CHAPTER THREE

The Stronger Primitive Beast

Because of the changes in Buck, Spitz began to give him trouble. He seemed to know that Buck could be a dangerous enemy, so he always took the opportunity to try to fight with Buck. If started, this fight could only end in the death of one or the other.

Early in the trip this might have taken place had it not been for an accident. They made a small and miserable camp on the shore of a lake at the end of one day. The weather was terrible, with freezing winds and driving snow. At their backs was a wall of rock, and the two men had to camp on the ice of the frozen lake. They only had a few sticks for firewood, and after cooking, they ate their supper in darkness.

Buck made his hole under the sheltering rock. He was so warm and comfortable that he hated to leave it when Francois called the dogs for dinner. When Buck finished his meal, he found that Spitz had taken the opportunity to steal his hole. Up to that point, Buck had avoided trouble with Spitz, but this was too much. The beast within him mated. He sprang upon Spitz with an anger that surprised them both.

Francois was surprised, too. "Aah!" he cried to Buck. "Give it to him, the dirty thief!"

Spitz was just as willing as Buck to fight. He was crying out in anger and eagerness as he circled Buck, waiting for a chance to jump on him. But then something unexpected happened. A shout was heard from Perrault and then total confusion came upon the camp. Starving huskies, about twenty of there, had invaded the camp, attracted by the smell of food. A couple of dogs went straight for the food-box, and even though Perrault and Francois beat them with clubs, they paid no attention to the blows, only leaving once the last bit of food had been eaten.

In the meantime, the surprised team-dogs had jumped out of their nests only to be set upon by the fierce invaders. Buck had never seen such dogs before. It seemed their bones would burst through their skins. Their hunger-madness and disease had made them crazy, and there was no fighting them. The team-dogs were backed up against a cliff and Buck was attacked by three huskies. His head and shoulders were bitten and ripped, Billie was crying as usual. Dave and Sol-lek, dripping with blood from their wounds, were fighting bravely side by side. Joe was snapping his mouth at his attackers like a devil. Joe bit into the front leg of husky, wounding him. Buck used the opportunity to grab the dog by the throat. His teeth tore open in throat and Buck felt his mouth fill with warm blood. This was a new and strange feeling for Buck, and it made him fight even harder. He jumped upon another, and at the same time, he felt teeth sink into his own throat. It was Spitz attacking him from the side. Buck knew that he would die if Spitz knocked him down in the middle of these starving huskies. He stood ready for Spitz's jump, fully aware that Spitz was also an enemy.

But Spitz didn't jump; he was again attacked by the huskies. Just then Perrault and Francois came running, trying to save their dogs. They fought back the huskies while leading their dogs across the frozen lake. In this way, the nine team-dogs and the two men finally reached the safety of the forest.

Both men and dogs were all in a sorry way. There was not one who was not wounded in four or five places, while others were wounded even more seriously. Dub was badly injured in his back leg; Dolly, the last addition to the team in Dyea, had a throat wound; Joe had lost an eye; while Billie, the good-natured one, with an ear that was chewed to pieces, cried throughout the night. On top of this, there was a chance that the dogs could become infected with the same disease that made the other dogs go crazy. At daybreak, they slowly went back to camp, to find the huskies gone and their camp destroyed. Over half of their food supply was gone. The huskies had chewed through the sled ropes and canvas tents. In fact, nothing, no matter eatable or not, had escaped their teeth. They had eaten a pair of Perrault's leather boots, as well as two feet of Francois' whip. Francois become terribly sad when he looked at the camp, and then at the state of his dogs.

"Ah, my friends," he said softly, "maybe we'll all become mad dogs like them. What do you think, eh, Perrault?"

Perrault shook his head in sadness. With four hundred miles between them and Dawson, they couldn't afford to have any disease break out among the dogs. With half of their supplies gone, the hardest part of the journey in front of them, the team set out two hours later toward Dawson.

The Thirty Mile River was wide open. Its wild waters did not freeze, even though the temperature was below fifty. Six days of exhausting work were needed to cover those terrible thirty miles where every place put the lives of the team at risk. More than ten times Perrault fell through the ice, saved only by his long pole. Each time this happened, the team was forced to stop and build a fire.

Perrault faced danger bravely. It was his skill and bravery that had gotten him this job for the government. He took all risks, determined to struggle from morning to night. Once, the sled broke through the ice, and Dave and Buck were half-frozen by the time they were dragged out of the lake. The usual fire was necessary to save them. Their fur was covered in ice, and Francois had to make the dogs run around the fire. Some of their fur was even burnt from the flames. Another time Spitz fell through the ice, dragging the whole team except for Buck and Dave with him into the water.

