Later, when Mercedes refuses to cast away as much of her possessions as the onlookers advocated, Charles and Hal decide to buy six extra dogs, now making a total of fourteen dogs pulling the sled. The extra dogs, of course, require more food proportionately, and this factor increases the load which the dogs must pull. As the days go by, London says, it becomes apparent, even to Buck, that "they were slack in all things, without order or discipline."
For example, it takes them an unduly long time to pitch the camp at nighttime, and the morning is always well underway before they are able to break camp. This delay not only is cutting into the distance which they need to cover each day, but it is also eating into the food supply that is supposed to last them throughout the trip. Added to these difficulties is the fact that Mercedes steals extra food and gives it to the dogs on the sly. This is also complicated by the fact that when the dogs do not pull the sled fast enough, Hal beats them severely, further sapping their strength. Arguments among the three people occur constantly; not only "did they not know how to work the dogs, they did not know how to work themselves." When Hal, taking stock of the food supply, discovers that the food is half gone and that they have traversed only one-fourth of the way, he cuts down on the dogs' rations so badly that it weakens all of the dogs, especially the new dogs, who are not accustomed to the severities of the dogsled and the elements.
By this time, Hal, Charles, and Mercedes are too irritable and miserable to even quarrel with one another. In addition, the dogs begin dying off one by one, until only five experienced dogs remain. Apparently, no one seems to be concerned, for in the dissension among the three people, all consideration for the dogs has faded away and even though Mercedes weighs only one hundred and twenty pounds, she demands to ride on the sled, which increases the burden of the already weakened, starving, and suffering dogs.
