over the lake, and the wapiti fell upon the water, where, after
struggling a moment, he lay dead.

The canoe was paddled up, and his antlers being made fast to the stern,
he was towed back to the shore, and carried into camp. What now
surprised our voyageurs was, their finding that the wapiti had been
wounded before encountering either the wolves, wolverene, or themselves.
An arrow-head, with a short piece of the shaft, was sticking in one of
his thighs. The Indians, then, had been after him, and very lately too,
as the wound showed. It was not a mortal wound, had the arrow-head been
removed; but of course, as it was, it would have proved his death in the
long run. This explained why the wolves had assailed an animal, that
otherwise, from his great size and strength, would have defied them.

The wolverene, moreover, rarely attacks game so large as the wapiti; but
the latter had, no doubt, chanced upon the lair of his fierce enemy, who
could not resist such a tempting opportunity of getting a meal. The
wolves had seen the wolverene as they approached the thicket, and that
accounted for their strange behaviour in the pursuit. These creatures
are as great cowards as they are tyrants, and their dread of a wolverene
is equal to that with which they themselves often inspire the wounded
deer.

CHAPTER XIV.

A PAIR OF DEEP DIVERS.

THE wapiti was carefully skinned, and the skin spread out to dry. Since
their mishap our voyageurs had been very short of clothing. The three
skins of the woodland caribou had made only a pair of jackets, instead
of full hunting-shirts, and even these were pinched fits. For beds and
bed-clothes they had nothing but the hides of buffaloes, and these,
although good as far as they went, were only enough for two. Lucien, the
most delicate of the party, appropriated one, as the others insisted
upon his so doing. Francois had the other.

As for Basil and Norman, they were forced each night to lie upon the
naked earth, and but for the large fires which they kept blazing all the
night, they would have suffered severely from cold. Indeed, they did
suffer quite enough; for some of the nights were so cold, that it was
impossible to sleep by the largest fire without one-half of their bodies
feeling chilled. The usual practice with travellers in the West is to
lie with their feet to the fire, while the head is at the greatest
distance from it. This is considered the best mode, for so long as the
fe