John Thornton froze his feet in December. His partners made him comfortable and left him to get well. They went up the river to get a raft (a flat boat made of wood logs) for the town of Dawson. John Thornton still walked with a limp when he rescued Buck. But the weather became warm and the limp went away. Buck lay by the river bank during the long spring days. He listened to the birds and the insects. Slowly, Buck became strong again.
Rest is very good after a dog travels three thousand miles. Buck became lazy as his wounds healed. His muscles grew large and he became heavy again. Everyone in the camp was lazy. Buck, John Thornton, Skeet, and Nig waited for the wood raft to come. Skeet was a little Irish setter dog. She became friends with Buck quickly. Buck was very sick when they first met, so he was kind to her.
Skeet was like a doctor. She washed Buck’s wounds every morning with her tongue. Buck liked her help very much. Nig was also very friendly. He was a very large black dog. He had happy eyes and a kind personality. Buck was surprised because these dogs were not jealous. They were kind like John Thornton. They played games with Buck and John Thornton joined them.
Buck felt a new feeling during this time. For the first time, he felt real love. He never felt this love at Judge Miller’s house in California. With the Judge’s sons, Buck was a partner for hunting. With the Judge’s grandsons, Buck was a guard. With the Judge himself, Buck was a dignified friend. But John Thornton gave Buck a love that was hot and wild.
John Thornton saved Buck’s life. Also, he was the perfect master. Other men took care of dogs because it was their job. John Thornton took care of his dogs like they were his children. He always said kind words to them. He liked to sit and talk to the dogs for a long time. John Thornton often took Buck’s head between his hands. He shook Buck’s head back and forth and called him bad names.
To Buck, these bad names were words of love. Buck loved this rough embrace and the sound of John Thornton’s voice. When John Thornton let go, Buck jumped to his feet. His mouth looked like he was laughing. His eyes were bright. John Thornton often said, "God! You can almost speak!"
Buck had a strange way to show love. He often put John Thornton’s hand in his mouth. He bit down hard, but he did not hurt the man. The marks of Buck's teeth stayed on the skin for a short time. John Thornton understood that this fake bite was a sign of love.
Usually, Buck just watched John Thornton with adoration. Buck was very happy when John Thornton touched him. But Buck did not ask for pets. Skeet often put her nose under John Thornton’s hand. Nig often put his big head on John Thornton’s knee. Buck was different. He was happy to stay at a distance.
Buck sat at John Thornton’s feet for hours. He looked up at the man’s face. He studied every movement of the man’s body. Often, John Thornton felt Buck looking at him. He turned his head and looked back at Buck. He did not speak, but his eyes showed his love for the dog.
For a long time, Buck did not want John Thornton to leave. Buck followed John Thornton everywhere. In the past, Buck had many masters. Those masters always left him. Buck was afraid that John Thornton would also leave. At night, Buck had bad dreams about this fear. He often woke up and went to the tent. He listened to John Thornton’s breathing to make sure he was still there.
Buck loved John Thornton, but he was still a wild dog. The Northland changed him. He was a thing of the wild. He sat by the fire, but he was not a soft dog from the South. He did not steal from John Thornton because he loved him. But Buck stole from every other man in every other camp. He was very clever and no one caught him.
Buck had many scars on his body from dog fights. He was a very smart fighter. Skeet and Nig did not fight because they were kind. But any new dog had to follow Buck’s rules. If they did not, Buck fought them. Buck was a hard dog. He knew the law of club and fang (the rule that the strongest animal wins). He learned that mercy was a weakness. In the wild, animals must kill or be killed.
Buck was very old in his spirit. He felt like the wild dogs from thousands of years ago. When he sat by the fire, he saw ghosts of old wolves. They told him how to eat and how to sleep. They told him how to listen to the wind. These ghosts were part of his dreams.
The wild forest called to Buck every day. This call (a feeling that pulls an animal toward nature) was very strong. Sometimes Buck wanted to run into the forest and never come back. But he always remembered his love for John Thornton. That love brought him back to the fire every time.
John Thornton’s partners, Hans and Pete, arrived with the wood raft. Buck did not like them at first. Later, he accepted them because they were John Thornton’s friends. They were simple men and they lived close to the earth. They understood Buck. They did not try to pet him or be too friendly.
Buck’s love for John Thornton grew every day. Only John Thornton could put a heavy bag on Buck’s back for travel. Buck did everything John Thornton commanded. One day, they were at the top of a cliff (a very high, steep wall of rock). It was three hundred feet down to the hard ground. John Thornton wanted to test Buck.
