# ■ 4 The new lead-dog

‘Well， what did I say？ Buck’ s a real fighter，all right，’ said Francois the next morning when he discovered that Spitz had disappeared and that Buck was covered in blood．

‘Spitz fought like a wolf，’said Perrault， as he looked at the bites all over Buck．

‘And Buck fought like ten wolves，’ answered Francois．‘And we'll travel faster now． No more Spitz， no more trouble．’

Francois started to harness the dogs． He needed a new lead－dog， and decided that Sol-leks was the best dog that he had．But Buck jumped at Sol－leks and took his place．

‘Look at Buck！’ said Francois， laughing．‘He's killed Spitz， and now he wants to be lead－dog． Go away， Buck！’

He pulled Buck away and tried to harness Sol－leks again．Sol-leks was unhappy too． He was frightened of Buck， and when Francois turned his back， Buck took Sol-leks’ place again． Now Francois was angry．

‘I'll show you！’ he cried， and went to get a heavy club from the sledge．

Buck remembered the man in the red coat， and moved away． This time， when Sol-leks was harnessed as lead-dog，Buck did not try to move in． He kept a few metres away and circled around Francois carefully． But when Francois called him to his old place in front of Dave， Buck refused． He had won his fight with Spitz and he wanted to be lead－dog．

For an hour the two men tried to harness him． Buck did not run away， but he did not let them catch him． Finally，Francois sat down， and Perrault looked at his watch．It was getting late．The two men looked at one another and smiled Francois walked up to Sol-leks， took off his harness， led him back and harnessed him in his old place．Then he called Buck．All the other dogs were harnessed and the only empty place was now the one at the front But Buck did not move．

‘Put down the club，’ said Perrault．

Francois dropped the club， and immediately Buck came up to the front of the team．Francois harnessed him,and in a minute the sledge was moving．

Buck was an excellent leader． He moved and thought quick－ly and led the other dogs well． A new leader made no differ－ence to Dave and Sol-leks； they continued to pull hard.But the other dogs had had an easy life when Spitz was leading．They were surprised when Buck made them work hard and punished them for their mistakes Pike， the second dog，was usually lazy； but by the end of the first day he was pulling harder than he had ever pulled in his life． The first night in camp Buck fought Joe， another difficult dog， and after that there were no more problems with him． The team started to pull together， and to move faster and faster．

‘I've never seen a dog like Buck！’cried Francois，‘Never！He's worth a thousand dollars.What do you think，Perrault？’

Perrault agreed．They were moving quickly， and covering more ground every day The snow was good and hard， and no new snow fell．The temperature dropped to 45° below zero，and didn't change．

This time there was more ice on the Thirty Mile River， and they crossed in a day．Some days they ran a hundred kilome－tres， or even more They reached Skagway in fourteen days；the fastest time ever．

For three days the dogs rested in Skagway．Then Francois put his arms around Buck's neck and said goodbye to him．And that was the last of Francois and Perrault． Like other men， they passed out of Buck's life for ever．

Two new men took Buck and his team back north on the long journey to Dawson，travelling with several other dog－teams． It was heavy work； the sledge was loaded with letters for the gold miners of Dawson． Buck did not like it， but he worked hard， and made the other dogs work hard， too． Each day was the same． They started early， before it was light， and at night they stopped and camped and the dogs ate．For the dogs this was the best part of the day， first eating， then resting by the fire．

Buck liked to lie by the fire， looking at the burning wood．Sometimes he thought about Mr Miller's house in California．More of ten he remembered the man in the red coat and his club， the death of Curly， the fight with Spitz， and the good things that he had eaten But sometimes he remembered other things These were things that he remembered through his parents， and his parents parents， and all the dogs which had lived before him．

Sometimes as he lay there， he seemed to see， in a waking dream， a different fire． And he saw next to him， not the Indian cook， but another man， a man with shorter legs， and longer arms． This man had long hair and deep eyes， and madestrange noises in his throat He was very frightened of the dark，and looked around him all the time， holding a heavy stone in his hand.He wore the skin of an animal on his back，and Buck could see thick hair all over his body．

Buck sat by the fire with this hairy man， and in the circling darkness beyond the fire he could see many eyes—the eyes of hungry animals waiting to attack． And he growled softly in his dream until the Indian cook shouted，‘Hey， Buck， wake up！’Then the strange world disappeared and Buck's eyes saw the real fire again．

