book_id
stringlengths 2
6
| title
stringclasses 1
value | author
stringclasses 1
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listlengths 1
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|---|---|---|---|
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Got 'em at last! he exclaimed."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Dey ain't no way fu' dem to git away f'om me. I's behind 'em. I's behind 'em I tell you,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Polly, said he when his wife came in,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "La! Sam Jackson, you ain't gone to dreamin' agin. I thought you done quit all dat foolishness."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now jes' listen at you runnin' on. You ain't never axed me what I dremp 'bout yit."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Hit don' make much diffunce to me, less 'n you kin dream 'bout a dollah mo' into my pocket."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dey has been sich things did,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What! exclaimed Bob."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Dreamed of a nakid black man. Fu' de Lawd sake, Sam, don' let de chance pass. You got 'em dis time sho'. I'll put somep'n' on it myse'f. Wha'd you think ef we'd win de 'capital'?"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "She won't never have a chanst to scol' me. I'll git de drawin's early dis evenin', an' go ma'chin' home wif a new silk fu' huh, an' money besides. I do' want my wife waihin' no white folks' secon'-han' clothes nohow. My, but won't she be su'prised an' tickled. I kin jes' see huh now. Oh, mistah policy-sha'k, I got you now. I been layin' fu' you fu' a long time, but you's my meat at las'."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": ""
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'll call on you about ha' pas' fou', Mr. McFadden,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Faith, sor, said McFadden to his colleague,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sam, she exclaimed,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why--Why, Polly--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Don' go beatin' 'roun' de bush. I want 'o know whaih my money is; you tuck it."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Polly, I dremp--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I do' keer what you dremp, I want my money fu' my dress."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I thought sho' dem numbers 'u'd come out, an'--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Nemmine, Polly, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Nemmine. I thought I'd su'prise you. Dey beat me dis time. His teeth clenched."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But when I ketch dem policy sha'ks--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "all day in a half-hearted sort of manner, and now the drops were flying about in a cold spray. The night was one of dense, inky blackness, occasionally relieved by flashes of lightning. It was hardly a night on which a girl should be out. And yet one was out, scudding before the storm, with clenched teeth and wild eyes, wrapped head and shoulders in a great blanket shawl, and looking, as she sped along like a restless, dark ghost. For her, the night and the storm had no terrors; passion had driven out fear. There was determination in her every movement, and purpose was apparent in the concentration of energy with which she set her foot down. She drew the shawl closer about her head with a convulsive grip, and muttered with a half sob,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and the sob gave way to the dry, sharp note in her voice,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll fix her, if it kills me. She thinks I ain't her ekals, does she? 'Cause her pap's got money, an' has good crops on his lan', an' my pap ain't never had no luck, but I'll show 'er, I'll show 'er that good luck can't allus last. Pleg-take 'er, she's jealous, 'cause I'm better lookin' than she is, an' pearter in every way, so she tries to make me little in the eyes of people. Well, you'll find out what it is to be pore--to have nothin', Seliny Williams, if you live."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I reckon I've fixed you, Seliny Williams, mebbe, next time you meet me out at a dance, you won't snub me; mebbe next time, you'll be ez pore ez I am, an'll be willin' to dance crost from even ole 'Lias Hunster's gal."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Look a here, folks, I tell you that's the work o' niggers, I kin see their hand in it."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Niggers, o' course, exclaimed every one else."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why didn't we think of it before? It's jest like 'em."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They would, if caught, concluded the correspondent,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Lynch 'em, lynch 'em! Hang the niggers up to the first tree!"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Uh, huh, said the prosecuting attorney at the conclusion of the tale,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But Mistah, said the bolder of the two negroes,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now there you go with regular nigger stubbornness; didn't I tell you that that was the only way out of this? If you persist in saying you didn't do it, they'll hang you; whereas, if you own, you'll only get a couple of years in the 'pen.' Which 'ud you rather have, a couple o' years to work out, or your necks stretched?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, we'll 'fess, Mistah, we'll 'fess we done it; please, please don't let 'em hang us!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, that's something like it, said the prosecuting attorney as he rose to go."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll see what can be done for you."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jane!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, hit's you, is it, Bud, she said, raising her head slowly,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Howdy yoreself,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Bresh off yore pants an' set down,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jane, he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I jest can't wait fur my answer no longer! you got to tell me to-night, either one way or the other. Dock Heaters has been a-blowin' hit aroun' that he has beat my time with you. I don't believe it Jane, fur after keepin' me waitin' all these years, I don't believe you'd go back on me. You know I've allus loved you, ever sence we was little children together."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What do you say, Jane?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I hain't fitten fur you, Bud."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Don't talk that-a-way, Jane, you know ef you jest say 'yes,' I'll be the happiest man in the state."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, yes, then, Bud, for you're my choice, even ef I have fooled with you fur a long time; an' I'm glad now that I kin make somebody happy."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What's that?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's the boys gittin' worked up, I reckon. They're going to lynch them niggers to-night that burned ole man Williams out."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They mustn't do it, she cried."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They ain't never been tried!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Set down, Janey, said her lover,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't believe it, she exclaimed,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sh--Jane, you're excited, you ain't well; I noticed that when I first come to-night. Somebody's got to suffer fur that house-burnin', an' it might ez well be them ez anybody else. You mustn't talk so. Ef people knowed you wuz a standin' up fur niggers so, it 'ud ruin you."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Hello, there, Dock Heaters, that you?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, it's me. How are you, Jane?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, jest middlin', Dock, I ain't right well."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, you might be in better business than settin' out here talkin' to Bud Mason."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Don't know how as to that, said his rival,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You're a liar!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "was a hard name to swallow without resort to blows, but he only said, his flashing eyes belying his calm tone,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mebbe I am a liar, jest ast Jane."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Is that the truth, Jane?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, hit is, Dock Heaters, an' I don't see what you've got to say about it; I hain't never promised you nothin' shore."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You'd better go down, an' he'p hang them niggers, that's all you're good fur."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I must be goin', that yell means business."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Don't go down there, Bud! cried Jane."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Don't go, fur my sake, don't go."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You don't want me to miss nothin' like that, he said as he unclasped her arms;"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And in a moment he was gone, leaving her cry of"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Bud, Bud, come back,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "See ef they'll do anymore house-burnin'!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Reckon they'll like dancin' hemp a heap better,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Justice an' pertection!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The mills of the gods grind swift enough in Barlow County,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Let go this rope,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Let go yoreself, I cut it first, an' I'm a goin' to have it."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Let go, I say,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll die first, you dirty dog!"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He's killed him! Murder, murder!