Jack London (1876–1916) was an American novelist and adventurer known for his novels “The Call of the Wild” and “White Fang.” He drew inspiration from his experiences in the Klondike Gold Rush and his love of nature. London’s rugged tales of survival and adventure continue to resonate with readers.
Short Stories written by Jack London
A Curious Fragment 1891 - Listen, my brothers, and I will tell you a tale of an arm. It was the arm of Tom Dixon,… ... Read more
A Daughter of the Aurora 1891 - "You--what you call--lazy mans, you lazy mans would desire me to haf for wife. It is not good. Nevaire, no,… ... Read more
A Day’s Lodging 1891 - It was the gosh-dangdest stampede I ever seen. A thousand dog- teams hittin' the ice. You couldn't see 'm fer… ... Read more
A Flutter in Eggs 1891 - It was in the A. C. Company's big store at Dawson, on a morning of crisp frost, that Lucille Arral… ... Read more
A Hyperborean Brew 1891 - Thomas Stevens's veracity may have been indeterminate as X, and his imagination the imagination of ordinary men increased to the… ... Read more
A Nose for the King 1891 - In the morning calm of Korea, when its peace and tranquillity truly merited its ancient name, "Cho-sen," there lived a… ... Read more
A Piece of Steak 1909 - With the last morsel of bread Tom King wiped his plate clean of the last particle of flour gravy and… ... Read more
A Raid on the Oyster Pirates 1891 - Of the fish patrolmen under whom we served at various times, Charley Le Grant and I were agreed, I think,… ... Read more
A Relic of the Pliocene 1891 - I wash my hands of him at the start. I cannot father his tales, nor will I be responsible for… ... Read more
A Wicked Woman 1891 - It was because she had broken with Billy that Loretta had come visiting to Santa Clara. Billy could not understand.… ... Read more
All Gold Canyon 1891 - It was the green heart of the canyon, where the walls swerved back from the rigid plan and relieved their… ... Read more
Aloha Oe 1891 - Never are there such departures as from the dock at Honolulu. The great transport lay with steam up, ready to… ... Read more
Amateur Night 1891 - The elevator boy smiled knowingly to him self. When he took her up, he had noted the sparkle in her… ... Read more
An Adventure in the Upper Sea 1891 - I am a retired captain of the upper sea. That is to say, when I was a younger man (which… ... Read more
An Odyssey of the North 1891 - The sleds were singing their eternal lament to the creaking of the harness and the tinkling bells of the leaders;… ... Read more
At the Rainbow’s End 1891 - It was for two reasons that Montana Kid discarded his "chaps" and Mexican spurs, and shook the dust of the… ... Read more
Bald-face 1891 - "Talkin' of bear----" The Klondike King paused meditatively, and the group on the hotel porch hitched their chairs up closer.… ... Read more
Batard 1891 - Batard was a devil. This was recognized throughout the Northland. "Hell's Spawn" he was called by many men, but his… ... Read more
Brown Wolf 1891 - SHE had delayed, because of the dew-wet grass, in order to put on her overshoes, and when she emerged from… ... Read more
Bulls 1891 - If the tramp were suddenly to pass away from the United States, widespread misery for many families would follow. The… ... Read more
Bunches of Knuckles 1891 - ARRANGEMENTS quite extensive had been made for the celebration of Christmas on the yacht Samoset. Not having been in any… ... Read more
By the Turtles of the Tasman 1891 - I Law, order, and restraint had carved Frederick Travers' face. It was the strong, firm face of one used to… ... Read more
Charley’s Coup 1891 - Perhaps our most laughable exploit on the fish patrol, and at the same time our most dangerous one, was when… ... Read more
Chris Farrington: Able Seaman 1891 - "If you vas in der old country ships, a liddle shaver like you vood pe only der boy, und you… ... Read more
Chun Ah Chun 1891 - There was nothing striking in the appearance of Chun Ah Chun. He was rather undersized, as Chinese go, and the… ... Read more
Confession 1891 - There is a woman in the state of Nevada to whom I once lied continuously, consistently, and shamelessly, for the… ... Read more
Created He Them 1891 - She met him at the door. "I did not think you would be so early." "It is half past eight."… ... Read more
Demetrios Contos 1891 - It must not be thought, from what I have told of the Greek fishermen, that they were altogether bad. Far… ... Read more
Dutch Courage 1891 - "Just our luck!" Gus Lafee finished wiping his hands and sullenly threw the towel upon the rocks. His attitude was… ... Read more
