ering what had become of him, or where he
could have gone. They espied the hound at some distance up the stream,
and apparently engaged with some object upon the bank. They all ran
towards him. On arriving near the spot, they perceived that it was the
skeleton of a large buffalo with which the dog was engaged. The poor
brute, hungry as he was, could do but little else than lick it; for the
wolves had not left as much meat upon it as would have filled the
smallest of his teeth! Even the pieces of torn skin that lay around had
been chewed dry by these ravenous animals; and the bones appeared as
free from flesh as if they had been scraped by a knife. Had an
anatomist been ordered to prepare the skeleton for a museum, he could
not have cleaned it more effectually.

It was not very cheering to contemplate this useless skeleton; and the
boys were about returning to their camping-place, when the idea occurred
to Lucien that the bones might, at least, yield a _soup_. He, of
course, communicated this idea to the others, and it was at once agreed
that they should boil them and try. It was quite a happy thought. No
doubt the bones, which were fresh, and not yet dry, would make an
excellent soup; and all three at once set about preparing to cook it.
Francois gathered sage-bushes to kindle a fire with, while Basil got
hold of Lucien's little hatchet, and set to work to separate the ribs
and joints of the skeleton. Lucien, seeing that there were several
kinds of plants growing on the margin of the rivulet, went down to
examine them--in hopes that he might find the wild onion or the
prairie-turnip among them, or perhaps some other root or vegetable that
might help to enrich their pottage.

While all three were engaged in their separate duties, a loud
exclamation from Basil drew the attention of his brothers. It was a
shout of joy, followed by a wild laugh, like the laugh of a maniac!

Francois and Lucien looked up in affright--thinking that something
disagreeable had happened--for they could not understand why Basil
should be laughing so loudly at such a time, and under such gloomy
circumstances.

As they looked at him he still continued to laugh, waving the hatchet
around his head as if in triumph.

"Come here, brothers!" shouted he; "come here! Ha! ha! ha! Here's a
supper for three hungry individuals! Ha! ha! ha! What shallow fellows
we are, to be sure! Why, we are as stupid as the donkey that preferred
eating