book_id
stringlengths 2
6
| title
stringclasses 1
value | author
stringclasses 1
value | conversations
listlengths 1
5.07k
|
|---|---|---|---|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Tell me, dear, what possessed you to go out into the storm?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't know, she murmured--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't know. I--I felt that I must. I didn't think it was going to break so soon, and then the first flash of lightning and the voice of the thunder! It was like judgment day."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is all passed and over,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I wish it were--I wish it were,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is all over hours ago,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh! Jim, you don't know,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't know what?"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jim, this must not go on. It is more than I can bear."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't understand you, I answered, though I comprehended her meaning only too well."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What must not go on?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Our--our engagement,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, Jim, no! she said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's no use; I can never be yours. It is impossible--quite impossible. My love would be fatal to you! I know it will! He said so."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh! I cannot help believing him. He tells me that I am to be his. She shuddered."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jim, you must leave me, and never see me again. I cannot have your--your blood on my hands."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come, darling, a promise is a promise, and my own little girl is not going to break her promise because of the threats of a jealous rival."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You don't know him as I know him, she murmured."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He would stick at nothing, Jim. I don't think he is a man; he must be a devil. He can do things no man ever thought of doing."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You exaggerate his capacities for evil, I said, as equably as I was able, for her agitation was so great that I feared for her reason."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What has Mannering been saying to you, for it was he whom I saw behind the hedge when I brought you out of the storm, I suppose?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You saw him? she queried."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Then it is true. I have been hoping you would tell me I had been dreaming again."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I saw nothing very terrible about him,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You don't know him,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He will have cause to know me before many hours have passed,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, Jim. You must not go near him. You do not know the power he exercises. This afternoon I was sitting thinking of you when I became conscious that he was telling me to come to him. There was no reason why I should have thought so. He was not in sight, but I was bound to go."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And you found him waiting for you?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He was waiting for me, she repeated--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I clenched my fists involuntarily, but I did not interrupt my darling's story."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I begged of him to leave me free. He paid no heed. 'I am going away,' he said. 'For three days you will see nothing of me, though all England will be talking of my deeds. On the third I shall return. Mind you are ready.'"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Did you not mention me?"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He mentioned you, she replied."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's a sporting challenge,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now you know why I have put away your ring. He is too strong for us. I must do as he bids me. I----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Have you everything packed to go away on your visit to Norfolk to-morrow?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why--why----"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Is Mr. Mannering in?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Mr. Sutgrove, is it?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I beg your pardon, sir, said the parlourmaid."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We didn't expect any one at this time of night."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That's all right, I answered."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Can I see Mr. Mannering?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He's gone away for a day or two, sir,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That's very sudden, isn't it? I asked."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I saw him this afternoon."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, sir. He said nothing about it to us until after dinner. Then he packed his handbag and went away on his motor."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's a confounded nuisance, I remarked."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I wanted to see him on important business. Did he say where he was going?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He said Cromer, sir, but he did not leave any address. Then, after a momentary hesitation, she added,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Is--is anything wrong?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What makes you ask?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I--I don't know,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There must be something or you would not have asked, I said encouragingly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Come--out with it."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'll tell the gentleman if you don't, Sarah, she declared."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's like this, sir, she rattled out volubly:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, instead of going to bed like a Christian he's up all hours of the night. It ain't only that. He slips out as if he didn't want us to see him, and when we've known he hasn't been at home we've found he's taken the trouble to tumble the bed to make it appear as how he slept in it."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Pooh! I remarked."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If that's all, my servants would probably say the same about me. You need not be alarmed about such trifles."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But it's not all, said Sarah, taking up the story."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The nights he goes out are just the nights the Pirate makes his appearance."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Those are just the nights I am away from home,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But you have the detective gentleman with you, argued the girl,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What! I cried."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's truth, sir, said the housemaid."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "A week ago, just after he came back from Paris, I was sweeping the floor of his bedroom, when I sweeps up a diamond stud. Now, I knew he never had such a thing----"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I suppose you know exactly what jewellery he has?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He always was a very careless gentleman until the last month, before which he left his things lying about all over the place, but then he had a safe put in his bedroom, and he never so much as left the key lying about. However, I mentions the stud to Sarah, and we talks it over and puts two and two together, and Sarah thinks that if he doesn't ask what has become of it, it might be as well as if we told the detective gentleman about it."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Quite right, I remarked."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You might let me look at the stud, though."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I fancy the man you describe is a friend of mine, I said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Which direction did he take?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He went straight along the Colchester road,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The Colchester road? I inquired."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What town is this, then?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This is Chelmsford, sir,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am afraid, I added,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't take no heed of speed myself, sir, when the roads is clear, he remarked;"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hullo, Sutgrove! he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This is indeed a welcome surprise. I had not the slightest idea you were in this part of the country."