rod 
 and Wabi could feel the ball under the skin. 
 There is something that fascinates the big 
 game hunter in this discovery of an old wound 
 in his quarry, and especially in the vast soli- 
 tudes of the North, where hunters are few and 
 widely scattered. It brings with it a vivid 
 picture of what happened long ago, the ex- 
 citement of some other chase, the well-di- 
 rected shot, and at last the escape of the game. 
 And so it was now. The heads of Rod and 
 Wabigoon hung close over Mukoki's shoul- 
 ders while the old Indian dug out the bullet 
 with his knife. Another grunt of surprise 
 fell from the pathfinder's lips as he dropped 
 the pellet in the palm of his hand. 
 
 It was a strange-looking object, smooth, 
 and curiously flattened. 
 
 "Ver' soft bullet," said Mukoki. "Never 
 know lead thin, thin out lak thatl" 
 
THE YELLOW BULLET tag 
 
 With his knife he peeled off a thin slice of 
 the ball. 
 
 "Heem— " 
 
 He held up the two pieces. In the sun they 
 gleamed a dull, rich yellow. 
 
 "That bullet made of gold!" he breathed, 
 scarcely above a whisper. "No yellow lead. 
 That gold, pure gold!" 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 UP THE OMBABIKA 
 
 FOR a few moments after Mukoki's re- 
 markable discovery the three stood 
 speechless. Wabigoon stared as if he 
 ■could not bring himself to believe the evi- 
 dence of his eyes. Rod was quivering with 
 the old, thrilling excitement that had first 
 come to him in the cabin where they had 
 found the skeletons and the buckskin bag with 
 its precious nuggets, and Mukoki's face was a 
 study. The thin, long fingers which held the 
 two pieces of the gold bullet trembled, which 
 was an unusual symptom in the old pathfinder. 
 It was he who broke the silence, and his words 
 gave utterance to the question which had 
 rushed into the heads of the two young hunt- 
 ers. 
 
 "Who shoot gold bullets at bear?" 
 And to this question there was, for the time, 
 128 
 
U£ THE OMBABIKA H29 
 
 absolutely no answer. To tell who shot that 
 bullet was impossible. But why was it used? 
 
 Wabigoon had taken the parts of the yellow 
 ball and was weighing them in the palm of his 
 hand. 
 
 "It weighs an ounce," he declared. 
 
 "Twenty dollars' worth of gold!" gasped 
 Rod, as if he lacked breath to express him- 
 self. "Who in the wide world is shooting 
 twenty dollar bullets at bear?" he cried more 
 excitedly, repeating Mukoki's question of a 
 minute before. 
 
 He, too, weighed the yellow pellets in his 
 hand. 
 
 The puzzled look had gone out of Muko- 
 ki's face. Again the battle-scarred old war- 
 rior wore the stoic mask of his race, which 
 only now and then is lifted for an instant by 
 some sudden and unexpected happening. 
 Behind that face, immobile, almost expres- 
 sionless, worked a mind alive to every trick 
 and secret of the vast solitudes, and even be- 
 fore his young comrades had gained the use 
 of their tongues he was, in his savage imagina- 
 
130 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 tion, traveling swiftly back over the trail of 
 the monster bear to the gun that had fired the 
 golden bullet. Wabigoon understood him, 
 and watched him eagerly. 
 
 ''What do you think of it, Muky?" 
 
 "Man shoot powder and ball gun, not car- 
 
 i. 
 
 tridge," replied Mukoki slowly. "Old gun. 
 Strange; ver' strange!" 
 
 "A muzzle loader!" said Wabi. 
 
 The Indian nodded. 
 
 "Had powder, no lead. Got hungry; used 
 gold." 
 
 Eight words had told the story, or at least 
 enough of it to clear away a part of the cloud 
 of mystery, but the other part still remained. 
 
 Who had fired the bullet, and where had 
 the gold come from? 
 
 "He must have struck it rich," said Wabi, 
 "else w T ould he have a chunk of gold like 
 that?" 
 
 "Where that come from — more, much 
 more," agreed Mukoki shortly. 
 
 "Do you suppose — " began Rod. There 
 was a curious thrill in his voice, and he 
 
y 
 
 UP THE OMBABIKA 331 
 
 paused, as if scarce daring to venture the rest 
 of what he had meant to say. "Do you sup- 
 pose — somebody has found — our gold?" 
 
 Mukoki and Wabigoon stared at him as if 
 he had suddenly exploded a mine. Then 
 Wabi turned and looked silently at the old 
 Indian. Not a word was spoken. Silently 
 Rod drew something from his pocket, care- 
 fully wrapped in a bit of cloth. 
 
 "You remember I kept this little nugget 
 from my share in the buckskin bag, intending 
 to have a scarf-pin made of it," he explained. 
 "When I took my course in geology and min- 
 eralogy I learned that, if one had half a dozen 
 specimens of gold, each from a different mine, 
 the chances were about ten to one that no two 
 of them would be exactly alike in coloring. 
 Now— •" 
 
 He exposed the nugget, and made a fresh 
 cut in it with his knife, as Mukoki had done 
 with the yellow bullet. Then the two gleam- 
 ing surfaces were compared. 
 
 One glance was sufficient. 
 
 The gold was the same! 
 
132 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 Wabi drew back, uttering something under 
 his breath, his eyes gleaming darkly. Rod's 
 face had suddenly turned a shade whiter, and 
 Mukoki, not understanding the mysteries of 
 mineralogy, stared at the youth in mute sus- 
 pense. 
 
 "Somebody has found our gold!" cried 
 Wabi, almost savagely. 
 
 "We are not sure," interrupted Rod. "We 
 know only that the evidence is very suspi- 
 cious. The rock formation throughout this 
 country is almost identically the same, deep 
 trap on top, with slate beneath, and for that 
 reason it is very possible that gold found right 
 in this locality would be of exactly the same 
 appearance as gold found two hundred miles 
 from here. Only — it's suspicious," Rod con- 
 cluded. 
 
 "Man probably dead," consoled Mukoki. 
 "No lead — hungry — shoot bear an' no git 
 heem. Mebby starve!" 
 
 "The poor devil!" exclaimed Wabigoon. 
 "We've been too selfish to give a thought to 
 that, Rod. Of course he was hungry, or he 
 
UP THE OMBABIKA 133 
 
 wouldri't have used gold for bullets. And 
 he didn't get this bear! By George — " 
 
 "I wish he'd got him," said Rod simply. 
 
 Somehow Mukoki's words sent a flush into 
 'his face. There came to him, suddenly, a 
 mental picture of that possible tragedy in the 
 wilderness : the starving man, his last hopeless 
 molding of a golden bullet, the sight of the 
 monster bear, the shot, and after that the de- 
 spair and suffering and slow death of the man 
 who had fired it. 
 
 "I wish he'd got it," he repeated. "We 
 have plenty of grub." 
 
 Mukoki was already at work skinning the 
 bear, and Rod and Wabigoon unsheathed 
 their knives and joined him. 
 
 "Wound 'bout fi', six month old," said the 
 Indian. "Shot just before snow." 
 , "When there wasn't a berry in the woods 
 for a starving man to eat," added Wabi. 
 "Well, here's hoping he found something, 
 Rod." 
 
 An hour later the three gold seekers re- 
 turned to their canoe laden with the choicest 
 
134 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 of tho bear meat, and the animal's skin, which 
 was immediately stretched between two trees, 
 high up out of the reach of depredating ani- 
 mals. Rod gazed at it proudly. 
 
 "We'll be sure and get it when we come 
 back, won't we?" 
 
 "Sure," replied Wabi. 
 
 "It will be safe?" 
 
 "As safe as though it were at home." 
 
 "Unless somebody comes along and steals 
 it," added Rod. 
 
 Wabi was busy unloading certain necessary 
 articles from the canoe, but he ceased his work 
 to look at Rod. 
 
 "Steal!" he cried in astonishment. 
 
 Mukoki, too, had heard Rod's remark and 
 was listening. 
 
 "Rod," continued Wabigoon quietly, "that 
 is one thing we don't have up here. Our 
 great big glorious North doesn't know the. 
 word thief, except when it is applied to a 
 Woonga. If a white hunter came along here 
 to-morrow, and found that hide stretched so 
 low that the animals were getting at it, he 
 
UP THE OMBABIKA 135 
 
 would nail it higher for us. An Indian, if 
 he camped here, would build his fire so that 
 the sparks wouldn't strike it. Rod, up here, 
 where we don't know civilization, we're hon- 
 est!" 
 
 "But down in the States," said Rod, "the 
 Indians steal." 
 
 The words slipped from him. The next in- 
 stant he would have given anything to have 
 been able to recall them. Mukoki had grown 
 a little more tense in his attitude. 
 
 "That's because white men have lived so 
 much among them, white men who are called 
 civilized," answered the young scion of Wa- 
 binosh House, his eyes growing bright. 
 "White blood makes thieves. Pardon me for 
 saying it, Rod, but it does, at least among In- 
 dians. But our white blood up here is differ- 
 ent from yours. It's the same blood that's in 
 our Indians, every drop of it honest, loyal to 
 its friends, and it runs red and strong with the 
 love of this great wilderness. There are ex- 
 ceptions, of course, as you have seen in the 
 Woongas, who are an outlaw race. But we 
 
136 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 are honest, and Mukoki there, if he were dy- 
 ing of cold, wouldn't steal a skin to save him- 
 self. An ordinary Indian might take it, if 
 he were dying for want of it, but not unless 
 he had a gun to leave in its place !" 
 
 "I didn't mean to say what I did," said Rod. 
 "Qh, I wish I were one of you! I love this 
 big wilderness, and everything in it, and it's 
 glorious to hear you say what you do!" 
 
 "You are one of us," cried Wabi, gripping 
 his hand. 
 
 That evening, after they had finished their 
 supper and the three were gathered about the 
 fire, Wabigoon said: 
 
 "Muky could tell you one reason why the 
 Indians of the North are honest if he wanted 
 to, Rod. But he won't, so I will. There was 
 once a tribe in the country of Mukoki's fore- 
 fathers, along the Makoki River, which emp- 
 ties into the Albany, whose men were great 
 thieves, and who stole from one another. No 
 man's snare was safe from his neighbor, fights 
 and killings were of almost daily occurrence, 
 and the chief of the tribe was the greatest 
 
UP THE OMBABIKA 137 
 
 thief of all, and of course escaped punish- 
 ment. This chief loved to set his own snares, 
 and one day he was enraged to find that one of 
 his tribe had been so bold as to set a snare 
 within a few inches of his own, and in the trail 
 of the same animal. He determined on met- 
 ing out a terrible punishment, and waited. 
 
 "While he was waiting a rabbit ran into the 
 snare of his rival. Picking up a stick he ap- 
 proached to kill the game, when suddenly 
 there seemed to pass a white mist before his 
 eyes, and when he looked again there was no 
 rabbit, but the most wonderful creature he 
 had ever beheld in the form of man, and he 
 knew that it was the Great Spirit, and fell 
 upon his face. And a great voice came to 
 him, as if rolling from far beyond the most 
 distant mountains, and it told him that the 
 forests and streams of the red man's heaven 
 were closed to him and his people, that in the 
 hunting-grounds that came after death there 
 was no place for thieves. 
 
 " 'Go to your people,' he said, 'and tell them 
 this. Tell them that from this day on, moon 
 
138 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 upon moon, until the end of time, must they 
 live like brothers, setting their snares side by 
 side without war, to escape the punishment 
 that hovers over them.' 
 
 "And the chief told his people this," fin- 
 ished Wabi, "and from that hour there was 
 no more thievery in the land. And because 
 the Great Spirit came in the form he did the 
 rabbit is the good luck animal of the Crees 
 and Chippewayans of the far North, and 
 wherever the snows fall deep, men set their 
 traps side by side to this day, and do not rob." 
 
 Rod had listened with glowing eyes. 
 
 "It's glorious!" he repeated. "It's glori- 
 ous, if it's true!" 
 
 "It is true," said Wabi. "In all this great 
 country between here and the Barren Lands, 
 where the musk-ox lives, there is not one In- 
 dian in a hundred who would steal another 
 Indian's trap, or the game in it. It is one of 
 the understood laws of the North that every 
 'hunter shall have his 'trap line,' or 'run,' and 
 it is not courtesy for another trapper to en- 
 croach upon it; but if he should, and he 
 
UP THE OMBABIKA 139 
 
 should lay a trap close beside another's, it 
 would not be wrong, for the law of the Great 
 Spirit is greater than the law of man. Why, 
 last winter even the outlaw Woongas made 
 no effort to steal our traps, though they 
 thirsted for our lives!" 
 
 "Mukoki," said Rod, rising, "I want to 
 shake hands with you before I go to bed. 
 I'm learning — fast. I wish I were half In- 
 dian!" 
 
 The next morning the journey up the Om- 
 babika was resumed, and a little more of anx- 
 iety was now mingled with the enthusiasm 
 of the adventurers. For no one of them could 
 relieve himself of the possible significance of 
 the gold bullet, the fear that their treasure had 
 been discovered by another. Wabi regained 
 his confidence first. 
 
 "I don't believe it!" he exclaimed at last. 
 Without questioning, the others knew to what 
 he referred. "I don't believe that our gold 
 has been found. It is in the heart of the wild- 
 est country on the continent, and surely if such 
 a rich find had been made we would have 
 
HO ' THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 heard something about it at Wabinosh House 
 or Kenegami, which are the nearest points of 
 supply." 
 
 "Or, if it was found, the discoverer is 
 dead," added Rod. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 In the stern, Mukoki nodded and grunted 
 his conviction. 
 
 "Dead," he repeated. 
 
 The Ombabika had now become narrow 
 and violent. Against its swift current the 
 canoe made but little headway, and at noon 
 Mukoki announced that the river journey was 
 at an end. For a few moments Rod did not 
 recognize where they had landed. Then he 
 gave a sudden cry of glad surprise. 
 
 "Why, this is where we had supper that 
 night after our terrible adventure on the river 
 last winter," he exclaimed. 
 
 From far off there came faintly to his ears 
 a low, rumbling thunder. 
 
 "Listen! That's the river rushing through 
 the break in the mountain where we walked 
 the edge of the precipice 1" 
 
UP THE OMBABIKA 141 
 
 Wabi shrugged his shoulders at the memory 
 of that fearful night and its desperate race to 
 escape from the Woonga country. 
 
 "We've got to do the same thing again, only 
 this time it will be in daylight." 
 
 "Long portage," said Mukoki. "Six mile. 
 Carry everything." 
 
 "Until we reach the little creek in the plains 
 beyond the mountain, where you shot the cari- 
 bou?" asked Rod. 
 
 "Yes," replied Wabigoon. "That little 
 creek will now be a pretty husky stream, and 
 by hard work we can paddle up it until we 
 come within about eight miles of our old 
 camp at the head of the chasm, where we 
 found the skeletons and the map." 
 
 "And from that point we shall have to carry 
 our canoe and supplies to the creek in the 
 chasm," finished Rod. "And then — hurrah 
 for the gold!" 
 
 "Mak' old camp on mountain by night," 
 said Mukoki. 
 
 Wabi broke into a happy laugh and 
 thumped Rod on the back. 
 
14^ THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "Remember the big lynx you shot, Rod, 
 and thought it was a Woonga, and had us all 
 frightened out of our wits?" he cried. 
 
 Rod colored at the memory of his funny 
 adventure, which was thrilling enough at the 
 time, and began assisting Mukoki in unload- 
 ing the canoe. Two hours were taken for 
 dinner and rest, and then the young hunters 
 shouldered their canoe while Mukoki hurried 
 on ahead of them, weighted with a half of 
 their supplies. Every step now brought the 
 thunder of the torrent rushing through the 
 mountain more clearly to their ears, and they 
 had not progressed more than a mile when 
 they were compelled to shout to make each 
 other hear. On their right the wall of the 
 mountain closed in rapidly, and as they stum- 
 bled with their burden over a mass of huge 
 boulders the two boys saw just ahead of them 
 the narrow trail at the edge of the precipice. 
 
 At its beginning they rested their canoe. Oft 
 one side of them, a dozen yards away, the face; 
 of the mountain rose sheer above them /or a 
 thousand feet; on the other, scarce thin dis- 
 
UP THE OMBABIKA 143 
 
 tance from where they stood, was the roaring 
 chasm. And ahead of them the mountain 
 wall and the edge of the precipice came, 
 nearer and nearer, until there was no more 
 than a six-foot ledge to walk upon. Rod's 
 face turned strangely white as he realized, for 
 the first time, the terrible chances they had 
 taken on that black, eventful night of a few 
 months ago ; and for a time Wabi stood silent, 
 his face as hard-set as a rock. Up out of the 
 chasm there came a deafening thunder of rag- 
 ing waters, like the hollow explosions of 
 great guns echoing and reechoing in subter- 
 ranean caverns. 
 
 "Let's take a look!" shouted Wabi close up; 
 to his companion's ear. 
 
 He went to the edge of the precipice, and 
 Rod forced himself to follow, though there 
 was in him a powerful inclination to hug close 
 to the mountain wall. For half a minute he 
 stood fascinated, terror-stricken, and yet in 
 those thirty seconds he saw that which would 
 remain with him for a lifetime. Five hun- 
 dred feet below him the over-running floods 
 
144 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 of spring were caught between the ragged 
 edges of the two chasm walls, beating them- 
 selves in their fury to the whiteness of milk 
 froth, until it seemed as though the earth it- 
 self must tremble under their mad rush. Now 
 and then through the twisting foam there shot 
 the black crests of great rocks, as though huge 
 monsters of some kind were at play, whipping 
 the torrent into greater fury, and bellowing 
 forth thunderous voices when they rose tri- 
 umphant for an instant above the sweep of 
 the flood. 
 
 All this Rod saw in less than a breath, and 
 he drew back, shivering in every fiber of his 
 body. But Wabigoon did not move. For 
 several minutes the Indian youth stood look- 
 ing down upon the wonderful force at play 
 below him, his body as motionless as though 
 hewn out of stone, the wild blood in his veins 
 leaping in response to the tumult and thun- 
 der of the magnificent spectacle deep down in 
 the chasm. When he turned to Rod his lips 
 made no sound, but his eyes glowed with that 
 half-slumbering fire which came only when 
 
UP THE OMBABIKA 145 
 
 the red blood of the princess mother gained 
 ascendency, and the wild in him called out 
 greeting to the savage in nature. It is not 
 music, or fine talk, or artificial wonders that 
 waken a thrill deep down in the Indian soul, 
 it is the great mountain, the vast plain, the 
 roaring cataract! And so it was with Wabi- 
 goon. 
 
 They went on, now, with the canoe upon 
 their shoulders, and hugging close to the 
 mountain wall. Slowly, avoiding every 
 stone and stick that might cause one of them 
 to stumble, they passed along the perilously 
 narrow ledge, and did not rest again until 
 they had come in safety to the broader trail 
 leading up the mountain. An hour later Mu- 
 koki met them on his return for the remainder 
 of their supplies. Shortly after this they 
 reached the small plateau where they had 
 camped during the previous winter, and low- 
 ered their canoe close to the old balsam shel- 
 ter. 
 
 Everything was as they had left it Neither 
 snow nor storm had destroyed their lodging 
 
146 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 of boughs. There were the charred remains 
 of their fire, the bones of the huge lynx 
 which Roderick had thought was an attack- 
 ing Woonga, and had killed; and beside the' 
 shelter was a stake driven into the ground, 
 the stake to which they had fastened their 
 faithful comrade of many an adventure, the 
 tame wolf. 
 
 To this stake went Wabigoon, speaking no 
 word. He sat down close beside it, with his 
 arm resting upon it, and when he looked up 
 at Rod there was an expression in his face 
 which spoke more than words. 
 
 "Poor old Wolf 1" 
 
 Rod turned and walked to the edge of the 
 plateau, something hot and uncomfortable 
 filling his eyes. Below him, as far as he could 
 see, there stretched the vast, mysterious wil- 
 derness that reached to Hudson Bay. And 
 somewhere out there in that limitless space 
 was Wolf. 
 
 As he looked, the hot film clouding his 
 vision, he thought of the old tragedy in Mu- 
 koki's life, and of how Wolf had helped him 
 
UP THE OMBABIKA 147 
 
 fto avenge himself. In his imagination he 
 went back to that terrible day many, many 
 years ago, when Mukoki, happy in the 
 '"Strength of his youth, found his young wife 
 and child dead upon the trail, killed by 
 wolves ; he thought of the story that Wabi had 
 told him of the madness that came to the 
 young warrior, of how year after year he fol- 
 lowed the trail of wolves, wreaking his ven- 
 geance on their breed. And last he thought of 
 Wolf — how Mukoki and Wabigoon had 
 found the whelp in one of their traps; how 
 they tamed him, grew to love him, and taught 
 him to decoy other wolves to their rifles. 
 Wolf had been their comrade of a few months 
 before; fearless, faithful, until at last, escap- 
 ing from the final murderous assault of the 
 Woongas, he had fled into the forests, while 
 his human friends fought their way back to 
 civilization. 
 
 Where was Wolf now? 
 
 Unconsciously Rod questioned himself 
 aloud, and from close behind him Wabi an- 
 swered. 
 
148 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "With the hunt-pack, Rod. He's forgotten 
 us; gone back to the wild." 
 
 "Gone back to the wild, yes," said Rod; 
 "but forgotten us, no!" 
 
 Wabi made no reply. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT 
 
 OR many minutes the two stood si- 
 lently gazing into the North. At their 
 feet spread the broad plain where 
 Mukoki had killed the caribou while they 
 watched him from the plateau; beyond that 
 were the dense stretches of forest, broken here 
 and there by other plains and meadows, and 
 a dozen lakes glistened in the red tints of the 
 setting sun. When Rod first looked upon that 
 country a few months before it was a world of 
 ice and snow, a cold, dazzling panorama of 
 white that reached from where he stood to 
 ithe Pole. Now it was wakening under the 
 first magic touch of spring. Far away the 
 two young gold hunters caught a glimmer of 
 the stream which they were to follow up to the 
 chasm. Last winter it had been a tiny creek; 
 now it was swollen to the size of a river. 
 
 149 
 
150 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 Suddenly, as they looked, two dark objects 
 came slowly out into an opening a mile away. 
 At that distance they appeared hardly larger 
 than dogs, and Rod, whose mind was still 
 filled with thoughts of Wolf, exclaimed, 
 "Wolves!" 
 
 In the same breath he caught himself, and 
 added: 
 
 "Moose!" 
 
 "A cow and her calf," said Wabi. 
 
 "How do you know?" asked Rod. 
 
 "There; watch them now!" cried Wabi, 
 catching his companion by the arm. "The 
 mother is ahead, and even from here I can 
 see that she is pacing. A moose never trots 
 or gallops, like a deer, but paces, using both 
 feet on a side at the same time. Notice how 
 the calf jumps about. An old moose would 
 never do that." 
 
 "But both animals look to be about the same 
 size," replied Rod, still doubtful. 
 
 "It's a two-year-old calf; almost as big as its 
 mother. In fact, it's not really a calf, because 
 it is too old; but so long as young moose stick. 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT 151 
 
 to their mothers we call them calves up here. 
 I've known them to remain together for three 
 years." 
 
 "They're coming this way!" whispered the 
 white youth. 
 
 The moose had turned, heading for the base 
 of the mountain upon which they stood. Wabi 
 drew his companion behind a big rock, from 
 which both could look down without being 
 seen. 
 
 "Be quiet!" he warned. "They're coming 
 to feed on the sprouting poplar along the 
 mountain side. Just been over to the creek 
 to get a drink. We may have some fun !" 
 
 He wet a finger in his mouth and held it 
 above his head, the forest pathfinder's infal- 
 lible method of telling how the wind blows. 
 No matter how slight the movement of the 
 air may be, one side of the finger dries first, 
 in an instant, and is warm, while the side that 
 remains damp is cold, and in the lee, that side 
 toward which the wind is blowing. 
 
 "The wind is wrong, dead wrong," said 
 yVabi. "It's blowing straight toward them. 
 
152 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 Unless we are so high that our scent goes 
 above them they won't come much nearer." 
 
 Another minute and Rod nudged Wabi- 
 goon. 
 
 "They're within range!" 
 
 "Yes, but we won't shoot. We don't need 
 meat." 
 
 As the young Indian spoke the cow brought 
 herself to a dead stop so suddenly that Wabi 
 gave a delighted grunt. 
 
 "Great!" he whispered. "She's caught a 
 whiff of us, a quarter of a mile away. See 
 how she holds her head, her great ears 
 chucked forward to hear, her nose half to the 
 sky! She knows there's danger on this moun- 
 tain. Now—" 
 
 He did not finish. Like a flash the cow had 
 darted ahead of her calf, seeming to shoulder 
 it back, and in another moment the two were 
 racing swiftly into the North, the mother this 
 time in the rear instead of leading. 
 
