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Brown Wolf, by Jack London · Classic Dog Stories

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  Speaker 1: Section seven of Best Dog Stories. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: by Amber Rose, Section seven Brown Wolf by Jack London.
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  Speaker 1: Footsore and famished, Brown Wolf drifted in mysteriously out of
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  Speaker 1: nowhere to the little mountain cottage of Walt and Mage
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  Speaker 1: Irvine in California. The dog ran away, always towards the north,
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  Speaker 1: whenever Walt Irvine untied him. Each time brown Wolf was
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  Speaker 1: captured and brought back after a futile year of flight,
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  Speaker 1: he accepted the inevitable and decided to remain with the Irvines.
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  Speaker 1: Even after this decision, a long time elapsed before either
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  Speaker 1: Walt or Mage Irvine could win his friendship. Then Skiff
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  Speaker 1: Miller of the Klondike stopped one day at the irvine
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  Speaker 1: Ss on his way to his sister's cottage. We'd like
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  Speaker 1: to hear you tell about the Klondike, Mage said, mayn't
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  Speaker 1: we come over some day while you were at your sister's,
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  Speaker 1: Or better yet, won't you come over and have dinner
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  Speaker 1: with us? Yes'm, thank you, ma'am, he mumbled, mechanically. Then
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  Speaker 1: he caught himself up and added, I ain't stoppin long.
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  Speaker 1: I got to be pullin' north again. I go out
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  Speaker 1: on tonight's train. You see, I've got a mail contract
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  Speaker 1: with the government. When Mage had said that it was
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  Speaker 1: too bad, he made another futile effort to go, but
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  Speaker 1: he could not take his eyes from her face. He
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  Speaker 1: forgot his embarrassment and his admiration, and it was her
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  Speaker 1: turn to flush and feel uncomfortable. It was at this
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  Speaker 1: juncture when Walt had just decided it was time for
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  Speaker 1: him to be saying something to relieve the strain. That wolf,
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  Speaker 1: who had been away nosing through the bush, trotted wolf
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  Speaker 1: like inter view skiff Miller's abstraction disappeared. The pretty woman
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  Speaker 1: before him passed out of his field of vision. He
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  Speaker 1: had eyes only for the dog, and a great wonder
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  Speaker 1: came into his face. Well I'll be, he enunciated, slowly
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  Speaker 1: and solemnly. He sat down ponderingly on the log, leaving
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  Speaker 1: Madge standing. At the sound of his voice, Wolf's ears
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  Speaker 1: had flattened down, then his mouth had opened in a laugh.
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  Speaker 1: He trotted slowly up to the stranger and first smelled
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  Speaker 1: his hands then licked them with his tongue. Skiff Miller
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  Speaker 1: patted the dog's head and slowly and solemnly repeated, well,
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  Speaker 1: I'll be excuse me, ma'am, he said the next moment.
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  Speaker 1: I was just sprised some, that was all. We're surprised too,
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  Speaker 1: she answered lightly. We never saw Wolf make up to
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  Speaker 1: a stranger before. Is that what you call him? Wolf?
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  Speaker 1: The man asked. Madge nodded, but I can't understand his
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  Speaker 1: friendliness towards you unless it's because you're from the Klondike.
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  Speaker 1: He's a Klondike dog, you know, yes'm Miller said absently.
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  Speaker 1: He lifted one of Wolfe's forelegs an exam in the
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  Speaker 1: foot paws, pressing them and denting them with his thumb.
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  Speaker 1: Kind of soft, He remarked, he ain't been on a
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  Speaker 1: trail for a long time. I say, Walt broke in.
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  Speaker 1: It is remarkable the way he lets you handle him.
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  Speaker 1: Skiff Miller arose, no longer awkward with the admiration of Mage,
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  Speaker 1: and in a sharp, business like manner, he asked, how
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  Speaker 1: long have you had him? But just then the dog,
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  Speaker 1: squirming and rubbing against the newcomer's legs, opened his mouth
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  Speaker 1: and barked. It was an explosive bark, brief and joyous,
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  Speaker 1: but a bark that's a new one on me, Skiff
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  Speaker 1: Miller remarked. Walt and Mage stared at each other. The
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  Speaker 1: miracle had happened. Wolf had barked. It's the first time
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  Speaker 1: he ever barked, Madge said, first time I ever heard him, too,
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  Speaker 1: Miller volunteered. Mage smiled at him. The man was evidently
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  Speaker 1: a humorist, of course, she said, since you have only
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  Speaker 1: seen him for five minutes. Skiff Miller liked at her,
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  Speaker 1: sharply seeking in her face the guile her words had
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  Speaker 1: led him to suspect. I thought you understood, he said, slowly.
