Jack London

Smoke Bellew (1912) Jack London

Smoke Bellew, by Jack London (1912). This is a tale of wild adventures in the Klondike, in which Christopher Bellew, nicknamed "Smoke," proves himself the hero of countless marvelous exploits. Bellew, who has drifted into journalism in San Francisco, is invited by his uncle to take a short trip to the gold-region, the elder man deploring the "softness" of his dilettante nephew, who seems to have degenerated from the hardihood and physical prowess of his race. At the first taste of the wild life, however, the young man's inheritance asserts itself and he decides to remain in the Klondike instead of returning with his uncle. He immediately plunges into the strenuous activities of the North and in a short space of time trains himself to battle successfully with the elements and to endure the terrible hardships of the country. At the outset he is spurred on by an encounter with a spirited girl named Joy Gastell, whose father is an "Old-timer" and who from childhood has been accustomed to cast her lot in with the hardy explorers. From time to time Bellew encounters this daring beauty, who aids him at several critical junctures and to whom he is able to render important services in return. In company with his special chum "Shorty," Bellew works his way up to Dawson and subsists for some time by hunting and trading in moose-meat. The friends join an exciting stampede to Squam Creek to take out claims, but are outwitted by Joy Gastell, who, in the interest of her father leads them on to a wrong trail. Later she makes amends for this trick by offering Bellew a chance to secure another claim to acquire which he has a neck-and-neck race with a formidable rival "Big Olaf"; the result is a tie which causes the two to divide the claim. Bellew has a thrilling escape from death on a glacier where in order to save his companion he cuts loose from the rope which is attached to the other; he outwits a coterie of gamblers at Dawson and thereby amasses a large sum of money and after many experiences he is captured by a tribe of Indians and forced to remain in their isolated settlement. He finally makes his escape in company with the daughter of the chief, who is a white man; the girl has fallen in love with him, and heroically aids him in his return to freedom, herself perishing from starvation just as the goal is reached; here Bellew once more meets the faithful "Shorty" with whom he hastens back to join Joy Gastell whom he has long loved and who is impatiently awaiting his return......... John Griffith London (born John Griffith Chaney; January 12, 1876 - November 22, 1916) was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. A pioneer in the world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first writers to become a worldwide celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction. His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire," "An Odyssey of the North," and "Love of Life." He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen," and of the San Francisco Bay area in The Sea Wolf. London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of unionization, socialism, and the rights of workers. He wrote several powerful works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, and The War of the Classes.