Jack London

White Fang Jack London

The day began auspiciously. They had lost no dogs during the night, and they swung out upon thetrail and into the silence, the darkness, and the cold with spirits that were fairly light. Bill seemed tohave forgotten his forebodings of the previous night, and even waxed facetious with the dogs when, at midday, they overturned the sled on a bad piece of trail. It was an awkward mix-up. The sled was upside down and jammed between a tree-trunk and a hugerock, and they were forced to unharness the dogs in order to straighten out the tangle. The twomen were bent over the sled and trying to right it, when Henry observed One Ear sidling away."Here, you, One Ear!" he cried, straightening up and turning around on the dog. But One Ear broke into a run across the snow, his traces trailing behind him. And there, out in thesnow of their back track, was the she-wolf waiting for him. As he neared her, he became suddenlycautious. He slowed down to an alert and mincing walk and then stopped. He regarded hercarefully and dubiously, yet desirefully. She seemed to smile at him, showing her teeth in aningratiating rather than a menacing way. She moved toward him a few steps, playfully, and thenhalted. One Ear drew near to her, still alert and cautious, his tail and ears in the air, his head heldhigh. He tried to sniff noses with her, but she retreated playfully and coyly. Every advance on his part wasaccompanied by a corresponding retreat on her part. Step by step she was luring him away from thesecurity of his human companionship. Once, as though a warning had in vague ways flitted throughhis intelligence, he turned his head and looked back at the overturned sled, at his team-mates, and atthe two men who were calling to him. But whatever idea was forming in his mind, was dissipated by the she-wolf, who advanced uponhim, sniffed noses with him for a fleeting instant, and then resumed her coy retreat before hisrenewed advances