"Jump, Buck!" John Thornton commanded. He pointed his arm over the edge. Buck jumped immediately. John Thornton had to grab Buck to stop him from falling. Hans and Pete pulled them both back to safety. Pete said it was very strange. John Thornton was afraid because Buck’s love was so strong.
Later that year, they were in Circle City. A man named "Black" Burton was a very mean person. He started a fight with another man in a bar. John Thornton tried to stop the fight. Black Burton hit John Thornton hard. John Thornton almost fell down.
Buck was lying in the corner. He saw the man hit his master. Buck made a loud roar and jumped through the air. He went for Black Burton’s throat. The man put his arm up, but Buck knocked him to the floor. Buck bit the man’s arm and then his neck. A doctor had to stop the blood. The miners had a meeting. They said Buck was right to protect John Thornton. Buck became very famous in Alaska.
In the autumn, Buck saved John Thornton’s life again. The three partners were in a boat on a fast river. Hans and Pete walked on the bank. They held a rope to control the boat. John Thornton stayed in the boat with a pole. Buck stayed on the bank and watched his master.
The boat hit a dangerous spot in the river. Hans pulled the rope too fast. The boat turned over. John Thornton fell into the cold, fast water. He went down the river toward dangerous rocks. Buck jumped into the water immediately. He swam three hundred yards to reach John Thornton. John Thornton grabbed Buck’s tail.
Buck tried to swim to the bank, but the water was too strong. They moved toward big rocks that looked like teeth. John Thornton knew they would die. He grabbed a slippery rock in the middle of the river. He told Buck to go. "Go, Buck! Go!" he shouted. Buck did not want to leave, but he obeyed. Hans and Pete pulled Buck out of the water.
John Thornton was alone on the rock. Hans and Pete tied a rope to Buck’s neck and shoulders. They threw Buck into the river again. Buck swam hard, but he missed John Thornton. The rope pulled Buck under the water. Hans and Pete pulled Buck back to the bank. Buck was half-drowned.
Buck heard John Thornton’s voice. It was very weak. Buck stood up and ran back up the river. The men tied the rope again. This time, Buck swam in a straight line. He hit John Thornton like a heavy ram. John Thornton put his arms around Buck’s neck. Hans tied the rope to a tree. They pulled both of them through the water to the shore.
John Thornton was safe. He checked Buck’s body and found three broken ribs (the bones in the chest). "We will stay here," John Thornton said. They camped there until Buck’s bones were healthy again.
That winter in Dawson, Buck did something very famous. The partners needed money for a long trip. They went to a saloon. The men there talked about their strong dogs. One man said his dog could pull five hundred pounds. Another man said six hundred.
"Buck can pull a thousand pounds," John Thornton said.
A rich man named Matthewson laughed. "I bet one thousand dollars he cannot," he said. He put a bag of gold dust (small pieces of gold used as money) on the bar.
John Thornton was worried. He did not know if Buck could pull half a ton. He did not have a thousand dollars. He asked his friend Jim O’Brien for the money. Jim lent him the money. Everyone went outside to watch. It was sixty degrees below zero. It was very cold.
The sled (a vehicle with runners for traveling on snow) had twenty bags of flour on it. Each bag was fifty pounds. The sled was frozen to the snow. The men thought Buck would fail. They offered bets against him. John Thornton called Hans and Pete. They gave him all their money. Now they had two hundred dollars more for the bet.
Buck was ready. He was in perfect condition. He weighed one hundred and fifty pounds. He looked very strong. John Thornton knelt next to Buck. He put his head against the dog’s head. "Do this because you love me, Buck," he whispered. Buck bit John Thornton’s hand gently.
"Now, Buck!" John Thornton said.
Buck pulled the traces (the leather straps that connect a dog to a sled). He moved to the right. The ice under the sled cracked. Then he moved to the left. The sled moved a few inches. The sled was not frozen now.
"Now, MUSH!" John Thornton shouted. This was the command to go fast.
Buck pulled with all his strength. His muscles were like hard iron. His feet moved fast in the snow. The sled started to move. It moved one inch, then two inches. Then it began to move steadily. John Thornton ran behind the sled.
Buck pulled the sled one hundred yards. The crowd began to cheer. When Buck reached the end, the crowd roared. Everyone was shouting and throwing their hats. John Thornton fell on his knees next to Buck. He cried because he was so happy.
A man offered twelve hundred dollars to buy Buck. John Thornton looked at the man. "No," John Thornton said. "You can go to hell."
Buck took John Thornton’s hand in his teeth. They were alone together in the middle of the crowd.