Chapter 5 and 6 The Call of the Wild

Review of Chapter 4 Chapter IV "Who Has Won to Mastership" The morning after the fight between Buck and Spitz, Perrault found that Buck was covered with cuts and Spitz was missing. As Perrault harnessed the dogs, Buck stood in Spitz's lead position. Francois tried to harness Sol-leks in the lead. Buck pushed Sol-leks out of the way and moved back into the position. Francois came back with his club. Buck retreated from the club, but did not give up.

Review of Chapter 4 Finally Perrault told Francois to throw down the club. Buck moved into the lead position. Buck became the new lead dog. He did a wonderful job. Two new huskies were added to the team. Buck taught them how to work. The team averaged forty miles a day. They reached Skaguay in record time. Perrault and Francois received orders to move on. The dogs were too tired to continue. Perrault and Francois moved on with a new set of dogs. The team traveled back to Dawson under the leadership of a Scotsman. They carried a load of mail to the gold-miners in the North. Once the dogs reached Dawson they were treated well.

Review of Chapter 4 Dave was suffering from a strange illness. No one could find the problem. The men decided he was too weak to work and unharnessed him from the team. Dave fought for his place. The men realized he must die working, so they harnessed him back in place. The next day Dave was too weak to travel. After he collapsed the Scotsman moved the dog team out of sight. He then returned to the place Dave fell with a gun. The team heard the shot and knew what had taken place.

Apprehensively (adv) “Buck watched him apprehensively as they proceeded to take down the tent and load the sled.”

Uneasily or fearfully

Inevitable (adj) “It was inevitable that they should go short on dog food.”

unavoidable

Ceased (v) “Mercedes ceased weeping over the dogs.”

Chivalrously (adv) “She was pretty and soft, and had been chivalrously treated all her days.”

Having the qualities of courage, courtesy, and loyalty

Perambulating (v) “They were perambulating skeletons.”

Walking about

Review of Chapter 5 Chapter V "The Toil of Trace and Trail" After 30 days on the trail the dogs were looking forward to a long rest at Skaguay. Unfortunately the men were ordered to deliver mail right away. Since the dogs were too weary to travel, they were sold and replaced with fresh dogs. Buck was sold to two men, Hal and Charles, from the United States. These men were traveling with Charles's wife and Hal's sister, Mercedes. They were very inexperienced with dog sledding.

Chapter 5 The men loaded the sled too heavily. They whipped the dogs when they were unable to pull the sled. One bystander even had to tell the men how to break the runners lose from the snow and ice. A few feet down the path the load fell off the sled. Hal and Charles repacked only half the load and purchased six more dogs. The dogs were overfed during the beginning of the trip and underfed when the owners realized they were running out to food. Dub died from his injuries. The new dogs all starved to death. Hal, Mercedes, and Charles fought among themselves and showed little compassion for the dogs.

Chapter 5 At Five Fingers the dogs ran completely out of food. They were fed horsehide. Buck worked at pulling the sled until he was no longer able. Hal and Charles whipped and clubbed Buck. With only five dogs left the team reached the camp of John Thornton. Buck was near death from Hal's whip and club, John Thornton attacked Hal for beating Buck. Hal finally cut Buck free from the team. John checked Buck and discovered that he was exhausted, starved, and bruised but had no broken bones. Hal, Charles, and Mercedes left with the sled and remaining dogs. Buck and John watched the sled team fall through the soft ice. They heard Mercedes scream. All the dogs and people dropped into the icy water and died.

Carcass (n) “I wouldn’t risk my carcass on that ice for all the gold in Alaska.”

The dead body of an animal

Enticed (v) “As Buck grew stronger they enticed him into all sorts of ridiculous games.”

To lead on by exciting hope or desire

Transient (adj) “His transient masters since he had come into the Northland had bred in him a fear that no master could permanent.”

Lasting only a short time

Quarrelling (v) “Skeet and Nig were too good-natured for quarrelling.”

arguing

Quibble (n) “A quibble arose concerning the phrase “break out.”

Petty argument

Superfluous (adj) “He was in perfect condition, without an ounce of superfluous flesh.”

excessive

Diminished (v) “The jerks perceptibly diminished.”

lessened