The next morning, François saw that Spitz was gone. He saw that Buck had many wounds (cuts on the body from a fight). François led Buck to the fire. He showed the wounds to Perrault.
"Spitz was a very good fighter," Perrault said. He looked at the deep cuts on Buck.
"But Buck was a better fighter," François answered. "Now we can travel fast. Spitz is gone. We will have no more trouble."
Perrault packed the camp equipment. He loaded the sled (a vehicle for snow pulled by dogs). François began to put the harness (leather straps to connect a dog to a sled) on the dogs.
Buck trotted to the front of the team. He wanted to be the leader. François did not notice Buck. He brought Sol-leks to the front. François thought Sol-leks was the best leader now.
Buck was very angry. He jumped at Sol-leks. He pushed Sol-leks away and stood in his place.
"Look at Buck!" François cried. He laughed and slapped his legs. "He killed Spitz. Now he wants Spitz’s job."
"Go away, Buck!" François shouted. But Buck did not move.
François grabbed Buck by the neck. Buck growled at the man. François pulled Buck to the side. He put Sol-leks in the front again. Sol-leks was afraid of Buck. He did not want to be the leader.
François turned his back. Immediately, Buck pushed Sol-leks away again. Sol-leks moved quickly. He was happy to leave the front.
François became angry. "I will fix you!" he cried. He picked up a heavy club (a thick wooden stick used as a weapon).
Buck remembered the man in the red sweater. He moved back slowly. He did not attack François. But he stayed just away from the club. He snarled with rage.
Buck watched the club carefully. He was ready to jump if François threw it. Buck was wise now. He knew about clubs.
François went back to his work. He called Buck to his old place in the middle of the team. Buck moved back two steps. François followed him. Buck moved back again.
François threw the club on the ground. He thought Buck was afraid of a beating. But Buck was not afraid. Buck wanted to be the leader. He earned that job. He would not take a lower place.
Perrault helped François. Both men ran after Buck for an hour. They threw clubs at him, but Buck moved fast. He stayed near the camp. He showed the men that he would be good if he could lead.
François sat down. He scratched his head. Perrault looked at his watch. They were late. They should be on the trail already.
François shook his head and smiled. He knew Buck won. He went to Sol-leks and moved him back. All the dogs were ready. Only the leader’s place was empty.
François called Buck again. Buck stayed away. He "laughed" at the men.
"Throw down the club," Perrault ordered.
François dropped the stick. Buck trotted to the front. He was very happy. François fastened the harness. The men began to run, and the sled moved onto the river trail.
François soon saw that Buck was a great leader. Buck was better than Spitz. He was very smart. He made quick decisions.
Buck was also very strict. He made all the dogs follow the rules. Dave and Sol-leks did not care about the new leader. They only wanted to work hard.
But the other dogs were lazy. Buck changed that. He punished Pike for not pulling hard. On the first night, Buck punished Joe. Spitz could never control Joe, but Buck was too heavy and strong for him. Joe stopped being mean and began to cry for mercy.
The team became very strong again. All the dogs pulled together. At Rink Rapids, they added two new huskies (strong dogs used for pulling sleds in the snow). Their names were Teek and Koona. Buck taught them the rules very quickly.
"There is no dog like Buck!" François cried. "He is worth one thousand dollars!" Perrault nodded. They were traveling faster than ever before.
The trail was hard and good. There was no new snow. It was very cold. The temperature was fifty degrees below zero. The men and dogs never stopped for long.
They crossed the Thirty Mile River in one day. Before, that trip took ten days. They flew across the frozen lakes. Sometimes the men tied themselves to the sled with a rope because the dogs were so fast.
They reached the town of Skaguay in fourteen days. It was a record run. For two weeks, the dogs traveled forty miles every day.
In Skaguay, people were amazed by the dogs. Many people came to see Buck and his team. But then, new orders arrived.
François called Buck to him. He put his arms around the dog. He cried because he had to leave. This was the end for François and Perrault. They walked out of Buck’s life forever.
A new man took charge of the team. He was a half-breed (a person with parents from different races). He worked for the mail service.
Buck and the other dogs started the long trip back to Dawson. They were not running for records now. The sled was very heavy because it carried many letters. The dogs worked hard every day.
Buck did not like this life, but he did his job. He was proud of his work. He made sure the other dogs did their work too.
Life was the same every day. In the morning, the cooks made fires. The men ate breakfast. Then they put the harnesses on the dogs. They started traveling before the sun came up.
At night, they made a camp. The men gave fish to the dogs. This was the best part of the day for the dogs. Buck liked to sit with the other dogs. There were many dogs in the camp. Buck fought the strongest dogs and won. Now, all the dogs moved out of his way.
Buck loved to lie near the fire. He looked at the flames. Sometimes he thought about Judge Miller’s house in California. He remembered the sun and the warm water.
But he thought about the North more. He remembered the man in the red sweater and the fight with Spitz. He was not homesick.
Sitting by the fire, Buck had strange dreams. He saw a world from a long time ago. He saw a different man by the fire. This man was short with long arms. He had thick hair on his body.
This man did not stand straight. He was naked, but he wore a animal skin on his back. He was very afraid of the dark. He held a heavy stone on a stick.
In his dream, Buck saw eyes in the dark forest. He heard wild animals moving in the trees. The hair on Buck’s neck stood up. He growled softly in his sleep.
Then the cook shouted, "Hey, Buck! Wake up!" The old world disappeared. Buck opened his eyes and stretched his legs.
The trip was very hard. The heavy mail bags made the dogs weak. They were very tired when they reached Dawson. They needed a long rest.
But they only rested for two days. They had to take more letters back to the south. The dogs were exhausted. The drivers were angry. It snowed every day. The soft snow made the sled very heavy to pull.
The drivers were kind. They fed the dogs before they fed themselves. They checked the dogs’ feet every night. But the dogs were losing their strength.
Since the start of winter, they traveled eighteen hundred miles. Even the strongest dogs were tired. Buck stayed strong and kept the team moving. But Billee cried in his sleep. Joe was more angry than before.
Dave suffered the most. Something was wrong inside his body. He became very sad. As soon as the team stopped, Dave lay down. He did not get up until the morning.
Sometimes, when the sled moved, Dave cried out in pain. The driver looked at him, but he found no broken bones. The men talked about Dave at night. They did not know how to help him.
Dave became very weak. He fell down many times while pulling. The man stopped the sled. He took Dave out of the team. He wanted Dave to walk behind the sled without a harness.
Dave was very angry. He did not want to stop working. He growled when the man unfastened him. He cried when he saw Sol-leks take his place. Dave was proud of his job. He did not want another dog to do his work.
When the sled started, Dave ran in the soft snow next to the trail. He tried to bite Sol-leks. He tried to jump back into his old place. He cried with grief and pain.
The man used a whip to drive Dave away. Dave did not care about the whip. He would not walk behind the sled where the snow was easy. He stayed in the deep snow until he was exhausted. Then he fell down. He howled sadly as the sleds passed him.
Dave used his last strength to follow the team to the next camp. In the morning, he was too weak to move. He tried to crawl to his driver. He fell down, but he pulled his body forward with his front legs.
The team moved away. The last thing the dogs saw was Dave. He was lying in the snow and looking at them. They heard him howling behind the trees.
The team stopped. The man walked back alone to the old camp. The other men stayed quiet. They heard a revolver-shot (the sound of a small gun).
The man came back quickly. He started the team again. The bells on the dogs rang, but Buck and the other dogs were silent. They knew what happened to Dave behind the trees.