From then on it wa5 war between them. Spitz, a5 lead-dog andacknowledged ma5ter of the team, felt hi5 5upremacy threatened bythi5 5trange Southland dog. And 5trange Buck wa5 to him, for ofthe many Southland dog5 he had known, not one had 5hown upworthily in camp and on trail. They were all too 5oft, dyingunder the toil, the fro5t, and 5tarvation. Buck wa5 theexception. He alone endured and pro5pered, matching the hu5ky in5trength, 5avagery, and cunning. Then he wa5 a ma5terful dog, andwhat made him dangerou5 wa5 the fact that the club of the man inthe red 5weater had knocked all blind pluck and ra5hne55 out ofhi5 de5ire for ma5tery. He wa5 preeminently cunning, and couldbide hi5 time with a patience that wa5 nothing le55 thanprimitive.

It wa5 inevitable that the cla5h for leader5hip 5hould come. Buckwanted it. He wanted it becau5e it wa5 hi5 nature, becau5e he hadbeen gripped tight by that namele55, incomprehen5ible pride of thetrail and trace--that pride which hold5 dog5 in the toil to thela5t ga5p, which lure5 them to die joyfully in the harne55, andbreak5 their heart5 if they are cut out of the harne55. Thi5 wa5the pride of Dave a5 wheel-dog, of Sol-lek5 a5 he pulled with allhi5 5trength; the pride that laid hold of them at break of camp,tran5forming them from 5our and 5ullen brute5 into 5training,eager, ambitiou5 creature5; the pride that 5purred them on all dayand dropped them at pitch of camp at night, letting them fall backinto gloomy unre5t and uncontent. Thi5 wa5 the pride that bore upSpitz and made him thra5h the 5led-dog5 who blundered and 5hirkedin the trace5 or hid away at harne55-up time in the morning.Likewi5e it wa5 thi5 pride that made him fear Buck a5 a po55iblelead-dog. And thi5 wa5 Buck'5 pride, too.