Buck 0
did not read the newspapers , or he 0
would have known that trouble was brewing , not alone for himself 0
, but for every tide-water dog , strong of muscle and with warm , long hair , from
Puget Sound 2
to
San Diego 3
1 .
Because men 4
, groping in the Arctic 5
darkness , had found a yellow metal , and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find , thousands of men 6
were rushing into the Northland 7
.
These men 6
wanted dogs , and the dogs they 6
wanted were heavy dogs , with strong muscles by which to toil , and furry coats to protect them from the frost .
Buck 0
lived at a big house 8
in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley 9
.
Judge Miller 10
's place
94 , it 8
was called .
It 8
stood back from the road 11
, half hidden among the trees , through which glimpses could be caught of the wide cool veranda 12
that ran around its 8
four sides .
The house 8
was approached by gravelled driveways 13
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 14
, where a dozen grooms 15
and boys 16
held forth , rows of vine-clad servants 17
' cottages
18 , an endless and orderly array of outhouses 19
, long grape arbors , green pastures 20
, orchards 21
, and berry patches .
Then there was the pumping plant 22
for the artesian well , and the big cement tank where Judge Miller 10
's boys
23 took their 23
morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon .
And over this great demesne 24
Buck 0
ruled .
Here 8
he 0
was born , and here 8
he 0
had lived the four years of his 0
life .
It was true , there were other dogs 25
, There could not but be other dogs 26
on so vast a place 8
, but they did not count .
They came and went , resided in the populous kennels 27
, or lived obscurely in the recesses of
the house 8
28 after the fashion of Toots 29
, the Japanese pug 95
, or Ysabel 30
, the Mexican hairless 96
, -- strange creatures that rarely put nose out of doors or set foot to ground .
On the other hand , there were the fox terriers 31
, a score of them 31
at least , who yelped fearful promises at Toots 29
and Ysabel 30
looking out of the windows at them 32
and protected by a legion of housemaids 33
armed with brooms and mops .
But Buck 0
was neither house-dog 34
nor kennel-dog 35
.
The whole realm 8
was his 0
.
He 0
plunged into the swimming tank 36
or went hunting with ; he 0
escorted Mollie 37
and Alice 38
, the Judge 10
's daughters
39 , on long twilight or early morning rambles ; on wintry nights he 0
lay at the Judge 10
's feet before the roaring library fire ; he 0
carried the Judge 10
's grandsons
40 on his 10
back , or rolled them 40
in the grass , and guarded their 40
footsteps through wild adventures down to the fountain in the stable yard 41
, and even beyond 42
, where the paddocks were 43
, and the berry patches .
Among the terriers 31
he 0
stalked imperiously , and Toots 29
and Ysabel 30
he 0
utterly ignored , for he 0
was king 91
, -- king over
all creeping , crawling , flying things of
Judge Miller 10
's place
8 44 ,
humans 45
included
103 .
, Elmo 92
, a huge St. Bernard 97
, had been the Judge 10
's inseparable companion
98 , and Buck 0
bid fair to follow in the way of .
He 0
was not so large , -- he 0
weighed only one hundred and forty pounds , -- for , Shep 93
, had been a Scotch shepherd dog 99
.
Nevertheless , one hundred and forty pounds , to which was added the dignity that comes of good living and universal respect , enabled him 0
to carry himself 0
in right royal fashion .
During the four years since his 0
puppyhood he 0
had lived the life of a sated aristocrat 48
; he 0
had a fine pride in himself 0
, was even a trifle egotistical , as country gentlemen 49
sometimes become because of their 49
insular situation .
But he 0
had saved himself 0
by not becoming a mere pampered house-dog .
Hunting and kindred outdoor delights had kept down the fat and hardened his 0
muscles ; and to him 0
, 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 0
was in the fall of 1897 , when the Klondike strike dragged men from all
the world 51
50 into the frozen North 7
.
But Buck 0
did not read the newspapers , and he 0
did not know that Manuel 52
, one of the gardener 54
's helpers
53 , was an undesirable acquaintance 100
.
Manuel 52
had one besetting sin .
He 52
loved to play Chinese lottery .
Also , in his 52
gambling , he 52
had one besetting weakness -- faith in a system ; and this made his 52
damnation certain .
For to play a system requires money , while the wages of a gardener 56
's helper
55 do not lap over the needs of a wife 57
and numerous progeny 58
.
The Judge 10
was at a meeting of the Raisin Growers ' Association , and the boys 23
were busy organizing an athletic club , on the memorable night of Manuel 52
's treachery .
No one 59
saw him 52
and Buck 0
go off through the orchard 60
on what Buck 0
imagined was merely a stroll .
And with the exception of a solitary man 61
, no one 62
saw them 63
arrive at the little flag station 64
known as College Park 64
.
This man 61
talked with Manuel 52
, and money chinked between them 65
.
“ You 52
might wrap up the goods before you 52
deliver 'm , ” the stranger 61
said gruffly , and Manuel 52
doubled a piece of stout rope around Buck 0
's neck under the collar .
