【正文】 o do． Buck chose a place，dug himself a hole and in a minute he was warm and asleep． He slept well，although his dreams were bad．When he woke up，at first he did not know where he was．It had snowed in the night and the snow now lay thick and heavy above him． Suddenly he was afraid—the fear of a wild animal when it is caught and cannot escape． Growling，he threw himself at the snow，and a moment later，he had jumped upwards into the daylight． He saw the tents and re－membered everything，from the time he had gone for a walk with Manuel to the moment he had dug the hole the night before． ‘What did I say？’ shouted Francois to Perrault，when he saw Buck e up out of the snow．‘That Buck learns quickly．’Perrault smiled slowly． He was carrying important papers，and he needed good dogs． He was very pleased to have Buck．They bought three more dogs that morning，and a quarter of an hour later all nine dogs were in harness and on their way up the Dyea Canyon． Buck was not sorry to be moving，and although it was hard work，he almost enjoyed it． He was also surprised to see that Dave and Sol－leks no longer looked bored and miserable．Pulling in a harness was their job，and they were happy to do it．Dave was sledge－dog，the dog nearest to the sledge．In front of him was Buck，then came Solleks． In front of them were the six other dogs，with Spitz as leader at the front． Francois had put Buck between Dave and Sol－leks because they could teach him the work．Buck learnt well，and they were good teachers． When Buck pulled the wrong way，Dave always bit his leg，but only lightly． Once，when they stopped，Buck got tied up in his harness，and it took ten minutes to get started again．Both Dave and Sol－leks gave him a good beating for that mistake． Buck understood，and was more careful after that．It was a hard day39。t looking．The next day Buck stole some and got away unseen． Perrault was very angry，but he thought another dog，Dub，had taken it and so punished him instead of Buck．Buck was learning how to live in the north． In the south he had never stolen，but there he had never been so hungry． He stole cleverly and secretly，remembering the beatings from the man with the club．Buck was learning the law of club and tooth．He learnt to eat any food—anything that he could get his teeth into． He learnt to break the ice on water holes with his feet when he wanted to drink He was stronger，harder，and could see and smell better than ever before ．In a way，he was remembering back to the days when wild dogs travelled in packs through the forest，killing for meat as they went．It was easy for him to learn to fight like a wolf，because it was in his blood． In the evenings，when he pointed his nose at the moon and howled long and loud，he was remembering the dogs and wolves that had e before him．The wild animalThe wild animal was strong in Buck，and as he travelled across the snow，it grew stronger and stronger． And as Buck grew stronger，he hated Spitz more and more，although he was careful never to start a fight．But Spitz was always showing his teeth to Buck，trying to start a fight． And Buck knew that if he and Spitz fought，one of them would die．The fight almost happened one night when they stopped by Lake Laberge．There was heavy snow and it was very cold．The lake was frozen and Francois，Perrault，and the dogs had to spend the night on the ice，under a big rock． Buck had made a warm hole in the snow and was sorry to leave it to get his piece of fish． But when he had eaten． and returned to his hole，he found Spitz in it． Buck had tried not to fight Spitz be－fore，but this was too much． He attacked him angrily． Spitz was surprised． He knew Buck was big，but he didn’ t know he was so wild． Francois was surprised too，and guessed why Buck was angry． ‘Go on Buck！’ he shouted．‘Fight him，the dirty thief！’Spitz was also ready to fight，and the two dogs circled one another，looking for the chance to jump in． But suddenly there was a shout from Perrault，and they saw eighty or a hundred dogs around the sledge． The dogs came from an Indian village，and they were searching for the food that they could smell on the sledge． Perrault and Francois tried to fight them off with their clubs，but the dogs，made crazy by the smell of the food，showed their teeth and fought back．Buck had never seed dogs like these． They were all skin and bone，but hunger made them fight like wild things．Three of them attacked Buck and in seconds his head and legs were bad－ly bitten．Dave and Solleks stood side by side，covered in blood，fighting bravely． Joe and Pike jumped on one dog，and Pike broke its neck with one bite．Buck caught another dog by the neck and tasted blood． He threw himself on the next one，and then felt teeth in his own neck．It was Spitz，attacking him from the side．Perrault and Francois came to help with clubs，but then they had to run back to save the food ． It was safer for the nine sledge－dogs to run away across the lake． Several of them were badly hurt，and they spent an unhappy night hiding among the tress．At first light they returned to the sledge and found Perrault and Francois tired and angry．Half their food was gone．The Indian dogs had even eaten one of Perrault39。 below zero，and each time Perrault fell into the water，he had to light a fire to dry and warm himself． Once，the sledge fell through the ice，with Dave and Buck，and they were covered in ice by the time Perrault and Francois pulled them out of the river．Again，a fire was needed to save them．Another time，Spitz and the dogs in front fell through the ice—Buck and Dave and Francois at the sledge had to pull backwards．That day they travelled only four hundred metres．When they got to the Hootalinqua and good ice，Buck and the other dogs were very，very tired． But they were late，so Perrault made them run faster． In three days they went a hun－dred and eighty kilometres and reached the Five Fingers．The other dogs had hard feet from years of pulling sledges，but Buck39。s head．Buck fell down by the sledge，too tired to move． Immediat