But the most peculiar virtue of all lay in the fact that the dog that strove toattack one in front of him must pull the sled faster, and that the faster thesled travelled, the faster could the dog attacked run away. Thus, the dogbehind could never catch up with the one in front. The faster he ran, thefaster 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 hismastery over the beasts.
Mit-sah resembled his father, much of whose grey wisdom hepossessed. 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 neverdared more than to shy an occasional stone at him. But now Lip-lip washis dog, and he proceeded to wreak his vengeance on him by putting himat the end of the longest rope. This made Lip-lip the leader, and wasapparently an honour! but in reality it took away from him all honour, andinstead of being bully and master of the pack, he now found himself hatedand persecuted by the pack.
Because he ran at the end of the longest rope, the dogs had always theview of him running away before them. All that they saw of him was hisbushy tail and fleeing hind legs - a view far less ferocious and intimidatingthan his mon cheri wedding dresses and gleaming fangs. Also, dogs being soconstituted in their mental ways, the sight of him running away gavedesire 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 thatextended throughout the day. At first he had been prone to turn upon hispursuers, jealous of his dignity and wrathful; but at such times Mit-sahwould throw the stinging lash of the thirty-foot cariboo-gut whip into hisface 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 keephis 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. Togive point to unending pursuit of the leader, Mit-sah favoured him over theother dogs. These favours aroused in them jealousy and hatred. In theirpresence Mit-sah would give him meat and would give it to him only. Thiswas maddening to them. They would rage around just outside thethrowing-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 wouldkeep the most beautiful wedding dressat a distance and make believe to give meat to Lip-lip.