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17 - Gold Hunters by James Oliver Curwood · Gold Hunters

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Speaker 1: In the public domain recording by Roder Molin, chapter seventeen
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Speaker 1: in a Subterranean World. When Mukoki and Wabigawan returned half
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Speaker 1: an hour later, the hot stone biscuits were still unbaked.
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Speaker 1: The fire was only a bed of coals. Beside it
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Speaker 1: sat Rod, the strange fish upon the ground at his feet.
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Speaker 1: Before Mukoki had thrown down the pack of meat which
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Speaker 1: he was carrying, he was showing them this fish. Quickly
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Speaker 1: he related what had happened. He added to this some
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Speaker 1: of the things which he had thought while sitting by
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Speaker 1: the fire. The chief of these things were that just
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Speaker 1: behind the cataract was the entrance to a great cavern,
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Speaker 1: and that in this cavern they would not only find
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Speaker 1: john Ball, but also the rich storehouse of that treasure
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Speaker 1: of which they had discovered a part in the pool.
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Speaker 1: And as the night lengthened, there was little talk about
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Speaker 1: the gold and much about John Ball. Again and again
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Speaker 1: Rod described the madman's visit, the trembling, pleading voice, the
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Speaker 1: offering of the fish, the eager glow that had come
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Speaker 1: into the wild eyes when he talked to him and
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Speaker 1: called him by name. Even Mukoki's stoic heart was struck
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Speaker 1: by the deep pathos of it all. The mad hunter
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Speaker 1: no longer carried his gun, he no longer sought their lives.
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Speaker 1: In his crazed brain. Something new and wonderful was at work,
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Speaker 1: something that drew him to them with the half fear
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Speaker 1: of an animal, and yet with growing trust. He was
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Speaker 1: pleading for their companionship, their friendship, and deep down in
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Speaker 1: his heart, Rod felt that the spark of sanity was
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Speaker 1: not completely gone from john Ball. When the three adventurers
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Speaker 1: retired to their blankets in the cedar shelter, it was
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Speaker 1: not the thought of gold that quickened their blood in
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Speaker 1: anticipation of the morning. The passing of an age would
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Speaker 1: not dull the luster of what they had come to seek.
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Speaker 1: It would wait for them the greatest of all things,
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Speaker 1: the sympathy of man, For man had still that other
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Speaker 1: passion in them. John Ball's salvation, and not more gold,
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Speaker 1: was the day's work ahead of them. Now with the
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Speaker 1: dawn they were up, and by the time it was
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Speaker 1: light enough to see, they were ready for the exploration
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Speaker 1: of whatever was hidden behind the fall. In a rubber blanket,
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Speaker 1: Wabigowan wrapped a rifle and half a dozen pine torches,
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Speaker 1: Mukoki carried a quantity of cooked meat. Standing on the
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Speaker 1: edge of the pool, Rod pointed into the falling torrent.
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Speaker 1: He dived straight under. He said. The opening to the
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Speaker 1: cavern is directly behind the shoot of falling water. Wabi
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Speaker 1: placed his hat and coat upon a rock. I'll try
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Speaker 1: it first, wait until I come back, he said, without
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Speaker 1: another word. He plunged into the pool. Minute after minute
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Speaker 1: passed and he did not reappear. Rod was conscious of
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Speaker 1: a nervous chill creeping into his blood, but Mukoki was chuckling.
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Speaker 1: Confidently found him, he replied, in response to the white
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Speaker 1: man's inquiring look. As he spoke, Wabigawan came up out
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Speaker 1: of the pool like a great fish. Rod helped him
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Speaker 1: upon the rocks. We're two bright ones. We are Muki,
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Speaker 1: he exclaimed, as soon as he gained his breath. Just
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Speaker 1: behind the fall, I ran up against the wall of
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Speaker 1: rock we found when we were hunting for John Ball
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Speaker 1: stood on my feet and he swung his arms suggestively.
