The Call of the Wild

e known thattrouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide- water dog,strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to SanDiego. Because men, gro

were heavy dogs,with strong muscles by which to to

house in the sun-kis

of thewide cool veranda that ran around its four sides. The house wasapproached by gravelled driveways which wound about through wide-s

ows of vine-clad servants' cottages, an endless and orderly array ofou

l, and the bigcement tank where Judge Miller's boys too

and went, resided in the populous kennels, orlived obscurely in the recesses of the house after the fashion of Toots,the Japanese pug, or Ysabel, the Mexican hairless,--strange creaturesthat rarely put nose out of doors or set foot

dge's daughters, onlong twilight or early morning rambles; on wintry nights he lay at theJudge's feet before the roaring library fire; he carried the Judge'sgrandsons on his back, o

el heutterly ignored, for he was king,--king over all creeping,

d Buck bid fair to follow in the way of hisfather. He was not so large,--he weighed o

od he had lived the life of a sated aristocrat; he had a fine pridein himself, was even a trifle egotistical, as country gentlemen sometimesbecome because of their insular situation. But he had saved himself bynot b

ged men from all the world into the frozenNorth. But Buck did not read the newspapers, and

setting weakness--faith in a system; andthis made his damnation certain. For to play a system require

anuel's treachery. No one saw him and Buck go off through theorchard on what Buck imagined was merely a stroll. And with theexception of a sol

," the strangersaid gruffly, and Manuel doubled a pi

plentee," said Manuel, and the st

, in hispride believing that to intimate was to command. But to his surprisethe rope tightened around his neck, shutting off his breath. In quickrage he sprang at the man, who met him halfway, grappled him close bythe throat, and with a deft twist threw him over on his back. Then therope tightened mercilessly, while Buck s

ssing told him where hewas. He had travelled too often with the Judge not to know thesensation of riding in a baggage car. He opened his eyes, and into themcame the unbridled ange

uggle. "I'mtakin' 'm up for the boss to 'Frisco. A crack dog-doctor there thinks thathe can cure 'm."Concerning that nig

over for athousand, cold cash."His hand was wrapped in a bloody ha

ther mug get?" the sa

eper calculated; "andhe's worth it, or I'm a squarehead."The kidnapper undid the bloody wrappings and looked at hisl

nd before you pull yo

t and tongue, with thelife half throttled out

ceeded infiling the heavy brass collar from off his neck. The

arrow crate? He did not know why, but he feltoppressed by the vague sense of impending calamity. Several timesduring the night he sprang to his feet when the shed door rattled open,expecting to see the Judge, or the boys

unkempt; and he stormedand raged at them through the bars. They only laughed and pokedsticks at him, which he promptly assailed with his teeth till he realizedthat that was wha

uck carried him, with an assortment of boxes andparcels, upon a ferry steamer; he was trucke

himself against the bars, quivering and frothing, they laughed athim and taunted him. They growled and barked like detestable dogs,mewed, and flapped their arms and crowed. It was all very silly, heknew; but therefore the more outrage to his dignity, and his anger waxedand waxed. He did

lved. For two days and nights he neither ate nor drank, andduring those two days and nights of torment, he accumulated a fund ofwrath that boded ill for whoever first fell foul of him. His eyes turnedblood-shot,

high-walled back yard. A stout man, with a red sweater that sagged

, and he hurledhimself savagely against the bars. Th

to take him out now

d, driving the hatchet i

men who hadcarried it in, and from safe perches on

Wherever the hatchet fell on the outside, he wasthere on the inside, snarling and growling, as

ingsufficient for the passage of Buck's body. At the same time

ing, mouth foaming, a mad glitter in his blood-shoteyes. Straight at the man he launched his

k andside. He had never been struck by a club in his life, and did notunderstand. With a snarl that was part bark and more scream he wasagain on his feet and launched into the air. And again the shock came

deliberately dealt him a frightfulblow on the nose. All the pain he had endured was as nothingcompared with the exquisite agony of this. With a roar that was almostlionlike in its ferocity, he again hurled himself at the man. But the ma

ewd blow hehad purposely withheld for so long, and Bu

that's wot I say," one of the men

n Sundays," was thereply of the driver, as he

strength. He lay wherehe had fallen, and fro

t thing we can do is to letit go at that. You've learned your place, and I know mine. Be a gooddog and all 'll go well and the goose hang high. Be a bad dog, and I'llwhale the stuffin' outa you. Understand?"As he spoke he fearlessly patted the head he h

le he faced that aspect uncowed, he faced it with all thelatent cunning of his nature aroused. As the days went by, other dogscame, in crates and at the ends of ropes, some docilely, and some ragingand roaring as he had come; and, one and all, he watched them passunder the dominion of the man in the red sweater. Again and again, ashe looked at each brutal performan

lked excitedly,wheedlingly, and in all kind

dogs away with them. Buck wondered where theywent, for they never came back; but the f

e weazened manwho spat broken English and many strange

money, you ain'tgot no kick coming, eh, Perrault?"Perrault grinned. Considering that the price of dogs had beenboomed skyward by the unwonted demand, it was not an unfair sum forso fine an animal. The Canad

man in the red sweater,and as Curly and he looked at receding Seattle from the deck of theNarwhal, it was the last he saw of the warm Southland. Curly and hewere taken below by

ection for them, he none theless grew honestly to respect them. He speedily learned that Perraultand Francois w

y into the Barrens. He was friendly, ina treacherous sort of way, smiling into one's face the while he meditatedsome underhand trick, as, for instance, when he stole from Buck's foodat the first meal. As Buck sprang to punish h

er, that there would be trouble if he were not left alone. "Dave" hewas called, and he ate and slept, or yawned between times, and tookinterest in nothing, not even when the Narwhal crossed Queen CharlotteSound and

t, as did the other dogs, and knew that a changewas at hand. Francois leashed them and brought them on deck. Atthe first step upon the cold surface, Buck's feet sank into a white mushysomething very like mud. He sprang back with a snort. More of thiswhite stuff was falling through the air. He shook h