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If you had, I presume you would not have chosen it for the scene of your exploits,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't follow you,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, I remarked;"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I was only referring to your attempts to cut the records with your old car."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You may be nearer the truth than you think. I've had a new motor fixed in the car--an idea of my own, and I find she travels at quite a decent pace. That's why I left home last night. After the rain I thought the roads would certainly be clear enough to give me the opportunity of making a fair test. The engine is a model of the one I have designed for the new car which I mentioned--last night was it? No; the night before."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Were you not afraid of meeting the Pirate? I heard he was abroad last night,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Afraid! he remarked witheringly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Afraid! All I am afraid of is, that some of your Scotland Yard friends will be beforehand with me in his capture, and that is an adventure which has a particular appeal to me, since he left his mark upon me here. He tapped his shoulder significantly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I have promised myself to repay this injury with interest."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, I suppose we are as likely to meet him here as anywhere,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I hope so, he answered."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But I am not stopping here for long. I've taken a bed for the night, because I feel confoundedly tired after last night's run. But what brings you down here? Are you motoring?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "In the first place I wanted a word with you,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "With me?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, I said;"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But how did you discover my address? I left no word with any one."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll tell you later,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, we have plenty of time to talk, he replied."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If there's any little difficulty in which I can be of any assistance, I need hardly assure you I am at your service. But hadn't you better have lunch first? He lowered the tone of his voice."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Unless you wish the waiters to become acquainted with your affairs, I should think what you have to say could be much better said outside. Neither pier nor esplanade are much frequented at this time of the year."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is no laughing matter, he observed."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The rascal was bad enough when he confined his attentions to men; but now he has taken to bestowing them upon women, he deserves no mercy, and when I am able to get upon his track, he will get none."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Then you are really hoping to join in the hunt?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, he said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'll let you into my secret. At my place at St. Stephens, I had a car which only wanted one minor detail to make it complete. I have known for months, that if I could supply that detail, I should be in possession of a car which would outpace even the Pirate's. For months I've racked my brains over it. A week ago an idea occurred to me. I worked it out. I tried it for the first time last night. It has proved to be a success. The day after to-morrow I shall join in the pursuit of the Motor Pirate, so if your Scotland Yard friend does not make haste, he will be too late."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What power do you propose to use? I asked."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Petrol?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "A month ago I would have told nobody; but to-day there is no need of secrecy; my drawings are all ready for deposit at the Patent Office, so there is no chance of any one forestalling me."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, what is it?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't want you to tell anybody else just yet, he said; and as I nodded my acquiescence, he continued,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "My new motor is on an entirely novel principle. It is a turbine engine, worked by the expansion of liquid hydrogen."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No. No questions, if you please: because, if you ask any, I shall not answer them. Meanwhile, you have not yet told me how you learned of my presence here?"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now, old fellow, what is it you have on your mind? Out with it!"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I suppose, Sutgrove, if I tell you that this story of the influence I am supposed to exercise over Miss Maitland is absolute news to me, you will not believe me?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You may be surprised, but not half so much as I have been, by what you have told me. Really, the whole story sounds the maddest farrago of nonsense I have ever heard."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I do not mean any offence, he said;"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What do you mean?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, what else than that you will not waste any time before obtaining medical advice for Miss Maitland,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You must not take too serious a view of the case. Miss Maitland is of a highly nervous temperament, and, I should imagine, rather prone to hysteria. Then, rising, he clapped me on the shoulder,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Take a cheerful view, Sutgrove. I'll bet you ten to one that her doctor will inform you that marriage will provide a complete cure."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ever so much better. Do not worry about me. Cannot spare you for long though. Lots of love.--E."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Meet the 8.49 at Cromer with motor. Do not fail. Most important.--FORREST."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Seen anything of Mannering?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why, yes, I replied directly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I lunched with him, to-day. He's stopping at the Royal."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That's a bit of luck, replied the detective."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come along;"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What has happened?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I hold a warrant for his arrest, and I am desirous of executing it at the earliest possible moment, that's all,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What in the world for?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What should it be for?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He cannot be the Motor Pirate. It is impossible. He could not have deceived me so completely,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I would stake everything I hope for in the future, as well as everything I possess at the present moment, that he is though, returned the detective with conviction."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But we must not waste time. Take me to the hotel."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Leave the car and come with me, I may want your assistance,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I want to see a Mr. Mannering, who is stopping here, at once, and I do not wish to be announced,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Left?"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Where to?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "St. Albans,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Don't mind taking a few risks, he said presently."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The sooner we can get there the better I shall be pleased."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In the first place, he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "She said so, I replied doubtfully;"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "She was probably correct in her recollection of what passed, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If further proof were wanted to connect your friend with the Motor Pirate, those words would be sufficient. If what I know leaks out, the Pirate will fill the popular mind more to-morrow than he has done in the past even. Yesterday morning, within six miles of Sandringham, he held up --he hesitated--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I must mention no names--he held up, let me say, an August Personage----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The King?