CHAPTER FOURTEEN

No Food

When White Fang was a year old, Gray Beaver's journey finally ended. They returned to the camp. White Fang was the largest one-year-old dog in the camp. Although he was one-fourth dog, he did not look like a normal dog. He looked like a large, strong wolf.

As he walked into the camp, he saw many people that he knew. He also saw many dogs that he had known before the long journey. Now that he was very large, he was not afraid of the other dogs. If the other dogs tried to attack White Fang or take his food, he would fight them. Therefore, the other dogs learned not to take White Fang's food. Because the other dogs would not fight White Fang, he had a lot of confidence and pride. He did not bother them. They did not bother him. Even the older dogs respected him.

In the summer, White Fang saw Kiche again. It had been a long time since they last saw each other. One day, as he walked in the camp, he suddenly saw her outside of a strange tent. He stopped walking. He watched her for a long time. At first, he forgot who she was. He knew that he knew her, hut he didn't know how. On the other hand, Kiche entirely forgot White Fang. She did not recognize him. He had grown too much. She had some new puppies with her. She was protecting them. She did not want White Fang to bother her or the puppies, so she showed him her teeth to frighten him. When she did this, White Fang remembered her. He knew that she was his mother. Therefore, he went to her. When he arrived, however, Kiche bit him. Sadly, White Fang understood. He left Kiche. He had learned to live without her.

When Kiche bit White Fang, he did not fight her. He knew that it was wrong to fight with female dogs or wolves. He did not know why. It was natural for him to only fight with male dogs.

As the months went by, White Fang still did not feel entirely comfortable living with the people. He was a wolf. Therefore, he was naturally wild. To live like a dog felt strange to him, although he did not understand why. Because of his discomfort, he became more lonely. He had no friends. Also, he became more fierce. The dogs never gave him any trouble. Gray Beaver, however, realized that White Fang was a special animal. He was glad to have White Fang.

White Fang hated people laughing at him. If a person laughed at him, he would become extremely angry. If people laughed about something other than him, he did not care. If people laughed at him, it was horrible. He would become crazy with anger. At these times, he would attack any dog that he saw. Then he would run into the forest. He would stay in the forest until he relaxed.

When White Fang was three years old, the Indians had a serious problem. There was no food to eat. That year, the rivers, streams, and lakes had no fish. They could not find any rabbits or deer to kill. Many people starved and died. Only the strong people did not die. The women and children gave all of their meat to the men. Therefore, the men had enough energy and strength to go hunting.

Because they needed food, the Indians even ate their leather clothes and shoes. Many dogs killed and ate other dogs. The people would also kill and eat some of the dogs. Many of the dogs left the camp. They lived in the forest and looked for food. Many of these dogs also died in the forest because they could not find food. White Fang was one of the dogs that left the camp. He lived in the forest. Because he had lived in the forest when he was young, he knew how to hunt. He killed and ate squirrels. However, there were not many squirrels. Therefore, he ate many other small animals such as mice and weasels. One day he even found and killed another wolf. White Fang was lucky. He always found enough food. He walked to many different parts of the forest. He even returned to the cave in which he was born. When he arrived at the cave, he entered it, Kiche was inside. She had also returned to the cave. When White Fang saw her, he left the cave. He found the cave of the lynx where his mother had killed many lynx's puppies years earlier. He slept in the lynx's cave.

One day, as White Fang was walking in the forest looking for food, he met Lip-Lip. Like White Fang, Lip-Lip lived in the forest because there was no food at the camp. Lip-Lip had not been successful with hunting. He was very thin and weak. White Fang, however, had been very successful. He was strong. As soon as he saw Lip-Lip, White Fang remembered how Lip-Lip had made him suffer. White Fang immediately attacked Lip-Lip. Lip-Lip was too weak to fight. White Fang bit Lip-Lip's throat. He killed Lip-Lip.

The next day, when White Fang was walking by the river, he saw a camp. It looked like the Indian camp. However, this camp was in a different place. He smelled the air. It definitely was the same Indian camp. He walked to the camp. There was now plenty of food everywhere. He looked for Gray Beaver. He did not find Gray Beaver, but he found Gray Beaver's wife. She was very happy to see White Fang. She gave him a big fish to eat.

(end of section)