 "I love moose," said Wabi, his eyes glow- 
 ing. "Do you notice that I never shoot them, 
 Rod?" 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT 153 
 
 "By George, so you don't! I never thought 
 of it. What is the reason?" 
 
 "There are a good many reasons. Of course 
 I have shot them, when in very great need of 
 meat; but it's an unpleasant job for me. You 
 call the lion the king of beasts. Well, he 
 isn't. The moose is monarch of them all. 
 You saw how the mother moose acted. She 
 led her calf when approaching, because if 
 there should be danger she wanted to meet it 
 first; and when she found danger she drove 
 her calf ahead of her in retreat, so that if harm 
 came to either of them it would come to her. 
 Isn't that the human mother instinct? And 
 the bull is glorious ! In the mating season he 
 will face a dozen men in defense of his cow. 
 If she falls first he will stand between her 
 body and the hunters' rifles, pawing the earth, 
 his eyes glaring defiance, until he is riddled 
 with bullets. Once I saw a wounded cow, 
 and as she staggered away the big bull that 
 was with her hugged her close behind, never 
 for a moment leaving her exposed to the fire, 
 but unflinchingly taking every bullet in his 
 
1154 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 own body. So beautiful was his courage that 
 you would not have known he was wounded 
 until he fell dead in his tracks, literally cut 
 1 to pieces. It was that sight that made me 
 swear never to kill another moose — unless I 
 had to." 
 
 Rod was silent The mother and the calf 
 had disappeared when he turned to Wabi- 
 goon. 
 
 "I'm glad you told me that, Wabi," he said. 
 "You are teaching me new things about this 
 big wilderness every day. I've shot one 
 moose. I won't shoot another unless we need 
 him." 
 
 They went back to their old camp, and by 
 the time Mukoki returned with his second 
 load everything was in shape for the night, 
 and a supper of delicious bear steaks, coffee 
 ; and "hot-stone biscuits," as Rod called their 
 | baked combination of flour, water and salt, 
 was soon ready. After their meal the three 
 sat for a long time near the fire, for there was 
 still a slight chill in the night air, and talked 
 mostly about Wolf and his adventures. Rod, 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT 155 
 
 who in his distant home in civilization had 
 read and heard much that was false about 
 wild animals, was confident that Wolf would 
 find they had returned into the wilderness 
 and would join them again, and to corrobo- 
 rate his belief he narrated several stories of 
 similar happenings. Wabigoon listened 
 courteously to him, which is the way of the 
 Indian. Then he said: 
 
 "Such stories as those are false, Rod. When 
 I spent my year at school with you I read 
 dozens of stories about wild animals, and very 
 few of them were true. All sorts of people 
 write about the wilderness, and yet not one 
 out of a hundred of those same people have 
 ever been in the real wilderness. And it is 
 wonderful what some of them make wild ani- 
 mals do!" 
 
 Rod straightened himself with a jerk. 
 
 "I have been here only a few months, Wabi, 
 and yet I have seen more wonderful things 
 about animals than I have ever read in print," 
 he declared. 
 
 "Of course you have," agreed his compan- 
 
156 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 ion. "And there is just the point I want to 
 make clear. Wild animals are the most won- 
 derful creatures in existence, and if some of 
 their actual habits and adventures were told 
 they would be laughed at down where you 
 came from. Where your writers make their 
 mistake is in bringing them into too close as- 
 sociation with human beings, and making 
 them half human. Wolf remained with us 
 because he knew no better. We caught him 
 when he was a whelp, and as he grew older 
 both Mukoki and I could see that at times he 
 was filled with a wild longing to join his 
 people. We knew that it was coming. He 
 will never return to us." 
 
 Mukoki made a soft sound deep down in 
 his throat, and Rod turned suddenly toward 
 him. 
 ! "You believe that, Mukoki?" 
 
 "Wolf gone!" 
 
 "But animals think, don't they?" persisted 
 Rod, to whom the discussion was of absorb- 
 ing interest. "They reason, they remember!" 
 
 "They do all of that," replied Wabi, "and 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT! 1575 
 
 more. I have read certain so-called natural' 
 history stories which ridiculed the idea of 
 wild animals possessing mental abilities, and 
 which ascribed pretty nearly all their actions 
 to instinct. Such stories are as wrong as those 
 which give wild animals human endowments. 
 Animals do think. Don't you suppose that 
 mother moose was thinking when she stopped 
 out there in the plain? Wasn't she turning 
 the situation over in her mind, if you want to 
 speak of it as that, and mentally figuring just 
 where the danger lay, and in which direction 
 she ought to take flight? And besides reason 
 wild animals have instinct. One proof of this 
 is their sixth sense ; the sense of — of — what do 
 you call it?" 
 
 "Orientation?" assisted Rod. 
 
 "Yes; that's it. Orientation. A bear, for 
 instance, doesn't carry a compass with him, 
 as some nature writers would like to have you 
 believe, and yet he can go from this moun- 
 tain to a den a hundred miles away as straight 
 as a bird can fly. That's instinct" 
 
 "Then Wolf — " mused Rod slowty. 
 
158 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "Is with the hunt pack," finished the young 
 Indian. 
 
 Mukoki spoke softly, as though to himself. 
 
 "Last winter the snow came, and now it 
 is water. Two moons past, Wolf, heem tame. 
 Now wild. The Great Spirit say that is right, 
 
 T )J 
 
 1 guess so. 
 
 "He means that it is nature," said WabL 
 For an hour after the others had wrapped 
 themselves in their blankets Rod sat alone 
 beside the fire, listening, and thinking. And 
 after that he went to the edge of the plateau, 
 and watched the great spring moon as it 
 floated slowly over the vast, still wilderness. 
 How wonderful these solitudes were, how lit- 
 tle the teeming millions of civilization knew 
 about them! Somehow, in those moments, as 
 he watched the shivering Northern Lights 
 playing far beyond the farthest footstep of 
 man, there came to Roderick Drew the 
 thought that God must be nearer to earth 
 here than anywhere else in the world. For 
 the first time his soul was filled with some- 
 thing that was almost love for the red man's 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT ,159 
 
 Great Spirit. And why not? For was not 
 that Great Spirit his own God? Sad, lonely, 
 silent, mysterious, a whole world lay before 
 him, a world that was the Indian Bible, that 
 contained for the red man of the North the 
 teachings and the voice of the Creator of all 
 things. A wind had risen and was whisper- 
 ing over the plains; he heard the hushed 
 voices of the quivering poplar boughs, and 
 there came from far below him the soft, 
 chuckling, mating hoot of an owl. Gradu- 
 ally his eyes closed, and he leaned more heav- 
 ily upon the rock against which he had 
 seated himself. After that he dreamed of what 
 he had looked upon, while the fire at the camp 
 died away, and Mukoki and Wabigoon slum- 
 bered, oblivious of his absence. 
 
 Of how long he slept Rod had no idea. 
 He was suddenly brought back into wakeful- 
 ness by a sound that startled him to the mar- 
 row of his bones, a terrible scream close to 
 his ears. He sat bolt upright, quaking in 
 every limb. For a moment he tried to cry out, 
 but his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth. 
 
160 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 What had happened? Was it Wabi, or Mu- 
 koki? 
 
 A dozen paces away was a huge rock and 
 as he looked he saw something move upon it, 
 a long, lithe object that shone a silvery white 
 in the moonlight, and he knew that it was a 
 lynx. Stealthily Rod reached for his rifle, 
 which had slipped between his knees, and as 
 he did so the lynx sent forth another of its 
 blood-curdling screams. Even now the white 
 youth shivered at the sound, so much like the 
 terrible cry of some person in dying agony. 
 He leveled his gun. There was a flash in the 
 moonlight, a sharp report, and a shout from 
 the direction of the camp. In another moment 
 Rod was upon his feet, and sorry that he had 
 shot. It flashed upon him that he might have 
 watched the lynx, one of the night pirates of 
 all this strange wilderness, and that its pelt, at 
 this season, would be worthless. He went to 
 the rock cautiously. The lynx was not there. 
 He walked around it, holding his rifle in 
 readiness for attack. The lynx was gone. He 
 had made a clean miss! 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT 161 
 
 Both Mukoki and Wabigoon met him on 
 the opposite side of the rock. 
 
 " 'Nother heap big Woonga," grinned the 
 ; old pathfinder remembering Rod's former ad- 
 venture on this same plateau. "Kill?" 
 
 "Missed!" said Rod shortly. "What a 
 scream that was ! Ugh!" 
 
 This time he went to bed with the others, 
 and slept until early dawn. The morning was 
 one of those rare gifts of budding spring, 
 warm and redolent with the sweetness of new 
 life, and its beauty acted as a tonic on the three 
 adventurers. Their fears of the day before 
 were gone, and with song and whistle and 
 cheery voice they began the descent of the 
 mountain. Mukoki went on ahead of Rod and 
 Wabigoon with his pack, and the two boys 
 had not made more than two of the six miles 
 in the portage across the plain when he met 
 them again, returning for his second load. By 
 noon the canoe and its contents were safely at 
 the creek, and the gold hunters halted until 
 after dinner. The little stream across which 
 Rod had easily leaped without wetting his 
 
1 62 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 feet a few weeks before had swollen into a 
 fair-sized river, and in places its searching 
 waters had formed tiny lakes. Unlike the Om- 
 babika, sweeping down from its mountain 
 heights, there was but little current here, a 
 fact that immensely pleased Mukoki and his 
 companions. 
 
 "We near mak' cabin to-night," said the old. 
 Indian. "I take load to-night." 
 
 During the two hours' paddle up-stream 
 Mukoki spoke but little, and as they ap- 
 proached nearer to their last winter's thrilling 
 fight with the Woongas, in which they had so 
 nearly lost their lives,,, he ceased even to re- 
 spond by nod or grunt to the conversation of 
 his companions. Once Wabigoon spoke again 
 of Wolf, and for an instant the old Indian, 
 who was in the bow, half turned to them, and 
 for two strokes his paddle rested in mid air, 
 From the stern Wabi reached forward and 
 poked Rod, and the white youth understood. 
 Next to Minnetaki and Wabigoon, and per- 
 haps himself, he knew that the faithful path- 
 finder loved Wolf best, and that he was filled 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT [163 
 
 1 
 with a little of that savage madness which 
 
 came to him now and then when he dwelt on 
 
 the terrible tragedy that had entered his life 
 
 many years before. When the hunters reached 
 
 the end of their canoe journey up the stream 
 
 Mukoki silently shouldered his pack and set 
 
 out over the plain. He spoke no word, made 
 
 no sign. 
 
 "It would be useless," said Wabigoon, as 
 Rod made a movement as if to follow and stop 
 their comrade. "No persuasion could turn 
 Mukoki now. He wants to reach the old camp 
 to-night, where Wolf disappeared. He won't 
 be back until morning." 
 
 And Mukoki went on, never for an instant 
 turning his face, until his companions lost 
 sight of him. But once out of their vision his 
 manner took on a strange and sudden change. 
 He lowered the head strap of his pack over his 
 /breast, so that he might clutch at it with one 
 'hand, and move his head freely. His eyes 
 glowed with the dull fire of wakening excite- 
 ment; his steps were quick, and yet cautious, 
 every movement in his advance was one of 
 
164 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 listening and watchful expectancy. A person 
 watching the old warrior would have said that 
 he was keenly on the alert for game, or danger. 
 And yet the safety of his rifle was locked, a 
 fresh trail of bear aroused no new interest in 1 
 him, and when he heard a crashing in the 
 brush on his right, where a buck had got wind 
 of him, he gave but a single glance in its di- 
 rection. He was not seeking game. Nor were 
 his fears aroused by suspicion of possible dan- 
 ger. Wherever the ground was soft and moist 
 he traveled slowly, with his eyes on the earth, 
 and at one of these spots he came to a sudden 
 pause. Before him were the clearly defined 
 imprints of a wolf's feet. 
 
 With a low cry Mukoki threw off his pack 
 and fell upon his knees. His eyes burned 
 fiercely now. There was something of mad- 
 ness in the way in which he groveled in the 
 soft earth, creeping from one footprint to the 
 next ahead of it, and stopping always where 
 the right forefoot had left its track. It was 
 that foot which had held Wolf a captive in 
 Mukoki's trap, and he had lost two toes. None 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT 165 
 
 was missing here, and the old pathfinder rose 
 to his feet again, disappointment shadowing 
 the twitching expectancy in his face. 
 , Five times that afternoon Mukoki fell on 
 *his knees beside the trails of wolves, and five 
 times the light of hope went out for a moment 
 in his eyes. It was sunset when he climbed the 
 mountain ridge to the little lake hidden away 
 in the dip ; only a last pale glow tinted the sky 
 behind the forests when he set down his pack 
 close to the charred remains of the old cabin. 
 For many minutes he rested., his gaze fixed on 
 those blackened reminders of their thrilling 
 battle for life the winter before. His wild 
 blood leaped again at the thought of the strife, 
 of the desperate race that he and Roderick 
 had run over the mountain to the burning 
 cabin, and of their rescue of Wabigoon. Sud- 
 denly his eyes caught the white gleam of 
 > something half a hundred paces away, and he 
 rose and walked toward it, grunting and 
 chuckling in half-savage pleasure. The 
 Woongas had not returned to bury their dead, 
 and the bones beside which he stopped were 
 
166 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 those of the outlaw whom Wabigoon had 
 killed, picked clean by the small animals of 
 the forest. 
 
 Mukoki returned to his pack and sat down. 
 As darkness fell about him he made no ef- 
 fort to build a fire. He had brought food, 
 but did not eat it. More dense grew the 
 shadows in the forest, thicker the gloom that 
 hung over the mountains. Still he sat, silent, 
 listening. To him, softly and timidly at first, 
 came the sounds of the night: the chuckling 
 notes of birds that awakened when the earth 
 masked itself in darkness, the hoot of an owl, 
 the faint wailing echo of a far-away lynx cry, 
 the plunge of a mink in the lake. And now 
 the wind began whispering in the balsams, 
 singing gently its age-old song of loneliness, 
 of desolation, of mystery, and Mukoki 
 straightened himself and looked to where the 
 red glow of the moon was rising above the 
 mountain. After a little he rose to his feet, 
 took his rifle, and climbed to the summit of the 
 ridge, with a thousand miles of wilderness 
 sweeping between him and the Arctic sea* 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT 167 
 
 £And somewhere out there in that wilderness — ■ 
 was Wolf! 
 
 The moon rose higher. It disclosed the old 
 Indian, as rigid as a rock, with his back to a 
 white, barkless tree in which the sap had run 
 dry a generation before. As he stood there he 
 heard a sound, and turned his face toward it, 
 a sound that came from a mass of tumbled 
 boulders, like the falling of a small rock upon 
 a larger one. And as he looked there came 
 from the darkness of the boulders a flash of 
 fire and the explosion of a gun, and as Mukoki 
 crumpled down in his tracks there followed 
 a cry so terrible, so unhuman, so blood-cur- 
 dling that, as he fell, an answering cry of hor- 
 ror burst from the lips of die old warrior. He 
 iay like dead, though he was not touched. In- 
 stinct more than reason had impelled him to 
 fall at the sound of the mysterious shot. Cau- 
 tiously he wormed his rifle to his shoulder. 
 But there came no movement from the rocks. 
 
 Then, from half-way down the mountain, 
 there came again that terrible cry, and Mu- 
 koki knew that no animal in all these wilds 
 
168 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 could make it, but that it was human, and yet 
 more savage than anything that had ever 
 brought terror into his soul. Trembling, he 
 crouched to the earth, a nameless fear chilling 
 the blood in his veins. And the cry came 
 again, and yet again, always farther and far- 
 ther away, now at the foot of the mountain, 
 now upon the plain, now floating away toward 
 the chasm, echoing and reechoing between the 
 mountain ridges, startling the creatures of the 
 night into silence, and wresting deep sobbing 
 breaths from out of Mukoki's soul. And the 
 old warrior moved not a muscle until far 
 away, miles and miles, it seemed, there died 
 the last echo of it, and only the whispering 
 winds rustled over the mountain top. 
 
The moon rose higher. Disclosing the old Indian, as rigid as a rock. 
 
 Page Iff 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE CRY IN THE CHASM 
 
 F Mukoki had been a white man he would 
 have analyzed in some way the meaning 
 of those strange cries. But the wild and 
 its savage things formed his world; and his 
 world, until this night, had never known hu- 
 man or beast that could make the terrible 
 sounds he had heard. So for an hour he 
 crouched where he had fallen, still trembling 
 with that nameless fear, and trying hard to 
 form a solution of what had happened. 
 Slowly he recovered himself. For many years 
 he had mingled with white people at the Post, 
 and reason now battled with the superstitions 
 of his race. 
 
 He had been fired at. He had heard the 
 whistling song of the ball ove!r his head, and 
 had heard it strike the tree behind him. For a 
 time those rocks toward which he stared like 
 
 169 
 
i7o THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 a fascinated beast had concealed a man. But 
 what kind of man! He remembered the an- 
 cient battle-cries of his tribe, and of the ene- 
 mies of his tribe, but none was like the cries 
 that had followed the shot. He heard them 
 still; they rang in his ears, and sent shivering 
 chills up his back. And the more he tried to 
 reason the greater that nameless fear grew in 
 him, until he slunk like an animal down the 
 side of the mountain, through the dip, and out 
 again upon the plain. And with that same 
 nameless fear always close behind him, urging 
 him on with its terrors, he sped back over the 
 trail that he had followed that day, nor for an 
 instant did he stop to rest until he came to the 
 camp-fire of Rod and Wabigoon. 
 
 Usually an Indian hides his fears; he con- 
 ceals them as a white man does his sins. But to- 
 night Mukoki's experience had passed beyond 
 the knowledge of his race, and he told of what 
 had happened, trembling still, cringing when 
 a great white rabbit darted close to the fire. 
 Rod and Wabi listened to him in mute aston- 
 ishment 
 
THE CRY IN THE CHASM 17B 
 
 " Could it have been a Woonga?" asked 
 Wabi. 
 
 "No Woonga," replied the old warrior 
 quickly, shaking his head. "Woonga no mak' 
 noise lak that!" 1 
 
 He drew away from the fire, wrapped him- 
 self in a blanket, and crept into the shelter that 
 Rod and Wabigoon had built. The two boys 
 looked at each other in silence. 
 
 "Muky has certainly had some most extraor- 
 dinary adventure," said Wabi at last. "I have 
 never seen him like this before. It is easy to 
 guess the meaning of the shot. Some of the 
 Woongas may still be in the country, and one 
 of them saw Mukoki, and fired at him. But 
 the scream! What do you make of that?" 
 
 "Do you suppose," whispered Rod, speak- 
 ing close to his companion's ear,, "that Mu- 
 koki's imagination helped him out to-night?" 
 He paused for a moment as he saw the look of 
 disapproval in Wabigoon's eyes, and then 
 went on. "I don't mean to hint that he 
 stretched his story purposely. He was stand- 
 ing on the mountain top. Suddenly there came 
 
172 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 a flash of fire, the report of a rifle, and a bullet 
 zipped close to his head. And at that same in- 
 stant, or a moment later — well, you remember 
 the scream of the lynx!" 
 
 "You believe that it might have been a lynx, 
 startled by the shot, and sent screaming across 
 the plain?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Impossible. At the sound of that shot a 
 fynx would have remained as still as death!" 
 
 "Still there are always exceptions," per- 
 sisted the white youth. 
 
 "Not in the case of lynx," declared Wabi- 
 goon. "No animal made those cries. Mukoki 
 is as fearless as a lion. The cry of a lynx would 
 have stirred his blood with pleasure instead of 
 fear. Whatever the sounds were they turned 
 Mukoki's blood into water. They made him 
 a coward, and he ran, ran, mind you! until he 
 got back to us! Is that like Mukoki? I tell 
 you the cries — " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "Were something very unusual," finished 
 Wabigoon quietly, rising to his feet. "Per- 
 
THE CRY IN THE CHASM 17J 
 
 haps we will find out more to-morrow. As it 
 is, I believe we had better stand guard in camp 
 to-night. I will go to bed now and you can 
 awaken me after a while." 
 
 Wabigoon's words and the strangeness of 1 
 his manner put Rod ill at ease, despite his ar- 
 guments of a few moments before, and no 
 sooner did he find himself alone beside the fire 
 than he began to be filled with an unpleasant 
 premonition of lurking danger. For a time he 
 sat very still, trying to peer into the shadows 
 beyond the fire and listening to the sounds that 
 came to him from out of the night. As he 
 watched and listened his brain worked cease- 
 lessly, conjuring picture after picture of what 
 that danger might be, and at last he drew out 
 of the firelight and concealed himself in the 
 deep gloom of the bush. From here he could 
 see the camp, and at the same time was safe 
 from a possible rifle shot. 
 
 The night passed with tedious slowness, and 
 he was glad when, a little after midnight, 
 Wabi came out to relieve him. At dawn he 
 was in turn awakened by the young Indiam 
 
174 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 Mukoki was already up and had prepared his 
 pack. Apparently he had regained his old 
 spirits, but both Rod and Wabigoon could see 
 that behind them the fear of the preceding 
 night still haunted him. That morning he did 
 not set off ahead of the two boys with his pack 
 but walked beside them, stopping to rest when 
 they lowered their canoe, his eyes never ceas- 
 ing their sharp scrutiny of the plain and dis- 
 tant ridges. Once when Mukoki mounted a 
 big rock to look about him, Wabi whispered, 
 
 "I tell you it's strange, Rod — mighty 
 strange !" 
 
 An hour later the old warrior halted and 
 threw off his load. The three had approached 
 within a quarter of a mile of the dip in the 
 mountain. 
 
 "Leave canoe here," he said. "Go lak fox to 
 old camp. Mebbeseel" 
 
 He took the lead now, followed closely by 
 the boys. The safety of the old pathfinder's 
 rifle was down, and following his example 
 Rod and Wabigoon held their own guns in 
 readiness for instant fire. As they neared the 
 
THE CRY IN THE CHASM *fl[ 
 
 summit of the ridge on which Mukoki's life 
 had been attempted the suspense of the two 
 young hunters became almost painfully acute. 
 Mukoki's actions not only astonished them, 
 but set their blood tingling with his own 
 strange fear. Many times had Wabigoon seen 
 his faithful comrade in moments of deadly 
 peril but never, even when the Woongas were 
 close upon their trail, had he known him to 
 take them as seriously as he did the ascent of 
 this mountain. Every few steps Mukoki 
 paused, listening and watchful. Not the 
 smallest twig broke under his moccasined feet; 
 the movement of the smallest bird, the trem- 
 bling of a bush, the scurry of a rabbit halted 
 him, rigid, his rifle half to shoulder. And Rod 
 and Wabigoon soon become filled with this 
 same panic-stricken fear. What terrible dread 
 was it that filled Mukoki's soul? Had he seen 
 something of which he had not told them? 
 Did he think something which he had not re- 
 vealed? 
 
 Foot by foot the three came to the top of the 
 ridge. There Mukoki straightened himself. 
 
176 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 and stood erect. There were no signs of a lrw 
 ing creature about them. Down in the dip 
 nestled the little lake, gleaming in the midday 
 sun. They could make out the debris of the 
 burned cabin in which they had passed their 
 hunting season, and close to this was the pack 
 which Mukoki had dropped there the night 
 before. No one had molested it. Wabi's face 
 relaxed. Rod, breathing easier, laughed 
 softly. What had there been to fear? He 
 glanced questioningly at Mukoki. 
 
 "There rocks, there tree," said the old war- 
 rior, in answer to Rod v s glance, "down there 
 went scream!" He pointed far out across the 
 plain. 
 
 Wabi had gone to the tree. 
 
 "See here, Rod !" he cried. "By George, this 
 was a close shave!" He pointed to a tiny hole 
 freshly made in the smooth white surface of 
 the tree as the others came up. "There — stand 
 there, Mukoki, back to the tree, as you said 
 you were when the shot was fired. Great 
 Caesar, that fellow had a dead line on your 
 head — two inches high! No wonder it made 
 
THE CRY IN THE CHASM 177 
 
 you think the scream of a lynx was something 
 else!" 
 
 "No lynx," said Mukoki, his face darken- 
 ing- 
 
 "Shame on you, Muky!" laughed Wabi- 
 
 goon. "Don't get angry. I won't say it again 
 if it makes you mad." 
 
 Rod had drawn his hunting-knife and was 
 prodding the point of it in the bullet hole. 
 
 "I can feel the ball," he said. "It's not in 
 more than an inch." 
 
 "That's curious," exclaimed Wabigoon, 1 
 coming close beside him. "It ought to be half- 
 way through the tree at least! Eh, Muky? I 
 don't believe it would have hurt — " 
 
 He stopped. Rod had turned with a sudden 
 excited cry. He held out his knife, tip up-' 
 ward, and pointed to it with the index finger 
 of his free hand. Wabi's eyes fell on the tip of 
 the blade. Mukoki stared. For a full half 
 minute the three stood in speechless amaze- 
 ment. Clinging to the knife tip was a tiny fleck 
 of yellow, gleaming lustrously in the sun as 
 Rod slowly turned the handle of his weapon.* 
 
178 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "Another— gold— bullet !" 
 
