Jack London
- JACK LONDON - A black ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper. It appears on the cover of "STARMONT READER'S GUIDE No. 15".
I have read most of Jack London's short stories, several novels, and his biography. The last story of his that I read was, "Before Adam," and that was at least 30 years ago. London was such a powerful writer that his stories still remain vividly in my mind. He was a great writer, which is why his stories continue to be reprinted generation after generation.
Here is the ending to one of London's unforgettable short stories, as I remember it;
Location - A log cabin in the remote Canadian wilderness.
Scene - Inside the cabin a mean old bastard of a man has a rope tied around his neck that hangs from a ceiling beam. His hands are tied behind him, his feet barely reach the seat of a chair that his enemies left under him. He's been in this precarious position for hours.
Storyline - This mean old bastard had cheated the men who strung him up, but they had no intention of kicking the chair out from under him. They were leaving that honor to someone else . . .
Diablo - At the far end of the cabin floor a big black dog lies with his head down on his fore paws looking up at the rope, at his master, at the chair. For Diablo's entire life his master has beaten or kicked him whenever things went wrong, often for no reason at all, just out of plain meanness. The memory of the blows and the pain of the broken bones he suffered passes across his mind. He looks into the eyes of his master . . .
Justice - In this world where evil men are often able to do evil things with impunity, justice lies hidden like the hare from the hunter. But it will not lie hidden today. While still looking into the eyes of his master, Diablo rises and slowly moves toward the chair . . .
The mean old bastard sees what the dog intends to do and begins screaming curses at him . . .
No one was there to see the chair slide across the floor,
No one was there to see the mean old bastard's body and feet dangling above the floor, jerking awkwardly, the rope choking the life out of him . . .
No one was there to see the struggle come to an end, the body slowly swaying, finally coming to a stop . . .
Only Diablo the dog was there . . . when the Mounties discovered the body.
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