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Chapter 1 To the North

 

Buck was a strong dog with a thick coat. He lived in a big house, Mr. Miller's place, in sunny California. There were tall trees around the house, and there was a pool, too. Buck was four years old, and the Millers were his family. He swam with the boys and walked with the women. He carried the babies on his back, and at night Buck sat at Mr. Miller's feet. There were other dogs at Mr. Miller's house, but Buck was the most important. He was the boss there, and he was very happy.

That year, 1897, was an exciting year. Some men found gold in the cold Arctic north of Canada, and a lot of people followed them there. Everybody wanted gold. And they wanted dogs— strong dogs with thick coats. The dogs had to pull the gold through the snow to towns and rivers.

But Buck didn't know about the cold north, or gold—and he didn't know about Manuel.

 

Manuel worked for Mr. Miller, but he always wanted more money.

"I can sell Buck," he thought. "He's strong. Somebody will pay a lot of money for him."

One day, Mr. Miller was at work and the children were busy. Manuel put a rope around Buck's neck and left the house quietly. He met a man at a train station, and the man gave him money for the dog.

Buck didn't like this new man, and he started to bark. So the man pulled the rope around his neck very hard. This hurt Buck, and it made him angrier. He tried to fight the man, but the man pulled the rope again. The pain was very bad. Buck fell to the ground and his eves closed.

He opened his eyes when a loud noise woke him. He was on a train! And there was that man again.

Buck was very hungry and thirsty, and he hated the rope around his neck. He jumped up and tried to attack the man. But the man was quick, and pulled the rope. Buck's neck hurt very badly. Then the man put him in a box.

"Crazy animal!" he said.

When they arrived in San Francisco, the man left Buck, in his box, at a bar.

The next morning, four other men arrived and put Buck in a car. He barked angrily at them, but they only laughed. He was in the box in the car for two days and two nights without food or water. He hated his box, and he hated the men. He wanted to kill somebody.

After a long time, they arrived in Seattle. Four men carried the box to a house and gave it to a man in a red shirt. This man had a club in his hand, and he looked at Buck.

"OK, I'll get you out of that box now," he said. He started to open the box carefully. Buck jumped up and barked. "Now, you crazy dog ..." the man said.

And Buck really was crazy now. He had fire in his eyes, and he wanted to kill. He jumped at the man: one hundred and forty pounds of angry, crazy dog. But the man suddenly hit him very hard with the club. Buck fell to the ground, and barked. Then he attacked again. Again the man hit him, and again Buck fell to the ground. The pain was very bad.

Twelve times he attacked, 'and twelve times the man hit him. In the end, Buck couldn't stand up. He couldn't see or hear. He was almost dead.



"That will teach him!" shouted one of the men.

Buck slowly woke up and looked at the man with the red shirt. The man read from a paper on Buck's box.

"So your name's Buck. Buck, my boy," he said quietly, "we had a little fight and now we can forget about it. You know that I'm the boss. Be a good dog, and we'll be friends. I kill bad dogs. Do you understand?"

He brought Buck some food and water. Buck ate and drank quickly. He learned a lesson that day. He learned the lesson of the club, and he never forgot it.

 

One day, a small French-Canadian man came and looked at Buck. His name was Perrault.

"Wow! He's a big, strong dog. How much do you want for him?"

"Three hundred dollars," answered the man in the red shirt.

"This is a wonderful dog for the cold North," Perrault thought. "He's strong and his coat is thick and warm." He bought Buck and another dog, Curly, and he took the two dogs to a boat. Buck never saw the man in the red shirt or the warm South again.

On the boat, the two dogs met Francois, another French-Canadian. He and Perrault were kind and intelligent, and they understood dogs. Buck and Curly also met two other dogs, Spitz and Dave. Spitz took Buck's food, so Buck didn't like him. Dave was sad and unfriendly, and wasn't interested in anything. He only wanted to eat and sleep.

Day after day, the weather got colder. Then they arrived in Alaska, and Francois took the dogs off the boat. Buck walked on snow for the first time in his life.

 

Chapter 2 The Laws of the Wild

 

Buck's first day in this new, cold country was very bad. There were a lot of dangerous men and dogs everywhere.

