human
No, he said.
gpt
The fact is, I have seen you already on several occasions in this city.
human
Then why did you not claim recognition?
gpt
Isn't the reason obvious?
human
No, said Barbara, reflectively,
gpt
I scarcely think it is--unless, of course, you had no desire to renew the acquaintance.
human
Does one usually renew a chance acquaintance made with a packer in the bush?
gpt
It would depend a good deal on the packer, said Barbara, quietly.
human
Now this country is----
gpt
You were going to say a democratic one. That, of course, might to some extent explain the anomaly.
human
No, said Barbara, sharply, with a very faint flush of color in her face,
gpt
I was not. You ought to know that, too. Explanations are occasionally odious, and almost always difficult, but both Major Hume and his daughter invited you to their house if you were ever in England.
human
The Major may have felt himself tolerably safe in making that offer, said Brooke, reflectively.
gpt
You see, I am naturally acquainted with my fellow Briton's idiosyncrasies.
human
I do not know why you are adopting this attitude, or assigning one to me, she said.
gpt
Did we ever attempt to patronize you, and if we had done, is there any reason why you should take the trouble to resent it?
human
I scarcely think I could afford to resent a kindness, however it was offered; but there is a point you don't quite seem to have grasped. How could I be certain you had remembered me?
gpt
Your own powers of recollection might have furnished a standard of comparison.
human
The sharpness of the memory depends upon the effect the object one wishes to recollect produced upon one's mind, he said.
gpt
I should, of course, have known you at once had it been twenty years hence.
human
Well, she said.
gpt
Tell me what you have been doing. You have left the ranch?
human
Road-making for one thing, he said.
gpt
Chopping trees, quarrying rock, and following other useful occupations of the kind. They are, one presumes, healthy and necessary, but I did not find any of them especially remunerative.
human
And now?