Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Call of the Wild
    The Call of the Wild
    The Call of the Wild
    Ebook112 pages2 hours

    The Call of the Wild

    By Jack London

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Buck is a big dog living a comfortable life in California. When gold is discovered in Canada, he is stolen from his home, taken up to the Klondike region, and forced to pull dog sleds. As time passes, Buck discovers the instincts of his ancestors and learns how to survive in the wild, endure freezing conditions, and deal with cruel men and dogs. Finally, Buck finds a kind master, but in the end, the call of the wild may be too strong. This is an unabridged version of Jack London's classic American survival story, first published in 1903.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLerner Publishing
    Release dateAug 1, 2014
    ISBN9781467756440
    Author

    Jack London

    Jack London (1876-1916) was an American writer who produced two hundred short stories, more than four hundred nonfiction pieces, twenty novels, and three full-length plays in less than two decades. His best-known works include The Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf, and White Fang.

    Read more from Jack London

    Related to The Call of the Wild

    Titles in the series (100)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    YA Classics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      By Water Beneath The Walls

      Aug 5, 2021

      By Water Beneath The Walls
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Vinlandmap

      Oct 7, 2021

      The Vinlandmap
      4 min read

    • Article

      Lord Of War

      Sep 1, 2019

      Lord Of War
      9 min read

    • Article

      Zero Sievert

      Feb 21, 2023

      Zero Sievert
      5 min read

    • Article

      They Called Him Bilito

      Nov 24, 2020

      They Called Him Bilito
      11 min read

    • Article

      Sickeningly Rich

      Sep 16, 2022

      @JORDANFARLEY I pushed it as far as I could,” says Ruben Östlund, talking about his new film Triangle Of Sadness. “I didn’t have any limit. I wanted to do the first film scene in the world where someone actually is shitting and throwing up at the sam

      3 min read

    • Article

      My Best Of 2021

      Jan 8, 2022

      by Essa Hansen ORBIT ₹494 (KINDLE); 512 pages The sequel to Nophek Gloss, Azura Ghost is due to be formally published in March 2022, and marks the continuation of one of the most innovative and original contemporary space operas available today. Hans

      1 min read

    • Article

      Puckety Chute

      Mar 1, 2018

      Puckety Chute
      17 min read

    • Article

      Vaccine Victory Via Chickens

      Feb 24, 2022

      Vaccine Victory Via Chickens
      3 min read

    • Article

      Coastal Mississippi

      Jul 13, 2021

      Coastal Mississippi
      6 min read

    • Article

      Look who’s Tolkien

      May 5, 2019

      Look who’s Tolkien
      2 min read

    • Article

      a Sacred Refuge

      Dec 23, 2021

      a Sacred Refuge
      8 min read

    • Article

      Giants Of The Deep

      Jul 31, 2018

      Giants Of The Deep
      7 min read

    • Article

      Degrees of Humboldt

      Mar 1, 2020

      Degrees of Humboldt
      7 min read

    • Article

      Pearl I Harbor Fly For Vengeance

      Sep 1, 2021

      Pearl I Harbor Fly For Vengeance
      4 min read

    • Article

      Big in Japan

      Feb 19, 2024

      Big in Japan
      2 min read

    • Article

      Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures Series Is Joyous Dad-Joke Fantasy

      Aug 16, 2019

      Robert Asprin's rollicking Myth Adventures books get their laughs from whimsy, lightheartedness, buddy-movie banter, and, um, comic myth-understandings. They're a welcome antidote to grimmer series.

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Tale Of Two Explorers

      Sep 24, 2019

      A Tale Of Two Explorers
      4 min read

    • Article

      Apocalypse Now!

      Aug 19, 2021

      Apocalypse Now!
      3 min read

    • Article

      How To Beat The Romans

      Aug 12, 2021

      How To Beat The Romans
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Day That De Aar Turned Into A Circus

      Jan 22, 2021

      The glossy, brightly coloured posters sent a wave of excitement through the town. Pagel’s Wonder Circus was coming to De Aar! Children saved up their pocket money for weeks ahead of the annual event. Railway junctions had their advantages, especially

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Andromeda Evolution

      Dec 4, 2019

      The Andromeda Evolution
      1 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Call of the Wild

