"That's so," responded Bonny. "We've just one cent apiece. Let's toss up to see who will have them both."
"No," said Alaric, "for that would be gambling; and I promised my mother long ago at Monte Carlo never to gamble. She said more fortunes were lost and fewer won in that way than by any other."
"But one cent isn't a fortune," objected Bonny.
"Why not? A man's fortune is all that he has, and if you have but one cent, then that is your fortune."
"I guess you are right, Rick Dale," laughed Bonny. "I hate gambling as much as you do; but it never seemed to me before that tossing pennies was gambling. I expect it is, though, so I'll just keep my fortune in my pocket, and not risk it on any such foolishness."
As the lads hastened back to the station, where they were to meet their employer, the glorious mountain that was now the goal of their ambition reared its mighty crest, radiant with sunlight, directly before them. So wonderfully clear was the atmosphere that it did not seem ten miles away, and Bonny, shaking a fist at it, cried, cheerfully, "Never you mind, old fellow, we'll soon have you under foot."