thE LA OF CLUB AND FANG
Bucks first day on tmare. Every of civilization and flung into t of to do but loaf and be bored. , nor a moments safety. All ion, and every moment life and limb ive need to be constantly alert; for t to the law of club and fang.
as tures foug experience taugtable lesson. it is true, it by it. Curly im. tore, eet equally s, and Curlys face o jaw.
It ing, to strike and leap a to it ty or forty o t and surrounded tants in an intent and silent circle. Buck did not compre silent intentness, nor tagonist, umbled . S ted for. tling mass of bodies.
So sudden , and so unexpected, t Buck aken aback. z run out tongue in a o scatter t did not take long. tes from time Curly do of s srampled sno literally torn to pieces, t anding over en came back to Buck to trouble o it t doz ran out ongue and laug moment Buck ed ter and deatred.
Before ragic passing of Curly, ened upon of straps and buckles. It to t fringed turning y animal, oo o rebel. , t range. Francois ern, demanding instant obedience, and by virtue of ant obedience; al at Buck, in traces to jerk Buck into tuition of es and Francois made remarkable progress. Ere turned to camp o stop at quot;; to go a quot;mus; to so keep clear of t doheir heels.
quot;t; Francois told Perrault. quot;Dat Buck, eac;
By afternoon, Perrault, rail curned ;Billeequot; and quot;Joequot; rue as day and nig rospective, ual snarl and a malignant eye. Buck received tz proceeded to t one and tail appeasingly, turned to run ill appeasingly) no matter z circled, Joe oget as ion of belligerent fear. So terrible z o forego disciplining to cover ure urned upon to the camp.
By evening Perrault secured anot, tle-scarred face and a single eye . ed notely into t, even Spitz left y o be approactingly guilty, and t knoer Buck avoided o t of trouble.a ambition, like Daves, o be left alone; tero learn, eacal ambition.
t nig problem of sleeping. tent, illumined by a candle, glo of te plain; and ered it, bot and Francois bombarded ensils, till ernation and fled ignominiously into ter cold. A c nipped o tempted to sleep, but t soon drove o . Miserable and disconsolate, among tents, only to find t one place led ) and t ed.
Finally an idea came to urn and see eammates . to onis, t t camp, looking for turned. ere tent? No, t could not be, else . tail and sent. Suddenly t. ling and snarling, fearful of t a friendly little yelp reassured back to investigate. A ingly, squirmed and o sentions, and even ventured, as a bribe for peace, to lick Bucks face tongue.
Anot , ely selected a spot, and ed effort proceeded to dig a rice t from soundly and comfortably, tled h bad dreams.
Nor did ill roused by t first kno surge of fear s trap. It oken t o trap and so could not of . tracted spasmodically and instinctively, tood on end, and raigo t , e camp spread out before ime for a stroll o t before.
A s from Francois ; I say?quot; to Perrault. quot;Dat Buck for sure learn quick as anyt;
Perrault nodded gravely. As courier for t, bearing important dispatco secure t dogs, and icularly gladdened by the possession of Buck.
to team inside an otal of nine, and before anoter of an rail too be gone, and t particularly despise it. ted team and o still more surprising in Dave and Sol-leks. tterly transformed by t and active, anxious t table ever, by delay or confusion, retarded t oil of traces seemed t took delight.
Dave eam rung out ao tion z.
Buck receive instruction. Apt sc teaco linger long in error, and enforcing teaceet cause, and o nip ood in need of it. As Francois o be co mend o retaliate. Once, during a brief , angled in traces and delayed tart, bot ered a sound trouncing. ting tangle Buck took good care to keep traces clear ter; and ere tered es about ceased nagging ly, and Perrault even ing up and carefully examining them.
It imber line, across glaciers and snos deep, and over t C Divide, er and time doers of extinct volcanoes, and late t nigo t tt, t ted just, but all too early ed out in tes to the sled.
t day ty miles, trail being packed; but t day, and for many days to follorail, traveled aeam, packing to make it easier for t times exc not often. Perrault er, t all.
Day after day, for days unending, Buck toiled in traces. Al gray of dating trail cer dark, eating t of fiso sleep into tion for eaco go noo to keep in good condition.
ly lost tidiousness er, es, finis, robbed ion. t. ing off t s of to remedy te as fast as tly did above taking belong to ceal a slice of bacon urned, ed tting a uproar ed; , was punished for Bucks misdeed.
t t marked Buck as fit to survive in tile Nort. It marked ability, y to adjust o cions, t s and terrible deat marked, furto pieces of ure, a vain truggle for existence. It private property and personal feeling; but in took suco account was a fool, and in so far as o prosper.
Not t Buck reasoned it out. , t ter . But ter en into al and primitive code. Civilized, ion, say t teness of ion o flee from tion and so save steal for joy of it, but because of tomac rob openly, but stole secretly and cunningly, out of respect for club and fang. In s, t o do t to do them.
(or retrogression) ernal economy. anytter ible; and, once eaten, tomacracted t least particle of nutriment; and to t reac into toug and stoutest of tissues. Sig became remarkably keen, in est sound and knee t eet collected beter by rearing and striking it iff fore legs. conspicuous trait y to scent t it a nigter by tree or bank, t later bleably found o leeward, sered and snug.
And not only did instincts long dead became alive again. ticated generations fell from o to time t and killed t as t do ask for o learn to fig and slas forgotten ancestors. tricks o ty of tricks. to effort or discovery, as till cold niged a star and , pointing nose at star and uries and t to tillness, and the cold, and dark.
token of t song surged to al in t lap over the needs of his wife and divers small copies of himself.