    4/5

    3,859 ratings122 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Great book. Everyone should read it.
    • 5/5
      It's pretty hard to find fault with this story or the way it's told. It was particularly engaging to read while my family is in the process of rehabilitating a very fearful rescue dog. Jack London is among the go-to authors for perspective on how we think when you pare away frivolous comforts - and that's exemplified in CotW.
    • 4/5
      Synopsis.......The story takes place in the extreme conditions of the Yukon during the 19th-century Klondike Gold Rush, where strong sled dogs were in high demand. After Buck, a domesticated dog, is snatched from a pastoral ranch in California, he is sold into a brutal life as a sled dog. The novella details Buck's struggle to adjust and survive the cruel treatment he receives from humans, other dogs, and nature. He eventually sheds the veneer of civilization altogether and instead relies on primordial instincts and the lessons he has learned to become a respected and feared leader in the wild.Published back in 1903 after the author had spent sometime in the aforementioned Yukon.I was looking for something a little bit different and quick to read after getting bogged down by another book which I wasn't enjoying. I had previously heard of this book, hasn't everyone(?) but can't recall reading it ever during my near half-century of years, not even in the dim and distant days of school. Glad I made the effort though.Gripping, exciting, moving.......a testament of an indomitable spirit, bravery, determination, loyalty, fearlessness, and probably another dozen or so admirable attributes. Sad in places, but ultimately an uplifting and rewarding read.I wouldn't put it past me finding more from London in the future.4 from 5Down-loaded free from the internet.
    • 4/5
      I read this book a few pages at a time (distracted by Facebook, Instagram & Twitter - the usual suspects). When I finally finished it I felt I had read a wonderful, though quite violent, story. Yes, despite flaws, a great tale.
    • 1/5
      Maybe it's because I'm not a dog, but I just don't find it interesting being in the mind of Buck. I was very excited to read this because so many people raved about it, but it just didn't hold my interest even as a child.
    • 4/5
      Trust, betrayal, loyalty and animal cruelty. A heart wrenching story about the life of dogs during the gold rush from an animal POV. I am not always a fan of such an approach but it worked well here. Highly engaging (worked well for an audiobook) but not black and white, as I could relate even to the most "evil" characters. I guess that's why it's a "classic" (mental note: "Read more classics"=).
    • 5/5
      Another childhood favorite.
    • 3/5
      Honestly, the best part about this book was that it was narrated by Jeff Bridges. I love animal books but I feel as if I really would have enjoyed this much more in my youth. The Call of the Wild tells the story of Buck, a mixed breed dog who is stolen from cozy home and his lush life as a house dog to be taken up north to be a sled dog during the Yukon Gold Rush. Buck quickly acclimates to the tough life and sets himself apart from the other dogs with his strength, smarts, and cunning. Told entirely through Buck's perspectives, this was one of the first popular books that had an animal as a narrator. To me the most interesting parts were about the wilderness, the scenery, and the people; it was a fascinating time during the late 1800s! Even though it is a little violent, this is a great kids book, especially for animal lovers!
    • 3/5
      It was fun to read this again, as I had only the vaguest recollection from reading it as a kid. Refreshingly unsentimental in its depiction of the natural world, it raises important questions about yearning for a life "beyond good and evil." A walk on the wild side...
    • 4/5
      There's no way in hell my dogs think like this.
    • 4/5
      Overall I liked the book even though there was a lot of blood and cruelty. In this story Buck a dog who lived the easy life at an estate was not use to the ways of the wild. The wilderness taught him to adapt or to die and he chose to adapt. This book takes you through the joys and griefs of Buck's life.
    • 5/5
      Wrong edition, but after going through 10 pages of different editions with no end in sight, I got tired. Mine is by Random House in 2009 & read by Jeff Daniels (the star of Newsroom on HBO). Daniels' reading of this story is FANTASTIC.

      I let far too many years go by between reads of this story. London paints a wonderfully brutal picture of the Klondike gold rush as seen in relation to Buck. He doesn't anthropomorphize terribly, but I found the hereditary memories of the primitive man a bit much. Still, the point of the title was well made.

