Chapter 2 Summary

Buck and the other dogs arrive at Dyea beach where their first days are described as a nightmare. Buck is forced to acknowledge that his lazy life in the sun-filled Santa Clara Valley is over. It has been replaced with an environment that offers no peace, rest or safety. He must be constantly alert for savage attacks from dogs and men.

He receives a hard lesson about the wild and savage nature of the dogs on Dyea beach when Curly, the dog that traveled with him from Seattle, attempts to make friends with a husky near their camp. The dog attacks Curly immediately and rips her face open. Then thirty to forty other huskies circle the two fighting dogs, and once Curly is down, close in on her and kill her. It happens suddenly and with no sense of fair play, shocking Buck...