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Speaker 1: There I was, head and shoulders out of water, looking
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Speaker 1: into a hole as big as a house. Dive easy,
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Speaker 1: warned the old pathfinder, turning to Rod. Bump head on
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Speaker 1: rock swosh, we won't have to dive, continued Wabi. The
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Speaker 1: water directly under the fall of the stream isn't more
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Speaker 1: than four feet deep. If we weighed into it from
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Speaker 1: over there, we can make it easy. Taking his waterproof bundle,
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Speaker 1: the young Indian slipped into the pool, close up against
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Speaker 1: the wall of rock that formed the foundation of the
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Speaker 1: upper chasm, and plunged straight into the tumbling cataract. Mukoki
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Speaker 1: followed close behind, and preparing himself with a long breath,
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Speaker 1: Rod hurried into this new experience. For a moment, he
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Speaker 1: was conscious of a smothering weight upon him and a
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Speaker 1: thunderous roaring in his ears, and he was borne irresistibly down.
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Speaker 1: There was still air in his lungs when he found
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Speaker 1: himself safely through the deluge, so he knew that its
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Speaker 1: passage had only taken him only a brief but thrilling instant.
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Speaker 1: For a time he could see nothing. Then he made
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Speaker 1: out a dark form drying itself up out of the water.
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Speaker 1: Beyond that there lay a chaos of midnight blackness, and
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Speaker 1: he knew that his eyes were staring into the depths
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Speaker 1: of a great cavern. Gripping the edge of the rock ledge,
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Speaker 1: he dragged himself up, as both Wabigoon and Mukoki had done,
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Speaker 1: and found his feet upon a soft floor of sand.
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Speaker 1: Suddenly he felt a hand clutch his arm. A half shout,
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Speaker 1: rising faintly above the wash of the cataract, sounded in
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Speaker 1: his ear. Look he wiped the water from his eyes
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Speaker 1: and gazed ahead of him. For a moment, he saw nothing, then,
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Speaker 1: so faintly that at first it appeared no larger than
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Speaker 1: a star, he caught the faint glimmer of a light.
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Speaker 1: As he looked, it became more and more distinct, and
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Speaker 1: to his astonishment, he saw that it was slowly rising,
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Speaker 1: like a huge will of the wisp that had suddenly
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Speaker 1: risen from the floor of the cavern to float off
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Speaker 1: into the utter blackness of space above. And even as
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Speaker 1: he stared, gripping Wabi's arm in his excitement, the strange
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Speaker 1: light began to descend and quickly disappeared. The two boys
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Speaker 1: saw Mukoki slip off into the gloom, and without questioning
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Speaker 1: his motive, they followed close behind. As they progressed, the
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Speaker 1: sound of the fall came more and more faintly to
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Speaker 1: their ears. A blackness deeper than the gloom of the
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Speaker 1: darkest night environed them, and the three now held to
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Speaker 1: one another's arms. Rod understood why his companions lighted no torches.
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Speaker 1: Somewhere ahead of them was another light, carried by the
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Speaker 1: mad Hunter. His blood thrilled with excitement. Where would John
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Speaker 1: Ball lead them? Suddenly he became conscious that they were
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Speaker 1: no longer walking on a level floor of sand, but
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Speaker 1: that they were ascending as the light had done. Mukoki stopped,
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Speaker 1: and for a full minute they stood and listened. The
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Speaker 1: tumult of the fall came to them in a far
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Speaker 1: subdued murmur. Beyond that there was not the breath of
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Speaker 1: a sound in the strange world of gloom about them.
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Speaker 1: They were about to start on again when something held them,
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Speaker 1: a whispering, sobbing echo, and Rod's heart seemed to stop
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Speaker 1: its beating. It died away slowly, and a weird stillness
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Speaker 1: fell after it. Then came a low, moaning cry, a
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Speaker 1: cry that was human in its agony, and yet which
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Speaker 1: had in it something so near the savage that even
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Speaker 1: Wabiguan found himself trembling as he strained in futile effort
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Speaker 1: to pierce the impenetrable gloom ahead Before the cry had
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Speaker 1: lost itself in the distances of the cavern. Mukoki was
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Speaker 1: leading them on again. Step by step they followed, and
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Speaker 1: the path taken by the strange light. Rod knew that
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Speaker 1: they were climbing a hill of sand, and that just
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Speaker 1: beyond it they would see the light again, But he
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Speaker 1: was not prepared for the startling suddenness with which the
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Speaker 1: next change came. As if a black curtain had dropped
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Speaker 1: from before their eyes, the three adventurers beheld a scene
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Speaker 1: that halted them in their tracks. A hundred paces away,
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Speaker 1: a huge pitch pine torch a yard in length was
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Speaker 1: burning in the sand, and crouching in the red glow
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Speaker 1: of this, his arms stretched out, as if in the
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Speaker 1: supplication of a strange prayer, was John Ball. Just beyond
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Speaker 1: him was the gleam of water, inky black in the
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Speaker 1: weird flickerings of the torch, And toward this John Ball
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Speaker 1: reached out in his grief. His voice came up softly
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Speaker 1: to the three watchers, now so low that even in
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Speaker 1: the vast silence of the cavern, it could barely be heard.