      I found Buck's breeding to be especially pleasing. One of my best dogs was a Great Dane/mostly Shepard cross. Maverick looked like a really big, relatively short haired German Shepard & had more personality than most people. He was sweet as could be to 'his' people & animals, while he was pure death to any predator or other varmint. He would literally lay next to a lost chick & howl in despair. He carried an orphaned kitten in his mouth around the house for weeks until it was big enough to get around by itself, but killed many racoons, groundhogs, possums, & a weasel with one snap. (Oh, this is supposed to be about the book. Sorry, but Mav deserves to be remembered.

      I got it wrong in my review of "The Sea Wolf" where I said London didn't think of wolves as a social animal. He did, in their own society. It's just that they were at odds with ours.

      Anyway, this was obviously a classic that really hit home. It's not a terribly happy story. In fact, it's brutal, but fantastic. I can't recommend it highly enough, especially this particular version.
    • 3/5
      It's hard to believe, that with 82 years of reading all sorts of books, this the first American Classic from an American Classic author that I''ve read. I'll try more of the classics but this work is no where near the top of my list of books. Yes, it is quite an adventure for this dog and he certainly had very many experiences but I can't get to the level of classical literature.
    • 4/5
      A sad, wonderful tale.
    • 4/5
      Buck's journey from domestic dog, to sled dog, to wolf. Aspects of nobility in returning to nature and civilisation as superior to 'wildness' mixed in a way that I found a little hard to reconcile, maybe colonialism?
    • 4/5
      Decided to read this when I saw it on the Guardian's best 100 books list - thought I had read it when I was younger but realised that was White Fang. Follows Buck the domestic dog stolen from the south and brought north to be a sled dog. Absorbing quick read.
    • 4/5
      A terrific dog story, though hard to read at times because of all that Buck endures. I read it in the Library of America edition. Had never read it as a child as far as I recall; I note that some film versions are geared towards children and I can only assume (hope?) they have been bowdlerized; I wouldn't recommend this for children under 10 or 11 no matter their reading level.
    • 5/5
      Jack London's classic story tells the intense story of Buck, a dog who is kidnapped for money during the Gold Rush. The Call of the Wild is not always easy to read because not only is the language somewhat different than modern writing, it also explicitly tells of the abuse Buck suffers from the hands of his various masters and fellow dogs. Even though Buck's story is at times violent, it is also a great adventure that is ultimately hopeful. London's novel provides great opportunity to discuss the difficult issues it raises, and gives readers an opportunity to enter the consciousness of a dog. While reading, it is a good idea to have discussions to explain tough language and tough episodes. Ages 10-14.
    • 4/5

