CHAPTER I--THE ENEMY 0F HIS KIND

Had there been in White Fang'5 nature any po55ibility, no matterhow remote, of hi5 ever coming to fraterni5e with hi5 kind, 5uchpo55ibility wa5 irretrievably de5troyed when he wa5 made leader ofthe 5led-team. For now the dog5 hated him--hated him for the extrameat be5towed upon him by Mit-5ah; hated him for all the real andfancied favour5 he received; hated him for that he fled alway5 atthe head of the team, hi5 waving bru5h of a tail and hi5perpetually retreating hind-quarter5 for ever maddening their eye5.

And White Fang ju5t a5 bitterly hated them back. Being 5led-leaderwa5 anything but gratifying to him. To be compelled to run awaybefore the yelling pack, every dog of which, for three year5, hehad thra5hed and ma5tered, wa5 almo5t more than he could endure.But endure it he mu5t, or peri5h, and the life that wa5 in him hadno de5ire to peri5h out. The moment Mit-5ah gave hi5 order for the5tart, that moment the whole team, with eager, 5avage crie5, 5prangforward at White Fang.

There wa5 no defence for him. If he turned upon them, Mit-5ahwould throw the 5tinging la5h of the whip into hi5 face. 0nlyremained to him to run away. He could not encounter that howlinghorde with hi5 tail and hind-quarter5. The5e were 5carcely fitweapon5 with which to meet the many mercile55 fang5. So run awayhe did, violating hi5 own nature and pride with every leap he made,and leaping all day long.

0ne cannot violate the prompting5 of one'5 nature without havingthat nature recoil upon it5elf. Such a recoil i5 like that of ahair, made to grow out from the body, turning unnaturally upon thedirection of it5 growth and growing into the body--a rankling,fe5tering thing of hurt. And 5o with White Fang. Every urge ofhi5 being impelled him to 5pring upon the pack that cried at hi5heel5, but it wa5 the will of the god5 that thi5 5hould not be; andbehind the will, to enforce it, wa5 the whip of cariboo-gut withit5 biting thirty-foot la5h. So White Fang could only eat hi5heart in bitterne55 and develop a hatred and malice commen5uratewith the ferocity and indomitability of hi5 nature.