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "An August Personage, remarked Forrest, severely,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Let me hear all about it?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't know that I can tell you everything, for so far I only know the particulars wired to the Yard. But the story is complete enough to enable me to do what I have hitherto failed in, and that is, complete the necessary identification of our friend Mannering. And curiously enough, it is owing to the keen powers of observation possessed by the----"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The August Personage,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The Pirate took the articles. Then he raised his hat. 'I take,' he said, 'the August word as readily as I take these souvenirs of this memorable meeting,' and with these words, he pulled a lever and was speedily out of sight."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "By Jove! I muttered."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The fellow's audacity is almost past belief. But you said something of observations made by the August victim?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, said Forrest."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The chauffeur was much too agitated to notice anything, but his master was not. He observed four things. First, that the Pirate was a man of about six feet in height."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Mannering is five feet eleven and a quarter in his socks,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Secondly, that his hair was black. Thirdly, that the nails of the right hand, with which he took his plunder, were bitten to the quick."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The identification becomes nearly perfect,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Fourthly, that the car was originally a two-seated car, with a tonneau body, but that the seat had been set back, and the bonnet was enclosed by metal plates shaped into the form of the bow of a canoe, and bolted together in a manner which gave the impression that they might easily be removed. Why, continued the detective,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I did not think of so obvious a solution of the Pirate's mysterious disappearances before I cannot imagine. It is the trick the black flag merchants have practised since the days of Captain Kidd."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "After all, I remarked,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Any news?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You know where to bring it?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Let us get on home,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "When you haven't time for sleep, the next best thing is to feed well if you want to keep fit, he remarked."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Besides, I am as hungry as a hunter has a right to be."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That settles it, I laughed."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We shall have to forage for ourselves. The servants are all asleep."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Any one been here to-night, Laver?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No one, the man answered."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The servants turned in about ten after locking up. No signs of any one about the place since."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That's all right, grunted Forrest."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We shall be ready for him when he does come. Have you got the tools?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Better stay where you are, he advised."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Keep out of sight, and if I whistle, come at once."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "All right, sir,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "One can see, he remarked,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Unless he smells a rat, and makes for some convenient port and gets out of the country,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That eventuality is provided against, remarked the detective."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "His description is in the hands of the police at every port in the kingdom, and even if he changes the colour of his hair, I don't think he will manage to get away. What I propose is, that we shall remain concealed in his coach-house and await his return."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How are we going to get in?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There's not a burglar in the kingdom is better provided,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hush--sh--sh!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "August Personage"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He can tell that story to the jury,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Look here, Sutgrove, he said;"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "--he kicked a coil which lay at his feet--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Another piece of evidence, and descending from his perch, he handed me a box of cartridges. A glance at the label had apparently been enough, nevertheless, to make sure, he searched again in his pocket, and produced the bullet which had proved fatal to the poor victim at Towcester. He compared it with one of the cartridges, and gave a grunt of content."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I fancy we shall soon obtain sufficient evidence to hang him, he murmured. Then a shadow crossed his face."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What an infernal dunderhead I have been not to suspect him before,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't leave this building except in his company, unless I hear that he has been captured elsewhere, he declared obstinately."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "At the same time, don't let me detain you."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is truly thoughtful of you, he remarked, as I lifted the lid of the basket and revealed the contents."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I only hope our friend will not spoil our picnic by arriving in the middle of it."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wake up, man--wake up! There's no time to lose."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That's Mannering,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, replied my companion."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I could swear to the sound anywhere."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "DON'T stir an inch until I give the signal,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "D----n you, Sutgrove! shouted the detective."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Don't stop to think, or we shall lose our man after all. Come, both together."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I had entirely forgotten Laver,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Gone away, sir,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Hurt?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not much; smashed shoulder, I fancy,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll send assistance,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come and lend a hand!"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Look!"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There are a couple of masks in the coach-house,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Go on, man! Go on!"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "After you,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Finish the bottle."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jump for your life!"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Our work is done, he said, and with an impatient sigh, he took from his pocket the useless handcuffs and hurled them after the cars."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "One thing we have to be thankful for, he continued,"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Where--where is she?"
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am going to take you for a ride with me, Miss Maitland, he had observed."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I merely wish to warn you before we start, that at the pace we shall travel, you will find any attempt to escape exceedingly dangerous."
}
]
|
