The Call of the Wild 
by Jack London

1  To the north

  

Buck did not read the newspapers He did not know that trouble was coming for every big dog in California Men had found gold in the Yukon and these men wanted big strong dogs to work in the cold and snow of the north

Buck lived in Mr Miller's big house in the sunny Santa Clara valley There were large gardens and fields of fruit trees around the house and a river nearby In a big place like thisof course there were many dogs There were house dogs and farm dogs but they were not importantBuck was chief doghe was born here and this was his place He was four years old and weighed sixty kilos He went swimming with Mr Miller's sonsand walking with his daughters He carried the grandchildren on his back and he sat at Mr Miller's feet in front of the fire in winter

But this was 1897 and Buck did not know that men and dogs were hurrying to north-west Canada to look for goldAnd he did not know that Manuel one of Mr Miller's gardeners needed money for his large family One daywhen Mr Miller was out Manuel and Buck left the garden togetherIt was just an evening walk Buck thoughtNo one saw them go and only one man saw them arrive at the railway stationThis man talked to Manuel and gave him some money Then he tied a piece of rope around Buck's neck

Buck growled and was surprised when the rope was pulled hard around his neckHe jumped at the manThe man caught him and suddenly Buck was on his back with his tongue out of his mouth For a few moments he was unable to move and it was easy for the two men to put him into the train

When Buck woke up the train was still moving The man was sitting and watching him but Buck was too quick for him and he bit the man's hand hardThen the rope was pulled again and Buck had to let go

That evening the man took Buck to the back room of a bar in San Francisco The barman looked at the man's hand and trousers covered in blood

How much are they paying you for thishe asked

I only get fifty dollars

And the man who stole himhow much did he get asked the barman

A hundred He wouldn't take less

That makes a hundred and fifty It's a good price for a dog like him Here help me to get him into this

They took off Buck's rope and pushed him into a wooden box He spent the night in the box in the back room of the bar His neck still ached with pain from the rope and he could not understand what it all meant  What did they want with him these strange men And where was Mr Miller

The next day Buck was carried in the box to the railway station and put on a train

to the north

For two days and nights the train travelled north and for two days and nights Buck neither ate nor drank Men on the train laughed at him and pushed sticks at him through the holes in the box For two days and nights Buck got angrier and hungrier and thirsti-er His eyes grew red and he bit anything that moved

In Seattle four men took Buck to a small highwalled back garden where a fat man in an old red coat was waiting Buck was now very angry indeed and hejumped and bit at the sides of his box The fat man smiled and went to get an axe and a club

Are you going to take him out now asked one of the men Of course answered the fat man and he began to break the box with his axe

Immediately the four other men climbed up onto the wall to watch from a safe place

As the fat man hit the box with his axe Buck jumped at the sides growling and biting pulling with his teeth at the pieces of broken wood After a few minutes there was a hole big enough for Buck to get out  Now come here red eyes said the fat man dropping his axe and taking the club in his right hand

Buck jumped at the man sixty kilos of anger his mouth wide open ready to bite the man's neck Just before his teeth touched the skin the man hit him with the club Buck fell to the ground It was the first time anyone had hit him with a club and he did not understand He stood up and jumped again Again the club hit him and he crashed to the groundTen times he jumped at the man and ten times the club hit him Slowly he got to his feet now only just able to standThere was blood on his nose and mouth and ears Then the fat man walked up and hit him again very hard on the noseThe pain was terrible Again Buck jumped at the man and again he was hit to the groundA last time he jumped and this time when the man knocked him down Buck did not move

He knows how to teach a dog a lesson said one of the men on the wall Then the four men jumped down and went back to the station

His name is Bucksaid the fat man to himself reading the letter that had come with the boxWell Buck my byhe said in a friendly voicewe've argued a little and I think the best thing to do now is to stop Be a good dog and we'll be friends But if you're a bad dog I'll have to use my club againUnderstand

As he spoke he touched Buck s head and although Buck was angry inside he did not move When the man brought him water and meat Buck drank and then ate the meat piece by piece from the man's hand

Buck was beatenhe knew that but he was not broken He had learnt that a man with a club was stronger than himEvery day he saw more dogs arrive and each dog was beaten by the fat man Buck understood that a man with a club must be obeyed although he did not have to be a friend

Men came to see the fat man and to look at the dogs Some-times they paid money and left with one or more of the dogsOne day a short dark man came and looked at Buck

That's a good dog he criedHow much do you want for him

Three hundred dollars It's a good price Perraultsaid the fat man

Perrault smiled and agreed that it was a good price He knew dogs and he knew that Buck was an excellent dog

One in ten thousand Perrault said to himself

Buck saw money put into the fat man s hand and he was not surprised when he and another dog called Curly were taken away by Perrault He took them to a ship and later that day Buck and Curly stood and watched the coast get further and further awayThey had seen the warm south for the last time

Perrault took Buck and Curly down to the bottom of the ship There they met another man Francois Perrault was a FrenchCanadian but Francois was halfIndiantall and darkBuck learnt quickly that Perrault and Francois were fair mencalm and honest And they knew everything about dogs

There were two other dogs on the shipOne was a big dog called Spitz as white as snow He was friendly to Buck at first always smiling He was smiling when he tried to steal Buck s food at the first meal Francois was quick and hit Spitz before Buck had time to move Buck decided that this was fair and began to like Francois a little

Dave the other dog was not friendly He wanted to be alone all the time He ate and slept and was interested in nothing

One day was very like another but Buck noticed that the weather was getting colder One morning the ship's engines stopped and there was a feeling of excitement in the shipFrancois leashed the dogs and took them outside At the first step Buck's feet went into something soft and white He jumped back in surprise The soft white thing was also falling through the air and it fell onto him He tried to smell it and then caught some on his tongue It bit like fire and then dis appeared He tried again and the same thing happened People were watching him and laughing and Buck felt ashamedalthough he did not know why It was his first snow

