As the contest is about to begin, John Thornton kneels beside Buck's head, whispering quiet statements of endearment: "As you love me, Buck. As you love me." Buck answers this plea by taking "his master's mittened hands between his jaws, pressing in with his teeth . . . it was the answer, in terms, not of speech, but of love." Thornton orders the dog to "MUSH," and so Buck, mustering every last bit of strength he has, every muscle and sinew straining under the tremendous weight, heaves forward. But one of Buck's feet slips, and he suddenly falls down in the snow. Yet, because of his amazing resiliency, he stands up and pulls even harder, and finally he is able to move the sled — inch by inch, foot by foot — until he finally covers the hundred yards previously marked off as being the finish line. The crowd cheers, and in appreciation, Thornton kneels by the dog. The famed "King of Skookum Bench" offers to pay Thornton a thousand dollars for Buck, but Thornton rejects the offer.
Here in this chapter, then, just before Buck will return to the primitive world, London shows us the love, the devotion, the affection, and the cooperation that can exist between a man and a dog. Under certain circumstances, especially after a man has saved a dog's life, the dog can be expected to save his master's reputation.
