human
I will wait for you,
gpt
Well, how do you feel?
human
Curiously here, replied David, drawing his hand across his forehead. Then he asked:
gpt
How did you know?
human
That's easily answered. About two years ago I read, in the Journal of Psychology, a paper by your friend, Raoul Arthur, describing the strange mental effect produced on a young man by a dynamite explosion in a South American mine. Arthur is something of an authority in abnormal psychology, and his report of the accident interested me. The name of the young man was not given. I made inquiries long before our chance meeting with you in England. I learned, among other things, who the young man was. Before we met on the Derwentwater, I had watched you at the hotel.
gpt
You wrote to Raoul Arthur?
human
I did not, he answered drily.
gpt
A newspaper account of the accident gave me the clue I needed. According to this account, you were killed in the mine explosion, and no trace of your body or clothing was found. It was long afterwards, in Arthur's report, that your reappearance, under peculiar circumstances, was described. Since then I have learned of your travels. But I have noticed that you always avoid any reference to your South American experiences. So, I appealed to the psychometer.
human
It's all very simple, mused the young man.
gpt
And yet, it seemed like necromancy.
human
Science is not necromancy.
gpt
But the report, urged David;
human
I didn't know Raoul had written a report.
gpt
You know he is a psychologist, a hypnotist?
human
Yes, was the answer, with something of a shudder.
gpt
But--why all this elaborate experiment of yours?
human
To prove a theory--and to be certain about you.
gpt
Why?
human
What a question! You expect to marry Una. Before your marriage takes place--if it does take place--I wish to clear up whatever mystery there is hanging over your past.
gpt
And your experiment has shown you----?
human
It confirms the theories of Tarchanoff and Jung, he replied pedantically.
gpt
It proves the intimate connection existing between mental and physical phenomena. The personal result is still incomplete. On that side I must know more.
human
I will tell you what I can, said David resolutely.
gpt
But first--what has Raoul written about me?
human
Merely a reference. Read it after you have told me your story. Our experiment is still unfinished, you know.
gpt
Unfortunately, I can't tell you the very thing you want to know. The series of words in your test seemed to revive some forgotten nightmare; and the horror of it was that this nightmare kept just beyond my reach--as it always does--its riddle unsolved. This, with your strange knowledge of what had happened, surprised me into this ridiculous weakness.
human
So I thought, said Leighton.
gpt
Now, what do you remember?
human
I'll have to go back a little. But--you probably know it all, you know so much of my history.
gpt
Never mind. I want you to prove the truth of what I know.
human
Very well, he said,
gpt
I'll do what I can.