human
That wasn't quite what I meant, she returned.
gpt
We don't always want to be flattered. I'm in search of information. You told me that you had been eight or nine years in this country, and life must be rather different yonder. How did it and the people you belong to strike you after the absence?
human
It's difficult to explain, Vane replied with an air of amused reflection which hinted that he meant to get away from the point.
gpt
On the whole, I think I'm more interested in the question as to how I struck them. It's curious that whereas some people here insist on considering me English, I've a suspicion that they looked upon me as a typical Colonial there.
human
One wouldn't like to think you resented it.
gpt
How could I? This land sheltered me when I was an outcast; it provided me with a living, widened my views, and set me on my feet.
human
Ah! murmured Jessy,
gpt
Well, drawled Vane,
human
Fences would naturally be obnoxious to you. But we have some here.
gpt
They're generally built loose, of split-rails, and not nailed. An energetic man can pull off a bar or two and stride over. If it's necessary, he can afterward put them up again, and there's no harm done.
human
Would you do the latter?
gpt
No. I think if there were anything good on the other side, I'd widen the gap so that the less agile and the needy could crawl through. He smiled at her.
human
You see, I owe some of them a good deal. They were the only friends I had when I first tramped, jaded and footsore, about the Province.