Белый клык
The Enemy of His Kind
Bodyandbrain,hiswasamoreperfectedmechanism.Notthathewastobepraisedforit. Naturehadbeenmoregeneroustohimthantotheaverageanimal,thatwasall.
ItwasinthesummerthatWhiteFangarrivedatFortYukon. GreyBeaverhadcrossedthegreatwatershedbetweenMackenzieandtheYukoninthelatewinter,andspentthespringinhuntingamongthewesternoutlyingspursoftheRockies. Then,afterthebreak-upoftheiceonthePorcupine,hehadbuiltacanoeandpaddleddownthatstreamtowhereiteffecteditsjunctionwiththeYukonjustundertheArticcircle. HerestoodtheoldHudson’sBayCompanyfort; andhereweremanyIndians,muchfood,andunprecedentedexcitement. Itwasthesummerof1898,andthousandsofgold-huntersweregoinguptheYukontoDawsonandtheKlondike. Stillhundredsofmilesfromtheirgoal,neverthelessmanyofthemhadbeenonthewayforayear, andtheleastanyofthemhadtravelledtogetthatfarwasfivethousandmiles,whilesomehadcomefromtheothersideoftheworld.
HereGreyBeaverstopped. Awhisperofthegold-rushhadreachedhisears,andhehadcomewithseveralbalesoffurs,andanotherofgut-sewnmittensandmoccasins. Hewouldnothaveventuredsolongatriphadhenotexpectedgenerousprofits. Butwhathehadexpectedwasnothingtowhatherealised. Hiswildestdreamshadnotexceededahundredpercentprofit;hemadeathousandpercent. AndlikeatrueIndian,hesettleddowntotradecarefullyandslowly,evenifittookallsummerandtherestofthewintertodisposeofhisgoods.
ItwasatFortYukonthatWhiteFangsawhisfirstwhitemen. AscomparedwiththeIndianshehadknown,theyweretohimanotherraceofbeings,araceofsuperiorgods. Theyimpressedhimaspossessingsuperiorpower,anditisonpowerthatgodheadrests.