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Lynch him!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, cried an imperious voice,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I knowed it, I knowed it!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There was Salem and its witchcraft; there is the south and its lynching. When the blind frenzy of a people condemn a man as soon as he is accused, his enemies need not look far for a pretext!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Banner Club--an organization of social intent, but with political streaks--were a blaze of light that Christmas Eve night. On the lower floor some one was strumming on the piano, and upstairs, where the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "sat, and where the Sunday smokers were held, a man was singing one of the latest coon songs. The"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Banner always got them first, mainly because the composers went there, and often the air of the piece itself had been picked out or patched together, with the help of the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Banner's piano, before the song was taken out for somebody to set the"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, how'do, uncle! said the genial Mr. Turner, extending his hand."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Where did you stray from?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Howdy, son, howdy, returned the old man gravely."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I hails f'om Miss'ippi myse'f, a mighty long ways f'om hyeah."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, uncle, are you looking for a place to stay?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Not 'zackly, honey; not 'zackly. I come up hyeah a-lookin' fu' a son o' mine dat been away f'om home nigh on to five years. He live hyeah in Noo Yo'k, an' dey tell me whaih I 'quiahed dat I li'ble to fin' somebody hyeah dat know him. So I jes' drapped in."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I know a good many young men from the South. What's your son's name?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, he named aftah my ol' mastah, Zachariah Priestley Shackelford."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Zach Shackelford!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why, yes, I know your son, he said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He's in here almost every night, and he's pretty sure to drop in a little later on. He has been singing with one of the colored companies here until a couple of weeks ago."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Heish up; you don't say so. Well! well! well! but den Zachariah allus did have a mighty sweet voice. He tu'k hit aftah his mammy. Well, I sholy is hopin' to see dat boy. He was allus my favorite, aldough I reckon a body ain' got no livin' right to have favorites among dey chilluns. But Zach was allus sich a good boy."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dis is a mighty fine place you got hyeah. Hit mus' be a kind of a hotel or boa'din' house, ain't hit?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, something like."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We don' have nuffin' lak dis down ouah way. Co'se, we's jes' common folks. We wo'ks out in de fiel', and dat's about all we knows--fiel', chu'ch an' cabin. But I's mighty glad my Zach 's gittin' up in de worl'. He nevah were no great han' fu' wo'k. Hit kin' o' seemed to go agin his natur'. You know dey is folks lak dat."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Lots of 'em, lots of 'em,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "My, what a lot of boa'dahs you got."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They don't all stay here, answered Turner seriously;"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Den I 'low Zach'll be drappin' in presently. You mus' 'scuse me fu' talkin' 'bout him, but I's mighty anxious to clap my eyes on him. I's been gittin' on right sma't dese las' two yeahs, an' my ol' ooman she daid an' gone, an' I kin' o' lonesome, so I jes' p'omised mysef dis Crismus de gif' of a sight o' Zach. Hit do look foolish fu' a man ez ol' ez me to be a runnin' 'roun' de worl' a spen'in' money dis away, but hit do seem so ha'd to git Zach home."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How long are you going to be with us?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, I 'specs to stay all o' Crismus week."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Maybe-- began one of the men. But Turner interrupted him."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This gentleman is my guest. Uncle, turning to the old man,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I do' know, suh, he said, crossing his leg high."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I's Baptis' mys'f, but 'long o' dese Crismus holidays I's right fond of a little toddy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Excuse me, gentlemen, he said,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, this spo'tin' life is surely killin' me. The men exchanged startled glances. Turner looked at them, and there was a command in his eye. Several of them hurried out, and he himself arose, saying:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I've got to go out for a little while, but you just make yourself at home, uncle. You can lie down right there on that sofa and push that button there--see, this way--if you want some more toddy. It shan't cost you anything."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, I'll res' myself, but I ain' gwine sponge on you dat away. I got some money,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Your money's no good up here."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wh--wh--why, I thought dis money passed any whah in de Nunited States!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That's all right, but you can't spend it until we run out."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh! Why, bless yo' soul, suh, you skeered me. You sho' is clevah."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wha'sh de ol' man doin' at de 'Banner,' gittin' gay in his ol' days? Hic."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Look a-here, he said,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, Pap, he said when he saw the old man,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll be--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hem!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll be blessed!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Tsch! tsch! tsch! Dis is a Crismus gif' fu' sho'! His voice was shaking."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I's so glad to see you, honey; but chile, you smell lak a 'pothac'ay shop."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I ain't been right well lately,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, I's Baptis' myse'f, but seein' it's Crismus--"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mr. Johnson, he would say, when, coming from the down-town store where he worked, he would meet the two coming from their own labors in the brickyard,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, I don' know that Johnsonham is so much of a name, Ike would say; and Jim would reply:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I 'low it's mo' name than Johnson, anyhow."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "So is stealin' ham mo' than stealin',"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Take that, Mistah Johnsonham,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "James Johnsonham, Junior--how does that strike you?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Any bettah than Isaac Johnson, Junior? asked some one, slapping the happy Ike on the shoulder as the crowd burst into a loud guffaw. Jim's head was sadly bemuddled, and for a time he gazed upon the faces about him in bewilderment. Then a light broke in upon his mind, and with a"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Whoo-ee! he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ike Johnson got a boy at his house, too, he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It do beat all, she made answer airily;"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, Jim, she cried weakly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Nev' min', said Jim, huskily;"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jes' think, I said, only a day or so ago, Martha went on,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sh, sh, honey, said Jim, with a man's inadequacy in such a moment."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No; but I said it, I said it!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Po' Ike, said Jim absently;"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Won't you go thaih, she asked,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He don't speak to me."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You mus' speak to him; you got to do it, Jim; you got to."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What kin I say? 'Tildy's daid."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Go bring that po' little lamb hyeah, she said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I kin save it, an' 'ten' to two. It'll be a sort of consolation fu' him to keep his chile."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Kin you do that, Marthy? he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Kin you do that?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I know I kin."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ike,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "She's gone, he replied;"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I come fu' the baby, said Jim."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Marthy, she'll take keer of it."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ike, he went on,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm goin' to drop the 'Junior' an' the 'ham,' an' the two little ones'll jes' grow up togethah, one o' them lak the othah."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ask, and ye shall receive?"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Po' little lammie, she said to the child,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Mammy's little gal boun' to git well. Mammy gwine sen' huh out in de country when the spring comes, whaih she kin roll in de grass an' pick flowers an' git good an' strong. Don' baby want to go to de country? Don' baby want to see de sun shine?