With him were other boys. Hot words passed. Then all
the boys attacked Mit-sah. It was going hard with him. Blows were
raining upon him from all sides. White Fang looked on at first. This
was an affair of the gods, and no concern of his. Then he realised that
this was Mit-sah, one of his own particular gods, who was being
maltreated. It was no reasoned impulse that made White Fang do what he
then did. A mad rush of anger sent him leaping in amongst the
combatants. Five minutes later the landscape was covered with fleeing
boys, many of whom dripped blood upon the snow in token that White Fang's
teeth had not been idle. When Mit-sah told the story in camp, Grey
Beaver ordered meat to be given to White Fang. He ordered much meat to
be given, and White Fang, gorged and sleepy by the fire, knew that the
law had received its verification.
It was in line with these experiences that White Fang came to learn the
law of property and the duty of the defence of property. From the
protection of his god's body to the protection of his god's possessions
was a step, and this step he made. What was his god's was to be defended
against all the world--even to the extent of biting other gods. Not only
was such an act sacrilegious in its nature, but it was fraught with
peril. The gods were all-powerful, and a dog was no match against them;
yet White Fang learned to face them, fiercely belligerent and unafraid.
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