proves to me that there is no such thing as chance. I was
reading at the moment, lost in thought, or I should not have been so
easily surprised."

John then told him how we had waited to see Ellen and our young friend
off; and then, in attempting to follow our companions, had lost our way.

"We should have got thus far sooner had we not been delayed by an attack
which a great ant-eater made on our dog."

"If you have lost your way, you will wish to find it," said the recluse.
"I will put you right, and as we go along, we can speak on the point I
mentioned. You have some distance to go, for you should know that you
have come almost at right angles to the route you intended to take. No
matter; I know this forest, and can lead you by a direct course to the
point you wish to gain. But I must ask you before we move forward to
bind up my shoulder. Here, take this handkerchief. You need not be
afraid of hurting me."

Saying this, he resumed his seat on the log, and John, under his
directions, secured the handkerchief over the lacerated limb. He bore
the process with perfect composure, deep as were the wounds formed by
the jaguar's claws.

"What has occurred has convinced me that chance does not exist," he
said, resuming his remarks as we walked along. "You delayed some time,
you tell me, in watching your friends embark; then, losing your way, you
were detained by the ant-eater, and thus arrived at the very moment to
save my life. There was no chance in that. Had you been sooner you
would have passed me by, for I sat so occupied in reading, and ensconced
among the roots of the trees, that I should not have heard you. Had you
delayed longer, the fierce jaguar would have seized me, and my life
would have been sacrificed. No, I say again, there is no such thing as
chance. He who rules the world ordered each event which has occurred,
and directed your steps hither. It is a happy and comforting creed to
know that One more powerful than ourselves takes care of us. Till the
moment the jaguar's sharp claw touched my shoulder, I had doubted this.
The author whose book I hold doubts it also, and I was arguing the point
with him. Your arrival decided the question."

While he was speaking I missed True, and now heard him bark violently.
I ran back, and found the jaguar we thought had been killed rising to
its feet. It was snarling fiercely at the brave dog, and in another
moment would have sprung upon him. True stoo