White Fang

Chapter 1
The Trail of the Meat
Dark spruce forest frowned on either side of the
frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by a
tcccm wind o! ~heir whiw cove~ing of frost， and
lhey seemed to lean toward each other， black and
ominous， in the fading light. A vast silence
reigned over the land. The land itself was a
desolation， lifeless， without movement， so lone
and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of
sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter， but of a
laughter more terrible than any sadness--a
laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the
Sphinx， a laughter cold as the frost and partaking
of the grimness of infallibility. It was the
masterful and incommunicable wisdom of
eternity laughing at the futility of life and the
effort of life. It was the Wild， the savage， frozen-
hearted Northland Wild.