“I allowed a few months to pass, during which the use of the ferry under my improved methods had more than trebled. It attracted to itself, now that the passage was so much easier, forms of traffic which it had hitherto not known. I even added to the fleet one huge pontoon for the special service of an elephant which we had warning was to pass, and when this was known, those great animals, which had previously used a ford several days upstream, were attracted to the shorter mountain road by the ferry.
“When all this was so prosperously established, I informed a few of the friends I had made in the neighbourhood that I must indulge in the fancy of a rich man and amuse myself by throwing a bridge between my house and the field I had bought upon the other shore. ‘It will save me,’ said I, ‘the perpetual trouble of rowing across in my little skiff and also occupy my leisure; for I am something of an engineer.’
“In truth very little engineering was required. All I had to do was to drive strong piles at intervals into the stream, lay trestles upon them, stay them with large baulks upon either side, and so make a good working bridge. It was no more than fit for foot traffic, but for this it was very convenient.
“Having now this communication I bought more land upon the further bank and developed there a very nice little model farm. I will not deny that foot passengers would occasionally ask my leave to cross by the bridge in order to save them the tedious passage by water. These I always refused lest it should prejudice the interests of my friend the ferryman; I made an exception only for one or two neighbours whom I desired to favour, and occasionally for really important people with whom the ferryman would not desire to quarrel. But I have a good heart, and at last I began to wink at the use of the bridge by more than these. Children especially (for I am very fond of young people) I could not bear to condemn to the troublesome passage by ferry, and I gave orders to my people to allow their trespass.
“At last a regular path got established through my farm, and whether from slackness or generosity I know not, but I allowed the crossing of the river by my bridge to increase in volume and to become a daily practice. When it had reached a certain volume my detestation of disorder compelled me to make certain regulations. I put up a gate at either end and charged a purely nominal sum which went, as I pointed out, to the upkeep of the bridge; though, of course, it did not nearly meet that expenditure.
“To avoid the length and inconvenience of the passage by water this toll was cheerfully paid, and as the season advanced my bridge was more and more used.
“My partner, the old ferryman, saw all this with a confused eye. He had the sense to see that I would not hurt my own investment by competition, yet he could not but perceive that there was here an increasing rivalry to his own long-established route.
“At last he approached me and asked me if we could not come to some pact; I said that I saw no occasion for that. There was plenty of room for both. I was a wealthy man, and an act of generosity was a kind of luxury for me; I could hardly ask people who had now grown used to so easy a passage to go back to the monopoly of the boats with their primitive, slow and clumsy business of embarking and disembarking, and their necessary delays and crowding. I pointed out to my revered partner that the boats were still necessary for all heavy merchandise and for animals, and I also pointed out very strongly to the ferryman what he could not deny, that I would hardly do anything to prejudice him since that would be also to prejudice myself, as I was his partner. I even ridiculed him for not perceiving the force of such an argument before coming to me, and for troubling me with what was obviously nonsense.
“He still grumbled, however. He said that he was no scholar, that it sounded all right, but that he did not feel comfortable. I answered that I could not help his feelings, but it was a plain matter of common sense, and so dismissed him.
“I then announced my intention of strengthening the bridge considerably and making it sufficient to support any kind of traffic. And so I did, at a very considerable expense. When I had completed the task it was a fine structure which would take every kind of beast of burden and vehicle, and a constant stream of foot-passengers. The only exception I made was for elephants, which animal (I said) I might allow later, but not until I had had the whole thing thoroughly tested. These beasts, therefore, still had to use the ferry: but as they were few in number and difficult to handle they only increased my partner’s troubles.