Білий ікол

           Evengrowndogsmighthurtlehimbackwardorsidewayswiththeimpactoftheirheavybodies;andbackwardorsidewayshewouldgo,intheairorslidingontheground,butalwayswithhislegsunderhimandhisfeetdownwardtothemotherearth. 

           Whendogsfight,thereareusuallypreliminariestotheactualcombat—snarlingsandbristlingsandstiff-leggedstruttings. ButWhiteFanglearnedtoomitthesepreliminaries. Delaymeantthecomingagainsthimofalltheyoungdogs. Hemustdohisworkquicklyandgetaway. Sohelearnttogivenowarningofhisintention. Herushedinandsnappedandslashedontheinstant,withoutnotice,beforehisfoecouldpreparetomeethim. Thushelearnedhowtoinflictquickandseveredamage. Alsohelearnedthevalueofsurprise.Adog,takenoffitsguard,itsshoulderslashedopenoritsearrippedinribbonsbeforeitknewwhatwashappening,wasadoghalfwhipped. 

           Furthermore,itwasremarkablyeasytooverthrowadogtakenbysurprise;whileadog,thusoverthrown,invariablyexposedforamomentthesoftundersideofitsneck—thevulnerablepointatwhichtostrikeforitslife. WhiteFangknewthispoint. Itwasaknowledgebequeathedtohimdirectlyfromthehuntinggenerationofwolves. SoitwasthatWhiteFang’smethodwhenhetooktheoffensive,was: firsttofindayoungdogalone; second,tosurpriseitandknockitoffitsfeet; andthird,todriveinwithhisteethatthesoftthroat. 

           Beingbutpartlygrownhisjawshadnotyetbecomelargeenoughnorstrongenoughtomakehisthroat-attackdeadly; butmanyayoungdogwentaroundcampwithalaceratedthroatintokenofWhiteFang’sintention. Andoneday,catchingoneofhisenemiesaloneontheedgeofthewoods,hemanaged,byrepeatedlyoverthrowinghimandattackingthethroat,tocutthegreatveinandletoutthelife.