This wasn't a sunny, easy life. Here, there was no rest. Buck had to be careful and he had to learn quickly.

These dogs and men weren't from the South. They were wild, and they followed the law of the club.

Buck's first new lesson, in this cold place, came quickly. Buck and Curly stood near a store, in one of the camps. A new dog walked past them. Curly wanted to be friendly, so she barked quietly. Suddenly, the other dog turned around and attacked her. He hurt her face very badly. Many other dogs saw the attack and ran quickly to the two dogs. They stood and watched quietly. They all looked excited and interested, and Buck didn't understand.

Curly was very angry, so she jumped at this strange, unfriendly dog. But the dog attacked her again and jumped away quickly. Curly couldn't attack the other dog because he was very fast. Suddenly, he pushed Curly over and she fell on the ground. The other dogs ran at her, and Curly barked with pain. But she couldn't stand up and the other dogs attacked her again and again.

Buck couldn't move. Dogs in California never fought in this way. He looked at Spitz, and Spitz laughed. Then Francois jumped into the center of the crazy dogs and hit them with his club. He and three other men with clubs quickly moved the dogs away.

It all happened very fast, but in those two minutes Curly was dead.

Buck never forgot this attack. Spitz looked at Buck and he laughed again. From that time, Buck hated Spitz more than anything in life.

But then Buck had another surprise. Francois put a harness on him.

"I know you don't like this, .Buck," said Francois. "I know it's new and strange for you. But you have to wear it. Then you can pull the sledge."

Buck didn't like this new thing around his neck, and he didn't like pulling the sledge. But Francois hit him when he did something wrong. And Spitz attacked him when he didn't run very fast. Francois shouted, "Mush!" and Buck had to run quickly.

He then shouted, "Ho!" and Buck had to stop. In this way, Buck learned to pull the sledge.

"These are very good dogs," Francois said to Perrault, "Buck pulls very hard and he learns very quickly."

In the afternoon, Perrault bought three more dogs—Billie, Joe, and Sol-leks. Billie was a very friendly dog, but Joe was unfriendly. Sol-leks was the same - he wasn't interested in anybody or anything.

That night, Buck had another new problem. He wanted to sleep in a warm, dry place, so he tried to sleep with the men. But Perrault and Francois were surprised and angry, and they threw plates and cups at him. Buck ran away from them, and went back into the cold.

He was very unhappy; he didn't want to sleep outside. The snow was wet and cold, and the wind hurt him. He looked for the other dogs, but he couldn't see them anywhere! Suddenly, the snow moved under his feet and he jumped back. He started to bark angrily, but then he heard a friendly bark. Buck looked down and saw Billie.

Billie was a little ball under the snow and he was happy and warm. Then Buck understood. He quickly made a little bed under the snow, and he slept very well.

In the morning, Perrault and Francois bought three more dogs. Now they had nine dogs and they had to begin their trip. Buck was ready, and he was surprised by the excitement of the dogs. But he was most surprised by Sol-leks and Dave.

They were different dogs; suddenly they were happy, excited, and interested. They only loved two things—the harness and the work.

The days were very long and hard. They went past woods and across many large, icy rivers. It was difficult, but Buck worked hard. And at the end of every day he made his bed in the snow and fell asleep very quickly.

Buck was bigger than the other dogs and he was always hungry. Francois gave him a pound and a half of fish every night, but Buck always wanted more food. Also, Buck didn't eat as quickly as the other dogs, so they often took his fish away from him. After many days, Buck started to eat as fast as the others. And then he started to take other dogs' fish, too. One day, another dog, Pike, took some fish from the food box. Perrault didn't see him, but Buck watched carefully. The next day, Buck did the same thing.

Buck quickly learned the ways of the wild. And now he could live in this cold, unfriendly place. He wasn't the same dog—he was quicker, smarter, and stronger.

He was there, in the North, because Manuel wanted money. And men wanted gold. Now a new life began for Buck. He was a different dog—a wilder dog. On the cold, quiet nights, Buck looked up and howled at the dark sky.

 


Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1493


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