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  Speaker 1: I thought you'd tumbled to it from his makin' up
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  Speaker 1: to me. He's my dog. His name ain't Wolf, It's brown, Oh, Walt,
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  Speaker 1: was Mage's instinctive cry to her husband. Walt was on
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  Speaker 1: the defensive at once. How do you know he's your dog?
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  Speaker 1: He demanded, because he is? Was the reply, mere assertion,
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  Speaker 1: Walt said, sharply in his slow and pondering way. Skiff
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  Speaker 1: Miller looked at him, then asked, with a nod of
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  Speaker 1: his head toward Mage, how'd you know she's your wife.
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  Speaker 1: You just say because she is, and I'll say it's
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  Speaker 1: mere assertion. The dog's mine. I bred him, an raised him,
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  Speaker 1: and I guess I ought to know. Look here, I'll
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  Speaker 1: prove it to you. Skiff Miller turned to the dog brown.
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  Speaker 1: His voice rang out sharply, and at the sound, the
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  Speaker 1: dog's ears flattened down as to a caress. The dog
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  Speaker 1: made a swinging turn to the right. Now, mush on,
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  Speaker 1: and the dog ceased his swinging abruptly and started straight ahead,
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  Speaker 1: halting obediently at command. I can do it with whistles,
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  Speaker 1: skiff Miller said, proudly. He was my lead dog. But
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  Speaker 1: you are not going to take him away with you,
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  Speaker 1: Madge asked tremulously. The man nodded back into that awful
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  Speaker 1: Klondike world of suffering. He nodded and added, Oh, it
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  Speaker 1: ain't so bad as all that. Look at me, pretty
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  Speaker 1: healthy specimen, ain't I But the dogs, the terrible hardship,
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  Speaker 1: the heartbreaking toil, the starvation, the frost. Oh, I've read
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  Speaker 1: about it, and I know I nearly ate him once
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  Speaker 1: over on Little Fish River, Miller volunteered grimly, if I
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  Speaker 1: hadn't got a moose that day, was all that saved him.
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  Speaker 1: I'd have died first, Mage cried, Things is different down here,
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  Speaker 1: Miller explained, you don't have to eat dogs, you think
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  Speaker 1: different just about the time you're all in. You've never
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  Speaker 1: been all in, so you don't know anything about it.
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  Speaker 1: That's the very point, she argued warmly. Dogs are not
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  Speaker 1: eaten in California. Why not leave him here? He is happy,
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  Speaker 1: He'll never want for food. You know that he'll never
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  Speaker 1: suffer from cold and hardship. Here all is softness and gentleness.
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  Speaker 1: Neither the human nor nature is savage. He will never
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  Speaker 1: know a whiplash again. And as for the weather, why
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  Speaker 1: it never snows here, but it's all fired hot in summer.
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  Speaker 1: Begging your pardon, skiff, Miller laughed. But you do not answer,
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  Speaker 1: Midge continued, passionately. What have you to offer him in
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  Speaker 1: that Northland life? Grub when I've got it, and that's
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  Speaker 1: most of the time, came the answer. And the rest
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  Speaker 1: of the time, no grub. And the work, yes, plenty
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  Speaker 1: of work, Miller blurted out, impatiently, work without end, and
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  Speaker 1: famine and fra and all the rest of the miseries.
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  Speaker 1: That's when he comes with me. But he likes it.
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  Speaker 1: He is used to it. He knows that life. He
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  Speaker 1: was born to it and brought up to it. You
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  Speaker 1: don't know anything about it. You don't know what you're
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  Speaker 1: talking about. That's where the dog belongs, and that's where
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  Speaker 1: he'll be happiest. Maybe the dog has some choice in
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  Speaker 1: the matter, Mage went on, Maybe he has his likes
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  Speaker 1: and desires. You have not considered him. You give him
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  Speaker 1: no choice. It has never entered your mind that possibly
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  Speaker 1: he might prefer California to Alaska. You consider only what
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  Speaker 1: you like, You do with him as you would with
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  Speaker 1: a sack of potatoes or a bale of hay. This
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  Speaker 1: was a new way of looking at it, and Miller
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  Speaker 1: was visibly impressed as he debated it. In his mind.
