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1So sudden was it, and so unexpected, that Buck was taken aback. He saw Spitz run out his scarlet tongue in a way he had
2of laughing; and he saw François, swinging an axe, spring into the mess of dogs. Three men with clubs were helping him
3to scatter them. It did not take long. Two minutes from the time Curly went down, the last of her assailants were
4clubbed off. But she lay there limp and lifeless in the bloody, trampled snow, almost literally torn to pieces, the
5swart half-breed standing over her and cursing horribly. The scene often came back to Buck to trouble him in his sleep.
6So that was the way. No fair play. Once down, that was the end of you. Well, he would see to it that he never went down.
7Spitz ran out his tongue and laughed again, and from that moment Buck hated him with a bitter and deathless hatred.
8Before he had recovered from the shock caused by the tragic passing of Curly, he received another shock. François
9fastened upon him an arrangement of straps and buckles. It was a harness, such as he had seen the grooms put on the
10horses at home. And as he had seen horses work, so he was set to work, hauling François on a sled to the forest that
11fringed the valley, and returning with a load of firewood. Though his dignity was sorely hurt by thus being made a
12draught animal, he was too wise to rebel. He buckled down with a will and did his best, though it was all new and
13strange. François was stern, demanding instant obedience, and by virtue of his whip receiving instant obedience; while
14Dave, who was an experienced wheeler, nipped Buck's hind quarters whenever he was in error. Spitz was the leader,
15likewise experienced, and while he could not always get at Buck, he growled sharp reproof now and again, or cunningly
16threw his weight in the traces to jerk Buck into the way he should go. Buck learned easily, and under the combined
17tuition of his two mates and François made remarkable progress. Ere they returned to camp he knew enough to stop at
18"ho," to go ahead at "mush," to swing wide on the bends, and to keep clear of the wheeler when the loaded sled shot
19downhill at their heels. "T'ree vair' good dogs," François told Perrault. "Dat Buck, heem pool lak hell. I tich heem
20queek as anyt'ing." By afternoon, Perrault, who was in a hurry to be on the trail with his despatches, returned with two
21more dogs. "Billee" and "Joe" he called them, two brothers, and true huskies both. Sons of the one mother though they
22were, they were as different as day and night. Billee's one fault was his excessive good nature, while Joe was the very
23opposite, sour and introspective, with a perpetual snarl and a malignant eye. Buck received them in comradely fashion,
24Dave ignored them, while Spitz proceeded to thrash first one and then the other. Billee wagged his tail appeasingly,
25turned to run when he saw that appeasement was of no avail, and cried (still appeasingly) when Spitz's sharp teeth
26scored his flank. But no matter how Spitz circled, Joe whirled around on his heels to face him, mane bristling, ears
27laid back, lips writhing and snarling, jaws clipping together as fast as he could snap, and eyes diabolically
28gleaming--the incarnation of belligerent fear. So terrible was his appearance that Spitz was forced to forego
29disciplining him; but to cover his own discomfiture he turned upon the inoffensive and wailing Billee and drove him to
30the confines of the camp. By evening Perrault secured another dog, an old husky, long and lean and gaunt, with a
31battle-scarred face and a single eye which flashed a warning of prowess that commanded respect. He was called Sol-leks,
32which means the Angry One. Like Dave, he asked nothing, gave nothing, expected nothing; and when he marched slowly and
33deliberately into their midst, even Spitz left him alone. He had one peculiarity which Buck was unlucky enough to
34discover. He did not like to be approached on his blind side. Of this offence Buck was unwittingly guilty, and the first
35knowledge he had of his indiscretion was when Sol-leks whirled upon him and slashed his shoulder to the bone for three
36inches up and down. Forever after Buck avoided his blind side, and to the last of their comradeship had no more trouble.
37His only apparent ambition, like Dave's, was to be left alone; though, as Buck was afterward to learn, each of them
38possessed one other and even more vital ambition. That night Buck faced the great problem of sleeping. The tent,
39illumined by a candle, glowed warmly in the midst of the white plain; and when he, as a matter of course, entered it,
40both Perrault and François bombarded him with curses and cooking utensils, till he recovered from his consternation and
41fled ignominiously into the outer cold. A chill wind was blowing that nipped him sharply and bit with especial venom
42into his wounded shoulder. He lay down on the snow and attempted to sleep, but the frost soon drove him shivering to his
43feet. Miserable and disconsolate, he wandered about among the many tents, only to find that one place was as cold as
44another. Here and there savage dogs rushed upon him, but he bristled his neck-hair and snarled (for he was learning
45fast), and they let him go his way unmolested. Finally an idea came to him. He would return and see how his own
46team-mates were making out. To his astonishment, they had disappeared. Again he wandered about through the great camp,
47looking for them, and again he returned. Were they in the tent? No, that could not be, else he would not have been
48driven out. Then where could they possibly be? With drooping tail and shivering body, very forlorn indeed, he aimlessly
49circled the tent. Suddenly the snow gave way beneath his fore legs and he sank down. Something wriggled under his feet.
50He sprang back, bristling and snarling, fearful of the unseen and unknown. But a friendly little yelp reassured him, and
51he went back to investigate. A whiff of warm air ascended to his nostrils, and there, curled up under the snow in a snug
52ball, lay Billee. He whined placatingly, squirmed and wriggled to show his good will and intentions, and even ventured,
53as a bribe for peace, to lick Buck's face with his warm wet tongue. Another lesson. So that was the way they did it, eh?
54Buck confidently selected a spot, and with much fuss and waste effort proceeded to dig a hole for himself. In a trice
55the heat from his body filled the confined space and he was asleep. The day had been long and arduous, and he slept
56soundly and comfortably, though he growled and barked and wrestled with bad dreams. Nor did he open his eyes till roused
57by the noises of the waking camp. At first he did not know where he was. It had snowed during the night and he was
58completely buried. The snow walls pressed him on every side, and a great surge of fear swept through him--the fear of
59the wild thing for the trap. It was a token that he was harking back through his own life to the lives of his forebears;
60for he was a civilized dog, an unduly civilized dog, and of his own experience knew no trap and so could not of himself
61fear it. The muscles of his whole body contracted spasmodically and instinctively, the hair on his neck and shoulders
62stood on end, and with a ferocious snarl he bounded straight up into the blinding day, the snow flying about him in a
63flashing cloud. Ere he landed on his feet, he saw the white camp spread out before him and knew where he was and
64remembered all that had passed from the time he went for a stroll with Manuel to the hole he had dug for himself the
65night before. A shout from François hailed his appearance. "Wot I say?" the dog-driver cried to Perrault. "Dat Buck for
66sure learn queek as anyt'ing." Perrault nodded gravely. As courier for the Canadian Government, bearing important
67despatches, he was anxious to secure the best dogs, and he was particularly gladdened by the possession of Buck.
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