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|---|---|---|---|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and varieties, under ten years. It is quite true, also, that the contemplation of purely local fauna, though giving interest to, and holding undue importance in the eyes of a few men, who narrow their views to their own county (which, perhaps, they believe in to such an extent as to seldom pass its boundaries), is misleading and even possibly damaging to the student of biology, who must be shown, in the clearest possible manner, the affinities--say, of such a well-known bird as the heron, which a local collection will tell him, by means of a huge and unblushing label, is a"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Blankshire bird, shot somewhere in the vicinity; not a word is said as to its being also a"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British bird and also a"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Foreign"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "collection--running around the room, let us say--and a"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Curiosity shop, painted dull dark red, cut up by twenty-four pilasters of ad deep green in imitation of marble; the ceiling bad not been whitened for twenty years, and the birds and animals on"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "had the sashes, previously glazed from the inside, lifted in and screwed to them, the screw heads being hidden by turned"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "of oak. I objected to these doors or sashes being hung in the ordinary manner, it being so difficult to hinge large and weighty frames without danger of"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "birds, male and female, with nest and young, and eggs, mounted with appropriate accessories, in the most complete and artistic manner. This division taking up 3 ft. 6 in. in height out of a possible 8 ft, leaving 4 ft. 6 in. to be disposed of thus--another division for"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "British"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "with"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "see the diagram (Fig. 58), representing one division or"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Scheme A."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The three sections should be divided horizontally, but the lines of division need not be straight. They may be broken so as to preserve the pictorial effect, but not to destroy the division."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "birds at bottom (very well arranged),"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "British next (not so well arranged), and"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "at top (not well arranged at all), and these arbitrary and totally unnatural divisions were supposed to"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "to be"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "bird from a"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "British bird, or a"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British bird from a"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "bird? Lastly, every one should know that every bird found in Leicestershire is a"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British bird, and that every"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "British bird is a"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "one; and that each of these imaginary divisions is being constantly recruited from the division immediately above it. [Footnote: There are but two birds belonging to the Paridae (Titmice), which are claimed as being peculiar to Britain; and these merely on the ground of being climatic varieties--hardly sufficient to warrant the founding of new"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "bird, but it may be so to-morrow, should one stray from North Britain, as they sometimes do, and be shot by some person within the boundary of the county. It then becomes"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "! This bird, which is as distinctly"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "--being found in Europe, North Africa, America, etc.--as it is"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British ! Put this in, or leave it out of the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "it is also"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British, nesting in North Britain; it is also distinctly"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and yet cannot be mounted in that division, with its nest and young, because it has never bred in the Midlands; but it has bred in North Britain, and might be shown in the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "British division fully displayed; but, says this contention, which I have called"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Scheme A, no"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "British"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "it should also come in the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Foreign division. What, then, can this teach? Either the bird must be repeated in all three divisions, or it must, according to the foregoing, appear only in the"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Local or"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "British"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "birds, yet it will be seen by the foregoing tables that those three"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "would do equally as well if placed in the"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British division, and the sum total of the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "and"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British might be placed correctly with all the rest in the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "system as this teach? This was effectually answered by a specimen case, representing the above, being fitted up, when the glaring errors of the proposed system were at once evident, there being fully a space of 10 ft. x 3 ft. 6 in. x 2 ft. 6 in. = 87.5 ft. cube, devoted to five birds only--three of which were not now found in the county. These represented the"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "British division, of 10 ft. in length x 2 ft. 6 in. in height x 1 ft. 6 in. back to front, viz, a cube of 37.5 ft. there appeared but six others--three of which were doubtful. Furthermore, as if to point to the crowning absurdity of the whole scheme, but 10 ft. x 2 ft. x 1 ft. = 20 ft. cube, was provided for the great remainder of the"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "specimens, nearly thirty-seven times as numerous as both"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "and"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Camberwell Beauty butterfly. Now this insect has been taken three times (perhaps more?) in the county, and I suppose it has occurred in nearly every county in England, but as it is found also commonly throughout the greater part of Europe, parts of Africa, Asia, and America, we are confronted by the unpleasant reminder,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British, and"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "it is rarest as"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British,"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Local,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "British, and"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Foreign."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Foreign division to find specimens by which to compare his own. An hour was wasted in trying to puzzle some of them out, and he then came to me saying,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You hav'n't got them."