The Lost Cabin Mine

The Lost Cabin Mine by Frederick Niven. This early western by Scots-Canadian writer Frederick Niven (1878-1944) is a character study of a frontier outlaw with “good� bad man credentials. The Apache Kid is a congenial train robber bank robber and road agent But he’s never been convicted of any crimes and socializes freely with any law-abiding citizens who care to have his acquaintance. . The novel is set in what we take to be British Columbia; the year is 1900. The narrator known only as Francis is a young adventuring Scotsman. Looking for work he signs on with the Kid and his partner Larry Donoghue to accompany them on a two-month expedition.. The two men driving a freight wagon once encountered another man Mike Canlan who’d come upon a prospector stumbling out of the mountains. Perishing and deranged he professed knowledge of a fabulous gold mine. It’s believed that he revealed the location of the mine—the “lost mine� of the title—to at least one of the three men. But so far no one has gone in search of it for fear he’ll be followed.