t's a splendid skin--why not get it
too?"

"True enough," replied Norman, "we had forgotten that. But the beasts
gone to the bottom--how can we get at him?"

"Why, fish him up, to be sure," said Francois. "Let's splice one of
these willow-poles to my ramrod, and I'll screw it into him, and draw
him to the surface in a jiffy. Come!"

"We must get the canoe round, then," said Norman. "The bank's too steep
for us to reach him without it."

"Of course," assented Francois, at the same time going towards the
willows; "get you the canoe into the water, while I cut the sapling."

"Stay!" cried Basil, "I'll show you a shorter method. Marengo!"

As Basil said this, he rose to his feet, and walked down to the bluff
where they had shot the wolverene. All of them followed him as well as
Marengo, who bounded triumphantly from side to side, knowing he was
wanted for some important enterprise.

"Do you expect the dog to fetch him out?" inquired Norman.

"No," replied Basil; "only to help."

"How?"

"Wait a moment--you shall see."

Basil flung down his 'coon-skin cap, and stripped off his caribou
jacket, then his striped cotton shirt, then his under-shirt of fawn
skin, and, lastly, his trousers, leggings, and mocassins. He was now as
naked as Adam.

"I'll show you, cousin," said he, addressing himself to Norman, "how we
take the water down there on the Mississippi."

So saying, he stepped forward to the edge of the bluff; and having
carefully noted the spot where the wolverene had gone down, turned to
the dog, and simply said--

"Ho! Marengo! _Chez moi_!" The dog answered with a whimper, and a
look of intelligence which showed that he understood his master's wish.

Basil again pointed to the lake, raised his arms over his head, placing
his palms close together, launched himself out into the air, and shot
down head-foremost into the water.

Marengo, uttering a loud bay, sprang after so quickly that the plunges
were almost simultaneous, and both master and dog were for some time
hidden from view. The latter rose first, but it was a long time before
Basil came to the surface--so long that Norman and the others were
beginning to feel uneasy, and to regard the water with some anxiety. At
length, however, a spot was seen to bubble, several yards from where he
had gone down, and the black head of Basil appeared above the surface.
It was seen that he held something in his teeth, and was pushing a heavy
body befo