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Local"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "can"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Take the rocks as an example. Is it real science--or what is it--which would label syenite a"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Leicestershire rock? Such queries and replies could be multiplied ad infinitum, for it will be observed that I have said nothing about the mammals, where the loss of space and want of cohesion in such a group as the carnivora--best represented of all in"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "--are patent. The fishes--fancy a"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "system it was gravely proposed to pictorially mount the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "freshwater fishes under the sea fishes, not because it was a direct violation of the physics of salt and fresh water, but because the"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "division must come in its place at the bottom of the range of cases! I had almost forgotten to say that these precious divisions were to be made self-evident to the bucolic intellect even, by means of colour--thus,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Local was to be brownish-red rock;"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British, green; and"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Foreign, blue; and these colours were, without reference to any artistic considerations such as the laws of contrast in colour, or light and shade, to be rigidly adhered to, and to be carried in distinct, if"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "mounting, if founded on such lines as those in the scheme I have called"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "A,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Geographical Distribution of Animals. It seemed to me a fairly comprehensive and scientific, certainly a novel, method of treatment, and I had gone so far as to sketch out several of my groups, when I was confronted by difficulties, and saw that it was not a system which was thoroughly coherent throughout the whole of the collections, and I finally abandoned it, on the advice of Dr. Sclater, the originator, I believe, of the"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Whilst we should patriotically aspire to render the local collection as perfect as possible, I would not by any means have the usefulness of museums stop here. Comparing any local collection with a general collection, it will, of course, be found that many important groups of 'animals, vegetables, and minerals, are but imperfectly represented, whilst others are altogether blank. There is, consequently, great danger of very limited and inadequate notions of the great system of Nature being formed by the student who confines his attention to local natural history. To counteract such a tendency, it is eminently desirable to form, under proper conditions, a general collection, which will give the visitor some notion of, at any rate, the larger groups in which natural bodies are classified. There should, consequently, be two departments to our central museum---one local and the other general--each with distinct aims, and each appealing to a distinct class of visitors."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Scheme A and"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Scheme B,"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "collections entirely distinct; one gave no opinion, and one eminent man suggested an alternative scheme of a typical collection somewhat like Professor Owen's"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Index Museum"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "and the"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Scheme A. whose weak points have been detailed at length, and sanctioned"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Scheme B being carried out, which not only separated"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "from"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "or"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British species of the first family (or genera) of that order is selected, then the least known or most striking"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "--as being of the first genera of the first family; this is contrasted by a"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "form of the same family (and genus), the"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "American Robin,"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "birds are often, nay nearly always, represented, they have no fictitious value given to them, but simply take their place in the great scheme of Nature in a proper manner, being often close to so-called"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "forms, with which they are easily compared. The whole arrangement of accessories is"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "birds being represented on trees or on"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "which proves how little can be done with dried things, and how much better it would be to replace them by modelled foliage (mentioned in Chapter XIV). [Footnote: One would-be critic wrote to the papers condemning the whole arrangement, because, in one of the cases, one plant was about a foot nearer the water or a yard nearer to another plant than it should be! The same wiseacre, or his friend, wrote quite an article upon some supposed"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The latter might have a dark line above, and below the name on the label--thus, Stork, or be marked 'Casual--Spring,' or 'Casual--Autumn.'"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "the"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "English"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Lesser-spotted-Woodpecker with the marking underneath it of"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Resident,"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I return the printed description which seems to me admirably calculated to convey instruction in a becoming and sightly way. It is undoubtedly an advance upon labelling."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Synopsis of an Arrangement of Invertebrate Animals"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Synopsis, published at a shilling, by the authorities of the Liverpool Museum, is well worth reading. It contains a store of information, not the least interesting being the Greek and Latin derivations of the scientific names. I am especially glad to see that the Greek characters are not barbarously replaced by English"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "which nearly always fail to give the key to the roots. [Footnote: I noticed"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ocnai gunaike"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "British, which might be advantageously altered, I think, to"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Animals belonging to the above group (etc.), found also in Britain"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "collections, but, of course, zoological sequence and science not to suffer in consequence; I think that the"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "frequent in late Latin in particular. Also, following a practical and common convention, I have replaced the umlaut with a following letter"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": ". Thus"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Möller becomes"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Moeller"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "in insect collections, Browne probably means"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "read"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": ", or"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ", make what sense you may. A"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": ","
