Buck's Story - The Call of the Wild (by William)

I read The Call of the Wild by Jack London (condensed by Kathryn Knight) and I really liked the book.  Now I shall tell you all about it.

Buck did not read the newspapers so he didn’t know trouble was ahead.  He lived in Judge Miller’s estate in the Santa Clara valley.  Buck was the king, he ruled over the other dogs living at Judge Miller’s estate.  The whole place was his.  He jumped in the swimming tank when days were hot and sat by the furnace when days were cold.  He went hunting with Judge Miller’s sons and long walks with Judge Miller’s daughters.

Klondike Gold found in the Arctic dragged men from all over the world, and those men wanted dogs with muscular bodies and thick fur.  Judge Miller’s garden helper had a greedy heart and his eyes fell on Buck—a perfect sled dog.  Judge Miller and his children weren’t home that evening, so Manuel the garden helper took Buck to a train station and sold him to a stranger.  Buck was taken onboard the train.  The next day, when he woke up, he heard a tooting sound, he was kidnapped!

A few weeks later, Buck was taken to a man wearing a red sweater.  Buck was beaten up there by a club and then was bought by a man named Perrault, who worked for the Canadian government. Perrault also bought a Newfoundland dog named Curly.  The dogs boarded a ship and that was the last sight of sunny California.  

On the ship, Buck met the dogs who would be on his sled dog team.  The lead dog Spitz was friendly but sneaky.  The wheeler dog Dave had eyes that warned other dogs to stay away.  When they arrived at the Klondike, Buck saw nothing but snow.  Perrault and another man Francois camped near a log store and Curly in her friendly way walked up to the husky and the husky bit into her.  The husky kept biting until Curly was dead.

The next morning Francois and Perrault started training their dogs.  In the afternoon, Perrault bought two dogs Billee and Joe.  They were brothers but different like day and night.  Billee was good-natured and Joe was sour and silent.  By nightfall, Perrault bought another dog Sol-leks which means the Angry One.  That night it was freezing.  Buck crawled into the tent but the men made Buck retreat to the outer cold.  He decided to find his teammates, and found Billee in a nest in the snow.  Buck learned making a hole and sleeping in the snow.   The next day Perrault bought three dogs named Pike, Dub, and Dolly.  Then two more dogs Teek and Koona arrived. Spitz and
 Buck fought each other but Buck killed Spitz and became the lead dog.   

When the team reached Skagway, Francois said a tearful good-bye to Buck.  The team was bought by a Scotch Half-Breed for a few weeks, then they were bought by three tender-feet Hal, Charles, and Mercedes.  The new owners didn’t know the ways of the wild north, and of course they ran short on dog food when they got to the White River.  The tender-feet argued with a prospector John Thornton on whether the thin ice in the river could support them pass.  Buck was so tired that when Hal asked him to get up, he didn’t but John Thornton saved Buck while the sled team went over the White River, the ice cracked and the sled fell through. 

After Buck’s recovery, Thornton went to a bar in Dawson and bragged with other men about their dogs.  Thornton made a bet with Matthewson and Buck was lead outside to drag a sled that weighed 1,000 pounds.  Thornton shouted “Gee!”  Buck pulled the sled to the right.  “Haw!” commanded Thornton, Buck swung to the left.  The Thornton shouted “Now mush!”  The crowd gasped as Buck pulled the sled forward a hundred yards, then every hat went up.  Buck won Thornton 1,600 dollars, enough money for Thornton to travel with his partners to a lost gold mine.

Near the camp site at the mine, Buck found a timber wolf and they became friends.  When Buck went back to the camp, he found that Thornton was dead because the Yeehats Indian attacked.  Buck killed the Yeehats but couldn’t save Thornton.  That night he heard yelping of a wolf pack.  The wolves attacked him but Buck was too smart for them.  Eventually the wolves let Buck join the pack and Buck found the wolf he made friends with.  

The morals of this story is never give up, let it go, and true love between Buck and Thornton.  I hope you will enjoy reading The Call of the Wild as well.