Smoke Bellew – Jack London – Paper Books

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.