"Hey, what did I say? I was right. Buck is a very dangerous dog," Francois
said the next morning. He couldn't find Spitz anywhere, and Buck had many cuts on
him.
Perrault looked at Buck's cuts and said, "Yes, but Spitz fought hard."
"And Buck fought harder," answered Francois. "Now the sledge will go faster.
Without Spitz, there will be no more problems. I know I'm right."
Then Perrault put the bags onto the sledge and Francois put the dogs into their
harnesses. Buck walked to Spitz's harness and waited. But Francois didn't see him
and brought Sol-leks to the same place. Buck jumped at SoUeks angrily, and Solleks
had to move away."Ha!" Francois laughed. "Look at Buck! He killed Spitz, and now he wants his
job! Go away, Buck!" he shouted, but Buck didn't move. Then Francois pulled Buck
by his neck and put Sol-leks in Spitz's harness. Buck barked angrily, but he moved.
Sol-leks was afraid of Buck and he didn't want to make Buck angry.
So, when Francois turned around, Buck easily pushed Sol-leks
away again.
Francois was angry now. "Buck—you bad dog! You move away now!" he
shouted, and he took his club. Buck remembered the man in the red shirt and he
walked away.
When Francois brought Sol-leks back, Buck didn't bark.
"OK, now you, [bad word] here and get into your harness," Francois said.
But Buck walked away from him. Francois followed, but Buck didn't stop.
Francois looked down at the club in his hand. "Oh, I understand. You're afraid
of this. All right, I'll put it on the ground—look. [bad word] to me."
But Buck wasn't afraid of the club and he didn't go to Francois. He wanted to
be in Spitz's harness. He was the best dog now and he didn't want to go back to his
old harness. He walked away again. He didn't leave the camp, but Francois couldn't
get near him.
After an hour, Francois sat down. He looked at Perrault and smiled. Then he
looked back at Buck.
"OK Buck, you win!" And he took Sol-leks out of Spitz's place.
Buck laughed and walked to the sledge. Francois put him in his new harness.
"Mush!" Francois shouted, and the sledge started to move. Francois watched
Buck carefully. "I don't think Buck can do Spitz's job." Francois thought. But he was
wrong.
After some kilometers, Francois thought, "Wow! Buck is better than Spitz!
He's faster, stronger, and more intelligent than Spitz. Spitz was the best dog, but now
Buck is better!"
Buck quickly stopped the fighting between the other dogs.
He was the new boss now, and the other dogs were afraid of him. They
listened to him and worked hard for him. Francois and Perrault were surprised and
very happy.
"Buck is the best sledge dog in the North." Francois said. "Somebody will pay
a thousand dollars for him! What do you think, Perrault?"
"Yes, you're right," he said. Perrault was very happy with Buck's work, too.
Perrault was also very happy with this trip. The ice was hard, and there was no
new snow. It wasn't too cold. Every day, for fourteen days, they ran 20 kilometers.
And at the end of the second week, they could see Skaguay.
But when they arrived at Skaguay, Francois and Perrault's plans changed.
They had to leave Skaguay and the Yukon.
They had to sell the dogs quickly. Francois put his arms around Buck's neck
and he cried. Buck never saw the two men again.
Scottish man bought the sledge dogs. He and some other men worked for
the Canadian [bad word]  They carried people's letters to them. The next day,
they took the sledge back to Dawson, and it was hard work for the dogs. The sledge
was very heavy and the snow was very thick. Buck didn't like this new job, but he
always worked hard. And th