ey were too
distant for the shot; and the next moment both disappeared over the
swells of the prairie. The sight only tantalised the unsuccessful
hunters, and added to the hungry craving of appetites already sharp
almost beyond endurance. They felt that there was no chance of getting
anything to eat, before they should come up with the buffaloes. That
was their only hope; and they spurred their horses afresh, and rode on
as fast as the animals could travel.

Towards night their hunger had increased to a painful degree; and the
eyes of all wandered occasionally upon Jeanette and the dog Marengo.
They began to contemplate the necessity of sacrificing one or other of
these animals. It would be a sad alternative--as both the mule and the
dog were looked upon more in the light of companions than slaves. Both
had done good service during the expedition. But for Marengo, Francois
might never have been found; and Jeanette, in addition to having
satisfactorily accomplished the duty assigned to her, had saved them
from an encounter with one of the cougars. But all these services must
now be forgotten, when starvation was the alternative; and our
adventurers began to talk seriously about which of these two faithful
servants should be made the first victim. Neither was fat. Jeanette
had never been so in all her life--at least so long as her present
owners had been acquainted with her--and Marengo had grown gaunt and
bony upon this lengthened expedition. Jeanette could not be otherwise
than tough, and Marengo looked anything but tender. So far as that was
concerned, it might be a toss-up which of them was first "put to the
knife."

But other considerations had their weight with the boys. Basil disliked
parting with his hound, that for many years had been a great favourite,
and the dog was endeared to all from late circumstances. His conduct at
the time when Francois was lost--his usefulness as a sentinel at many a
lonely camp-fire--and his valuable services rendered upon other
occasions, had fixed him firmly in the affections of his young masters;
and they would have endured hunger to the utmost extremity rather than
sacrifice him. Jeanette, on the other hand, was but a mule--a selfish,
wicked, kicking mule. This was true; but to them she had been a useful
animal, and would not have kicked any one of them, although she would
have kicked all the world besides. Still the feeling with which
Jeanette was regarded was m