er question--"Why did we come here at all?"

"Well," retorted plain, matter-of-fact Dick, "because we couldn't help
ourselves, I suppose."

"Very well," agreed Stukely, "I will concede that, if you like. We came
because we could not help ourselves; because, in other words, after we
were picked up by the _Adventure_, no opportunity occurred to land us
again, and therefore we had no choice but to remain in the ship. But
why did we consent to become members of her crew?"

"Why, in the hope of making our fortunes, of course," returned Dick.
"And we did so, too; or should have done so, rather, if thicky stone had
not cracked my skull for me."

"Precisely," agreed Stukely. "If your skull had not been cracked, and
if we had both contrived to get back to the ship, as some of the others
appear to have done. But it is just those little ifs, my dear Dick,
that rule the destinies of men. If this, that, or the other thing had,
or had not, happened, everything would have been very different. Now,
for my own part, I am a great believer in destiny; I do not believe that
there is such a thing as accident or chance, but that what we usually
call by one or the other of those names is ordered by what some men call
Fate, but what I prefer to call Providence. I will not attempt to argue
this matter out with you just now, but will simply content myself with
the assertion that you and I were destined to be left behind. If you
ask, for what purpose, I reply that I do not know; I cannot even guess;
but I have no doubt that it will be revealed in due time. If my theory
is correct and Providence is indeed interfering in our affairs, we may
do as we will, but we shall be guided and governed, in spite of
ourselves, until we have accomplished the work which we are destined to
do. That being the case, let us leave ourselves in the hands of
Destiny, to do as she will with us, watching for such right impulses as
she may impart to us, and following them implicitly, under the belief
and conviction that she is guiding us.

"Now, why did we come to this Golden West? Was it not to make our
fortunes, to acquire a share of the wealth with which the land teems?
Of course it was; and since we are here, and cannot get away, I say let
us push into the interior and see if we cannot find for ourselves some
of the gold, or gems, with which the soil is said to abound. There must
be scores, nay, hundreds, of undiscovered mines in the lonely fastnesses