      I was quite impressed by this book. I expected a simple, canine adventure story. I did get an adventure story, but the most interesting part was the inner journey. As you read it, keep in mind that Mr. London sets up Buck as a person. It's easy to identify with him, and more difficult to identify with most of the humans in the story. It's definitely food for thought.
    • 3/5
      This is one of those books that I might have read before and forgotten about it. This was a pretty good book, I think my favorite part was that I picked up a new vocabulary word because the author over used it... "virility."
    • 5/5
      Definitely better than "White Fang".
    • 3/5
      The Call of the Wild centers around a dog named Buck and his survival in the human world. The book grapples with themes such as violences and nurture vs. nature. Students who enjoy reading about the struggle to survive harsh conditions will enjoy this book.
    • 4/5
      Very fast-paced and action-packed. London writes like a natural, and I really enjoyed the story's embodiment of Darwin's ideas/theories. Its eloquent narration of Buck's return to nature appeals to my own instincts, having grown up somewhat removed from typical "civilization" myself ... but I have to admit, his emphasis on THE fittest, Buck, feels rather aloof and elitist for me. But in that sense, I suppose London is staying true to the story's central theme: only the fittest DO and CAN survive.
    • 3/5
      My father gave this book to me as "one every man should read". I have to agree. There is something about the primal nature of this story, which follows the journey of a dog,that made me want to travel and become one with the earth. Although I enjoyed reading this novel, I would have liked to know more about the human characters rather than the dogs. Indeed the writing from the dog's perspective is great, but I usually find it easier to relate to humans.
    • 5/5
      This novel is one of my favorite pieces of American literature. Set in the rugged and bitterly cold Yukon, London weaves a tale of adventure through the eyes of Buck, a St. Bernard/Retriever mix, as he is abducted from a relative dog life of luxury and made a beast of burden on a sled team during the Alaskan gold rush. As the book follows the owners in Buck's life, one sees how the environment of the Yukon makes survival of the fittest a physical as well as mentally challenging game. This is a great read for dog lovers, and adventurers young and old---a time worn classic.
    • 4/5
      Very enjoyable. I felt like Buck's dreaming of prehistoric man was unnecessary and I think it would have been better without that.
    • 2/5
      It was ok. It's no White Fang.
    • 5/5
      loved it. I had never read Jack London before.
    • 4/5
      (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)The CCLaP 100: In which I read for the first time a hundred so-called "classics," then decide whether or not they deserve the labelBook #30: The Call of the Wild, by Jack London (1903)The story in a nutshell:One of the first-ever anthropomorphized children's books, Jack London's 1903 Call of the Wild tells the tale of "Buck," a cross-bred dog (part Saint Bernard, part Scotch Shepherd) who begins our story as a pampered family pet in northern California*; what made this book unusual for its time, however, is that this story is actually told from the viewpoint and mindset of the dog itself, as Buck finds himself first kidnapped and then sold as a sled dog in the Yukon, right in the middle of that region's Industrial-Age gold rush, when hearty dogs were at a premium. The rest of this short book, then, is essentially a look at what happens to Buck within this environment, and how his formerly tame nature is slowly replaced with his inborn animal instinct, as we readers are introduced one at a time to the legitimate horrors that came with this lifestyle back then (starvation, exhaustion, cruel owners, hostile natives, bloody infighting for both survival and pecking order), with Buck by the end joining a pack of rogue Alaskan wolves and becoming a semi-mythical legend, among both the civilized humans and dogs who he leaves behind.The argument for it being a classic:Well, to start with, it's one of the most popular children's books in history, with adaptations of the tale that continue to be created to this day (for example, a popular 3D movie version is being released on DVD the same exact week I'm writing this review); and then there's the fact that this was one of the first animal tales ever to be written from the point of view of the actual animal, a popular technique that in our modern times has become an entire subgenre unto itself. It can also be argued that this is a highly important historical record of the Alaskan gold rush, detailing the ins and outs of daily life there back then in a way that only a local could've (for those who don't know, London actually lived there himself for a time** starting in 1897); and let's not forget, its fans say, that this remains one of the few titles of the prolific London to still remain popular, out of the nearly hundred books he actually wrote, an author who was immensely important to the development of American literature in the early 20th century (not to mention insanely popular when he was alive), and who deserves to not be forgotten.The argument against:Like many of the children's books included in this essay series, the main argument among its critics seems to be that this book is only still considered a "classic" in the first place because of tradition; that if you take an actual close look at the book itself, it is neither superlative in quality nor even that popular anymore, one of those titles more apt to be nostalgically reminisced upon by middle-agers than an actual good book to be read again and again in our contemporary times. This is part of the problem with the term "classic," after all, is that our definition of it is constantly changing from one generation to the next; and children's literature is particularly susceptible to this change in definition, in that it's children's books that have most changed in nature in the last hundred years. Although no one seems to be arguing anymore with the idea that this is a historically important book, there seems to be a growing amount of people saying that it isn't a timeless gem either, and that it's maybe time here in the early 2000s to retire its longstanding "classic" status.My verdict:So out of the thirty books I've now reviewed for this essay series, this may be the hardest time I've had yet determining whether to classify a title as a "classic" or not. Because on the one hand, it's an undeniably thrilling book, a real page-turner that was a joy as a nostalgic middle-ager to read, and like I said is a fantastic look not just at the nature of the animal spirit but all the historical details of life in the Yukon during the gold-rush years. But on the other hand, the book is much, much more violent and dark than what most of us consider appropriate anymore for modern children, and parents deserve to know this before just handing a copy over to their kids; in fact, there's enough blood and death in this book to give just about any kid nightmares for weeks, making it ironically much more appropriate anymore for adults than contemporary children. Also, like any book that's over a hundred years old, there are big sections of Call of the Wild that simply feel outdated, and I question whether people would actually enjoy a title like this anymore if they're not reading specifically for historical reasons. As I mentioned, this is a big problem among a growing amount of children's literature that we once considered "classics," that in fact they're much more useful anymore as simple historical documents detailing a specific period in time, and aren't nearly as appropriate anymore for just handing to a modern kid, who after all has grown up with just a plethora of profoundly more sophisticated tales than such simplistic stories like these, and who aren't going to enjoy such stories nearly as much as a misty-eyed older adult looking back through the haze of nostalgia. It's for all these reasons that today I come down on the "no" side of the classic equation, although like I said, let it be known that I was right on the fence in this particular case.Is it a classic? No*And a little piece of trivia, by the way: London based this book on his landlord's pet dog, back when he lived in northern California himself during the height of the Yukon gold rush, a Saint Bernard that the families would regularly hook up to a wagon and have help perform household chores.**And if you really want to read something fascinating, check out sometime the actual derring-do life of London himself, who had real adventures in his youth twice as crazy as any of the stories he wrote: the illegitimate child of an astrologer and a mentally insane spiritualist, as a teenager he bought his first boat (borrowing money from the ex-slave who raised him) and became an oyster farmer, then after high school became a seal clubber in Japan for awhile; then during his years as a Yukon gold miner he developed scurvy and almost died, becoming a socialist by the end of his time there because of a liberal doctor who saved his life, and eventually becoming one of the first Americans in history to be able to make his entire living just from creative writing alone (and indeed, one of only a few handfuls of Americans to this day to become a millionaire from his creative writing). Sheesh!
    • 2/5
      The writing is strong and beautiful, and I suffered through it 'til the very end. I just can't handle the blood and abuse.