 The words fell from Wabi's lips very 
 slowly, and so low that they were scarce above 
 a whisper. Mukoki seemed to have ceased 
 breathing. Rod's eyes met the old warrior's. 
 
 "What does it mean?" 
 
 Wabi had pulled his knife and was digging 
 into the tree. A few deep cuts and the golden 
 bullet lay exposed to view. 
 
 "What does it mean?" repeated the white 
 youth. 
 
 Again he addressed his question to Mukoki. 
 
 "Man who shoot bear — heem no dead," re- 
 plied the old pathfinder. "Same gun, same 
 gold, same — " 
 
 "Same what?" 
 
 A strange gleam came for an instant into 
 Mukoki's eyes, and without finishing he' 
 turned and pointed across the narrow plain! 
 that lay between them and the mysterious 
 chasm which they were to follow in their 
 search for treasure. 
 
 "Cry went there!" Ke said shortly. 
 ' "To the chasm !" said Wabi. 
 
THE CRY IN THE CHASM' 379 
 
 "To the chasm !" repeated Rod. 
 
 Impelled by the same thought the three ad- 
 venturers went toward the rocks from which' 
 the shot had been fired. Surely they would dis- 
 cover some sign there, or lower down upon the 
 plain, where the melting snows had softened 
 the earth. Mukoki led in the search, and foot 
 by foot they examined the spot where the mys- 
 terious marksman must have stood when he 
 sent his golden bullet so close to the Indian's 
 head. 
 
 But not a trace of his presence had he left 
 behind. Working abreast, the three began the 
 descent of the ridge. Hardly had they covered 
 a third of the distance to the plain when Wabi, 
 who was trailing between Rod and the old In- 
 dian, called out that he had made a discov- 
 ery. Mukoki had already reached him when 
 Rod came up, and the two were gazing silently 
 at something fluttering from a bush. 
 
 "Lynx hair!" cried Rod. "A lynx has been 
 this way!" He could not entirely conceal the 
 triumph in his voice. He had been right in 
 his conjecture of the night before, the cry that 
 
l8o THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 had frightened Mukoki had been made Sy a 
 lynx ! 
 
 "Yes, a lynx has been this way, a lynx four 
 feet high," said Wabigoon quietly, and the 
 ^ touch of raillery in his voice assured Rod that 
 he had still other lessons to learn in the life 
 of this big wilderness. "Lynx don't grow that 
 big, Rod!" 
 
 "Then it's — " Rod feared to go on. 
 
 "Lynx fur. That's just what it is. Whoever 
 fired at Mukoki last night was dressed in 
 skins! Now, can you tell us what that means?" 
 
 Without waiting for an answer Wabigoon, 
 resumed his search. But the mountain side 
 gave no further evidence. Not a footprint 
 was found upon the plain. If the mysterious 
 person who had fired the golden bullet had 
 leaped from the mountain top into space he 
 could have left no fewer traces behind him. 
 At the end of an hour Rod and his companions 
 returned to the canoe, carried their loads to 
 the pack in the dip, and prepared dinner. 
 Their suspense and fear, and specially Mu- 
 koki's dread, were in a large measure gone. 
 
THE CRY IN THE CHASM 181 
 
 But at the same time they were more hope- 
 lessly mystified than ever. That there was dan- 
 ger ahead of them, that the menace of golden 
 bullets was actual and thrilling, all three were 
 well agreed, but the sunlight of day and a lit- 
 tle sound reasoning had dispelled their half 
 superstitious terrors of the previous night and 
 they began to face the new situation with their 
 former confidence. 
 
 "We can't let this delay us," said Wabi, as 
 they ate their dinner. "By night we ought to 
 be in our old camp at the head of the chasm, 
 where we held the Woongas at bay last winters 
 The sooner we get out of the way of these 
 golden bullets the better it will be for us !" 
 
 Mukoki shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "Gold bullet follow, I guess so," he grunted. 
 "Cry went there — to chasm!" 
 
 "I don't believe this fellow, whoever he is, 
 will hang to our trail," continued Wabi, giv- 
 ing Rod a suggestive look. A few moments 
 later he found an opportunity to whisper, 
 "We've got to get that cry out of Muky's head, 
 Rod, or we'll never find our gold!" 
 
^82 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 When Mukoki had gone to arrange his pacK 
 the young Indian spoke earnestly to his com- 
 panion. 
 
 "Muky isn't afraid of bullets, either gold or 
 lead; he isn't afraid of any danger on earth. 
 But that cry haunts him. He is trying not to 
 let us know, yet it haunts him just the same. 
 Do you know what he is thinking? No? Well, 
 I do! He is superstitious, like the rest of his 
 race, and the two gold bullets, the terrible 
 cries, and the fact that we found no tracks 
 upon the plain are all carrying him toward 
 one conclusion, that the strange thing that 
 fired at him is — " 
 
 Wabigoon paused and wiped his face, and 
 it was easy for Rod to see that he was sup- 
 pressing some unusual excitement. 
 
 "What does he think it is?" 
 
 "I'm not sure, not quite sure, yet," went on 
 the Indian youth. "But listen! It is a legend' 
 in Mukoki's tribe, and always has been, that 
 once in every so many generations they are 
 visited by a terrible warrior sent by the Great 
 Spirit who takes sacrifice of them, a sacrifice 
 
THE CRY IN THE CHASM 183 
 
 of human life, because of a great wrong that 
 was once done by their people. And this war- 
 rior, though invisible, has a voice that makes 
 the mountains quake and the rivers stand still 
 with fear, and in his great bow he shoots 
 shafts that are made of gold! Do you under° 
 .stand? Last night I heard Mukoki talking 
 about it in his sleep. Either we must hear this 
 cry, and find out more about it, or hurry to a 
 place where it won't be heard again. Golden 
 bullets and cries and Mukoki's superstitions 
 are going to be worse than Woongas if we 
 don't watch out !" 
 
 "But the whole thing is as plain as day!" de- 
 clared Rod in astonishment. "A man shot afc 
 the bear, and the same man shot at Mukoki, 
 and he fired gold each time. Surely — " 
 
 "It's not the man part of it," interrupted the 
 other. "It's the cry. There, Mukoki has his 
 pack ready. Let's start for the chasm at once!" 
 
 This time the boys had a heavier burden 
 'than usual, for in the canoe they placed one of 
 the two loads carried by Mukoki, and conse- 
 quently their progress toward the chasm was 
 
1 84 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 much slower than that across the plain. It was 
 late in the afternoon when they reached the 
 break that led into the chasm, and as they cau- 
 tiously made the descent now Rod thought of 
 the thrilling pursuit of the Woonga horde, 
 and how a few weeks before they had discov- 
 ered this break just in time for Wabi and him 
 to save their lives, and that of the wounded 
 Mukoki. It was with a feeling almost of awe 
 that the three adventurers penetrated deeper 
 and deeper into the silent gloom of this mys- 
 tery-filled gulch between the mountains, and 
 when they reached the bottom they set their 
 loads down without speaking, their eyes rov- 
 ing over the black walls of rock, their hearts 
 throbbing a little faster with excitement. 
 
 For here, at this break in the mountain, be- 
 gan the romantic trail drawn by men long 
 dead, the trail that led to a treasure of gold. 
 
 As the three sat in silence, the gloom in the 
 chasm thickened. The sun had passed beyond 
 the southwestern forests, and through the nar- 
 row rift between the mountain walls there fell 
 but the ebbing light of day, dissolving itself 
 
THE CRY IN THE CHASM 185 
 
 into the shadows of dusk as it struggled weakly 
 in the cavernous depths. For a few minutes 
 - this swift fading of day into night gripped the 
 adventurers in its spell. What did the lonely 
 : solitudes of that chasm hold for them? Where 
 \ would they lead them? To Rod's mind there 
 came a picture of the silver fox and a thought 
 of his dream, when for a few miles he had ex- 
 plored the mysteries of this strange, sunless 
 world shut in by rock walls. Again he saw the 
 dancing skeletons, heard the rattle of their 
 bones, and watched the wonderful dream-bat- 
 tle that had led him to the birch-bark map. 
 Wabigoon, his eyes gleaming in the gathering 
 darkness, thought of their flight from the out- 
 law savages, and Mukoki — 
 
 The white youth had turned a little to look 
 at the old warrior. Mukoki sat as rigid as a 
 pillar of stone an arm's reach from him. Head 
 erect, arms tense, his eyes gleaming strangely, 
 he stared straight out into the gloom between 
 the chasm walls. Rod shivered. He knew, 
 knew without questioning, that Mukoki was 
 thinking of the cry! 
 
1 86 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 And at that instant there floated up from the 
 black chaos ahead a sound, a sound low and 
 weird, like the moaning of a winter's wind 
 through the pine tops, swelling, advancing, 
 until it ended in a shriek — a shriek that echoed 
 rnd reechoed between the chasm walls, dying 
 away in a wail that froze the blood of the 
 three who sat and listened! 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 WABI MAKES A STRANGE DISCOVERY 
 
 UKOKI broke the silence which fol- 
 lowed the terrible cry. With a chok- 
 ing sound, as if some unseen hand 
 were clutching at his throat, he slipped from 
 the rock upon which he was sitting and 
 crouched behind it, his rifle gleaming faintly 
 as he leveled it down the chasm. There came 
 the warning click of Wabigoon's gun, and the 
 young Indian hunched himself forward until 
 he was no more than an indistinct shadow in 
 the fast-deepening gloom of night. Only Rod 
 still sat erect. For a moment his heart seemed 
 to stand still. Then something leaped into his 
 brain and spread like fire through his veins, 
 calling him to his feet, trembling with the 
 knowledge of what that cry had told him ! It 
 was not a lesson from the wilderness that Rod-- 
 erick Drew was learning now. As fast as the 
 
 187 
 
1 88 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 mind could travel he had gone far back into 
 the strife and misery and madness of civiliza- 
 tion, and there he found the language of that 
 fearful cry floating up the chasm. He had 
 heard it once, twice — yes, again and again, and 
 the memory of it had burned deep down into 
 his soul. He turned to his companions, trying 
 to speak, but the horror that had first filled 
 Mukoki now fastened itself on him, and his 
 tongue was lifeless. 
 
 " A madman!" 
 
 Wabi's fingers dug into his arm like th& 
 claws of a bear. 
 
 "A what!" 
 
 "A madman!" repeated Rod, trying to speak 
 more calmly. "The man who shot the bear 
 and fired at Mukoki and who uses gold bullets 
 in his gun is mad — raving mad! I have heard 
 .those screams before — in the Eloise insane 
 asylum, near Detroit. He's — " 
 
 The words were frozen on his lips. Again 
 the cry echoed up the chasm. It was nearer 
 this time, and with a sobbing, terrified sound, 
 something that Wabi had never heard fall 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 189 
 
 from Mukoki's lips before, the old warrior 
 clung to Roderick's arm. Darkness hid the 
 terror in his face, but the white boy could feel 
 it in the grip of his hands. 
 
 "Mad, raving mad!" he cried. Suddenly he 
 gripped Mukoki fiercely by the shoulders, and 
 as Wabigoon crouched forward, ready to fire : 
 at the first movement in the gloom, he thrust 
 ' the butt of his rifle in his back. "Don't shoot !" 
 he commanded. "Mukoki, don't be a fool! 
 That's a man back there, a man who has suf- 
 fered and starved, starved, mind you! — until 
 lie's mad, stark mad! It would be worse than 
 murder to kill him!" 
 
 ! He stopped, and Mukoki drew back a step, 
 breathing deeply. 
 
 "Heem — starve — no eat — gone bad dog?" 
 he questioned softly. In an instant Wabi was 
 at his side. 
 
 "That's it, Muky — he's gone bad dog, just 
 like that husky of ours who went bad because 
 he swallowed a fish bone. White men some- 
 times go bad dog when they are thirsty and 
 starving!" 
 
igo THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "Our Great Spirit tells us that we must 
 never harm them," added Rod. "We put them 
 in big houses, larger than all of the houses at 
 the Post together, and feed them and clothe 
 them and care for them all their lives. Are 
 you afraid of a bad dog, Muky, or of a man 
 who has gone bad dog?" 
 
 "Bad dog bite deep — mebby so we kill 
 heem!" 
 
 "But we don't kill them until we have to," 
 persisted the quick-witted Wabigoon, who saw 
 the way in which Rod's efforts were being di- 
 rected. "Didn't we save our husky by taking 
 the fish bone out of his throat? We must save 
 this bad dog, because he is a white man, like 
 Rod. He thinks all men are his enemies, just 
 as a bad dog thinks all other dogs are his ene- 
 mies. So we must be careful and not give him 
 a chance to shoot us but we mustn't harm 
 him!" 
 
 "It will be best if we don't let him know we 
 are in the chasm," said Rod, still speaking for 
 Mukokrs benefit. "He's probably going out 
 on the plain, and must climb up this break in 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 191 
 
 the mountain. Let's move our stuff a little out 
 of his path." 
 
 As the two boys went to the canoe their 
 hands touched. Wabi was startled by the cold- 
 ness of his friend's fingers. 
 
 'We've fixed Mukoki," he whispered. "He 
 won't shoot. But — " 
 
 "We may have to," replied Rod. "That will 
 be up to you and me, Wabi. We must use 
 judgment, and unless it's a case Gf life or 
 death—" 
 
 "Ugh!" shuddered the young Indian. 
 
 "If he doesn't discover our presence to-night 
 we will get out of his way to-morrow," con- 
 tinued Rod. "No fire — no talking. We must 
 be as still as death 1" 
 
 For some time after their outfit was con- 
 cealed among the rocks Wabigoon sat with his 
 mouth close to the old pathfinder's ear. Then 
 he returned to Rod. 
 
 "Muky understands. He has never seen or 
 heard of a madman, and it is hard for him to 
 comprehend. But he knows — now, and under- 
 stands what he must do." 
 
192 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "Sh-h-h-h-h!" 
 
 ■"What is it?" 
 
 "I thought I heard a sound!" breathed Rod. 
 "Did you hear it?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 The two listened. There was an awesome 
 silence in the chasm now, broken only by the 
 distant murmur of running water, a strange, 
 chilling stillness in which the young hunters 
 could hear the excited beating of their own 
 hearts. To Roderick the minutes passed like 
 so many hours. His ears were keyed to the 
 highest tension of expectancy, his eyes stared 
 into the gloom beyond them until they ached 
 with his efforts to see. At every instant he ex- 
 pected to hear again that terrible scream, this 
 time very near, and he prepared himself to 
 meet it. But the seconds passed, and then the 
 minutes, and still there came no quick running 
 of mad footsteps, no repetition of the cry. Had 
 the madman turned the other way? Was he, 
 plunging deeper into the blackness of this mys- 
 terious world of his between the mountains? 
 
 "I guess I was mistaken," he whispered 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 193 
 
 softly to Wabigoon. "Shall we get out our 
 
 blankets?" 
 
 "We might as well make ourselves comfort- 
 able," replied the young Indian. "You sit here, 
 and listen while I undo the pack." 
 
 He went noiselessly to Mukoki, who was 
 leaning against the pack, and Rod could hear 
 them fumbling at the straps on the bundle. 
 After a little Wabi returned and the two boys 
 spread out their blankets beside the rock upon 
 which they had been sitting. But there was no 
 thought of sleep in the mind of either, though 
 both were dead tired from their long day's 
 work. They sat closer together, shoulder 
 touching shoulder, and unknown to his com- 
 panion Roderick drew his revolver, cocked it 
 silently and placed it where he could feel the 
 cold touch of its steel between his fingers. He 
 knew that he was the only one of the three who 
 fully realized the horror of their situation. 
 
 Mukoki's mind, simple in its reasoning of 
 things that did not belong to the wilderness, 
 had accepted the assurances and explanations 
 of Rod and Wabigoon. Wabi, half-bred in 
 
194 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 the wild, felt alarm only in the sense of pnys- 
 ical peril. It was different with the white 
 youth. What is there in civilization that sends 
 the chill of terror to one's heart more quickly 
 than the presence of a human being who has 
 gone mad? And this madman was at large! 
 At that very instant he might be listening to 
 their breathing and their whispered words 
 half a dozen feet away; any moment might see 
 the blackness take form and the terrible thing 
 hurl itself at their throats. Rod, unlike Wabi- 
 goon, knew that the powers of this strange 
 creature of the chasm were greater than their 
 own, that it could travel with the swiftness 
 and silence of an animal through the darkness, 
 that perhaps it could smell them and feel their 
 presence as it passed on its way to the plain. 
 Fie was anxious now to hear the cry again. 
 What was the meaning of this silence? Was 
 the madman already conscious of their pres- 
 ence? Was he creeping upon them at that mo- 
 ment, as still as the black shadows that shut in 
 their vision? His mind was working in such 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 195 
 
 vivid imaginings that he was startled when 
 Wabi prodded him gently in the side. 
 
 "Look over there — across the chasm," he 
 ^whispered. "See that glow on the mountain 
 wall?" 
 
 "The moon!" replied Rod. 
 
 "Yes. I've been watching it, and it's creeo- 
 ing down and down. The moon is going to 
 swing across this break in the mountains. In 
 fifteen minutes we shall be able to see." 
 
 "It won't swing across so much as it will 
 come up in line with us," replied Rod. 
 "Watch how that light is lengthening! We 
 shall be able to see for several hours." 
 
 He started to rise to his feet but fell back 
 with an astonished cry. For a third time there 
 came the mad hunter's scream, this time far 
 above and beyond them, floating down from 
 ■the distance of the moon-lit plain! 
 
 "He passed us!" exclaimed Wabi. "He 
 •passed us — and we didn't hear him!" He 
 leaped to his feet and his voice rose excitedly 
 until it rang in a hundred echoes between the 
 
196 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 chasm walls. "He passed us, and we didn't 
 hear him!" 
 
 Mukoki's voice came strangely from out of 
 the gloom. 
 
 "No man do that! No man — no man — " 
 
 "Hush!" commanded Rod. "Now is our'> 
 time, boys! Quick, get everything to the creek.tr 
 He's half a mile out on the plain and we can 
 get away before he comes back. I'd rather risk 
 a few rocks than another one of his golden 
 bullets!" 
 
 "So had I!" cried Wabi. 
 
 As if their lives depended on their exertions 
 the three set to work. Mukoki staggered ahead 
 over the rocks with his burden while the boys 
 followed with the light canoe and the remain- 
 ing pack. Their previous experiences in the 
 chasm had taught them where to approach the 
 stream, and ten minutes later they were at its 
 side. Without a moment's hesitation Mukoki 
 dropped his pack and plunged in. The edge 
 of the moon was just appearing over the south- 
 ern mountain wall and by its light Rod and 
 Wabigoon could see that the water of the creek 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 197 
 
 was rushing with great swiftness as high as the 
 old warrior's knees. 
 
 "No ver' deep," said the Indian. "Rocks — " 
 
 "I followed this creek for half a dozen miles 
 and its bottom is as smooth as a floor!" inter- 
 rupted Rod. "There's no danger of rocks for 
 that distance !" 
 
 He made no effort now to suppress the 
 pleasure which he felt at the escape from their 
 unpleasant situation. Mukoki steadied the 
 canoe as it was placed in the water, and was 
 the last to climb into it, taking his usual posi- 
 tion in the stern where he could use to best ad- 
 vantage the powerful sweeps of his paddle. In 
 an instant the swift current of the little stream 
 caught the birch bark and carried it along 
 with remarkable speed. After several futile 
 strokes of his paddle Wabi settled back upon 
 his heels. 
 
 "It's all up to you, Muky," he called softly. 
 "I can't do a thing from the bow. The cur- 
 rent is too swift. All you can do is to keep her 
 nose straight." 
 
 The light of the moon was now filling the 
 
198 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 chasm and the adventurers could see distinctly 
 for a hundred yards or more ahead of them. 
 Each minute seemed to add to the swiftness 
 and size of the stream, and by the use of his 
 paddle Wabi found that it was constantly 
 deepening, until he could no longer touch bot- 
 tom. Rod's eyes were ceaselessly on the alert 
 for familiar signs along the shore. He was 
 sure that he knew when they passed the spot 
 where he killed the silver fox, and he called 
 Wabi's attention to it. Then the rocks sped 
 past with increasing swiftness, and as the moon 
 rose higher the three could see where the over- 
 flowing torrent sent out little streams that 
 twisted and dashed themselves into leaping 
 foam in the wildness of the chasm beyond the 
 main channel. These increased in number and 
 size as the journey continued, until Mukoki 
 began to feel the influence of their currents 
 and called on Wabi and Rod for assistance. 
 Suddenly Rod gave a muffled shout as they 
 shot past a mass of huge boulders on their 
 right. 
 
 "That's where I camped the night I 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 199 
 
 dreameci of the skeletons!" he cried. "I don't 
 know what the stream is like from here on. Be 
 careful!" 
 
 Wabi gave a terrific lunge with his paddle 
 and the cone of a black rock hissed past half 
 a canoe length away. 
 
 "It's as black as a dungeon ahead, and I can 
 hear rocks!" he shouted. "Bring her in if you 
 can, Muky, bring her in!" 
 
 There came the sudden sharp crack of snap- 
 ping wood and a low exclamation of alarm fell 
 from Mukoki. His paddle had broken at the 
 shaft. In a flash Rod realized what had hap- 
 pened and passed back his own, but that mo- 
 ment's loss of time proved almost fatal. Freed 
 of its guiding hand the birch bark swung 
 broadside to the current, and at the same time 
 Wabi's voice rose in a shrill cry of warning, 
 
 "It's not rocks, it's a whirlpool!" he yelkd. 
 "The other shore, swing her out, swing her 
 cut!" 
 
 He dug his own paddle deep down into the 
 racing current and from behind Mukoki ex- 
 erted his most powerful efforts, but it was too 
 
*oo THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 late! r A hundred feet ahead the stream tore 
 between two huge rocks as big as houses, and 
 just beyond these Rod caught a glimpse of 
 
 . frothing water churning itself milk-white in 
 the moonlight. But it was only a glimpse. 
 
 j With a velocity that was startling the canoe 
 shot between the rocks, and as a choking sea 
 of spray leaped into their faces Wabigoon's 
 voice came back again in a loud command for 
 the others to hang to the gunwales of their 
 frail craft. For an instant, in which his 
 thoughts seemed to have left him, a roaring 
 din filled Rod's ears; a white, churning mist 
 hid everything but his own arms and clutching 
 hands, and then the birch bark darted with the 
 sudden impetus of a freshly-shot arrow around 
 the jagged edge of the boulder — and he could 
 see again. 
 
 Here was the whirlpool! More than once 
 Wabi had told him of these treacherous traps 
 made by the mountain streams, and of the 
 almost certain death that awaited the unlucky 
 canoe man drawn into their smothering em- 
 brace. There was no angry raging of the 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 201 
 
 flood here; at first it seemed to Rod that they 
 were floating almost without motion upon a 
 black, lazy sea that made neither sound nor 
 riffle. Scarce half a dozen canoe lengths 
 away he saw the white center of the mael- 
 strom, and there came to his ears above the 
 dash of the stream between the two great 
 rocks a faint hissing sound that curdled the 
 blood in his veins, the hissing of the treach- 
 erous undertow that would soon drag them to 
 their death! In the passing of a thought there 
 flashed into the white youth's mind a story 
 that Mukoki had told him of an Indian who 
 had been lost in one of these whirlpools of 
 die spring floods, and whose body had been 
 tossed and pitched about in its center for more 
 than a week. For the first time the power of 
 speech came to him. 
 
 "Shall we jump?" he shouted. 
 
 "Hang to the canoe." 
 
 Wabi fairly shrieked the words, and yet as 
 he spoke he drew himself half erect, as if 
 about to leap into the flood. The momentum 
 gathered in its swift rush between the rocks 
 
202 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 had carried their frail craft almost to the 
 outer edge of the deadly trap, and as this 
 momentum ceased and the canoe yielded to 
 the sucking forces of the maelstrom the young 
 Indian shrieked out his warning again. 
 
 "Hang to the canoe!" 
 
 The words were scarcely out of his mouth 
 when he stood erect and launched himself like 
 an animal into the black depths toward shore. 
 With a terrified cry Rod rose to his knees. 
 In another instant he would have plunged 
 recklessly after Wabi, but Mukoki's voice- 
 sounding behind him, snarling in its fierce- 
 ness, stopped him. 
 
 "Hang to canoe!" 
 