26657 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You see, he began, when his cigar was once well alight,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I was every bit as curious as Mrs. Sutgrove."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Or myself,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Or Mr. Sutgrove, said the detective, smiling,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Was there nothing at all found at St. Alban's then?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I fancy you must have seen in the papers a pretty full account of all that the police discovered there?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, replied Evie."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We read a lot of stories, but they varied to such an extent that we really did not know what to believe."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now I come to think of it, the reporters did give their imaginations free reins, but you can take it from me that, with the exception of the plunder he amassed after his return from that Continental trip, and the apparatus for the production of the liquid hydrogen, there was very little in his house of interest to me or you. There was his bank-book, and some correspondence with a learned professor at the Royal Institution. I followed up both clues. At the R. I. I discovered nothing. Mannering had merely posed as a wealthy amateur in chemistry, and of course he met with every assistance when he had asked for help in following up his researches into the behaviour of liquid gases. At his bank also, very little was known about him. When he had come to St. Alban's he had opened an account by a payment into it of six or seven thousand pounds in Bank of England notes. He had drawn steadily upon the account until it was nearly exhausted, and, in point of fact, there was only a few pounds to his credit from the time when he commenced his career on the road, until a week or two after his return from Amsterdam, when he paid in two thousand pounds in gold, and a fortnight later swelled his balance with a similar amount."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That was the proceeds of the Brighton mail robbery,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That was his only really big coup. As for his other plunder, he probably disposed of the proceeds of all his early cruises on the Continent, at the same time that he sold the diamonds. That which he obtained afterwards was found intact in the safe in his bedroom. Heavens! What an opportunity I missed by not taking out a search-warrant for his house. When we paid our midnight visit, there must have been ample evidence behind the steel door to have convicted him."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He was not a wealthy man, then,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, replied Forrest."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There was no trace of his owning any property anywhere, and his expenditure on the gas plant and on his motors--we found that the various parts had been made to specification at a variety of works in England and abroad--had eaten heavily into his capital, so that at the time of the commencement of his career he must have been very nearly penniless. Whether he built the motor with the idea of utilizing it for the purpose he ultimately put it to, of course I cannot say, but I have a shrewd suspicion that he really did design it for the purpose, since from what I have learned of him the predatory instinct must have been pretty strongly developed in him."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You shall judge for yourselves, he continued."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Unfortunately, I cannot begin right at the beginning, for I do not know where he was born, nor who his parents were. I can only guess at these facts from the knowledge that, as a boy, he was at school in the south of England, and that then his name was Ram Krishna Roy."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What? I asked, in amazement."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "A Hindu?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "An Eurasian, I should fancy, replied Forrest."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He had been sent to school in England by one of those petty Indian princes, who still exercise sovereignty under British suzerainty."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How did you discover that?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It was like this, Mrs. Sutgrove, replied Forrest."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Amongst the papers I spoke about as being in the old portmanteau, were a number of letters written in characters I could not understand. I could see they were oriental, and that was as much as I could make of them, so I took them to a noted oriental scholar who translated them for me. The language was Urdu, and the writer was a munshi, who was obviously communicating with an old pupil. There were so many references to scenes with which the person to whom the letters were addressed, as well as the writer, was familiar, that it was quite clear that the former must have been brought up amidst purely native surroundings. There were one or two more obscure allusions which led me to conclude that the boy's mother must have been a white woman, and from what we saw of him there can be no doubt but that he was white on one side."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Nobody would have taken him to be aught but an Englishman,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, said Forrest."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I was intensely surprised when I discovered these proofs of his identity and at first I thought they could not apply to him, but before I come to the connecting link, let me mention one curious thing in the letters, which may do something to explain the curious influence which Mannering exerted over Mrs. Sutgrove."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He hypnotized me, I am sure,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Very possibly, replied the detective."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In nearly every letter was to be found an admonition to the effect--I cannot give you a verbatim translation--that the writer hoped his old pupil would not forget that to him was entrusted the secret power of Siva, which would, by practice, enable him to mould all men to his will."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If he had possessed that, I interrupted,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "True, said Forrest."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But it is quite possible that Mrs. Sutgrove's conjecture is correct, and that even at that early age Mannering had learnt something about hypnotism from his native instructor, for I am very certain that of these semi-occult sciences, the East has much more precise knowledge than is realized by the Western world."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Very likely, said my wife, shuddering slightly at the remembrance."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He certainly had a most singular power over me."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He probably increased his knowledge when he returned to his native land, which, I gathered, must have taken place when he was about seventeen. Then there is a break for nearly ten years in his history."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't quite see how you connect Ram Krishna Roy with Mannering,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm coming to that, replied Forrest."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "With these letters was another in its original envelope addressed in the same hand to Julian Mannering at San Francisco. It was the most interesting letter of the lot. It was full of reproaches addressed to the dear pupil, who had cut himself off from the asceticism of the East, and devoted himself to the gross materialism of Western civilization. It concluded by the expression of an intention to once more attempt to persuade him to return by a personal appeal. On the back of the letter was a note in Mannering's handwriting. 'Old Chatterji kept his promise. I had quite a long conversation with him in the ballroom last night. Everybody thought I was drunk or mad to be talking Hindustani, apparently to empty air. However, that's the last of him. I've done with the East.'"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You make him more a man of mystery than ever,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I can't help it, said Forrest."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Perhaps his old tutor really did appear to him. Perhaps Mannering was mad. Who knows? Both are dead. However, he seems to have carried out his intention of not returning to India. Ram Krishna Roy disappeared from that time forth, and Julian Mannering took his place. He seems to have been doing nothing at San Francisco at the time, but a little later he appears to have accepted an appointment as engineer to a mine in Arizona. He left the berth suddenly a few months later, owing to some trouble about the wife of one of the miners. The miner was shot, and his comrades were so incensed that Mannering had to depart hot-foot. Then for awhile I can only guess at his occupation from some newspaper cuttings which he had preserved. These point to his identification with the leader of a gang of desperadoes whose most notable exploit was the successful holding up of a train which had a considerable quantity of specie on board."