The days were thronged with experience for White Fang. During thetime that Kiche was tied by the stick, he ran about over all the camp,inquiring, investigating, learning. He quickly came to know much of theways of the man-animals, but familiarity did not breed contempt. Themore he came to know them, the more they vindicated their superiority,the more they displayed their mysterious powers, the greater loomed theirgod-likeness.
To man has been given the grief, often, of seeing his gods overthrownand his altars crumbling; but to the wolf and the wild dog that have comein to crouch at man's feet, this grief has never come. Unlike man, whosegods are of the unseen and the overguessed, vapours and mists of fancyeluding the garmenture of reality, wandering wraiths of desired goodnessand power, intangible out-croppings of self into the realm of spirit - unlikeman, the wolf and the wild dog that have come in to the fire find theirgods in the living flesh, solid to the touch, occupying earth-space andrequiring time for the accomplishment of their ends and their existence.
No effort of faith is necessary to believe in such a god; no effort of willcan possibly induce disbelief in such a god. There is no getting away fromit. There it stands, on its two hind-legs, club in hand, immensely potential,passionate and wrathful and loving, god and mystery and power allwrapped up and around by flesh that bleeds when it is torn and that isgood to eat like any flesh.
And so it was with White Fang. The man-animals were godsunmistakable and unescapable. As his mother, Kiche, had rendered herallegiance to them at the first cry of her name, so he was beginning torender his allegiance. He gave them the trail as a privilege indubitablytheirs. When they walked, he got out of their way. When they called, hecame. When they threatened, he cowered down. When they commandedhim to go, he went away hurriedly. For behind any wish of theirs waspower to enforce that wish, power that hurt, power that expressed itself inclouts and clubs, in flying stones and stinging lashes of whips.
He belonged to them as all dogs belonged to them. His actions weretheirs to command. His body was theirs to maul, to stamp upon, to tolerate.
Such was the lesson that was quickly borne in upon him. It came hard,going as it did, counter to much that was strong and dominant in his ownnature; and, while he disliked it in the learning of it, unknown to himselfhe was learning to like it. It was a placing of his destiny in another's hands,a shifting of the responsibilities of existence. This in itself wascompensation, for it is always easier to lean upon another than to standalone.
But it did not all happen in a day, this giving over of himself, body andsoul, to the man-animals. He could not immediately forego his wildheritage and his memories of the Wild. There were days when he crept tothe edge of the forest and stood and listened to something calling him farand away. And always he returned, restless and uncomfortable, towhimper softly and wistfully at Kiche's side and to lick her face with eager,questioning tongue.
White Fang learned rapidly the ways of the camp. He knew theinjustice and greediness of the older dogs when meat or fish was thrownout to be eaten. He came to know that men were more just, children morecruel, and women more kindly and more likely to toss him a bit of meat orbone. And after two or three painful adventures with the mothers of part-grown puppies, he came into the knowledge that it was always goodpolicy to let such mothers alone, to keep away from them as far aspossible, and to avoid them when he saw them coming.
But the bane of his life was Lip-lip. Larger, older, and stronger, Lip-liphad selected White Fang for his special object of persecution. While Fangfought willingly enough, but he was outclassed. His enemy was too big.
Lip-lip became a nightmare to him. Whenever he ventured away from hismother, the bully was sure to appear, trailing at his heels, snarling at him,picking upon him, and watchful of an opportunity, when no man-animalwas near, to spring upon him and force a fight. As Lip-lip invariably won,he enjoyed it hugely. It became his chief delight in life, as it became WhiteFang's chief torment.
But the effect upon White Fang was not to cow him. Though hesuffered most of the damage and was always defeated, his spirit remainedunsubdued. Yet a bad effect was produced. He became malignant andmorose. His temper had been savage by birth, but it became more savageunder this unending persecution. The genial, playful, puppyish side of himfound little expression. He never played and gambolled about with theother puppies of the camp. Lip-lip would not permit it. The moment WhiteFang appeared near them, Lip-lip was upon him, bullying and hectoringhim, or fighting with him until he had driven him away.
The effect of all this was to rob White Fang of much of his puppyhoodand to make him in his comportment older than his age. Denied the outlet,through play, of his energies, he recoiled upon himself and developed hismental processes. He became cunning; he had idle time in which to devotehimself to thoughts of trickery. Prevented from obtaining his share of meatand fish when a general feed was given to the camp-dogs, he became aclever thief. He had to forage for himself, and he foraged well, though hewas oft-times a plague to the squaws in consequence. He learned to sneakabout camp, to be crafty, to know what was going on everywhere, to seeand to hear everything and to reason accordingly, and successfully todevise ways and means of avoiding his implacable persecutor.
It was early in the days of his persecution that he played his first reallybig crafty game and got there from his first taste of revenge. As Kiche,when with the wolves, had lured out to destruction dogs from the camps ofmen, so White Fang, in manner somewhat similar, lured Lip-lip intoKiche's avenging jaws. Retreating before Lip-lip, White Fang made anindirect flight that led in and out and around the various tepees of thecamp. He was a good runner, swifter than any puppy of his size, andswifter than Lip-lip. But he did not run his best in this chase. He barelyheld his own, one leap ahead of his pursuer.
Lip-lip, excited by the chase and by the persistent nearness of hisvictim, forgot caution and locality. When he remembered locality, it wastoo late. Dashing at top speed around a tepee, he ran full tilt into Kichelying at the end of her stick. He gave one yelp of consternation, and thenher punishing jaws closed upon him. She was tied, but he could not getaway from her easily. She rolled him off his legs so that he could not run,while she repeatedly ripped and slashed him with her fangs.
When at last he succeeded in rolling clear of her, he crawled to his feet,badly dishevelled, hurt both in body and in spirit. His hair was standingout all over him in tufts where her teeth had mauled. He stood where hehad arisen, opened his mouth, and broke out the long, heart-broken puppywail. But even this he was not allowed to complete. In the middle of it,White Fang, rushing in, sank his teeth into Lip-lip's hind leg. There was nofight left in Lip-lip, and he ran away shamelessly, his victim hot on hisheels and worrying him all the way back to his own tepee. Here thesquaws came to his aid, and White Fang, transformed into a raging demon,was finally driven off only by a fusillade of stones.
Came the day when Grey Beaver, deciding that the liability of herrunning away was past, released Kiche. White Fang was delighted with hismother's freedom. He accompanied her joyfully about the camp; and, solong as he remained close by her side, Lip-lip kept a respectful distance.
White-Fang even bristled up to him and walked stiff-legged, but Lip-lipignored the challenge. He was no fool himself, and whatever vengeance hedesired to wreak, he could wait until he caught White Fang alone.
Later on that day, Kiche and White Fang strayed into the edge of thewoods next to the camp. He had led his mother there, step by step, andnow when she stopped, he tried to inveigle her farther. The stream, the lair,and the quiet woods were calling to him, and he wanted her to c............