2  The law of club and tooth

  

Buck's first day at Dyea Beach was terrible Every hour there was some new frightening surprise There was no peace no restonly continual noise and movement And every minute there was danger because these dogs and men were not town dogs and men They knew only the law of club and tooth

Buck had never seen dogs fight like these dogs they were like wolves In a few minutes he learnt this from watching Curly She tried to make friends with a dog a big one although not as big as she was There was no warning The dog jumped on Curly his teeth closed together then he jumped awayand Curly's face was torn open from eye to mouth

Wolves fight like thisbiting and jumping awaybut the fight did not finish then Thirty or forty more dogs ran up and made a circle around the fight watching silently Curly tried to attack the dog who had bitten her he bit her a second time and jumped away When she attacked him again he knocked her backwards and she fell on the ground She never stood up again because this was what the other dogs were waiting for They moved in and in a moment she was under a crowd of dogs

It was all very sudden Buck saw Spitz run out from the crowd with his tongue out of his mouth laughing Then he saw Francois with an axe and two or three other men with clubs jump in among the dogs Two minutes later the last of the dogs was chased away But Curly lay dead in the snowher body torn almost to piecesCurly's death often came backto Buck in his dreams He understood that once a dog was down on the ground he was dead He also remembered Spitz laughing and from that moment he hated him

Then Buck had another surprise Francois put a harness on him Buck had seen harnesses on horses and now he was made to work like a horse pulling Francois on a sledge into the forest and returning with wood for the fire Buck worked with Spitz and DaveThe two other dogs had worked in a harness before and Buck learnt by watching them He also learnt to stop and turn when Francois shouted

Those three are very good dogsFrancois told PerraultThat Buck pulls very well and he's learning quickly

Perrault had important letters and official papers to take to Dawson City so that afternoon he bought two more dogs two brothers called Billee and JoeBillee was very friendly but Joe was the opposite In the evening Perrault bought one more dog an old dog with one eye His name was Sol-leks which means The Angry One Like Dave he made no friends all he wanted was to be alone

That night Buck discovered another problem Where was he going to sleepFrancois and Perrault were in their tent but when he went in they shouted angrily and threw things at himOutside it was very cold and windy He lay down in the snow but he was too cold to sleep

He walked around the tents trying to find the other dogsBut to his surprise they had disappeared He walked around Perrault's tentvery very cold wondering what to do Sud-denly the snow under his feet fell in and he felt something move He jumped back waiting for the attack but heard on-ly a friendly bark There in a warm hole under the snowwas Billee

So that was what you had to do Buck chose a place dug himself a hole and in a minute he was warm and asleep He slept well although his dreams were bad

When he woke up at first he did not know where he wasIt had snowed in the night and the snow now lay thick and heavy above him Suddenly he was afraidthe fear of a wild animal when it is caught and cannot escape Growling he threw himself at the snow and a moment later he had jumped upwards into the daylight He saw the tents and remembered everything from the time he had gone for a walk with Manuel to the moment he had dug the hole the night before What did I say shouted Francois to Perrault when he saw Buck come up out of the snowThat Buck learns quickly

Perrault smiled slowly He was carrying important papersand he needed good dogs He was very pleased to have Buck

They bought three more dogs that morning and a quarter of an hour later all nine dogs were in harness and on their way up the Dyea Canyon Buck was not sorry to be moving and although it was hard work he almost enjoyed it He was also surprised to see that Dave and Solleks no longer looked bored and miserablePulling in a harness was their job and they were happy to do it

Dave was sledgedog the dog nearest to the sledgeIn front of him was Buck then came Sol-leks In front of them were the six other dogs with Spitz as leader at the front Francois had put Buck between Dave and Solleks because they could teach him the workBuck learnt welland they were good teachers When Buck pulled the wrong way Dave always bit his leg but only lightly Once when they stopped Buck got tied up in his harness and it took ten minutes to get started againBoth Dave and Solleks gave him a good beating for that mistake Buck understood and was more careful after that

It was a hard day's journey up the Dyea Canyon and into the mountains They camped that night at Lake BennettHere there were thousands of gold minersThey were building boats to sail up the lake when the ice melted in the springBuck made his hole in the snow and slept well but was woken up very early and harnessed to the sledge The first day they had travelled on snow that had been hardened by many sledges and they covered sixty kilometres But the next day and for days afterwards they were on new snow The work was harder and they went slowly Usually Perrault went in fronton snowshoes flattening the snow a little for the dogsFrancois stayed by the sledge Sometimes the two men changed places but there were many small lakes and riversand Perrault understood ice better He always knew when the ice across a river was very thin

Day after day Buck pulled in his harnessThey started in the morning before it was light and they stopped in the evening after dark ate a piece of fish and went to sleep in their holes under the snow Buck was always hungry Francoisgave him 750 grams of dried fish a day and it was never enough The other dogs were given only 500 grams they were smaller and could stay dive on less food

Buck learnt to eat quickly if he was too slow the other dogs stole his food He saw Pike one of the new dogs steal some meat from the sledge when Perrault wasn't lookingThe next day Buck stole some and got away unseen Perrault was very angry but he thought another dog Dub had taken it and so punished him instead of Buck

Buck was learning how to live in the north In the south he had never stolen but there he had never been so hungry He stole cleverly and secretly remembering the beatings from the man with the club

Buck was learning the law of club and tooth

He learnt to eat any foodanything that he could get his teeth into He learnt to break the ice on water holes with his feet when he wanted to drink He was stronger harder and could see and smell better than ever before In a wayhe was remembering back to the days when wild dogs travelled in packs through the forest killing for meat as they wentIt was easy for him to learn to fight like a wolf because it was in his blood In the evenings when he pointed his nose at the moon and howled long and loud he was remembering the dogs and wolves that had come before him



