human
I waited till the little child could stump about on its own legs, an' then I mounted my horse an' rode away with it in my arms. The only things belongin' to poor Adam I brought with me was the iron pot an' his long rifle. There the rifle stands in the corner. I've used it ever since.
gpt
And have you and Mary lived here all alone since that day?
human
Ay. I came straight here--not carin' where I went, only anxious to get out o' the sight o' men, an' live alone wi' the child. I sought out a dwellin' in the wildest part o' these mountains, an' fell upon this cave, where we've lived happy enough together.
gpt
Do you mean to say the child has never played with other children?
human
Not much. I give her a run for a month or two at a time, now an' agin, when I fall on a friendly set o' well-disposed redskins--just to keep the right sort o' spirit in her, and comfort her a bit. But she's always willin' to live alone wi' me.
gpt
Then she's never learned to read?
human
That has she. She's got one book. It's a story about a giant an' a fairy, an' a prince an' princess. Most 'xtraornar' stuff. I got it from a Blood Injun, who said he picked it up in a frontier settlement where the people had all been murdered. When we had nothin' better to do, I used to teach her her letters out o' that book, an' the moment she got 'em off she seemed to pick up the words, I dun' know how. She's awful quick. She knows every word o' that story by heart. An' she's invented heaps o' others o' the most amazin' kind. I've often thought o' goin' to the settlements to git her some books, but--
gpt
The fact is, he continued somewhat bitterly,
human
I've been a hater of my race. You'd scarcely believe it, lad, but you are the first man I've ever told all this to. I can't tell why it is that I feel a likin' for ye, boy, an' a desire to have ye stop with me. But that must not be. I had but one friend. I must not make another to have him murdered, mayhap, before my eyes. Yet, he added in a gentle tone, taking March's hand in his and stroking it,
gpt
I feel a likin' for ye, boy, that makes me sad to think o' partin'.
human
But we don't need to part, Dick, said March eagerly.
gpt
I like you too, and I like your style of life, an'--