Evening star., 1924-08-10

o. IT,
young dogs followed Lip-lip's lead
There was difference between White
Fang and them. Perhaps they sensed
his tld-wood breed, and fnstinctively
felt for him the enmity that the
domestic dog feels for the wolf. But
be that as it may, they Joined with
Lip-lip In the persecution. And,
once declared against him, they
found good reason to continue de-
cIared against him. One and all,
from time to time, they felt his teeth !:
and to his credit. he gave more than
he received. Many of them he could
whip in single fight: but single fight
such fight was a signal for all the
young dogs in camp to come rum
ming and pitch upon him.
Out Of this pack-persecution he
learned two important things; how
to take care of himself in a mass
fight against him; and how, on Il single
dog. to infiict the greatest amount
of damage in the briefest space Of
time. To keep ones feet in the
midst of the hostile mass meant life,
and this he learned well. He became
catlfke. in his ability to stay on his
feet. Even grown dogs might hurtle
him backward or sideways with the
backward or sideways he would go.
in the air or sliding on the ground,
but always. with his legs under him
and his feet downward to the mother
earth. When dogs fight, there are
usually preliminaries to the actual
combat-snarlings and bristlings and
Stiff-legged struttings. But White
Fang learned to omit these prelimin-
aries. Delay meant the coming
against him OF all the young dogs
He must do his work quickly and get
away. So he learned to give no
warning of his intention. He rushed
in and snapped and slashed on the
instant, without notice. before his foe
could prepare to meet him. Thus he
learned how to inf1ict Quick and
severe damage. Also he learned the
value of surprise. A dog, taken off
it's guard. it's shoulder slashed open
or its ear ripped in ribbons before it
knew what was happening, was a dog
half whipped.
Furthermore, it was remarkably
easy to overthrow a dog taken by
surprise; while dog, thus over
thrown, invariably exposed for
moment the soft underside of its
neck-the Vulnerable point at which
to strike for its life. White Fang
knew this point. 1t was knowledge
bequeathed to him directly from the
hunting generations of wolves So
it was that White Fang's method
when he took the offensive, was: first
10 HnQ young dog alone; second, to
surprise it and knock it off Its feet:
and third, to drive in with his teeth
at the soft throat.
Being but partly grown, his Jaws
had not yet become large enough nor
strong enough to make his throat
attack deadly; but many young dog
went around camp with lacerated
throat in token of White Fang's in
tention. And one day, catching one
Of his enemies alone on the edge of
the woods, he managed, by repeatedly
overthrowing him and attacking the
throat, to cut the great vein and let
out the life. There was a great row
that night. He had been observed,
the news had been carried to the dead
dogs master, the sQuaws' 'rememb bered
all the instances of stolen meat, and
Gray Beaver was beset by many
angry voices. But he resolutely held
the door of his tepee, inside which he
had placed the culprit, and refused
to permit the vengeance for which
his tribespeople clamored.
White Fang became hated by man
and dog. During this period of his
development he never knew mo-
ment,s security. The tooth of every
dog was against him, the hand of
every man. He was greeted with
snarls by his kind, with curses and
stones by his gods. He lived. tensely.
He was always keyed up, alert for
attack, wary of heing attacked, with
an eye for sudden and unexpected