human
He has disappeared, Messieurs,
gpt
Disappeared!
human
Yes, Messieurs. He went out yesterday morning without his hat to chase after a butterfly he saw in the garden, and he did not come back. He has disappeared. I am sorry, for he was a nice man, though a trifle queer at times.
gpt
Well, what do you know about that?
human
What are we going to do?
gpt
What can we do?
human
Let's go after him and bring him back! exclaimed the excitable Bob.
gpt
Maybe the Germans have him!
human
Then we'll not easily get him, said Jerry.
gpt
And, as a matter of fact, we can't even try.
human
Why not?
gpt
Because we can't leave. All furloughs have been stopped these last three days. We may go into action any minute. If the professor is in trouble we can't help him.
human
That seems hard,
gpt
It is, agreed Jerry.
human
But it's the fortune of war. We're here to fight, and we've got to do that when the time comes. It may be that the professor has only wandered off among our own soldiers, or those of the French or English, after a butterfly or some other bug.
gpt
But without his hat!
human
And gone more than a day!
gpt
Those things wouldn't worry him, said Jerry.
human
Half the time he forgets his hat, and it is midsummer now. As for being gone more than a day, he's often spent longer than that chasing a single flea. He is used to camping out, and he'll get along somehow. We'll just have to let him go, that's all.
gpt
I suppose so, agreed Ned;