Buck did not read the newspapers. If he did, he would know that trouble was coming. It was the year 1897. Men had found gold in the Klondike, in the frozen north of Canada, and thousands of men were rushing there. They needed dogs, big strong dogs with thick fur, to pull their sleds through the snow.

Buck lived in a big house in the sunny Santa Clara Valley in California. It was the home of Judge Miller. Buck was four years old. His father was a huge St. Bernard and his mother was a Scotch shepherd dog. He weighed one hundred and forty pounds. He was the king of the Judge's large property. He swam with the Judge's sons, went hunting with them, and carried the Judge's little grandchildren on his back.

But one of the gardeners, Manuel, had a problem. He loved to gamble, and he needed money. One night, while the Judge was away, Manuel took Buck for a walk. At a small train station, he sold him to a stranger. The man put a rope around Buck's neck and tightened it. Buck was angry. He jumped at the man, but the rope choked him until he fell down.

Buck traveled for two days and two nights in a train, without food or water. At last he arrived in Seattle, in a wooden box. A man in a red sweater was waiting for him with a club, a heavy stick.

When they opened the box, Buck jumped out, wild with anger. The man in the red sweater hit him with the club. Buck had never been hit before. He jumped again and again, and each time the club knocked him down. At last he lay on the ground, unable to move.

Buck learned his first lesson that day: a man with a club is a master who must be obeyed. He was beaten, but he was not broken.

A few days later, two French-Canadians, Perrault and François, bought Buck. They worked for the Canadian government and carried letters and documents across the north. They also bought a good-natured dog named Curly. Then they took the dogs on a ship to the north.

When Buck arrived at the beach of Dyea, he put his feet into something white and cold. It was his first snow. In this new world there was no peace and no rest. On the first day, Curly tried to be friendly with a big husky. The husky attacked her, and in a moment the other dogs jumped on her and killed her. Buck learned his second lesson: in the north, there is no fair play. Once you are down, it is the end of you.