CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

A Dangerous Fight

It was the day of the fight. Beauty Smith put a chain on White Fang's neck. He took him to the forest. The bulldog and the bulldog's owner were waiting for them. Many men came to watch.

Beauty Smith took the chain from White Fang's neck. For the first time, White Fang did not immediately attack the other dog. When he saw the bulldog, he just stared at it and did not move. He had never seen a bulldog before. The bulldog's owner pushed the bulldog to White Fang. The bulldog also just stared at White Fang. It was confused. It did not understand that it was going to fight the huge wolf. People from the crowd were anxious. They shouted. Still, White Fang stared at the bulldog and the bulldog stared at White Fang.

The bulldog's owner wanted the fight to begin. He touched the bulldog's neck several times. This made the bulldog growl. The fight would soon begin. White Fang was ready. Then, the bulldog's owner pushed the bulldog again. This time, the bulldog ran to White Fang. White Fang quickly attacked the bulldog. He bit the bulldog. The bulldog was bleeding, but he still wanted to fight. He ran to White Fang. Before the bulldog attacked White Fang, White Fang attacked the bulldog. This happened many times because White Fang was very quick. The bulldog, however, did not give up.

White Fang bit the dog many times, but the dog was not seriously hurt. He had never seen such a tough and determined dog before. When White Fang bit the dog, the dog was silent. He did not scream in pain like the other dogs. The dog never stopped chasing White Fang.

The bulldog was too short and had a huge jaw. The bulldog's huge jaw covered its throat. Therefore, White Fang could not kill the bulldog by biting its throat. Time passed. Again and again, the bulldog ran to White Fang. Then, White Fang attacked the bulldog or ran away from the bulldog. Then, White Fang made a mistake. White Fang ran to the dog to push him and make him fall. Because the bulldog was very short, White Fang tripped. He fell. This was the first time that White Fang fell during a fight.

When White Fang fell, the bulldog wasted no time. He quickly ran to White Fang and bit White Fang's neck with his huge jaws. The bulldog did not bite White Fang very tightly. Therefore, he did not immediately kill White Fang. White Fang got up and ran very quickly. He also shook his body to make the bulldog open its mouth and fall from his neck. It didn't work. The bulldog kept biting his neck. The bite was getting tighter. White Fang was very afraid. He knew that the bulldog would soon bite his neck very tightly. Then, he would die.

White Fang stopped moving. He was too tired to fight. The bulldog was still biting his neck. Then, the bulldog pushed White Fang. White Fang fell again. The dog moved on top of White Fang. The bulldog's jaws were getting tighter. It was over. White Fang was going to die. The men watching the fight were very excited. They clapped and shouted.

Suddenly, everyone heard a strange noise from the forest. It was the sound of dogs and sleds. The men watching the fight were afraid. They thought it was the police. It was not police, however. It was two men on sleds. Many dogs were pulling their sleds. One of the men was tall. His skin was smooth and clean. The other man was short. He had a mustache. When the two men saw the people in the forest, they stopped their sleds. They wanted to see what was happening.

At this point, White Fang's body stopped moving. He could not breathe. Beauty Smith was angry. He could not believe White Fang was losing the fight. Therefore, at this time, he ran to White Fang. Again and again, he violently kicked White Fang. White Fang could do nothing but lay on the ground and prepare to die. As Beauty Smith kicked White Fang, someone in the crowd began to shout. Then, the tall man saw the dogs. He also saw Beauty Smith kicking White Fang. He ran to Beauty Smith. As Beauty Smith was about to kick White Fang again, the tall man hit Beauty Smith's face. Beauty Smith fell to the ground. Then, the tall man turned to the crowd. He screamed, "You people are horrible and cruel!"

Beauty Smith got up. The tall man shouted, "You are a beast!" and hit Beauty Smith's face again. Beauty Smith fell to the ground again. After that, Beauty Smith stayed on the ground. He had no courage to fight the man.

"Help me, Matt," the tall man said to the man with the mustache. (Matt is the name of the man with the mustache.)

The men walked to the dogs. They tried to open the bulldog's mouth. They could not open it. The bulldog's jaws were too strong.

The crowd was angry that the men stopped the fight. They began to shout and scream. The tall man made an angry face at the crowd. Again, he screamed, "You Beasts!" After that, the two men did not pay attention to the crowd.

The tall man wanted to save White Fang. He hit the bulldog's head several times. Still the bulldog did not open its mouth. Then he asked the crowd, "Will some of you help us?" But no one would help.

Then, Matt had an idea. He got his gun. Then, he put the long part of the gun in the bulldog's mouth. He wanted to use the part of the gun to open the dog's jaws. When the bulldog's owner saw this, he said, "Be careful. Don't break his teeth."

Matt angrily replied, "Then I'll break his neck."

The bulldog's owner was nervous. He then said, "Please don't break his teeth."

Matt said, "This is your dog? Okay, but you need to help me open the bulldog's mouth."

The owner said, "I can't. I don't know how. This has never happened before."

"Then go away and let me do this!" shouted Matt angrily.

The owner did not go away. He stayed next to the two men and watched. The tall man and Matt put the gun in one side of the dog's mouth. They were trying to get the gun through the other side, too. They were successful. They used the gun to help pull open the bulldog's mouth. Then, little by little, they opened the bulldog's mouth.

"Take your dog," said the tall man to the bulldog's owner.

The bulldog's owner held the bulldog. Then, Matt and the tall man finally opened the bulldog's mouth. "Now," said the tall man. Then they quickly pulled White Fang's neck from the bulldog's mouth.

"Take him away," said Matt to the bulldog's owner.

White Fang was saved! However, because he had almost died, he was very weak. He tried many times to get up. He could not stand. His legs were too weak. He fell. He could not open his eyes. His mouth was open and his tongue hung from his mouth. He looked like he was dead. Matt examined White Fang's body. He said, "I think he will be okay. He is breathing."

Beauty Smith then stood up again. He came to look at White Fang.

"Matt," said the tall man, "how much is a good sled-dog worth?"

Matt looked at White Fang "Three hundred dollars," he said.

"What about an injured sled dog like this one?" asked the tall man.

"Half. One hundred and fifty dollars," answered Matt.

The tall man looked at Beauty Smith. He said, "Did you hear that, Mr Beast? I am going to take your dog. I will give you one hundred and fifty dollars."

He then opened his wallet and took out the money. Beauty Smith said, "I will not sell him."

The tall man said, "You are selling him because I am buying him. Here is your money. The dog is now mine. Are you going to take the money, or do I have to hit you again?"

"All right, but this is not fair," said Beauty Smith.

The tall man then walked from Beauty Smith to Matt. Matt was with White Fang. The men took White Fang and left. The owner of the bulldog asked some men in the crowd about the tall man. "Who is that?" he said.

"His name is Weeden Scott," said one of the men. "He is a gold expert. He is good friends with many of the people in the government. He has a lot of power and a lot of friends. You do not want to make him angry."

"I thought he was somebody important," said the bulldog's owner.

(end of section)