Finis 1891 - It was the last of Morganson's bacon. In all his life he had never pampered his stomach. In fact, his… ... Read more
Flush of Gold 1891 - Lon McFane was a bit grumpy, what of losing his tobacco pouch, or else he might have told me, before… ... Read more
Four Horses and a Sailor 1891 - "Huh! Drive four horses! I wouldn't sit behind you--not for a thousand dollars--over them mountain roads." So said Henry, and… ... Read more
Good-bye, Jack 1891 - Hawaii is a queer place. Everything socially is what I may call topsy-turvy. Not but what things are correct. They… ... Read more
Grit of Women 1891 - A wolfish head, wistful-eyed and frost-rimed, thrust aside the tent-flaps. "Hi! Chook! Siwash! Chook, you limb of Satan!" chorused the… ... Read more
Hoboes That Pass in the Night 1907 - In the course of my tramping I encountered hundreds of hoboes, whom I hailed or who hailed me, and with… ... Read more
Holding Her Down 1891 - Barring accidents, a good hobo, with youth and agility, can hold a train down despite all the efforts of the… ... Read more
In a Far Country 1891 - When a man journeys into a far country, he must be prepared to forget many of the things he has… ... Read more
In the Forests of the North 1891 - A weary journey beyond the last scrub timber and straggling copses, into the heart of the Barrens where the niggard… ... Read more
In Yeddo Bay 1891 - Somewhere along Theater Street he had lost it. He remembered being hustled somewhat roughly on the bridge over one of… ... Read more
Jack London 1891 - I was born in San Francisco in 1876. At fifteen I was a man among men, and if I had… ... Read more
Jack London, by Himself 1891 - I was born in San Francisco in 1876. At fifteen I was a man among men, and if I had… ... Read more
Jan, the Unrepentant 1891 - "For there's never a law of God or man Runs north of Fifty-three." Jan rolled over, clawing and kicking. He… ... Read more
Just Meat 1891 - He strolled to the corner and glanced up and down the intersecting street, but saw nothing save the oases of… ... Read more
Keesh, the Son of Keesh 1891 - "Thus will I give six blankets, warm and double; six files, large and hard; six Hudson Bay knives, keen-edged and… ... Read more
Koolau the Leper 1891 - "Because we are sick they take away our liberty. We have obeyed the law. We have done no wrong. And… ... Read more
Lawgivers 1891 - THE bronze clangor of the cathedral bells marks the hours. Out of the night day bursts with an abruptness of… ... Read more
Li Wan, the Fair 1891 - "The sun sinks, Canim, and the heat of the day is gone!" So called Li Wan to the man whose… ... Read more
Like Argus of the Ancient Times 1891 - IT was the summer of 1897, and there was trouble in the Tarwater family. Grandfather Tarwater, after remaining properly subdued… ... Read more
Local Color 1891 - "I do not see why you should not turn this immense amount of unusual information to account," I told him.… ... Read more
Lost Face 1891 - It was the end. Subienkow had travelled a long trail of bitterness and horror, homing like a dove for the… ... Read more
Love of Life 1891 - "This out of all will remain - They have lived and have tossed: So much of the game will be… ... Read more
Make Westing 1891 - For seven weeks the Mary Rogers had been between 5O degrees south in the Atlantic and 5O degrees south in… ... Read more
Mauki 1891 - He weighed one hundred and ten pounds. His hair was kinky and negroid, and he was black. He was peculiarly… ... Read more
Moon-Face 1891 - John Claverhouse was a moon-faced man. You know the kind, cheek-bones wide apart, chin and forehead melting into the cheeks… ... Read more
Nam-bok the Unveracious 1891 - "A bidarka, is it not so? Look! a bidarka, and one man who drives clumsily with a paddle!" Old Bask-Wah-Wan… ... Read more
Negore, the Coward 1891 - HE had followed the trail of his fleeing people for eleven days, and his pursuit had been in itself a… ... Read more
Nothing that Ever Came to Anything 1891 - It was at Quito, the mountain capital of Ecuador, that the following passage at correspondence took place. Having occasion to… ... Read more
On the Makaloa Mat 1891 - Unlike the women of most warm races, those of Hawaii age well and nobly. With no pretence of make-up or… ... Read more
Our Adventures In Tampico 1891 - ONE must go and see in order to know. My advance impression of Tampico, for one, was of a typical… ... Read more
Pictures 1891 - "What do it matter where or 'ow we die, So long as we've our 'ealth to watch it all?" --Sestina… ... Read more
