The journey leads them to Skaguay, and the entire team are exhausted and need plenty of rest. However, three days later, two Western men (Hal and Charles) and a woman (Mercedes — Hal’s sister, and Charles’ wife) purchases Buck’s team. They overload the sled and try to force the exhausted animals to move, ignoring the advice given by onlookers about the dogs needing further rest. When the load finally moves, it topples at the first turn, scattering the belongings as the animals continue moving fast. This incident forces them to abandon half the load and add six more dogs to the pack. However, the luggage is still very heavy and the additional dogs have no experience. While the men seem to be happy about the number of dogs, they fail to account for the food needed for the journey. Buck does not trust the new masters for they are inexperienced and unwilling to learn. They first overfeed the dogs in the attempts of making them pull harder, but that does not change anything. Furthermore, their inexperience results in fewer miles traveled than expected, and therefore prolonging the travel time. 

Over time, the dogs start to die off one by one, and the travelers constantly quarrel on different meaningless issues. Mercedes is the most troublesome for she demands to be treated like a lady, including riding on the sled being pulled by weary dogs. Winter gives way to spring, but they all fail to acknowledge the change. They come upon John Thornton, who warns them about traveling at such a time due to the melting ice. Hal ignores the warning and starts beating the dogs so that they can rise up and continue the journey. However, Buck fails to heed despite Hal’s cruelty. Annoyed by his behavior, Thornton jumps in to save Buck by cutting him from the sled. The others continue their journey without him, but sinks into the ice after just covering a quarter a mile. Buck seems appreciative of Thornton’s actions.