hadneverseenJimlooksograve，soself-possessed，inanimpenetrable，impressiveway。Inthemidstofthesedark-facedmen，hisstalwartfigureinwhiteapparel，thegleamingclustersofhisfairhair，seemedtocatchallthesunshinethattrickledthroughthecracksintheclosedshuttersofthatdimhall，withitswallsofmatsandaroofofthatch。Heappearedlikeacreaturenotonlyofanotherkindbutofanotheressence。Hadtheynotseenhimcomeupinacanoetheymighthavethoughthehaddescendeduponthemfromtheclouds。Hedid，however，comeinacrazydug-out，sittingverystillandwithhiskneestogether，forfearofoverturningthething——sittingonatinbox——whichIhadlenthim——nursingonhislaparevolveroftheNavypattern——presentedbymeonparting——which，throughaninterpositionofProvidence，orthroughsomewrong-headednotion，thatwasjustlikehim，orelsefromsheerinstinctivesagacity，hehaddecidedtocarryunloaded。
That’showheascendedthePatusanriver。Nothingcouldhavebeenmoreprosaicandmoreunsafe，moreextravagantlycasual，morelonely。Strange，thisfatalitythatwouldcastthecomplexionofaflightuponallhisacts，ofimpulsiveunreflectingdesertion——ofajumpintotheunknown。
`Itispreciselythecasualnessofitthatstrikesmemost。NeitherSteinnorIhadaclearconceptionofwhatmightbeontheothersidewhenwe，metaphoricallyspeaking，tookhimupandhovehimoverthewallwithscantceremony。AtthemomentImerelywishedtoachievehisdisappearance。
Steincharacteristicallyenoughhadasentimentalmotive。Hehadanotionofpayingoffinkind，Isupposetheolddebthehadneverforgotten。
IndeedhehadbeenallhislifeespeciallyfriendlytoanybodyfromtheBritishIsles。Hislatebenefactor，itistrue，wasaScot——eventothelengthofbeingcalledAlexanderM’Neil——andJimcamefromalongwaysouthoftheTweed；butatthedistanceofsixorseventhousandmilesGreatBritain，thoughneverdiminished，looksforeshortenedenougheventoitsownchildrentorobsuchdetailsoftheirimportance。Steinwasexcusable，andhishintedintentionsweresogenerousthatIbeggedhimmostearnestlytokeepthemsecretforatime。IfeltthatnoconsiderationofpersonaladvantageshouldbeallowedtoinfluenceJim；thatnoteventheriskofsuchinfluenceshouldberun。Wehadtodealwithanothersortofreality。