The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gold Hunters, by James Oliver Curwood

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Title: The Gold Hunters
A Story of Life and Adventure in the Hudson Bay Wilds

Author: James Oliver Curwood

Release Date: March 22, 2004 [EBook #11668]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration: The canoe sped out into the gloom.]

THE GOLD HUNTERS

A Story of Life and Adventure in the Hudson Bay Wilds

BY
JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD

1909

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.

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
adventures; the fox was taking his midday slumber and the restless
moose-birds were fluffing themselves lazily in the warm glow that was
beginning 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 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 extended far to the front and its shoulders hunched
low--and was a wolf.