3  The wild animal

  

The wild animal was strong in Buck and as he travelled across the snow it grew stronger and stronger And as Buck grew stronger he hated Spitz more and more although he was careful never to start a fight

But Spitz was always showing his teeth to Buck trying to start a fight And Buck knew that if he and Spitz fought one of them would die

The fight almost happened one night when they stopped by Lake LabergeThere was heavy snow and it was very coldThe lake was frozen and Francois Perrault and the dogs had to spend the night on the ice under a big rock Buck had made a warm hole in the snow and was sorry to leave it to get his piece of fish But when he had eaten and returned to his hole he found Spitz in it Buck had tried not to fight Spitz before but this was too much He attacked him angrily Spitz was surprised He knew Buck was big but he didn t know he was so wild Francois was surprised too and guessed why Buck was angry Go on Buck he shoutedFight him the dirty thief

Spitz was also ready to fight and the two dogs circled one another looking for the chance to jump in But suddenly there was a shout from Perrault and they saw eighty or a hundred dogs around the sledge The dogs came from an Indian villageand they were searching for the food that they could smell on the sledge Perrault and Francois tried to fight them off with their clubs but the dogs made crazy by the smell of the foodshowed their teeth and fought back

Buck had never seed dogs like these They were all skin and bone but hunger made them fight like wild thingsThree of them attacked Buck and in seconds his head and legs were badly bittenDave and Sol-leks stood side by sidecovered in bloodfighting bravely Joe and Pike jumped on one dogand Pike broke its neck with one biteBuck caught another dog by the neck and tasted blood He threw himself on the next oneand then felt teeth in his own neckIt was Spitzattacking him from the side

Perrault and Francois came to help with clubs but then they had to run back to save the food  It was safer for the nine sledgedogs to run away across the lake Several of them were badly hurt and they spent an unhappy night hiding among the tress

At first light they returned to the sledge and found Perrault and Francois tired and angryHalf their food was goneThe Indian dogs had even eaten one of Perrault's shoesFrancois looked at his dogs unhappily

Ah my friendshe said softlyPerhaps those bites will make you illWhat do you think Perrault

Perrault said nothing They still had six hundred kilometres to travel and he hoped very much that his sledgedogs had not caught rabies from the Indian dogs

The harness was torn and damaged and it was two hours before they were moving travelling slowly and painfully over the most difficult country that they had been in

The Thirty Mile River was not frozen It ran too fast to freeze They spent six days trying to find a place to cross and every step was dangerous for dogs and men Twelve times they found ice bridges across the river and Perrault walked carefully onto them holding a long piece of wood And twelve times he fell through a bridge and was saved by the piece of wood which caught on the sides of the holeBut the tempera-ture was 45 below zero and each time Perrault fell into the water he had to light a fire to dry and warm himself Oncethe sledge fell through the ice with Dave and Buck and they were covered in ice by the time Perrault and Francois pulled them out of the riverAgain a fire was needed to save themAnother time Spitz and the dogs in front fell through the iceBuck and Dave and Francois at the sledge had to pull backwardsThat day they travelled only four hundred metres

When they got to the Hootalinqua and good ice Buck and the other dogs were very very tired But they were late so Perrault made them run faster In three days they went a hundred and eighty kilometres and reached the Five Fingers

The other dogs had hard feet from years of pulling sledgesbut Buck's feet were still soft from his easy life down southAll day he ran painfully and when they camped for the nighthe lay down like a dead dogHe was hungrybut he was too tired to walk to the fish so Francois brought it to himOne day Francois made four little shoes for him and this made Buck much more comfortable Francois forgot the shoes one morning and Buck refused to move He lay on his back with his feet in the air until Francois put the shoes on Later his feet grew harder and the shoes were not needed

One morning at the Pelly River a dog called Delly went suddenly mad She howled long and loud like a wolf and then jumped at Buck Buck ran with Dolly one step behind himShe could not catch him but he could not escape from herThey ran half a kilometre and then Buck heard Francois call to him He turned and ran towards the man sure that Francois would save him Francois stood holding his axeand as Buck passed the axe crashed down on Dolly's head

Buck fell down by the sledge too tired to move Immedi-ately Spitz attacked him and bit his helpless enemy twice as hard as he could But Francois saw this and gave Spitz a terrible beating for it

He's a wild dog that Spitzsaid PerraultOne day he'll kill Buck

Buck is wilderreplied FrancoisI've been watching him One day he'll get very angry and he'll fight Spitz and he'll win Francois was right Buck wanted to be lead-dogSpitz knew this and hated him Buck started to help the other dogs when Spitz punished them for being lazyOne morning Pike refused to get up and Spitz looked for him everywhere When he found him he jumped at himBut suddenly Buck attacked Spitz The other dogs saw this and it became more and more difficult for Spitz to lead themBut the days passed without a chance for a fight and soon they were pulling into Dawson City on a cold grey afternoon

They stayed in Dawson for seven days When they leftPerrault was carrying some more very important papers and he wanted to travel back as fast as possible

They travelled eighty kilometres the first day and the same the second But it was difficult work for Francois Buck and Spitz hated each other and the other dogs were not afraid of Spitz any more One night Pike stole half a fish from Spitzand ate it standing next to Buck And every time Buck went near Spitz he growled and the hair on his back stood up angri-ly The other dogs fought in their harnesses and Francois often had to stop the sledgeHe knew that Buck was the problembut Buck was too clever for him and Francois never saw him actually starting a fight

