The Island of Providence and Despair Robert Louis Stevenson was born to Thomas and Margaret Stevenson in Edinburgh on November 13, 1850. Stevenson spent much of his childhood very ill. Because he was so ill, his parents hired a full time nurse, Allison Cunningham. Cunningham filled Stevenson's head full of amazing stories. She told him adventurous tales of Scottish martyrs and Covenanters. At a very young age, Steven was quite a storyteller himself. He had picked up …showed first 75 words of 1773 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1773 total…but were at sea with it, besides, in safety (Stevenson 250). However, in the end, Hawkins finds himself and realizes he was not looking for gold, but for an adventure. The very thought of the gold gave Hawkins nightmares. "Oxen and wain-ropes would not bring me back again to that accursed island; and the worst dreams that ever I have are when I hear the surf booming about its coasts or the thought of gold" (Stevenson 297).