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I remember him describing the affair, said Evie,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The only assistance he gave to the plundered was to assist them to a better land by the aid of his gun. He escaped, though, and made his way to Australia, and once again he resumed the practice of his profession,--mining engineering. For three or four years he was engaged at a newly-opened mine in the northern territory of West Australia. But instinct was too strong for him. He must really have had a strong dash of the blood of some of those Indian hill-tribe freebooters in his veins, for he never seems to have been able to resist the prospect of plunder, and the likelihood of having to fight for it seems to have been an additional inducement. Thus, at the mine, under his charge, it was the custom to send, periodically, the gold extracted, under a strong escort, to the nearest town, some forty miles distant. For a long time these consignments were delivered with perfect safety. Then, after a particularly rich vein had been struck, it became necessary to forward a very large consignment of bullion. Contrary to the usual practice, only two men were sent in charge of it. Their dead bodies were afterwards discovered, and the gold was never recovered. No one seems to have had the least suspicion that the gentlemanly engineer at the mine was likely to have had something to do with the business, and when, shortly afterward, he resigned his post and took a passage to Europe, he received the highest possible testimonials from his manager and directors. I have no doubt, myself, that he was the prime mover in the robbery, for his salary was a small one, and directly afterwards he spent six months in Paris, where his expenditure would have been lavish for a millionaire."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That was where my father met him, remarked Evie."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I remember him expressing surprise at the simplicity of Mannering's life at St. Alban's in view of the luxury with which he had been surrounded when they had met previously."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Just so, said the detective."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But his Paris career ended as it had commenced. He disappeared suddenly, without a word of farewell to any of his acquaintance, and had it not been for one bit of evidence, I should have had not the slightest idea as to what he had been doing with himself in the interval between that time and his arrival at St. Alban's. You may remember that a scientific expedition was despatched by the Dutch government about six years ago to make some investigations in the interior of New Guinea?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It started six months after Mannering disappeared from Paris, and from the time it left Batavia _en route_ for New Guinea not a word has ever been heard of it."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You cannot mean to infer that Mannering had anything to do with that?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I infer nothing, replied Forrest."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But I do know that a pocketbook, which had belonged to a chemist attached to the exploring party, was one of the documents I found in his bag. The book contained a number of notes upon the liquefaction of gases, and these may very likely have first interested Mannering in the subject. As I have since discovered from a search of the registers at Lloyds that there were quite a number of ships lost about the same time in those seas, I cannot help thinking that our friend had served an apprenticeship under the black flag at sea before taking to land piracy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "At that rate he must have been the greatest criminal on earth,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He was certainly the biggest I ever came across, replied Forrest,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It was a pity, I said,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is more than likely, said Forrest."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He was not the ordinary type of criminal. I was speaking to a big mental specialist the other day, and--but I had better complete the story of his career first. Where did we leave him?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "New Guinea,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The only other reason I have for suspecting him of being engaged in deeds of violence in that quarter of the globe is that he returned to England _via_ Singapore, with a considerable quantity of bullion in his possession. The rest of his history you know."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He seems to have had a stirring existence, anyhow, I commented."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And one hardly sees any reason for it save natural sin."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The alienist I was talking to the other day described him as a moral pervert. He said he was a type of insanity usually associated with physical incapacity or a low order of intelligence, but when, as in Mannering's case, both physique and intelligence were above the average, the moral pervert is a greater danger to the community than an army of ordinary criminals. If ever I said a prayer it would be when a madman of that type was removed from the world."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Amen,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "changed to"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "changed to"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "changed to"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "changed to"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "changed to"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "changed to"
}
]
|
599012 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I cannot tell, Sir."
}
]
|
962849 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I trust,"
}
]
|
253517 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Elijah Cody,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "UNDER TWO FLAGS"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In all the world there is nothing so peaceful as this English country, is there? It is like another world when one first gets away from the turmoil of New York."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't know that I agree with you, Olive. Of course that is what people from home always say. Jim Colter declares he is half asleep the entire time he is in England. But that is because Americans, particularly my beloved westerners, don't understand England and the English. Things are not always peaceful just because they are quiet. We think so because we are noisy. Frank says there was never more unrest."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, Olive dear, for goodness sake don't let us talk politics the day after your arrival. It is so English. Sometimes I feel scarcely fitted to play the part of an English 'Lady,' now that Frank has come into the title of 'Lord' and is a member of Parliament. I often long for a ride with Jim over my own prairies to search for lost cattle."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Once a Ranch girl, always a Ranch girl, so far as I'm concerned, Olive; and yet I'm farther away from the old place than any of you. But, tell me, what made you decide to come abroad so suddenly without even writing? I have had letters from everybody at home except that lazy Frieda, and yet not one with a suggestion of your trip in it. Tell me about every member of my family--Ruth and Jim and their babies and Jean and Ralph and Frieda and her Professor. Funny, I never can think of Frieda really being married. You see, although it has been nearly four years, I have never seen her since we went over for the great event."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jack"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Suppose we sit down a while, Jack, she suggested."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Remember, I haven't had the English habit of walking for a long time. You told me Frank's train would not get in from London for another hour."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You have come to tell me bad news, haven't you? and I never dreamed of it until this instant. You have been brave, Olive."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Don't be frightened, Jack; my news isn't so bad as you may think. At least I don't know just how bad it is, and Olive smiled and then frowned the next moment."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The truth of the matter is that Frieda Ralston Russell has left her Professor. I was out in Wyoming having a peaceful visit at Rainbow Ranch when I received a mysterious telegram from Frieda telling me to come to her at once in New York city--not in Chicago, where she was supposed to be safe with her Professor husband. Of course I went at once to her. In New York I found a yellow-haired and not so miserable Frieda, who calmly told me she had decided that marriage was a failure. I could not find out her special reasons for thinking so, but perhaps she will tell you more herself, Jack. She is coming to you on the next steamer, only she preferred my first breaking the news to you and Frank."