“No,” said Archie, “I’m going to stay as long as you will keep me.”

Frank was overjoyed at this, and, if he had not been in the house, he would have given, as he said, “a yell that would have done credit to an Indian.”

But, before going further, we must say a word about Archie’s companions—­we mean his dogs.  One of them, that answered to the name of Sport, was as fine a fox-hound as one would wish to see.  He was a large, tan-colored animal, very fleet and courageous, and was well acquainted with all the tricks of his favorite game, and the boys often boasted that “Sport had never lost a fox in his life.”  The black fox, which had held possession of Reynard’s Island so long, was captured by Frank and his cousin, with the assistance of Sport, after a chase of three hours.  Lightfoot—­for that was the name of the other—­was an English grayhound.  He stood full three feet high at the shoulders, and his speed was tremendous.  He was young, however, and knew nothing about hunting; but he had been taught to “fetch and carry,” and, as he learned very readily, the boys expected plenty of sport in training him.

After supper, Archie’s trunk was carried into the “study,” and the boys busied themselves in taking out its contents.  The clothing was all packed away in the bureau; and then came Archie’s “sporting cabinet,” as he called it—­a fine double-barreled shot-gun, which was hung upon the frame at the foot of the bed; a quantity of ammunition, a small hatchet, powder-flasks, shot bags, and a number of other things, which were stowed away in safe places.

At length Archie drew out two fish-poles, neatly stowed away in strong bags, and one of them proved to be the one about which Archie had written.  This was placed away in one corner, and Frank promised to mend it immediately.

“See here,” said Archie, as he drew out two queer-looking implements; “I have been acting on the suggestion of Uncle Joe Lewis.”

“What are they?” inquired Frank.

One of them was a thin rod of steel, about three feet in length, very pointed and sharp at the end the other looked very much like a fish-spear, only the “tines” were smaller and sharper.

“They are spears,” said Archie, in answer to Frank’s question.

“So I see; but what use can you put them to?”

“This,” said Archie, taking up the rod of steel, “is a mink-spear.  Last winter we lost a good many minks, when, if we had had an instrument like this, we could have secured them easily enough.  You know that sometimes you get a mink into a place where you can see him, but, if you go to work to chop a hole large enough to get a stick in to kill him, he will jump out before you know what you are about.  You will remember a little incident of this kind that happened last winter—­that day we had such good luck.  We were following a mink up the creek on the ice, when Brave suddenly stopped before a hollow stub, and stuck his nose into