human
You can die--this minute--if I choose.
gpt
Nonsense! he said scornfully.
human
I have shown you that you can gain nothing by that.
gpt
The case stands thus, said Dick:
human
And your life is in my hands.
gpt
The natural thing, Dick continued,
human
Another, and perhaps fairer, way would be to give you a fair start from this spot and this minute, and not say a word for an hour or two, until people are about; the hare-and-hounds principle, in fact. But I don't mean to do that either.
gpt
You are arbitrary, he sneered.
human
May I ask what is the special quality of torture you have reserved for me? I am interested to know.
gpt
I shall name a condition, replied Dick firmly--
human
I don't believe you!
gpt
You have not heard my condition. I am in earnest.
human
I wouldn't believe you on oath!
gpt
And why?
human
Because you owe me a grudge, said Miles, speaking rapidly--
gpt
My condition provides for all that.
human
Let me hear it, then.
gpt
First tell me how you came to know the Bristos.
human
Now listen to me, said Dick.
gpt
Instead of squatter you were bushranger. You had been in England a day or two instead of a month or two, and you had set foot in Sussex only; instead of masquerading as a fisherman you wore your own sailor's clothes, in which you swam ashore from your ship.
human
Well guessed!
gpt
A cleverer thing was never done, Dick went on, his tone, for the moment, not wholly free from a trace of admiration.
human
Well, apart from that first set of lies, your first action in England was a good one. That is one claim on leniency. The account you have given me of it is quite true, for I heard the same thing from one whose lips, at least, are true!
gpt
Ah!