One night in camp the dogs saw a snow rabbit and in a sec-ond they were all chasing it with Spitz in front Nearby was another camp with fifty dogs who also Joined the chase The rabbit was running fast on top of the snow but the snow was soft and it was more difficult for the dogs When Spitz caught the rabbit throwing it in the air with his teeth Buck was just behind Spitz stopped and Buck hit him very hard The two dogs fell in the snow Spitz bit Buck very quickly twice and then jumped away watching carefully

The time had come and Buck knew that either he or Spitz must die They watched one another circling slowly Themoon was shining brightly on the snow and in the cold still air not a leaf moved on the trees The other dogs finished eating the rabbit and then turned to watch

Spitz was a good fighter He was full of hate and anger but he was also intelligent Every time Buck tried to bite his throat he met Spitz's own teeth Then each time Buck attacked Spitz moved and bit him on the side as he passedAfter a few minutesBuck was covered in blood

He attacked again but this time turned at the last minute and went under Spitz biting his left front leg The bone broke and Spitz was standing on three legs Buck tried to knock Spitz down and then repeated his earlier attack and broke Spitz's right front leg

There was no hope for Spitz now Buck got ready for his final attack while the circle of sixty dogs watched and crowded nearer and nearer waiting for the end At last Buck jumped in and out and Spitz went down in the snow A second later the waiting pack was on top of him and Spitz had disappeared Buck stood and watched The wild animal had made its kill

  
4  The new lead-dog

  

Well what did I say Buck s a real fighterall right said Francois the next morning when he discovered that Spitz had disappeared and that Buck was covered in blood

Spitz fought like a wolfsaid Perrault as he looked at the bites all over Buck

And Buck fought like ten wolves answered FrancoisAnd we'll travel faster now No more Spitz no more trouble

Francois started to harness the dogs He needed a new leaddog and decided that Sol-leks was the best dog that he hadBut Buck jumped at Solleks and took his place

Look at Buck said Francois laughingHe's killed Spitz and now he wants to be leaddog Go away Buck

He pulled Buck away and tried to harness Solleks againSol-leks was unhappy too He was frightened of Buck and when Francois turned his back Buck took Sol-leks place again Now Francois was angry

I'll show you he cried and went to get a heavy club from the sledge

Buck remembered the man in the red coat and moved away This time when Sol-leks was harnessed as lead-dogBuck did not try to move in He kept a few metres away and circled around Francois carefully But when Francois called him to his old place in front of Dave Buck refused He had won his fight with Spitz and he wanted to be leaddog

For an hour the two men tried to harness him Buck did not run away but he did not let them catch him FinallyFrancois sat down and Perrault looked at his watchIt was getting lateThe two men looked at one another and smiled Francois walked up to Sol-leks took off his harness led him back and harnessed him in his old placeThen he called BuckAll the other dogs were harnessed and the only empty place was now the one at the front But Buck did not move

Put down the club said Perrault

Francois dropped the club and immediately Buck came up to the front of the teamFrancois harnessed him and in a minute the sledge was moving

Buck was an excellent leader He moved and thought quickly and led the other dogs well A new leader made no difference to Dave and Sol-leks they continued to pull hard But the other dogs had had an easy life when Spitz was leadingThey were surprised when Buck made them work hard and punished them for their mistakes Pike the second dogwas usually lazy but by the end of the first day he was pulling harder than he had ever pulled in his life The first night in camp Buck fought Joe another difficult dog and after that there were no more problems with him The team started to pull together and to move faster and faster

I've never seen a dog like Buckcried FrancoisNeverHe's worth a thousand dollars What do you thinkPerrault

Perrault agreedThey were moving quickly and covering more ground every day The snow was good and hard and no new snow fellThe temperature dropped to 45 below zeroand didn't change

This time there was more ice on the Thirty Mile River and they crossed in a daySome days they ran a hundred kilometres or even more They reached Skagway in fourteen daysthe fastest time ever

For three days the dogs rested in SkagwayThen Francois put his arms around Buck's neck and said goodbye to himAnd that was the last of Francois and Perrault Like other men they passed out of Buck's life for ever

Two new men took Buck and his team back north on the long journey to Dawsontravelling with several other dogteams It was heavy work the sledge was loaded with letters for the gold miners of Dawson Buck did not like it but he worked hard and made the other dogs work hard too Each day was the same They started early before it was light and at night they stopped and camped and the dogs ateFor the dogs this was the best part of the day first eating then resting by the fire

Buck liked to lie by the fire looking at the burning woodSometimes he thought about Mr Miller's house in CaliforniaMore of ten he remembered the man in the red coat and his club the death of Curly the fight with Spitz and the good things that he had eaten But sometimes he remembered other things These were things that he remembered through his parents and his parents parents and all the dogs which had lived before him

Sometimes as he lay there he seemed to see in a waking dream a different fire And he saw next to him not the Indian cook but another man a man with shorter legs and longer arms This man had long hair and deep eyes and madestrange noises in his throat He was very frightened of the darkand looked around him all the time holding a heavy stone in his hand He wore the skin of an animal on his backand Buck could see thick hair all over his body

Buck sat by the fire with this hairy man and in the circling darkness beyond the fire he could see many eyesthe eyes of hungry animals waiting to attack And he growled softly in his dream until the Indian cook shoutedHey Buck wake upThen the strange world disappeared and Buck's eyes saw the real fire again

When they reached Dawson the dogs were tired and needed a week's rest But in two days they were moving south again with another heavy load of letters Both dogs and men were unhappy It snowed every day as well and on soft new snow it was harder work pulling the sledges

The men took good care of their dogsIn the evenings the dogs ate firstthe men secondand they always checked the dogs feet before they slept But every day the dogs became weakerBuck had pulled sledges for three thousand kilometres that winter and he was as tired as the others

But Dave was not only tired he was ill Every evening he lay down the minute after the sledge stopped and did not stand up until morning The men looked at him but they could find no broken bones Something was wrong inside