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Nemmine, we gwine fool dat doctah. Some day we'll th'ow all his nassy medicine 'way, an' he come in an' say: 'Whaih's all my medicine?' Den we answeh up sma't like: 'We done th'owed it out. We don' need no nassy medicine.' Den he look 'roun' an' say: 'Who dat I see runnin' roun' de flo' hyeah, a-lookin' so fat?' an' you up an' say: 'Hit's me, dat's who 'tis, mistah doctor man!' Den he go out an' slam de do' behin' him. Ain' dat fine?"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There is no place, said the faith curist,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now mammy's little gal gwine to git well fu' sho'. Mammy done bring huh somep'n' good."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How Lucy dis evenin', Mis' Benson?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, I think Lucy air right peart, Martha replied."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come over an' look at huh."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why, Mis' Mason, she said,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Po' Marfy, she jes' ez blind ez a bat. She jes' go 'long, holdin' on to dat chile wid all huh might, an' I see death in Lucy's face now. Dey ain't no faif nur prayer, nur Jack-leg doctors nuther gwine to save huh."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Give me some brown paper,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, we can look to have her out in a few days. Remember, my good woman, much depends upon you. You must try to keep your mind in a state of belief. Are you saved?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, yes, suh. I'm a puffessor,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I done brung my little lady bird huh somep'n nice, said Martha,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You sleep?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Lucy! Lucy! called the mother."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Lucy! Oh, Gawd! It ain't true! She ain't daid! My little one, my las' one!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Daid, daid, oh, my Gawd, gi' me back my chile! Oh, don't I believe you enough? Oh, Lucy, Lucy, my little lamb! I got you yo' gif'. Oh, Lucy!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord, and some one said"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Amen!"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, Frank, what is it now? I haven't gone through my mail yet."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Miss Kirkman is in the outer office, sir, and would like to see you this morning."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, Miss Kirkman, heh; well, show her in at once."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ah, Miss Kirkman, good-morning! Good-morning! Always prompt and busy, I see. Have a chair."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We'll get right to business, she said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I know you're busy, and so am I, and I want to get through. I've got to go and hunt a servant for Mrs. Senator Dutton when I leave here."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "is such an elastic word, and Miss Kirkman in reality was colored"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, from the way you're tossing the papers in that bag I know you've got some news for me."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, I have, but I don't know how important you'll think it is. Here we are!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's just a memorandum, a list of names of a few men who need watching. The Afro-American convention is to meet on the 22d; that's Thursday of next week. Bishop Carter is to preside. The thing has resolved itself into a fight between those who are office-holders and those who want to be."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, well what's the convention going to do?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They're going to denounce the administration."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Hem, well in your judgment, what will that amount to, Miss Kirkman?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They are the representative talking men from all sections of the country, and they have their following, and so there's no use disputing that they can do some harm."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Hum, what are they going to denounce the administration for?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, there's a spirit of general discontent, and they've got to denounce something, so it had as well be the administration as anything else."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Who are the leaders in this movement?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That's just what I brought this list for. There's Courtney, editor of the _New York Beacon_, who is rabid; there's Jones of Georgia, Gray of Ohio--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Whew, whistled the boss,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Gray of Ohio, why he's on the inside."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, and I can't see what's the matter with him, he's got his position, and he ought to keep his mouth shut."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, there are ways of applying the screw. Go on."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Then, too, there's Shackelford of Mississippi, Duncan of South Carolina, Stowell of Kentucky, and a lot of smaller fry who are not worth mentioning."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Are they organized?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, Courtney has seen to that, the forces are compact."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We must split them. How is the bishop?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Neutral."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Any influence?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Lots of it."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How's your young man, the one for whom you've been soliciting a place--what's his name?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Joseph Aldrich, you mean. You can trust to me to see that he's on the right side."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Happy is the man who has the right woman to boss him, and who has sense enough to be bossed by her; his path shall be a path of roses, and his bed a flowery bed of ease. Now to business. They must not denounce the administration. What are the conditions of membership in this convention?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Any one may be present, but it costs a fee of five dollars for the privilege of the floor."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Cash this, and pack that convention for the administration. I look to you and the people you may have behind you to check any rash resolutions they may attempt to pass. I want you to be there every day and take notes of the speeches made, and their character and tenor. I shall have Mr. Richardson there also to help you. The record of each man's speech will be sent to his central committee, and we shall know how to treat him in the future. You know, Miss Kirkman, it is our method to help our friends and to crush our enemies. I shall depend upon you to let me know which is which. Good-morning."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Good-morning, Mr. Hamilton."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And, oh, Miss Kirkman, just a moment. Frank, the secretary came in,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Certainly not,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Joseph Aldrich, Counselor and Attorney at Law."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How do, Joe."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, Miss Kirkman, I'm glad to see you,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What brings you out this way to-day?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll tell you. You've asked me to marry you, haven't you?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, I'm going to do it."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Annie, you make me too happy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That's enough, said Miss Kirkman, waving him away."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We haven't any time for romance now. I mean business. You're going to the convention next week."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And you're going to speak?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Of course."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That's right. Let me see your speech."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Uh, huh, 'wavering, weak, vaciliating adminstration, have not given us the protection our rights as citizens demanded--while our brothers were murdered in the South. Nero fiddled while Rome burned, while this modern'--uh, huh, oh, yes, just as I thought,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Miss Kirkman--Annie, what do you mean?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I mean that if you're going to marry me, I'm not going to let you go to the convention and kill yourself."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But my convictions--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Look here, don't talk to me about convictions. The colored man is the under dog, and the under dog has no right to have convictions. Listen, you're going to the convention next week and you're going to make a speech, but it won't be that speech. I have just come from Mr. Hamilton's. That convention is to be watched closely. He is to have his people there and they are to take down the words of every man who talks, and these words will be sent to his central committee. The man who goes there with an imprudent tongue goes down. You'd better get to work and see if you can't think of something good the administration has done and dwell on that."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Whew!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, I'm off."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But Annie, about the wedding?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Good-morning, we'll talk about the wedding after the convention."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I tell you, Gray, he was saying,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You're right, Elkins, said Gray, soberly,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I cannot and will not. I hold nothing from them, and I owe them nothing. I am only a bookkeeper in a commercial house, where their spite cannot reach me, so you may rest assured that I shall not bite my tongue."