CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The White Man

A few white men lived at Fort Yukon all of the time. They looked down upon the other white men who came to Fort Yukon for only a few days. The white men that were at Fort Yukon all of the time felt that they were strong men. They thought that the other men were weak. This is because the environment of Fort Yukon was very difficult. The weather was very cold. Also, people often became sick. Therefore, because these men lived in Fort Yukon for many years and were still alive, they had a lot of pride.

The Fort Yukon men enjoyed watching the other men suffer. Each time a new ship came to Fort Yukon, the men were happy. They loved to watch White Fang and the other dogs attack and kill the other white men's dogs. Every time a ship came, they were very excited. Therefore, many Fort Yukon men knew about White Fang. They knew that White Fang was a good fighter.

There was one Fort Yukon man that really loved to watch White Fang fight. As White Fang attacked the other white men's dogs, this man would get very excited and shout with joy. As soon as a ship came to Fort Yukon, he would run to watch White Fang. Then, when the fight was over, he would sadly leave. He wanted White Fang.

This man's name was Beauty Smith. "Beauty" was not his real name. No one at Fort Yukon knew his real name, so they called him Beauty. It was a joke that he was called Beauty. This was because he was actually extremely ugly. Nature was very cruel to him. He was a very small, short man. His head was quite small, but it had a strange shape. It was long and the top of his head was pointed. His forehead was very large and wide. His eyes were very large. His jaw and chin were huge. His teeth were large and yellow. In fact, he was so ugly that people were shocked when they saw him.

Not only was Beauty Smith ugly, he was also very cruel and mean. He had no friends. The other men did not trust him. They were even a little afraid of him.

Beauty Smith really wanted to own White Fang. Every time that Beauty Smith saw White Fang, he would walk to him. White Fang was angry about this. He did not like Beauty Smith. He showed his teeth and growled at him. White Fang could feel that Beauty Smith was evil and bad.

One day, Beauty Smith came to visit Gray Beaver. Before he arrived, White Fang knew Beauty Smith was coming. White Fang could hear and smell him. Therefore, he was very uncomfortable, so he walked to the edge of the camp. He watched Gray Beaver and Beauty Smith talk. Beauty Smith pointed to White Fang. White Fang was afraid and ran into the forest.

Gray Beaver did not want to sell White Fang. Because he had sold many things to the white people, Gray Beaver had a lot of money. Therefore, he did not need Beauty Smith's money. Besides, White Fang was the best sled-dog that Gray Beaver had ever seen. Also, he could fight better than any dog he had ever seen.

Beauty Smith left Gray Beaver's camp. He had a plan. For the next several days, he visited Gray Beaver many times. Every time he came, he gave Gray Beaver a bottle of wine. Gray Beaver loved the wine very much. He drank the wine. When he finished drinking the wine, he wanted more wine. He loved to be drunk. He began to buy a lot of wine. He spent a lot of his money. After many days, Gray Beaver discovered that he had spent all of his money on wine. Then, Beauty Smith came to visit Gray Beaver. Gray Beaver agreed to sell White Fang.

That night, White Fang returned to camp. He was walking in Fort Yukon all day. He was very tired. Also, he did not see Beauty Smith that day, so he was happy. As soon as White Fang lay on the ground to relax, Gray Beaver walked to White Fang. He put a rope on White Fang's neck. Then, White Fang heard Beauty Smith walking to the camp. White Fang became very upset. He tried to get the rope off of his neck, but it was too tight. Beauty Smith arrived. He stood next to White Fang and stared at him. White Fang was frightened and angry. He showed his teeth and growled.

Beauty Smith was holding a club. Gray Beaver gave the rope to Beauty Smith. Beauty Smith walked away, pulling the rope. White Fang did not get up. He did not move. Therefore, Beauty Smith stopped walking. Gray Beaver hit White Fang. White Fang got up. Then, suddenly, he ran to attack Beauty Smith. Beauty Smith used the club to hit White Fang. White Fang fell to the ground. Gray Beaver laughed at this. Beauty Smith began to walk again. This time, when he pulled the rope, White Fang obeyed. He walked slowly and sadly away from Gray Beaver. He growled quietly. As they walked, Beauty Smith held the club. He was ready to beat White Fang.

Beauty Smith and White Fang arrived at Beauty Smith's house. Beauty Smith tied the rope to the house. Then, Beauty Smith went inside to sleep. For an hour, White Fang sat next to the house. Then, White Fang began to chew the rope. Within ten seconds, he broke the rope. He returned to Gray Beaver's camp. He did not understand that he now belonged to Beauty Smith. He had always been with Gray Beaver. Therefore, he still thought that he belonged to Gray Beaver.

The next morning, Beauty Smith came to the camp. Again, Gray Beaver tied a rope to White Fang. He gave the rope to Beauty Smith. This time, Beauty Smith began to beat White Fang. He beat White Fang for a long time. Since White Fang was tied to a rope, he could not escape the beating. It was the worst beating in his life. Gray Beaver had never beaten him like this. Because Beauty Smith was a cruel man, he enjoyed beating White Fang. He loved the feeling of his power. He loved controlling White Fang.

After the beating, Beauty Smith took White Fang to his house. Beauty Smith again tied White Fang to his house. White Fang could not forget Gray Beaver. He could not control his thoughts. He wanted to return to Gray Beaver again. Because he had lived with Gray Beaver so long, he could not live with another man. Therefore, again he chewed the rope. The rope broke. For the second time, White Fang ran to Gray Beaver's camp.

The next morning, Beauty Smith again arrived at the camp. Again, Gray Beaver put a rope on White Fang's neck. Again, he gave White Fang to Beauty Smith. This time, Beauty Smith beat White Fang for a very long time. It was far worse than the beating from the day before. After the beating, White Fang was very sick. He could hardly move. White Fang could not walk after the beating. Therefore, Beauty Smith had to wait a long time for White Fang to have enough strength to walk. Finally, when White Fang was strong enough, he followed Beauty Smith. They arrived at Beauty Smith's house. Beauty Smith then put a thick chain on White Fang's neck. White Fang could not break the chain. After that, White Fang had no chance to return to Gray Beaver. He never saw Gray Beaver again.

(end of section)