Men came to see the fat man and to look at the dogs. sometimes they paid money and left with one or more of the dogs. One day a short, dark man came and looked at Buck.
That's a good dog!' he cried. How much do you want for him?
Three hundred dollars. It's a good the fat man good price.
Perrault smiled and agreed that it was a knew dogs, and he knew that Buck was an excellent dog. "One in ten thousand,' Perrault said to himself.
Buck saw money put into the fat man's hand, and he was not surprised when he and another dog called Curly were taken away by Perrault. He took them to a ship, and later that day Buck and Curly stood and watched the coast get further and further away. They had seen the warm south for the last time.
Perrault took Buck and Curly down to the bottom ofthe ship. There they met another man, Francois. Perrault was a French-Canadian, but Francois was half-Indian, tall and dark. Buck learnt quickly that Perrault and Francois were fair men, calm and honest. And they knew everything about dogs.
There were two other dogs on the ship. One was a big dog called Spitz, as white as snow. He was friendly to Buck at first, always smiling. He was smiling when he tried to steal Buck's food at the first meal. Francois was quick and hit Spitz before Buck had time to move. Buck decided that