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Speaker 1: To Roderick Drew, it was as if the strange creature
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Speaker 1: below him was sobbing like a heartbroken child, and he
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Speaker 1: whispered in Wabigowan's ear, then foot by foot, so gently
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Speaker 1: that his moccasined feet made no sound. He approached the
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Speaker 1: madman half way to him. He paused, Hello, John Ball,
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Speaker 1: He called softly. The faint light of the torch was
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Speaker 1: falling upon him, and he advanced another step. The murmuring
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Speaker 1: of the wild man ceased, but he made no movement.
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Speaker 1: He still knelt in his rigid posture, his arms stretched
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Speaker 1: toward the black chaos beyond him. Rod came very close
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Speaker 1: to him before he spoke again, is that you John Ball?
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Speaker 1: Slowly the kneeling figure turned earned and once more Rod
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Speaker 1: saw in those wild eyes, gleaming brightly now in the torchlight,
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Speaker 1: the softer, thrilling glow of recognition and returning reason. He
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Speaker 1: reached out his own arms and advanced, boldly, calling John
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Speaker 1: Ball's name, and the madman made no retreat, but crouched
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Speaker 1: lower in the sand, strange soft sounds again falling from
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Speaker 1: his lips. Rod had come within half a dozen feet
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Speaker 1: of him when he sprang up with the quickness of
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Speaker 1: a cat, and with a wailing cry, plunged waist deep
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Speaker 1: into the water with his arms stretched entreatingly into the
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Speaker 1: mysterious world beyond the torchlight. He turned his face to
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Speaker 1: the white youth, and Rod knew that he was trying
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Speaker 1: as best he could to tell him something. What is it,
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Speaker 1: john Ball? He went to the edge of the black
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Speaker 1: water and waded out until it rose to his knees,
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Speaker 1: his eyes staring into the blackness. What is it? He too,
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Speaker 1: pointed with one arm, and the madman gave an excited gesture.
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Speaker 1: Then he placed his hands funnel shaped to his mouth,
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Speaker 1: as Rod had often seen Wabi and Mukoki do when
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Speaker 1: calling moose, and there burst from him a far reaching cry,
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Speaker 1: and Rod's heart gave a sudden bound as he listened,
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Speaker 1: for the cry was that of a woman's name, Delores Delores.
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Speaker 1: The cry died away in distant murmuring echoes, and with
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Speaker 1: an answering cry, Rod shouted forth the name which he
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Speaker 1: fancied John Ball had spoken, Delores, Dolores, Dolores. There came
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Speaker 1: a sudden, leaping plunge, and john Ball was at his feet,
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Speaker 1: clasping him about the knees and sobbing again and again
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Speaker 1: that name, Dolores. Rod put his arms about the old
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Speaker 1: man's shoulders, and the gray, shaggy head fell against him.
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Speaker 1: The sobbing voice grew lower, the weight of the head greater,
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Speaker 1: and after a little Rod called loudly for Mukoki and Wabigawan,
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Speaker 1: for there was no longer movement or sound from the
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Speaker 1: form at his feet, and he knew that something had
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Speaker 1: happened to John Ball. The two Indians were quickly at
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Speaker 1: his side, and together they carried the unconscious form of
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Speaker 1: Ball within the circle of torchlight. The old man's eyes
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Speaker 1: were closed, his claw like fingers were clenched fiercely upon
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Speaker 1: his breast, and not until Mukoki placed a hand over
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Speaker 1: his heart did the three know that he was still breathing.
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Speaker 1: Now is our time to get him to camp, said Wabi.
