Perrault

Perrault is a courier in The Call of the Wild by Jack London, a little weazened, swarthy French-Canadian who carries important despatches for the Canadian Government across the Northland. A shrewd judge of dogs, he buys Buck in Seattle for the government's account, recognizing him at once as one dog in ten thousand, and he is forever in a hurry to be on the trail.

Perrault owns the run and works alongside François, the dog-driver who handles the team day to day; together they are fair and impartial masters whom Buck grows to respect. Nothing daunts Perrault, which is why he was chosen as courier: he breaks trail ahead of the team on webbed shoes, tests thin ice with a pole, and drives the dogs early and late to make record time. His team includes Buck, Spitz, Dave, Sol-leks, Pike, Billee, Dolly, and the rest.

Proud of his knowledge of ice and of the speed of his dogs, Perrault pushes the run toward Dawson and back with relentless urgency, taking every risk the frozen rivers demand.