Ernest drew the ramrod from his gun, and charged so manfully into the crowd that, striking right and left, he speedily killed several, while most of the others took to flight. Fritz detached some broad strips of skin with his knife, and we returned toward the boat. Perceiving with satisfaction that the shore was strewn with just the sort of boards and planks I wanted, I lost no time in collecting them; and, forming a raft to tow after us, we were in a short time able to direct our course homeward, without visiting the wreck at all. As we sailed along, extremely well pleased with our good fortune, Fritz, by my direction, nailed part of the shark's skin flat on boards to dry in the sun, and the rest on the rounded mast. "Will that be a good plan, father?" inquired he, "it will be quite bent and crooked when it hardens." "That it just what I want it to be," said I; "we may happen to find it useful in that form as well as flat. It would be beautiful shagreen if we could smooth and polish it." "I thought," remarked Ernest, "that shagreen was made from asses' hide." "And you thought rightly," said I. "The best shagreen is prepared in Turkey, Persia, and Tartary, from the skins of horses and asses. In these skins the roughness is produced artificially; while the skin is newly flayed and still soft, hard grains of corn are spread on the under surface, and pressed into it as it dries. These grains are afterward removed, and the roughness imparted to the appearance of the skin remains indelibly; shagreen is useful in polishing joiners' work, and it is made in France from the rough skin of a hideous creature called the angel-fish." "Angel-fish!" exclaimed Fritz; "what a name to give to anything 'hideous,' father!" "There are bad angels as well as good ones," observed Ernest, in his dry, quiet way; "it is better to leave people to see for themselves which is meant." By this time we were close in shore; and lowering the sail, we soon had our craft, with the raft in tow, safely moored to the bank. No one was in sight, not a sound to be heard, so with united voice we gave a loud, cheery halloo, which after a while was answered in shrill tones, and the mother, with her two boys, came running from behind the rocks between us and the stream, each carrying a small bundle in a handkerchief, while little Franz held aloft a landing net. Our return so soon was quite unexpected, and they anxiously inquired the reason, which we soon explained; and then the mysterious bundles were opened, and a great number of fine crawfish displayed; whose efforts to escape by scuttling away in every direction, directly they were placed in a heap on the ground, caused immense fun and laughter as the boys pursued and brought them back, only to find others scrambling off in a dozen different ways.