One day he started to fall down while in his harness The sledge stopped and the driver took him out of his harness He wanted to give him a rest and let him run free behind the sledge But Dave did not want to stop working He hated to see another dog doing his work so he ran along beside the sledge trying to push Sol-leks out of his place When the sledge made its next stop

Dave bit through Sol-leks harness and pushed him away Then he stood there in his old place in front of the sledge waiting for his harness and the order to start pulling

The driver decided it was kinder to let him work Dave pulled all day but the next morning he was too weak to moveThe driver harnessed up without Dave and drove a few hun-dred metres Then he stopped took his gun and walked back The dogs heard a shot and then the man came quickly back The sledge started to move again but Buck knew and every dog knew what had happened

5  More hard work

  

Thirty days after leaving Dawson City the team arrived back in Skagway They were very very tired Buck now weighed only fifty kilograms and the other dogs were also very thin

They were not ill they just needed a long long rest But at Skagway there were mountains of letters waiting to go northso the men had to buy new strong dogs The old ones now useless for work were sold

Two American men called Hal and Charles bought Buck and his team together with the harness Charles was forty years old with light hair and watery blue eyes Hal was a young man of twenty with a big shiny gun and a big knife in his belt These things more than anything showed how young he was Both men were clearly new to the north and its hard and dangerous life

They took the dogs back to their untidy camp where a woman was waiting This was MercedesCharles's wife and Hal's sister

Buck watched the men take down the tent and load all their luggage on the sledge They didn't know how to do it sensibly and every time they put something on the sledgeMercedes moved it Often they had to take things off the sledge and start again

Three men came up and watched laughing

You've got a heavy load on that sledge said one of them Why don't you leave the tent here in Skagway

How could we live without a tent asked Mercedesthrowing up her hands in the air

It's spring nowYou won't have any more cold weather

I must have a tentshe answered and helped Charles and Hal with the last few boxes

Do you think that load will stay onasked another man

Why shouldn't it asked Charles

Well it's a bit heavy on top Do you think your dogs will be able to pull that

Of course they willsaid Hal The sledge was now ready to go Come ondogs pull he shouted 

The dogs pulled as hard as they could but the sledge did not move

The lazy animalsshouted Hal picking up his whip

But Mercedes stopped him Oh Hal you mustn't she cried pulling the whip away from him The poor dogsYou must promise to be nice to them or I'm staying here

You know nothing about dogs answered Hal Leave me alone Dogs are lazy and you have to whip them Everybody knows that Ask those men if you don't believe me

Mercedes turned and looked at the watching men

They re tired if you really want to know said one of them They ve been working very hard and they need a rest

Restlaughed HalThese stupid dogs are just lazy

Now Mercedes decided that her brother was rightDon't listen to that manshe said You're driving our dogs and you do what you think is best

Now Hal used his whip on the dogs. They pulled and pulledbut the sledge stayed where it wasHal was still using his whip when Mercedes stopped him again and put her arms around Buck

You poorpoor dearsshe saidWhy don't you pull hardthen nobody will whip you

One of the men watching now spoke againI don't care what happens to you he saidbut I'm sorry for the dogsThe sledge is frozen to the snowand you'll have to break it out Push it from one side to the other to break the ice

Hal tried againbut this time he broke the ice under the sledgeThe heavy sledge started to move slowlyBuck and his team pulling hard under the whipAfter a hundred metres they had to turn into another streetIt was a difficult turn with a top-heavy loadand Hal was not a good driverAs they turnedthe sledge went over onto its sidethrowing boxes and packets into the streetThe dogs didn't stop The sledge was not so heavy now and they pulled it easily on its sideThe whip had made them angry and they started to runHal cried Stop but the dogs continued through Skagwayand the rest of the luggage fell off as they ran

People helped to catch the dogs and to pick up all the things from the street They also told the men that if they wanted to reach Dawsonthey needed twice as many dogs and half as much luggageHal and Charles went back to the camp and started to look at the luggage and throw things awayTentblankets and plates were taken outMercedes cried when most of her clothes wentWhen they had finishedMercedes was still cryingthere was a lot of luggage on the roadand there was still a lot to go on the sledge

Then Charles and Hal went out and bought six more dogsso they now had fourteen But the new dogs were not real sledgedogs and they knew nothing about the workCharles and Hal put them into harness but Buck could not teach them how to pull a sledgeSo now there were six dogs who couldn't pull at all and eight who were tired after pulling for four thousand kilometresBut Charles and Hal were happyThey had more dogs than any sledge that they had seen at SkagwayThey didn t know that no sledge could carry enough food for fourteen dogs

The next morning Buck led the team up the streetThey moved slowly because they were tired before they startedBuck had pulled to Dawson and back twiceand he didn't want to do it againHe had watched Hal and Charles and Mercedes and he saw that they didn't know how to do any thingAndas the days passedhe saw that they could not learnIt took them half the evening to get everything ready for the nightand it took them half the morning to get ready to leave And when they did start they often had to stop because something had fallen off the sledgeOn some days they travelled twenty kilometres and on some days only ten

They didn't have enough dog food when they startedand they used what they had much too quicklyHal gave the dogs extra food because he wanted them to pull harderMercedes gave them extra food because she was sorry for themBut it was not food that they wantedbut rest

Soon Hal saw that they had travelled only a quarter of the way to Dawsonbut had eaten half their foodHe had to give the dogs less food It was easy to give them less foodbut it was impossible to make them travel faster

Dub had pulled hard and well all the way from Skagwaybut he had hurt his legIt got worse and worse until finally Hal had to shoot himThe six new dogsnow weak and ill from hunger and hard workdied next

