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- Джек Лондон
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"
Can
you
lend
me
a
thousand
?
"
he
asked
,
almost
in
a
whisper
.
"
Sure
,
"
answered
O'Brien
,
thumping
down
a
plethoric
sack
by
the
side
of
Matthewson
's
.
"
Though
it
's
little
faith
I
'm
having
,
John
,
that
the
beast
can
do
the
trick
.
"
The
Eldorado
emptied
its
occupants
into
the
street
to
see
the
test
.
The
tables
were
deserted
,
and
the
dealers
and
gamekeepers
came
forth
to
see
the
outcome
of
the
wager
and
to
lay
odds
.
Several
hundred
men
,
furred
and
mittened
,
banked
around
the
sled
within
easy
distance
.
Matthewson
's
sled
,
loaded
with
a
thousand
pounds
of
flour
,
had
been
standing
for
a
couple
of
hours
,
and
in
the
intense
cold
(
it
was
sixty
below
zero
)
the
runners
had
frozen
fast
to
the
hard-packed
snow
.
Men
offered
odds
of
two
to
one
that
Buck
could
not
budge
the
sled
.
A
quibble
arose
concerning
the
phrase
"
break
out
.
"
O'Brien
contended
it
was
Thornton
's
privilege
to
knock
the
runners
loose
,
leaving
Buck
to
"
break
it
out
"
from
a
dead
standstill
.
Matthewson
insisted
that
the
phrase
included
breaking
the
runners
from
the
frozen
grip
of
the
snow
.
A
majority
of
the
men
who
had
witnessed
the
making
of
the
bet
decided
in
his
favor
,
whereat
the
odds
went
up
to
three
to
one
against
Buck
.
There
were
no
takers
.
Not
a
man
believed
him
capable
of
the
feat
.
Thornton
had
been
hurried
into
the
wager
,
heavy
with
doubt
;
and
now
that
he
looked
at
the
sled
itself
,
the
concrete
fact
,
with
the
regular
team
of
ten
dogs
curled
up
in
the
snow
before
it
,
the
more
impossible
the
task
appeared
.
Matthewson
waxed
jubilant
.
"
Three
to
one
!
"
he
proclaimed
.
"
I
'll
lay
you
another
thousand
at
that
figure
,
Thornton
.
What
d'ye
say
?
"
Thornton
's
doubt
was
strong
in
his
face
,
but
his
fighting
spirit
was
aroused
--
the
fighting
spirit
that
soars
above
odds
,
fails
to
recognize
the
impossible
,
and
is
deaf
to
all
save
the
clamor
for
battle
.
He
called
Hans
and
Pete
to
him
.
Their
sacks
were
slim
,
and
with
his
own
the
three
partners
could
rake
together
only
two
hundred
dollars
.
In
the
ebb
of
their
fortunes
,
this
sum
was
their
total
capital
;
yet
they
laid
it
unhesitatingly
against
Matthewson
's
six
hundred
.
The
team
of
ten
dogs
was
unhitched
,
and
Buck
,
with
his
own
harness
,
was
put
into
the
sled
.
He
had
caught
the
contagion
of
the
excitement
,
and
he
felt
that
in
some
way
he
must
do
a
great
thing
for
John
Thornton
.
Murmurs
of
admiration
at
his
splendid
appearance
went
up
.
He
was
in
perfect
condition
,
without
an
ounce
of
superfluous
flesh
,
and
the
one
hundred
and
fifty
pounds
that
he
weighed
were
so
many
pounds
of
grit
and
virility
.
His
furry
coat
shone
with
the
sheen
of
silk
.
Down
the
neck
and
across
the
shoulders
,
his
mane
,
in
repose
as
it
was
,
half
bristled
and
seemed
to
lift
with
every
movement
,
as
though
excess
of
vigor
made
each
particular
hair
alive
and
active
.
The
great
breast
and
heavy
fore
legs
were
no
more
than
in
proportion
with
the
rest
of
the
body
,
where
the
muscles
showed
in
tight
rolls
underneath
the
skin
.
Men
felt
these
muscles
and
proclaimed
them
hard
as
iron
,
and
the
odds
went
down
to
two
to
one
.
"
Gad
,
sir
!
Gad
,
sir
!
"
stuttered
a
member
of
the
latest
dynasty
,
a
king
of
the
Skookum
Benches
.
"
I
offer
you
eight
hundred
for
him
,
sir
,
before
the
test
,
sir
;
eight
hundred
just
as
he
stands
.
"
