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. Buck's first knowledge of this 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 friendship 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 had 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 cold, white outdoors. But when he, as a matter of course, entered it, both Perrault and Francois assaulted him with curses and cooking utensils; he fled back into the cold. A chill wind was blowing, and it bit into his wounded shoulder quite sharply. He lay down on the snow and attempted to sleep, but the frost soon drove him shivering to his feet. Miserable and alone, he wandered about among the many tents, only to find that one place was as cold as another. Here and there savage dogs rushed up to him, but he bristled his neck-hair and snarled (for he was learning fast), and they let him go his way unharmed.
Finally an idea came to him. He would return and see how his own teammates 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, or else he wouldn't have been driven out. Then where could they possibly be? With his tail drooping and his body shivering, he aimlessly circled the tent. Suddenly the snow gave way beneath his forelegs and he sank down. Something wriggled under his feet. He sprang back, 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 made his nostrils tingle. There, curled up under the snow in a snug ball, lay Billee. He whined, squirmed and wriggled to show his good will and intentions, and even chanced, as a bribe for peace, to lick Buck's face with his warm wet tongue.
Another lesson. So that was the way they did it, eh? Buck confidently selected a spot, and with much fuss and wasted effort proceeded to dig a hole for himself.