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  Speaker 1: Mage took advantage of his indecision. If you really love him,
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  Speaker 1: what be happiness to him would be your happiness also,
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  Speaker 1: she urged Skiff. Miller continued to debate with himself, and
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  Speaker 1: Mage stole a glance of exultation to her husband, who
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  Speaker 1: looked back warm approval. What do you think, the Klondiker
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  Speaker 1: suddenly demanded. It was her turn to be puzzled. What
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  Speaker 1: do you mean? She asked? Do you think he'd sooner
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  Speaker 1: stay in California. She nodded her head with positiveness. I
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  Speaker 1: am sure of it. Skiff Miller again debated with himself,
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  Speaker 1: though this time allowed the same time, running his gaze
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  Speaker 1: in a judicial way over the mooded animal. He was
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  Speaker 1: a good worker. He's done a heap of work for me.
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  Speaker 1: He never loafed on me. And he was a joe
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  Speaker 1: dandy at hammer and a raw team into shape. He's
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  Speaker 1: got a head on he can do everything but talk.
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  Speaker 1: He knows what you say to him. Look at him now,
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  Speaker 1: he knows we're talkin about him. The dog was laying
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  Speaker 1: at Skiff Miller's feet, head close down on Pau's ears
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  Speaker 1: erect and listening, and eyes that were quick and eager
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  Speaker 1: to follow the sound of speech as it fell from
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  Speaker 1: the lips of first one and then the other. An,
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  Speaker 1: there's a lot of work in him, yet he's good
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  Speaker 1: for years to come. And I do like him once
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  Speaker 1: or choice. After that, Skiff Miller opened his mouth and
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  Speaker 1: closed it again without speaking. Finally, he said, I'll tell
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  Speaker 1: you what I'll do. Your remarks, ma'am has some weight
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  Speaker 1: in them. The dog's worked hard, an maybe he's earned
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  Speaker 1: a soft berth an has got a right to choose anyway.
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  Speaker 1: We'll leave it up to him. Whatever he says goes
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  Speaker 1: you people, stay right here, settin down. I'll say goodbye
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  Speaker 1: an walk off casual like. If he wants to stay,
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  Speaker 1: he can stay. If he wants to come with me,
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  Speaker 1: let him come. I won't call him to come an
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  Speaker 1: don't you call him to come back? Well, then might
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  Speaker 1: as well be gettin along, skiff Miller said, in the
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  Speaker 1: ordinary tones of one departing. At this change in his voice,
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  Speaker 1: Wulf lifted his head quickly, and still more quickly got
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  Speaker 1: to his feet. When the man and woman shook hands,
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  Speaker 1: he sprang up on his hind legs, resting his fore
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  Speaker 1: paws on her hip and at the same time licking
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  Speaker 1: skiff Miller's hand. When the latter shook hands with Walt,
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  Speaker 1: Wulf repeated his act, resting his weight on Walt and
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  Speaker 1: licking both men's hands. It ain't no picnic, I can
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  Speaker 1: tell you that were the Klondiker's last words, as he
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  Speaker 1: turned and went slowly up the trail for the distance
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  Speaker 1: of twenty feet. Wulf watched him go himself all eagerness
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  Speaker 1: and expectancy, as though waiting for the man to turn
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  Speaker 1: and retrace his steps. Then, with a quick, low whine,
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  Speaker 1: Wolf sprang after him, overtook him, caught his hand between
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  Speaker 1: his teeth with reluctant tenderness, and strove gently to make
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  Speaker 1: him pause. Failing in this, Wolf raced back to where
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  Speaker 1: Walt Irvine sat, catching his coat sleeve in his teeth
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  Speaker 1: and trying vainly to drag him. After the retreating man,
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  Speaker 1: Wolfe's perturbation began to wax. He desired ubiquity. He wanted
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  Speaker 1: to be in two places at the same time, with
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  Speaker 1: the old master and the new, and steadily the distance
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  Speaker 1: between them was increasing. He sprang about excitedly, making short
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  Speaker 1: nervous leaps and twists, now toward one, now toward the other,
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  Speaker 1: in painful indecision, not knowing his own mind, desiring both
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  Speaker 1: and unable to choose, Uttering quick, sharp whines, and beginning
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  Speaker 1: to pant, he sat down abruptly on his haunches, thrusting
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  Speaker 1: his nose upward, the mouth opening and closing with jerking movements,
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  Speaker 1: each time opening wider. These jerking movements were in unison
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  Speaker 1: with the recurrent spasms that attacked the throat, each spasm
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  Speaker 1: severer and more intense than the preceding one, and in
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  Speaker 1: accord with jerks and spasms, the larnaks began to vibrate,
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  Speaker 1: at first silently, accompanied by the rush of air expelled
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  Speaker 1: from the lungs, then sounding a low, deep note, the
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  Speaker 1: lowest in the register of the human ear. All this
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  Speaker 1: was the nervous and muscular preliminary to howling. But just
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  Speaker 1: as the howl was up on the verge of bursting
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  Speaker 1: from the full throat, the wide open mouth was closed.
