Білий ікол

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. 

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