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Speaker 1: Lead the way with a torch rod. There was not
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Speaker 1: much weight to John Ball, and the two Indians carried
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Speaker 1: him easily. At the fall, the rubber blanket was wound
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Speaker 1: about his head, and the adventurers plunged under the cataract
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Speaker 1: with their burden. It was an hour after that before
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Speaker 1: the old man opened his eyes again. Rod was close
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Speaker 1: beside him, and for a full minute the mad hunter
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Speaker 1: gazed up into his face. Then once more he sank
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Speaker 1: off into that strange unconsciousness which had overcome him in
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Speaker 1: the cavern. Rod rose white faced and turned to Mukoki
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Speaker 1: into a bigawan. I'm afraid he's dying, he said. The
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Speaker 1: Indians made no answer. For several minutes, the three sat
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Speaker 1: silently about john Ball, watching for signs of returning consciousness.
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Speaker 1: At last, Mukoki roused himself to take a pot of
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Speaker 1: soup from the fire. The movement seemed to stir john
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Speaker 1: Ball into life, and Rod was at his side again,
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Speaker 1: holding a cup of water to his lips. After a
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Speaker 1: little he helped the old man to sit up, and
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Speaker 1: a spoonful at a time the warm soup was fed
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Speaker 1: to him through the whole of that day. He returned
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Speaker 1: to consciousness only for brief intervals, lapsing back into a
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Speaker 1: deathlike sleep after each awakening. During one of these periods
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Speaker 1: of unconsciousness, Wabi cut short the tangled beard and hair,
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Speaker 1: and for the first time they saw, in all its emaciation,
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Speaker 1: the thin, ghastly face of the man who half a
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Speaker 1: century before had drawn the map that led them to
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Speaker 1: the gold. There was little change in his condition during
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Speaker 1: the night that followed, except that now and then he
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Speaker 1: muttered incoherently, and at these times Rod always caught in
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Speaker 1: his ravings the name that he had heard in the cavern.
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Speaker 1: The next day there was no change, and there was
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Speaker 1: still none on the third. Even Mukoki, who had tried
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Speaker 1: every expedient of wilderness craft in nursing, gave up in despair.
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Speaker 1: So far as they could see, John Ball had no fever,
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Speaker 1: yet three quarters of the time he lay as if dead.
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Speaker 1: Nothing but soup could be forced between his lips. On
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Speaker 1: the second day, Wabi revisited the subterranean world beyond the cataract.
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Speaker 1: When he came back, he had discovered the secret of
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Speaker 1: the treasure in the pool. The gold came from the cavern.
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Speaker 1: The soft sand through which they had followed the strange
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Speaker 1: light was rich in dust and nuggets. During the floods
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Speaker 1: of spring, water came into the cavern from somewhere, and,
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Speaker 1: flowing for a brief space out through the mouth of
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Speaker 1: the cave, brought with it the precious burden of treasure
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Speaker 1: laden sand, which was dumped into the pool. The constant
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Speaker 1: wash of the cataract had caused most of the sand
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Speaker 1: to overflow into the running street, but the heavier gold,
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Speaker 1: dust and nuggets remained in the trap into which they
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Speaker 1: had fallen, But the joy that came of this discovery
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Speaker 1: was subdued by thoughts of john Ball. The gold meant
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Speaker 1: everything to Rod, the realization of his hopes and ambitions,
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Speaker 1: and he knew that it meant everything to his mother
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Speaker 1: and to all those who belonged to Mukoki and Wabigawan.
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Speaker 1: But the gold could wait. They had already accumulated a
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Speaker 1: small fortune, and they could return for the rest a
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Speaker 1: little later. At present, they must do something for John Ball,
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Speaker 1: the man to whom they were indebted for all that
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Speaker 1: they had found, and to whom the treasure really belonged.
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Speaker 1: On the third day, Rod laid his plans before Wabi
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Speaker 1: and Mukoki. We must take john Ball back to the
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Speaker 1: post as quickly as we can, he said. It is
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Speaker 1: our only chance of saving him. If we start now,
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Speaker 1: while the water in the creek is deep enough to
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Speaker 1: float our canoe, we can make wabinosh House in ten
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Speaker 1: or fifteen days. It will be impossible to paddle against
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Speaker 1: the swift current, said Wabi. That is true, but we
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Speaker 1: can put john Ball into the canoe and tow him
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Speaker 1: up stream. It will be a long way, and hard work.
