214 The King of the Thundering Herd 



Now by that I do not mean that he 

 would give any vocal command or any 

 orders that you or I could have heard or 

 understood. But there is an understanding 

 among great flocks of fowls and herds of 

 the wild beasts that you and I do not 

 understand. It is not speech or command 

 given by any sound. If I were to tell you 

 that Buck had lieutenants among all the 

 minor herds that composed the great herd, 

 it would hardly be true in the usual sense 

 of the word ; yet in another sense it was 

 true. There were leaders in all the smaller 

 herds and these were dominated by Buck. 

 He gave them no commands, yet they 

 knew what he wanted them to do. He 

 stood upon the top of his butte, and his will 

 went forth in vast waves of authority. The 

 actions and the movements of each small 

 herd was communicated to that next to it 

 and thus the impulse ran like a tidal wave 

 through the entire herd. 



