human
Senorita, you have done me a great service, he said.
gpt
I was on my way to see you when I had that brush with the peons. That is my excuse for taking refuge in your house and exposing you to danger. Will you forgive me? Will you----
human
Ah, my good Don Raoul! she interrupted.
gpt
What questions! And from you! Of course, if I was of service to you just now, I am glad.
human
It is good to hear you say that, Senorita, he replied with evident relief.
gpt
I was afraid things might be different between us. You see, you disappeared so completely. You have not been in Bogota for months, for years, Senorita. And then, to-day--at last--I heard of your arrival. I wanted to see you. I have not forgotten you in all this long time, you may be sure, Sajipona!
human
It is well, Don Raoul,
gpt
And here you are, still the Queen--beautiful, mysterious!
human
You know I am not a queen,
gpt
Why, even now they called you so. Those jackals felt your power--just as I do, beautiful Sajipona!
human
Enough, Senor! Titles and flatteries I neither care for nor deserve are a mockery in my own house.
gpt
The title is yours by tradition, if not by right. As for flatteries----
human
We do not live by traditions,
gpt
To me, at least, you are La Reina de los Indios.
human
Ah, well, Senor, she said with a low laugh;
gpt
We always used to be friends, Sajipona. Can we not be friends still?
human
There's another strange question! But--surely you did not come here to ask me that? There is something else, Don Raoul,
gpt
It is that, first of all. And then--I had it in mind to tell you that my friend is returning to Bogota--David Meudon.
human
David Meudon,
gpt
But then--what is that to me, Senor?
human
You remember him?
gpt
Yes, of course I remember him. He has been away a long time, hasn't he? Then, after a pause:
human
Why does he come back?
gpt
To solve a mystery--so he writes me.
human
A mystery?
gpt
He calls it a mystery, laughed the other.
human
You see, when we were living here together he disappeared for three months. We thought he had been killed by a dynamite explosion. Surely, you have heard of it, Senorita?
gpt
Yes--I think everyone has heard of it. And then, at the time, there were rumors. For instance, I heard--I heard who exploded the dynamite.
human
Sure enough, there were all kinds of rumors. But, of course, the whole thing was an accident, a horrible accident, that nearly cost David his life. He didn't heed the signal in time--or something went wrong--the signal or the dynamite. Anyway, he wasn't seen or heard of again for three months. We all thought he must have been blown to bits. Then, a curious thing happened. One morning I found him in my house, in a sort of trance.
gpt
Well?
human
When he came out of the trance, he declared he could remember nothing of what he had been through. Those three months were a blank in his memory.
gpt
And then----?
human
He left Bogota, declaring he would never come back. That was just three years ago.
gpt
But----
human
Yes, now he is coming back--with some friends--to solve this mystery, so he says.
gpt
What mystery, Senor?
human
Why, replied Raoul slowly, looking at her intently;
gpt
What is a trance, Don Raoul?
human
Ah, that would be hard to explain to a queen of the Indians, he said.
gpt
A trance is not exactly a sleep, for a man may talk and travel and do things, just like other men, when he's in a trance. But when he is himself again, he remembers nothing of all that happened when he was in the trance.
human
Then you think he was in a trance during those three months when he disappeared from Bogota?
gpt
Yes.
human
And that he has forgotten all that happened to him in that time?
gpt
Perhaps.
human
Could he ever remember?
gpt
There is only one way in which he could.
human
How is that?
gpt
If he could return to the same scenes and conditions through which he passed during those three months.
human
But for that you would have to know, of course, what those scenes and conditions were?
gpt
Exactly, Senorita.
human
Really, it is all very interesting, she said dreamily.
gpt
I have heard something like it in fairy tales, I think; but not in real life. And now--why do you tell all this to me, Senor?
human
Ah, Sajipona, he replied with a smile;
gpt
I have told you merely in answer to your own questions. You have shown that--for some reason or other--you are interested.
human
Interested? Why, of course I am interested--if for no other reason, simply because you are. This David Meudon, you say, left Bogota three years ago? Strange that he should leave so suddenly--and with his work in this country unfinished!
gpt
I can't tell how much you know of David, he said musingly.
human
But there is every reason why you, more than anyone else, should be interested in the man who attempts to solve the secret of Guatavita--Sajipona.