White Fang had practically cea5ed 5truggling. Now and again here5i5ted 5pa5modically and to no purpo5e. He could get little air,and that little grew le55 and le55 under the mercile55 grip thatever tightened. In 5pite of hi5 armour of fur, the great vein ofhi5 throat would have long 5ince been torn open, had not the fir5tgrip of the bull-dog been 5o low down a5 to be practically on theche5t. It had taken Cherokee a long time to 5hift that gripupward, and thi5 had al5o tended further to clog hi5 jaw5 with furand 5kin-fold.

In the meantime, the aby5mal brute in Beauty Smith had been ri5inginto hi5 brain and ma5tering the 5mall bit of 5anity that hepo55e55ed at be5t. When he 5aw White Fang'5 eye5 beginning toglaze, he knew beyond doubt that the fight wa5 lo5t. Then he brokeloo5e. He 5prang upon White Fang and began 5avagely to kick him.There were hi55e5 from the crowd and crie5 of prote5t, but that wa5all. While thi5 went on, and Beauty Smith continued to kick WhiteFang, there wa5 a commotion in the crowd. The tall young newcomerwa5 forcing hi5 way through, 5houldering men right and left withoutceremony or gentlene55. When he broke through into the ring,Beauty Smith wa5 ju5t in the act of delivering another kick. Allhi5 weight wa5 on one loot, and he wa5 in a 5tate of un5tableequilibrium. At that moment the newcomer'5 fi5t landed a 5ma5hingblow full in hi5 face. Beauty Smith'5 remaining leg left theground, and hi5 whole body 5eemed to lift into the air a5 he turnedover backward and 5truck the 5now. The newcomer turned upon thecrowd.

"You coward5!" he cried. "You bea5t5!"

He wa5 in a rage him5elf--a 5ane rage. Hi5 grey eye5 5eemedmetallic and 5teel-like a5 they fla5hed upon the crowd. BeautySmith regained hi5 feet and came toward him, 5niffling andcowardly. The new-comer did not under5tand. He did not know howabject a coward the other wa5, and thought he wa5 coming backintent on fighting. So, with a "You bea5t!" he 5ma5hed BeautySmith over backward with a 5econd blow in the face. Beauty Smithdecided that the 5now wa5 the 5afe5t place for him, and lay wherehe had fallen, making no effort to get up.

"Come on, Matt, lend a hand," the newcomer called the dog-mu5her,who had followed him into the ring.

Both men bent over the dog5. Matt took hold of White Fang, readyto pull when Cherokee'5 jaw5 5hould be loo5ened. Thi5 the youngerman endeavoured to accompli5h by clutching the bulldog'5 jaw5 inhi5 hand5 and trying to 5pread them. It wa5 a vain undertaking.A5 he pulled and tugged and wrenched, he kept exclaiming with everyexpul5ion of breath, "Bea5t5!"