8 John Thornton

CHAPTER 8 John Thornton Although it was beautiful spring weather, the dogs and humans did not notice it. Each day the sun rose earlier and set later. It was dawn by three in the morning, and stayed light until nine at night. From every hill came the trickle of running water. The ice was beginning to melt everywhere. Airholes formed in the ice, cracks opened and spread apart, while thin sections of ice fell through into the river underneath. With the dogs falling, Mercedes crying,

Hal yelling angrily, and Charles's eyes watering, they staggered into John Thornton's camp at the mouth of White River. When they stopped, the dogs dropped to the ground. Mercedes dried her eyes and looked at John Thornton. Charles sat on a log to rest. He sat very slowly and carefully because his body was so stiff. Hal did the talking. John Thornton was whittling an ax handle. He whittled and listened, gave short replies and, when asked, even shorter pieces of advice. He knew what these people were like right away, and when he gave his advice he was sure they would not follow it. "They told us that the ice was breaking on the trail, the bottom dropping out, and the best thing for us to do was to wait," Hal said, after Thornton warned them not to risk going over the ice. "They told us we couldn't make it to White River, and here we are." "And they told you the truth," John

Thornton answered, "The bottom's going to drop out at any moment. Only fools, with the blind luck of fools, could have made it this far. I wouldn't risk my life on that ice for all the gold in Alaska." "That's because you're not a fool, I suppose," said Hal. "All the same, we'll go on to Dawson. Get up there, Buck! Hey, get up there! Mush on!" Thornton went on whittling. He knew it was a waste of time to try to stop a fool, and two or three less fools in the world would not be such a bad thing. But the team did not get up at Hal's command. He pushed and kicked the dogs, and used his whip. John Thornton pressed his lips together tightly. Sol-leks was the first to crawl to his feet. Teek followed. Joe came next, yelping with pain. Pike fell over twice before he was able to stand. Buck made no

effort. He lay quietly where he had fallen. No matter what Hal did, Buck did not move. Neither did he whine or struggle. Several times, Thornton started to speak, but changed his mind. As Hal continued to treat Buck badly, Thornton stood and walked back and forth. This was the first time Buck had failed, and this made Hal very angry. Buck still refused to move. Like his teammates, he was barely able to get up. He had made up his mind not to get up. He had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. He felt it when they stopped at John Thornton's camp. All day, the thin ice under his feet had seemed like it was about to break. He was experienced and smart enough to recognize the feeling. He refused to move. He had suffered so much, and he was so tired, that nothing hurt him now, even Hal's blows. Suddenly, without warning, John

Thornton jumped at Hal and knocked him backward. Mercedes screamed. Charles looked on sadly, wiped his eyes, but did not get up because of his stiffness. John Thornton stood over Buck and struggled to control himself, too angry to speak. "If you hurt that dog again, I'll hit you again," he finally said. "It's my dog," Hal replied, wiping his mouth as he came back. "Get out of my way, or I'll fix you. I'm going to Dawson." "Not with that dog," Thornton said. "Be careful, Hal," Mercedes cried out in fear. "We don't want any trouble." "You keep out of this," Hal answered her. All this while Thornton stood between Hal and Buck and made no move to get out of the way. Hal lifted his whip. Thornton hit Hal's knuckles with the ax handle, knocking the whip to the ground. He rapped Hal's

knuckles again as he tried to pick it up. Thornton stooped, picked it up, and threw it away. Then he took out his knife and cut Buck loose from the harness. Hal was too tired to fight, and Buck was too tired to keep on the team, anyway. "All right," Hal finally said to Thornton. "You win. Keep that worthless dog. We don't need him anyway." A few minutes later they pulled out from the camp and along the ice that covered the river. Buck heard them go and raised his head to watch. The dogs were limping and staggering. Mercedes was riding the sled. Hal guided, and Charles stumbled along behind them. Thornton knelt beside Buck and with rough, kind hands searched for any injuries. He and Buck watched the sled on the ice. Suddenly, they saw its back end drop down.