for his special object of persecution. White Fang fought
willingly enough, but he was outclassed. His enemy was too big. Lip-lip became a
nightmare to him. Whenever he ventured away from his mother, the bully was sure
to appear, trailing at his heels, snarling at him, picking upon him, and
watchful of an opportunity, when no man-animal was near, to spring upon him and
force a fight. As Lip-lip invariably won, he enjoyed it hugely. It became his
chief delight in life, as it became White Fang's chief torment.
    But the effect upon White Fang was not to cow him. Though he suffered most
of the damage and was always defeated, his spirit remained unsubdued. Yet a bad
effect was produced. He became malignant and morose. His temper had been savage
by birth, but it became more savage under this unending persecution. The genial,
playful, puppyish side of him found little expression. He never played and
gambolled about with the other puppies of the camp. Lip-lip would not permit it.
The moment White Fang appeared near them, Lip-lip was upon him, bullying and
hectoring him, or fighting with him until he had driven him away.
    The effect of all this was to rob White Fang of much of his puppyhood and to
make him in his comportment older than his age. Denied the outlet, through play,
of his energies, he recoiled upon himself and developed his mental processes. He
became cunning; he had idle time in which to devote himself to thoughts of
trickery. Prevented from obtaining his share of meat and fish when a general
feed was given to the camp-dogs, he became a clever thief. He had to forage for
himself, and he foraged well, though he was ofttimes a plague to the squaws in
consequence. He learned to sneak about camp, to be crafty, to know what was
going on everywhere, to see and to hear everything and to reason accordingly,
and successfully to devise ways and means of avoiding his implacable persecutor.
    It was early in the days of his persecution that he played his first really
big crafty game and got therefrom his first taste of revenge. As Kiche, when
with the wolves, had lured out to destruction dogs from the camps of men, so
White Fang, in manner somewhat similar, lured Lip-lip into Kiche's avenging
jaws. Retreating before Lip-lip, White Fang made an indirect flight that led in
and out and around the various tepees of the camp. He was a good runner, swifter