Latest / Gold Hunters / 11 - Gold Hunters by James Oliver Curwood
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Chapter eleven, The cry in the chasm. If Mukoki had
- 0:08Speaker 1: been a white man, he would have analyzed in some
- 0:11Speaker 1: way the meaning of those strange cries. But the wild
- 0:15Speaker 1: and its savage things formed his world, and his world
- 0:19Speaker 1: until this night had never known human or beast that
- 0:22Speaker 1: could make the terrible sounds he had heard. So for
- 0:25Speaker 1: an hour he crouched where he had fallen, still trembling
- 0:29Speaker 1: with that nameless fear, and trying hard to form a
- 0:32Speaker 1: solution of what had happened. Slowly he recovered himself. For
- 0:38Speaker 1: many years he had mingled with the white people at
- 0:40Speaker 1: the post, and reason now battled with the superstitions of
- 0:44Speaker 1: his race. He had been fired at. He had heard
- 0:48Speaker 1: the whistling song of the ball over his head, and
- 0:51Speaker 1: had heard it strike the tree behind him. For a time,
- 0:55Speaker 1: those rocks toward which he stared like fascinated beast, had
- 0:59Speaker 1: concealed a man. But what kind of man? He remembered
- 1:04Speaker 1: the ancient battle cries of his tribe and of the
- 1:07Speaker 1: enemies of his tribe, but none was like the cries
- 1:10Speaker 1: that had followed the shot. He heard them. Still, they
- 1:14Speaker 1: rang in his ears and sent shivering chills up his back,
- 1:18Speaker 1: and the more he tried to reason, the greater that
- 1:21Speaker 1: nameless fear grew in him, until he slunk like an
- 1:24Speaker 1: animal down the side of the mountain, through the dip,
- 1:27Speaker 1: and out again upon the plain, And with that same
- 1:31Speaker 1: nameless fear always close behind him, urging him on with
- 1:35Speaker 1: its terrors, he sped back over the trail that he
- 1:38Speaker 1: had followed that day. Not for an instant did he
- 1:41Speaker 1: stop to rest, until he came to the camp fire
- 1:44Speaker 1: of Rod and Wabigoon. Usually, an Indian hides his fears,
- 1:50Speaker 1: he conceals them as a white man does his sins.
- 1:54Speaker 1: But tonight Mukoki's experience had passed beyond the knowledge of
- 1:58Speaker 1: his race, and he told of what happened trembling still cringing,
- 2:03Speaker 1: when a great white rabbit darted close to the fire.
- 2:06Speaker 1: Rod and Wabi listened to him in mute astonishment. Could
- 2:11Speaker 1: it have been a wu Wanga, asked Wabi. No wu Wanga,
- 2:17Speaker 1: replied the old warrior, quickly shaking his head. Wuanga, no
- 2:22Speaker 1: make noise like that. He drew away from the fire,
- 2:26Speaker 1: wrapped himself in a blanket, and crept into the shelter
- 2:29Speaker 1: that Rod and Wabiguan had built. The two boys looked
- 2:33Speaker 1: at each other in silence. Muki has certainly had some
- 2:37Speaker 1: most extraordinary adventure, said Wabi at last, I have never
- 2:43Speaker 1: seen him like this before. It is easy to guess
- 2:46Speaker 1: the meaning of the shot. Some of the wu Wangas
- 2:49Speaker 1: may still be in that country, and one of them
- 2:52Speaker 1: saw Mukoki and fired at him. But the scream, what
- 2:56Speaker 1: do you make of that? Do you suppose, whispered Rod,
- 3:01Speaker 1: speaking close to his companion's ear, that Mukoki's imagination helped
- 3:06Speaker 1: him out to night. He paused for a moment as
- 3:09Speaker 1: he saw the look of disapproval in Wabigowan's eyes, and
- 3:13Speaker 1: then went on, I don't mean to hint that he
- 3:16Speaker 1: stretched his story purposely. He was standing on the mountain top.
- 3:21Speaker 1: Suddenly there came a flash of fire, the report of
- 3:24Speaker 1: a rifle, and a bullet zipped close to his head.