    Book preview

    The Call of the Wild - Jack London

    Call

    Chapter I. Into The Primitive

    "Old longings nomadic leap,

    Chafing at custom’s chain;

    Again from its brumal sleep

    Wakens the ferine strain."

    Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland. These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost.

    Buck lived at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. Judge Miller’s place, it was called. It stood back from the road, half hidden among the trees, through which glimpses could be caught of the wide cool veranda that ran around its four sides. The house was approached by gravelled driveways which wound about through wide-spreading lawns and under the interlacing boughs of tall poplars. At the rear things were on even a more spacious scale than at the front. There were great stables, where a dozen grooms and boys held forth, rows of vine-clad servants’ cottages, an endless and orderly array of outhouses, long grape arbors, green pastures, orchards, and berry patches. Then there was the pumping plant for the artesian well, and the big cement tank where Judge Miller’s boys took their morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon.

    And over this great demesne Buck ruled. Here he was born, and here he had lived the four years of his life. It was true, there were other dogs, There could not but be other dogs on so vast a place, but they did not count. They came and went, resided in the populous kennels, or lived obscurely in the recesses of the house after the fashion of Toots, the Japanese pug, or Ysabel, the Mexican hairless,—strange creatures that rarely put nose out of doors or set foot to ground. On the other hand, there were the fox terriers, a score of them at least, who yelped fearful promises at Toots and Ysabel looking out of the windows at them and protected by a legion of housemaids armed with brooms and mops.

    But Buck was neither house-dog nor kennel-dog. The whole realm was his. He plunged into the swimming tank or went hunting with the Judge’s sons; he escorted Mollie and Alice, the Judge’s daughters, on long twilight or early morning rambles; on wintry nights he lay at the Judge’s feet before the roaring library fire; he carried the Judge’s grandsons on his back, or rolled them in the grass, and guarded their footsteps through wild adventures down to the fountain in the stable yard, and even beyond, where the paddocks were, and the berry patches. Among the terriers he stalked imperiously, and Toots and Ysabel he utterly ignored, for he was king,—king over all creeping, crawling, flying things of Judge Miller’s place, humans included.

    His father, Elmo, a huge St. Bernard, had been the Judge’s inseparable companion, and Buck bid fair to follow in the way of his father. He was not so large,—he weighed only one hundred and forty pounds,—for his mother, Shep, had been a Scotch shepherd dog. Nevertheless, one hundred and forty pounds, to which was added the dignity that comes of good living and universal respect, enabled him to carry himself in right royal fashion. During the four years since his puppyhood he had lived the life of a sated aristocrat; he had a fine pride in himself, was even a trifle egotistical, as country gentlemen sometimes become because of their insular situation. But he had saved himself by not becoming a mere pampered house-dog. Hunting and kindred outdoor delights had kept down the fat and hardened his muscles; and to him, as to the cold-tubbing races, the love of water had been a tonic and a health preserver.

