human
What is it? a mounted gendarme whispered to a comrade.
gpt
What! Can the storm, the lightning, have set the city in flames? Yet, surely not in twenty places at once!
human
Nay, nay, the other muttered, his eyes shaded by his hands as he glanced down to where those flaming lights were illuminating all the heavens with their glare as the night grew on, and the fires burnt more fiercely.
gpt
Nay; they burn fuel for some reason, they ignite it themselves.
human
What! What! What! For what reasons?
gpt
God knows, muttered the gendarme, becoming pious under this awe-inspiring thing which he did not understand.
human
They did it once before, the other whispered.
gpt
Once! nay, oftener. My grandam was a Marseillaise. I have heard her tell the tale. They feared the pest.
human
The pest--my God! Ere we left Paris people whispered that it had broken out in the Levant. The Levant! Marseilles trades much there. What if--if----
gpt
What if, said his comrade, taking him up,
human
MY WIFE! WHAT WIFE? I HAVE NO WIFE.