thousands of laborious
men labour unwisely, on the one hand, while, on the other hand,
thousands of idle men live on the product of their forefathers' labours.
Besides, didn't the captain also impress upon us that success is not
success when it leads to evil, and failure is not failure when it
results in good?"

"From all which," retorted Watty, "you bring forward strong proof that
your present growling at bad luck is most unphilosophic, you
cross-grained philosopher."

"Not at all," returned Jack. "The captain's principles may, or may not
be correct. The mere statement of them does not prove that my ill luck
just now is going to result in good. But the worst of it is, that
during the time of our good fortune, I had been hoarding up in order to
be able to send money to my poor father, and now it has all melted
away."

"I'm sorry for you, Jack," said Watty, "but that is not the worst of it
to my mind, bad though it be. What grieves me most is, that my dear
friend and chum, Ben Trench, is surely losing his health under the
strain of anxiety and hard work. You see, he is not gifted with the
gutta-percha feelings and cast-iron frame of Philosopher Jack, neither
has he the happy-go-lucky spirit and tough little corpus of Watty
Wilkins, so that it tells on him heavily--very heavily."

Poor Watty said this half jestingly, yet with such a look of genuine
feeling that Jack forgot his own troubles for the moment.

"Something _must_ be done," he said, gazing with a concerned look at the
fire. "Did you observe that man Conway last night up at the store?"

"Yes; what of him?"

"He staked largely at the gaming-table last night--and won."

Little Wilkins glanced quickly in his friend's face. "Jack," he said,
with a look and tone of earnestness quite unusual to him, "we must not
think of _that_. Whatever straits we are reduced to, we must not
gamble--I repeat, we _must_ not!"

"Why not, little man?" asked Jack, with an amused smile at what he
considered an uncalled-for burst of seriousness.

"Because it is dishonourable," said Wilkins, promptly.

"I don't see it to be so," returned Jack. "If I am willing to stake my
money on a chance of black or red turning up, and the banker is willing
to take his chance, why should we not do it? the chances are equal; both
willing to win or to lose, nothing dishonourable in that! Or, if I bet
with you and you bet with me, we both agree to accept the consequences,
having a rig