When they reached Dawson， the dogs were tired， and needed a week's rest But in two days they were moving south again， with another heavy load of letters． Both dogs and men were unhappy． It snowed every day as well， and on soft new snow it was harder work pulling the sledges．

The men took good care of their dogs．In the evenings， the dogs ate first，the men second，and they always checked the dogs’ feet before they slept． But every day the dogs became weaker．Buck had pulled sledges for three thousand kilometres that winter， and he was as tired as the others．

But Dave was not only tired； he was ill． Every evening he lay down the minute after the sledge stopped， and did not stand up until morning． The men looked at him， but they could find no broken bones． Something was wrong inside．

One day he started to fall down while in his harness． The sledge stopped， and the driver took him out of his harness． He wanted to give him a rest， and let him run free behind the sledge． But Dave did not want to stop working． He hated to see another dog doing his work， so he ran along beside the sledge， trying to push Sol-leks out of his place． When the sledge made its next stop，

Dave bit through Sol-leks’ harness and pushed him away． Then he stood there， in his old place in front of the sledge， waiting for his harness and the order to start pulling．

The driver decided it was kinder to let him work． Dave pulled all day， but the next morning he was too weak to move．The driver harnessed up without Dave， and drove a few hun-dred metres． Then he stopped， took his gun， and walked back． The dogs heard a shot， and then the man came quickly back． The sledge started to move again； but Buck knew， and every dog knew， what had happened．

■ 4 新的頭犬

“喏，我說什麼來著？巴克是員真正的戰將，棒極了。”第二天當弗朗索瓦斯發現不見了斯皮茲，而巴克遍身是血時說道。

“斯皮茲打起架來真像狼一樣狠。”佩諾特說，一邊察看著巴克身上的傷痕。

“巴克抵得上10條狼。”弗朗索瓦斯回答說，“我們可以走得快些了。斯皮茲不在了，麻煩也沒有了。”

弗朗索瓦斯開始給狗套挽具。他需要一條新的頭犬，並覺得索拉克斯最合適不過了。但是巴克卻撲向索拉克斯，搶了他的位子。

“瞧，巴克！”弗朗索瓦斯說，笑了起來。“他殺了斯皮茲，現在他又想成為頭犬了。一邊去，巴克！”

他拉開巴克，想再次套上索拉克斯。索拉克斯也不高興，因他害怕巴克，所以弗朗索瓦斯剛一轉身，巴克又站到了索拉克斯的位置上。這下子弗朗索瓦斯可動了氣。

“我得教訓教訓你！”他嚷著，從雪撬上取了一根沉重的木棍。

巴克記起了那個穿紅外套的男人，躲開了。這一次，當索拉克斯被套上頭犬的位置時，巴克沒有動。他保持著幾米遠的距離，小心地繞著弗朗索瓦斯打轉。而當弗朗索瓦斯站到戴夫前的老位子時，巴克卻不情願。他已經戰勝了斯皮茲，他想成為頭犬。

兩個人忙乎了一個小時試圖套住他，但巴克雖不逃跑卻不讓他們抓住他。最後，弗朗索瓦斯坐下來，佩諾特看了看錶，天色已經晚了，兩個人互相瞅著，笑了。弗朗索瓦斯解下索拉克斯身上的挽具，把他牽回去套在原來的位置上。然後他招呼巴克。所有的狗都套好了，只有前面有一個空位子，但巴克還是不動。

“放下棍子。”佩諾特說。

弗朗索瓦斯扔掉了棍子，立刻巴克就躥到了隊伍前面。弗朗索瓦斯套好他，不一會兒，雪撬就前進了。

巴克是個優秀的領隊，他拉得很快而且反應敏捷，把別的狗也領導得很好。對戴夫和索拉克斯來說，新的領隊對他們來說沒有什麼不同，他們仍然很賣力地拉著。但其餘的狗在斯皮茲做領隊時不賣力氣，現在卻驚奇地發現巴克迫使他們賣力工作，而一旦犯錯就會受到懲罰。跑在第二位的狗派克總是偷懶。當第一天的工作結束時，他感覺在整整一生裡都沒這麼賣過力氣地拉過雪撬。宿營的第一個晚上，巴克對付了另一條總惹事的狗，喬。自此，他再也沒找過麻煩。整個狗隊齊心合力拉雪撬，越跑越快。

