human
May I have a word with you?
gpt
What is it you want, Kenneth Gwynne?
human
No favour, you may be sure, Rachel Carter.
gpt
Well?
human
Do you remember a man at home named Jasper Suggs?
gpt
Are you speaking of my old home in Salem or of--of another place?
human
The place where I was born,
gpt
I have never heard the name before, she said.
human
Why do you ask?
gpt
There is a man in this neighbourhood,--a rascal, I am told,--who says he lived there twenty years ago.
human
Well,--go on! What has he to say about me?
gpt
Nothing, so far as I know. I have not talked with him. It came to me in a roundabout way. He is staying with a man named Hawk, down near the Wea.
human
He keeps pretty company,
gpt
I have been told that he would like to see a daguerreotype of my father some time, just to make sure whether he was the Gwynne he used to know.
human
Has he ever seen you, Kenneth Gwynne?
gpt
No.
human
One look at you would be sufficient, she said.
gpt
If you are both so curious, why not arrange a meeting?
human
I am in no way concerned, he retorted.
gpt
On the other hand, I should think you would be vitally interested, Rachel Carter. If he knew my father, he certainly must have known you.
human
Very likely. What would you have me do? she went on ironically.
gpt
Go to him and beg him to be merciful? Or, if it comes to the worst, hire some one to assassinate him?
human
I am not thinking of your peace of mind. I am thinking of Viola's. We have agreed, you and I, to spare her the knowledge of--
gpt
Quite true, she interrupted.
human
You and I have agreed upon that, but there it ends. We cannot include the rest of the world. Chance sends this man, whoever he may be, to this country. I must likewise depend upon Chance to escape the harm he may be in a position to do me. Is it not possible that he may have left before I came there to live? That chance remains, doesn't it?
gpt
Yes, he admitted.
human
It is possible. I can tell you something about him. He is related to Simon Girty, and he was a renegade who fought with the Indians up north during the war. Does that throw any light upon his identity?
gpt
He says his name is Suggs?
human
Jasper Suggs.
gpt
I know him, she said calmly.
human
His name is Simon Braley. At any rate, there was a connection of Girty's who went by that name and who lived down there on the river for a year or two. He killed the man he was working for and escaped. That was before I--before I left the place. I don't believe he ever dared to go back. So, you see, Chance favours us again, Kenneth Gwynne.
gpt
You forget that he will no doubt remember you as Rachel Carter. He will also remember that you had a little girl.
human
Let me remind you that I remember the cold-blooded murder of John Hendricks and that nobody has been hung for it yet, she said.
gpt
My memory is as good as his if it should come to pass that we are forced to exchange compliments. Thank you for the information. The sheriff of this county is a friend of mine. He will be pleased to know that Simon Braley, murderer and renegade, is in his bailiwick. From what I know of Simon Girty's nephew, he is not the kind of man who will be taken alive.
human
You mean,--that you will send the sheriff out to arrest him?
gpt
Not exactly, she replied.
human
Did you not hear me say that Simon Braley would never be taken alive?