 There came a jerk. The bow of the canoe 
 swung inward and the stern whirled so 
 quickly that Rod, half kneeling, nearly lost 
 'his balance. In that instant he turned his face 
 and saw the old warrior standing, as Wabi- 
 goon had done before him, and as Mukoki 
 leaped there came for a third time that warn- 
 ing cry: 
 
 "Hang to canoe!" 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 203 
 
 And Rod hung. He knew that for some 
 reason those commands were meant for him, 
 and him alone; he knew that the desperate 
 plunges of his comrades were not inspired by 
 cowardice or fear, but not until the birch bark 
 ground upon the shore and he tumbled out in 
 safety did he fully comprehend what had hap- 
 pened. Holding the rope with which they 
 tied their canoe, tWabigoon had taken a 
 desperate chance. His quick mind had 
 leaped like a flash of powder to their last 
 hope, and at the crucial moment, just as the 
 momentum of the birch bark gave way to the 
 whirling forces of the pool, he had jumped 
 a good seven feet toward shore, and had found 
 bottom! Another twelve inches of water 
 under him and all would have been lost. 
 
 Wabigoon stood panting and dripping wet, 
 and in the moonlight his face was as white 
 as the tub-like spot of foam out in the center 
 of the maelstrom. 
 
 "That's what you call going to kingdom- 
 come and getting out again!" he gasped. 
 "Muky, that was the closest shave we've ever 
 
204 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 had! It has your avalanche beaten to a fraz- 
 zle!" 
 
 Mukoki was dragging the canoe upon the 
 pebbly shore, and still overcome by the sud- 
 denness of all that had happened R.od went 
 to his assistance. 
 
 The adventurers now discovered them- 
 selves in a most interesting situation. The 
 
 ;ht had indeed been one of curious and 
 thrilling happenings for them, and here was a 
 pretty climax to it all! They had escaped the 
 mad hunter by running into the almost fatal 
 grip of the whirlpool, and now they had es- 
 caped the perils of that seething death-trap 
 by plunging into a tiny rock-bound prison 
 which seemed destined to hold them for all 
 time, or at least until the floods of spring sub- 
 sided. Straight above them, and shutting 
 them in entirely, rose precipitous rock walls. 
 On the only open side was the deadly mael- 
 strom. 
 
 Even Mukoki as he glanced about him was 
 struck by the humor of their situation, and 
 chuckled softly. 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 205 
 
 Wabi stood with his hands deep in his 
 soaked pockets, facing the moonlit walls. 
 Then he turned to Rod, and grinned ; then he 
 faced the whirlpool, and after that his eyes 
 swept the space of sky above them. The situa- 
 tion was funny, at first; but when he looked 
 at the white youth again the smile had died 
 out of his face. 
 
 "Wouldn't that madman have fun if he 
 found us now!" he whispered. 
 
 Mukoki was traveling slowly around the 
 rock walls. The space in which they were 
 confined was* not more than fifty feet in di- 
 ameter, and there was not even a crack by 
 means of which a squirrel might have found 
 exit. The prison was perfect. The old path- 
 finder came back and sat down with a grunt. 
 
 "We might as well have supper and a good, 
 sleep," suggested Rod, who was hungry. 
 "Surely we need fear no attack from beast or 
 man to-night!" 
 
 At least there was this consolation, and the 
 gold hunters ate a hearty meal of cold bear 
 meat and prepared for slumber. The night 
 
206 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 was unusually warm, and both Mukoki and 
 Wabigoon hung out their wet clothes to dry 
 while they slept in their blankets. Rod did 
 not open his eyes again until Wabi awakened 
 him in the morning. Both Indians were 
 dressed and it was evident that they had been 
 up for some time. When Rod went to the 
 water to wash himself he was surprised to 
 find all of their supplies repacked in the 
 canoe, as though their journey was about to 
 be resumed immediately after breakfast, and 
 when he returned to where Mukoki and Wa- 
 bigoon had placed their food on a flat stone 
 in the center of what he had regarded as their 
 prison, he observed that both of his com- 
 panions were in an unusually cheerful frame 
 of mind. 
 
 "Looks as though you expected to get out 
 of here pretty soon," he said, nodding toward 
 the canoe. 
 
 "So we do!" responded Wabi. "We're 
 going to take a swim through the whirlpool!" 
 
 He laughed at the incredulity in Rod's face. 
 
 "That is, we're going to navigate along the 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 207 
 
 edge of it," he amended. "Muky and I have 
 tied together every bit of rope and strap in our 
 outfit, even to our gun-slings, and we've got a 
 piece about eighty feet long. We'll show you 
 how to use it after breakfast." 
 
 It took but a few minutes to dispose of the 
 rather unappetizing repast of cold bear meat, 
 biscuits and water. Wabi then led the way to 
 the extreme edgQ of the great rock which 
 formed the eastern wall of their prison,, 
 waded in the water to his knees, and directed 
 Rod's gaze to a point of land jutting out into 
 the stream about sixty feet beyond the rock. 
 
 "If we can reach that," explained Wabi,. 
 "we can portage around the rest of the whirl- 
 pool to the main channel. The water is very 
 deep along the edge of this rock, but the un- 
 dertow doesn't seem to have any great force. 
 I believe that we can make it. The experi- 
 ment won't be a dangerous one at any rate." 
 
 The canoe was now dragged to the edge of 
 the rock and launched, Mukoki taking his 
 place in the stern while Wabigoon placed 
 Rod a little ahead of the midship rib. 
 
2o8 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "You must paddle on your left side, every 
 minute and as fast as you can," advised the 
 young Indian. "I am to remain behind, hold- 
 ing one end of this rope, so that if you are 
 drawn toward the maelstrom I can pull you 
 back. Understand?" 
 
 "Yes — but you. Flow — " 
 
 "Oh, I'll swim!" said Wabi in rank bra- 
 vado. "I don't mind a little whirlpool like 
 that at all!" 
 
 Mukoki chuckled in high humor, and Rod- 
 erick asked no more questions, but at Wabi's 
 command dug in his paddle and kept at it 
 until the birch bark safely made the point of 
 land beyond the reck. When he looked back 
 Wabi had tied the rope around his body and 
 was already waist deep in the water. At a 
 signal from Mukoki the young Indian 
 plunged fearlessly into the edge of the whirl- 
 pool and like a great floundering fish he was 
 quickly pulled across to safety. Most of his 
 clothes had been brought over in the canoe, 
 and after Wabigoon had exchanged his wet 
 garments for these the adventurers were ready 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 209 
 
 to continue their journey down the chasm. A 
 short portage brought them to the main chan- 
 nel of the stream, where they once more 
 iaunched their birch bark. 
 
 "If the whole trip is as exciting as this we'll 
 never reach our gold," said Wabi, as they 
 slipped out into the swift current. "A mad- 
 man, a whirlpool and a prison, all in one night, 
 is almost more than we can stand." 
 
 "There's a good deal of truth in the old 
 saying that it never rains but it pours," replied 
 Rod. "Maybe we'll have smooth sailing from 
 now on." 
 
 "Mebby!" grunted the old pathfinder from 
 behind. 
 
 Rod's optimism was vindicated for that day, 
 at least. Until noon the cance sped swiftly 
 down the chasm without mishap. The 
 stream, to which each mile added its contri- 
 bution of flood water from the mountain tops, 
 increased constantly in width and depth, but 
 only now and then was there a rock to 
 threaten their progress, and no driftwood at 
 all. When the gold seekers landed for din- 
 
210 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 ner they were confident of two things: that 
 they had passed far beyond the mad hunter's 
 reach, and were very near to the first water- 
 fall. Memory of the thrilling experiences 
 through which they had so recently run the 
 gauntlet was replaced by the most exciting 
 anticipation of the sound and sight of that first 
 waterfall, which was so vitally associated with 
 their search for the lost treasure. This time 
 a hearty dinner was cooked, and it took more 
 than an hour to prepare and eat it. 
 
 When the journey was resumed Mukoki 
 placed himself in the bow, his sharp eyes 
 scanning the rocks and mountain walls ahead 
 of him. Two hours after the start he gave an 
 exultant exclamation, and raised a warning 
 hand above his head. The three listened. 
 Faintly above the rush of the swift current 
 there came to their ears the distant rumble of 
 falling water! 
 
 Forgetful now of the madman back in the 
 chasm, oblivious of everything but the fact 
 that they had at last reached the first of the 
 three falls which were to lead them to the 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 211 
 
 gold, Wabi gave a whoop that echoed and 
 reechoed between the mountain walls, and 
 Rod joined him with all the power of his 
 lungs. Mukoki grinned, chuckled in his curi» 
 ous way, and a few moments later signaled 
 Wabi to guide the canoe ashore. 
 
 "We portage here," he explained. "Cur* 
 rent swift there — mebby go over fall !" 
 
 A short carry of two or three hundred yards 
 brought them to the cataract. It was, as Mu- 
 koki had said after his long trip of expiora« 
 tion a few months before, a very small fall, 
 not more than a dozen feet in height. But 
 over it there was now rushing a thundering 
 deluge of water. An easy trail led to the 
 stream below it, and no time was lost in get- 
 ting under way again. 
 
 Although they had traveled fully forty 
 miles since morning, the day had been an easy 
 and most interesting one for the three adven- 
 turers. On the swift current of the chasm 
 stream they had worked but little, and the 
 ceaseless change of scenery in this wonderful 
 break between the mountain ridges held an 
 
212 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 ever-increasing fascination for them. Late in 
 the afternoon the course changed from its 
 northeasterly direction to due north, and at 
 this point there was an ideal spot for camping. 
 Over an extent of an acre or more there was a 
 sweeping hollow of fine white sand, with great 
 quantities of dry wood cluttering the edge of 
 the depression. 
 
 "That's a curious spot!" said Wabi as they 
 drew up their canoe. "Looks like — " 
 
 "A lake," grunted Mukoki. "Long time 
 ago — a lake." 
 
 "The curve of the stream right here has 
 fwept up so much sand that the water can't get 
 into it," added Rod, looking the place over. 
 
 Wabi had gone a few paces back. Sud- 
 denly he stopped, and with a half shout he 
 gesticulated excitedly to his companions. 
 Something in his manner took Rod and Mu- 
 koki to him on the run. 
 
 When they came up the Indian youth stood 
 mutely pointing at something in the sand. 
 
 Clearly imprinted in that sand was the 
 shape of a human foot, a foot that had worn 
 
WABI MAKES A DISCOVERY 213 
 
 neither boot nor moccasin when it left its trail 
 
 in the lake bed, but which was as naked as the 
 quivering hand which Wabigoon now held 
 toward it! 
 
 And from that single footprint the eyes of 
 the astonished adventurers traveled quickly to 
 a hundred others, until it seemed to them that 
 a dozen naked savages must have been danc- 
 ing in these sands only a few hours before. 
 
 And Rod, glancing toward the driftwood, 
 saw something else, — something toward which 
 he pointed, speechless, white with that same 
 strange excitement that had taken possession: 
 of Wabigoon! 
 
CHAPTER Xlir 
 
 THE THIRD WATERFALL 
 
 THE others followed Rod's arm. Be- 
 hind him he heard the gentle click of 
 iWabigoon's revolver and the sharp, vi- 
 cious snap of the safety on Mukoki's rifle. 
 From beyond the driftwood there was ris- 
 ing a thin spiral of smoke! 
 
 "Whoever they are, they have certainly 
 seen or heard us!" said Wabi, after they had 
 stood in silence for a full minute. 
 
 "Unless they are gone from camp," replied 
 Rod in a whisper. 
 
 "Keep eyes open!" warned Mukoki as they 
 advanced cautiously in the direction of the 
 smoke. "No can tell what, I guess so!" 
 
 He was first to mount the driftwood, and 
 then he gave vent to a huge grunt. The smoke 
 was rising from beside a charred log which 
 was heaped half-way up its side with ashes 
 
 214. 
 
THE THIRD WATERFALL 215 
 
 and earth. In a flash the meaning of the ash 
 and dirt dawned on Rod and his companions. 
 The fire was banked. Those who had built 
 it were gone, but they expected to return. 
 The naked footprints were thick about the 
 camp-fire, and close to one end of the charred 
 log were scattered a number of bones. One 
 after another Mukoki picked up several of 
 these and closely examined them. While Rod 
 and Wabigoon were still gazing about them in 
 blank astonishment, half expecting attack 
 from a savage horde at any moment, the old 
 warrior had already reached a conclusion, and 
 calling to his companions he brought their 
 attention to the tracks in the sand. 
 
 "Same feet!" he exclaimed. "One man 
 mak' all track!" 
 
 "Impossible!" cried Wabi. "There are — 
 thousands of them!" 
 
 Mukoki grunted and fell upon his knees. 
 
 "Heem big toe — right foot — broke some- 
 time. Same in all track. See?" 
 
 Disgusted at his own lack of observation 
 Wabigoon saw at once that the old pathfinder 
 
216 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 was right. The joint of the big toe on the 
 right foot was twisted fully half an inch out- 
 ward, a deformity that left a peculiar impres- 
 sion in the sand, and every other track bore 
 this telltale mark. No sooner were the two 
 boys convinced of the correctness of Mukoki's 
 assertion than another and still more startling 
 surprise was sprung on them. Holding out 
 his handful of bones, Mukoki said: 
 
 "Meat no cook — eat raw!" 
 
 "Great Scott!" gasped Rod. 
 
 Wabi's eyes flashed with a new understand- 
 ing, and as he gazed into Rod's astonished face 
 the latter, too, began to comprehend the 
 significance of it all. 
 
 "It must have been the madman I" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And he was here yesterday!" 
 
 "Probably the day before," said Wabi. 
 The young Indian turned suddenly to Mu- 
 koki. "What did he want of the fire if he 
 didn't cook meat?" he asked. 
 
 Mukoki shrugged his shoulders but did not 
 answer. 
 
THE THIRD WATERFALL 217 
 
 "Well, it wasn't cooked, anyway," declared 
 
 Wabi, again examining the bones. "Here are 
 
 /chunks of raw flesh clinging to the bones. 
 
 Perhaps! he just singed the outside of his 
 
 jmeat." 
 
 The old Indian nodded at this suggestion 
 'and turned to investigate the fire. On the end 
 of the log were two stones, one flat and the 
 • other round and smooth, and after a moment's 
 inspection of these he dropped an exclamation 
 which was unusual for him, and which he 
 used only in those rare intervals when all 
 other language seemed to fail him. 
 
 "Bad dog man — mak' bullet — here I" he 
 called, holding out the stones. "See — gold — 
 gold!" 
 The boys hurried to his side. 
 "See — gold!" he repeated excitedly. 
 In the center of the flat stone there was a 
 gleaming yellow film. A single glance told 
 the story. With the round stone for a hammer 
 the mad hunter had pounded his golden bul- 
 lets into shape upon the flat stone ! There was 
 no longer a doubt in their minds; they were 
 
218 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 in the madman's camp. That morning they 
 had left this strange creature of the wilderness 
 fifty miles away. But how far away was he 
 now? The fire slumbering under its cover- 
 ing of ash and earth proved that he meant to 
 return — and soon. Would he travel by night 
 as well as by day? Was it possible that he was 
 already close behind them? 
 
 "He travels with the swiftness of an ani- 
 mal," said Wabi, speaking in a low voice to 
 Rod. "Perhaps he will return to-night!" 
 
 Mukoki overheard him and shook his head. 
 
 "Mak' heem through chasm in two day on 
 snow-shoe," he declared, referring to his trip 
 of exploration to the first waterfall over the 
 snows of the previous winter. "No mak' in 
 t'ree day over rock!" 
 
 "If Mukoki is satisfied, I am," said Rod. 
 "We can pull up behind the driftwood on 
 the farther edge of the lake bed." 
 
 Wabi made no objection, and the camp site 
 was chosen. Strangely enough, with the dis- 
 covery of the footprints, the fire, the picked 
 bones and the stones with which the mad 
 
THE THIRD WATERFALL 219 
 
 hunter had manufactured his golden bullets, 
 Mukoki seemed to have lost all fear of the 
 wild creature of the chasm. He was confident 
 now that he had only a man to deal with, a 
 man who had gone "bad dog," and his curios • 
 ity overcame his alarm. His assurance served 
 to dispel the apprehension of his companions, 
 'and sleep came early to the tired adventurers. 
 Nor did anything occur during the night to 
 awaken them. 
 
 Soon after dawn the trip down the chasm 
 stream was resumed. With the abrupt turn- 
 ing of the channel to the north, however, there 
 was an almost immediate change in the to- 
 pography of the country. Within an hour the 
 precipitous walls of the mountains gave place 
 to verdure-covered slopes, and now and then 
 the gold seekers found themselves 1 between 
 plains that swept back for a mile or more on 
 either side. Frequent signs of game were 
 observed along the shores of the river and sev- 
 eral times during the morning moose and cari- 
 bou were seen in the distance. A few months 
 before, when they had invaded the wilderness 
 
220 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 to hunt and trap, this country would have 
 aroused the wildest enthusiasm among Rod 
 and his friends, but now they gave but little 
 thought to their rifles. That morning they 
 had set out with the intention of reaching the 
 second waterfall before dusk, and it was with 
 disappointment rather than gladness that they 
 saw the swift current of the chasm torrent 
 change into the slower, steadier sweep of a 
 stream that had now widened into a fair-sized 
 river. According to the map the second fall 
 was about fifty-five miles from the mad hun- 
 ter's camp. Darkness found them still fifteen 
 miles from where it should be. \ 
 
 Excitement kept Rod awake most of that 
 night. Try as he would, he could not keep 
 visions of the lost treasure out of his mind. 
 The next day they would be far on their way 
 to the third and last waterfall. And then — 
 - the gold ! That they might not find it, that the 
 passing of half a century or more might have 
 obliterated all traces left by its ancient discov- 
 erers, never for a moment disturbed his be- 
 lief. 
 
THE THIRD WATERFALL 221 
 
 HTe was the first awake the following morn- 
 ing, the first to take his place in the canoe. 
 Every minute now his ears were keenly at- 
 tuned for that distant sound of falling water. 
 But hours passed without a sign of it. Noon 
 came. They had traveled six hours and had 
 covered twenty-five miles instead of fifteen! 
 Where was the waterfall? 
 
 ►There was a little more of anxiety in Wabi- 
 goon's eyes when they resumed their journey 
 after dinner. Again and again Rod looked at 
 his map 5 figuring out the distances as drawn 
 by John Ball, the murdered Englishman. 
 Surely the second waterfall could not be far 
 away now! And still hour after hour passed, 
 and mile after mile slipped behind them, until 
 the three knew that they had gone fully thirty 
 miles beyond where the cataract should havei 
 been, if the map was right. Twilight was 
 falling when they stopped for supper. For 
 the last hour Mukoki had spoken no word. 
 [A feeling of gloom was on them all ; without 
 questioning, each knew what the fears of the 
 others/were:' " 
 
222 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 Was it possible that, after all, they had not 
 solved the secret of the mysterious map? 
 
 •The more Rod thought of it the more his 
 fears possessed him. The two men who 
 fought and died in the old cabin were on 
 their way to civilization. They were taking 
 £old with them, gold which they meant to ex- 
 change for supplies. Would they, at the same 
 time, dare to have in their possession a map so 
 closely defining their trail as the rude sketch 
 on the bit of birch bark? Was there not some 
 strange key, known only to themselves, neces- 
 sary to the understanding of that sketch? 
 
 Mukoki had taken his rifle and disappeared 
 in the plain along the river, and for a long 
 time after they had eaten their bear steak and 
 drunk their hot coffee Rod and Wabigoon sat 
 talking in the glow of the camp-fire. The old 
 warrior had been gone for about an hour 
 when suddenly there came the report of a gun 
 from far down the stream, which was quickly 
 followed by two others — three in rapid suc- 
 cession. After an interval of a few r.econds 
 there sounded two other shots. 
 
THE THIRD WATERFALL 223 
 
 "The signal!" cried Rod. "Mukoki wants 
 
 us!" 
 
 Wabigoon sprang to his feet and emptied 
 the five shots of his magazine into the air. 
 
 "Listen!" 
 
 Hardly had the echoes died away when 
 there came again the reports of Mukoki's 
 rifle. 
 
 Without another word the two boys hurried 
 to the canoe, which had not been unloaded. 
 
 "He's a couple of miles down-stream," said 
 IWabi, as they shoved off. "X wonder what's 
 the matter?" 
 
 "I can make a pretty good guess," replied 
 Rod, his voice trembling with a new excite- 
 ment. "He has found the second waterfall!" 
 
 The thought gave fresh strength to their 
 aching arms and the canoe sped swiftly down 
 the stream. Fifteen minutes later another shot 
 signaled to them, this time not more than a 
 quarter of a mile away, and Wabi responded 
 to it with a loud shout. Mukoki's voice 
 floated back in an answering halloo, but be- 
 fore the young hunters came within sight of 
 
224 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 their comrade another sound reached their 
 ears, — the muffled roar of a cataract! Again 
 and again the boys sent their shouts of joy 
 echoing through the night, and above the 
 tumult of their own voices they heard the old 
 warrior calling on them to put into shore. 
 Mukoki was waiting for them when they 
 landed. 
 
 "This is big un!" he greeted. "Mak' much 
 noise, much swift water!" 
 
 "Hurrah!" yelled Rod for the twentieth 
 time, jumping up and down in his excite- 
 ment. 
 
 "Hurrah!" cried Wabi. 
 
 And Mukoki chuckled, and grinned, and 
 rubbed his leathery hands together in high 
 glee. 
 
 At last, when they had somewhat cooled 
 down, Wabi said: 
 
 "That John Ball was a pretty poor fellow 
 at a guess, eh? What do you say, Rod?" 
 
 "Or else pretty clever," added Rod. "By 
 George, I wonder if he had a reason for mak- 
 ing his scale fifty miles or so out of the way?" 
 
THE THIRD WATERFALL 225 
 
 Wabi looked at him, only partly under- 
 standing. 
 
 *'What do you mean?" 
 
 "I mean that our third waterfall is more 
 than likely to be mighty close to this one! 
 And if it is — well, John Ball had a reason, 
 and a good one! If we strike the last fall to- 
 morrow it will be pretty good proof that he 
 drew the map in a way intended to puzzle 
 somebody^ — perhaps his two partners, who 
 were just about to start for civilization." 
 
 "Muky, how far have we come?" asked 
 Wabigoon. 
 
 "Tree time first fall," replied the old In- 
 dian quickly. 
 
 "A hundred and fifty miles — in three days 
 and one night I don't believe that is far out 
 of the way. Then, according to the map, we 
 should still be a hundred miles from the third 
 fall." 
 
 "And we're not more than twenty-five!" de- 
 clared Rod confidently. "Let's build a fire 
 and go to bed. We'll have enough to do to- 
 morrow — hunting gold!" 
 
226 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 The fourth day's journey was begun before 
 it was yet light. Breakfast was eaten in the 
 glow of the camp-fire, and by the time dawn 
 broke the adventurers were already an hour 
 upon their way. Nothing but confidence now 
 animated them. The mad hunter and his 
 golden bullets were entirely forgotten in 
 these last hours of their exciting quest. Once, 
 far back, Rod had thought with chilling 
 dread that this might be the madman's trail, 
 that his golden bullets might come from the 
 treasure they were seeking. But he gave no 
 thought to this possibility now. His*>wn be- 
 lief that the third and last fall was not far 
 distant, in spite of the evidence of the map, 
 gradually gained possession of his compan- 
 ions, and the nerves of all three were keyed 
 to the highest tension of expectancy. The 
 preceding night Mukoki had made himself 
 a paddle to replace the one he had broken, 
 and not a stroke of the three pairs of arms 
 was lost. Early in the morning a young moose 
 allowed them to pass within a hundred yards 
 of him. But no shot was fired, for to obtain 
 
THE THIRD WATERFALL 227 
 
 the meat would have meant an hour's loss of 
 time. 
 
 Two hours after the start the country again 
 began taking on a sudden change. From east 
 and west the wild mountain ridges closed in, 
 and with each mile's progress the stream nar- 
 rowed and grew swifter, until again it was 
 running between chasm walls that rose black 
 and silent over the adventurers' heads. 
 Darker and gloomier became the break be- 
 tween the mountains. Far above, a thousand 
 feet or more, dense forests of red pine flung 
 their thick shadows over the edge of the 
 chasm, in places almost completely shutting 
 out the light of day. This was not like the 
 other chasm. It was deeper and darker and 
 more sullen. Under its walls the gloom was 
 almost that of night. Its solitude was voice~ 
 less; not a bird fluttered or chirped among its 
 rocks ; the lowest of whispered words sounded 
 with startling distinctness. Once Rod spoke 
 aloud, and his voice rose and beat itself in the 
 cavernous depths of the walls until it seemed 
 as though he had shouted. Now they ceased 
 
228 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 paddling, and Mukoki steered. Noiselessly 
 the current swept them on. In the twilight 
 gloom Rod's face shone with singular white- 
 ness. Mukoki and Wabigoon crouched like 
 bronze silhouettes. It was as if some mysteri- 
 ous influence held them in its power, forbid- 
 ding speech, holding their eyes in starin;- 
 expectancy straight ahead, filling them witi* 
 indefinable sensations that made their hearts 
 beat faster and their blood tingle. 
 