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And you came, Olive dear, all the way across the ocean by yourself, just because my spoiled small sister wished to save herself the trouble of a confession? You are an angel, Olive. And I am afraid it is Frieda's selfishness--her remaining such a completely spoiled young person--that may be the answer to her present behavior. But I thought her husband spoiled her more even than her own family had in the past. Besides, I can't imagine the Professor doing anything wicked, can you, Olive? Oh dear, Frank and I always opposed Frieda's marriage. Professor Russell did seem too old and serious for her."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The Ranch Girls At Home Again."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, well, what is an old maid worth in a family if she is not to be made useful? Olive answered."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, of course, Jack, you understand I don't require a great deal of persuasion to come to you, and besides I was afraid if I did not come ahead, Frieda would not come at all. You are the only person who has any influence over her. If she goes back to the ranch, Ruth and Jean will only make such a fuss over her that she will become more and more convinced she has been badly treated. Jim, you know, never has approved of any of his Ranch girls being married, although he misses none of us as he does you."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I hope you are rested, Olive, as we must walk on if we are to arrive in time to meet Frank. Oh, dear, what a business marriage is! I suppose we could not expect all the Ranch girls to be successfully married, although it is odd for it to be Frieda who is in trouble. As for you, Olive, don't congratulate yourself too soon on being an old maid; you'll probably yield some day. I do wonder what has happened to little Frieda? Perhaps things are worse than we imagine."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Lady Bountiful"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Gracious! why didn't you tell me to do that before, Olive? she asked"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I must have looked ridiculous. Frank would have been discouraged if he had seen me. After all, you see, Olive, Frank is an Englishman and fond of the proprieties. At least I don't think he minds so much himself, but he does not enjoy having the country people talk about me, especially now that we have come into the title."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But they don't criticize you, do they?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Not more than I deserve."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You and I seem often to meet Frank at railroad stations, Olive, Jack remarked."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Remember when he last came to Wyoming before we were married and we went together to meet him?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Husbands haven't very good memories for the sentimental past."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Of course I remember and how badly you treated me, Jack, so that Olive had to come to my rescue. And then:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Did you drive over? Where is the trap?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No; Olive and I wanted a walk and it is much better for you. If you don't look out we shall both be growing as portly as a dowager duke and duchess."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, I have a piece of news for you, dear. I forgot to tell you. I had a cable from Frieda's husband telling me that he expected to sail for England in about ten days. He did not give his reason, nor mention Frieda's coming with him."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, Lady Kent answered apparently in a state of abstraction,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't suppose he did."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There is something else you have on your mind, isn't there, Frank--some news you have not yet told me?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, Jack, something so serious that I dare not speak of it even to you. Perhaps it will all blow over though, and I may be able to discuss the subject with you in a few days."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "DID Frieda say on what ship she would sail? It is odd she does not cable."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Vive, which was used for her always. And since Vive was the gayest and liveliest of babies, this name with its translated meaning,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Life"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, Frieda did not say, Olive Van Mater returned."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But I presume she will cable in a day or so. Frieda will expect you to be in London to meet her. I am sure she will feel much aggrieved if you do not, but I think I won't come along, Jack, if I may stay with the babies."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Just as you like, Olive, only I hope Frieda will let me know in time. Frank is in London most of the week while Parliament is in session, and I'll have to ask him to make arrangements for us. The season is over, of course, but the hotels are filled with tourists. It has been a wonderful English summer. I don't think there were ever more travelers. Well, Frieda's rooms are at least ready for her. I hope she may enjoy having the same ones she had when she came over to visit the first year after Frank and I were married. I wonder if she ever thinks these days of how hard I tried to persuade her to believe she was too much of a baby to think of marrying so soon? We should never have allowed her to marry the first person who ever seriously asked her. Oh, I know Frieda thought she had already had a great deal of experience with her college boy admirers, particularly the one we used to call 'The Chocolate Drop Boy.'"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't see how she can well help liking these rooms, besides this window offers one of the most perfect views in the entire house."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Let us go into the garden for awhile, Jack, Olive suggested."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I think I enjoy it more in the morning than at any other time. Besides, I have been intending to ask if you suppose Frieda and her husband have informed each other that they are both sailing for England? It will be odd to have them meet each other here unless they do know."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I haven't any ideas on the subject, but Frank will have to see that Professor Russell stays in London until we find out from Frieda. Sorry, but I can't go outdoors with you till this afternoon. I've hundreds of things to do and have promised Frank to write some letters which I have been putting off."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Olive, dear, come meet the nicest kind of an Englishman--one who is half Scotch and the other half Irish, she called out."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Olive Van Mater, this is Captain Bryan MacDonnell--an old school friend of Frank's and sometimes a friend of mine."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Bryan is just back from shooting 'big game' somewhere--make him tell you about it, Olive, while I get rid of the last of these tiresome people."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm sorry you can't dine with us tonight, Bryan, Lady Kent remarked on parting."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Olive and I are to be alone. Frank only visits his family now and then, because he is so busy in town. No; I did not go up to London this year for the season. I only went for a few days at a time, as I was not willing to leave the babies. Besides, you know I don't care as much for society as I should anyway."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ride with you tomorrow? I should think I will just as hard and as fast as possible and jump all the fences and ditches in this part of the country. I'm awfully glad you are back, Bryan, to help me get rid of some of my surplus American energy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Semper Paratus meaning"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Frank likes to think Vive, the baby, looks like his grandmother,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I hope you won't feel dull, Olive! As soon as Parliament closes, if you and Frieda like, we will have some people come to stay with us. I don't like the responsibility of visitors if Frank is not here. I have never learned to take guests so simply and easily as an English hostess does. It is one of the ways in which I am a social failure."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Nonsense,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm glad Jean and Ralph are at the ranch this year with Ruth and Jim, she said finally."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What a pleasure it must be to Jean that Ralph is such a successful engineer--one of the biggest in the United States, Jim writes. But Jim always liked Ralph better than any of the husbands. He never could altogether forgive Frank for being an Englishman."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh Ralph has not been at the ranch much, Olive added, looking up from her book."