- 3:28Speaker 1: And at that same instant, or a moment later, well,
- 3:32Speaker 1: you remember the scream of the lynx. You believe that
- 3:36Speaker 1: it might have been a lynx startled by the shot
- 3:39Speaker 1: and sent screaming across the plain. Yes, impossible. At the
- 3:46Speaker 1: sound of that shot, a lynx would have remained as
- 3:48Speaker 1: still as death. Still, there are always exceptions. Persisted the
- 3:54Speaker 1: white youth. Not in the case of Lynx, declared Wabigowan.
- 4:00Speaker 1: No animal made those cries. Mukoki is as fearless as
- 4:05Speaker 1: a lion. The cry of a Lynx would have stirred
- 4:08Speaker 1: his blood with pleasure instead of fear. Whatever the sounds were,
- 4:13Speaker 1: they turned Mukoki's blood into water. They made him a coward,
- 4:18Speaker 1: and he ran, ran, mind you until he got back
- 4:22Speaker 1: to us. Is that like Mukoki? I tell you the cries?
- 4:29Speaker 1: What were? Something very unusual? Finished Wabigowan, quietly, rising to
- 4:36Speaker 1: his feet. Perhaps we will find out more tomorrow. As
- 4:41Speaker 1: it is, I believe we had better stand guard and
- 4:43Speaker 1: camp tonight. I will go to bed now and you
- 4:47Speaker 1: can awaken me after a while. Wabigowan's words and the
- 4:51Speaker 1: strangeness of his manner put rod Ill at ease, despite
- 4:55Speaker 1: his arguments of a few moments before, and no sooner
- 4:59Speaker 1: did he find himself alone beside the fire. Then he
- 5:02Speaker 1: began to be filled with an unpleasant premonition of lurking danger.
- 5:07Speaker 1: For a time he sat very still, trying to peer
- 5:11Speaker 1: into the shadows beyond the fire, and listening to the
- 5:14Speaker 1: sounds that came to him from out of the night.
- 5:17Speaker 1: As he watched and listened, his brain worked ceaselessly, conjuring
- 5:22Speaker 1: picture after picture of what that danger might be. And
- 5:25Speaker 1: at last he drew out of the fire light and
- 5:28Speaker 1: concealed himself in the deep gloom of the bush. From
- 5:32Speaker 1: here he could see the camp and at the same
- 5:34Speaker 1: time was safe from a possible rifle shot. The night
- 5:39Speaker 1: passed with tedious slowness, and he was glad when a
- 5:42Speaker 1: little after midnight Wabi came out to relieve him. At dawn,
- 5:47Speaker 1: he was in turn awakened by the young Indian. Mukoki
- 5:52Speaker 1: was already up and had prepared his pack. Apparently he
- 5:56Speaker 1: had regained his old spirits, but both Rod and Wabigouan
- 6:00Speaker 1: could see that behind them the fear of the preceding
- 6:03Speaker 1: night still haunted him. That morning, he did not set
- 6:07Speaker 1: off ahead of the two boys with his pack, but
- 6:10Speaker 1: walked beside them, stopping to rest when they lowered their canoe,
- 6:14Speaker 1: his eyes never ceasing their sharp scrutiny of the plain
- 6:18Speaker 1: and distant ridges. Once, when Mukoki mounted a big rock
- 6:22Speaker 1: to look about him, Wabi whispered, I tell you it's strange, Rod,
- 6:28Speaker 1: mighty strange. An hour later, the old warrior halted and
- 6:33Speaker 1: threw off his load. The three had approached within a
- 6:37Speaker 1: quarter of a mile of the dip in the mountain.
- 6:40Speaker 1: Leave canoe here, he said, Go like fox to old camp,
- 6:46Speaker 1: maybe sea. He took the lead, now followed closely by
- 6:51Speaker 1: the boys. The safety of the old pathfinder's rifle was down,
- 6:56Speaker 1: and following his example, Rod and Wabigouwan held their own
- 7:00Speaker 1: guns in readiness for instant fire. As they neared the
- 7:04Speaker 1: summit of the ridge on which Mukoki's life had been attempted,
- 7:07Speaker 1: the suspense of the two young hunters became almost painfully acute.