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The Masquerader"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The Gambler"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "THE PROPHET WITH HIS FIXED GAZE UPON THE SCITSYM"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "THE PROPHET WITH HIS FIXED GAZE UPON THE SCITSYM"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "THE FIGURE OF HIS UNCLE ... SHOWED TALL AND ANGULAR IN THE APERTURE"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sit still and watch him--you can do no more."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "he would cry."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "THE FIGURE OF HIS UNCLE ... SHOWED TALL AND ANGULAR IN THE APERTURE"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Good-night! he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You make a good listener."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Time for your medicine, uncle!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The Book, John! he said, sharply--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Your medicine first, uncle, he said, quietly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We'll talk about the Book after."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How can I leave it? he exclaimed."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How can I go and leave the Book unguarded?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "When I go, John, he added, excitedly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He fumbled weakly for the thin chain that hung about his neck."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No one must remove it--no one must touch it until he comes--"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "John, he cried, suddenly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Don't distress yourself! he said, gravely."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am here. You can trust me. Lie back and rest."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh yes! he said, sharply,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I trust you! I have trusted you. I have left a letter by which you will see that I have trusted you--and that your fidelity has been rewarded. But this is another matter. Can I trust you in this? Can I trust you as myself?"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "John, he said, tremulously,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I want you to swear to me by the Sign that you will not touch my body--nor anything on my body--till the Arch-Councillor comes! Swear, as you hope for your own happiness!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I swear--by the Sign!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ANDREW HENDERSON."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "HE ... GATHERED THE FIRST SHEAF OF LEAVES INTO HIS FINGERS"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Out of obscurity will He come. And--having proved Himself--no man will question Him. For the Past lies in the Great Unknown. By the Scitsym--from which none but the Chosen may read--will ye know Him; and, knowing Him, ye will bow down--Mystics, Arch-Mystics, and Arch-Councillor alike. And the World will be His. For He will be Power made absolute!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "For he will be Power made absolute!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He will be Power made absolute!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The Word?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He shall be Power made absolute!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mrs. Witcherley! At last! he exclaimed, in a full, emotional voice."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I looked for you among the gathering and for a moment I almost feared--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That I would fail?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, I did not mean that. But at such a moment we burn lest even one of the Elect be missing."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The night of nights! he exclaimed."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "To have lived to witness it! His face glowed with a sudden enthusiasm; and freeing her fingers, he lifted up his right hand."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Everything is in readiness, he added, more soberly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The Precursor still unceasingly prophesies the Advent. Come with me into the Place. The Gathering is all but assembled."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come! he cried."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And before we leave the Place, may the Hope of the Universe be fulfilled!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This will do, she whispered."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Not any nearer, please. Not any nearer."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No! No! she murmured."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Let me sit behind. Please let me sit behind."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, he whispered, close to her ear."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, I want you to be here. When the time arrives, I want the full light to shine upon you."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, empty throne! Empty world! he cried."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Be filled!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mystics! he began."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Chosen Ones! Out of the Unseen I have come to prophesy to you--I, an obscure servant and follower of the Mighty. For fifteen days have I spoken--telling you that which was at hand. And now, behold I am justified!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What have I told you! he continued, his voice rising."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Have I not quoted from the sacred Scitsym--which until this hour I have never been permitted to look upon? Have I not foretold the coming of this man--the garments he would wear--the Sign upon his person? And have I not done these things by a power outside myself?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You have listened to me--you have marvelled--but in your Souls doubt has held sway. Now is the moment of justification! It is not meet that the Great One should plead for recognition; it is for you--the Watchers--to see and claim him. Master! he cried, suddenly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Master, show them the Sign!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "ACROSS THE PROPHET'S BREAST, IN MARKS OF A CRUEL LACERATION, RAN THE SYMBOLIC OCTAGONAL FIGURE OF THE MYSTIC SECT"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "My People! he began, in a deep, slow voice."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We live in an age when doubt roams through the world like a beast of prey. I ask not for the faith that accepts blindly; but in this most sacred Scitsym-- he pointed to the white book upon the lectern--"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come forth! he commanded, authoritatively."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Come forth and acknowledge me!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Brethren, he said, inarticulately."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Brethren, it is indeed the Sign!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Where are the other five?"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is indeed made manifest! he cried, in a loud, unsteady voice."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He shall sit above you as upon a Throne!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Speak to them, Master!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "My People, he said again, in his deep voice."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What will you do with me?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The Throne! The Throne!