human
Two thousand dollars--nothing less? she inquired, gayly.
gpt
You are too specific for a real lover.
human
Fate fixed the amount,
gpt
Fate--you talk so much of Fate, she replied, gravely, and her eyes looked into the distance.
human
You make me think of it, too, and I don't want to do so. I don't want to feel helpless, to be the child of Accident and Destiny.
gpt
Oh, you get the same thing in the 'fore-ordination' that old Minister M'Gregor preaches every Sunday. 'Be elect or be damned,' he says to us all. Names aren't important; but, anyhow, it was Fate that led me here.
human
Are you sure it wasn't me? she asked, softly.
gpt
Are you sure I wasn't calling you, and you had to come?
human
Well, it was _en route_, anyhow; and you are always calling, if I must tell you, he laughed. Suddenly he became grave.
gpt
I hear you call me in the night sometimes, and I start up and say 'Yes, Di!' out of my sleep. It's a queer hallucination. I've got you on the brain, certainly.
human
It seems to vex you--certainly, she said, opening the book that lay in her lap,
gpt
You have wonderful thoughts for one that's had so little chance, he said.
human
That's because you're a genius, I suppose. Teaching can't give that sort of thing--the insight.
gpt
What is the matter, Flood? she asked, suddenly, again, her breast heaving, her delicate, rounded fingers interlacing.
human
I heard a man say once that you were 'as deep as the sea.' He did not mean it kindly, but I do. You are in trouble, and I want to share it if I can. Where were you going when you came across me here?
gpt
To see old Busby, the quack-doctor up there,
human
Old Busby! she rejoined, in amazement.
gpt
What do you want with him--not medicine of that old quack, that dreadful man?
human
He cures people sometimes. A good many out here owe him more than they'll ever pay him.
gpt
Is he as rich an old miser as they say?
human
He doesn't look rich, does he?
gpt
Does any one know his real history? He didn't come from nowhere. He must have had friends once. Some one must once have cared for him, though he seems such a monster now.
human
Yet he cures people sometimes, he rejoined, abstractedly.
gpt
Probably there's some good underneath. I'm going to try and see.
human
What is it? What is your business with him? Won't you tell me? Is it so secret?
gpt
I want him to help me in a case I've got in hand. A client of mine is in trouble--you mustn't ask about it; and he can help, I think--I think so. He got to his feet.
human
I must be going, Di, he added. Suddenly a flush swept over his face, and he reached out and took both her hands.
gpt
Oh, you are a million times too good for me! he said.
human
But if all goes well, I'll do my best to make you forget it.
gpt
Wait--wait one moment, she answered.
human
Before you go I want you to hear what I've been reading over and over to myself just now. It is from a book I got from Quebec, called _When Time Shall Pass_. It is a story of two like you and me. The man is writing to the woman, and it has things that you have said to me--in a different way.
gpt
No, I don't talk like a book, but I know a star in a dark night when I see it,
human
Hush!