By the time they made the Houtalinqua, where the good and solid ice was at, Buck was nearly dead from pulling. The rest of the team was in the same condition; but Perrault, to make up lost time, continued to push them ahead. The first day they covered thirty-five miles to Big Fish; the next day, thirty-five miles to Little Fish; the third day, forty miles that finally brought them into Five Fingers.

Buck's feet were not as hard as the other huskies. His had softened from the many generations since his last wild ancestor was taken and cared for by primitive man. All day long he walked in pain, and when camp was made, he lay down like a dead dog. Hungry as he was, he couldn't move to eat his food, which Francois had to bring to him. Also, the dog driver rubbed Buck's feet for thirty minutes every night, and used his own boots to make four small boots for Buck. This provided a great relief for Buck, arm Francois had to laugh at the way Buck would lay on his back every morning, his four feet waving in the air, waiting for his boots to be put on. Later, his feet grew harder and his "worn-out boots were thrown away.

One morning, as Francois and Perrault were harnessing the dogs, Dolly suddenly let out a long, heart-breaking wolf cry that struck fear in every dog. She had gone mad, and she made a wild jump at Buck. He had never seen another dog break down and go mad before, but he knew enough to run away. Dolly immediately set off after him. Buck couldn't get far enough away, so great was her madness, nor could Dolly get close enough to Buck, so great was his fear. Finally, he heard Francois call to him and he ran back toward camp, putting all his belief into Francois' help. The dog-driver held an axe in his hand, and as Buck shot past him, the axe crashed down upon Dolly's head.

Buck lay down next to the sled, exhausted and helpless. This was Spitz's opportunity. He sprang upon Buck, and twice his teeth sank into Buck and tore his flesh to the bone. Then Francois hit Spitz with the whip, and Buck had the satisfaction of watching Spitz get the worst whipping ever given to any member of the team.

"One devil, he is," remarked Perrault. "Some day, he'll kill Buck."

"But Buck is two devils," said Francois.

From then on it was war between them. Spitz, as the leader and master of the team, felt afraid of losing his position to Buck. Spitz had never met such a clever and hard enemy. Buck had learned something from the man in the red sweater with the club. Buck could wait with a patience that was nothing short of primitive.

The fight for leadership could not be helped. Buck wanted it. He wanted it because it was his nature, because he had been caught by a wish for mastery that he himself couldn't understand. It was the same desire that made the dogs work themselves until they died, that broke their hearts when they could no longer work as sled-dogs. This was the pride that Dave and Sol-lek had, the pride that came over them at camp, turning them from sad and lazy dogs into eager and willing sled dogs. It was also the pride that made Spitz fear Buck as a possible leader. And this was Buck's pride, too.

Buck openly fought with Spitz for leadership. He would stand between Spitz and another dog, when Spitz was punishing another. He did this on purpose. One morning Pike did not appear and Spitz was growling in anger. When Pike eventually came up from his nest in the ground, Spitz made ready to jump on him and punish him. But Buck flew between them in anger. This was so unexpected to Spitz that he fell backward and off his feet. Pike, sensing that Spitz was weakened, took the opportunity to attack Spitz. Buck, forgetting the rules of fairness, also joined Pike. But Francois brought his whip upon Buck, letting him know with each blow that such behavior wasn't allowed, even if he was standing up against Spitz. In this way, his masters were fair to all the dogs.

In the days that followed, with Dawson growing closer and closer, Buck still continued to trouble Spire. But he did this secretly, when Francois was not around, Soon, a common disrespect for Spitz as leader grew among the other dogs. Things no longer went right. There was continual fighting. Trouble was always happening, and Buck was the cause of it. Francois was busy trying to keep order among the team. The dog-diver was in constant fear of the day when Spitz and Buck would have a life-or-death fight, and he knew that it was set to happen. On many nights he would rush out of his tent at the sound of fighting.

But the fight didn't happen before they reached Dawson. One cloudy afternoon they pulled into town, finding many men and countless dogs hard at work. It seemed the natural order that dogs should work for men. All day long teams of dogs ran up and down the main street, pulling heavy loads on their sleds. Here dogs did the same work that horses did back in the Southlands. Buck met other dogs from the Southlands; at night he would join them in their singing. Under the light of a moon that glowed in the snow, this song of the huskies spoke of the continual fight for existence. It was an old song—one of the first songs of a younger world in a day when songs were sad. When Buck sang, it was with the pain of living that was the same pain of his ancestors before. The fear and mystery of the cold and dark were the same fear and mystery that had troubled past generations. And the fact that Buck howled at night was a sign that he had gone back to an older nature, back to the very beginnings of an age of howling.

Seven days after being in Dawson, they made their way toward Dyea and Salt Water. Perrault had important packages to deliver for the trip, and he hoped to arrive in record time. The rest had put the dogs in good shape, and their sled was quite light.

