John Thornton had bad feet from an accident in the winter before Buck came.
So his friends made a camp for him, and they left him by the river.
"We're going to Dawson. But we'll be back for you when the weather's
warmer. Have a long rest here and get better," they said.
In the camp, Buck sat and watched the river. He listened to the songs of the
birds, and he slowly got stronger and stronger. They all got stronger—Buck,
Thornton, and his other dogs, Nig and Skeet—and they waited for Thornton's
friends. Skeet was a small, friendly dog, and she was a little doctor to Buck. Every
morning, after breakfast, she carefully washed Buck's cuts. Nig was a very large,
black dog and he was also friendly. They were good friends and they played games
every day.
And Buck slowly learned a new lesson. He learned about love. For the first
time in his life, he felt strong love—for Thornton. This wonderful man took him
away from Hal, and he helped him. He was kind and friendly, and he never hit him.
Thornton's dogs were his children and he talked to them every day. Buck loved
Thornton's talks with him. He barked at him.
"Wow, Buck, "Thornton laughed. "I think you can speak!"
Buck's love for Thornton got stronger and stronger. He loved Thornton more
than anything in life.
Thornton's friends, Hans and Pete, arrived in the camp with their boat.
In the beginning, Buck didn't like these strange men, but then he saw
Thornton's love for his friends.
So Buck walked to them when they called him. And he didn't bark angrily at
them. But Buck's love was only for Thornton, and Hans and Pete could see this.
One day, the two men watched Thornton and Buck.
"Buck really loves Thornton," Pete said. "But I'm afraid. You know the men in
the North. Sometimes they get angry easily and some men like to fight. And when
somebody hurts Thornton, Buck will go crazy."
"Yes," answered Hans. "In Thornton's next fight, Buck will kill the other
man."
It was at Circle City, in December, when Pete remembered those words.
Thornton and his friends were in a bar. "Black" Barton was in the bar, too. He was a
large, angry man. Barton wanted to fight with somebody, so he started to speak
angrily to a smaller man. The man was afraid.
Thornton watched the two men. "Oh, no, there's going to be a fight," he
thought. "And this won't be a good fight, because Barton is bigger than that other
man. I'll have to do something."
So Thornton went to Barton and spoke quietly to him. Barton turned around
and hit Thornton very hard in the face.
The people in the bar heard a loud angry bark. Then a large dog quickly
jumped up and ran at Barton. Barton put up his arm and Buck attacked it. Buck and
Barton fell to the floor. Buck was on top of the man. He was very angry, and he
attacked Barton again. This time, he hurt his neck very badly and Barton shouted
with pain. Then some men pulled Buck off Barton and they took the dog outside.
doctor came and looked at Barton's neck.
"He's got a very bad cut, but he's going to live," he said.
man said, "Yes, but Buck's dangerous. He almost killed that man! We'll
have to kill him."
"No, we can't do that!" said another man. "Buck attacked Barton because Barton hit Thornton. He's a good dog, and he helped his friend."
So nobody was angry with Buck. But other people in Alaska heard about this
wonderful, strange dog and his great love for Thornton.
At the end of the next summer, Buck showed his love for Thornton again.
Hans, Pete, and Thornton wanted to take their boat down a fast river. Hans and Pete
stood next to the river when Thornton was in the boat. Buck didn't like this river, and
he watched Thornton very carefully.
Suddenly, the boat move