âThe heart of a man is full of hypocrisy; the heart of Nature is utterly without guileâ. Harold Preston discovers this when he goes prospecting for gold in the uncharted bush with a rival he considered a friend. This is a fairly decent tale of jealousy, betrayal and vengeance written by a prolific British journalist and author of mystery and horror fiction James Edward Preston Muddock also known as âDick Donovanâ (28 May 1843 â 23 January 1934).