- 7:13Speaker 1: Mukoki's actions not only astonished them, but set their blood
- 7:17Speaker 1: tingling with his own strange fear. Many times had Wabigowan
- 7:22Speaker 1: seen his faithful comrade in moments of deadly peril, But never,
- 7:26Speaker 1: even when the Wuwongas were close upon their trail, had
- 7:29Speaker 1: he known him to take them as seriously as he
- 7:32Speaker 1: did the ascent of this mountain. Every few steps Mukoki paused,
- 7:37Speaker 1: listening and watchful. Not the smallest twig broke under his
- 7:43Speaker 1: moccasin feet, the movement of the smallest bird, the trembling
- 7:47Speaker 1: of a bush, the scurry of a rabbit halted him,
- 7:51Speaker 1: rigid his rifle half to shoulder, and Rod and Wabigowan
- 7:56Speaker 1: soon became filled with this same panic, stricken fear. What
- 8:00Speaker 1: terrible dread was it that filled Mukoki's soul? Had he
- 8:05Speaker 1: seen something of which he had not told them? Did
- 8:08Speaker 1: he think something which he had not revealed? Foot by
- 8:12Speaker 1: foot the three came to the top of the ridge. There,
- 8:16Speaker 1: Mukoki straightened himself and stood erect. There were no signs
- 8:21Speaker 1: of a living creature about them. Down in the dip
- 8:24Speaker 1: nestled the little lake, gleaming in the midday sun, they
- 8:29Speaker 1: could make out the debris of the burned cabin in
- 8:31Speaker 1: which they had passed their hunting season. And close to
- 8:34Speaker 1: this was the pack which Mukoki had dropped there the
- 8:37Speaker 1: night before. No one had molested it. Wabi's face relaxed, Rod,
- 8:44Speaker 1: breathing easier, laughed softly. What had there been to fear?
- 8:50Speaker 1: He glanced questioningly at Mukoki. There rocks there tree, said
- 8:57Speaker 1: the old warrior. In answer to Rod's glance, Down there
- 9:01Speaker 1: went scream He pointed far out across the plain. Wabi
- 9:07Speaker 1: had gone to the tree. See here, Rod, he cried
- 9:13Speaker 1: by George, This was a close shave. He pointed to
- 9:17Speaker 1: a tiny hole freshly made in the smooth white surface
- 9:20Speaker 1: of the tree. As the others came up. There, stand there, Mukoki,
- 9:26Speaker 1: back to the tree as you said you were when
- 9:28Speaker 1: the shot was fired. Great Caesar, that fellow had a
- 9:33Speaker 1: dead line on your head two inches high. No wonder
- 9:38Speaker 1: it made you think the scream of a lynx was
- 9:40Speaker 1: something else. No lynx, said Mukoki, his face darkening. Shame
- 9:48Speaker 1: on you, Muki, laughed Wabigowan. Don't get angry. I won't
- 9:53Speaker 1: say it again if it makes you mad. Rod had
- 9:57Speaker 1: drawn his hunting knife and was prodding the point of
- 9:59Speaker 1: it the bullet hole. I can feel the ball, he said.
- 10:05Speaker 1: It's not in more than an inch. That's curious, exclaimed Wabigawan,
- 10:11Speaker 1: coming close beside him. It ought to be halfway through
- 10:15Speaker 1: the tree at least, eh Muki, I don't believe it
- 10:19Speaker 1: would have hurt. He stopped. Rod had turned with a sudden,
- 10:24Speaker 1: excited cry. He held out his knife tip upward and
- 10:29Speaker 1: pointed to it with the index finger of his free hand.