 Softly, from far ahead, at last there came a 
 murmur. It was like the first gentle whisper- 
 ing of an approaching wind, the soughing of 
 a breath among the pines at the top of the 
 chasm. But a wind among the trees rises, and 
 then dies away, like a chord struck low and 
 gently upon some soft-toned instrument This 
 whisper that came up the chasm remained. 
 It grew no louder, and sometimes it almost 
 faded away, until the straining ears of those 
 who listened could barely detect it; but after 
 a moment it was there again, as plainly as 
 before. Little by little it became more dis- 
 tinct, until there were no longer intervals 
 
THE THIRD WATERFALL 229 
 
 when it died away, and at last Wabigoon 
 turned in the bow and faced his companions, 
 and though he spoke no word there was the 
 gleam of a great excitement in his eyes. Rod's 
 heart beat like a drum. He, too, began to un- 
 derstand. That moaning, whispering sound 
 floating up the chasm was not the wind, but 
 the far-away rumble of the third waterfall ! 
 
 Mukoki's voice broke the tense silence from 
 behind. 
 
 "That the fall!" 
 
 Wabigoon replied in words scarcely louder 
 than a whisper. There was no joyful shout- 
 ing now, as there had been at the discovery 
 of the second fall. Even Mukoki's voice was 
 so low that the others could barely hear. 
 Something between these chasm walls seemed 
 to demand silence from them, and as the rum- 
 ble of the cataract came more and more 
 clearly to their ears they held their breath in 
 voiceless anticipation. A few hundred yards 
 ahead of them was the treasure which men 
 long since dead had discovered more than half 
 a century before; between the black mountain 
 
330 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 walls that so silently guarded that treasure 
 there seemed to lurk the spirit presence of the 
 three men who had died because of it. Here, 
 somewhere very near, John Ball had been 
 murdered, and Rod almost fancied that along 
 the sandy edge of the chasm stream they might 
 stumble on the footprints of the men whose 
 skeletons they had discovered in the ancient 
 cabin. 
 
 Mukoki uttered no sound as he guided the 
 canoe ashore. Still without word, the three 
 picked up their rifles and Wabigoon led the 
 way along the edge of the stream. Soon it 
 dashed a swift racing torrent between the 
 rocks, and Rod and his companions knew that 
 they were close upon the fall. A hundred 
 yards or more and they saw the white mist of 
 it leaping up before their eyes. Wabi began 
 to run, his moccasined feet springing from 
 stone to stone with the caution of a hunter 
 approaching game, and Mukoki and Rod 
 came close behind him. 
 
 They paused upon the edge of a great mass 
 ci rock with the spray of the plunging cata- 
 
THE THIRD WATERFALL 231 
 
 ract rising in their faces. Breathless they 
 gazed down. It was not a large fall. Wabi 
 silently measured it at forty feet. But it 
 added just that much more to the depth and 
 {he gloom of the chasm be}^ond, into which 
 there seemed no way of descent. The rock 
 walls rose sheer and black, with clumps of 
 £edar and stunted pine growing at their feet. 
 Farther on the space between the mountains 
 became wider, and the river reached out on 
 either side, frothing and beating itself into 
 white fury in a chaos of slippery water-worn 
 rocks. 
 
 Down there — somewhere — was the golden 
 treasure they had come to seek, unless the map 
 iied! Was it among those rocks, where the 
 water dashed and fumed? Was it hidden in 
 some gloomy cavern of the mountain sides, its 
 trail concealed by the men who discovered it 
 half an age ago? Would they find it, after 
 all — would they find it? 
 
 A great gulp of excitement rose in Rod's 
 throat, and he looked at Wabigoon. 
 
 The Indian youth had stretched out an arm. 
 
232 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 His eyes were blazing, his whole attitude was 
 one of tense emotion. 
 
 "There's the cabin," he cried, "the cabin 
 built by John Ball and the two Frenchmen! 
 See, over there among those cedars, almost 
 hidden in that black shadow of the mountain! 
 Great Scott, Muky — Rod — can't you see?^ 
 Can't you see?" 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE PAPER IN THE OLD TIN BOX 
 
 LOWLY out of that mysterious gloom 
 there grew a shape before Rod's eyes. :; 
 !A.t first it was only a shadow, then it 
 might have been a rock, and then the gulp in 
 his throat leaped out in a shout when he saw 
 that Wabigoon's sharp eyes had in truth dis- 
 covered the old cabin of the map. For what 
 else could it be? What else but the wilderness 
 home of the adventurers whose skeletons they 
 had found, Peter Plante and Henri Langlois, 
 and John Ball, the man whom these two had 
 murdered? 
 
 Rod's joyous voice was like the touch of fire 
 to Wabi's enthusiasm and in a moment the 
 oppressive silence of their journey down the 
 chasm was broken by the wild cheers which 
 the young gold seekers sent echoing between 
 the mountains. Grimacing and chuckling in 
 
234 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 his own curious way, Mukoki was already 
 slipping along the edge of the rock, seeking 
 some break by which he might reach the lower 
 chasm. They were on the point of turning to 
 the ascent of the mountain, along which they 
 would have to go until they found such a 
 break, when the old pathfinder directed the 
 attention of his companions to the white top 
 of a dead cedar stub projecting over the edge 
 of the precipice. 
 
 "Go down that, mebby," he suggested, 
 shrugging his shoulders to suggest that the ex- 
 periment might be a dangerous one. 
 
 Rod looked over. The top of the stub was 
 within easy reach, and the whole tree was en- 
 tirely free of bark or limbs, a fact which in 
 his present excitement did not strike him as 
 especially unusual. Swinging his rifle strap 
 over his shoulders he reached out, caught the 
 slender apex of the stub, and before the others 
 could offer a word of encouragement or warn- 
 ing was sliding down the wall of the rock into 
 the chasm. Wabi was close behind him, and 
 not waiting for Mukoki's descent the two boys 
 
THE OLD TIN BOX 235 
 
 hurried toward the cabin. Half-way to it 
 Wabi stopped. 
 
 "This isn't fair. We've got to wait for 
 Muky." 
 
 They looked back. Mukoki was not fol- 
 lowing. The old warrior was upon his knees 
 at the base of the dead tree, as though he was ,(; 
 searching for something among the rocks at 
 its foot. Then he rose slowly, and rubbed his 
 hands along the stub as high as he could reach. 
 When he saw that Rod and Wabi were .ob- 
 serving him he quickly came toward them, 
 and Wabigoon, who was quick to notice any 
 change in him, was confident that he had made 
 a discovery of some kind. 
 
 "What have you found, Muky?" 
 
 "No so ver' much. Funny tree," grunted 
 the Indian. 
 
 "Smooth as a fireman's brass pole," added 
 Rod, seeing no significance in Mukoki's 
 words. "Listen!" 
 
 He stopped so suddenly that Wabigoon 
 bumped into him from behind. 
 
 "Did you hear that?" 
 
236 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "No." 
 
 For a few moments the three huddled close 
 together in watchful silence. Mukoki was 
 .behind the boys or they would have seen that 
 his rifle was ready to spring to his shoulder 
 and that his black eyes were snapping with 
 something not aroused by curiosity alone. 
 The cabin was not more than twenty paces 
 away. It was old, so old that Rod wondered 
 how it had withstood the heavy storms of the 
 last winter. A growth of saplings had found 
 root in its rotting roof and the logs of which 
 it was built were in the last stage of decay. 
 There was no window, and where the door 
 had once been there had grown a tree a foot 
 in diameter, almost closing the narrow aper- 
 ture through which the mysterious inhabit- 
 ants had passed years before. A dozen paces, 
 five paces from this door, and Mukoki's hand 
 reached out and laid itself gently upon Wabi's 
 shoulder. Rod saw the movement and 
 stopped. A strange look had come into the 
 old Indian's face, an expression in which there 
 was incredulity and astonishment, as if he be- 
 
THE OLD TIN BOX 237 
 
 lieved and yet doubted what his eyes beheld. 
 Mutely he pointed to the tree growing before 
 the door, and to the reddish, crumbling rot 
 into which the logs had been turned by the : 
 passing of generations. 
 
 "Red pine," he said at last. "That cabin 1 
 more'n' twent' t'ous'nd year old!" 
 
 3There was an awesome ring in his voice. 
 Rod understood, and clutched Wabi's arm. 
 In an instant he thought of the other old cabin, 
 in which they had found the skeletons. They 
 had repaired that cabin and had passed the 
 winter in it, and they knew that it had been 
 built half a century or more before. But this 
 cabin was beyond repair. To Rod it seemed 
 as though centuries of time instead of dec- 
 ades had been at work on its timbers. Fol- 
 lowing close after Wabi he thrust his head 
 through the door. Deep gloom shut out their 
 vision. But as they looked, steadily inuring 
 their eyes to the darkness within, the walls of 
 the old cabin took form, and they saw that 
 everywhere was vacancy. There was no an- 
 cient table, as in the other cabin they had dis- 
 
238 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 covered at the head of the first chasm, there 
 were no signs of the life that had once ex- 
 isted, not even the remnants of a chair or a 
 stool. The cabin was bare. 
 
 Foot by foot the two boys went around its 
 walls. Mukoki took but a single glance in- 
 side and disappeared. Once alone he snapped 
 down the safety of his rifle. Quickly, as if he 
 feared interruption, he hurried around the old 
 cabin, his eyes close to the earth. When Rod 
 and Wabi returned to the door he was at the 
 edge of the fall, crouching low among the 
 rocks like an animal seeking a trail. Wabi 
 pulled his companion back. 
 
 "Look!" 
 
 The old warrior rose, suddenly erect, and 
 turned toward them, but the boys were hid- 
 den in the gloom. Then he hurried to the 
 dead stub beside the chasm wall. Again he 
 reached far up, rubbing his hand along its 
 surface. 
 
 "I'm going to have a look at that tree!" 
 whispered Wabi. "Something is puzzling 
 Mukoki. Are you coming?" 
 
THE OLD TIN BOX 239 
 
 He hurried across the rock-strewn opening,, 
 but Rod hung back. He could not under- 
 stand his companions. For weeks and months 
 they had planned to find this third waterfall. 
 Visions of a great treasure had been constantly 
 before their eyes, and now that they were here, 
 with the gold perhaps under their very feet, 
 both Mukoki and Wabigoon were more in- 
 terested in a dead stub than in their search for 
 it! His own heart was almost bursting with 
 excitement. The very air which he breathed 
 in the old cabin set his blood leaping with an- 
 ticipation. Here those earlier adventurers 
 had lived half a century or more ago. In it 
 the life-blood of the murdered John Bail 
 might have ebbed away. In this cabin the 
 men whose skeletons he had found had slept, 
 and planned, and measured their gold. And 
 the gold ! It was that and not the stub that in- 
 terested Roderick Drew! Where was the lost 
 treasure? Surely the old cabin must hold 
 some clue for them, it would at least tell them 
 more than the limbless white corpse of a tree! 
 
 From the door he looked back into the dank 
 
240 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 gloom, straining his eyes to see, and then 
 glanced across the opening. Wabi had 
 reached the stub, and both he and Mukoki 
 ♦were on their knees beside it. Probably they 
 have found the marks of a lynx or a bear, 
 thought Rod. A dozen paces away something 
 else caught his eyes, a fallen red pine, dry 
 and heavy with pitch, and in less than a min- 
 ute he had gone to it and was back with a 
 torch. Breathlessly he touched the tiny flame 
 of a match to the stick. For a moment the 
 pitch sputtered and hissed, then flared into 
 light, and Rod held the burning wood above 
 *his head. 
 
 The young gold seeker's firs? look about 
 him was disappointing. Nothing but the bare 
 walls met his eyes. Then, in the farthest 
 corner, he observed something that in the 
 dancing torch-light was darker than the logs 
 themselves, and he moved toward it. It was 
 a tiny shelf, not more than a foot long, and 
 upon it was a small tin box, black and rust- 
 eaten by the passing of ages. With trembling 
 fingers Rod took it in his hand. It was vzr? 
 
THE OLD TIN, BOX 241 
 
 light, probably empty. In it he might find 
 the dust of John Ball's last tobacco. Then, 
 suddenly, as he thought of this, he stopped in 
 his search and a muffled exclamation of sur- 
 prise fell from him. In the glow of the torch 
 he looked at the tin box. It was crumbling 
 with age and he might easily have crushed it 
 in his hand — and yet it was still a tin box! If 
 this box had remained why had not other 
 'things? iWhere were the pans and kettles, the 
 pail and frying-pan, knives, cups and other 
 articles which John Ball and the two French- 
 men must at one time have possessed in this 
 cabin? 
 
 He returned to the door. Mukoki and Wa- 
 bigoon were still at the dead stub. Even the 
 flare of light in the old cabin had not at- 
 tracted them. Tossing his torch away Rod 
 tore off the top of the tin box. Something 
 fell at his feet, and as he reached for it he saw 
 that it was a little roll of paper,, almost as dis- 
 colored as the rust-eaten box itself. As gently 
 as Mukoki had unrolled the precious birch- 
 bark map a few months before he smoothed 
 
242 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 out the paper. The edges of it broke and 
 crumbled under his fingers, but the inner side 
 of the roll was still quite white. Mukoki and 
 Wabigoon, looking back, saw him suddenly 
 turn toward them with a shrill cry on his lips, 
 and the next instant he was racing in their 
 direction, shouting wildly at every step. 
 
 "The gold!" he shrieked. "The goldl 
 Hurrah!" 
 
 He was almost sobbing in his excitement 
 when he stopped between them, holding out 
 the bit of paper. 
 
 "I found it in the cabin — in a tin box! See, 
 it's John Ball's writing — the writing that was 
 on the old map! I found it — in a tin box — " 
 
 Wabi seized the paper. His own breath 
 came more quickly when he saw what was 
 upon it. There were a few lines of writing, 
 dim but still legible, and a number of figures. 
 Across the top of the paper was written, 
 
 "Account of John Ball, Henri Langlois, 
 and Peter Plante for month ending June 
 thirtieth, 1859." 
 
 Below these lines was the following: 
 
THE OLD TIN BOX 243 
 
 "Plante's work: nuggets, 7 pounds, nine 
 ounces; dust, 1 pound, 3 ounces. Langlois' 
 work: nuggets, 9 pounds, 13 ounces; dust, 
 none. Ball's work: nuggets, 6 pounds, 4 
 ounces; dust, 2 pounds, 3 ounces. 
 
 Total, 27 pounds. 
 
 Plante's share, 6 pounds, i2fcunces. 
 
 Langlois' share, 6 pounds, 12 ounces. 
 
 Ball's share, 13 pounds, 8 ounces. 
 
 Division made." 
 
 Softly Wabigoon read the words aloud. 
 When he finished his eyes met Rod's, Mukoki 
 was still crouching at the foot of tits stub, star- 
 ing at the two boys in silence, as if stupefied 
 by what he had just heard. 
 
 "This doesn't leave a doiibt," said Wabi at 
 last. 'We've struck the right place 1" 
 
 "The gold is somewhere^— very near — " 
 
 Rod could not master the tremble in his 
 voice. As though hoping to see the yellow 
 treasure heaped in a pile before his eyes he 
 turned to the waterfall, to the gloomy walls of 
 the chasm, and finally extended an arm to 
 where the spring torrent, leaping over the edge 
 
244 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 of the chasm above, beat itself into frothing 
 rage among the rocks between the two moun- 
 tains. 
 
 "It's there!" 
 
 * "In the stream?" 
 
 I 
 
 "Yes. Where else near this cabin would 
 they have found pure nuggets of gold? Surely J; 
 not in rock! And gold-dust is always in the 
 sands of streams. It's there — without a 
 Uoubtl" 
 
 Both Indians went with him to the edge of 
 the water. 
 
 "The creek widens here until it is very shal- 
 low," said Wabi. "I don't believe that it is 
 more than four feet deep out there in the mid- 
 dle. What do you say — " He paused as he 
 saw Mukoki slip back to the dead stub again, 
 then went on, "What do you say to making a 
 trip to the canoe after grub for our dinner, and » 
 the pans?" 
 
 The first flash of enthusiasm that had filled 
 
 • Wabigoon on reading the paper discovered by 
 Rod was quickly passing away, and the white 
 youth could not but notice the change which 
 
THE OLD TIN BOX 243 
 
 came over both Mukoki and his young friend 
 when they stood once more beside the smooth 
 white stub that reached up to the floor of the 
 chasm above. He controlled his own enthusi- 
 asm enough to inspect more closely the dead 
 tree which had affected them so strangely. 
 The discovery he made fairly startled him. 
 The surface of the stub was not only smooth 
 and free of limbs, but was polished until it 
 shone with the reflecting luster of a waxed 
 pillar! For a moment he forgot the paper 
 which he held in his hand, forgot the old 
 cabin, and the nearness of gold. In blank won- 
 der he stared at Mukoki, and the old Indian 
 shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " Ver' nice an' smooth !" 
 
 "Ver' <lam' smooth!" emphasized Wabi, 
 without a suggestion of humor in his voice. 
 
 <f What'does it mean?" asked Rod. 
 
 "It means," continued Wabigoon, "that this 
 old stub has for a good many years been used 
 by something as a sort of stairway in and out 
 of this chasm! Now if it were a bear, there 
 would be claw marks. If it were a lynx, the 
 
246 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 surface of the stub would be cut into shreds. 
 Any kind of animal would have left his mark 
 behind, and no animal would have put this 
 polish on it!" 
 
 "Then what in the world — " 
 
 Rod did not finish. Mukoki lifted his shoul- 
 ders to a level with his chin, and Wabi whis- 
 tled as he looked straight at him. 
 
 "Not a hard guess, eh?" 
 
 "You mean — " 
 
 "That it's a man ! Only the arms and legs of 
 a man going up and down that stub hundreds 
 2nd thousands of times could have worn it so 
 smooth! Now, can you guess who that man 
 is?" 
 
 In a flash the answer shot into Rod's brain. 
 He understood now why this old stub had 
 drawn his companions away from their search 
 for gold, and he felt the flush of excitement go 
 out of his own cheeks, and an involuntary 
 thrill pass up his back. 
 
 "The mad hunter!" 
 
 Wabi nodded. Mukoki grunted and rubbed 
 his hands. 
 
THE OLD TIN; BOX 247 
 
 "Gold in bullet come from here!" said the 
 old pathfinder. "Bad dog man ver' swift on 
 trail. We hurry get canoe — cut down tree!" 
 
 "That's more than you've said in the last 
 half-hour, and it's a good idea!" exclaimed 
 Wabi. "Let's get our stuff down here and chop 
 this stub into firewood ! When he comes back 
 and finds his ladder gone he'll give a screech 
 or two, I'll wager, and then it will be our 
 chance to do something with him. Here 
 goes!" 
 
 He started to climb the stub, and a minute 
 or two later stood safely on the rock above. 
 
 "Slippery as a greased pole!" he called 
 down. "Bet you can't make it, Rod !" 
 
 But Rod did, after a tremendous effort that 
 left him breathless and gasping by the time 
 Wabi stretched out a helping hand to him. 
 Mukoki came up more easily. Taking only 
 their revolvers with them the three hurried to 
 the birch bark, and in a single load brought 
 their possessions to the rock. By means of 
 ropes the packs and other contents of the 
 canoe, and finally the canoe itself, were low- 
 
€48 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 ered into the chasm, and while the others 
 looked on Mukoki seized the ax and chopped 
 down the stub. 
 
 "There!" he grunted, as a last blow sent the 
 tree crashing among the rocks. "Too high for 
 heem jump!" 
 
 "But a mighty good place for him to shoot 
 from," said Wabi, looking up. "We'd better 
 camp out of range." 
 
 "Not until we know what we've struck," 
 cried Rod, unstrapping a pan from one of the 
 packs. "Boys, the first thing to do is to wash 
 out a little of that river-bed!" 
 
 He started for the creek, with Wabi close 
 behind him bearing a second pan. Mukoki 
 looked after them and chuckled softly to him- 
 self as he began making preparations for din- 
 ner. Choosing a point where the current had 
 swept up a small bar of pebbles and sand 
 Wabi and Rod both set to work. The white 
 youth had never before panned gold, but he 
 had been told how it was done, and there now 
 shot through him that strange, thrilling excite- 
 ment which enthralls the treasure hunter when 
 
THE OLD TIN BOX 249 
 
 he believes that at last he has struck pay dirt. 
 Scooping up a quantity of the gravel and sand 
 he filled his pan with water, then moved it 
 quickly back and forth, every few moments 
 splashing some of the "wash" or muddy water> 
 over the side. Thus, filling and refilling his 
 pan with fresh water, he excitedly went 
 through the process of "washing" everything 
 but solid substance out of it. 
 
 With each fresh dip into the stream the 
 water in tht pan became clearer, and within 
 fifteen minutes the three or four double hand- 
 fuls of sand and gravel with which he began 
 work dwindled down to one. Scarcely breath- 
 ing in his eagerness he watched for the yellow 
 gleam of gold. Once a glitter among the peb- 
 bles drew a low cry from him, but when with 
 the point of his knife he found it to be only 
 mica he was glad that Wabi had not heard 
 him. The young Indian was squatting upon 
 the sand, with his pan turned toward a gleam 
 of the sun that shot faintly down into the 
 chasm. Without raising his head he called to 
 Rod. 
 
*50 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "Found anything?" 
 
 "No. Have you?" 
 
 "No— yes — but I don't think it's gold." 
 
 "What does it look like?" 
 
 "It gleams yellow but is as hard as steel." 
 
 "Mica!" said Rod. 
 
 Neither of the boys looked up during the 
 conversation. With the point of his hunting- 
 knife Rod still searched in the bottom of his 
 pan, turning over the pebbles and raking the 
 gravelly sand with a painstaking care that 
 would have made a veteran gold seeker laugh. 
 Some minutes had passed when Wabi spoke 
 again. 
 
 "I say, Rod, that's a funny-looking thing 1 
 found! If it wasn't so hard I'd swear it was 
 gold? Want to see it?" 
 
 "It's mica," repeated Rod, as another gleam 
 of "fool's gold" in his own pan caught his eyes. 
 "The stream is full of it!" 
 
 "Never saw mica in chunks before," mum- 
 bled Wabi, bending low over his pan. 
 
 "Chunks!" cried Rod, straightening as if 
 
THE OLD TIN' BOX 251 
 
 some one had run a pin into his back. "How 
 
 big is it?" 
 
 "Big as a pea — a big pea!" 
 
 The words were no sooner out of the young 
 Indian's mouth than Roderick was upon his 
 feet and running to his companion. 
 
 "Mica doesn't come in chunks ! Where — " 
 
 He bent over Wabi's pan. In the very mid- 
 dle of it lay a suspiciously yellow pebble, worn 
 round and smooth by the water, and when Rod 
 took it in his fingers he gave a low whistle of 
 mock astonishment as he gazed down into 
 Wabigoon's face. 
 
 "Wabi, I'm ashamed of youV 1 he said, try- 
 ing hard to choke back the quiver in his voice. 
 "Mica doesn't come in round chunks like this. 
 Mica isn't heavy. And this is both!" 
 
 From the cedars beyond the old cabin came 
 Mukoki's whooping signal that dinner was 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE TREASURE IN THE POOL 
 
 FOR a few moments after Rod's words 
 and Mukoki's signal from the cedars 
 Wabigoon sat as if stunned. 
 "It isn't — gold," he said, his voice filled 
 with questioning doubt. 
 
 "That's just what it is!" declared Rod, his 
 words now rising in the excitement which he 
 was vainly striving to suppress. "It's hard, 
 'but see how your knife point has scratched it! 
 It weighs a quarter of an ounce ! Are there any 
 more nuggets in there?" 
 
 He fell upon his knees beside Wabi, and 
 their two heads were close together, their four 
 eyes eagerly searching the contents of the pan, 
 when Mukoki came up behind them. Rod 
 passed the golden nugget to the old Indian, 
 and rose to his feet. 
 "That settles it, boys. We've hit the right 
 252 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOU 2$3 
 
 spot. Let's give three cheers for John Ball 
 and the old map, and go to dinner!" 
 
 "I agree to dinner, but cut out the cheers," 
 said Wabi, "or else let's give them under our 
 breath. Notice how hollow our voices sound 
 in this chasm ! I believe we could hear a shout 
 half a dozen miles away!" 
 
 For their camp Mukoki had chosen a site 
 in the edge of the cedars, and had spread din- 
 ner on a big flat rock about which the three 
 now gathered. For inspiration, as Wabi said, 
 the young Indian placed the yellow nugget 
 in the center of the improvised table, and if 
 the enthusiasm with which they hurried 
 through their meal counted for anything there 
 was great merit in the golden centerpiece. 
 Mukoki joined the young gold seekers when 
 they again returned to the chasm stream, and 
 the quest of the yellow treasure was vigorously 
 renewed in trembling and feverish expec- 
 tancy. 
 
