The Call of the Wild

to get out a raft of saw-logs for Dawson. Hewas still limping slightly at the time he rescued Buck, but with thecontinued warm weather even the slight limp left him. And here,

and the flesh came back to cover his bones. Forthat matter, they were all loafing,--Buck, John Thornton, and Skeet andNig,--waiting for the raft to come that wa

ossess; and as a mother catwashes her kitten

ame to look for herministrations as much as he did for Thornton's. Nig, equally friendly,though less demonstrat

hese dogs manifested n

the kindliness and larg

nton himself could not forbear to join; and in thisfashion Buck romped through his conval

, it hadbeen a working partnership; with the Judge's grandsons, a sort ofpompous guardianship; and with the Judge himself, a stately an

if they were his own children, because he could not help it. And he sawfurther. He never forgot a kindly greeting or a cheering word, and to sitdown for a long talk with them ("gas" he called it) was as much h

outh laughing, his eyes eloquent, histhroat vibrant with unuttered sound, and in that fashion remainedwithout movement, John Thornton would reverently exclaim, "God! you can all but speak!"Buck had a trick of love expression that was akin to hu

wever, Buck's love was

e at a distance. He would lie by thehour, eager, alert, at Thornton's feet, looking up into his face, dwellingupon it, studying it, following with keenest interest each fleetingexpression, every movement or change of feature. Or, as chance mighthave it, he would lie farther away, to the side or rear

dcome into the Northland had bred in him a fear that no master could bepermanent. He was afraid that Thornton would pass out of his life asPerrault and Francois and the Scotch half-breed had passed out. Evenin the

dto bespeak the soft civilizing influence, the strain of the primiti

s and wiliness. He was a thing of the wild, come infrom the wild to sit by John Thornton's fire

tfrom any other man, in any other camp, he did not hesitate an instant

lf struggling for lifewith a terrible antagonist. And Buck was merciless. He had learnedwell the law of club and fang, and he never forewent an advantage ordrew back from a foe he had started on the way to Death. He hadlessoned from Spitz, and from the chief fighting dogs of the police andmail, and knew there

days he had seen and t

furred; but behind him were the shades of allmanner of dogs, half-wolves and wild wolves, urgent and prompting,tasting the savor of the meat he ate, thirsting for the water he drank,scenting the wind with him, listening with him and

ysteriouslythrilling and luring, he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire andthe beaten earth around it, and to plunge into the forest, and on and on,he knew not where or why; nor did he w

d him. The rest of m

but he was cold under it all,and from a too d

ssive sort of way, acceptingfavors from them as though he favored them by accepting. They wereof the same large type as Thornton, living close to the earth, thinkingsimply and seeing cl

and left Dawson for the head-waters of the Tanana)the men and dogs were sitting on the crest of a cliff which fell away,straight down, to naked bed-rock three hundred feet below. JohnThornton was sitting near the edge, Buck at his shoulder. A thoughtlesswhim seized Th

d, after it was over and t

d. "No, it is splendid,

ring to be the man that lays hands on you while he'saround,

d malicious,had been picking a quarrel with a tenderfoot at the bar, when Thorntonstepped good-naturedly between. Buck, as was his custom, was lyingin a corner, head on paws, watching

he left the floor for Burton's throat. The mansaved his life by instinctively throwing out his arm, but was hurledbackward to the floor with Buck on top of him. B

attempting to rush in, and being forced back by an array ofhostile clubs. A "miners' meeting," called on the spot, decided that thedog had

tch of rapids on the Forty- Mile Creek. Hansand Pete moved along the bank, snubbing with a thin Manila rope fromtree to tree, while Thornton remained in the boat, help

d in hishand to snub the boat when it had cleared the ledge. This it did, andwas flying down-stream in a current as swift as a mill-race, when Hanschecked it with the rope and checked too suddenly. The bo

