James Oliver Curwood 
The Gold Hunters 

The gold hunters is an English novel written by James Oliver Curwood. In the first part of this story, a young Indian pathfinder, a white boy, and an old Indian pathfinder are entrusted with locating an abducted Indian princess. The main premise of the book revolves around the risky search for a gold mine by the three explorers who found a treasure map in a skeleton's hand in the previous novel ("The Wolf Hunters''). In the plot, a young Indian Princess is abducted so that three men might try their luck in recovering a lost treasure in the unforgiving Canadian wilderness. The great solitude of the Canadian forest was shrouded in the oppressive silence of noon. The fox was taking his midday nap, and the moose birds were restless and fluffing themselves lazily in the warm glow that was starting to melt the late winter snows. The moose and caribou had fed since early dawn and were resting quietly in the warmth of the February sun. The lynx has curled away in his niche between the great rocks, waiting for the sun to sink further into the north and west before continuing his marauding adventures.