how does jack london build suspence in white fang

Part I opens as London vividly describes the "wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild." Two men, Henry and Bill, struggle to pull the long, narrow coffin of Lord Alfred on a dog sled through the cold, desolate terrain. Dressed in fur and leather, their faces are completely covered in frozen crystals. As Bill and Henry travel through the frozen, snow covered territory they notice the wolves following a little closer every day.