سرزمین شمالی

CHAPTER TWO

The Northland

In Seattle four men carried the crate to a garden with a high wall. A fat man with a red sweater looked at him.

Buck threw himself against the crate. He growled and barked. The man brought a hatchet and a club.

“Are you going to take him out now?” asked one of the men.

“Sure,” the man said. He hit the crate with a hatchet to open it.

The four men ran away. They went to sit on the high wall to watch the show.

Buck threw himself against the wood of the crate. He bit it and growled. He wanted to get out. The man with the hatchet opened the crate. Then he put down the hatchet and took the club.

Buck was really a red-eyed devil. His hair stood up and his eyes were red with anger. He jumped straight at the man and his mouth was ready to bite. At that moment the man hit him with the club. He fell to the ground on his back.

This was the first time he was hit with a club. He did not understand. He jumped at the man again. And again the man hit him with the club. He fell to the ground again. This time Buck knew that it was the club. But his anger was so great that he did not stop. He jumped at the man a dozen times. And a dozen times the club hit him. There was blood on his nose, mouth and ears. Then the man hit him very hard on the nose. The pain was terrible. It was agony. Buck jumped at the man again and the man threw him to the ground. Buck did not move for some time.

“He knows how to teach a dog a lesson,” said one of the four men. Then they returned to the train station. Buck slowly opened his eyes. He could not move. He watched the man in the red sweater.

The fat man was reading the saloon-keeper’s letter and said, “Your name is Buck. Well, Buck,” he said in a friendly voice, “now you know your place. Be a good dog and we will be friends. Be a bad dog and I must use my club again. Understand?”

As he spoke he touched Buck’s head. Buck was angry inside but he did not move. When the man brought him water and meat, Buck drank and ate.

He learned that a man with a club was stronger than him. He never forgot it. Life was now fiercer.

Each day other dogs came. The man in the red sweater hit many dogs. Buck understood that a dog must obey a man with a club: he was a master. One dog did not obey and he was killed.

Men often came to talk to the man in the red sweater. When they paid money the men took one or more of the dogs. Those dogs never came back. “Where did they go?” Buck thought. He was afraid of the future.

One day a short man came to look at Buck. The man spoke bad English.

“That’s a strong dog! How much?”

“Three hundred dollars,” said the man in the red sweater. “And it’s a gift at that price.”

Perrault smiled. The price of dogs was high at that time. Perrault knew dogs and he knew Buck was an excellent dog.

Buck saw money pass between the two men. He was not surprised when he and a Newfoundland dog called Curly were taken away by the small man. He took them to a ship called the Narwhal. From the ship he and Curly looked back at Seattle. It was the last time they saw the warm Southland.

Perrault took Buck and Curly to Francois. Perrault was a French-Canadian, but Francois was half-Indian and had very dark skin. Buck did not like these men but he respected them. He learned that Perrault and Francois were calm and fair. They knew everything about dogs.

There were two other dogs on the ship. One was a big white dog called Spitz. He seemed friendly but he was not honest. He smiled when he tried to take Buck’s food. Francois was fast and hit Spitz. From this moment Buck began to like him.

The other dog was called Dave. He was unfriendly and always wanted to be alone. Dave ate and slept and was interested in nothing.

Day and night the ship sailed. Every day was the same, but Buck noticed that the weather was colder.

Finally one morning the Narwhal’s engines stopped. Buck and the other dogs were excited. Something was happening. Francois leashed the dogs and took them outside. At the first step “Buck’s feet went down into something white and soft. He jumped back. More of this white stuff was falling from the sky and fell on Buck. He shook himself but more fell on him. He smelled it curiously, then tasted some on his tongue. It was like fire and the next moment it disappeared. This confused him. He tried it again with the same result.

People looked at him and laughed. It was his first snow.