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  Speaker 1: The paraxyms ceased, and he looked long and steadily at
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  Speaker 1: the retreating man. Suddenly, Wulf turned his head and over
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  Speaker 1: his shoulder, just as steadily regarded Walt. The appeal was unanswered.
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  Speaker 1: Not a word nor a sign. Did the dog receive,
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  Speaker 1: no suggestion, and no clue as to what his conduct
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  Speaker 1: should be. A glance ahead to where the old master
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  Speaker 1: was nearing the curve of the trail excited him again.
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  Speaker 1: He sprang to his feet with a whine, and then,
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  Speaker 1: struck by a new idea, turned his attention to Mage.
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  Speaker 1: Hitherto he had ignored her, but now both masters failing him,
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  Speaker 1: she alone was left. He went over to her and
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  Speaker 1: snuggled his head in her lap. Nudging her arm with
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  Speaker 1: his nose, an old trick of his when begging for favors.
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  Speaker 1: He backed away from her and began writhing and twisting, playfully,
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  Speaker 1: curvetting and prancing, half rearing and striking his foreard pause
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  Speaker 1: to the earth, struggling with all his body from the
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  Speaker 1: wheedling eyes and flattening ears to the wagging tail, to
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  Speaker 1: express the thought that was in him and that was
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  Speaker 1: denied him utterance. This too, he soon abandoned. He was
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  Speaker 1: depressed by the coldness of these humans, who had never
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  Speaker 1: been cold before. No response could he draw from them,
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  Speaker 1: No hope could he get. They did not consider him.
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  Speaker 1: They were as dead. He turned and silently gazed after
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  Speaker 1: the old Master skiff Miller was rounding the curve. In
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  Speaker 1: a moment he would be gone from view, Yet he
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  Speaker 1: never turned his head, plodding straight onward, slowly and methodically,
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  Speaker 1: as though possessed of no interest in what was occurring
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  Speaker 1: behind his back. And in this fashion he went out
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  Speaker 1: of view. Wolf waited for him to reappear. He waited
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  Speaker 1: a long minute, silently, quietly, without movement, as though turned
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  Speaker 1: to stone with all stone. Quick with eagerness and desire,
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  Speaker 1: he barked once and waited. Then he turned and trotted
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  Speaker 1: back to walt Irvine. He sniffed his hand and dropped
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  Speaker 1: down heavily at his feet, watching the trail where it
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  Speaker 1: curved emptily from view. The tiny stream slipping down the
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  Speaker 1: mossy lipped stone seemed suddenly to increase the volume of
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  Speaker 1: its gurgling noise. Save for the meadow larks, there was
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  Speaker 1: no other sound. The great yellow butterflies drifted silently through
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  Speaker 1: the sunshine and lost themselves in the drowsy shadows. Mige
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  Speaker 1: gazed triumphantly at her husband. A few minutes later, Wulf
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  Speaker 1: got upon his feet. Decision and deliberation marked his movements.
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  Speaker 1: He did not glance at the man and woman. His
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  Speaker 1: eyes were fixed up the trail. He had made up
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  Speaker 1: his mind. They knew it, and they knew so far
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  Speaker 1: as they were concerned, that the ordeal had just begun.
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  Speaker 1: He broke into a trot, and Mage's lips pursed, forming
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  Speaker 1: an avenue for the caressing sound that it was the
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  Speaker 1: will of her to send forth. But the caressing sound
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  Speaker 1: was not made. She was impelled to look at her husband,
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  Speaker 1: and she saw the sternness with which he watched her
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  Speaker 1: the pursed lips relaxed, and she sighed inaudibly. Wolf's trot
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  Speaker 1: broke into a run. Wider and wider were the leaps
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  Speaker 1: he made. Not once did he turn his head, his
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  Speaker 1: wolf's brush standing out straight behind him, he cut sharply
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  Speaker 1: across the curve of the trail and was gone. End
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  Speaker 1: of Section seven.