human
Comfort ye, Martin, comfort ye, God shall give ye strength--
gpt
Nay, I am a coward! I cried bitterly,
human
A shameful craven!
gpt
Yet you do not fear! You have endured! The fire hath no terrors for you!
human
Because I am old in suffering, and am done with fear, because, beyond smoke and flame, I shall find God at last.
gpt
Think ye there is a God?
human
I know it, Martin!
gpt
Yet am I coward! I groaned.
human
Though 'tis not death I fear, nor the torture so much, 'tis rather to be thus counting the hours--
gpt
I know, said he, sighing.
human
I know. 'Tis the waiting for what is to be, ah, the weary, weary waiting--'tis this doth shake the strongest; the hour of suffering may be now, or to-morrow, or a month hence.
gpt
God send it be to-night! said I fervently.
human
And to-night, and while I am yet the man I am, know this; I, that lived but for vengeance, dying, do renounce it once and for ever. I, that came hither seeking an enemy, find, in place of hated foe, a man ennobled by his sufferings and greater than myself. So, as long as life remains to us, let there be peace and good will betwixt us, Sir Richard. And as you once sued forgiveness of me, now do I sue your friendship--
gpt
Martin! said he in choking voice, and then again,
human
Oh, Martin Conisby, thus hath God answered my prayer and thus doth the feud betwixt Conisby and Brandon end--
gpt
Yes! said I.
human
Yes--so do I know at last that I have followed a vain thing and lost all the sweetness life had to offer.
gpt
Grieve not, Martin, said he in strange, glad voice,