e which flashed a
warning of prowess that commanded respect. He was called Sol-leks, which
means the Angry One. Like Dave, he asked nothing, gave nothing, expected
nothing; and when he marched slowly and deliberately into their midst,
even Spitz left him alone. He had one peculiarity which Buck was unlucky
enough to discover. He did not like to be approached on his blind side.
Of this offence Buck was unwittingly guilty, and the first knowledge he
had of his indiscretion was when Sol-leks whirled upon him and slashed
his shoulder to the bone for three inches up and down. Forever after
Buck avoided his blind side, and to the last of their comradeship had
no more trouble. His only apparent ambition, like Dave's, was to be left
alone; though, as Buck was afterward to learn, each of them possessed
one other and even more vital ambition.

That night Buck faced the great problem of sleeping. The tent, illumined
by a candle, glowed warmly in the midst of the white plain; and when he,
as a matter of course, entered it, both Perrault and Francois bombarded
him with curses and cooking utensils, till he recovered from his
consternation and fled ignominiously into the outer cold. A chill wind
was blowing that nipped him sharply and bit with especial venom into his
wounded shoulder. He lay down on the snow and attempted to sleep,
but the frost soon drove him shivering to his feet. Miserable and
disconsolate, he wandered about among the many tents, only to find that
one place was as cold as another. Here and there savage dogs rushed
upon him, but he bristled his neck-hair and snarled (for he was learning
fast), and they let him go his way unmolested.

Finally an idea came to him. He would return and see how his own
team-mates were making out. To his astonishment, they had disappeared.
Again he wandered about through the great camp, looking for them, and
again he returned. Were they in the tent? No, that could not be, else he
would not have been driven out. Then where could they possibly be? With
drooping tail and shivering body, very forlorn indeed, he aimlessly
circled the tent. Suddenly the snow gave way beneath his fore legs
and he sank down. Something wriggled under his feet. He sprang back,
bristling and snarling, fearful of the unseen and unknown. But a
friendly little yelp reassured him, and he went back to investigate. A
whiff of warm air ascended to his nostrils, and there, curled up under
the snow in a snug ball, lay Bille