Chapter 4
The Call of the Wild Vocabulary
Review of Chapter 3
• Chapter III "The Law of Club and Fang"
• Buck learned to live by his instincts in the Northland.
Spitz became his rival. One day while Buck went to get
his food, he found that Spitz had taken his sleeping
hole. Buck and Spitz prepared to fight. Just then a pack
of wild hungry dogs ran into the camp. They were mad
with their hunger and attacked the team dogs. They
ate everything they could find including moccasins.
Each of the team dogs fought back. They received four
to five cuts each during this battle.
Review of Chapter 3
• The team had to cover four hundred miles of trail
to reach the next stop. This was the hardest part
of the trail. The dogs even broke through the ice
on several occasions. One of the dogs Dolly went
mad and began to chase Buck. Francois killed the
mad dog with his ax. Spitz decided to attack Buck
after this exhaustive chase with Dolly. Francois
whipped Spitz harder than he had whipped any
of the other dogs for trying to fight Buck when he
was tired. After this incidence, the rivalry
between the dogs strengthened.
Review of Chapter 3
• One night the dogs saw a rabbit. This lead to a
great chase. Fifty dogs from the Northwest
Police camp joined in the rabbit hunt. Spitz
got to the rabbit first by taking a short cut.
Buck fought Spitz when he saw this. Buck soon
realized this was a fight to the death. During
the fight he acted as if he was headed for
Spitz's shoulder, but turned at the last minute
and bit his leg. Buck broke Spitz's leg. Once
Spitz was down Buck moved in for the kill.
Triumphantly (adv)
“Buck trotted in, laughing
triumphantly, and swung around into
position at the head of the team.”
Victoriously
Toil (n)
“Their business was to toil, and toil
mightily, in the traces.”
Laborious effort
Friction (n)
“This meant a soft trail, greater
friction on the runners, and heavier
pulling for the dogs.”
The resistance of one force
against another
Review of Chapter 4
• Chapter IV "Who Has Won to Mastership"
• The morning after the fight between Buck and
Spitz, Perrault found that Buck was covered with
cuts and Spitz was missing. As Perrault harnessed
the dogs, Buck stood in Spitz's lead position.
Francois tried to harness Sol-leks in the lead.
Buck pushed Sol-leks out of the way and moved
back into the position. Francois came back with
his club. Buck retreated from the club, but did not
give up.
Review of Chapter 4
• Finally Perrault told Francois to throw down the club.
Buck moved into the lead position. Buck became the
new lead dog. He did a wonderful job. Two new
huskies were added to the team. Buck taught them
how to work. The team averaged forty miles a day.
They reached Skaguay in record time.
• Perrault and Francois received orders to move on. The
dogs were too tired to continue. Perrault and Francois
moved on with a new set of dogs. The team traveled
back to Dawson under the leadership of a Scotsman.
They carried a load of mail to the gold-miners in the
North. Once the dogs reached Dawson they were
treated well.
Review of Chapter 4
• Dave was suffering from a strange illness. No
one could find the problem. The men decided
he was too weak to work and unharnessed
him from the team. Dave fought for his place.
The men realized he must die working, so they
harnessed him back in place. The next day
Dave was too weak to travel. After he
collapsed the Scotsman moved the