White Fang Part 5 Summary

The Long Trail

  • Something's coming, something bad. White Fang senses it and it gives him the willies.
  • Scott has to go back to California and doesn't know if he can take White Fang with him.
  • Scott starts packing and White Fang becomes even more consternated.
  • When Scott leaves, he tells White Fang to give him a good-bye growl. White Fang howls mournfully instead. It's all very sad.
  • Scott and Matt arrive at the steamship, only to find White Fang waiting on the deck: the dog had broken the window when Scott left and ran down to him.
  • Seriously.
  • Matt tries to untie his bandana and pull White Fang back, but Scott stops him. The dog is clearly coming along for the ride.

The Southland

  • White Fang arrives in San Francisco. He doesn't like it. At all.
  • He's soon chained into a baggage car and left alone. More of the not liking. 
  • The car takes him to Scott's house, where Scott gets a hug from his mom. 
  • White Fang, having mom issues of his own, attacks her thinking that she's a threat. Scott tells him no and teaches him to accept the fact that moms are allowed to give hugs.
  • They head up to the house and an indignant sheep dog approaches White Fang. She's a female, which makes him go all weak at the knees.
  • He makes his way up to the house, the collie following him. A hound dog jumps him at the front of the house, and the collie intervenes to save the other dog's life.
  • White Fang has to come inside, lest he murder the hound dog in a New York minute.

The God's Domain

  • White Fang gets used to his new home, Sierra Vista, where Scott and his family live.
  • Collie continues to give him trouble, even after the other dogs have learned to leave him be. Gee, it's almost as if they're made for each other…
  • He slowly learns who Scott's family is and why he shouldn't go ripping their throats out. He gradually accepts them, though he still treats servants like, well, servants.
  • Scott's disapproval hurts him much more than the beatings from Grey Beaver or Beauty did. Such is the nature of twu wuv.
  • One day, he spots a stray chicken and eats it.
  • He spots a second chicken and tries to eat it, too. A stable hand comes to the rescue with a buggy whip and gets savaged for his efforts.
  • Scott makes a bet with his father: lock White Fang in with the chickens and see what happens. For every dead chicken, Scott pays dad a dollar. For every ten minutes without a dead chicken, Dad has to say, "White Fang you're smarter than I thought." (This exchange includes the immortal phrase "think of the chickens," which always cracks us up.)
  • White Fang refuses to eat the chickens and Dad must eat a hot, steaming plate of crow.
  • White Fang slowly learns which animals are tasty meals (wild rabbits) and which ones aren't (everything else). By extension, he learns the civilized art of self-control. 
  • He still has trouble with civilization. Like when evil little boys throw stones at him or when the dogs from the local saloon pick on him.
  • With his master's permission, he kills three of the saloon dogs. (The dogs' masters encouraged it and Scott wanted to make a point. Point = made.)

The Call of Kind

  • White Fang grows fat and happy with Scott, but there's always something different about him. He always has a little of the bad boy to him and the other dogs don't like it.
  • Collie, however, gets a pass. She gives him trouble all the time, having never forgiven him for the Late Unpleasantness with the chickens.
  • He learns to enjoy laughter and goes out with the master when Scott rides on horseback. No sled to pull, so it's a big plus for him.
  • One day, the horse throws Scott. White Fang gets a chance to play Lassie and go for help, leading the family to where Scott is lying. Yay, White Fang.
  • After another year or so, Collie decides that she likes him and they—ahem—have a sleepover.

The Sleeping Wolf

  • A convict named Jim Hall escapes from San Quentin prison. He's bad news in a big way: Scott's father, Judge Scott, sentenced the man, and—while Hall was a bad, bad man—he wasn't guilty of the crime that they sentenced him for.
  • Wouldn't you know it? He shows up at Sierra Vista one night.
  • Luckily, Scott's wife Alice lets White Fang sleep in the big hall. The convict arrives, and White Fang pulls out all of his ninja skills to bring him down. He kills the man, but suffers three gunshot wounds in the process.
  • The Judge calls a doctor to work on White Fang. The surgeon calls him a goner, but White Fang is much tougher than he looks.
  • He heals over long weeks and the family starts calling him "The Blessed Wolf."
  • When they take the cast off, he staggers down to the barn, where Collie has given birth to their puppies. He licks one of the puppy's faces in an act of adorableness that sends the humans into fits of glee.
  • He lays down and lets the puppies play around him, dozing and happy at last.