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Nor shall I. We shall all be colored men here together, and talk, I hope, freely one to the other. Shall you introduce your resolution to-day?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I won't have a chance unless things move more rapidly than I expect them to. It will have to come up under new business, I should think."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Hardly. Get yourself appointed on the committee on resolutions."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Good, but how can I?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll see to that; I know the bishop pretty well. Ah, good-morning, Miss Kirkman. How do you do, Aldrich?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That's Miss Kirkman. You've heard of her. She fetches and carries for Luther Hamilton and his colleagues, and has been suspected of doing some spying, also."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Who was that with her?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, that's her man Friday; otherwise Joseph Aldrich by name, a fellow she's trying to make something of before she marries him. She's got the pull to do it, too."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why don't you turn them down?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah, my boy, you're young, you're young; you show it. Don't you know that a wind strong enough to uproot an oak only ripples the leaves of a creeper against the wall? Outside of the race that woman is really considered one of the leaders, and she trades upon the fact."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But why do you allow this base deception to go?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Because, Elkins, my child, Gray put his hand on the other's shoulder with mock tenderness,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I see, but come on, let's go in; there goes the gavel."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The dear man, how eloquent he is."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We are here, gentlemen, pursued the bland presiding officer,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Conservatism be hanged! We have rolled that word under our tongues when we were being trampled upon; we have preached it in our churches when we were being shot down; we have taught it in our schools when the right to use our learning was denied us, until the very word has come to be a reproach upon a black man's tongue!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Order! Order! and"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sit down!"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mr. Chairman,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I don't like Jim Courtney's silence, whispered Stowell to a colleague."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There's never so much devil in him as when he keeps still. You look out for him when he does open up."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The Negro in the Higher Walks of Life."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And to the press of Washington, to whom I have before paid my respects, let me say that I am not afraid to have them take any word that I may say. I came here to meet them on their own ground. I will meet them with pen. I will meet them with pistol, and then raising his tall, spare form, he shouted,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, even though there is but one hundred and thirty-five pounds of me, I will meet them with my fists!"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Gentlemen, he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I wish you'd find out, Miss Kirkman, said Hamilton a couple of days later,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I have already done that. I thought you'd want to know,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ah, yes, he said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I have some business relations with that firm. I know them very well. Miss Anderson, he called to his stenographer,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, thank you, Mr. Hamilton; is there anything more I can do for you?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Nothing. Good-morning."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Good-morning."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I think, wrote Gray,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's a pity for a boy as bright as you are to be tied down in this God-forsaken place. How'd you like to go up to the Springs, Si, and work in a hotel?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'd like it powahful well, Mistah Ma'ston,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, I'm going up there, and the proprietor of one of the best hotels, the Fountain House, is a very good friend of mine, and I'll get him to speak to his head waiter in your behalf. You want to get out of here, and see something of the world, and not stay cooped up with nothing livelier than rabbits, squirrels, and quail."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mr."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Of co'se ef you wants to go, Silas, I ain't a-gwine to gainsay you, an' I hope it's all right, but sence freedom dis hyeah piece o' groun's been good enough fu' me, an' I reckon you mought a' got erlong on it."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But pap, you see it's diff'ent now. It's diff'ent, all I wanted was a chanst."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, I reckon you got it, Si, I reckon you got it."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I hyeah you gwine up to de Springs,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, suh, I's gwine up thaih to wo'k in a hotel. Mistah Ma'ston, he got me the job."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I hyeah tell it's powahful wicked up in dem big cities."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, I reckon I ain't a-goin' to do nuffin wrong. I's goin' thaih to wo'k."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, you has been riz right, commented the old man doubtfully,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and it filled him with unspeakable joy. His brothers and sisters regarded his new magnificence with envying admiration. It would be a long while before they got away from bagging, homespun, and copperas-colored cotton, whacked out into some semblance of garments by their"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I pussoom, said Mr. Buckner,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, suh, I reckon I is. He p'omised to git me a job up hyeah, an' I got yo' lettah--"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ve'y well, suh, ve'y well. You are evidently the p'oper pusson, as I reco'nize this as my own chirography."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I ca'culate that you have nevah had no experience in hotel work,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I's nevah done nuffin' but wo'k on a farm; but evahbody 'lows I's right handy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I see, I see, said the head waiter."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, we'll endeavor to try an' see how soon you can learn. Mistah Smith, will you take this young man in charge, an' show him how to get about things until we are ready to try him in the dinin'-room?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I guess it'll be a little strange at first, if you've never been a hotel man, but you'll ketch on. Just you keep your eye on me."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, that isn't Si, is it?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, suh,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, well, well, what a change. Why, boy, you've developed into a regular fashion-plate. I hope you're not advertising for any of the Richmond tailors. They're terrible Jews, you know."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You see, a man has to be neat aroun' the hotel, Mistah Ma'ston."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Whew, and you've developed dignity, too. By the Lord Harry, if I'd have made that remark to you about a year and a half ago, there at the cabin, you'd have just grinned. Ah, Silas, I'm afraid for you. You've grown too fast. You've gained a certain poise and ease at the expense of--of--I don't know what, but something that I liked better. Down there at home you were just a plain darky. Up here you are trying to be like me, and you are colored."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Of co'se, Mistah Ma'ston, said Silas politely, but deprecatingly,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Platitudes--the last straw! exclaimed Mr. Marston tragically."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There's an old darky preacher up at Richmond who says it does, and I'm sure I think more of his old fog-horn blasts than I do of your parrot tones. Ah! Si, this is the last time that I shall ever fool with good raw material. However, don't let this bother you. As I remember, you used to sing well. I'm going to have some of my friends up at my rooms to-night; get some of the boys together, and come and sing for us. And remember, nothing hifalutin; just the same old darky songs you used to sing."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "All right, suh, we'll be up."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, I'm glad there's one thing you haven't lost, and that's your voice."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, he used to exclaim in the sudden bursts of enthusiasm to which he was subject,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Bright Sparkles in the Churchyard, was dressed in a Fauntleroy suit, and put on to sing in a scene from"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Rigoletto."
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Poor fellow, he said,"
}
] |
15886
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why, I tell you, man, said Frye,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And so he inspired the singer with some of his own spirit. They went to work with a will. Silas might have been reluctant as he felt the strain upon him grow, but that he had spent all his money, and Frye, as he expressed it, was"
}
] |
433287
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We have some places to call at to-morrow, have we?"