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He has been working out on the coast and at Panama, but I think Jean is glad to have a rest because she has traveled with him so much."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jack! Jack!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Jack!"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Please ring the bell for the servants, Olive. I am sure I hear a voice calling me. It sounds absurd and yet I must find out who it is. Even if the servants insist this house is haunted, no one has ever yet suggested that the lawn is also haunted."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jack! Jack! be careful!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "BUT, Frieda, how could you possibly have arranged to arrive in the middle of the night like this?"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The cab broke down,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I was lonely after Olive left me in New York, Frieda explained."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "So when I read in the paper one morning that a particularly comfortable steamer was sailing, I decided not to wait an entire week, if I could get a nice stateroom. I thought Olive would not need but a few days to tell you. You have told, haven't you, Olive?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Please don't ask me any questions tonight, Jack. I'm most dead. No; I didn't have a rough crossing, but I have never arrived anywhere alone before in my whole life. I knew I could call up Frank at his club in London, but I did not wish to see him first. Still, I don't care what he thinks, since I have lost all faith in men. But I don't see why some one did not meet me at the station here. I telegraphed from Liverpool that I was on the way."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Curious dear, but we never received your telegram."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, well; Frieda added more indulgently,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I didn't exactly telegraph myself, but I gave the money to a boy and told him what to say. Perhaps he made a mistake, or kept the money, or something,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We won't talk about anything until you like, Frieda,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Will you go up to your rooms now or have something to eat first down here with Olive and me?"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Where is Olive? Frieda inquired finally. And when informed that Olive was in the nursery with the children, protested:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I suppose you know I am jealous of your baby's being named for Olive. Of course I know you and she are very dear friends; but, after all, I am your sister."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I felt that way about it too, Frieda, but Frank seemed not to wish a German name, Jack answered,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Don't talk of next time, Jack. I can't imagine your having a family. I hate being married."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'd rather tell you what has happened between Henry and me this minute and get through with it. And I'd prefer to tell you without Olive's hearing. I don't mean to be impolite, but Olive is almost an old maid and old maids always take the man's part."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I hope nothing very serious, Frieda?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Nevertheless it is so serious that I never intend to speak to Henry Russell again, if I can avoid it. You see, Frieda sighed,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I suppose it is better to begin at the beginning and tell the whole thing. But, then, who knows when anything actually begins? At any rate during the first two years after Henry and I were married you remember we lived with Henry's parents. They were awfully nice to me and gave me hundreds of presents, but after awhile I became tired of living in another's house. Oh, the house was big and I had plenty of rooms, but you know it isn't like having a home of one's own is it, Jack?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "So I told Henry I wanted a house to myself, and I must say he and his mother and father were very nice about it--at first."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It was Henry's fault all through though. You know he is the only child and his mother and father are dreadfully rich. But what do you suppose Henry decided? When we went to housekeeping for ourselves we were to live on the income he made as a Professor! Did you ever hear of anything so selfish?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well dear, Jack hesitated"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That is exactly what Ruth and Jim Colter wrote me, Frieda protested indignantly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I suppose it never occurs to any one of you to think of me!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, but you have your own income from our estate, Frieda,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I know, Frieda continued more amiably."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "So, at first, when I saw how much Henry's heart was set on our being independent, I agreed to try. But you know, Jack, I never have had much experience in managing money, and even when we were at school at Primrose Hall I got into debt. So, although Henry told me just what we had to live upon, I couldn't seem to make things come out even. Then, as I didn't want to worry him, I kept using my own income till that gave out. And then--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Then what?"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh nothing much, Frieda conceded, although her voice was less self assured,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "she murmured."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I believe he thought I was some kind of a joke, for he gave me a lot of money and told me not to worry. But he told Henry's mother and she did not think it was fair to Henry and must have let him know. Anyhow he was dreadfully angry and unkind to me."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How unkind?"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, nothing very dreadful I suppose, Frieda conceded."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Henry fussed a lot and said I had not been fair to him and that it wasn't honest to keep things from him. He was always saying that I was very young and that I ought to confide everything in him."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Was there anything else, dear?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes. Oh, well, I might as well tell you the whole story since I have started. I was getting on a little better with the house, and Henry obtained some extra work to do, so that he made more money. But it kept him at home more in the evenings and besides he never did like to go out a great deal. He used to go sometimes because I liked it, but I never felt he was enjoying himself, and Henry never would learn to dance."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I know that may sound ridiculous to you, Jack, but it has made a lot of difference to me. There was a choking note in Frieda's voice."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "A lot of our trouble has come from it. You know I dearly love to dance, so I used to go out in the afternoons as I didn't like staying at home by myself and did not want to trouble Henry to take me often."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not by yourself?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Certainly not, Frieda returned pettishly,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "With any particular person?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There were three or four persons--young fellows--some of them students at the University, and most of the time other girls, too. At first Henry did not mind. Then he said people were beginning to talk and there was one person I liked especially, because he danced better than any one else, whom Henry said I could not go with at all. But I did go. Then I told Henry I was bored anyhow and wanted to be free. He was very disagreeable. So I ran away and just left a note. But I haven't been very happy for a long time, Jack, darling. I suppose you were right when you said I ought not to have married so young. Perhaps I am spoiled and selfish. Henry says I am, but some people like me anyhow."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There isn't anybody else, is there little, sister?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Certainly not, Jack; what do you think of me? Don't you know I am married. I told you I didn't like men any more, and never intend to have anything to do with them again."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Then I'll leave you now, dear, and send one of the maids to help you dress, if you like, Jack answered."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Let's don't talk any more today on this subject and please don't worry. You have lost all your color shut up by yourself in that wretched New York hotel. Hurry and come out in the garden with Olive and the babies and me."