HalCharlesand Mercedes had started the journey happilybut now they were tiredcross and miserableCharles and Hal argued about everythingbecause each thought that he was working harder than the otherAnd Mer cedes was unhappy because she thought that she shouldn't have to workShe was tiredso she rode on the sledgemak ing the work even harder for the dogsShe rode for daysuntil the dogs could not move the sledgeThe men asked her to walkbut she would not leave the sledgeOne day they lifted her offShe sat in the snow and did not moveThey went off with the sledge and travelled five kilometresThen they turnedwent backand lifted her on again

Buck and the other dogs were now just skin and boneThey pulled when they couldand when they couldn't they lay down in the snowWhen they were whippedthey stood up and tried to pull again

One day Billee fell and could not stand upHal killed him and threw him into the snow Buck and the other dogs knew that soon they were going to dietooOn the next day Koona diedand there were only five dogs leftJoePikeSolleks the oneeyedTeekand Buck

It was beautiful spring weatherThe snow and ice were meltingthe plants were growingand the forest animals were waking from their winter sleepIt was a lovely morning when the two men and the five dogs pulling Mercedes on the sledgecame into John Thornton's camp at White RiverThey stoppedand the dogs dropped down immediately to rest

John Thornton was mending an axeand he went on working as he talked to Hal

Is it safe to cross the river hereasked Hal

Nothe ice is too thinIt's much too dangerousanswered Thornton

People have told us that beforelaughed Halbut we got here with no problems

Only somebody very stupid would cross the White River heresaid Thornton

That's what you thinksaid HalBut we've got to get to DawsonHe pickd up his whipCome onBuckGet up nowLet's go

Thornton went on workingHe had warned thembut he knew he couldn't stop these stupid men from going on

But Buck didn't get upSol-leks stood up slowlythen Teek and Joeand finally PikeBut Buck stayed where he wasThe whip came down on him again and againThornton started to speakthen stoppedand began to walk up and down

Hal now put down his whip and started to hit Buck with a clubBut Buck had decided not to get upHe had felt thin ice under his feet all day and he saw thin ice in front of himThe club hit him again and againbut Buck felt almost nothing

Then suddenly with a wild cryJohn Thornton jumped on Halthrowing him backwardsMercedes screamed

If you hit that dog againI11 kill youThornton shouted

He's my dogHal repliedThere was blood on his faceGet out of my wayor I11 hit youtooI'm going to Dawson

Thornton stood between Hal and Buck and did not moveHal took out his long knifebut Thornton knocked it out of his handMercedes screamed againThen Thornton picked up Hal's knife and cut Buck out of the harness

Hal didn't want to fightand Buck was not worth fighting forhe was nearly dead Hal started the sledge and went down towards the riverBuck lifted his head and watched the sledge move awayPike was leadingand JoeTeek and Solleks were behind himHal was walking in front of the sledge and Mercedes was riding on itCharles was walking behind

As Buck watchedThornton felt his body with gentle handssearching for broken bonesBuck was very thinvery tired and very weakbut Thornton didn't think he was going to dieThen both dog and man watched the sledge as it went slowly out on to the ice in the middle of the riverSuddenly the back of the sledge went down and the front went up into the air Mercedes screamedand Charles turned and took one step back Then a big piece of ice broke offand dogssledge and people disappearedthere was only a big hole in the ice

John Thornton and Buck looked at one another

You poor thingsaid John Thorntonand Buck licked his hand

6  For the love of a man

  

John Thornton had been ill in Decemberand his two friends had had to leave him at White River and go on to DawsonThey left him in the camp with plenty of food and with his two dogsSkeet and BlackieNow the spring had comeand he was almost wellHe lay in the sun by the river with Buckwatching the water and listening to the birdsslowly getting stronger and stronger

A rest is very welcome after running five thousand kilome tresand Buck slowly got fatter and strongerIt was a peace fullazy time for both man and dogs while they waited for Thornton's friends to return from Dawson

Skeet made friends with Buck immediatelyand while Buck was still very ill every morning she washed his cuts carefully with her tongueBlackietoowas friendlyand as Buck grew strongerthe three dogs often played games togetherSometimes Thornton joined the games too

The days passed very happilyand for the first timeBuck learned to loveHe had never loved a man beforeHe and Mr Miller in the Santa Clara valley had been very good friendsbut Buck had not loved himJohn Thornton had saved his lifebut he was also a man who was naturally kind to animalsHe took very good care of his dogsnot because it was sensible to do that but because he felt they were his children He was always talking to Buckholding his head and shaking it lovinglyIn answerBuck liked to take Thornton's hand gently in his mouth

Buck was happy to lie on the ground all day and watch Thornton And when Thornton spoke to him or touched himBuck went wild with happiness At first he was afraid that Thornton was going to disappearlike Perrault and Francoisand at night he sometimes woke up and went to the tent to make sure that he was still there

But something was changing in BuckHe had lived in the north a long time nowand he was almost a wild dogHe was happy to sit by Thornton's firebut he sat as a wild animaland his dreams were filled with other animalsdogs half wolvesand wild wolvesThey seemed to call him into the forestand sometimes Buck wanted to leave the fire and answer the callBut every time he went into the treeshis love for Thornton brought him back

It was only Thornton who stopped him going into the forestOther men did not interest himVisitors to the camp tried to make friends with himbut Buck stayed coldWhen Thornton's two friendsHans and Petearrived from DawsonBuck refused to notice them at firstThen he saw that they were friends of Thornton's and after that he accept ed thembut they were not his friends They werelike Thorntonkind menand they understood that Buck loved Thorntonand him alone

Thorntontoounderstood BuckOne dayBuck and the three men were sitting on some high rocks a hundred metres above the riverThornton wondered if Buck would obey any order even a crazy oneJumpBuckhe shoutedpointing down to the riverA second later the three men were holding Buck back as he tried to jump

