White Fang Part 4 Summary

The Enemy of His Kind

  • White Fang becomes the leader of Mit-sah's sled team and the other dogs now hate him even more for it.
  • He learns to run, run, run and only stop when Mit-sah tells him. Otherwise, the rest of the pack would destroy him. The Dark Side is strong in him: he hates other dogs.
  • At age five, Grey Beaver takes him on another long trip and White Fang pretty much pounds on every dog he meets. Lots and lots of anger in this furry dude.
  • They arrive at Fort Yukon, where the gold rush is on, and Grey Beaver makes a killing in the trade game. 
  • White Fang also gets his first look at white men, and is less than impressed by their dogs. He leads a pack in killing a few and feels proud of himself for it.
  • Even prouder that he can abandon the pack to punishment and avoid blame himself. He's really becoming quite evil.

The Mad God

  • White residents of Fort Yukon, called "Sour-doughs," take great delight in watching White Fang cause havoc.
  • One man in particular, called Beauty Smith, really enjoys the whole dogs-getting-killed thing. 
  • He wants to own White Fang, but White Fang is having none of it.
  • Beauty turns to Grey Beaver, getting him drunk and turning him into an alcoholic.
  • White Fang is tied up and Beauty leads him away. A few beatings ensure that White Fang stays in line.
  • White Fang chews through the thong and goes back to Grey Beaver's camp. Beauty drags him back and guess what? More beatings.
  • He then ties up White Fang with a stick, but White Fang chews through it. Again, he goes back to Grey Beaver and again, he gets the holy snot beaten out of him. Grey Beaver just sits and watches. 
  • White Fang resolves to obey this new "mad god."

The Reign of Hate

  • Beauty keeps White Fang chained up and mocks him constantly. White Fang decides to hate everyone and everything. He's big and scary.
  • White Fang is unchained and left to roam around in his pen.
  • One day, a mastiff gets shoved into the pen. And… fight.
  • White Fang savages the mastiff, Beauty collects money on bets and the other dog is dragged away.
  • More dogfights follow. There's even one where he had to fight two dogs at once; naturally he kills them both.
  • Beauty eventually takes him to Dawson by steamboat. He's left in a cage, where men can poke him with sticks. This, of course, does wonders for his temper.
  • But White Fang is made of win. Beauty eventually has to pit him against wolves and a lynx just to keep things interesting. He kills them all, and the fights eventually dry up: no one wants to fight him anymore. He's just plain unbeatable.
  • Finally, a man named Tim Keenan comes to the Yukon, bringing with him the first bulldog anyone's ever seen. 
  • And… fight. Next chapter.

The Clinging Death

  • Cherokee the bulldog throws down against White Fang. At first, he doesn't want to fight, but Keenan rubs his fur the wrong way—literally—and the battle is on.
  • White Fang strikes first; the bulldog doesn't seem to react.
  • He keeps striking. The bulldog doesn't respond, and White Fang can't get at the animal's throat, which would end the fight quickly. 
  • Finally, White Fang drives into his shoulder. The bone knocks him back and he loses his footing. Uh oh. That's the first time that's ever happened to him.
  • Cherokee snaps his jaws on White Fang's throat and won't let go no matter what. It looks like it's all over for our poor put-upon hero.
  • Beauty points his finger at White Fang and laughs, which sets White Fang off. Even so, it's not enough.
  • Beauty, realizing that White Fang will lose, jumps into the ring and starts beating him. Why he would do that is beyond us—there's a killer bulldog in with him—but nobody ever accused Beauty of being smart.
  • A tall man breaks out of the crowd and does what we've all secretly wanted to do for several chapters: beat the snot out of Beauty.
  • The man, Weedon Scott, calls his musher, Matt over to the dogs. They try to beat Cherokee into letting White Fang go, but they can't. 
  • Scott pushes his revolver butt into Cherokee's teeth, trying to pry him loose. Tim Keenan comes over and makes some noise about not hurting his dog, but Scott silences him with a mighty Glare of Death.
  • Slowly, they manage to free White Fang. The men then order Tim to remove his frothing bulldog.
  • Scott pays Beauty $150 for White Fang—half of what a healthy sled dog is worth—and threatens further poundings if Beauty doesn't agree. (Frankly, we're just surprised that someone other than White Fang is getting smacked.)
  • Beauty threatens to call the law on Scott. Scott promises to run him out of town.
  • Keenan asks who Scott is, he's told that Scott is a bigwig with the mining companies. Keenan's thankful he didn't challenge the Glare of Death.

The Indomitable

  • Scott and Matt debate White Fang's fate. He's chained up and savage, though Matt is keeping the other sled dogs away from him.
  • Matt points out the harness marks on White Fang's body, indicating that he's been tamed.
  • Oh really? Hmm… Matt walks over to White Fang with a club and unchains him. White Fang is afraid of the club for some reason, and doesn't bite back.
  • White Fang stays put. He can't leave and is frankly kind of weirded out by acts of kindness from men.
  • Scott throws White Fang a piece of meat. One of the other dogs, Major, tries to take it and White Fang makes him pay by tearing out his throat.
  • Matt kicks White Fang and gets bit for his trouble. 
  • Scott wants to kill him—considering it a mercy—but Matt wants to give White Fang a chance.
  • Scott reaches out slowly to touch White Fang and gets bit.
  • Matt gives up and go gets his rifle to shoot White Fang. Now Scott pleads for the animal's life. (Make up your minds, boys.)
  • Matt puts down the rifle and White Fang stops snarling at him. They decide that he's too smart to kill.

The Love-Master

  • Scott comes back to White Fang, and the wolf gets ready for the inevitable beating. Instead, Scott sits down nearby. This weirds White Fang out considerably.
  • Scott offers White Fang a piece of meat. White Fang is deeply suspicious, but eventually eats it after Scott tosses it to him.
  • Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Multiple times.
  • Finally, White Fang lets himself take the meat from Scott's hand. Good doggie.
  • Scott talks to him in kind words, resulting in more weirding out from White Fang. He even starts petting him, which White Fang believes is some sort of evil ruse. It isn't, and White Fang soon begins enjoying it.
  • Slowly, Scott turns White Fang away from the Dark Side. The wolf begins to understand love, and even does selfless things for the sake of it.
  • He pummels Scott's dogs, but only to show them who's boss. Once they figure it out, he leaves them alone. 
  • Scott goes away one day and doesn't come back. White Fang starts pining for him and becomes sick. When he comes back, White Fang actually wags his tail. His recovery proceeds very quickly.
  • When White Fang steps outside, the other dogs jump on him, thinking he's still weak. He thrashes them—again—and all is well.
  • One night, Scott and Matt are roused by sounds of White Fang going all psycho on someone. Turns out, that someone is Beauty Smith, who came with a dog chain and club trying to steal White Fang back. White Fang drops the pain hammer on his former master, to Scott's unspoken satisfaction.