}
] |
395575
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Elspeth, I said hoarsely,"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dielectrics, eh? rumbled Culquhoun one sunny May afternoon."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "So that's your latest kick, laddie. What about it?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I have some ideas on the theory of dielectric polarization, said Arch."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's still not too well understood, you know."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yeh? Culquhoun turned as Elizabeth brought in a tray of dewed glasses."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Thank'ee kindly. One hairy hand engulfed a goblet and he drank noisily."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ahhhh! Your taste in beer is as good as your taste in politics is moldy. Go on."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Maybe I shouldn't, he said, feeling his old nervousness rise within him."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You see, I'm operating purely on a hunch. I've got the math pretty well whipped into shape, but it all rests on an unproven postulate about the nature of the electric field. I've tried to fit it in with both relativity and quantum mechanics and--well, like I said, it's all just a notion of mine which demands experimental proof before I can even think about publishing."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What sort of proof?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's this way. By far the best dielectric found to date is a mixture of barium and strontium titanates. Under optimum conditions, the dielectric constant goes up to 11,600, though the loss rate is still pretty high. There's a partial explanation for this on the basis of crystal theory, the dipole moment increases under an electric field.... Well, you know all that. My notion involves an assumption about the nature of the crystalline ionic bond; I threw in a correction for relativistic and quantum effects which _looks_ kosher but really hasn't much evidence to back it up. So--uh--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Our idea suggests it should be possible to fit a crystalline system into an organic grid in such a way that a material can be made with just about any desired values of dielectricity and resistivity, she said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Constants up in the millions if you want. Physically and chemically stable. The problem is to find the conditions which will produce such an unorthodox linkage. We've been cooking batches of stuff for weeks now."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Any luck?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not so far, she laughed."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "All we've gotten is smelly, sticky messes. The structure we're after just doesn't want to form. We're trying different catalysts now, but it's mostly cut and try; neither of us is enough of a chemist to predict what'll work."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come along and see,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Our failures, she said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Maybe we could patent the formula for glue. It certainly sticks tightly enough."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Got a while to go yet, he said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The catalyst this time is powdered ferric oxide--plain rust to you. The materials include aluminum oxide, synthetic rubber, and some barium and titanium compounds. I must admit that part of it is cheap."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What'll you do with the material if it does come out?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh--it'd make damn good condensers, said Arch."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Insulation, too. There ought to be a lot of money in it. Really, though, the theory interests me more. Care to see it?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But don't bother with it now, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I blew us to a new Bach the other day--St. Matthew Passion."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mon, mon, whispered the professor at last."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What he could have done with the bagpipes!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Barbarian,"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Why doesn't it arc over?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Electric field's entirely inside the slab, said Arch absently."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You need a solid conductor, like a wire, between the poles to discharge it. The breakdown voltage is so high that you might as well forget about it. He lifted a piece about ten inches square and two inches thick."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You could charge this hunk up with enough juice to run our house for a couple of years, I imagine; of course, it'd be D.C., so you'd have to drain it through a small A.C. generator. The material itself costs, oh, I'd guess fifty cents, a dollar maybe if you include labor. He hesitated."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You know, it occurs to me we've just killed the wet-cell battery."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Good riddance, said Elizabeth."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The first thing you do, my boy, is make a replacement for that so-called battery in our car. I'm tired of having the clunk die in the middle of traffic."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Okay, said Arch mildly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Then we see about patents. But--honey, don't you think this deserves a small celebration of sorts?"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dad says you've got a new kind of battery,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Uh.... Yes. I'll make him one if he wants. All we'll need to charge it is a rectifier and a volt-meter. Need a regulator for the discharge, of course."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I've got a better idea, sir, said the boy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'd like to buy a _big_ piece of the stuff from you."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Whatever for?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Run my hot rod off it, said Bob from the lofty eminence of sixteen years."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Shouldn't be too hard, should it? Rip out the engine; use the big condenser to turn a D.C. motor--it'd be a lot cheaper than gas, and no plugged fuel lines either."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You know, said Arch,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I never thought of that."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why a regular motor? he mused."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If you have D.C. coming out at a controlled rate, you could use it to turn your main drive shaft by a very simple and cheap arrangement."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, sure, said Robert scornfully."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That's what I meant. Any backyard mechanic could fix that up--if he didn't electrocute himself first. But how about it, Dr. Arch? How much would you want for a piece like that?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I haven't the time, said the physicist."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Tell you what, though, I'll give you a copy of the specs and you can make your own. There's nothing to it, if your mother will let you have the oven for a day. Cost you maybe five dollars for materials."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sell it for twenty-five, said Bob dreamily."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Look, Dr. Arch, would you like to go into business with me? I'll pay you whatever royalty seems right."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm going to Boston with just that in mind, said Arch, fumbling with the cables."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "However, go ahead. Consider yourself a licensee. I want ten percent of the selling price, and I'll trust a Scotch Yankee like you to make me a million."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It looks all right, he said unemotionally. Nothing ever seemed to excite him."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "For a change, this seems to be something which can be patented, even under our ridiculous laws. Not the law of nature you've discovered, of course, but the process-- He peered up, sharply."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Is there any alternative process?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Not that I know of, said Arch."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "On the basis of theory, I'm inclined to doubt it."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Very well, very well. I'll see about putting it through. Hm--you say it's quite simple and cheap? Better keep your mouth shut for a while, till the application has been approved. Otherwise everybody will start making it, and you'll have a devil of a time collecting your royalties. A patent is only a license to sue, you know, and you can't sue fifty million bathtub chemists."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, said Arch, taken aback."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I--well, I've told some of my neighbors, of course. One of the local teen-agers is going to make a car powered by--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You would! Can't you shoot the boy?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't want to. For a person his age, he's quite inoffensive."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, well, you didn't want a hundred million dollars anyway, did you? I'll try to rush this for you, that may help."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "College will soon be letting out all over the country, said Elizabeth."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Stand by to repel boarders!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mmmm ... yes, I suppose so."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hello?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Dr. Arch? The voice was smooth and cultivated, just a trace of upper-class New York accent."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How do you do, sir. My name is Gilmer, Linton Gilmer, and I represent several important corporations in the electricity field. He named them, and Arch barely suppressed a whistle."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Dr. Bowyer of the _Journal_ staff mentioned your work to one of his friends in an industrial research lab. He was quite excited, and you can understand that we are too. I believe I have some good news for you, if I may come to see you."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Eh--oh. Oh, sure! Visions whirled across Arch's eyes. Money! It represented a hi-fi set, a three-penny black, an automatic dishwasher, a reliable car, a new oscilloscope, a son and heir."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Come on up, b-by all means--Yes, right away if you like--Okay, I--I'll be seeing you-- He set the receiver down with a shaking hand and bawled:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Betty! Company coming!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, damn! said his wife, sticking a grease-smudged face in the door. She had been tinkering with the lab oven."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And the house in such a mess! So am I, for that matter. Hold the fort when he comes, darling. She still didn't know who"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Very pleased to meet you, Dr. Arch ... brilliant achievement.... We borrowed proof sheets from the _Journal_ and made tests for ourselves, of course. I'm sure you don't mind. Thank you."