Buck headed for the bank, swimming with all hissplendid strength. But the progress shoreward was slow; the progressdown-stream amazingly rapid. From below c

irdwith crushing force. He clutched its slippery top with both hands,releasing Buck, and above the roar of the churning water shouted: "Go, Buck! Go!"Buck could not hold his own, and swept on down-stream, stru

y Pete and Hans at thevery point where swimmi

anging on. They attached the line with which they had been snubbingthe boat to Buck's neck and shoulders, being careful that it shouldneither strangle him nor impede his swimming, and launched him intothe stre

d with the rope, as th

e he remained till his bodystruck against the bank and he was hauled out. He was half drowned,and Hans and Pete thr

it, they knew that he was in hisextremity. His master's voice acted on Buck like an electric shoc

till he was on a line straight above Thornton; then he turned, and withthe speed of an express train headed down upon him. Thornton sawhim coming, and, as Buck struck him like a battering ram, with thewhole force of the current behind him, he reached up and closed withboth arms

ift log by Hans and Pete. His first glance wasfor Buck, over whose limp and apparently lif

d he went carefully overBuck's body, when he ha

p right here." And campthey did, till Buck

is exploit was particularly gratifying tothe three men; for they stood in need of the outfit which it furnished, andwere enabled to make a long-desired trip into t

end him. At the end of half an hour one manstated that his dog could start a sled with five hundre

nds.""And break it out? and walk off with it for a hundred yards?"

off with it for a hundred ya

've got a thousand dollars that says he can't. And there it is." Sosaying, he

on's bluff, if bluff i

ton! The enormousness of it appalled him. He hadgreat faith in Buck's strength and had often thought him capable ofstarting such a load; but never, as no

. He did not know what to say. He glancedfrom face to face in the absent way of a man who has lost the power ofthought and is seeking somewhere to find the thing that will start itg

thousand?" he asked

thewson's. "Though it's little faith I'm having, John, that thebeast can do

th tosee the outcome of the wager and to lay odds. Several hundred m

the hard-packed snow. Menoffered odds of two to one that Buck could not budge the sled. Aquibble arose concerning the phrase "break out." O'Brien contended itwas Thornton's privileg

making of the bet decidedin his favor, whereat

. Not a man believed h

at the sled itself, the concrete fact, with the regular teamof ten dogs curled up in

ting spirit that soars above odds, fails to recognize theimpossible, and is deaf to all save the clamor for battle. He called Hansand Pete to him. Their sacks were slim, and with his own th

as put into the sled. He had caught the contagion of the excitement,an

shone with the sheen of silk. Down theneck and across the shoulders, his mane, in repose as it was, half bristledand seemed to lift with every movement, as though excess of vigor madeeach particular hair alive and active. The great b

kookum Benches. "I offer you eight hundred for him, sir,before the test, sir; ei

could be heard the voices of the gamblersvainly offering two to one. Everybody acknowledged Buck amagnificent a

nds and rested cheek on cheek. He did not playfully shake him, aswa

ck. As you love me,"

with suppres

ton got to his feet,Buck seized his mittened hand between his jaws, pressing in with histeeth and releasing

Buck,"

acked them for a matter of severalin

oice rang out, sharp

he slack and with a sudden jerk arrested his one hundred and fiftypounds

Thornton

ing, the sled pivoting and the runners slipping andgrating several inches to the side. T

compactly together in the tremendous effort, themuscles writhing and knotting like live things under the silky fur. Hisgreat chest was low to the ground, his head

sion of jerks, though itnever really came to a dead stop again ...half an inch...an inch . . . twoinches. . . Th

red off,and as he neared the pile of firewood which marked the end of thehundred yards, a cheer began to grow and grow, which burst into a roaras he passed the firewood and halted at command.

he was shaking him back and forth. Those who hurried up heardhim cursi

tears werestreaming frankly down his cheeks. "Sir," he said to the SkookumBench king, "no, sir. You can go to hell, sir. It's the best I can do foryou, sir."Buck seized Thornton's hand i