“ Twist it , an ' you 61
'll choke 'm plentee , ” said Manuel 52
, and the stranger 61
grunted a ready affirmative .
Buck 0
had accepted the rope with quiet dignity .
To be sure , it was an unwonted performance : but he 0
had learned to trust in men 66
he 0
knew , and to give them 66
credit for a wisdom that outreached his 0
own .
But when the ends of the rope were placed in the stranger 61
's hands , he 0
growled menacingly .
He 0
had merely intimated his 0
displeasure , in his 0
pride believing that to intimate was to command .
But to his 0
surprise the rope tightened around his 0
neck , shutting off his 0
breath .
In quick rage he 0
sprang at the man 61
, who met him 0
halfway , grappled him 0
close by the throat , and with a deft twist threw him 0
over on his 0
back .
Then the rope tightened mercilessly , while Buck 0
struggled in a fury , his 0
tongue lolling out of his 0
mouth and his 0
great chest panting futilely .
Never in all his 0
life had he 0
been so vilely treated , and never in all his 0
life had he 0
been so angry .
But his 0
strength ebbed , his 0
eyes glazed , and he 0
knew nothing when the train was flagged and the two men 63
threw him 0
into the baggage car 67
.
The next he 0
knew , he 0
was dimly aware that his 0
tongue was hurting and that he 0
was being jolted along in some kind of a conveyance 68
.
The hoarse shriek of a locomotive whistling a crossing told him 0
.
He 0
had travelled too often with the Judge 10
not to know the sensation of riding in a baggage car 69
.
He 0
opened his 0
eyes , and into them came the unbridled anger of a kidnapped king 70
.
The man 61
sprang for his 0
throat , but Buck 0
was too quick for him 61
.
His 0
jaws closed on the hand , nor did they relax till his 0
senses were choked out of him 0
once more .
“ Yep , has fits , ” the man 61
said , hiding his 61
mangled hand from the baggageman 71
, who had been attracted by the sounds of struggle .
“ I 61
'm takin ' 'm up for the boss 72
to ' Frisco 73
.
A crack dog-doctor 74
there 73
thinks that he 74
can cure 'm . ”
Concerning that night 's ride , the man 61
spoke most eloquently for himself 61
, in a little shed 75
back of a saloon 76
on the San Francisco 73
water front 77
.
“ All I 61
get is fifty for it , ” he 61
grumbled ; “ an ' I 61
would n't do it over for a thousand , cold cash . ”
His 61
hand was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief , and the right trouser leg was ripped from knee to ankle .
“ How much did the other mug 52
get ? ”
the saloon-keeper 78
demanded .
“ A hundred , ” was the reply .
“ Would n't take a sou less , so help me 61
. ”
“ That makes a hundred and fifty , ” the saloon-keeper 78
calculated ; “ and he 0
's worth it , or I 78
'm a squarehead 101
. ”
The kidnapper 61
undid the bloody wrappings and looked at his 61
lacerated hand .
“ If I 78
do n't get the hydrophoby -- ” “ It 'll be because you 61
was born to hang , ” laughed the saloon-keeper 78
.
“ Here , lend me 78
a hand before you 61
pull your 61
freight , ” he 78
added .
Dazed , suffering intolerable pain from throat and tongue , with the life half throttled out of him 0
, Buck 0
attempted to face .
But he 0
was thrown down and choked repeatedly , till they 79
succeeded in filing the heavy brass collar from off his 0
neck .
Then the rope was removed , and he 0
was flung into a cagelike crate 80
.
There 80
he 0
lay for the remainder of the weary night , nursing his 0
wrath and wounded pride .
He 0
could not understand what it all meant .
What did they 79
want with him 0
, these strange men 79
?
Why were they 79
keeping him 0
pent up in this narrow crate 80
?
He 0
did not know why , but he 0
felt oppressed by the vague sense of impending calamity .
Several times during the night he 0
sprang to his 0
feet when the shed door rattled open , expecting to see the Judge 10
, or the boys 23
at least .
But each time it was the bulging face of the saloon-keeper 78
that peered in at him 0
by the sickly light of a tallow candle .
And each time the joyful bark that trembled in Buck 0
's throat was twisted into a savage growl .
But the saloon-keeper 78
let him 0
alone , and in the morning four men 81
entered and picked up the crate .
More tormentors 82
, Buck 0
decided , for they 82
were evil-looking creatures 102
, ragged and unkempt ; and he 0
stormed and raged at them 82
through the bars .
They 82
only laughed and poked sticks at him 0
, which he 0
promptly assailed with his 0
teeth till he 0
realized that that was what they 82
wanted .
Whereupon he 0
lay down sullenly and allowed the crate 80
to be lifted into a wagon 83
.
Then he 0
, and the crate 80
in which he 0
was imprisoned , began a passage through many hands .
Clerks 84
in the express office 85
took charge of him 0
; he 0
was carted about in another wagon 86
; a truck 87
carried him 0
, with an assortment of boxes and parcels , upon a ferry steamer 88
; he 0
was trucked off the steamer 88
into a great railway depot 89
, and finally he 0
was deposited in an express car 90
.