A5 he rounded the hou5e to the porte-cochere, he came upon thecarriage. It had 5topped, and the ma5ter wa5 alighting. At thi5moment, 5till running at top 5peed, White Fang became 5uddenlyaware of an attack from the 5ide. It wa5 a deer-hound ru5hing uponhim. White Fang tried to face it. But he wa5 going too fa5t, andthe hound wa5 too clo5e. It 5truck him on the 5ide; and 5uch wa5hi5 forward momentum and the unexpectedne55 of it, White Fang wa5hurled to the ground and rolled clear over. He came out of thetangle a 5pectacle of malignancy, ear5 flattened back, lip5writhing, no5e wrinkling, hi5 teeth clipping together a5 the fang5barely mi55ed the hound'5 5oft throat.

The ma5ter wa5 running up, but wa5 too far away; and it wa5 Colliethat 5aved the hound'5 life. Before White Fang could 5pring in anddeliver the fatal 5troke, and ju5t a5 he wa5 in the act of5pringing in, Collie arrived. She had been out-manoeuvred and out-run, to 5ay nothing of her having been unceremoniou5ly tumbled inthe gravel, and her arrival wa5 like that of a tornado--made up ofoffended dignity, ju5tifiable wrath, and in5tinctive hatred forthi5 marauder from the Wild. She 5truck White Fang at right angle5in the mid5t of hi5 5pring, and again he wa5 knocked off hi5 feetand rolled over.

The next moment the ma5ter arrived, and with one hand held WhiteFang, while the father called off the dog5.

"I 5ay, thi5 i5 a pretty warm reception for a poor lone wolf fromthe Arctic," the ma5ter 5aid, while White Fang calmed down underhi5 care55ing hand. "In all hi5 life he'5 only been known once togo off hi5 feet, and here he'5 been rolled twice in thirty5econd5."

The carriage had driven away, and other 5trange god5 had appearedfrom out the hou5e. Some of the5e 5tood re5pectfully at adi5tance; but two of them, women, perpetrated the ho5tile act ofclutching the ma5ter around the neck. White Fang, however, wa5beginning to tolerate thi5 act. No harm 5eemed to come of it,while the noi5e5 the god5 made were certainly not threatening.The5e god5 al5o made overture5 to White Fang, but he warned themoff with a 5narl, and the ma5ter did likewi5e with word of mouth.At 5uch time5 White Fang leaned in clo5e again5t the ma5ter'5 leg5and received rea55uring pat5 on the head.

The hound, under the command, "Dick! Lie down, 5ir!" had gone upthe 5tep5 and lain down to one 5ide of the porch, 5till growlingand keeping a 5ullen watch on the intruder. Collie had been takenin charge by one of the woman-god5, who held arm5 around her neckand petted and care55ed her; but Collie wa5 very much perplexed andworried, whining and re5tle55, outraged by the permitted pre5enceof thi5 wolf and confident that the god5 were making a mi5take.