- 10:34Speaker 1: Wabi's eyes fell on the tip of the blade. Mukoki
- 10:38Speaker 1: stared for a full half minute. The three stood in
- 10:42Speaker 1: speechless amazement. Clinging to the knife tip was a tiny
- 10:47Speaker 1: flock of yellow gleaming lustrously in the sun. As Rod
- 10:51Speaker 1: slowly turned the handle of his weapon, another gold bullet.
- 10:59Speaker 1: The words fell from Wabi's lips, very slowly and so
- 11:02Speaker 1: low that they were scarce above a whisper. Mukoki seemed
- 11:07Speaker 1: to have ceased breathing. Rod's eyes met the old warriors.
- 11:12Speaker 1: What does it mean? Wabi had pulled his knife and
- 11:17Speaker 1: was digging into the tree a few deep cuts, and
- 11:21Speaker 1: the golden bullet lay exposed to view. What does it mean?
- 11:26Speaker 1: Repeated the white youth. Again, he addressed his question to Mukoki.
- 11:33Speaker 1: Men who shoot bear seem no dead, replied the old pathfinder,
- 11:39Speaker 1: same gun, same gold, same same. What a strange gleam
- 11:47Speaker 1: came for an instant into Mukoki's eyes, and without finishing,
- 11:52Speaker 1: he turned and pointed across the narrow plain that lay
- 11:55Speaker 1: between them and the mysterious chasm which they were to
- 11:58Speaker 1: follow in their search for treasure. Cry went there, he said, shortly,
- 12:05Speaker 1: to the chasm, said Wabi, to the chasm, repeated Rod.
- 12:13Speaker 1: Impelled by the same thought, the three adventurers went toward
- 12:16Speaker 1: the rocks, from which the shot had been fired. Surely
- 12:20Speaker 1: they would discover some sign there, or lower down upon
- 12:24Speaker 1: the plain where the melting snows had softened the earth.
- 12:28Speaker 1: Mukoki led in the search, and foot by foot they
- 12:32Speaker 1: examined the spot where the mysterious marksman must have stood
- 12:35Speaker 1: when he sent his golden bullet so close to the
- 12:37Speaker 1: Indian's head, But not a trace of his presence had
- 12:41Speaker 1: he left behind. Working abreast, the three began the descent
- 12:46Speaker 1: of the ridge. Hardly had they covered a third of
- 12:49Speaker 1: the distance to the plain, when Wabi, who was trailing
- 12:53Speaker 1: between Rod and the old Indian, called out that he
- 12:56Speaker 1: had made a discovery. Mukoki had already reached him when
- 13:00Speaker 1: Rod came up, and the two were gazing silently at
- 13:03Speaker 1: something fluttering from a bush lynk's hair, cried Rod. A
- 13:10Speaker 1: lynx has been this way. He could not entirely conceal
- 13:14Speaker 1: the triumph in his voice. He had been right in
- 13:17Speaker 1: his conjecture of the night before. The cry that had
- 13:21Speaker 1: frightened Mukoki had been made by a lynx. Yes, a
- 13:26Speaker 1: lynx has been this way, A lynx four feet high,
- 13:30Speaker 1: said Wabigawan quietly, and the touch of raillery in his
- 13:34Speaker 1: voice assured Rod that he had still other lessons to
- 13:37Speaker 1: learn in the life of this big wilderness. Lynks don't
- 13:41Speaker 1: grow that big Rod, then it's Rod feared to go
- 13:47Speaker 1: on Lynx fur. That's just what it is. Whoever fired
- 13:54Speaker 1: at Mukoki last night was dressed in skins? Now, can
- 13:58Speaker 1: you tell us what that meansanes? Without waiting for an answer,
- 14:03Speaker 1: Wabigowan resumed his search, but the mountain side gave no
- 14:07Speaker 1: further evidence. Not a footprint was found upon the plain.