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well? he demanded, intensely."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well? Well? What have you to say?"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "John, he said, deliberately,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Power made Absolute!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now! he exclaimed."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Now! Out with it all! How much of this has been native adroitness, and how much unbelievable good-fortune? Out with it! I'm hungry and thirsty for the truth."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Truth in a golden flask! But, to throw a sop to your curiosity, it was a matter of native genius engineered by Providence. I don't mind admitting that when I stood on the doorstep of this house fifteen nights ago and knocked the mystic knock, I felt like a man embarking on a coffin-ship."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And then? he said, eagerly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Then?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, there entered the native genius of Terence Dominick Devereaux! Under that tremendous escort I stormed the citadel--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And the Mystic ears, I have no doubt."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The tongue is mightier--and a good deal more portable--than either the pen or the sword, John, he said, sagely."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Paving your way with words has been an unrecognized work of art. But how about yourself? I have my own curiosity."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, I had my qualms, too! he said, slowly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Just for a moment the world seemed to tremble, when the old Arch-Councillor groped forward and put his hands over my face. It swept me off my feet--swept me back ten years. It was like a vision in a crystal--if such a thing could exist. I saw the whole past scene. The bare room--the old dead man--myself; the overwhelming wish to avenge my wrongs, and the sudden suggestion that turned the wish cold. I saw the long, bleak night in which I completed the colossal task of copying the Scitsym line for line; I saw the gray morning steal in across the room as I closed the book, returned it to its safe and replaced the key on my uncle's neck in preparation for the arrival of the Arch-Councillor. It all passed before my mind, and then in a flash was gone. I ceased to be John Henderson."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Avoid that name. Habits grow--and so do suspicions. Your probation has been too long and too hard to permit us to run risks. Now that you've stepped into your kingdom--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You are right! he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Only a man with a light conscience can skate on thin ice. To return to our original subject, what about the inner workings of this odd game? It is so curious to have lived for years on theory, and suddenly to come face to face with practice. I tell you I'm starving for facts."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Out with it all! To begin, who is the master-spirit? You know what I mean. The master-spirit in the true sense. Poor old blind Arian doesn't stand for much."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, he said, thoughtfully."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You touch truth there! Michael Arian is the cipher; Bale-Corphew's the meaning. Bale-Corphew is an interesting man, John--I had almost said a dangerous man--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Dangerous!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes; dangerous in a sense. In the sense that a personality always is dangerous. Among the six Arch-Mystics there is, to my thinking, only one _man_, and he interests me. He interests me, does Horatio Bale-Corphew!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I think I catch your meaning, he said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Something of the same idea occurred to me when he rose from his seat to-night. While we spied upon them in the last six months, he always struck me as curiously un-English, with that sleek exterior and those flashing eyes of his. But in the chapel to-night he was almost aggressively alien. When he touched my arm I could literally feel him bristle."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You've said it! he cried."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Horatio bristles! His whole queer soul is in this business--every fibre of it. He attempts no division of allegiance--except, perhaps, in the matter of the heart--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The heart? Do my faithful Watchers permit themselves hearts? The Scitsym makes no provision for such frail organs."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, we Elect are by no means free from little saving weaknesses! That's where we become dramatic. You can't have effect without contrast. Horatio, for instance, is instinctively dramatic."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Indeed!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes. Oh yes! I know what I'm saying. I've studied them all. More than once, when my Soul has been communing with your August Spirit, I have watched Horatio's dramatic contrast from the corner of my eyes."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The contrast frequents the chapel then?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Frequents? Undoubtedly. Horatio has literally swept her into the fold. She was here to-night to bend the knee to you."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "To-night? he said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not the woman who sat beside him? The woman with the big eyes? She and Bale-Corphew! The idea is absurd!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Undeniable, nevertheless. I have deduced the story. The lady is a widow--no relations--too much freedom--vague aspirations after the ideal. She has sounded society and found it too shallow; sounded philosophy and found it too deep; and upon her horizon of desires and disappointments has loomed the colossal presence of Bale-Corphew--enthusiast, mystic, leader of a fascinatingly unorthodox sect. What is the result? The lady--too feminine to be truly modern, too modern to be wholly womanly--is viewing life through new glasses, and by their medium seeing Horatio invested with a halo otherwise invisible."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Devereaux, he said, laconically,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Can even a latter-day Prophet afford autocracy?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Devereaux, he said, in a new voice--a voice that unconsciously held something of the command that had marked it in the chapel--"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Master, he said, in a low voice."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The newest among us would speak with you!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am willing, he replied, unemotionally, in the usual formula. Then he glanced at his attendant."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "After this, the audiences for the day are over,"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Have no fear, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Come forward!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm terribly nervous!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Have no fear! he answered, gently."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "My only desire is to help you. Tell me everything that is in your mind."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You--you are most kind--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why have you never come before? he asked."