That was very strangesaid Pete when they had sat down again

Not strangewonderfulsaid ThorntonTerribletooSometimes it frightens me

YesI feel sorry for any man who hits you when Buck's nearsaid Pete

So do Isaid Hans

It happened in the autumn in Circle CityA man called Bur ton was starting a fight with another man in a barThornton stepped between them to try to stop themBuck wasas usuallying in the corner watchingBurton hit Thornton and he nearly felljust catching a tableBuck flew through the air at Burton's throatBurton saved his life by putting up his armand was thrown on to the groundwith Buck on top of himBuck took his teeth out of the man's arm and this time bit into his throatThen a crowd of people pulled Buck offand a doctor was calledEveryone agreed that Buck had only attacked because he saw Thornton in dangerand from that day Buck's name became famous all over the north

Later that yearBuck saved Thornton in a different wayThe three men were taking a boat down a fast and rocky riverThornton was in the boatwhile Hans and Pete moved along the river bankholding the boat with a ropeBuck followed themkeeping a worried eye on Thornton

They came to a more dangerous part of the river and the boat started to go too quicklyHans pulled on the rope to stop itand pulled too hardThe boat turned overand Thornton was thrown into the water and carried down river towards rocks where no swimmer could live

Buck jumped in immediately and swam three hundred me tres until he reached ThorntonThen he turnedand with Thornton holding his tailBuck swam towards the river bankBut they moved slowlyand all the time the river was carrying them towards the place where the water crashed twenty metres down onto rocksThornton knew that they would not get to the bank quickly enoughso he let go of Buckheld on to a rock in the middle of the waterand shoutedGoBuckgo

Buck swam as hard as he could to the bankand Pete and Hans pulled him out

It was hard for Thornton to hold on to his rock in that wild waterand his friends knew they had only a few minutes to save himThey tied their rope round Buckwho at once jumped into the river and tried to swim to ThorntonThe first timethe water took him past the rockand Pete and Hans had to pull him back The second timehe swam higher up the riverand the water brought him down to ThorntonThornton held on to Buckand Hans and Pete pulled the rope as hard as they couldMan and dog disappeared under the waterbanging into rocksturning over and oversometimes with Buck on topsometimes ThorntonWhen Hans and Pete finally pulled them outboth seemed more dead than alive But after a while their eyes opened and life returned

That winterat DawsonBuck did something that made him even more famous in the northIt was also very helpful to the three menThey wanted to make a journey to look for gold in the eastand they needed moneyThey were in a bar one day when some of the men started to talk about dogsOne man said that he had a dog who was strong enough to pull a sledge with two hundred kilos on itAnother said his dog could pull two hundred and fiftyA third mancalled Matthewsonsaid his dog could pull three hundred kilos

That's nothingsaid ThorntonBuck can pull three hundred and fifty

 Can he break the sledge out when it's frozen to the ice and then start it movingAnd pull it a hundred metres asked Matthewson

He can break it outand start itand pull it a hundred metressaid Thornton

Wellsaid Matthewsonspeaking slowly and loudlyI've got a thousand dollars hereand I say he can't As he spokehe took a bag of gold and put it down on the table

Suddenly Thornton was worriedHe knew Buck was strongbut was he strong enough Now ten men were watching him and waitingHe didn't have a thousand dollarsand neither did Hans or Pete

I've got a sledge outside with three hundrd and fifty kilos on itsaid MatthewsonSo it's easy if you want to try

Thornton didn't know what to sayHe looked at the other men in the barOne of them was an old friendJim OBrien

Can yon lend me a thousand dollarsJimhe asked softly

Suresaid OBrienputting another bag of gold next to Matthewson'sBut I don't think the dog can do itJohn

Everybody went out into the streetThere were two or three hundred men around Matthewson's sledgeThe sledge had been outside the bar for two hoursand it was frozen to the icein a temperature of 50below zeroMost of the men thought that Buck was not strong enoughand Matthewson smiled happily

Shall we make it two thousand dollarshe asked

ThorntonHans and Pete talked for a minuteThey had only four hundred dollarsbut they added this to OBrien's thousandMatthewsonvery sure of winningalso put down another four hundred dollars

Matthewson's ten dogs were taken awayand Buckwho could feel the excitement in the airwas harnessed to the sledgeBuck waswithout questiona very fine animalbright-eyedintelligenthis thick coat shining with healthAnd he looked as strong as a horse

One man went up to ThorntonI'll buy him nowhe saidI11 give you eight hundred dollars for him

Thornton shook his head and sat down on the snow next to BuckHe held Buck's head in his hands and spoke softly into his earIf you love meBuckIf you love me

Buck took Thornton's hand between his teeththen let goand Thornton stood up and stepped back

ReadyBuckhe said

Buck pulled on the harness a little getting ready

Rightcried Thornton

Buck pulled to the righthardstopped suddenlyand the ice under the sledge began to break

Nowleftcalled Thorntonand Buck pulled to the leftbreaking more of the ice

Nowpull

Buck threw himself against his harnessand pulledHe held his body low to the groundhis head down and forwardand his feet dug into the hard snowHarder and harder he pulledSuddenlythe sledge moved a centimetretwothreeandlittle by littleit started to go forward across the snowWith each second it went a little fasterand Thornton ran be hindcalling to Buck as he pulled the sledge towards the end of the hundred metresThe watching men were shouting and throwing their hats in the airBuck had won

Then Thornton was on the snow next to Buck againtalking to himand Buck had Thornton's hand in his teeth

  
7  The call of the wild

  

In five minutes Buck had made fourteen hundred dollars  for Thornton and his friendsThe money made it possi ble for them to travel eastwhere they wanted to look for a lost gold mineMen said that this mine had more gold than any other mine in the north Many had looked for itand some had died looking for itThe only men who knew where it was were now dead

