Their planned adventure to Yosemite had become all that Gus Lafee and Hazard Van talked about, so it is needless to say that they were devastated to discover that somebody had ‘scooped’ them, reaching the peak of Hall Dome just before they did. Their dejection swiftly turns into curiosity, however, as the mystery conqueror begins to send out help signals in morse code. Published six years after his death, ‘Dutch Courage and other stories’ is an exhilarating collection of some of Jack London’s finest work. Jack London (1876–1916) was an American writer and social activist. He grew up in the working class, but his unflinching realism eventually earned him the status of one of the highest-paid authors of his time. Many of his novels are considered classics today, his most notable being ‘Call of the Wild’, ‘Sea Wolf’, and ‘White Fang’. Fans of Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, and Charles Dickens will enjoy his ability to make the mundane captivating.