- 14:12Speaker 1: If the mysterious person who had fired the golden bullet
- 14:15Speaker 1: had leaped from the mountaintop into space, he could have
- 14:18Speaker 1: left no fewer traces behind him. At the end of
- 14:22Speaker 1: an hour, Rod and his companions returned to the canoe,
- 14:26Speaker 1: carried their loads to the pack in the dip, and
- 14:29Speaker 1: prepared dinner. Their suspense and fear, and specially Mukoki's dread,
- 14:35Speaker 1: were in a large measure gone, But at the same
- 14:39Speaker 1: time they were more hopelessly mystified than ever that there
- 14:43Speaker 1: was danger ahead of them, that the menace of golden
- 14:46Speaker 1: bullets was actual and thrilling. All three were well agreed,
- 14:51Speaker 1: But the sunlight of day and a little sound reasoning
- 14:55Speaker 1: had dispelled their half superstitious terrors of the previous night,
- 14:59Speaker 1: and they began to face the new situation with their
- 15:02Speaker 1: former confidence. We can't let this delay us, said Wabi
- 15:07Speaker 1: as they ate their dinner by night. We ought to
- 15:10Speaker 1: be in our old camp at the head of the chasm,
- 15:13Speaker 1: where we held the Wawanga's at bay last winter. The
- 15:17Speaker 1: sooner we get out of the way of these golden bullets,
- 15:20Speaker 1: the better will be for us. Mukoki shrugged his shoulders.
- 15:26Speaker 1: Gold bullet follow, I guess, so he grunted cry went
- 15:31Speaker 1: there to chasm. I don't believe this fellow, whoever he is,
- 15:37Speaker 1: will hang to our trail, continued Wabi, giving Rod a
- 15:41Speaker 1: suggestive look. A few moments later, he found an opportunity
- 15:46Speaker 1: to whisper. We've got to get that cry out of
- 15:50Speaker 1: Muki's head, Rod, or we'll never find our gold. When
- 15:55Speaker 1: Mukoki had gone to arrange his pack, the young Indian
- 15:58Speaker 1: spoke earnestly to his companion. Mookie isn't afraid of bullets,
- 16:04Speaker 1: either gold or lead. He isn't afraid of any danger
- 16:08Speaker 1: on earth. But that cry haunts him. He is trying
- 16:12Speaker 1: not to let us know, yet it haunts him. Just
- 16:15Speaker 1: the same. Do you know what he is thinking? No,
- 16:20Speaker 1: well I do. He is superstitious, like the rest of
- 16:24Speaker 1: his race, and the two gold bullets, the terrible cries,
- 16:28Speaker 1: and the fact that we found no tracks upon the
- 16:31Speaker 1: plane are all carrying him toward one conclusion that the
- 16:36Speaker 1: strange thing that fired at him is what Bigoon paused
- 16:41Speaker 1: and wiped his face. And it was easy for Rod
- 16:44Speaker 1: to see that he was suppressing some unusual excitement. What
- 16:49Speaker 1: does he think it is? I'm not sure, not quite
- 16:54Speaker 1: sure yet, went on the Indian youth. But listen. It
- 16:59Speaker 1: is a legend in Mukoki's tribe, and always has been
- 17:02Speaker 1: that once in every so many generations, they are visited
- 17:06Speaker 1: by a terrible warrior sent by the Great Spirit, who
- 17:09Speaker 1: takes sacrifice of them, a sacrifice of human life, because
- 17:13Speaker 1: of a great wrong that was once done by their people.
- 17:17Speaker 1: And this warrior, though invisible, has a voice that makes
- 17:21Speaker 1: the mountains quake and the rivers stand still with fear,
- 17:25Speaker 1: And in his great bow he shoots shafts that are
- 17:28Speaker 1: made of gold. Do you understand last night I heard
- 17:33Speaker 1: Mukoki talking about it in his sleep. Either we must
- 17:38Speaker 1: hear this cry and find out more about it, or
- 17:41Speaker 1: hurry to a place where it won't be heard again.
- 17:44Speaker 1: Golden bullets and cries and Mukoki's superstitions are going to
- 17:48Speaker 1: be worse than Wmuanga's if we don't watch out. But
- 17:53Speaker 1: the whole thing is as plain as day, declared Rod
- 17:56Speaker 1: in astonishment. A man shot at the and the same
- 18:01Speaker 1: man shot at Mukoki, and he fired gold each time.