They made Sixty Miles, which is actually only a fifty mile run, in the first day. On the second day, they were on their way to Pelly. But such good travel put hardship on the dogs. The fighting between Spitz and Buck had destroyed the team's spirit of working together as one. It was no longer as one clog pulling the sled, but like nine individual dogs. No more was Spitz a great leader to be feared. The other dogs started to challenge the authority of Spitz, stealing his food and openly fighting with him.

The breaking down of Spitz's leadership likewise affected the dogs in their relationship with one another. They fought and argued more than ever among themselves. Dave and Sol-lek were the only ones unchanged, but they were bothered by the constant fighting. Francois ran about in anger, trying to keep order, but the minute he turned his back, the dogs would start again. Tearing his hair, Francois cursed Buck, for he knew that Buck was behind all the trouble. But Buck was too clever to be caught and he still continued to work faithfully in the harness, though he also took pleasure in making trouble.

One night after supper, at the mouth of the Takheena River, a rabbit came into camp. Soon, the whole team was chasing it. They were joined in the chase by fifty other huskies from a neighboring camp. The rabbit sped down the river, running lightly on the snow, while the dogs ran heavily behind. Buck led the other dogs but he could not catch the rabbit. He ran low to the ground, his wonderful body flashing leap by leap in the moonlight. And leap by leap, the rabbit flashed ahead of him.

All the old instincts which make men leave cities and go to forests to hunt and kill—all this was Buck's, only it was closer. He was leading the other dogs, running after living meat, to kill with his own teeth and wash his mouth in warm blood.

There is a joy that marks life; a joy that comes when one is most alive, and strangely, when one forgets that one is alive. This forgetfulness comes to the artist, caught in his own creation, and it comes to the war-mad soldier on the field. Now it came to Buck, leading the others, sounding the wolf-cry, chasing after the food that was alive. He was living from the deepest part of his nature, going back into Time itself. He was mastered by life, the power of being, the perfect joy of each muscle and bone expressing itself in movement, flying under the stars and over the dead snow.

But Spitz had other plans. He broke away from the others, cutting across a thin piece of land. Buck did not know this, and as he watched the rabbit leap in front of him, he saw a larger form leap into the path of the rabbit. It was Spitz. The rabbit could not turn, and as Spitz's white teeth bit into its back, it cried aloud in pain. At the sound of this cry, the other dogs stopped and howled in delight.

But Buck did not cry out. He didn't even stop, but drove himself into Spitz so hard that he missed the throw. They rolled over and over in the snow, Spitz jumped to his feet and bit Buck on the shoulder, ripping the flesh, before jumping back.

In an instant Buck knew that the time had come. It was to the death. He seemed to remember it all, the white woods, the moonlight, the circle of dogs that watched them. They, too, like the night, were silent; only their eyes were glowing. To Buck it was nothing new or strange, but a scene from old time.

Spitz was an experienced fighter; he had fought with many dogs in his life and achieved mastery over them. He was angry, but not blind with anger. In his desire to destroy, he never forgot that his enemy also wanted to destroy him as well. He never attacked without first defending his attack.

Buck tried to sink his teeth into Spitz, but to no use. His teeth met Spitz's teeth, and Buck's mouth was soon bleeding frown his attempts. Every time that he rushed toward Spitz, Spitz would jump aside and cut Buck before jumping away. Then he tried to knock Spitz over, but Spitz would tear at Buck's shoulder before leaping tightly away.

Spitz was untouched, while Buck was covered in wounds that dripped blood. The fight was growing more serious. All the while the circle of dogs silently waited. They wanted to finish off whichever dog went down. As Buck became more tired, Spitz started to rush toward him. Once, Buck was knocked over, and the circle of dogs started up. But he quickly jumped to his feet, and the circle sank down again and waited.

But Buck had a quality that made for greatness—imagination. He fought by instinct, but he could also fight using his head as well. He rushed forward, as if to try to knock Spitz down by his shoulder, but at the last second he bent low in the snow and his teeth bit into one of Spitz's front legs. He repeated this trick three times, and Spitz was struggling madly to keep up. He saw the circle of dogs moving silently closer, just as he had seen similar circles close in on his beaten enemies. Only this time he was the one who was beaten.

There was no hope for him. Buck was unbeatable. The circle was so close that Buck could feel the other dogs at his back legs. Then a pause seemed to fall. Every dog was motionless, as if turned to stone. Only Spitz moved and fell, trying to fight an approaching death. Then Buck sprang upon Spitz, knocking him over. Buck jumped back and looked on as the circle closed in urea Spitz. Buck was the successful winner, the leader of primitive animal who had made his kill and found it good.

(end of section)