. The call of the wild. y man was tearing himself loose, evenMatthewson. Hats and mittens were flyingin the air. Men were shaking hands, it didnot matter with whom, and bubbling over ina general incoherent babel. But Thornton fell on his knees beside was against head, and he was shakinghim back and forth. Those who hurried up FOR THE LOVE OF A MAN 189 heard him cursing Buck, and he cursed himlong and fervently, and softly and lovingly. Gad, sir! Gad, sir! spluttered theSkookum Bench king. Ill give you athousand for him, sir, a thousand, sir — twelvehundred, sir. Thornton rose to his
. The call of the wild. y man was tearing himself loose, evenMatthewson. Hats and mittens were flyingin the air. Men were shaking hands, it didnot matter with whom, and bubbling over ina general incoherent babel. But Thornton fell on his knees beside was against head, and he was shakinghim back and forth. Those who hurried up FOR THE LOVE OF A MAN 189 heard him cursing Buck, and he cursed himlong and fervently, and softly and lovingly. Gad, sir! Gad, sir! spluttered theSkookum Bench king. Ill give you athousand for him, sir, a thousand, sir — twelvehundred, sir. Thornton rose to his feet. His eyes werewet. The tears were streaming frankly downhis cheeks. Sir, he said to the SkookumBench king, no, sir. You can go to hell,sir. Its the best I can do for you, sir. Buck seized Thorntons hand in his shook him back and forth. Asthough animated by a common impulse, theonlookers drew back to a respectful distance;nor were they again indiscreet enough tointerrupt. VIITHE SOUNDING OF THE CALL. VII The Sounding of the Call WHEN Buck earned sixteen hundreddollars in five minutes for JohnThornton, he made it possible forhis master to pay off certain debts and tojourney with his partners into the East aftera fabled lost mine, the history of which wasas old as the history of the country. Manymen had sought it; few had found it; andmore than a few there were who had never re-turned from the quest. This lost mine wassteeped in tragedy and shrouded in one knew of the first man. The oldesttradition stopped before it got back to the beginning there had been an ancientand ramshackle cabin. Dying men had swornto it, and to the mine the site of which itmarked, clinching their testimony with nuggetsn 193 i94 THE CALL OF THE WILD that were unlike any known grade of gold inthe Northland. But no living man had looted this treasurehouse, and the dead were dead; whereforeJohn Thornton and Pete and Hans, withBuck and half a dozen other dogs, faced in
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