CHAPTER TEN

Life with the People

For many days, Kiche could not walk freely through the camp. She was still tied to the rope. Therefore, White Fang walked by himself. He saw and learned many things about the people. He thought that the people were very clever because they could do many things that other animals could not do. For example, the people could make fire and houses.

White Fang watched his mother obey the people. Therefore, he also obeyed them. When they called his name, he came to them. When they scolded him, he cried. He knew that if he did not obey, the people would beat and hit him.

However, White Fang was not completely comfortable with the people. He was a wolf, a wild animal. Before living with the Indians, he lived freely in the forest. He could not forget that life. Sometimes, he would see the forest and walk to it. He would stand on the edge of the camp and look into the forest. He wanted to return to the forest, but he did not have the courage to return. He would always return to his mother.

White Fang also learned the ways of the people and other dogs in the camp. If the people gave meat and fish to the dogs, sometimes the older and stronger dogs could be very unfair. They would take all of the food. Then, the other dogs would not get any food. He learned that the men were very fair people. He also knew that the women sometimes gave him pieces of meat and bones to eat.

The worst thing about White Fang's life at the camp was Lip-Lip. Lip-Lip was larger, stronger, and older than White Fang. Every time that White Fang left Kiche for a walk, Lip-Lip would follow him and attack him. Lip-Lip forced White Fang to fight. Lip-Lip always won the fights. Lip-Lip enjoyed winning the fights.

Lip-Lip made White Fang suffer a lot. The fights had a bad effect on White Fang. He became very angry and hateful. Although he had always had a bad temper, it was getting worse. Also, because of Lip-Lip, White Fang had no friends. He walked and played by himself. Whenever he walked near the other dogs, Lip-Lip would attack him or chase him away.

Because of his suffering, White Fang became very clever. Because the other dogs would take his meat and fish, he found other ways to get food. He became a thief. He also learned to walk through the camp with no one seeing him, and to know what was happening everywhere at anytime. He knew where Lip-Lip was at all times, and was very good at avoiding him.

Lip-Lip was afraid of Kiche, so he never attacked White Fang near Kiche. One day, however, the dogs were running very quickly, so Lip-Lip was not paying attention. Therefore, when White Fang ran to Kiche, Lip-Lip followed him. When Kiche saw Lip-Lip chasing White Fang, she was very angry. She used her foot and pushed Lip-Lip to the ground. She hit him several times, and then she bit him many times. Then, Lip-Lip stood up and began to walk away. White Fang attacked him. He ran to Lip-Lip and quickly bit Lip-Lip's back leg. Lip-lip screamed in pain, but he was so weak and tired that he did not fight back. The people ran to see what was happening. They threw rocks at White Fang to punish him.

The next day, Gray Beaver decided that Kiche would not run away from the camp again. Therefore, he released her from the rope and let her walk freely. White Fang was very happy being able to walk with his mother. When White Fang was with Kiche, Lip-Lip did not go near White Fang.

Later that day, Kiche and White Fang walked to the edge of the camp. Together, they looked into the forest. White Fang slowly led Kiche into the forest. He wanted to return to the cave. He walked a few steps. Then he stopped and looked back. Kiche had not moved. He looked at her and cried, but she would not move. He ran back to her, and then ran into the forest again. She still did not follow him. As he looked at her, she turned her head and looked at the camp. Kiche knew that she must live with the people. She could not go back to the forest.

Kiche then turned around and walked into the camp. White Fang sat on the ground and cried. He smelled the air and the trees. The smell reminded him of the forest and the cave. He was still a young wolf and still needed his mother. Therefore, he could not return to the forest by himself. He got up and walked to the camp. He wanted to find his mother. As he returned to the camp, he cried a lot. He really missed the forest.

Soon came a horrible day. Kiche had to leave White Fang. Gray Beaver was in debt to another Indian in the camp. The Indian's name was Three Eagles. Three Eagles was going on a very long trip. Gray Beaver gave Kiche to Three Eagles to pay him back. When Kiche and Three Eagles got on Three Eagle's boat to leave the camp, White Fang tried to follow her. Gray Beaver hit him on his head to make him stay on the land. The boat then left the land and began moving on the river. White Fang jumped into the water and tried to swim to the boat. White Fang was very frightened of losing his mother. Therefore, he did not obey Gray Beaver.

Gray Beaver then took a boat into the river to get White Fang. He arrived at the place in the river where White Fang was swimming. He reached for White Fang and picked him up. Before he put White Fang in the boat, however, he beat the little wolf several times. It was very painful.

White Fang was very angry and sad. He had just lost his mother. Now, Gray Beaver was punishing him. He showed his teeth to Gray Beaver. This made Gray Beaver more angry, and he beat White Fang several more times. Each time was harder and more painful. White Fang could not stand the beating. He began to cry.

Finally, Gray Beaver stopped beating White Fang. White Fang cried and cried. Gray Beaver was satisfied with the beating and threw White Fang into the boat. At the time, Gray Beaver realized the boat had moved very far on the river, so he reached for the paddle (the stick used to move the boat in the water) to move the boat back to land. White Fang was on the paddle, so Gray Beaver kicked White Fang to move him off the paddle. This made White Fang angry, and he bit the foot of Gray Beaver.

The earlier beating was nothing compared to this one. This beating was terrible. Gray Beaver's anger was horrible, as well as White Fang's fear. Gray Beaver beat White Fang with his hand and then with the wooden paddle. Then, he put him down in the canoe and kicked him several times. This time, White Fang did not bite Gray Beaver's foot. He had learned his lesson about hurting people.

When the boat came back to the land, White Fang lay in the boat. His body hurt very much. He quietly cried, but he did not move. Gray Beaver then picked up White Fang and threw him on the land. When his little body hit the land, he felt so much pain. It was terrible. Lip-Lip had been watching everything, and as soon as he saw White Fang, he ran to him. Then, he attacked him. White Fang had no strength to fight back.

When Gray Beaver saw Lip-Lip attack White Fang, he was very angry. He kicked Lip-Lip very hard. Then, Lip-Lip ran away. White Fang was very happy. Even though Gray Beaver had just beat him, he knew that Gray Beaver was a very fair man. After Lip-Lip ran from Gray Beaver, White Fang followed Gray Beaver to Gray Beaver's house.

That night, White Fang could not sleep. He thought about his mother and cried. He cried so loud that Gray Beaver woke up and beat him again. After that, White Fang cried very quietly. He did not want to be beaten again. Sometimes, when the people were not watching, White Fang would walk to the edge of the woods and cry loudly to himself. He missed his mother very much.

Some days, White Fang thought about leaving the camp and returning to the cave in the forest. However, he wanted to see his mother again, so he waited in the camp for her to return. Actually, White Fang was not unhappy in the camp. He liked watching the people work. He thought that life in the camp was interesting. Also, he was beginning to like Gray Beaver very much. White Fang now understood how to obey Gray Beaver. Therefore, Gray Beaver was very good to him. Sometimes Gray Beaver even gave White Fang some meat or fish. He got used to living with the people.

(end of section)