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What did you want to s-see me about?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, well, sir, let's get acquainted first, said Gilmer heartily."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No rush. No hurry. I envy you scientific fellows. The unending quest, thrill of discovery, yes, science was my first love, but I'm afraid I sort of got steered off into the business administration end. I know you scientists don't think much of us poor fellows behind the desks, you should hear how our boys gripe when we set the appropriations for their projects, but somebody has to do that, ha. Gilmer made a bridge of plump fingers."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I do think, though, Dr. Arch, that this hostility is coming to an end. We're both part of the team, you know; scientist and businessman both work inside our free enterprise system to serve the American public. And more and more scientists are coming to recognize this."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Excuse me, but isn't that sort of thing against the anti-trust laws?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, no! Gilmer laughed."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Quite the opposite, I assure you. If one company tried to corner this product, or if all of them went together to drive the price up, that would be illegal, of course. But we all believe in healthy competition, and only want information at the moment. Negotiations can come later."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Okay, said Arch."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I suppose you know I've already applied for a patent."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, yes, of course. Very shrewd of you. I like to deal with a good businessman. I think you're more broadminded than some of your colleagues, and can better understand the idea of teamwork between business and science. Gilmer looked out the French doors to the building in the rear."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Is that your laboratory? I admire a man who can struggle against odds. You have faith, and deserve to be rewarded for it. How would you like to work with some real money behind you?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You mean, take a job on somebody's staff?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not as a lab flunky, said Gilmer quickly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You'd have a free hand. American business recognizes ability. You'd plan your own projects, and head them yourself. My own company is prepared to offer you twenty thousand a year to start."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "After taxes,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How about this--capacitite, I call it?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Naturally, development and marketing would be in the hands of the company, or of several companies, said Gilmer."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You wouldn't want to waste your time on account books. You'd get proper payment for the assignment, of course--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Your time is valuable, Mr. Gilmer, she said abruptly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why don't you make an offer and we'll talk about that?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, no hurry, Mrs. Arch. I was hoping you would be my guests tonight--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, thanks. With all due regard for you, I don't want to be put under a moral obligation before business is discussed."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I like Westfield, said Elizabeth."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't like New York. It isn't fit for human consumption."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, I quite agree, said Gilmer."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Once a year I have to break loose--cabin up in Maine, hunting, fishing, back to Nature--you really must come up sometime soon. Your objection can be answered easily enough. We could set up a laboratory for you here, if you really insist. You see, we're prepared to be very generous."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, he said harshly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, thanks. I like being independent."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I understand that. But after all, the only difference would be--"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, he repeated."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That's all I want to say about it, too. The income from capacitite will be quite enough for us. If you want to discuss a license to manufacture, go ahead."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hrm! As you wish. Gilmer smoothed the coldness out of his voice."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Maybe you'll change your mind later. If so, feel free to call on me anytime. Now, for an assignment of rights, I think a sum of fifty thousand dollars could be arranged--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "As an initial payment, perhaps, she said gently."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But think what a royalty of, say, ten cents a pound would add up to even in a year."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, yes, that would be negotiated too, said Gilmer."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "However, you realize manufacture could not start immediately, and would in any case be on a smaller scale than you perhaps think."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Eh? Arch sat bolt upright."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What do you mean? Why, this stuff is going to revolutionize not only electronics, but all power--dammit, everything!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dr. Arch, said Gilmer regretfully,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Gasoline, said Elizabeth."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We've thought of that angle too."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We _can't_ throw all that in the discard! went on Gilmer earnestly. He seemed more human, all at once."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It may take twenty years to recover the investment in, say, a local transmission network. The company would go broke overnight if that investment were suddenly made valueless. Millions of people would be thrown out of work. Millions more would lose their savings in stocks and bonds--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I always said stocks were a mug's game, interrupted Arch."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If the two or three shares owned by the widow and orphan you're leading up to go blooey, it won't break her. For years, now, I've had ads dinning the wonders of the present economic system into my ears. One of its main features, I'm told, is progress. All right, here's a chance to leap a hundred years ahead. Let's see you take it."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm afraid you still don't understand, he replied."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We have a responsibility. The world is watching us. Just imagine what those British Socialists would say if--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If you're against socialism, said Elizabeth with a laugh,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This is no place for radicals, he said thickly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We've all got to have faith and put our shoulders to the wheel. We-- He paused, swallowed, and smiled rather stiffly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Excuse me. I didn't mean to get worked up. There are a lot of stories about wonderful new inventions which the greedy corporations have bought up and hidden away. They simply are not true. All I'm after is a gradual introduction of this material."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A big thing like capacitite represents a chance to change our whole philosophy into something more rational. That's what I'm after--not just money. There needn't be any unemployment. Capacitite makes increased production possible, so why not--well, why not drop the work day to four hours for the same wages? Then you can employ twice as many people."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is not your or my place to make carping criticisms, retorted Gilmer."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Fundamental changes aren't as easy as you think. Dr. Arch, I'm sorry to say that unless you'll agree to proper terms, none of the companies I represent will be interested in your material."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "All right, snapped Arch."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I can make it myself. Make it by the ton if I like, and sell it for a dollar a pound."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You may find yourself undersold."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "My patent--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It hasn't gone through yet. That takes time, plenty of time if you don't want to cooperate. And even if it is granted, which I by no means guarantee, you'll have to sue infringers; and do you know how crowded court calendars are? And how expensive a series of appeals can make such a suit?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Okay, said Elizabeth sweetly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Go ahead and make it. You just got through telling us why you can't."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This is a great country, he said, with more sincerity than Arch had expected."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No country on earth has ever been so rich and happy. Do you know how it got that way?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "By progressing, said Arch."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "For your information, I am not a leftist; I'll bet I'm far to the right of you. So far, that I still believe in full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm afraid tempers are getting a little short, he said quietly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I beg of you to reconsider. We'll fight for the public interest if we must, but we'd rather cooperate. May I leave my card? You can always get in touch with me."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, Killer, said the girl at last,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I hope we haven't taken too big a chaw to swallow."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You're up against it, laddie, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They'll defend their coffers to the bitter end."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It isn't that. Arch stared moodily into the darkness."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't think they're a bunch of monsters--no more than anybody else. They just believe in the status quo. So do you, you know."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How? Culquhoun bristled."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll admit I'm not the hell-fire revolutionary of my undergraduate days, but I still think a basic change is called for."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What we need is not to go back to living in log cabins, but to make the means of sustenance and the sources of energy so cheap that every man can have them in sufficient quantity to live and work. I don't know--maybe I'm being vainglorious, but it does seem as if capacitite is a long step in that direction."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I warn you, you're talking good Marxism, said Culquhoun with a grin."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The means of production determine the type of society."