Pinched 1891 - I rode into Niagara Falls in a "side-door Pullman," or, in common parlance, a box-car. A flat-car, by the way,… ... Read more
Planchette 1891 - "It is my right to know," the girl said. Her voice was firm-fibred with determination. There was no hint of… ... Read more
Road-Kids and Gay-Cats 1891 - Every once in a while, in newspapers, magazines, and biographical dictionaries, I run upon sketches of my life, wherein, delicately… ... Read more
Samuel 1891 - Margaret Henan would have been a striking figure under any circumstances, but never more so than when I first chanced… ... Read more
Semper Idem 1891 - Doctor Bicknell was in a remarkably gracious mood. Through a minor accident, a slight bit of carelessness, that was all,… ... Read more
Shin-Bones 1891 - They have gone down to the pit with their weapons of war, and they have laid their swords under their… ... Read more
Shorty Dreams 1891 - I. "Funny you don't gamble none," Shorty said to Smoke one night in the Elkhorn. "Ain't it in your blood?"… ... Read more
Siwash 1891 - "If I was a man--" Her words were in themselves indecisive, but the withering contempt which flashed from her black… ... Read more
South of the Slot 1891 - Old San Francisco, which is the San Francisco of only the other day, the day before the Earthquake, was divided… ... Read more
Stalking The Pestilence 1891 - IN ALL the long red history of war, disease has stalked at the heels of armies. In the present generation… ... Read more
That Dead Men Rise up Never 1891 - The month in which my seventeenth birthday arrived I signed on before the mast on the Sophie Sutherland, a three-topmast… ... Read more
That Spot 1891 - I don't think much of Stephen Mackaye any more, though I used to swear by him. I know that in… ... Read more
The “Francis Spaight” 1891 - (A TRUE TALE RETOLD) The Francis Spaight was running before it solely under a mizzentopsail, when the thing happened. It… ... Read more
The “Fuzziness” of Hoockla-Heen 1891 - HOOCKLA-HEEN half-crouched, half-knelt in the tall, dank grass. Not a motion passed over him, yet he had been there a… ... Read more
The Apostate 1891 - "If you don't git up, Johnny, I won't give you a bite to eat!" The threat had no effect on… ... Read more
The Banks of the Sacramento 1891 - It was only a little boy, singing in a shrill treble the sea chantey which seamen sing the wide world… ... Read more
The Benefit of the Doubt 1891 - CARTER WATSON, a current magazine under his arm, strolled slowly along, gazing about him curiously. Twenty years had elapsed since… ... Read more
The Bones of Kahekili 1891 - From over the lofty Koolau Mountains, vagrant wisps of the trade wind drifted, faintly swaying the great, unwhipped banana leaves,… ... Read more
The Chinago 1891 - Ah Cho did not understand French. He sat in the crowded court room, very weary and bored, listening to the… ... Read more
The Curious Fragment 1891 - [The capitalist, or industrial oligarch, Roger Vanderwater, mentioned in the narrative, has been identified as the ninth in the line… ... Read more
The Death of Ligoun 1891 - Blood for blood, rank for rank. --Thlinket Code. "Hear now the death of Ligoun--" The speaker ceased, or rather suspended… ... Read more
The Dream of Debs 1891 - I awoke fully an hour before my customary time. This in itself was remarkable, and I lay very wide awake,… ... Read more
The End of the Story 1891 - I The table was of hand-hewn spruce boards, and the men who played whist had frequent difficulties in drawing home… ... Read more
The Enemy of All the World 1891 - It was Silas Bannerman who finally ran down that scientific wizard and arch-enemy of mankind, Emil Gluck. Gluck's confession, before… ... Read more
The Eternity of Forms 1891 - Mr. Crayden never vouchsafed any explanation of his strange conduct. There was nothing the matter with him physically; and, mentally,… ... Read more
The Faith of Men 1891 - "Tell you what we'll do; we'll shake for it." "That suits me," said the second man, turning, as he spoke,… ... Read more
The First Poet 1891 - SCENE: A summer plain, the eastern side of which is bounded by grassy hills of limestone, the other sides by… ... Read more
The God of His Fathers 1891 - On every hand stretched the forest primeval,--the home of noisy comedy and silent tragedy. Here the struggle for survival continued… ... Read more
The Great Interrogation 1891 - To say the least, Mrs. Sayther's career in Dawson was meteoric. She arrived in the spring, with dog sleds and… ... Read more