    And this was the manner of dog Buck was in the fall of 1897, when the Klondike strike dragged men from all the world into the frozen North. But Buck did not read the newspapers, and he did not know that Manuel, one of the gardener’s helpers, was an undesirable acquaintance. Manuel had one besetting sin. He loved to play Chinese lottery. Also, in his gambling, he had one besetting weakness—faith in a system; and this made his damnation certain. For to play a system requires money, while the wages of a gardener’s helper do not lap over the needs of a wife and numerous progeny.

    The Judge was at a meeting of the Raisin Growers’ Association, and the boys were busy organizing an athletic club, on the memorable night of Manuel’s treachery. No one saw him and Buck go off through the orchard on what Buck imagined was merely a stroll. And with the exception of a solitary man, no one saw them arrive at the little flag station known as College Park. This man talked with Manuel, and money chinked between them.

    You might wrap up the goods before you deliver ’m, the stranger said gruffly, and Manuel doubled a piece of stout rope around Buck’s neck under the collar.

    Twist it, an’ you’ll choke ’m plentee, said Manuel, and the stranger grunted a ready affirmative.

    Buck had accepted the rope with quiet dignity. To be sure, it was an unwonted performance: but he had learned to trust in men he knew, and to give them credit for a wisdom that outreached his own. But when the ends of the rope were placed in the stranger’s hands, he growled menacingly. He had merely intimated his displeasure, in his pride believing that to intimate was to command. But to his surprise the rope tightened around his neck, shutting off his breath. In quick rage he sprang at the man, who met him halfway, grappled him close by the throat, and with a deft twist threw him over on his back. Then the rope tightened mercilessly, while Buck struggled in a fury, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and his great chest panting futilely. Never in all his life had he been so vilely treated, and never in all his life had he been so angry. But his strength ebbed, his eyes glazed, and he knew nothing when the train was flagged and the two men threw him into the baggage car.

    The next he knew, he was dimly aware that his tongue was hurting and that he was being jolted along in some kind of a conveyance. The hoarse shriek of a locomotive whistling a crossing told him where he was. He had travelled too often with the Judge not to know the sensation of riding in a baggage car. He opened his eyes, and into them came the unbridled anger of a kidnapped king. The man sprang for his throat, but Buck was too quick for him. His jaws closed on the hand, nor did they relax till his senses were choked out of him once more.

    Yep, has fits, the man said, hiding his mangled hand from the baggageman, who had been attracted by the sounds of struggle. I’m takin’ ’m up for the boss to ‘Frisco. A crack dog-doctor there thinks that he can cure ’m.

    Concerning that night’s ride, the man spoke most eloquently for himself, in a little shed back of a saloon on the San Francisco water front.

    All I get is fifty for it, he grumbled; an’ I wouldn’t do it over for a thousand, cold cash.

    His hand was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief, and the right trouser leg was ripped from knee to ankle.

    How much did the other mug get? the saloon-keeper demanded.

    A hundred, was the reply. Wouldn’t take a sou less, so help me.

    That makes a hundred and fifty, the saloon-keeper calculated; and he’s worth it, or I’m a squarehead.

    The kidnapper undid the bloody wrappings and looked at his lacerated hand. If I don’t get the hydrophoby—

    It’ll be because you was born to hang, laughed the saloon-keeper. Here, lend me a hand before you pull your freight, he added.

    Dazed, suffering intolerable pain from throat and tongue, with the life half throttled out of him, Buck attempted to face his tormentors. But he was thrown down and choked repeatedly, till they succeeded in filing the heavy brass collar from off his neck. Then the rope was removed, and he was flung into a cagelike crate.

    There he lay for the remainder of the weary night, nursing his wrath and wounded pride. He could not understand what it all meant. What did they want with him, these strange men? Why were they keeping him pent up in this narrow crate? He did not know why, but he felt oppressed by the vague sense of impending calamity. Several times during the night he sprang to his feet when the shed door rattled open, expecting to see the Judge, or the boys at least. But each time it was the bulging face of the saloon-keeper that peered in at him by the sickly light of a tallow candle. And each time the joyful bark that trembled in Buck’s throat was twisted into a savage growl.

    But the saloon-keeper let him alone, and in the morning four men entered and picked up the crate. More tormentors, Buck decided, for they were evil-looking creatures, ragged and unkempt; and he stormed and raged at them through the bars. They only laughed

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1