The Wendigo: Original and Unabridged

The Wendigo is a novella by Algernon Blackwood, first published in The Lost Valley and Other Stories. In the wilderness in Northwestern Ontario, two Scotsmen are on a moose-hunting trip with guides Hank Davis and the wilderness-loving French "Canuck", Joseph Defago. While their Indian cook, Punk, stays to tend the main camp, the others split up into two hunting-parties. Simpson and Defago make camp, and it soon becomes clear that Defago senses - or thinks he senses - some strange and fearful odour on the wind. That night, Simpson wakes to find Defago cowering in terror from something outside the tent. Later Defago runs off into the night, forcing Simpson to go and look for him. He follows his footprints in the snow for many miles, realising that Defago's are not the only set of tracks.