Evening star., 1924-08-23
Continued from Yesterdays Starr

Maxim free to spit out what's in
me-" Matt said one day, Il beg to
state that you was wise guy all
right when YOU paid the price you
did for that dog. You clean swindled
Beauty Smith on top of pushin' his
face in with your fist
a recrudescence of anger glinted in
Weldon ScottS gray eyes and he
muttered savagely, The BEAST
In the late spring great trouble
came to White Fang. Without warn
ing, the love master disappeared.
There had been warning, but White
Fang was unversed in such things
and did not understand the packing
/ of a grip. He remembered afterward
that this packing had preceded the
masters disappearance; but at the
| time he suspected nothing. That
night he waited for the master to re-
| turn. At midnight the chill wind that
| blew drove him to shelter at the rear
of the cabin. There he drowsed, only
half asleep, his ears keyed for the
| first sound of the familiar step. But,
| at in the morning, his anxiety drove
| him out to the cold front Stoop,
| where he crouched and waited.
| But no master came. In the morn
| ing the door opened and Matt stepped
outside. White Fang .gazed at him
| wistfully. There was no common
speech by which he might learn what
he wanted to know. The days came
| and went, but never the master.
White Fang, who had never known
sickness in his life, became sick. He
| became very sick, so sick that Matt
was finally compelled to bring him
| inside the cabin. Also. in writing to
| his employer, Matt devoted post
script to White Fang.
Weldon Scott reading the letter
down in Circle City, came upon the
! following:
THAT dam wolf won't work. Won't
eat. Amt got no spunk left. All the
| dogs licking him. Wants to know
! what has become of you, and I don't
| know how to tell him. Mebbe he is
| going to die"
! 1t was as Matt had said. White
Fang had ceased eating, lost heart.
and allowed every dog of the team to
| thrash him. In the cabin he lay on
| the floor near the stove, without in
| terest in food, in Matt, or in life.
Matt might talk gently to him or
swear at him, it was all the same; he
never did more than turn his dull
eyes upon the man, then drop his
| head back to it's customary position
| on his forepawS.
And then one night Matt, reading
| to himself with moving lips and
| mumbling sounds, was startled by a
| low whine from White Fang. He
| had got upon his feet. his ears cooked
| toward the door, and he was listening
intently. A moment later, Matt heard
a footstep. The door opened. and
| Weldon Scott stepped in. The two
men shook hands Then Scott looked
around the room.
| where's the wolff" he asked
Then he discovered him, standing
where he had been lying, near to the
| stove. He had not rushed forward
after the manner of most dogs. He
stood, watching and waiting.
Holy smoke." Matt exclaimed.
| Look at m wag his tall"
| Weldon Scott strode half across the
room toward him, at the same time
calling him.. White Fang came to him,
not with a great bound, yet quickly.
He was awkward from self-con-
sciousness, but as he drew near, his
eyes took on a strange expression.
| Something, an incommunicable vast
ness of feeling. rose up into his. eyes
as a light and shone forth.
| He never looked at me that way
all the time you was gone" Matt COM
mented.
Weldon Scott did not hear. He
| was squatting down on his heels, face
| to face with White Fang and petting
| him-rubbing at the roots of the
ears, making long. caressing strokes
down the neck to the shoulders, tap
ping the spine gently with the balls
| of his fingers. And White Fang was
growing responsively, the grooming
note of the growl more pronounced
than ever.
But that was not all. What Of his
| joy, the great love in him, ever surg
| ing and struggling to express itself,
succeeded in finding new mode of
expression. He suddenly thrust his
head forward and nudged his way
in between the masters arm and
| body. And here, confined, hidden