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A Professor of Dead Languages married to Frieda!"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I hope you'll forgive me, Frieda, if I leave you and Olive for a little while. I promised a friend, Captain MacDonnell, to ride with him this afternoon before I dreamed you were coming, and I have forgotten to let him know. Besides, Jack added, since never even in small matters could she be dishonest,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I really want the ride. Captain MacDonnell is the one person who likes to ride as hard as I do. Oh, of course, English women ride marvelously well--far better than I, and there is nothing they won't attempt in hunting. But what I like now and then is just a straight cross country ride--as near like the old rides across the prairies as I can manage, though I must say this country does not look much like the prairies, Jack ended, as she glanced smiling out the window at her own beautiful, well kept English lawn."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wait, Frieda, and meet Bryan won't you? he is one of Frank's and my dearest friends."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I declare Jack looks better on horseback than any one in the world, Frieda announced admiringly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Her costume is more stylish than the old khaki or corduroy things she used to wear at the ranch, but I don't think Jack herself is very much changed, except that she is more attractive."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Captain MacDonnell is handsome too, isn't he? Frieda remarked reflectively, before moving to go indoors."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I wonder if he and Jack are very intimate and if Frank minds her riding with him like this? I suppose not, or Jack wouldn't,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Don't look so cross, for goodness sake, Olive. I am not criticizing Jack. I don't suppose you imagine she is any more perfect than I do, only I was just thinking how you and the entire family will probably blame me for doing pretty much the same kind of thing that Jack is doing. Of course, I don't think there is anything wrong in it. It is absurd and horrid of people to believe there is."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, I know exactly what you are going to say, Olive. Jack and I are very different persons! I know that as well as you do. I know, too, that Jack would never do anything except what was right. She could not if she tried. But she might do something silly. I don't suppose there is any human being in the world who fails to be foolish at one time or other in this life,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I suppose it is ridiculous of me, but I am always more or less uneasy when Jack and Bryan go off for rides together. Jack is the most fearless horsewoman in the world and Bryan the most all round, fearless man. He has killed big game in Africa and India and Australia, traveled in the Congo and in other equally uncivilized places. He never used to stay for any length of time in England. Now and then I have an idea of forbidding Jack to ride with him, I am so uncertain of what reckless thing they may do together."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, I don't think you need worry, Frank, Olive returned,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jack is fearless but I don't think she has been reckless since the accident she had when a girl."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If you will forgive my leaving you, I believe I will go and see if I can find what has become of the wanderers,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Do hurry, please, Bryan; I'm afraid everybody at home may be uneasy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't see how I could ever have been such a wretch, or how I'll ever confess to Frank."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What are you going to say?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why, tell the truth and face the music; what else is there to do, Bryan?"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am sorry to have been compelled to play eavesdropper,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You have come out to search for us, haven't you, Frank? Jack began penitently."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I am sorry; I did not know you could have arrived from London so soon. She was now close beside her husband."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The truth is, Frank, I have had rather a horrid tumble. For a person who thinks she knows how to ride, I seem to do the stupidest possible things."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You don't seem to have hurt yourself seriously, Jack,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, I wasn't hurt in the least. I managed to get clear as we went down. But my horse's knee was sprained--not so badly as Bryan and I at first thought. Still I did not like to ride him, so we have been walking along through the rain for a few miles."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How did the accident occur? I am rather surprised, Jack,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, I was disobeying orders, she said with a pretence of lightness."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I went over a rather high fence, which I had never taken before, without waiting until Bryan could get up to me. I made the jump without trouble, but the ground on the other side was so soft that my horse's forefeet went down into it. He stumbled and fell. That is why I am such a spectacle,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Suppose you get on my horse, Jack, and ride up to the house. Frieda and Olive are uneasy. Bryan and I will come along together."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Don't be grouchy, please, Frank, she murmured."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I told you I was sorry, and you know that every now and then I have to get rid of some of my surplus American energy. After a hard ride with Bryan I can be a conventional English Lady for weeks."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That is unfortunate, Jack, he returned,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I think that is rather arbitrary of you, Frank, since neither Bryan nor I are children and he is one of the friends I most enjoy. But perhaps we had better talk of this at another time."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh Jack, I had a marconigram from Professor Russell. He must have heard of Frieda's sudden departure from New York. In any case his ship is due tomorrow, for he left the day after she sailed."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Gracious, have you told Frieda? Jack returned nervously, forgetting for the instant her own personal quandary."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Frieda announced that she never would agree to see Professor Russell again. In any case I had hoped we might have a few weeks of grace, to allow things to quiet down or perhaps to persuade Frieda to change her mind. The only thing now is not to allow Professor Russell to come to Kent House until Frieda gives her consent."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Nonsense, Jack, Frank answered reassuringly,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Frieda cannot behave in any such fashion. You have not told me the trouble, but I suspect that Frieda has simply been a spoiled child. Besides, in any case, she has no right to refuse at least to see her husband and talk the situation over. Don't worry; I'll discuss the matter with Frieda myself in the morning and bring her around. You see, I telegraphed Russell at the dock to come directly to us, as I shall spend tomorrow at home."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "All right,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Frieda, your husband is coming to Kent House some time this afternoon. Since it is really your duty to see him and talk over the misunderstanding between you, I feel sure you will."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Frank, and Jack too, if she really feels as you do, but I never mean to see Henry again."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm sorry, Frank, but I can't."
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Is Frieda well? If you only realized the relief to find she is safe here with you! At first I did not know where the child had gone,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ranch Girls At Home Again,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "She will see me?"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I was too old for her; we ought never to have married. The fault was all mine,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Frieda is a spoiled baby; you have simply been too good to her. Some day she will wake up and find this out for herself,"
}
]
|
34927 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am afraid I have frightened you, my dear. I do trust you have not injured yourself."
}
]
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.