e water, while
the wolverene dropped from his perch--a little sooner, perhaps, than he
had intended--and rolled over the ground evidently wounded. I ran up
and struck at him with the butt-end of my gun, intending to finish him;
but, to my astonishment, the fierce brute seized the stock in his teeth,
and almost tore it in pieces! For some time I hammered him with huge
stones--he all the while endeavouring to lay hold of me with his long
curved claws--and it was not until I got a down-blow at his head with my
axe that the fight was ended. A fearful-looking monster he was as he
lay stretched before me, and not unlike the carcajou which had killed
our ox at the camp, only smaller. I did not attempt to take his carcass
with me, as it was a useless burden. Moreover, from the fetid smell
which he emitted, I was glad to part company as soon as I had killed
him; and, leaving him where he lay, I took the shortest road back to the
camp."

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

HOW TO BUILD A LOG-CABIN.

"I need not describe the joy of my wife and the rest when I returned,
and related to them what I had seen, as well as my adventure with the
wolverene. The discovery that our new-made lake was nothing else than a
great beaver-dam at once decided the question as to our remaining in the
valley. Here was a source of wealth to us far greater than would have
been any situation in the mines of Mexico--in fact, better than a mine
itself. The skin of every beaver in that dam I knew to be worth a
guinea and a half. I saw there were at least an hundred of them--there
might be many more--and how soon would these multiply into thousands,
producing annually four or five young to every pair of them. We could
tend them--taking care to provide them with food--and destroy the
wolverenes and any other of their enemies, that might exist in the
valley. They would thus increase the faster, and we could easily
prevent them from becoming too numerous by trapping the older ones, and
carefully preserving their skins. After several years thus employed, we
could return to civilised life, carrying with us enough of their
valuable fur to sell for a smart fortune.

"The prospect of staying where we were was now delightful--the more so,
as I was satisfied it was the best thing I could do. Even had I been
able to procure a pair of fresh oxen at that moment, I should not have
moved a step farther. What Mary had said in jest was now likely to be
realised in earne