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Speaker 1: But he looked at Wabi in silence, then added, do
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Speaker 1: we want john Ball to live? Or do we want
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Speaker 1: him to die? If I thought he would live, I
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Speaker 1: would wait a thousand miles to save him, rejoined the
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Speaker 1: young Indian. It means little to us but work. We
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Speaker 1: know where the rest of the gold is and can
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Speaker 1: return to it within a few weeks. If there had
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Speaker 1: been a doubt in the boy's minds as to the
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Speaker 1: right course to pursue, john Ball settled it himself. That
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Speaker 1: very afternoon he awakened from an unusually long stoopor His
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Speaker 1: eyes were burning with a new light, and as Rod
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Speaker 1: bent over him, he whispered, softly, but distinctly, Dolores, Dolores?
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Speaker 1: Where is Dolores? Who is Dolores? John Ball whispered, the
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Speaker 1: white youth, his heart thumping wildly, Who is Dolores? Ball
18:27
Speaker 1: drew up one of his emaciated hands and clasped it
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Speaker 1: to his head, and a sobbing moan fell from his lips. Then,
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Speaker 1: after a moment, he repeated, as though to himself, Dolores, Dolores?
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Speaker 1: Who is Dolores? The Indians had come near and heard,
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Speaker 1: but john Ball said no more. He swallowed a few
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Speaker 1: spoonfuls of soup and fell again into his death like trance.
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Speaker 1: Who is Dolores repeated Wabigoon, his face whitening as he
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Speaker 1: looked at Rod. Is there somebody else in the cavern?
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Speaker 1: He is talking of someone whom he probably knew forty
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Speaker 1: or fifty years ago, replied Rod, But his own face
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Speaker 1: was white. He stared hard at Wabigowan, and a strange
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Speaker 1: look came into Mukoki's face. Dolores, he mused, without taking
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Speaker 1: his eyes from Wabi, it's a woman's name or a
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Speaker 1: girl's name. We must save John Ball. We must start
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Speaker 1: for Wabinosh House. Now, while he's unconscious. We can tie
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Speaker 1: the rope about him and hoist him into the upper chasm.
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Speaker 1: Quickly added Wabigowan. MOOKI get to work. We move this minute.
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Speaker 1: It was still two hours before dusk, and now that
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Speaker 1: they had determined on returning to Wabinosh House, the adventurer
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Speaker 1: lost no time in getting under way. Wabi climbed the
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Speaker 1: rope that was suspended from the upper chasm, and that
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Speaker 1: part of their equipment, which it was necessary to take
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Speaker 1: back with them, was hoisted up by him. Mukoki sheltered
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Speaker 1: the rest in the old cabin. John Ball was drawn
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Speaker 1: up last for an hour after that, until the gray
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Speaker 1: shadows of night began settling about them. The three waded
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Speaker 1: up the shallow stream, pulling the canoe and its unconscious
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Speaker 1: burden after them. That night, the madman was not left
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Speaker 1: unwatched for a minute. Mukoki sat beside him until eleven o'clock.
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Speaker 1: Then Wabi took his turn. A little after midnight, Rod
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Speaker 1: was aroused by being violently pulled from his bed of
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Speaker 1: balsam boughs. For the love of Heaven, get up, whispered
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Speaker 1: the young Indian. He's talking, Rod, He's talking about Dolores,
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Speaker 1: and about some kind of a great beast that's bigger
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Speaker 1: than anything that ever lived up here. Listen, The madman
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Speaker 1: was moaning softly. I've killed it, Dolores, I've killed it,
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Speaker 1: killed it. Where is Dolores? Where is? There came a
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Speaker 1: deep sigh, and John Ball was quiet killed. What panted Rod,
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Speaker 1: his heart thumping until it choked him. The beast, whatever
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Speaker 1: it was, whispered Wabi Rod. Something terrible happened in that cavern.
21:39
Speaker 1: We don't know the whole story. The frenchmen who killed themselves,
21:43
Speaker 1: for possession of the birch bark Map played only a
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Speaker 1: small part in it. The greater part was played by
21:50
Speaker 1: John Ball and Dolores. For a long time the two listened,
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Speaker 1: but the old man made no sound or movement. Better
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Speaker 1: go back to bed, said Wabi. I thought, if he
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Speaker 1: was going to keep it up, you would like to hear.
