four stood
with guns cocked and ready. But before the dog had made three lengths of
himself into the thicket, a loud snort was heard, followed by a
struggle and the stamping of hoofs, and the next moment the wapiti came
crashing through the bushes. A shot was fired--it was the crack of
Lucien's small rifle--but it had missed, for the buck was seen passing
onward and outward. All ran round to the side he had taken, and had a
full view of the animal as he bounded off. Instead of running free as
before, he now leaped heavily forward, and what was their astonishment
on seeing that he _carried another animal upon his back_!

[Illustration: THE WAPITI AND THE WOLVERENE.]

The hunters could hardly believe their eyes, but there it was, sure
enough, a brown shaggy mass, lying flat along the shoulders of the
wapiti, and clutching it with large spreading claws. Francois cried out,
"A panther!" and Basil at first believed it to be a bear, but it was
hardly large enough for that. Norman, however, who had lived more in
those parts where the animal is found, knew it at once to be the dreaded
"wolverene." Its head could not be seen, as that was hid behind the
shoulder of the wapiti, whose throat it was engaged in tearing. But its
short legs and broad paws, its bushy tail and long shaggy hair, together
with its round-arching back and dark-brown colour, were all familiar
marks to the young fur-trader; and he at once pronounced it a
"wolverene."

When first seen, both it and the wapiti were beyond the reach of their
rifles; and the hunters, surprised by such an unexpected apparition, had
suddenly halted. Francois and Basil were about to renew the pursuit, but
were prevented by Norman, who counselled them to remain where they were.

"They won't go far," said he; "let us watch them a bit. See! the buck
takes the water!"

The wapiti, on leaving the willows, had run straight out in the first
direction that offered, which happened to be in a line parallel with the
edge of the lake. His eye, however, soon caught sight of the water, and,
doubling suddenly round, he made directly towards it, evidently with the
intention of plunging in. He had hopes, no doubt, that by this means he
might rid himself of the terrible creature that was clinging to his
shoulders, and tearing his throat to pieces.

A few bounds brought him to the shore. There was no beach at the spot.
The bank--a limestone bluff--rose steeply from the water's edge to a
height o