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Had you no doubts to be set at rest?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I--I think I was afraid, she said, candidly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You see, I am not exactly one of the others--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You did not quite believe that the One you had waited for had really come?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh no! No; it was not that. Before you came, I confess I was sceptical; I confess I did not believe that any one would come, that there was any truth--any real meaning--in the sect. But then--when you did come--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "When I did come?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The whole thing was different--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The whole thing was different?"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The whole thing was different?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, she admitted."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes. You seemed the one real person--the one sane thing in the whole ceremony. I felt--I knew that you were--strong."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And why have you never come to me before?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, I don't know--I scarcely know. Again she spoke quickly and nervously."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I have come every night to hear you speak--I have loved to hear you speak. But--but to be alone with you-- She paused, expressively."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is all so strange--so extraordinary. It doesn't seem to belong to the present day--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And why did you come now?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why? Oh, because--because I could not stay away."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In this life, he said, with a sudden, almost incontinent assumption of his Prophetic manner,"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Do not forget--do not allow yourself to forget that this is my teaching, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That you have each within yourselves the thing you demand in me. Look for it within yourselves! Rely upon yourselves!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But if one cannot follow that teaching? she asked."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If one longs to rely upon some one else? If one cannot rely upon one's self?"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I think I could believe-- she murmured."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I think I could believe--anything, if I might learn it from you."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I--I have been presumptuous, she said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I have offended you."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Do not say that! he began, impulsively; then he checked himself."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I am here to teach my People, he added."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "All my People--without exception."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Then I may come again?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You may come--at any time,"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You look tired,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Does that disappoint you?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh no! No! Then she colored slightly and glanced at him again."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why do you ask?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Because it is the way of humanity to refuse any common weakness to its leaders--spiritual or temporal."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But surely--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Surely what?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I mean, she said, slowly,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Even weaknesses--"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Even weaknesses?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, she said, with new resolution--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "So I seem a--friend?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "More than a friend. I can never tell you what you have been to me--what you have done for me. I have never been so happy--so satisfied in my life, as in these last three weeks. Every disappointment and dissatisfaction seems to have slipped away; I seem to have been living in some calm, beautiful, restful atmosphere--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It may be very selfish, but I wish that these days could go on forever. I know that, for you, they are only a probation; that you must crave for the moment when, having taught us everything, you will go out into the world and teach the Unbelievers. I know all that, and I know it is only right, but--but I hate to think of it!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You hate to think that all this must end?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, I do hate it. Do you despise me for being so selfish--so jealous of those other people who will take our place?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Do you despise me?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is not for me to judge any one--you least of all,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You are angry with me?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Indeed, no."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Then what is it? What have I done--or said?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I know--I feel that I have displeased you. Won't you tell me what I have done?"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, I understand! she exclaimed."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I understand! You think I have taken advantage of your goodness. You think I have imagined that, because you are kind and patient and tolerant, I might look upon you as--as a man."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If you only knew-- he said, sharply--"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Your pardon, Master! he murmured."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We knew not that the immutable Soul was speaking from within you, calling one among us towards the Light!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Master, he said, huskily,"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The time of the Prophet belongs to his People, he said, with dignity."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He holds audience whenever, wherever, and _however_ it is expedient. Speak, my son! In what can I serve you?"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Master, he murmured, hurriedly,"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Tea, Norris!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There's a gentleman at the door, ma'am,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I told you I was not at home."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I know, ma'am, but--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But what? I told you I was not to be disturbed. I _won't_ be disturbed."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But the gentleman won't go, ma'am--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Won't go! In her surprise Enid laid down the cup she had been about to raise to her lips."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Who is he?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't know, ma'am. I told him you were not at home, but he won't go. He's the sort of gentleman who won't take no for an answer."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't understand you. Who is he? What is he like?"