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'd like to see the possibility of individualism available again to the American people. If they're too far gone to accept it, to hell with them."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Come inside, dear, she said thinly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I've got some bad news. When he was in the house, she added:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Two FBI men are on their way here."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What the devil? Arch felt a gulp of fear. It was irrational he told himself. The FBI was no Gestapo; on the whole, he approved of it. Maybe some friend had given his name as a security reference."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "All right. We'll see what they want."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm going to start some coffee, said Elizabeth."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Lucky we've got a cake too."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Huh?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You'll see. She patted his cheek and managed a smile."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You're too innocent, sweetheart."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, said Arch a little huskily,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You can answer some questions, if you please, said Sagdahl tonelessly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You don't have to answer any, and whatever you say can be used in evidence."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I haven't broken any laws that I know of,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That remains to be seen. This is an investigation."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Whatever _for_?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dr. Arch, said Sagdahl patiently,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I didn't have to go through channels, said Arch."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I've never gotten any confidential data, or even applied for a clearance. I work for myself and--"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Let's get down to business, said Sagdahl."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Everything will be a lot easier if you cooperate. Now, where were you born?"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I see. Now, when you graduated--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Pardon me, she smiled."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I think refreshments are in order."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, it's a pleasure, said Elizabeth blandly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You boys are doing your duty, and really, this is very exciting."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now, when you graduated, Dr. Arch, you took a vacation, you say. Where was that?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Up in Quebec. About three months. Just driving around and--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I see. Then you returned to school for a master's degree, right? Did you at this time know a Joseph Barrett?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, yes, I shared an office with him."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Did you ever discuss politics with him?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Drink your coffee before it gets cold, said Elizabeth."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There's plenty more."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh--thanks. Now, about this Barrett?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We argued a lot. You see, I'm frankly a reactionary--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Were you associated with any political-action group?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mr. Horrisford, said Elizabeth reproachfully,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, I wasn't that interested, said Arch."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Didn't even bother to vote in '50."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Here, Mr. Sagdahl, do have some more cake."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Thanks!--You met some of Barrett's friends?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, I was at some parties and--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Excuse me, I'll just warm your coffee."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Did you at this time know anyone who had worked in the Manhattan Project?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Of course. They were all over the place. But I never was told anything restricted, never asked for--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Please, Mr. Horrisford! It's my favorite recipe."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ummm. Thank you, but--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You met your future wife when?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Excuse me, there's the phone... Hello. Mrs. Arch speaking... Oh?... Yes, I'll see... Pardon me. There's a man from the Associated Press in town. He wants to see you, dear."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Stall him off, he groaned."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Please."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Can't do that forever, said Arch."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Not under the circumstances."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I realize that, Dr. Arch. Sagdahl clenched his jaw."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But this is unprecedented. As an American citizen, you'll want to--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Certainly we'll cooperate, said Elizabeth brightly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But what shall I tell the AP man? That we're not supposed to say anything to anyone?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No! That won't do, not now. But--are all the technical details of this public?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why, yes, said Arch."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Anybody can make capacitite."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If you issued a denial--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Too late, I'm afraid. Somebody's bound to try it anyway."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You can be held incommunicado, he said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This is a very serious matter."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, said Elizabeth."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The AP man will think so too, if he can't get a story."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, dear! My Russell Wright coffee cup!"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I never thought--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Exactly, rumbled Culquhoun."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "People like you are one reason science is coming to be considered a Frankenstein. Dammit, man, the researcher has to have a social conscience like the rest of us."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But I do, he said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I gave considerable thought to the social effects. I just imagined that they'd be good. That's been the case with every major innovation, in the long run."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You've committed a crime, said Culquhoun."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Idealism. It doesn't fit the world we inhabit."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What was I supposed to do? he snapped."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Burn my results and forget them? If the human race is too stupid to use the obvious advantages, that's its own fault."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You're making a common error, dear, said Elizabeth."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You speak of the human race. There isn't any. There are only individual people and groups of people, with their own conflicting interests."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hello, there, he said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Haven't seen you in a long time."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I--well-- Arch looked guiltily at the oil-stained floor."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm afraid--your business--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, don't worry about me. I've got more business than I can handle. Everybody in town seems to want his car converted over to your type of engine. That young Bob is turning out the stuff like a printing press gone berserk."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But--aren't your gasoline sales dropping?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "To be sure. But cars still need lubrication and--Look, you know the old watermill down by Ronson's farm? I'm buying that, putting in a generator and a high-voltage transformer and rectifier. I'll be selling packaged power. A lot easier than running a gas pump, at my age."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Won't the power company be competing?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Eventually. Right now, they're still waiting for orders from higher up, I guess. Some people can charge their capacitors right at home, but most would rather not buy the special equipment. They'll come to me, and by the time the power outfit gets wise to itself, I'll 've come in on the ground floor."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Thanks, said Arch, a little shakily."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It makes me feel a lot better."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's what you'd expect, laddie, said Culquhoun. They were over at his house. Outside, a slow cold rain washed endlessly down the windows."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Over production--over-capitalization--I could have predicted all this."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Damn it to hell, it doesn't make _sense_! protested Arch."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "A new energy source should make everything cheaper for everybody--more production available for less work."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Production for use instead of for profit--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, dry up, will you? Any system is a profit system. It has to show a profit in some terms or other, or it would just be wasted effort. And the profit has to go to individuals, not to some mythical state. The state doesn't eat--people do."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Would you have the oil interests simply write off their investment?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, of course not. Why couldn't they--Look. Gasoline can still run generators. Oil can still lubricate. Byproducts can still be synthesized. It's a matter of shifting the emphasis of production, that's all. All that's needed is a little common sense."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Which is a rather scarce commodity."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There, said Arch gloomily,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The trouble is, said Bob earnestly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There aren't any ideas, said Elizabeth."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not big sweeping ones to solve everything overnight. Man doesn't work that way. What happens is that somebody solves his own immediate, personal problems, somebody else does the same, and eventually society as a whole fumbles its way out of the dilemma."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This is getting over my head, he admitted."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Thanks for small blessings: the thing has grown so big that I, personally, am becoming forgotten."