 Only those who have lived in this quest 
 and who have pursued that elusive ignis fatuus 
 of all nations — the lure of gold — can realize 
 
254 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 the sensations which stir the blood and heat 
 the brain of the treasure seeker as he dips his 
 pan into the sands of the stream where he be- 
 lieves nature has hidden her wealth. As Rod- 
 erick Drew, a child of that civilization where 
 the dollar is law as well as might, returned 
 to the exciting work which promised him a 
 fortune he seemed to be in a half dream. 
 About him, everywhere, was gold! For no 
 moment did he doubt it; not for an instant did 
 he fear that there might be no more gold in 
 the sand and gravel from which Wabigoon's 
 nugget had come. Treasure was in the very 
 sandbar under his feet! It was out there 
 among the rocks, where the water beat itself 
 angrily into sputtering froth; it was under the 
 fall, and down in the chasm, everywhere, ev- 
 erywhere about him. In one month John Ball 
 and his companions had gathered twenty- 
 seven pounds of it, a fortune of nearly seven 
 thousand dollars! And they had gathered it 
 here! Eagerly he scooped up a fresh pan of 
 the precious earth. Ke heard the swish-swish 
 of the water in Wabigoon's and Mukoki's 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOL 1255 
 
 pans. But beyond this there were no sounds 
 made by them. 
 
 In these first minutes of treasure seeking no 
 words were spoken. Who would give the first 
 shout of discovery? Five minutes, ten, fif- 
 teen of them passed, and Rod found no gold. 
 As he emptied his pan he saw Wabi scooping 
 up fresh dirt. He, too, had failed. Mukoki 
 had waded out waist deep among the rocks./ 
 A second and a third pan, and a little chill of 
 disappointment cooled Rod's blood. Perhaps 
 he had chosen an unlucky spot, where the gold 
 had not settled! He moved his position, and 
 noticed that Wabigoon had done the same* 
 lA fourth and a fifth pan and the result was 
 the same. Mukoki had waded across the 
 stream, which was shallow below the fall, and 
 'was working on the opposite side. A sixth 
 ipan, and Rod approached the young Indian. 
 The excitement was gone out of their faces* 
 An hour and a half — and no more gold! 
 
 "Guess we haven't hit the right place, after 
 1 all," said Wabi. 
 , "It must be here," replied Rod. "Where 
 
2.s6 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 there is one nugget there must be more. Gold 
 is heavy, and settles. Perhaps it's deeper down 
 in the river bed." 
 
 Mukoki came across to join them. Out 
 among the rocks he had found a fleck of gold 
 no larger than the head of a pin, and this new- 
 sign gave them all fresh enthusiasm. Taking 
 off their boots both Rod and Wabi joined the 
 old pathfinder in midstream. But each suc- 
 ceeding pan added to the depressing convic- 
 tion that was slowly replacing their hopes. 
 The shadows in the chasm began growing 
 longer and deeper. Far overhead the dense 
 canopies of red pine shut out the last sun-glow 
 of day, and the gathering gloom between the 
 mountains gave warning that in this mysteri- 
 ous world of the ancient cabin the dusk of 
 night was not far away. But not until they 
 could no longer see the gleaming mica in their 
 pans did the three cease work. Wet to the 
 waist, tired, and with sadly-shattered dreams 
 they returned to their camp. For a short time 
 Rod's hopes were at their lowest ebb. Was it 
 possible that there was no more gold, that the 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOL 257 
 
 three adventurers of long ago had discovered 
 a "pocket" here, and worked it out? The 
 thought had been growing in his head. Now 
 it worried him. 
 
 But his depression did not last long. The 
 big fire which Mukoki built and the stimu- 
 lating aroma of strong coffee revived his nat- 
 ural spirits, and both Wabi and he were soon 
 laughing and planning again as they made 
 their cedar-bough shelter. Supper on the big 
 flat stone — a feast of bear steak, hot-stone bis- 
 cuits, coffee, and that most delectable of all 
 wilderness luxuries, a potato apiece, — and the 
 two irrepressible young gold hunters were 
 once more scheming and building their air- 
 castles for the following day. Mukoki lis- 
 tened, and attended to the clothes drying 
 before the fire, now and then walking out into 
 the gloom of the chasm to look up to where 
 the white rim of the fall burst over the edge 
 of the great rock above them. All that after- 
 noon Wabi and Rod had forgotten the mad 
 hunter and the strange, smoothly worn tree. 
 Mukoki had not. 
 
258 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 In the glow of the camp-fire the two boys 
 read over again the old account of John Ball 
 and the two Frenchmen. The tiny slip of 
 paper, yellow with age, was the connecting 
 link between them and the dim and romantic 
 past, a relic of the grim tragedy which these 
 black and gloomy chasm walls would prob- 
 ably keep for ever a secret. 
 
 "Twenty-seven pounds," repeated Rod, as if 
 half to himself. "That was one month's 
 work!" 
 
 "Pretty nearly a pound a day!" gaspe'd 
 Wabi. "I tell you, Rod, we haven't hit the 
 right spot — yet!" 
 
 "I wonder why John Ball's share was twice 
 that of his companions'? Do you suppose it 
 was because he discovered the gold in the first 
 place?" speculated Rod. 
 
 "In all probability it was. That accounts 
 for hi9 murder. The Frenchmen were getting 
 the small end of the deal." 
 
 "Eighteen hundred fifty-nine," mused Rod. 
 "That was forty-nine years ago, before the 
 great Civil War. Say—" 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOL 259 
 
 He stopped and looked hard at Wabigoon. 
 
 "Did it ever strike you that John Ball might 
 not have been murdered?" 
 
 Wabi leaned forward with more than usual 
 eagerness. 
 
 "I have had a thought — " he began. 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "That perhaps he was not killed." 
 
 "And that after the two Frenchmen died in 
 the knife duel he returned and got the gold," 
 continued Rod. 
 
 "No, I had not thought of that," said Wabi. 
 Suddenly he rose to his feet and joined Mu- 
 koki out in the gloom of the chasm. 
 
 Rod was puzzled. Something in his com- 
 panion's voice, in his face and words, dis- 
 turbed him. What had Wabigoon meant? 
 
 The young Indian soon rejoined him, but 
 he spoke no more of John Ball. 
 
 When the two boys went to their blankets 
 Mukoki still remained awake. For a long 
 time he sat beside the fire, his hands gripping 
 the rifle across his knees, his head slightly 
 bowed in that statue-like posture so character' 
 
2<5o THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 istic of the Indian. For fully an hour he sat 
 motionless, and in his own way he was deeply 
 absorbed in thought. Soon after their discov- 
 ery of the first golden bullet Wabigoon had 
 whispered a few words into his ear, unknown 
 to Rod; and to-night out in the gloom of the 
 chasm, he had repeated those same words. 
 They had set Mukoki's mind working. He 
 was thinking now of something that hap- 
 pened long ago, when, in his reasoning, the 
 wilderness was young and he was a youth. In 
 those days his one great treasure was a dog, 
 and one winter he went with this faithful 
 companion far into the hunting regions of 
 the North, a long moon's travel from his vil- 
 lage. When he returned, months later, he was 
 alone. From his lonely hunting shack deep 
 in the solitudes his comrade had disappeared, 
 and had never returned. This all happened 
 before Mukoki met the pretty Indian girl 
 who became his wife, and was afterward 
 killed by the wolves, and he missed the dog 
 as he would have missed a human brother. 
 The Indian's love, even for brutes, is some- 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOL; *6i 
 
 thing that lives, and more than twenty moans 
 iater — two years in the life of a man— he re- 
 turned once again to the old shack, and there 
 he found Wholdaia, the dog! The animal 
 •knew him, and bounded about on three legs 
 for joy, and because of the misiing leg Mu- 
 koki understood why he had not returned to 
 him two years before. Two years is a long 
 time in the life of a dog, and the gray hairs 
 of suffering and age were freely sprinkled 
 in Wholdaia's muzzle and *!ong his spine. 
 
 Mukoki was not thinking of Wholdaia 
 without a reason. He wg$ thinking of Wabi- 
 goon's words — and the mad hunter. Could 
 not the mad hunter do as Wholdaia had done? 
 L Was it possible that ths bad-dog man who 
 shot golden bullets and who screamed like a 
 lynx was the man wh& had lived there many, 
 many years ago, and whom the boys called 
 John Ball? Those were the thoughts that 
 IWabi had set working in his brain. The 
 young Indian had not suggested this to Rod. 
 He had spoken of it to Mukoki only because 
 he knew the old pathfinder might help him. 
 
262 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 to solve the riddle, and so he had started' Mil- 
 koki upon the trail. 
 
 The next morning, while the others were 
 finishing their breakfast, Mukoki equipped 
 himself for a journey. 
 
 "Go down chasm," he explained to Rod. 
 "Fin' where get out to plain. Shoot meat." 
 
 That day the gold hunters were more sys- 
 tematic in their work, beginning close to the 
 fall, one on each side of the stream, and pan- 
 ning their way slowly down the chasm. By 
 noon they had covered two hundred yards, 
 and their only reward was a tiny bit of gold, 
 worth no more than a dollar, which Rod had 
 found in his pan. By the time darkness again 
 compelled them to stop they had prospected 
 a quarter of a mile down stream without dis- 
 covering other signs of John Ball's treasure. 
 In spite of their failure they were less dis- 
 couraged than the previous evening, for this 
 failure, in a way, was having a sedative and 
 healthful effect. It convinced them that there 
 was a hard and perhaps long task ahead of 
 them, and that they could not expect to find 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOE 263 
 
 their treasure winnowed in yellow piles for 
 them. 
 
 Early in the evening Mukoki returned 
 laden with caribou meat, and with the news 
 that the first break in the chasm walls was 
 fully five miles below. The adventurers now 
 regretted that they had chopped down the 
 stub, for it was decided that the next work 
 should be in the stream above the fall, which 
 would necessitate a ten-mile tramp, five miles 
 to the break and five miles back. When the 
 journey was begun at dawn the following 
 morning several days' supplies were taken 
 along, and also a stout rope by means of which 
 the gold hunters could lower themselves back 
 into their old camp when their work above 
 was completed. Rod noticed that the rocks in 
 the stream seemed much larger than when he 
 had first seen them, and he mentioned the fact 
 to Wabigoon. 
 
 "The floods are going down rapidly," ex- 
 plained the young Indian. "All of the snow 
 is melted from the sides of the mountains, and 
 there are no lakes to feed this chasm stream. 
 
264 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 Within a week there won't be more than a few 
 inches of water below the fall." 
 
 "And that is when we shall find the gold!" 
 declared Rod with his old enthusiasm. "I 
 tell you, we haven't gone deep enough 1 This 
 gold has been here for centuries and centur- 
 ies, and it has probably settled several feet 
 below the surface of the river-bed. Ball and 
 the Frenchmen found twenty-seven pounds 
 in June, when the creek was practically dry. 
 Did you ever read about the discoveries of 
 gold in Alaska and the Yukon?" 
 
 "A little, when I was going to school with 
 you." 
 
 "Well, the richest finds were nearly always 
 from three to a dozen feet under the surface, 
 and when a prospector found signs in surface 
 panning he knew there was rich dirt below. 
 We'll find our gold in this chasm, and near the 
 fall!" 
 
 Rod's confidence was the chief thing that 
 kept up the spirits of the treasure seekers 
 during the next few days, for not the first sign 
 of gold was discovered above the fall. Yard 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOL 265 
 
 by yard the prospectors worked up the chasm 
 until they had washed its sands for more than 
 a mile. And with the passing of each day, as 
 Wabigoon had predicted, the stream became 
 more and more shallow, until they could wade 
 across it without wetting themselves above 
 their knees. At the close of the fourth day 
 the three lowered themselves over the face of 
 the rock into the second chasm. So convinced 
 was Rod in his belief that the gold was hidden 
 deep down under the creek bed that he dug a 
 four-foot hole by torch-light and that night 
 after supper washed out several pans of dirt 
 in the glow of the camp-fire. He still found 
 no signs of gold. 
 
 The next day's exertions left no room for 
 doubt. Beyond two or three tiny flecks of 
 gold the three adventurers found nothing of' 
 value in the deeper sand and gravel of the 
 stream. That night absolute dejection settled 
 on the camp. Both Rod and Wabigoon made 
 vain efforts to liven up their drooping spirits. 
 Only Mukoki, to whom gold carried but a 
 fleeting and elusive value, was himself, and 
 
266 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 even his hopefulness was dampened by the 
 gloom of his companions. Rod could see but 
 one explanation of their failure. Somewhere 
 near the cataract John Ball and the French- 
 men had found a rich pocket of gold, and they 
 had worked it out, probably before the fatal 
 tragedy in the old cabin. 
 
 "But how about the mad hunter and his 
 golden bullets?" insisted Wabi, in another 
 effort to brighten their prospects. "The bul- 
 lets weighed an ounce each, and I'll stake my 
 life they came from this chasm. He knows 
 where the gold is, if we don't I" 
 
 "Come back soon!" grunted Mukoki. 
 "Watch heem. Fin'gol'l" 
 
 "That's what we'll do!" cried the young 
 Indian, jumping suddenly to his feet and top- 
 pling Rod backward off the rock upon which 
 he was sitting. "Come, cheer up, Rod I The 
 gold is here, somewhere, and we're going to 
 find it! I'm heartily ashamed of you; you, 
 whom I thought would never get discour- 
 aged!" 
 
 Rod was laughing when he recovered from 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOL 267 
 
 the playful mauling which Wabi adminis- 
 tered before he could regain his feet. 
 
 "That's right, I deserve another licking! 
 We've got all the spring and summer before 
 us, and if we don't find the gold by the time 
 snow Hies we'll come back and try it again 
 next year I What do you say?" 
 
 "And bring Minnetaki with us!" added 
 Wabi, jumping into the air and kicking his 
 heels together. "How will you like that, 
 Rod?" He nudged his comrade in the ribs, 
 and in another moment both were puffing and 
 laughing in one of their good-natured wrest- 
 ling bouts, in which the cat-like agility of the 
 young Indian always won for him in the end. 
 
 In spite of momentary times like this, when 
 the natural buoyancy and enthusiasm of the 
 young adventurers rose above their discour- 
 agement, the week that followed added to 
 their general depression. For miles the chasm 
 was explored and at the end of the week they 
 had found less than an ounce of gold. If 
 their pans had given them no returns at all 
 their disappointment would have been less, 
 
•268 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 for then, as Wabi said, they could have given 
 up the ghost with good grace. But the few 
 precious yellow grains which they found now 
 and then lured them on, as these same grains 
 have lured other hundreds and thousands since 
 the dawn of civilization. Day after day they 
 persisted in their efforts; night after night 
 about their camp-fire they inspired each other 
 with new hope and made new plans. The 
 spring sun grew stronger, the poplar buds 
 burst into tiny leaf and out beyond the walls of 
 the chasm the first promises of summer came 
 in the sweetly scented winds of the south, re- 
 dolent with the breath of balsam and pine and 
 the thousand growing things of the plains. 
 
 But at last the search came to an end. For 
 three days not even a grain of gold had been 
 found. Around the big rock, where they 
 vvere eating dinner, Rod and his friends came 
 to a final conclusion. The following morning 
 they would break camp, and leaving their 
 canoe behind, for the creek was now too shal- 
 low for even birch-bark navigation, they 
 would continue their exploration of the chasm 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOL 26$ 
 
 in search of other adventures. The whole 
 summer was ahead of them, and though they 
 had failed in discovering a treasure where 
 John Ball and the Frenchmen had succeeded, 
 they might find one farther on. At least the 
 trip deeper into the unexplored wilderness 
 would be filled with excitement. 
 
 Mukoki rose to his feet, leaving Rod and 
 Wabi still discussing their plans. Suddenly 
 he turned toward them, and a startled cry fell 
 from his lips, while with one long arm he 
 pointed beyond the fall into the upper chasm. 
 
 "Listen — heem — heem !" 
 
 The old warrior's face twitched with excite- 
 ment, and for a full half minute he stood mo- 
 tionless, his arm still extended, his black eyes 
 staring steadily at Rod and Wabigoon who sat 
 as silent as the rocks about them. Then there 
 came to them from a great distance a quaver- 
 ing, thrilling sound, a sound that filled them 
 again with the old horror of the upper chasm 
 * — the cry of the mad hunter. 
 
 At that distant cry Wabigoon sprang to his 
 feet, his eyes leaping fire, his bronzed cheeks 
 
270 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 whitening in an excitement even greater than 
 that of Mukoki. 
 
 "Muky, I told you!" he cried. "I told 
 you!" The young Indian's body quivered, 
 his hands were clenched, and when he turned 
 upon Rod the white youth was startled by the 
 look in his face. 
 
 "Rod, John Ball is coming back to his 
 gold!" 
 
 Hardly had he spoken the words when the 
 tenseness left his body and his hands dropped 
 to his side. 
 
 The words shot from him before he could 
 control himself enough to hold them back. In 
 another moment he was sorry. The thought 
 that John Ball and the mad hunter were the 
 same person he had kept to himself, until for 
 reasons of his own he had let Mukoki into 
 ! lis secret. While the idea had taken larger 
 ind larger growth in his mind he knew that 
 :from every logical point of view the thing 
 was impossible, and that constraint which 
 came of the Indian blood in him held him 
 from discussing it with Rod. But now the 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOL 2,ft 
 
 words were out. l A quick flush replaced the 
 whiteness that had come into his face. In 
 another instant he was leaning eagerly toward 
 Rod, his eyes kindling into fire again. He 
 had not expected the change that he now saw 
 come over the white youth. 
 
 "I have been thinking that for a long time," 
 he continued. "Ever since we found the foot- 
 prints in the sand. There's just one proof that 
 we need, just one, and — " 
 
 "Listen!" 
 
 Rod fairly hissed the word as he held up 
 a warning hand. 
 
 This time the <sry of the mad hunter came 
 to them more distinctly. He was approach- 
 ing through the upper chasm! 
 
 The white youth rose to his feet, his eyes ( 
 steadily fixed upon Wabigoon's. His face was 1 
 (deathly pale. 
 
 "John Ball!" he repeated, as if he had just 
 heard what the other had said. "John Ball!" 
 What seemed to him to be the only truth 
 swept upon him like a flood, and for a score of 
 seconds, in every one of which he could hear 
 
272 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 his heart thumping excitedly, he stood like 
 one stunned. John Ball! John Ball returned 
 to life to find their gold for them, to tell them 
 of the tragedy and mystery of those days long 
 dead and gone! Like powder touched by a 
 spark of fire his imagination leaped at Wabi's 
 thrilling suggestion. , 
 
 Mukoki set to work. 
 
 "Hide!" he exclaimed. "Hide thees — 
 thees — thees!" He pointed about him at all 
 the things in camp. 
 
 Both of the boys understood. 
 
 "He must see no signs of our presence from 
 the top of the fall!" cried Wabi, gathering 
 an armful of camp utensils. "Hide them 
 back among the cedars 1" 
 
 Mukoki hurried to the cedar bough shelter 
 and began tearing it down. For five minutes 
 the adventurers w r orked on the run. Once 
 during that time they heard the madman's 
 wailing cry, and hardly had they finished and 
 concealed themselves in the gloom of the old 
 cabin w r hen it came again, this time from not 
 more than a rifle-shot's distance beyond the 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOE 273 
 
 cataract. It was not a scream that now fell 
 from the mad hunter's lips, but a low wail, 
 and in it there was something that drove the 
 old horror from the three wildly beating 
 hearts and filled them with a measureless, 
 nameless pity. What change had come over 
 the madman? The cry was repeated every 
 few seconds now, each time nearer than be- 
 fore, and in it there was a questioning, ap- 
 pealing note that seemed to end in sobbing 
 despair, a something that gripped at Rod's 
 heart and filled him with a great half-mas- 
 tering impulse to answer it, to run out and 
 stretch his hands forth in greeting to the 
 strange, wild creature coming down the 
 chasm! 
 
 Then, as he looked, something ran out 
 upon the edge of the great rock beside the 
 cataract, and he clutched at his own breast to 
 hold back what he thought must burst forth 
 in words. For he knew — as surely as he knew 
 that Wabi was at his side — that he was look- 
 ing upon John Ball! For a moment the 
 strange creature crouched where the stub had 
 
'274 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 been, and when he saw that it was gone he 
 stood erect, and a quavering, pitiful cry 
 echoed softly through the chasm. And as he 
 stood there motionless the watchers saw that 
 the mad hunter was an old man, tall and thin, 
 but as straight as a sapling, and that his headf 
 and breast were hidden in shaggy beard and 
 hair. In his hands he carried a gun — the gun 
 1 that had fired the golden bullets — and even 
 at that distance those who were peering from 
 the gloom of the cabin saw that it was a long 
 barreled weapon similar to those they had 
 found in the other old cabin, along with the 
 skeletons of the Frenchmen who had died in 
 the fatal knife duel. 
 
 In breathless suspense the three waited, not 
 a muscle of their bodies moving. Again the 
 old man leaned over the edge of the rock, and 
 his voice came to them in a moaning, sobbing 
 appeal, and after a little he stretched out his 
 arms, still crying softly, as if beseeching help 
 from some one below. The spectacle gripped 
 at Rod's soul. A hot film came into his eyes 
 and there was an odd little tremble in his 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOL 275 
 
 throat The Indians were looking with dark, 
 staring eyes. To them this was another unusual 
 incident of the wilderness. But to Rod it was 
 the white man's soul crying out to his own. 
 The old man's outstretched arms seemed 
 ^reaching to him, the sobbing voice, filled with 
 its pathos, its despair, its hopeless loneliness, 
 seemed a supplication for him to come forth,' 
 to reach up his own arms, to respond to this 
 lost soul of the solitudes. With a little cry Rod 
 darted between his companions. He threw ofx 
 his cap and lifted his white face to the startled 
 creature on the rock, and as he advanced step 
 by step, reaching out his hands in friendship, 
 he called softly a name : 
 
 "John Ball, John Ball, John Ball!" 
 
 In an instant the mad hunter had straight- 
 ened himself, half turned to flee. 
 
 "John Ball! Hello, John Ball— John 
 Ball—" 
 
 In his earnestness Rod was almost sobbing 
 the name. He forgot everything now, every- 
 thing but that lonely figure on the rock, and 
 he drew nearer and nearer, gently calling the 
 
27b THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 name, until the mad hunter dropped on his 
 knees and, crumpled in his long beard and 
 gray lynx skin, looked down upon Rod and 
 sent back a low moaning, answering cry. 
 
 "John Ball! John Ball, is that you?" 
 
 Rod stopped, with the madman forty feet 
 above him, and something seemed choking 
 back the very breath in him when he saw the 
 strange look that had come into the old man's 
 eyes. 
 
 "John Ball—" 
 
 The wild eyes above shifted for a moment. 
 They caught a glimpse of two heads thrust 
 from the door of the old cabin, and the mad- 
 man sprang to his feet. For a breath he stood 
 on the edge of the rock, then with a cry he 
 leaped with the fierce agility of an animal 
 far out into the swirl of the cataract! For an 
 instant he was visible in the downward plunge 
 of the water. Another instant and with a 
 heavy splash he disappeared in the deep pool 
 under the fall! 
 
 Wabi and Mukoki had seen the desperate 
 leap and the young Indian was beside the pool 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOL 27? 
 
 before Rod had recovered from his horrified 
 astonishment. For centuries the water of the 
 chasm stream had been tumbling into this pool 
 wearing it deeper and deeper each year, until 
 the water in it was over a man's head. In 
 width it was not more than a dozen feet 
 
 "Watch for him ! He'll drown if we don't 
 get him out," shouted Wabi. 
 
 Rod leaped to the edge of the pool, with 
 Mukoki between him and Wabigoon. Ready 
 to spring into the cold depths at the first sign 
 of the old man's gray head or struggling arms 
 the three stood with every muscle ready for 
 action. A second, two seconds, five seconds 
 passed, and there was no sign of him. Rod's 
 heart began to beat with drum-like fierceness. 
 Ten seconds! A quarter of a minute! He 
 looked at Wabigoon. The young Indian had 
 ; thrown off his caribou-skin coat; his eyes, as 
 lie turned them for a moment toward Rod, 
 'flashed back the white youth's fear. 
 
 "I'm going to dive for him!" 
 
 In another instant he had plunged head 
 foremost into the pool. Mukoki's coat fell 
 
278 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 to the ground. He crouched forward until 
 it seemed he must topple from the stone upon 
 which he stood. Another fifteen seconds and 
 Wabigoon's head appeared above the water, 
 and the old warrior gave a shout. 
 
 "Me come!" 
 
 He shot out and disappeared in a huge 
 splash close to Wabi. Rod stood transfixed, 
 filled with a fear that was growing in him at 
 every breath he drew. He saw the convul- 
 sions of the water made by the two Indians, 
 who were groping about below the surface. 
 Wabigoon came up again for breath, then 
 Mukoki. It seemed to him that an age had 
 passed, and he felt no hope. John Ball was 
 dead! 
 
