In Which I Achieve a Name

So winding is my trout river, and so extensive are my lands along it,
that it was not until nearly noon that our progress, sometimes halted
by shallows, again swift in the deeper reaches, brought the Sea
Rover to the lower edge of my estate. Here, the river was deeper and
more silent, the waters were not quite so cold, but as we passed a
high hardwood bridge from which issued a cool spring of water, I
suggested a halt in our voyage, to which my companions, readily
enough, agreed. We, therefore, disembarked and prepared to have our
luncheon.

It was obvious to me that Jean Lafitte and Henri L'Olonnois were not
on their first expedition out-of-doors, for they set about gathering
wood and water in workmanlike fashion. They did not yet fully classify
me, so, in boyish shyness, left me largely ignored, or waited till I
should demonstrate myself to them. It was, therefore, with delicacy
that I ventured any suggestions from the place where Partial and I sat
in the shade watching them.

I have mentioned the fact that I had been a hunter and traveler, and
had met success in the field; yet the truth is, I began all that late
in life, and deliberately. To me, used to exact habit of thought in
all things, and accustomed to be governed by trained reason alone, it
was never enough to say that a thing was partly done, or well enough
done to pass: only the best possible way had any appeal to me. I
brought my reason to bear on every situation in life. Thus, I studied
an investment carefully, and before going into it, I knew what the
result would be. My investments, therefore, always have prospered,
because they were not based on guess or chance, as nine-tenths of all
the public's business ventures are. In the same way, I had gone
deliberately about the matter of winning the regard of the only woman
I ever saw who seemed to me much worth while. I argued and reasoned
with Helena Emory that she should marry me, proving to her by every
rule of logic that, not only was she the most lovable woman in all the
records of the world, but, also, that love such as mine never had
before been known in the world. Sometimes, as I logically proved the
fitness of our union, and grew warm at my own accuracy, she wavered,
relented, warmed: and then again, forgetting my argument, she would
relapse into womanlike frivolity once more.... I did not like to think
of this, as I sat in the shade with Partial. It cost me much in
self-respect, irritated me.