- 18:06Speaker 1: Surely it's not the man part of it interrupted the other.
- 18:11Speaker 1: It's the cry there. Mukoki has his pack ready. Let's
- 18:16Speaker 1: start for the chasm at once. This time the boys
- 18:21Speaker 1: had a heavier burden than usual, for in the canoe
- 18:24Speaker 1: they placed one of the two loads carried by Mukoki,
- 18:27Speaker 1: and consequently their progress toward the chasm was much slower
- 18:31Speaker 1: than that across the plain. It was late in the
- 18:35Speaker 1: afternoon when they reached the break that led into the chasm,
- 18:38Speaker 1: and as they cautiously made the descent. Now Rod thought
- 18:42Speaker 1: of the thrilling pursuit of the wu Wanga horde, and
- 18:45Speaker 1: how a few weeks before they had discovered this break,
- 18:49Speaker 1: just in time for Wabi and him to save their
- 18:51Speaker 1: lives and that of the wounded Mukoki. It was with
- 18:56Speaker 1: a feeling almost of awe that the three adventurers penetrate
- 19:00Speaker 1: deeper and deeper into the silent gloom of this mystery
- 19:03Speaker 1: filled gulch between the mountains, And when they reached the bottom,
- 19:07Speaker 1: they set their loads down without speaking, their eyes roving
- 19:11Speaker 1: over the black walls of rock, their hearts throbbing a
- 19:15Speaker 1: little faster with excitement. For here, at this break in
- 19:19Speaker 1: the mountain began the romantic trail drawn by men long dead,
- 19:24Speaker 1: the trail that led to a treasure of gold. As
- 19:28Speaker 1: the three sat in silence, the gloom in the chasm thickened.
- 19:33Speaker 1: The sun had passed beyond the southwestern forests, and through
- 19:37Speaker 1: the narrow rift between the mountain walls, there fell but
- 19:40Speaker 1: the ebbing light of day, dissolving itself into the shadows
- 19:44Speaker 1: of dusk as it struggled weakly in the cavernous depths.
- 19:48Speaker 1: For a few minutes, the swift fading of day into
- 19:51Speaker 1: night gripped the adventurers in its spell. What did the
- 19:56Speaker 1: lonely solitudes of that chasm hold for them? Where would
- 20:00Speaker 1: they lead them? To Rod's mind, there came a picture
- 20:04Speaker 1: of the silver fox, and a thought of his dream,
- 20:07Speaker 1: When for a few miles he had explored the mysteries
- 20:10Speaker 1: of this strange, sunless world shut in by rock walls. Again,
- 20:15Speaker 1: he saw the dancing skeletons, heard the rattle of their bones,
- 20:20Speaker 1: and watched the wonderful dream battle that had led him
- 20:23Speaker 1: to the birch Bark map. While Big Awan, his eyes
- 20:27Speaker 1: gleaming in the gathering darkness, thought of their flight from
- 20:31Speaker 1: the outlaws, savages, and Mukoki, the white youth had turned
- 20:36Speaker 1: a little to look at the old warrior. Mukoki sat
- 20:40Speaker 1: as rigid as a pillar of stone, and arms reached
- 20:42Speaker 1: from him head erect, arms tents, his eyes gleaming strangely,
- 20:48Speaker 1: he stared straight out into the gloom between the chasm walls.
- 20:54Speaker 1: Rod shivered. He knew, knew, without questioning that Mukoki was
- 20:59Speaker 1: thinking of the cry, And at that instant there floated
- 21:03Speaker 1: up from the black chaos ahead a sound, a sound,
- 21:07Speaker 1: low and weird, like the moaning of a winter's wind
- 21:11Speaker 1: through the pine tops, swelling, advancing until it ended in
- 21:16Speaker 1: a shriek, a shriek that echoed and re echoed between
- 21:20Speaker 1: the chasm walls, dying away in a wail that froze
- 21:24Speaker 1: the blood of the three who sat and listened end
- 21:29Speaker 1: of Chapter eleven. Recording by Roger Molin