 Not for a moment now did he doubt the 
 identity of the mad hunter. The strange, wist- 
 ful light that had replaced the glare in the 
 old man's eyes when he heard his own name 
 called to him had spoken more than words. 
 It was John Ball! And he was dead! For 
 a third time, a fourth, and a fifth Mukoki 
 and Wabigoon came up for air, and the fifth 
 
THE TREASURE IN THE POOL 279 
 
 time they dragged themselves out upon the 
 rocks that edged the pool. Mukoki spoke 
 no word but ran back to the camp and threw 
 a great armful of dry fuel upon the fireo 
 .Wabigoon still remained at the edge of the 
 pool, dripping and shivering. His hands 
 were clenched, and Rod could see that they 
 were filled with sand and gravel. Mechan- 
 ically the Indian opened his fingers and 
 looked at what he had unconsciously brought 
 up from under the fall. 
 
 For a moment he stared, then with his gasp- 
 ing breath there came a low, thrilling cry. 
 
 He held out his hands to Rod. 
 
 Gleaming richly among the pebbles which 
 he held was a nugget of pure gold, a nugget 
 so large that Rod gave a wild yell, and in that 
 one moment forgot that John Ball, the mad 
 hunter, was dead or dying beneath the fall I 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 JOHN BALL AND THE MYSTERY OF THE GOLD 
 
 MUKOKI, hearing Rod's cry, hurried 
 to the pool, but before he reached 
 the spot where the white youth was 
 standing with the yellow nugget in his hand 
 Wabigoon had again plunged beneath the 
 surface. For several minutes he remained in 
 the water, and when he once more crawled 
 out upon the rocks there was something so 
 strange in his face and eyes that for a moment 
 Rod believed he had found the dead body of 
 the madman. 
 
 "He isn't — in — the — pool!" he panted. 
 Mukoki shrugged his shoulders and shiv- 
 ered. 
 
 "Dead!" he grunted 
 "He isn't in the pool!" 
 Wabigoon's black eyes gleamed in uncanny 
 emphasis of his words. 
 
 280 
 
JOHN BALL AND THE GOLD 283 
 
 "He isn't in the pooll" 
 
 The others understood what he meant. 
 Mukoki's eyes wandered to where the water 
 of the pool gushed between the rocks into the 
 broader channel of the chasm stream. It was 
 not more than knee deep I 
 
 "He no go out there I" 
 
 "NoF 
 
 "Then — where ?" 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders suggestively 
 again, and pointed into the pool. 
 
 "Body slip under rock. He there!" 
 
 "Try it!" said Wabigoon tersely. 
 
 He hurried to the fire, and Rod went with 
 him to gather more fuel while the young In- 
 dian warmed his chilled body. They heard 
 the old pathfinder leap into the water under 
 the fall as they ran. 
 
 Ten minutes later Mukoki joined them. 
 
 "Gone! Bad-dog man no there!" 
 
 He stretched out one of his dripping arms. 
 
 "Gol' bullet!" he grunted. 
 
 In the palm of his hand lay another yellow 
 jnugget, as large as a hazelnut! 
 
282 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "I told you," said Wabi softly, "that John 
 Ball was coming back to his gold. And he has 
 done sol The treasure is in the pool!" 
 
 But where was John Ball? 
 
 Dead or alive, where could he have disap- 
 peared? 
 
 Under other conditions the chasm would 
 have rung with the wild rejoicing of the gold 
 seekers. But there was something now that 
 stilled the enthusiasm in them. At last the an- 
 cient map had given up its secret, and riches 
 were within their grasp. But no one of the 
 three shouted out his triumph. Somehow it 
 seemed that John Ball had died for them, and 
 the thought clutched at their hearts that if they 
 had not cut down the stub he would still be 
 •alive. Indirectly they had brought about the 
 death of the poor creature who for nearly 
 half a century had lived alone with the beasts 
 in these solitudes. And that one glimpse of 
 the old man on the rock, the prayerful en- 
 treaty in his wailing voice, the despair which 
 he sobbed forth when he found his tree gone, 
 had livened in them something that was more 
 
JOHN BALL AND THE GOLD 283. 
 
 than sympathy. At this moment the three 
 adventurers would willingly have given up all 
 hopes of gold could sacrifice have brought 
 back that sad, lonely old man who had 
 looked down upon them from the wall of the 
 upper chasm. 
 
 "I am sorry we cut down the stub," said 
 Rod. 
 
 They were the first words spoken. 
 
 "So am I," replied Wabi simply, begin- 
 ning to strip off his wet clothes. "But — " 
 He stopped, and shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "Well, we're taking it for granted that John 
 Ball is dead. If he is dead why isn't he in the 
 pool? By George, I should think that Mu- 
 koki's old superstition would be getting the 
 best of him!" 
 
 "I believe he is in the pool!" declared Rod. 
 
 Wabi turned upon him and repeated the 
 words he had spoken to the old warrior half 
 -an hour before. 
 
 "Try it!" 
 
 After the attempts of the two Indians, who 
 
B84 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 could dive like otter, Rod had no inclination 
 to follow Wabi's invitation. Mukoki, who 
 had hung up a half of his clothes near the 
 •fire, was fitting one of the pans to the end of 
 a long pole which he had cut from a sapling, 
 and it was obvious that his intention was to 
 begin at once the 'dredging of the pool for 
 gold. Rod joined him, and once more the ex- 
 citement of treasure hunting stirred in his 
 veins. When the pan was on securely Wabi 
 left the fire to join his companions, and the 
 three returned to the pool. With a long sweep 
 of his improvised dredge Mukoki scooped up 
 two quarts or more of sand and gravel and 
 emptied it upon one of the flat rocks, and the 
 two boys pounced upon it eagerly, raking it 
 out with their fingers and wiping the mud and 
 sand from every suspicious looking pebble. 
 
 "The quickest way is to wash it!" said Rod, 
 as Mukoki dumped another load upon the 
 rock. "I'll get some water l" 
 
 He ran to the camp for the remaining pans 
 and w T hen he turned back he saw Wabi leap- 
 ing in a grotesque dance about the rock while 
 
JOHN BALE AND THE GOLD 283 
 
 Mukoki stood on the edge of the pool, his 
 dredge poised over it, silent and grinning. 
 
 "What do you think of that?" cried the 
 young Indian as Rod hurried to him. "What 
 do you think of that?" 
 
 He held out his hand, and in it there 
 gleamed a third yellow nugget, fully twice 
 as large as the one discovered by Mukoki! 
 
 Rod fairly gasped. "The pool must be full 
 of 'em!" 
 
 He half-filled his pan with the sand ancS 
 gravel and ran knee- deep out into the running 
 stream. In his eagerness he splashed over a 
 part of his material with the wash, but he 
 excused himself by thinking that this was his 
 first pan, and that with the rest he would be 
 more careful. He began to notice now that 
 all of the sand was not washing out, and when 
 he saw that it persisted in lying heavy and 
 thick among the pebbles his heart leaped into 
 his mouth. One more dip, and he held his 
 pan to the light coming through the rift in the 
 chasm. A thousand tiny, glittering particles 
 met his eyes ! In the center of the pan there 
 
286 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 gleamed dully a nugget of pure gold as big 
 as a pea! At last they had struck it rich, so 
 rich that he trembled as he stared down into 
 the pan, and the cry that had welled up in his 
 throat was choked back by the swift, excited 
 beating of his heart. In that moment's glance 
 down into his treasure-laden pan he saw all of 
 his hopes and all of his ambitions achieved. 
 He was rich! In those gleaming particles he 
 saw freedom for his mother and himself. No 
 longer a bitter struggle for existence in the 
 city, no more pinching and striving and sac- 
 rifice that they might keep the little home in 
 which his father had died! When he turned 
 toward Wabigoon his face was filled with the 
 ecstasy of those visions. He waded ashore and 
 held his pan under the other's eyes. 
 
 "Another nugget!" exclaimed Wabi excit- 
 edly. 
 
 "Yes. But it isn't the nugget. It's the — " 
 He moved the pan until the thousand little 
 particles glittered and swam before the In- 
 dian's eyes. "It's the dust. The sand is full 
 of gold!" 
 
JOHN BALL AND THE GOLD 287 
 
 His voice trembled, his face was white. 
 From his crouching posture Wabi looked up 
 at him, and they spoke no more words. 
 
 Mukoki looked, and was silent. Then he' 
 went back to his dredging. Little by little 
 Rod washed down his pan. Half an hour 
 later he showed it again to Wabigoon. The 
 pebbles were gone. What sand was left was 
 heavy with the gleaming particles, and half 
 buried in it all was the yellow nugget! In 
 Wabi's pan there was no nugget but it was rich 
 with the gleam of fine gold. 
 
 Mukoki had dredged a bushel of sand and 
 gravel from the pool, and was upon his knees 
 beside the heap which he had piled on the 
 rock. When Rod went to that rock for his 
 third pan of dirt the old warrior made no sign 
 that he had discovered anything. The early 
 gloom of afternoon was beginning to settle 
 between the chasm walls, and at the end of his 
 fourth pan Rod found that it was becoming so 
 dark that he could no longer distinguish the 
 yellow particles in the sand. With the ex- 
 ception of one nugget he had found only fine 
 
288 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 gold. With Wabi's dust were three small 
 nuggets. 
 
 When they ceased work Mukoki rose from 
 beside the rock, chuckling, grimacing, and 
 holding out his hand. Wabi was the first to 
 see, and his cry of astonishment drew Rod 
 quickly to his side. iThe hollow of the old 
 warrior's hand was filled with nuggets! He 
 turned them into Wabigoon's hand, and the 
 young Indian turned them into Rod's, and as 
 he felt the weight of the treasure he held 
 Rod could no longer restrain the yell of exul- 
 tation that had been held in all that afternoon 
 Jumping high into the air and whooping at 
 every other step he raced to the camp and boon 
 had the small scale which they had brought 
 with them from Wabinosh House. The nug- 
 gets they had found that afternoon weighed 
 full seven ounces, and the fine gold, after 
 allowing the deduction of a third for sand, 
 weighed a little more than eleven ounces. 
 "Eighteen ounces — and a quarter I" 
 Rod gave the total in a voice tremulous 
 with incredulity. 
 
JOHN BALL AND THE GOLD 289 
 
 "Eighteen ounces — at twenty dollars an 
 ounce — three hundred and sixty dollars!" he 
 figured rapidly. "By George — " The pros- 
 pect seemed too big for him, and he stopped. 
 
 "Less than half a day's work," added Wabi. 
 "We're doing better than John Ball and the 
 Frenchmen. It means eighteen thousand dol- 
 lars a month!" 
 
 "And by autumn — " began Rod. 
 
 He was interrupted by the inimitable 
 chuckling laugh of Mukoki and found the old 
 warrior's face a map of creases and grimaces. 
 
 "In twent' t'ous'nd moon — mak' heem how 
 much?" he questioned* 
 
 In all his life Wabigoon had never heard 
 Mukoki joke before, and with a wild whoop 
 of joy he rolled the stoical old pathfinder off 
 the rock on which he was sitting, and Rod 
 joined heartily in Wabi's merriment. 
 
 And Mukoki's question proved not to be so 
 much of a joke after all, as the boys were soon 
 to learn. For several days the work went on 
 uninterrupted. The buckskin bags in the bal- 
 *am shelter grew heavier and heavier. Each 
 
290 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 succeeding hour added to the visions of the 
 gold seekers. On the fifth day Rod found 
 seventeen nuggets among his fine gold, one of 
 them as large as the end of his thumb. On 
 the seventh came the richest of all their pan- 
 ning, but on the ninth a startling thing hap- 
 pened. Mukoki was compelled to work cease- 
 lessly to keep the two boys supplied with "pay 
 dirt" from the pool. His improvised dredge 
 now brought up only a handful or two of sand 
 and pebbles at a dip. It was on this ninth 
 day that the truth dawned upon them all. 
 
 The pool was becoming exhausted of its 
 treasure! 
 
 But the discovery brought no great gloom 
 with it. Somewhere near that pool must be the 
 very source of the treasure itself, and the gold 
 hunters were confident of finding it. Besides, 
 they had already accumulated what to them 
 was a considerable fortune, at least two thou- 
 sand dollars apiece. For three more days the 
 work continued, and then Mukoki's dredge no 
 longer brought up pebbles or sand from the 
 bottom of the pool. 
 
JOHN BALL AND THE GOLD 291 
 
 The last pan was washed early in the morn- 
 ing, and as the warm weather had begun to 
 taint the caribou meat Mukoki and Wabigoon 
 left immediately after dinner to secure fresh 
 meat out on the plains, while Rod remained 
 in camp. The strange thick gloom of night 
 which began to gather in the chasm before the 
 sun had disappeared beyond the plains above 
 was already descending upon him when Rod 
 began preparations for supper. He knew 
 that the Indians would not wait until dark 
 before reentering the break between the 
 mountains, and confident that they would soon 
 appear he began mixing up flour and water 
 for their usual batch of hot-stone biscuits. So 
 intent was he upon his task that he did not see 
 a shadowy form creeping up foot by foot 
 from the rocks. He caught no glimpse of the 
 eyes that glared like smoldering coals from 
 out of the half darkness between him and the 
 fall. 
 
 His first knowledge of another presence 
 'came in a low, whining cry, a cry that was not 
 much more than a whisper, and he leaped to 
 
292 THE GOLD HUNTKRS 
 
 his feet, every nerve in his body once mere 
 tingling with that excitement which had pos- 
 sessed him when he stood under the rock talk- 
 ing to the madman. A dozen yards away he, 
 saw a face, a great, white, ghost-like face, star-? 
 ing at him from out of the thickening shad- 
 ows, and under that face and its tangled veil 
 of beard and hair he saw the crouching form 
 of the mad hunter! 
 
 In that moment Roderick Drew thanked 
 God that he was not afraid. Standing full in 
 the glow of the fire he stretched out his arms, 
 as he had once before reached them out to this 
 weird creature, and again, softly, pleadingly, 
 he called the name of John Ball ! There came 
 in reply a faint, almost unheard sound from 
 the wild man, a sound that was repeated again 
 and again, and which sent a thrill into the 
 young hunter, for it was wondrously like the 
 name he was calling: " John Ball! John Ball' 
 John Ball!" And as the mad hunter repeated 
 that sound he advanced, foot by foot, as 
 though creeping upon all fours, and Rod saw 
 then that one of his arms was stretched out 
 
JOHN BALL AND THE GOLD 29$ 
 
 to him, and that in the extended hand was a 
 fish. 
 
 He advanced a step, reaching out his own 
 hands eagerly, and the wild creature stopped, 
 cringing as if fearing a blow. 
 
 "John Ball! John Ball!" he repeated. He 
 thought of no other words but those, and ad- 
 vanced bit by bit as he called them gently 
 again and again. Now he was within ten feet 
 of the old man, now eight, presently he was 
 «o near that he might have reached him in a 
 single leap. Then he stopped. 
 
 The mad hunter laid down his fish. Slowly 
 he retreated, murmuring incoherent sounds in 
 his beard, then sprang to his feet and with a 
 wailing cry sped back toward the pool. 
 Swiftly Rod followed. He saw the form leap 
 from the rocks at its edge, heard a heavy 
 (Splash, and all was still ! 
 
 For many minutes Rod stood with the spray 
 ^of the cataract dashing in his face. This time 
 I the madman's plunge into the cold depths at 
 his feet filled him with none of the horror of 
 that first insane leap from the rock above. 
 
294 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 Somewhere in that pool the old man was seek- 
 ing refuge! What did it mean? His eyes 
 scanned the thin sheet of water that plunged 
 down from the upper chasm. It was a dozen 
 feet in width and hid the black wall of rock 
 behind it like a thick veil. What was there 
 just behind that falling torrent? Was it pos- 
 sible that in the wall of rock behind the water- 
 fall there was a place where John Ball found 
 concealment? 
 
 Rod returned to camp, convinced that he 
 had at last guessed a solution to the mystery. 
 John Ball was behind the cataract! The 
 strange murmurings of the old man who for 
 a few moments had crouched so close to him 
 still rang in his ears, and he was sure that in 
 these half-articulate sounds had been John 
 Ball's ow r n name. If there had been a doubt 
 in his mind before, it was wiped away now. 
 The mad hunter was John Ball, and with that 
 thought burning in his brain Rod stopped be- 
 side the fish — the madman's offering of peace 
 ■ — and turned his face once more back toward 
 the black loneliness of the pool. 
 
[JOHN BALL AND THE GOLD 29S 
 
 Unconsciously a sobbing cry of sympathy 
 fell softly from Rod's lips, and he called 
 John Ball's name again, louder and louder, 
 until it echoed far down the gloomy depths of 
 the chasm. There came no response. Then he 
 turned to the fish. John Ball wished them to 
 be friends, and he had brought this offering! 
 In the firelight Rod saw that it was a curious 
 looking, dark-colored fish, covered with small 
 scales that were almost black. It was the size 
 of a large trout, and yet it was not a trout. The 
 head was thick and heavy, like a sucker's, and 
 yet it was not a sucker. He looked at this head 
 more closely, and gave a sudden start when he 
 saw that it had no eyes! 
 
 In one great flood the truth swept upon him, 
 the truth of what lay behind the cataract, of 
 where John Ball had gone! For he held in his 
 hands an eyeless creature of another world, a 
 world hidden in the bowels of the earth itself, 
 a proof that beyond the fall was a great cavern 
 filled with the mystery and the sightless things 
 of eternal night, and that in this cavern John 
 Ball found his food and made his home! 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 IN A SUBTERRANEAN WORLD 
 
 WHEN Mukoki and Wabigoon re- 
 turned half an hour later the hot- 
 stone biscuits were still unbaked. 
 The fire was only a bed of coals. Beside it sat 
 Rod, the strange fish upon the ground at his 
 feet. Before Mukoki had thrown down the 
 pack of meat which he was carrying he was 
 showing them this fish. Quickly he related 
 what had happened. He added to this some of 
 the things which he had thought while sitting 
 by the fire. The chief of these things were that 
 just behind the cataract was the entrance to a 
 great cavern, and that in this cavern they 
 would not only find John Ball, but also the 
 rich storehouse of that treasure of which they 
 had discovered a part in the pool. 
 And as the night lengthened there was little 
 296 
 
He advanced a step, reaching out his own hands Page 293 
 
■n**> 
 
IN A SUBTERRANEAN WORLD 297 
 
 talk about the gold and much about John Ball. 
 Again and again Rod described the madman's 
 visit, the trembling, pleading voice, the offer- 
 ing of the fish, the eager glow that had come 
 into the wild eyes when he talked to him and 
 called him by name. Even Mukoki's stoic 
 heart was struck by the deep pathos of it all. 
 The mad hunter no longer carried his gun. 
 He no longer sought their lives. In his crazed 
 brain something new and wonderful was at 
 work, something that drew him to them, with 
 the half-fear of an animal, and yet with grow- 
 ing trust. He was pleading for their compan- 
 ionship, their friendship, and deep down in his 
 heart Rod felt that the spark of sanity was not 
 completely gone from John Ball. 
 
 When the three adventurers retired to their 
 blankets in the cedar shelter it was not the 
 thought of gold that quickened their blood in 
 anticipation of the morning. The passing of; 
 an age would not dull the luster of what they 
 had come to seek. It would wait for them. 
 The greatest of all things — the sympathy of 
 man for man — had stilled that other passion in 
 
298 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 therrL John Ball's salvation, and not more 
 gold, was the day's work ahead of them now. 
 
 With the dawn they were up, and by the 
 time it was light enough to see they were ready 
 for the exploration of whatever was hidden be- 
 hind the fall. In a rubber blanket Wabigoon 
 wrapped a rifle and half a dozen pine torches. 
 Mukoki carried a quantity of cooked meat 
 Standing on the edge of the pool Rod pointed 
 into the falling torrent. 
 
 "He dived straight under," he said. "The 
 opening to the cavern is directly behind the 
 6hoot of falling water." 
 
 Wabi placed his hat and coat upon a rock. 
 
 "I'll try it first. Wait until I come back," 
 he said. 
 
 Without another word he plunged into the 
 pool. Minute after minute passed, and he did 
 not reappear. Rod was conscious of a nervous 
 chill creeping into his blood. But Mukoki was 
 chuckling confidently. 
 
 "Found heem!" he replied in response to the 
 white youth's inquiring look. 
 
 (As he spoke Wabigoon came up out of the 
 
IN A SUBTERRANEAN. WORLD ^99 
 
 pool like a great fish. Rod helped him upon 
 the rocks. 
 
 "We're two bright ones, we are, Muky!" he 
 exclaimed, as soon as he gained his breath. 
 "Just behind the fall I ran up against the walJ 
 of rock we found when we were hunting for 
 John Ball, stood on my feet, and — " he 
 swung his arms suggestively — "there I was, 
 head and shoulders out of water,, looking into 
 a hole as big as a house I" 
 
 "Dive easy!" warned the old pathfinder, 
 turning to Rod. "Bump head on rock — 
 swush !" 
 
 "We won't have to dive," continued Wabi. 
 "The water directly under the fall of the 
 stream isn't more than four feet deep. If we 
 wade into it from over there we can make it 
 easy." 
 
 Taking his waterproof bundle the young In- 
 dian slipped into the pool close up against the 
 wall of rock that formed the foundation of the 
 upper chasm and plunged straight into the 
 tumbling cataract. Mukoki followed close be- 
 hind^ and preparing himself with a long 
 
300 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 breath Rod hurried into this new experience, 
 For a moment he was conscious of a smother- 
 ing weight upon him and a thunderous roar- 
 ing in his ears, and he was borne irresistibly 
 down. There was still air in his lungs when he 
 found himself safely through the deluge so he 
 knew that its passage had taken him only a 
 brief but thrilling instant. For a time he could 
 see nothing. Then he made out a dark form 
 drawing itself up out of the water. Beyond 
 that there lay a chaos of midnight blackness, 
 and he knew that his eyes were staring into the 
 depths of a great cavern! 
 
 Gripping the edge of the rock ledge he 
 dragged himself up as both Wabigoon and 
 Mukoki had done, and found his feet upon a 
 soft floor of sand. Suddenly he felt a hand 
 clutch his arm. A half-shout, rising faintly 
 above the wash of the cataract, sounded in his 
 car. 
 
 "Look!" 
 
 He wiped the water from his eyes and gazed 
 ahead of him. For a moment he saw nothing. 
 Then, so faintly that at first it appeared no 
 
IN A SUBTERRANEAN A WORLD 30I 
 
 larger than a star r he caught the faint glimmer 
 of a light. As he looked it became more and 
 more distinct, and to his astonishment he saw 
 that it was slowly rising, like a huge will-o'- 
 the-wisp that had suddenly risen from the 
 floor of the cavern to float off into the utter 
 blackness of space above. And even as he 
 stared, gripping Wabi's arm in his excitement, 
 the strange light began to descend, and quickly 
 disappeared! 
 
 The two boys saw Mukoki slip off into the 
 gloom, and without questioning his motive 
 they followed close behind. As they pro- 
 gressed the sound of the fall came more and 
 more faintly to their ears. A blackness deeper 
 than the gloom of the darkest night environed 
 them, and the three now held to one another's 
 arms. Rod understood why his companions 
 lighted no torches. Somewhere ahead of them 
 was another light, carried by the mad hunter. 
 His blood thrilled with excitement. Where' 
 would John Ball lead them? 
 
 Suddenly he became conscious that they 
 were no longer walking on a level floor of sand 
 
302 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 but that they were ascending, as the light had 
 done. Mukoki stopped and for a full minute 
 they stood and listened. The tumult of the fall 
 came to them in a far, subdued murmur. Be- 
 yond that there was not the breath of a sound 
 in the strange world of gloom about them. 
 They were about to start on again when some- 
 thing held them, a whispering, sobbing echo, 
 and Rod's heart seemed to stop its beating. It 
 died away slowly, and a weird stillness fell 
 after it. Then came a low moaning cry, a cry 
 that was human in its agony, and yet which 
 had in it something so near the savage that 
 even Wabigoon found himself trembling as he 
 strained in futile effort to pierce the impene- 
 trable gloom ahead. Before the cry had lost 
 itself in the distances of the cavern Mukoki 
 was leading them on again. 
 
 Step by step they followed in the path taken 
 by the strange light. Rod knew that they were 
 climbing a hill of sand, and that just beyond 
 it they would see the light again, but he was 
 not prepared for the startling suddenness with 
 which the next change came. As if a black 
 
IN A 1 SUBTERRANEAN WORLD 303 
 
 curtain had dropped from before their eyes 
 the three adventurers beheld a scene that 
 halted them in their tracks. A hundred paces 
 away a huge pitch-pine torch a yard in length 
 was burning in the sand, and crouching in the 
 red glow of this, his arms stretched out as if in 
 the supplication of a strange prayer, was John 
 Ball! Just beyond him was the gleam of 
 water, inky-black in the weird flickerings of 
 the torch, and toward this John Ball reached 
 <mit in his grief. 'His voice came up softly to 
 the three watchers now, so low that even in the 
 vast silence of the cavern it could barely be 
 heard. To Roderick Drew it was as if the 
 strange creature below him was sobbing like a 
 heart-broken child, and he whispered in 
 Wabigoon's ear. Then, foot by foot, so gently 
 that his moccasined feet made no sound, he 
 approached the madman. 
 
