ust pull the sled
faster, and that the faster the sled travelled, the faster could the dog
attacked run away. Thus, the dog behind could never catch up with the
one in front. The faster he ran, the faster ran the one he was after,
and the faster ran all the dogs. Incidentally, the sled went faster, and
thus, by cunning indirection, did man increase his mastery over the
beasts.
Mit-sah resembled his father, much of whose grey wisdom he possessed. In
the past he had observed Lip-lip's persecution of White Fang; but at that
time Lip-lip was another man's dog, and Mit-sah had never dared more than
to shy an occasional stone at him. But now Lip-lip was his dog, and he
proceeded to wreak his vengeance on him by putting him at the end of the
longest rope. This made Lip-lip the leader, and was apparently an
honour! but in reality it took away from him all honour, and instead of
being bully and master of the pack, he now found himself hated and
persecuted by the pack.
Because he ran at the end of the longest rope, the dogs had always the
view of him running away before them. All that they saw of him was his
bushy tail and fleeing hind legs--a view far less ferocious and
intimidating than his bristling mane and gleaming fangs. Also, dogs
being so constituted in their mental ways, the sight of him running away
gave desire to run after him and a feeling that he ran away from them.
The moment the sled started, the team took after Lip-lip in a chase that
extended throughout the day. At first he had been prone to turn upon his
pursuers, jealous of his dignity and wrathful; but at such times Mit-sah
would throw the stinging lash of the thirty-foot cariboo-gut whip into
his face and compel him to turn tail and run on. Lip-lip might face the
pack, but he could not face that whip, and all that was left him to do
was to keep his long rope taut and his flanks ahead of the teeth of his
mates.
But a still greater cunning lurked in the recesses of the Indian mind. To
give point to unending pursuit of the leader, Mit-sah favoured him over
the other dogs. These favours aroused in them jealousy and hatred. In
their presence Mit-sah would give him meat and would give it to him only.
This was maddening to them. They would rage around just outside the
throwing-distance of the whip, while Lip-lip devoured the meat and Mit-
sah protected him. And when there was no meat to give, Mit-sah would
keep the team at a distance and make
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