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Speaker 1: I'll call you at too. But Rod could not sleep
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Speaker 1: for a long time. He lay awake, thinking of John
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Speaker 1: Ball and his strange ravings. Who was Dolores? What terrible
22:22
Speaker 1: tragedy had that black world under the mountains some time beheld?
22:27
Speaker 1: Despite his better reason, and indefinable sensation of uneasiness possessed
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Speaker 1: him as the madman sobbing out of the woman's name
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Speaker 1: recurred to him. He spoke nothing of this to Wabi
22:39
Speaker 1: when he relieved him, and he said nothing of it
22:42
Speaker 1: during the days that followed. They were days of unending toil,
22:47
Speaker 1: of fierce effort to beat out death in the race
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Speaker 1: to Wabinosh House, for it seemed that the end of
22:53
Speaker 1: time was very near for john Ball. On the fourth day,
22:58
Speaker 1: his thin cheeks showed signs of fever, and on the
23:02
Speaker 1: fifth he was tossing in delirium. The race now continued
23:07
Speaker 1: by night as well as by day, only an hour
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Speaker 1: or two of rest being snatched at a time. During
23:14
Speaker 1: these days, John Ball babbled ceaselessly of dolores and great
23:19
Speaker 1: beasts and the endless cavern. And now the beasts began
23:24
Speaker 1: taking the form of strange people whose eyes gleamed from
23:27
Speaker 1: out of masses of fur, and who had hands and
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Speaker 1: flung spears. On the eighth day, the madman sank back
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Speaker 1: into his old lethargy. On the fourth day, after that,
23:41
Speaker 1: the three adventurers, worn and exhausted, reached the shores of
23:46
Speaker 1: Lake Nipigon. Thirty miles across the lake was Wabinosh House,
23:51
Speaker 1: and it was decided that Mukoki and Rod should leave
23:54
Speaker 1: for assistance, while Wabigowan remained with John Ball. The two
23:59
Speaker 1: rolled themselves in their blankets immediately after supper, and after
24:03
Speaker 1: three hours sleep, were awakened by the young Indian. All
24:08
Speaker 1: that night they paddled, with only occasional moments of rest.
24:13
Speaker 1: The sun was just rising over the forests when they
24:16
Speaker 1: grounded their canoe close to the post. As Rod sprang ashore,
24:21
Speaker 1: he saw a figure walk slowly out from the edge
24:24
Speaker 1: of the forest an eighth of a mile away. Even
24:28
Speaker 1: at that distance he recognized Minnetaki. He looked at the
24:32
Speaker 1: sharp eyed Mukoki. He too had seen and recognized the girl. Muki.
24:39
Speaker 1: I'm going along in the edge of the woods and
24:41
Speaker 1: give her a surprise, said Rod courageously. Will you wait here?
24:47
Speaker 1: Mukoki grinned a nodding ascent, and the youth darted into
24:52
Speaker 1: the edge of the forest. He was breathless when he
24:55
Speaker 1: came up one hundred yards behind the girl, screened from
24:58
Speaker 1: view by the trees. Softly, he whistled. It was a
25:04
Speaker 1: signal that Minnetaki had taught him on his first trip
25:07
Speaker 1: into the north and he knew of only two who
25:09
Speaker 1: used it in all that north Land, and those two
25:13
Speaker 1: were the Indian maiden and himself. The girl turned as
25:18
Speaker 1: she heard the thrilling note, and Rod drew himself farther back.
25:23
Speaker 1: He whistled again, more loudly than before, and Minnetaki came
25:27
Speaker 1: hesitatingly toward the forest's edge, And when he whistled a
25:32
Speaker 1: third time, there came a timid response from her, as
25:35
Speaker 1: if she recognized and yet doubted the notes that floated
25:39
Speaker 1: to her from the shadows of the balsams. Again, Rod whistled,
25:44
Speaker 1: laughing as he drew a little farther back, and again
25:48
Speaker 1: Minnetaki answered. Peering in among the trees, he saw the wondering,
25:54
Speaker 1: half expectant glow in her eyes, and suddenly, crying out
25:58
Speaker 1: her name, he sprang from his with a little cry
26:02
Speaker 1: of joy, and with hands outstretched, Minnetaki ran to meet him.
26:09
Speaker 1: End of Chapter seventeen. Recording by Roger Molin