He who had made the trip to America for a woman's sake, in order to collect money and marry her! Then he immediately began making excuses for his conduct.

Nobody was going to know.

Furthermore he did not pretend to be an ascetic, and Bertha Erckmann was certainly a tempting adventure in mid ocean.

Upon recalling her, his imagination always saw a race horse--large, spare, roan colored, and with a long stride.

She was an up-to-date German who admitted no defect in her country except the excessive weight of its women, combating in her person this national menace with every known system of dieting.