ThorntonPete and Hanswith Buck and six other dogsstarted off to the east in the springThey travelled up the Stewart River and crossed the Mackenzie MountainsThey did not move quicklythe weather was goodandthe men shot animals for food when they needed itSometimes they travelled for a weekand sometimes they stopped for a week and searched for gold in the groundSometimes they were hungryand sometimes they had lots of foodThey spent all the summer in the mountainscarrying everything they needed on their backssometimes making boats to go down rivers or across lakes

In the autumn they came to a strangeflat countrywith many lakesThey travelled on through the winter and met nobodybut once they found an old wooden housewith an old gun in it

When the spring camethey foundnot the lost minebut a lake in a wide valleyThrough the shallow water the gold showed like yellow butter and here their search endedThere was gold worth thousands of dollars in the lakeand they worked every dayfilling bag after bag with gold

The dogs had nothing to do except watch the men and eat the food which the men shot for themBuck spent many evenings sitting by the fire

As he sathe saw again his dream worldwhere the strange hairy man sat next to himHe also heard something calling him into the forestSometimesin the middle of the dayhe lifted his head and listenedand then ran off into the forest

One night he woke up and heard the call againa long howlHe ran into the forestfollowing the soundand came to an open place in the treesAnd there his nose pointing to the skysat a wolf

The wolf stopped howling and Buck walked slowly towards himThe wolf ran and Buck followedAfter a timethe wolf stopped and waitedwatching Buckready to attackBut Buck did not want to fightand soon the wolf realized thisand the two animals became friendlyThen the wolf started to run againand he clearly wanted Buck to follow himThey ran for hours through the forestand Buck remembered again his dream world where heand others like himhad run through a much older forest

Then they stopped to drinkand Buck remembered John ThorntonHe turned and started to run backThe wolf followed himthen stopped and howled but Buck ran on and did not turn

Thornton was eating dinner when Buck returnedBuck jumped all over himand for two days never left his sideHe followed him every wherewatching him while he ate and while he sleptBut after two days the call of the wild came againand he remembered the forest and the wolf who had run beside him

He started to sleep out in the forest at nightsometimes staying out for three or four daysOnce he was away for a weekfishing and killing animals for foodHe ate welland he grew stronger and quicker and more aliveHis golden brown coat shone with health as he ran through the forestlearning its every secretevery smelland every sound

He's the finest dog that I've ever seensaid Thornton to his friends one day as they watched Buck walking out of camp

There11 never be another dog like himsaid Pete

They saw him walking out of camp but they didn't see the change that happened when he was inside the forestAt once he became a thing of the wildstepping softly and silentlya passing shadow among the trees

In the autumnBuck started to see moose in the forestOne day he met a group of about twentyThe largest was two me tres talland his antlers were more than two metres acrossWhen he saw Buck he got very angry For hours Buck fol lowed the moosehe wanted the big onebut he wanted him aloneBy the evening Buck had driven the big old moose away from the othersand then he began his attackThe animal weighed six hundred and fifty kiloshe was big enough and strong enough to kill Buck in secondsPatientlyBuck fol lowed him for four daysattacking and then jumping awayHe gave him no peaceno time to eat or drink or rest and slowly the moose became weakerAt the end of the fourth day Buck pulled the moose down and killed himHe stayed by the dead animal for a day and a halfeatingand then turned towards camp and John Thornton

Five kilometres from the camphe smelt something strangeSomething was wrongHe started to runAfter a few hundred metres he found the dead body of Blackiewith an arrow through his sideThen he found another sledgedogdyingwith an arrow in his neck

Buck was near the camp nowand he could hear voices singingThen he saw the body of Hanslying on his facewith ten or fifteen arrows in his backBuck was suddenly filled with a wildburning anger

The yeehats were dancing around the campwhen they heard a deep and terrible growlingBuck came out of the trees faster than the north windand threw himself on the Yeehats like a mad dog He jumped at the first manand tore out his throatkilling him at onceHe jumped onto a secondthen a third mangoing each time for the throatThe Yeehats could neither escape nor use their arrowsBuck moved like a storm among themtearingbitingdestroyingin a madness that he had never known beforeNothing could stop himand soon the Yeehats were runningwild with fearback to the forest Buck followed for some timethen returned to the camp

He found Petekilled in his bed He followed Thornton's smell to a deep pooland found Skeet lying dead by the edgeThornton's body was somewhere under the water

All day Buck stayed by the pool or walked restlessly round the camp But when the evening came he heard new sounds from the forestthe wolves had come south for the winterand were moving into Buck's valleyThey came into the camp in the moonlightand Buck stood silentlywaiting for themSuddenlythe bravest wolf jumped at BuckIn a secondBuck had bittenand then stood still againThe wolf was dead behind himThree more wolves jumped at himand were killed

Then the pack attacked in a crowd all at onceBut not one of them could bring Buck downhe was too quicktoo strongtoo clever for them allAfter half an hour the pack stopped attacking and moved awayThen one wolf moved forward slowly in a friendly wayit was the wolf that Buck had met before in the forestThey touched nosesThen another wolf came forward to make friendsand anotherSoon the pack was all around Buckand the call of the wild was loud in Buck's earsAnd when the wolves moved on back into the forestBuck ran with themside by side 

That is perhaps the end of Buck's storyBut after a few yearsthe Yeehats noticed that some of the wolves had golden brown in their grey coatsThey also talked of a Ghost Dog that ran at the head of the pack

And sometimes men were found deadkilled by the teeth of a terrible animalAnd each autumnwhen the Yeehats follow the moosethere is one valley that they will not go into

In the summers there is one visitor to that valley a largegolden-brown wolflarger than any other wolfHe walks alone round the lake where the yellow gold shines in the water, and howlsBut he is not always aloneIn the long winter nightshe runs at the head of the wolf pack through the moonlightcalling into the night with themsinging a song from a younger world

  

