Jack London [pp. 417-425]

Jack London - - 419
"NVell, let`eii~ aloile. There doli't 5CClil the ~~aA~e populatio~ h~ddled alo~g the
110 call to h~terfere." water-fro~t, taki~g his cha~ces at sal~~o~ That this placidity did liot argue ill- fIshiug, oyster piratiug, schoouer-sailing,
differeuce wa~ seeu by the father~s appear- aud other bay-fariug veutur es, ucrer holdJug a few miuutes later ou the field of ilig himself aloof when comrades were
actioli. lle did uothiug, however; ouly awake, but wheu they slept turuilig to his
pulled steadily at his pipe and looked all, book with the avidity of a miud athirst for
ouc of a motley ring of spectators. Jack's kuowledge.
oppoucut was getting winded aud be- About this period of his life This sympathougtit him of a subterfuge.
[Tc gave a blow aud theu threw
bi nself on the ground, kuowiug
Ll~tt Jack would uot hit him
wlicii lie was down. The latter
s;tw his little game, and when it
was thrice repeated, struck low
~vith a telling punch on the chiu
<)f his falling adversary.
There was a yefi of "Foul
~low! from the two younger
brothers of the vauquished pugilist, aud the elder, an overgrown
boy of fifteen, sprang red-hot iuto
the circle and demanded satisfaction. Jack, pautiug and holdiu~
to his swollen wrist (that last
blow of his had straiued the teudons), prauced into position and
bred back the answer, " Come on!
T`11 lick you too!
It was observed that his father
forgot to smoke during the spirited tussle that eusned, though he
said never a word even when Jack,
dripping gore and sweat, drew off
victorious from his prostrate foe
only to face the third brother, a
lad of his own age. llim he
downed with a siugle thrust of hi
bst, for his blood was up and he
felt cordial to himself and invinci i)ly confi dent in his strength to
ove~~come a host of irate brothers
Then it was 4~at John T~oudoa,
bright of eye and smiling, took a
gentle grip of his son's arm and
~narcbed him in triumph from Jack London in Arctic Costume
the field.
Between school hours and work Jack thies and emotions were deeply stirred by
found time to pore over books of history, the wrongs inflicted upon the laboring
poetry, and fiction. and to nurse the secret classes, and with youthful fervor he took
wish to become a writer. Tie was gradu- up their defense, haranguing the crowds
ated from the Oakland grammar school at nightly in the plaza and urging upon them
fourteen and a few months later drifted the necessity of social and political re-coninto an adventurous life`1 on ~shore. Tiere struction. Tie became known in Bay
he shared the industries aud pastimes ~r whereabouts as "the boy socialist," and