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, ma'am, she answered, slowly,"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Did he give no name?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, ma'am. I was to say that he was some one that must be seen. He'd give no name."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Show him in! she cried."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Show him in at once! Don't keep him standing at the door."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Will you have the lights on, ma'am?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No. No; the fire makes light enough. I like twilight and a fire. Don't stand waiting!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It was a case of Mohammed and the mountain! he said, in his grave voice."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You wouldn't come to me; I _had_ to come to you."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why have you stayed away?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I--I was afraid."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Afraid? Afraid of what?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Of what? Of Bale-Corphew?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No! She looked up sharply."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh no!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Then of what? Of me?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No! Oh, I don't know! I don't know!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Tell me! he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I want to know. I must know!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What is it? she said, apprehensively."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why are you here? The time has not come for you to go out into the world?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Surely, if one is a Prophet, one can alter even prophecies."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I--I don't understand, she stammered."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How did you get here? How did you get away?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "As for getting away, he said, slowly,"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Has anything happened? she asked."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Have the People done wrong? Have you--have you been called elsewhere?"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I came here this evening to tell you something that will alter your opinion of me so effectually that nothing hereafter can reinstate me in your mind."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I have come to make a confession, he said, quietly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Not because I believe in the habit of unburdening one's conscience, but because there is something you have a right to know--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I--? A right to know?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes. A right to know."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I may be presumptuous, but I believe--I think--that I have stood for something in your eyes."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Enid! he cried, with sudden resolution,"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You have done this! he cried."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You have compelled me to tell you! I came to these people; I duped them--and gloried in duping them. I despised them, understood them, traded on them without a scruple. Then you came. You came--and the scheme was shattered. The whole thing, that had bubbled and sparkled, became suddenly like flat champagne. That is a common simile, but it is descriptive. The acting of an actor depends upon his audience. While my audience was composed of fools, I fooled them; but when you came--you with your scepticism, your curiosity, your feminine dependency--I lost my cue. I became conscious of the footlights and the make-up."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Say something! he exclaimed."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Speak to me! I am waiting for you to speak."
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Enid! he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Enid!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, why did you do it? she exclaimed, suddenly, in a faint, shaken voice."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, why did you do it? Why did you do it?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I did it for what is reckoned the most sordid motive in the world, he said, in a level voice."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I did it for money!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "For money?"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I was wronged! he said, sharply."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "These people had defrauded me. I wanted what was justly mine."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wanted?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes; wanted. Wanted with all my might. I have worked, schemed, suffered for this in ways you could never imagine. I thought myself invincible. I believed that if the devil himself stood in my way it would not deter me. And now you--a frail girl--have wrecked the scheme!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And do you understand why this has happened? Do you know why I am going away as empty-handed as I came? It is because I have seen you--because I love you--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Don't! don't! don't! she cried."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You call yourself an impostor--You are worse than that. Much worse. You are a thief!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, you are a thief! she said again, hysterically;"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wait! Let me defend myself!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No! no! no! she cried, vehemently."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There is no defence to make. There is no defence. You may leave the money of the sect, but you have stolen things that can never be replaced. Faith--hopes--ideals--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Mistaken faith--mistaken ideals--"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Nothing is mistaken that lifts one up--that helps one to live. Oh, you don't knew what you have done! You don't know! I thought you so noble--so great--and now--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Now I am condemned unheard."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Unheard? Do you think words could change anything? There is only one thing I wish for now--never, never to see you again as long as either of us live!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Very well! he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I understand! But there is no need for you to trouble. All our arrangements are made--have been made for months. We attend the Gathering to-night; and afterwards, when Hellier Crescent is quiet, we go--as unobtrusively as we came. You see I give you the key to our plans; you are free to frustrate them, if you think fit. I don't believe I had any real hope of merciful judgment when I came here--women are not merciful when they are robbed of their illusions. But I confess I hoped for justice. I thought that you might hate me--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hate you? she cried."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Hate you? We only hate what we respect. I don't hate you. I only despise you with all my heart. I want you to go before I despise myself as well!"
}
]
|
21127 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "WITH A FRESH BURST OF TEARS, SHE TURNED AND FLUNG HERSELF UPON THE COUCH"
}
]
|
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