human
She was just bending over it when Coquenil entered.
gpt
Glad to see you,
human
I--I beg your pardon,
gpt
Are you interested in my plaster casts?
human
I was looking at this hand, replied the girl.
gpt
I have seen one like it.
human
That is very improbable.
gpt
Oh, but I have,
human
You mean in a museum?
gpt
No, no, in life--I am positive I have.
human
You have seen a hand with a little finger as long as this one?
gpt
Yes; it's as long as the third finger and square at the end. I've often noticed it.
human
Then you have seen something very uncommon, mademoiselle, something _I_ have never seen. That is the most remarkable hand in my collection; it is the hand of a man who lived nearly two hundred years ago. He was one of the greatest criminals the world has ever known.
gpt
Really? cried Alice, her eyes wide with sudden fright.
human
I--I must have been mistaken.
gpt
Would you mind telling me the name of the person--of course it's a man--who has this hand?
human
Yes, said Alice,
gpt
He is a good man?
human
Oh, yes.
gpt
A kind man?
human
Yes.
gpt
A man that you like?
human
Why--er--why, yes, I like him,
gpt
You'll have a cup of tea with me, won't you? I've asked Melanie to bring it in. Then we can talk comfortably. By the way, you haven't told me your name.
human
My name is Alice Groener,
gpt
Groener, he reflected.
human
That isn't a French name?
gpt
No, my family lived in Belgium, but I have only a cousin left. He is a wood carver, in Brussels. He has been very kind to me and would pay my board with the Bonnetons, but I don't want to be a burden, so I work at the church.
human
I see,