human
I have been seeking you, Lieutenant Fernow! he said uneasily.
gpt
You are alone; has Mr. Alison not been with you?
human
He has just left me.
gpt
I thought as much! muttered Atkins.
human
I met him on the stairs. What has happened? What is the trouble between you?
gpt
That, Mr. Atkins, is a matter which concerns him and me alone. Good-night.
human
Listen to reason, Lieutenant Fernow, he said,
gpt
If you think my life is in danger, you tell me nothing new, he said.
human
Mr. Alison himself has declared that one of us must leave the world.
gpt
Has he challenged you?
human
He has; and I have told him that the quarrel must rest until the end of the war.
gpt
You little know Henry, said Atkins,
human
That will not happen, said Walter calmly,
gpt
I have to go to the mountains.
human
And why must you go?
gpt
My errand is a military secret.
human
I hope you go well guarded?
gpt
I am to go alone.
human
It is very inconsiderate in you to tell this so openly,
gpt
I certainly should not tell it to the castle servants or to the villagers, said Walter.
human
I know you well enough, Mr. Atkins, to fear no treachery on your part.
gpt
And have you told Henry?
human
Yes, as much as I have told you, nothing more!
gpt
This is German simplicity which I cannot at all understand!
human
Lieutenant Fernow, follow my advice. Do not go to the mountains to-night. Your life is threatened; yours alone. Delegate this duty to one of your comrades.
gpt
I cannot!
human
Then at least take a guard with you.
gpt
It is impossible, Mr. Atkins!
human
Well, then, you rush onto your own destruction, cried Atkins excitedly.
gpt
I have done my duty; now the consequences be upon your own head!
human
Compose yourself, returned Walter, with a gesture of impatience.
gpt
Your apprehensions are unfounded. I tell you it is impossible for any one who does not know the password to go from here to the mountains. We have a triple line of outposts.
human
You do not know Alison! he said.
gpt
He is an uncontrollable nature whom circumstances and education have subdued only to outward seeming in making him simply a man of business. If such a nature once bursts its long accustomed barriers, it passes all bounds. In his present mood he is capable of anything.
human
But not of murder!
gpt
But you have denied him the one legitimate way of revenge, and he will hardly concern himself with ideal conceptions of right and wrong. Be on your guard, Lieutenant Fernow; I cannot vouch for him.
human
I have a better opinion of Mr. Alison than you have, returned Walter.
gpt
He may hate me to death, but I do not think him capable of the crime you have hinted at. Tell him --here a peculiar, almost ghastly smile passed over the melancholy face of the young officer--