The Hanging of Cultus George 1891 - The way led steeply up through deep, powdery snow that was unmarred by sled-track or moccasin impression. Smoke, in the… ... Read more
The Heathen 1910 - I met him first in a hurricane; and though we had gone through the hurricane on the same schooner, it… ... Read more
The Hobo and the Fairy 1891 - He lay on his back. So heavy was his sleep that the stamp of hoofs and cries of the drivers… ... Read more
The House of Mapuhi 1891 - Despite the heavy clumsiness of her lines, the Aorai handled easily in the light breeze, and her captain ran her… ... Read more
The House of Pride 1891 - Percival Ford wondered why he had come. He did not dance. He did not care much for army people. Yet… ... Read more
The Human Drift 1891 - "The Revelations of Devout and Learn'd Who rose before us, and as Prophets Burn'd, Are all but stories, which, awoke… ... Read more
The Hussy 1891 - THERE are some stories that have to be true - the sort that cannot be fabricated by a ready fiction-reckoner.… ... Read more
The Inevitable White Man 1891 - "The black will never understand the white, nor the white the black, as long as black is black and white… ... Read more
The Kanaka Surf 1891 - The tourist women, under the hau tree arbour that lines the Moana hotel beach, gasped when Lee Barton and his… ... Read more
The King of Mazy May 1891 - WALT MASTERS is not a very large boy, but there is manliness in his make-up, and he himself, although he… ... Read more
The King of the Greeks 1891 - Big Alec had never been captured by the fish patrol. It was his boast that no man could take him… ... Read more
The Law of Life 1891 - Old Koskoosh listened greedily. Though his sight had long since faded, his hearing was still acute, and the slightest sound… ... Read more
The League of the Old Men 1891 - At the Barracks a man was being tried for his life. He was an old man, a native from the… ... Read more
The Leopard Man’s Story 1891 - He had a dreamy, far-away look in his eyes, and his sad, insistent voice, gentle-spoken as a maid's, seemed the… ... Read more
The Little Man 1891 - "I wisht you wasn't so set in your ways," Shorty demurred. "I'm sure scairt of that glacier. No man ought… ... Read more
The Lost Poacher 1891 - "But they won't take excuses. You're across the line, and that's enough. They'll take you. In you go, Siberia and… ... Read more
The Madness of John Harned 1891 - I TELL this for a fact. It happened in the bull-ring at Quito. I sat in the box with John… ... Read more
The Man on the Other Bank 1891 - I. It was before Smoke Bellew staked the farcical town-site of Tra-Lee, made the historic corner of eggs that nearly… ... Read more
The Man with the Gash 1891 - Jacob Kent had suffered from cupidity all the days of his life. This, in turn, had engendered a chronic distrustfulness,… ... Read more
The Marriage of Lit-lit 1891 - When John Fox came into a country where whisky freezes solid and may be used as a paper-weight for a… ... Read more
The Master of Mystery 1891 - There was complaint in the village. The women chattered together with shrill, high-pitched voices. The men were glum and doubtful… ... Read more
The Meat 1891 - I. Half the time the wind blew a gale, and Smoke Bellew staggered against it along the beach. In the… ... Read more
The Men of Forty Mile 1891 - When Big Jim Belden ventured the apparently innocuous proposition that mush-ice was 'rather pecooliar,' he little dreamed of what it… ... Read more
The Mexican 1891 - I NOBODY knew his history-- they of the Junta least of all. He was their "little mystery," their "big patriot,"… ... Read more
The Minions of Midas 1891 - Wade Atsheler is dead--dead by his own hand. To say that this was entirely unexpected by the small coterie which… ... Read more
The Mistake of Creation 1891 - "Whoa!" Smoke yelled at the dogs, throwing his weight back on the gee-pole to bring the sled to a halt.… ... Read more
The Night-Born 1891 - It was in the old Alta-Inyo Club--a warm night for San Francisco--and through the open windows, hushed and far, came… ... Read more
The One Thousand Dozen 1891 - David Rasmunsen was a hustler, and, like many a greater man, a man of the one idea. Wherefore, when the… ... Read more
The Passing of Marcus O’Brien 1891 - "It is the judgment of this court that you vamose the camp . . . in the customary way, sir,… ... Read more
The Pen 1891 - For two days I toiled in the prison-yard. It was heavy work, and, in spite of the fact that I… ... Read more
The Priestly Prerogative 1891 - This is the story of a man who did not appreciate his wife; also, of a woman who did him… ... Read more