Chapter One
(From The Call of The Wild)
INTO THE PRIMITIVE
"Old longings nomadic leap,
Chafing at custom's chain;
Again from its brumal sleep
Wakens the ferine strain."
Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known
that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tidewater
dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San
Diego. Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow
metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming
the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland. These men
wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong
muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the
frost.
Buck lived at a big house ... read full excerpt from The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and to Build a Fire ebook