Evening star., 1924-08-22

step and carriage. The man who
Travelled, loud stepping, the direct
line to the cabin door~he let alone,
though he watched him ,vigilantly
until the door opened and he received
the Endorsement of the master. But
the man who went softly, by cir
cuitous ways, peering with caution,
seeking after secrecy, that was the
man who received no suspension of
judgment from White Fang and who
went away abruptly, hurried and
without dignity.
Weldon Scott had6set himself the
| task of redeeming White Fang-or,
rather, of redeeming mankind from
the wrong it. had done White Fang.
1t was a matter Of principle and con-
science. He felt that the i'll done
White Fang was a debt incurred by
man and that it must be paid. So
he went out Of his way to be
especially kind to the fighting wolf.
Each day he made it a point to caress
length.
At first suspicious and hostile,
White Fang grew to like this pet
ting. But there was one thing that
fhe never outgrew-his growing.
Growl he would from the moment
the petting began until 1t ended. But
it was a growl with a. new note in
it. A stranger could not hear this
note, and to such a stranger the
growing of White Fang was an exhi-
bition Of primordial savagery, nerve
racking and blood-curdling. But
White Fang's throat had become
harsh f1bered from the making of fero-
cious sounds through the many years
since his first little rasp of anger
In the lair Of his cubhood and he
could not soften the sounds of that
fn ho
he felt. Nevertheless, Weldon Scott's
ear and sympathy were fine enough
to catch the new note all but drowned
in the fierceness-the note that was
the faintest hint of a Groom of con-
tent and that none but he could hear.
AS the days went by the evolution
OF like into love was accelerated.
White Fang himself began to grow
aware of it, though in his conscious
ness he knew not what love was. It
manifested itself to him as void
in his being-a hungry. aching, yearn-
ing void that clamored to be filled
1t was pain and an unrest, and it
received easement only by the touch
of the new gods presence. At such
times love was a JOY to him, a wild,
keen -thrilling satisfaction. But when
away from his god the pain and the
unrest returned: the void in him
sprang up and pressed against him
with it's emptiness, and the hunger
gnawed and gnawed increasingly.
White Fang was in the process of
finding himself. In spite of the ma
turity of his years and of the savage
rigidity of the mould that had formed
him, his nature was undergoing an
expansion. There was burgeoning
within him of strange feelings and
unwonted impulses. His old code of
conduct was changing. In the past
he had liked comfort and surcease
from pain. disliked discomfort and
pain, and he had adjusted his actions
accordingly. But now it was differ
ent. Because of this new feeling
within him he ofttimes elected dis
comfort and pain for the sake of his
god. Thus in the early morning in
stead of roaming and foraging or
lying in sheltered nook he would
wait for hours on the cheerless cabin
stoop for sight of tho gods face.
AT night when the god returned home
White Fang would leave the warm
sleeping place he had burrowed in
the snow in order to receive the
friendly snap of fingers and the word
OF greeting. Meat, even meat itself,
he would forego to be with his god,
to receive caress from him or to
accompany him down into the town.
Like had been replaced by love.
down into the deeps of him where
like had never gone. And responsive,
out of his deeps had come the new
thing-love. That which was given
unto him did he return. This was a
god indeed, love god, a warm and
radiant god, in whose light White
Fangs nature expanded as a flower
expands under the sum-
But White Fang was not demon
a u-o ali
nodded, to become adept at express
ing himself in new ways. He was too
self-possessed. too strongly poised in
his own isolation. Too long. had he
cultivated reticence, aloofness and
moroseness. He had never barked in
his life and he could not now learn
to bark a welcome when, his god ap-
preached. He was never IN the way,
never extravagant nor foolish in the
expression of his love. He never ran
to meet his god. He waited at dis
tance; but he always waited, was
always there His love partook of
tho nature Of worship, dumb, in
articulate, silent alteration. Only
by the steady regard of his eyes did
| he express his love, and by the un-
ceasing following with his eyes of his
gods every movement. Also at times
when his god looked at him and spoke
to him he betrayed an awkward self
consciousness, caused by the struggle
of his love to express itself and. his
physical inability to express it
He learned to adjust himself in
many ways to his new mode of life.
1t was borne in upon him that he
must let his masters dogs alone. Yet
his sdominant nature asserted itself
and he had first to thrash them into
an acknowledgment of his superiority
and leadership. This accomplished,
he had little trouble with them.
They gave trail to him when he came
and went or walked among them and
when he asserted his will they obeyed.
In the same way he came to toll
crate Matt as possession of his mas
ter. His master rarely fed him. Matt
did that-it was his business; yet
White Fang OWNED that it was his
masters food he ate and that it was his
master who thus fed him vicariously.
Matt it was who tried to put him into
the harness and make him haul sled
with the other dogs. But Matt failed.
1t was not until Weldon Scott put the
harness on White Fang and worked
him that he understood. He took it
as his masters will that Matt should
drive him and work him just as he
drove and worked his masters other
dogs.
Different from the Mackenzie to-
boggans were the klondike sleds with
runners under them. And different
was the method Of driving the dogs.
!. There was no fan formation of the
team. The dogs worked in single
file, one behind another, hauling on
double traces. And here in the Klon-
dixie the leader was indeed the leader.
The wisest as well as strongest dog
was the leader, and the team obeyed
him and feared him. That White
Fang should quickly gain this post
was inevitable. He could not be sat-
isfied with less. as Matt learned after
much Inconvenience and trouble.