 Half-way to him he paused. 
 
 "Hello, John Ball!" he called softly. 
 
 The faint light of the torch was falling upon 
 Iiim, and he advanced another step. The mur- 
 muring of the wild man ceased, but he made 
 
304 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 no movement. He still knelt in his rigid pos- 
 ture, his arms stretched toward the black chaos 
 beyond him. Rod came very close to him be- 
 fore he spoke again. 
 
 "Is that you, John Ball?" 
 
 Slowly the kneeling figure turned, and once 
 more Rod saw in those wild eyes, gleaming 
 brightly now in the torch-light, the softer, 
 thrilling glow of recognition and returning 
 reason. He reached out his own arms and ad- 
 vanced boldly, calling John Ball's name, and 
 the madman made no retreat but crouched 
 lower in the sand, strange, soft sounds again 
 falling from his lips. Rod had come within 
 half a dozen feet of him when he sprang up 
 with the quickness of a cat, and with a wailing 
 cry plunged waist deep into the water. With 
 his arms stretched entreatingly into the mys- 
 terious world beyond the torch-light he turned 
 his face to the white youth, and Rod knew 
 that he was trying as best he could to tell him 
 something. 
 
 "What is it, John Ball?" 
 
 He went to the edge of the black water anH 
 
IN A SUBTERRANEAN WORLD 30$ 
 
 waded out until it rose to his knees, his eyes 
 staring into the blackness. 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 He, too, pointed with one arm, and the mad- 
 man gave an excited gesture. Then he placed 
 
 i 
 
 his hands funnel-shaped to his mouth, as Rod 
 had often seen Wabi and Mukoki do when 
 falling moose, and there burst from him a far- 
 reaching cry, and Rod's heart gave a sudden 
 bound as he listened, for the cry was that of a 
 woman's name! 
 
 "Dol — — res-s-s-s — Dol — — res-s-s-s — " 
 
 •The cry died away in distant murmuring 
 echoes, and with an answering cry Rod 
 shouted forth the name which he fancied John 
 Ball had spoken. 
 
 "Dolores! Dolores! Dolores!" 
 
 There came a sudden leaping plunge, and 
 John Ball was at his feet, clasping him about 
 the knees, and sobbing again and again that 
 name — Dolores. Rod put his arms about the 
 old man's shoulders, and the gray, shaggy 
 head fell against him. The sobbing voice 
 grew lower, the weight of the head greater, 
 
306 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 and after a little Rod called loudly for Mu- 
 koki and Wabigoon, for there was no longer 
 movement or sound from the form at his 
 feet, and he knew that something had hap- 
 pened to John Ball. The two Indians were 
 quickly at his side, and together they carried 
 the unconscious form of Ball within the circle 
 of torch-light. The old man's eyes were closed, 
 his claw-like fingers were clenched fiercely 
 upon his breast, and not until Mukoki placed 
 a hand over his heart did the three know that 
 he was still breathing. 
 
 "Now is our time to get him to camp," said 
 Wabi. "Lead the way with the torch, Rod !" 
 
 There was not much weight to John Ball, 
 and the two Indians carried him easily. At 
 the fall the rubber blanket was wound about 
 his head and the adventurers plunged under 
 the cataract with their burden. It was an hour 
 after that before the old man opened his eyes 
 again. Rod was close beside him and for a full 
 minute the mad hunter gazed up into his face, 
 then once more he sank off into that strange 
 unconsciousness which had overcome him in 
 
IN A SUBTERRANEAN WORLD 3©? 
 
 the cavern. Rod rose white-faced and turned 
 to Mukoki and Wabigoon. 
 
 "I'm afraid — he's dying," he said. 
 
 The Indians made no answer. For several 
 minutes the three sat silently about John Ball 
 watching for signs of returning consciousness. 
 At last Mukoki roused himself to take a pot oi 
 soup from the fire. The movement seemed to 
 stir John Ball into life, and Rod was at his 
 side again, holding a cup of water to his lips. 
 After a little he helped the old man to sit up, 
 and a spoonful at a time the warm soup was 
 fed to him. 
 
 Through the whole of that day he re- 
 turned to consciousness only for brief inter- 
 vals, lapsing back into a death-like sleep after 
 each awakening. During one of these periods: 
 of unconsciousness Wabi cut short the tangled 
 beard and hair, and for the first time they saw 
 in all its emaciation the thin, ghastly face of 
 the man who, half a century before, had drawn 
 the map that led them to the gold. There was 
 little change in his condition during the night 
 that followed, except that now and tlsen he 
 
308 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 muttered incoherently, and at these times Rod 
 always caught in his ravings the name that he 
 had heard in the cavern. The next day there 
 was no change. And there was still none on 
 the third. Even Mukoki, who had tried every 
 expedient of wilderness craft in nursing, gave 
 up in despair. So far as they could see John 
 Ball had no fever. Yet three-quarters of the 
 time he lay as if dead. Nothing but soup could 
 be forced between his lips. 
 
 On the second day Wabi revisited the sub- 
 terranean world beyond the cataract. When 
 he came back he had discovered the secret of 
 the treasure in the pool. The gold came from 
 the cavern. The soft sand through which they 
 had followed the strange light was rich in dust 
 and nuggets. During the floods of spring 
 water came into the cavern from somewhere, 
 and flowing for a brief space out through the 
 mouth of the cave brought with it the precious 
 burden of treasure-laden sand which was 
 dumped into the pool. The constant wash of 
 the cataract had caused most of the sand to 
 overflow into the running stream, but the 
 
IN A SUBTERRANEAN WORLD 309 
 
 heavier gold-dust and nuggets remained in the 
 trap into which they had fallen. 
 
 But the joy that came of this discovery was 
 subdued by thoughts of John Ball. The gold 
 meant everything to Rod, the realization of his 
 hopes and ambitions; and he knew that it 
 meant everything to his mother, and to all 
 those who belonged to Mukoki and Wabi- 
 goon. But the gold could wait. They had al- 
 ready accumulated a small fortune, and they 
 could return for the rest a little later. At pres- 
 ent they must do something for John Ball, the 
 man to whom they were indebted for all that 
 they had found, and to whom the treasure 
 really belonged. On the third day Rod laid 
 his plans before Wabi and Mukoki. 
 
 "We must take John Ball back to the Post 
 as quickly as we can," he said. "It is our only 
 chance of saving him. If we start now, while 
 the water in the creek is deep enough to float 
 our canoe, we can make Wabinosh House in 
 ten or fifteen days." 
 
 "It will be impossible to paddle against the 
 swift current," said Wabi. 
 
310 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 "That is true. But wc can put John Ball 
 into the canoe and tow him up-stream. It will 
 be a long wade and hard work, but — n 
 
 He looked atWabi in silence, then added, 
 
 "Do we want John Ball to live, or do we 
 want him to die?" 
 
 "If I thought he would live I would wade 
 a thousand miles to save him," rejoined the 
 young Indian. "It means little to us but work. 
 We know where the rest of the gold is and can 
 return to it within a few weeks." 
 
 If there had been a doubt in the boys' minds 
 as to the right course to pursue John Ball set- 
 tled it himself that very afternoon. He awak- 
 ened from an unusually long stupor. His eyes 
 were burning with a new light, and as Rod 
 bent over him he whispered softly, but dis- 
 tinctly, 
 
 "Dolores — Dolores — Where is Dolores?" 
 
 "Who is Dolores, John Ball?" whispered 
 the white youth, his heart thumping wildly. 
 "Who is Dolores?" 
 
 Ball drew up one of his emaciated hands 
 and clasped it to his head, and a sobbing moan 
 
IN A SUBTERRANEAN WORLD 31I 
 
 fell from his lips. Then, after a moment, he 
 repeated, as though to himself, 
 
 "Dolores — Dolores — Who is Dolores?" 
 
 The Indians had come near, and heard. But 
 .John Ball said no more. He swallowed a few 
 spoonfuls of soup and fell again into his death- 
 like trance. 
 
 "Who is Dolores?" repeated Wabigoon, his 
 face whitening as he looked at Rod. "Is there 
 somebody else in the cavern?" 
 
 "He is talking of some one whom he prob- 
 ably knew forty or fifty yean ago," replied 
 [Rod. But his own face was white. He stared 
 hard at Wabigoon, and a strange look came 
 into Mukoki's face. 
 
 "Dolores," he mused, without taking his 
 eyes from Wabi. "It's a woman's name, or a 
 girl's name. We must save John Bali! We 
 jmust start for Wabinosh House — now!" 
 
 "While he's unconscious we can tie the rope 
 about him and hoist him into the upper 
 chasm," quickly added Wabigoon. "Muky, 
 get to work. We move this minute !" 
 
 It was still two hours before dusk, ancl nov$ 
 
3X2 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 that they had determined on returning to 
 Wabinosh House the adventurers lost no time 
 in getting under way. Wabi climbed the rope 
 that was suspended from the upper chasm, and 
 that part of their equipment which it was nec- 
 essary to take back with them was hoisted up 
 by him. Mukoki sheltered the rest in the old 
 cabin. John Ball was drawn up last. For an 
 hour after that, until the gray shadows of night 
 began settling about them, the three waded up 
 the shallow stream, pulling the canoe and its 
 unconscious burden after them. That night 
 the madman was not left unwatched for a min- 
 ute. Mukoki sat beside him until eleven 
 o'clock. Then Wabi took his turn. A little 
 after midnight Rod was aroused by being vio- 
 lently pulled from his bed of balsam boughs. 
 
 "For the love of Heaven, get up!" whis- 
 pered the young Indian. "He's talking, Rod! 
 He's talking about Dolores, and about some 
 kind of a great beast that's bigger than any- 
 thing that ever lived up here! Listen!" 
 
 The madman was moaning softly. 
 
 "I've killed it, Dolores — I've killed it— 
 
IN A SUBTERRANEAN .WORLD 313 
 
 killed it! Where is Dolores? Where — is — " 
 There came a deep sigh, and John Ball was 
 quiet. 
 
 "Killed what?" panted Rod, his heart 
 thumping until it choked him. 
 
 "The beast — whatever it was," whispered 
 Wabi. "Rod, something terrible happened in 
 that cavern ! We don't know the whole story. 
 The Frenchmen who killed themselves for 
 possession of the birch-bark map played only a 
 small part in it. The greater part was played 
 by John Ball and Dolores!" 
 
 For a long time the two listened, but the old 
 man made no sound or movement. 
 
 "Better go back to bed," said Wabi. "I 
 thought if he was going to keep it up you 
 would like to hear. I'll call you at two." 
 
 But Rod could not sleep. For a long time 
 he lay awake thinking of John Ball and his 
 strange ravings. Who was Dolores? What 
 terrible tragedy had that black world under 
 the mountains some time beheld? Despite his 
 better reason an indefinable sensation of un- 
 easiness possessed him as the madman^ sob- 
 
3 i4 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 bing out of the woman's name recurred to him. 
 He spoke nothing of this to Wabi when he re- 
 lieved him, and he said nothing of it during 
 the days that followed. They were days of un- 
 ending toil, of fierce effort to beat out death in 
 the race to Wabinosh House. 
 
 For it seemed that the end of time was very 
 near for John Ball. On the fourth day his thin 
 checks showed signs of fever, and on the fifth 
 he was tossing in delirium. The race now con- 
 tinued by night as well as by day, only an hour 
 or two of rest being snatched at a time. Dur- 
 ing these days John Ball babbled ceaselessly of 
 Dolores, and great beasts, and the endless cav- 
 ern; and now the beasts began taking the form 
 of strange people whose eyes gleamed from 
 out of masses of fur, and who had hands, and 
 flung spears. On the eighth day the madman 
 sank back into his old lethargy. On the fourth 
 day after that the three adventurers, worn and 
 exhausted, reached the shore of Lake Nipi- 
 gon. Thirty miles across the lake was Wabi- 
 nosh House, and it was decided that Mukoki 
 and Rod should leave for assistance, while 
 
IN A SUBTERRANEAN WORLD 315 
 
 Wabigoon remained with John Ball. The two 
 rolled themselves in their blankets immedi- 
 ately after supper, and after three hours' sleep 
 were awakened by the young Indian. All that 
 night they paddled with only occasional mo- 
 ments of rest. The sun was just rising over the 
 forests when they grounded their canoe close 
 to the Post. As Rod sprang ashore he saw a 
 figure walk slowly out from the edge of the 
 forest an eighth of a mile away. Even at that 
 distance he recognized Minnetaki! He looked 
 at the sharp-eyed Mukoki. He, too, had seen 
 and recognized the girl. 
 
 "Muky, I'm going along in the edge of the 
 woods and give her a surprise," said Rod cour- 
 ageously. "Will you wait here?" 
 
 Mukoki grinned a nodding assent, and the 
 youth darted into the edge of the forest. He 
 was breathless when he came up a hundred 
 yards behind the girl, screened from view by 
 the trees. Softly he whistled. It was a signal 
 that Minnetaki had taught him on his first 
 trip into the North, and he knew of only two 
 who used it in all that Northland, and those 
 
316 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 two were the Indian maiden and himself. The 
 girl turned as she heard the trilling note, and 
 Rod drew himself farther back. He whistled 
 again, more loudly than before, and Minne- 
 taki came hesitatingly toward the forest's edge, 
 and when he whistled a third time there came 
 a timid response from her, as if she recognized 
 and yet doubted the notes that floated to her 
 from the shadows of the balsams. 
 
 Again Rod whistled, laughing as he drew 
 a little farther back, and again Minnetaki an- 
 swered, peering in among the trees. He saw 
 the wondering, half-expectant glow in her 
 eyes, and suddenly crying out her name he 
 sprang from his concealment. With a little 
 cry of joy and with hands outstretched Minne- 
 taki ran to meet him. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 JOHN BALL'S STORY 
 
 jHAT same morning two big canoes set 
 out across Lake Nipigon for Wabi- 
 goon and John Ball. Mukoki returned 
 with the canoes, but Rod remained at the. Post, 
 and not a moment's rest did he have during the 
 whole of that day from the eager questions of 
 those whom he had so completely surprised by 
 his unexpected return. Few stories could have 
 been more thrilling than his, though he told it 
 in the simplest manner possible. Rod's appear- 
 ance more than his words was evidence of the 
 trials he and his companions had passed 
 through. His face was emaciated to startling 
 thinness by desperate exertion and lack of 
 sleep, and both his face and his hands were 
 covered with scratches and bruises. Not until 
 late in the afternoon did he go to bed, and it 
 
 3i7 
 
318 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 was noon the following day when he awoke 
 from his heavy slumber. 
 
 The canoes had returned, and John Ball was 
 in the doctor's care. At dinner Rod and Wabi 
 were made to go over their adventures again, 
 and even Mukoki, who had joined them in 
 this reunion, was not allowed to escape the 
 endless questioning of Minnetaki, the factor's 
 wife, and Rod's mother. Rod was seated at th& 
 table between Mrs. Drew and Minnetaki, 
 Several times during the conversation he felt 
 the young girl's hand touch his arm. Once, 
 when the factor spoke about their return to the 
 gold in the cavern, this mysterious signaling 
 of Minnetaki's took the form of a pinch that 
 made him squirm. Not until after dinner, and 
 the two were alone, did he begin to compre- 
 hend. 
 
 "I'm ashamed of you, Roderick Drew!" 
 said the girl, standing before him in mock dis- 
 pleasure. "You and Wabi were the stupidest 
 things I ever saw at dinner! Have you all for- 
 gotten your promise to me? — your promise 
 that I should go with you on your next trip? I 
 
JOHN BALL'S STORY 319 
 
 wanted you to speak about it right there at 
 dinner!" 
 
 "But I — I — couldn't!" stammered Rod 
 awkwardly. 
 
 "But I'm going!" said Minnetaki decisively. 
 "I'm going with you boys on this next trip— 
 if I have to run away! It's not fair for Wabi 
 and Mukoki and you to leave me alone all of 
 the time. And, besides, I've been making all 
 the arrangements while you were gone. I've 
 won over mamma and your mother, and Ma- 
 balia, mamma's Indian woman, will go with 
 me. There's just one who says — 'No !' " And 
 Minnetaki clasped her hands pathetically. 
 
 "And that's papa," completed Rod, laugh- 
 ing. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Well, if he is the only one against us we 
 stand a good chance of winning." 
 
 "I'm going to have mamma and Wabigoon 
 get him by themselves to-night," said the girl. 
 "Papa will do anything on earth for her, and 
 he thinks Wabi is the best boy on earth. 
 Mamma says she will lock the door and won't 
 
320 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 let him out until he has given his promise. 
 Oh, what a glorious time we'll have!" 
 
 "Perhaps he would go with us," suggested 
 Rod. 
 
 "No, he couldn't leave the Post. If he went 
 Wabi would have to stay." 
 
 Rod was counting on his fingers. 
 
 "That means six in our next expedition, — 
 Wabi, Mukoki, John Ball and myself, and you 
 and Maballa. Why, it'll be a regular picnic 
 party!" 
 
 Minnetaki's eyes were brimming with fun. 
 
 "Do you know," she said, "that Maballa 
 thinks Mukoki is just about the nicest Indian 
 that ever lived? Oh, I'd be so glad if — if — " 
 
 She puckered her mouth into a round, red 
 O, and left Rod to guess the rest. It was not 
 difficult for him to understand. 
 
 "So would I," he cried. Then he added, 
 
 "Muky is the best fellow on earth." 
 
 "And Maballa is just as good," said the girl 
 loyally. 
 
 The boy held out his hand. 
 
 "Let's shake on that, Minnetaki! I'll handle 
 
JOHN BALL'S STORY 321 
 
 Mukoki, you take care of Maballa. What a 
 picnic this next trip will beF' 
 
 "And there'll be lots and lots of adventures, 
 won't there?" asked the girl a little anx- 
 iously. 
 
 "Plenty of them." Rod became immediately 
 serious. "This will be the most important of 
 all our trips, Minnetaki, that is, if John Ball 
 lives. I haven't told the others, but I believe 
 that great cavern holds something for us be- 
 sides gold!" 
 
 The smile left the girl's face. Her eyes were 
 soft and eager. 
 
 "You believe that — Dolores — " 
 
 "I don't know what to believe. But— -we'll 
 find something there!" 
 
 For an hour Rod and Minnetaki talked of 
 John Ball and of the strange things he said in 
 his delirium. Then the girl rejoined Mrs. 
 Drew and the princess mother, while Rod 
 went in search of Mukoki and Wabigoon. 
 That night the big event happened. George 
 Newsome, the factor, gave a reluctant consent 
 which meant that Wabi's sister and Maballa 
 
322 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 would accompany the adventurers on their 
 next journey into the untraveled solitudes of 
 Hudson Bay. 
 
 For a week John Ball hovered between life 
 and death. After that his improvement was 
 slow but sure, and each day added strength to 
 his emaciated body arid a new light to his eyes. 
 At the end of the second week there was no 
 question but that he was slowly returning to 
 sanity. Gradually he came to know those who 
 sat beside his bed, and whenever Rod visited 
 him he insisted on holding the youth's hand. 
 At first the sight of Minnetaki or her mother, 
 or of Mrs. Drew, had a startling effect on him, 
 and in their presence he would moan cease- 
 lessly the name Rod first heard in the cavern. 
 A little at a time the language of those about 
 him came back to the old man, and bit by bit 
 those who waited and listened and watched 
 learned the story of John Ball. Midsummer 
 came before he could gather the scattered 
 threads of his life in his memory, and even 
 then there were breaks in this story which 
 seemed but trivial things to John Ball, but 
 
JOHN BALL'S STORY '323 
 
 which to the others meant the passing of for- 
 gotten years. 
 
 In fact, years played but a small part in the 
 strange story that fell from the old man's lips. 
 "In time," said the Post physician, "he will 
 remember everything. Now only the most im- 
 portant happenings in his life have returned 
 to him." 
 
 John Ball could not remember the date 
 when, as a young boy, he left York Factory, 
 on Hudson Bay, to come a thousand miles 
 'down to civilization in company with the two 
 Frenchmen who killed themselves in the old 
 cabin. But the slip of paper which Rod had 
 discovered filled that gap. He was the son of 
 the factor at York Factory, and was to spend 
 a year at school in Montreal. On their trip 
 down it was the boy who found gold in the 
 chasm. John Ball could remember none of the 
 details. He only knew that they remained to 
 gather the treasure, and that he, as its dis- 
 coverer and the son of one of the lords of the 
 Hudson Bay Company, was to receive twice 
 the share of the others, and that in the autumn 
 
324 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 they were to return to York Factory instead of 
 going on to Montreal. He remembered indis- 
 tinctly a quarrel over the gold, and after that 
 of writing some sort of agreement, and then, 
 early one morning, he awoke to find the two 
 , Frenchmen standing over him, and after that, 
 for a long time, everything seemed to pass as 
 in a dream. 
 
 iWhen he awoke into life he was no longer 
 in the chasm, but among a strange people who 
 were so small that they reached barely to his 
 shoulders, and who dressed in fur, and carried 
 spears, and though the sick man said no more 
 about these people those who listened to him 
 knew that he had wandered far north among 
 the Eskimos. They treated him kindly, and 
 he lived among them for a long time, hunting 
 and fishing with them, and sleeping in houses 
 built of ice and snow. 
 
 The next that John Ball remembered was of 
 white people. In some way he returned to 
 York Factory, and he knew that when this 
 happened many years had passed, for his fa- 
 ther and mother were dead, and there were 
 
JOHN BALL'S STORY 32$ 
 
 strangers at the Post. At this time John Ball 
 must have returned fully to his reason again. 
 He remembered, faintly, leading several un- 
 successful expeditions in search of the gold 
 .which he and the Frenchmen had discovered, 
 and that once he went to a great city, which 
 must have been Montreal, and that he stayed 
 there a long time doing something for the 
 Hudson Bay Company, and met a girl whom 
 he married. When he spoke of the girl John 
 Ball's eyes would glow feverishly and her 
 name would fall from him in a moaning sob. 
 For as yet returning reason had not placed the 
 hand of age upon him. It was as if he was 
 awakening from a deep sleep, and Dolores, his 
 young wife, had been with him but a few hours 
 before. 
 
 There came another break in John Ball's 
 life after this. He could not remember how 
 long they lived in Montreal, but he knew that 
 after a time he returned with his wife into the 
 far North, and that they were very happy, and 
 one summer set off in a canoe to search for the 
 lost chasm together. They found it. How or 
 
326 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 when he could not remember. After this John 
 Ball's story was filled with wild visions of a 
 great black world where there was neither sun 
 nor moon nor stars, and they found gold and 
 dug it by the light of fires. And one day the 
 woman went a little way back in this world 
 and never came back. 
 
 It was then that the old madness returned. 
 In his search for his lost wife John Ball never 
 found the end of the great cavern. He saw 
 strange people, he fought great beasts in this 
 black world that were larger than the biggest 
 moose in the forests, and he told of rushing 
 torrents and thundering cataracts in the bowels 
 of the earth. Even in his returning sanity the 
 old man told these things as true. 
 
 George Newsome, the factor, lost no time in 
 writing to the Company at Montreal, inquir- 
 ing about John Ball, and a month later he re- 
 ceived word that a man by that name had 
 worked as an inspector of raw furs during the 
 years 1877 an ^ 1878. He had left Montreal 
 for the North thirty years before. In all prob- 
 ability he soon after went in search of the lost 
 
JOHN BALL'S STORY ^27 
 
 gold, and for more than a quarter of a cen- 
 tury had lived as a wild man in the solitudes. 
 
 It was at this time in the convalescence of 
 the doctor's patient that Roderick's mother 
 made a suggestion which took the Post by 
 storm. It was that the factor and his family 
 accompany her and Rod back to civilization 
 for a few weeks' visit. To the astonishment of 
 all, and especially to Minnetaki and the 
 princess mother, the factor fell in heartily with 
 the scheme, with the stipulation that the 
 Drews return with them early in the autumn. 
 An agent from the head office of the Company 
 had come up for a month's fishing and he 
 cheerfully expressed his willingness to take 
 charge of affairs at the Post during their ab- 
 sence. 
 
 The happiness of Rod and Wabi was 
 complete when Mukoki was compelled to give 
 his promise to go with them. For several days 
 the old warrior withstood their combined as- 
 saults, but at last he surrendered when Minne- 
 taki put her arms around his neck and nestled 
 her soft cheek against his leathery face, with 
 
328 THE GOLD HUNTERS 
 
 the avowal that she would not move a step 
 unless he went with her. 
 
 So it happened, one beautiful summer 
 morning, that three big canoes put out into the 
 lake from Wabinosh House and headed into 
 che South, and only Mukoki, of all the seven 
 who were going down into civilization, felt 
 something that was not joy as the forests 
 slipped behind them. For Mukoki was to get 
 a glimpse of a new world, a world far from 
 the land of his fathers, and the loyal heart in- 
 side his caribou-skin coat quickened its pulse 
 a little as he thought of the wonderful journey. 
 
 Thus began the journey to civilization. 
 
 THE END