The Call of the Wild

by Jack London

Chapter One: Into the Wild

Buck did not read newspapers.
He did not know trouble was coming.
Men had found gold up North.
Gold is a shiny yellow metal.
Many men wanted to go North.
They wanted strong dogs to help them.
Big dogs. Furry dogs. Dogs that could work hard in the cold.

Buck lived in a big house.
It was in sunny California.
The house had a big porch.
Big trees grew all around it.
There were long paths made of gravel.
Tall trees lined the paths too.

Behind the house was more land.
There were big barns for horses.
Workers lived in little cottages there.
There were gardens and orchards too.
Orchards are where fruit trees grow.
There was even a big pool.
The children swam there on hot days.

Buck was king of this whole place.
He was born there.
He lived there four happy years.
Other dogs lived there too.
But they did not matter much.
Some small dogs stayed inside all day.

But Buck was not like them.
He swam in the pool.
He went hunting with the boys.
He walked with the girls at sunset.
He lay by the fire at night.
He played with the little children.
He was king over all the animals.
He was king over the people too.

Buck's father was a huge dog.
His name was Elmo.
Buck's mother was a sheepdog.
Buck was big and strong.
He weighed as much as a man.
He felt proud and happy.
He worked and played every day.
This kept him strong and healthy.

This was Buck in the year 1897.
Many men were rushing North for gold.
But Buck did not know this.
He did not know about Manuel.
Manuel worked in the garden.
Manuel liked to gamble for money.
Gambling means betting money on games.
Manuel needed money for his family.

One night, the Judge was away.
The boys were busy too.
No one saw Manuel take Buck.
They walked through the orchard together.
Buck thought it was just a walk.

They met a strange man.
Money passed between the two men.
The stranger tied a rope on Buck.

"Twist it tight," Manuel said.
"That will choke him good."

Buck did not like this.
He trusted people he knew.
But this man was a stranger.
Buck growled at him.

The rope grew tight around his neck.
Buck could not breathe well.
He jumped at the man in anger.
But the man was quick.
He threw Buck to the ground.
The rope choked Buck hard.
Buck fought and fought.
But soon he grew weak.
His eyes closed.
He did not see them put him on a train.

Later, Buck woke up.
His neck hurt very much.
He was inside some kind of box.
He heard a train whistle blow.
He knew he was on a train.

Buck opened his eyes.
He was very, very angry.
He jumped at the man again.
But the man moved fast.
Buck's teeth bit down hard.
Then Buck grew weak again.

"He has fits," the man lied to another worker.
He hid his hurt hand.
"I'm taking him to a doctor."

Later, the man talked in a small shed.
It was near the ocean in San Francisco.
"This job hurt me bad," he said.
His hand was wrapped in a bloody cloth.
His pants were torn too.

"How much did you get paid?" asked another man.
"Fifty dollars," the first man said.
"The other man got one hundred."

"That dog must be worth it," said the second man.

The men hurt Buck more.
They took off his heavy collar.
Then they took off the rope.
They put him in a small cage.

Buck lay in the cage all night.
His neck and throat hurt badly.
He did not understand why this happened.
Why did they lock him up?
He felt something bad was coming.

Each time the door opened, Buck hoped.
He hoped to see the Judge.
He hoped to see the boys.
But it was only the saloon man.
Buck growled instead of barking happily.

In the morning, four men came.
They picked up Buck's cage.
They looked rough and messy.
Buck barked and growled at them.
They only laughed at him.
They poked sticks through the bars.
Buck bit at the sticks.
Then he understood what they wanted.
So he stopped and lay down quietly.

They put his cage on a wagon.
Then Buck went from place to place.
Workers carried him here and there.
A truck took him on a boat.
Then another wagon took him somewhere else.
Finally, he was put on a train car.

For two days and nights, the train moved.
Buck did not eat.
Buck did not drink.
He was too angry and hurt.

The train workers were mean to him.
They laughed and made fun of him.
They copied dog sounds to tease him.
This made Buck even more angry.
The lack of water hurt him the most.
He grew sick from all of it.

Buck was glad about one thing.
The rope was off his neck now.
He decided something important.
No one would ever rope him again.

For two long days, Buck's anger grew.
His eyes turned red from anger.
He looked like a wild, angry animal.
No one from home would know him now.
The train workers were glad when the ride ended.
The train stopped in a city called Seattle.

Four men carried Buck's crate.
They put it in a small yard with high walls.
A big man came outside.
He wore a red sweater.
He signed a paper for the delivery man.

Buck knew this must be another bad man.
He jumped hard against the bars.
The man smiled in a mean way.
He picked up a hatchet and a club.

"Are you taking him out now?" asked the driver.

"Yes," said the man in red.
He pushed the hatchet into the crate to open it.

The four men who carried the crate ran away fast.