“我可真的從來沒見過巴克這樣的狗！”弗朗索瓦斯叫道，“從來沒有！他能值1000美元。你說呢，佩諾特？”

佩諾特也同意這一說法。他們趕路很快。每一天都多趕路。雪地又平又結實，沒有新雪落下來。氣溫恆定在零下45°。

當“30裡河”上的冰層結得更厚一些的時候，他們只花了一天時間就走過去了。有一陣他們一天跑10O公里，甚至更多，而且只用了14天就到了斯開格威；這是最快的速度了。

狗在斯開格威休整了3天。然後弗朗索瓦斯摟著巴克的脖子和他說再見。這是巴克最後見到佩諾特和弗朗索瓦斯了。像別人一樣，他們從巴克的生活中永遠地消失了。

另外兩個人接手了巴克和他的隊伍。同別的狗隊一起再度奔赴北去道桑的漫長旅途。任重而道遠，雪撬上載滿了給道桑尋找金礦的人的信件。巴克很不喜歡，但他非常努力地工作，帶著別的狗一起費力地拉著車。日復一日，他們披星戴月，起早貪黑。對於狗來說，晚上停下來安營餵飽肚子是一天中最美好的時光，先吃一頓飯，再靠到火邊休息。

巴克喜歡躺在火邊，注視著燃燒的木柴。有時他會想起米勒先生在加利福尼亞的屋子，但他回憶中更多的是那個穿紅外套的男人和他手裡的棒子、科莉的慘死、同斯皮茲的惡戰以及他所品嚐過的美味；但有時他會記起別的事情，這些東西來自他的父母，他父母的父母，以及他所有的祖先。

有時候他躺在那兒。他似乎在清醒的遐想中看到了另一堆火焰。他看見身邊並不是那個印第安廚子而是另一個人。那個人腿短而臂長，深目長髮，喉嚨中發出古怪的聲音。他非常懼怕黑暗，手裡握著一塊沉重的石頭，左顧右盼。他的背上裹著獸皮，巴克可以看到他周身濃密的毛髮。

巴克同這個毛人坐在火邊，在火周圍的光暈裡他看到許多雙眼睛，那是飢餓的動物伺機捕食的眼睛。他在夢中低低地咆哮著，直到那印第安廚子喊道：“嘿，巴克，起來！”然後所有的奇異都幻滅了，他目之所及的還是真實的火焰。

他們到達道桑時，狗已經疲憊不堪了，需要一週的休整。但是兩天後，他們又帶上沉重的郵包奔赴南方了。狗和人都不痛快。雪沒日沒夜地下著，在輕軟的新雪上拉雪撬非常辛苦。

人們照看著他們的狗。晚上，狗先吃飯而人在其次。睡覺時他們總是查看狗的腳。但是每一天，狗群都越來越虛弱。那個冬天，巴克拉著雪撬趕了3000公里路。他同別的狗一樣，疲憊到了極點。

戴夫不但疲憊而且生了病。每天晚上，雪撬一停下來，他就癱倒在地，直到第二天早上才站起來。人們檢查了他的腳，沒有發現骨折的跡象。因此斷定它定是內傷。

一天當他開始在挽具裡跌交時，雪撬停了下來，駕雪撬的人解下他的挽具想讓他休息一下，讓他空身跑在雪撬後面。但戴夫不願意停止工作，看到別的狗做他的工作他恨極了。所以他沿著雪撬邊緣奔跑，試圖把索拉克斯從他的位子上推開。當雪撬再度停下來時，戴夫咬住了索拉克斯身上的挽具要把他推開，然後他就站在那兒，在雪撬前面他的老位子上，等著套上挽具和拉車的命令。

趕車的人覺得最好還是讓他工作。戴夫拉了一天的車。但第二天早上他虛弱得無法動彈。撇下戴夫，趕車的人套上雪撬走了幾百米。然後他停了下來，拿起槍又走了回去。狗聽見一聲槍響，然後那人很快折了回來，雪撬又前進了。但是巴克知道，每條狗都知道發生了什麼事情。