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm kind of tired tonight, he went on."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Maybe we better be running along. Thanks for the drinks and all."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Poor darling, Elizabeth took his arm."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Don't worry. We'll get through all right."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I hope so,"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Arch?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What the devil--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Don't move, you. It was a harsh, broken tone."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Right now I'm aiming at your wife. I'd as soon shoot her, too."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Not a word, you--. Not another word. You've said too goddam much already. The gun poked forward, savagely."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm going to kill you. You did your best to kill me."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What do you mean? she whispered."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We never saw you before."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No. But you took away my job. I was in the breadlines back in the thirties. I'm there again, and it's your fault, you--Got any prayers to say?"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mr. Horrisford,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The same, said the FBI man."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That was a close one. You can be thankful you're an object of suspicion, Arch. What was he after?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Unemployed-- he mumbled."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Bitter about it--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yeah. I thought so. You may be having more trouble of that sort. This depression, people have someone concrete to blame. Horrisford stuck the gun in his pocket and helped up his half-conscious victim."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Let's get this one down to the lockup. Here, you support him while I put on some handcuffs."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But I wanted to help his kind,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You didn't, said Horrisford."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'd better arrange for a police guard."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh--come in, he said"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Excuse the mess. I--haven't been feeling so well."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Anyone here?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Just my wife."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "She'll be all right, said the stranger impatiently. He was a big, stiff, gray-haired man."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Bring her in, please. This is important."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Major General Brackney of Strategic Services."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This is most irregular, said the general."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "However, we've put through a special check on you. A fast but very thorough check. In spite of your errors of judgment, the FBI is convinced of your essential loyalty. Your discretion is another matter."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I can keep my mouth shut, if that's what you mean,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes. You kept one secret for ten years, said Horrisford."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The business of Mrs. Ramirez."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "How the deuce--? That was a personal affair. I've never told a soul, not even my wife!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We have our little ways. Horrisford grinned, humanly enough."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The point is that you could have gained somewhat by blabbing, but didn't. It speaks well for you."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We want your help on a certain top-secret project, he said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You still know more about capacitite than anybody else. But if one word of this leaks out prematurely, it means war. Atomic war. It also means that all of us, and you particularly, will be crucified."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I can't say more till you take the oath, and once you've done that you're under all the usual restrictions. Care to help out?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm game,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Offhand, it looks as if you've done a grave disservice to your country. It's been pointed out in the press that transporting fuel is the major problem of logistics. In fact, for the Russians it's _the_ problem, since they can live off the countries they invade to a degree we can't match. You've solved that for them, and once they convert their vehicles we can expect them to start rolling. They and their allies--especially the Chinese. This discovery is going to make them a first-class power."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I've heard that,"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now, then. Basically, the idea is this. We've got plants set up to turn out capacitite in trainload lots. We can, I think, make weapons capable of stopping a tank for a couple of dollars apiece. Do you agree?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Why--yes, said Arch."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I've been considering it lately. A rifle discharging its current through magnetic coils to drive a steel-jacketed bullet--the bullet could be loaded with electricity too. Or a Buck Rogers energy gun: a hand weapon with a blower run off the capacitor, sucking in air at the rear and spewing it out between two electrodes like a gigantic arc-welding flame. Or--yes, there are all kinds of possibilities."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We want you in on it as design and production consultants. Leave tomorrow, be gone for several months probably. It's going to have to be highly organized, so it can be sprung as a surprise; otherwise the Soviet bosses, who are no fools, will hit. But your part will be in production. Are you game?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's--astonishing, said Elizabeth."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Frankly, I didn't think the government had that much imagination."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We're probably exceeding our authority, admitted Brackney."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "By rights, of course, Congress should be consulted, but this is like the Louisiana Purchase: there's no time to do so."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What's so funny?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The idea--what old Clausewitz would say--winning wars by arming the enemy! Sure--sure, I'm in. Gladly!"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I guess you're all through now,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "About time, grumbled the girl."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We've been sitting on our hands here for a month, just puttering."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The stuff had to be shipped out, said the general mildly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We didn't dare risk having the secret revealed. But we're rolling overseas, it's too late to stop anything. He shrugged."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Naturally, the government isn't admitting its part in this. Officially, the weapons were manufactured by independent operators in Europe and Asia, and you'll have to keep quiet about the truth for a long time--not that the comrades won't be pretty sure, but it just can't be openly admitted. However, there are no security restrictions on the gadgets themselves, as of today."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That surprises me,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's simple enough. Everything is so obvious, really--any handyman can make the same things for himself. A lot have been doing it, too. No secrets exist to be given away, that's all. Brackney hesitated."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We'll fly you back home anytime you wish. But if you want to stay on a more permanent basis, we'll be glad to have you."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, thanks!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This has all been temporary, said the general."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We were in such a hell of a hurry. Better housing will be built now."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Nevertheless, no,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I can't stop you, of course. But I don't think you realize how tough it's getting outside, and how much worse it's going to get. A revolution is starting, in more senses than one, and you'll be safer here."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I heard something about that, agreed Arch."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Discontented elements making their own weapons, similar to ours--what of it?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Plenty, said the officer with a note of grimness."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's an ugly situation. A lot of people are out of work, and even those who still have jobs don't feel secure in them. There are a dozen crank solutions floating around, everything from new political theories to new religious sects, and each one is finding wider acceptance than I'd have believed possible."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It doesn't surprise me, said Arch."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There's a queer strain of the True Believer in American culture. You know how many utopian colonies we've had throughout our history? And the single tax party, and prohibition, and communism in the thirties. People in this country want something concrete to believe in, and all but a few of the churches have long ago degenerated into social clubs."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The regular armed forces have to be mobilized to stop anything the Soviets may try. The police and the National Guard have their hands full in the big cities. The result is, that authority is breaking down everywhere else. There's real trouble ahead, I tell you."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "All right, said Arch."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That's as may be. But our town is a collection of pretty solid folk--and we want to go home."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "On your heads be it. There'll be a plane at six tomorrow."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Rough, he answered."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "See this?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, look now--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Mister, I live in Brooklyn. I don't get home till after dark, and the police cordons don't go closer than six blocks to my place. I've had to shoot twice already in the past couple months."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Bandits?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "In gangs, mister. If I could work somewhere closer to home, I'd be off like a shot."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Look, she said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "See those clothes?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They're dresses, said Arch moodily."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What about them?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No style change in six months, that's all, said Elizabeth."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It gives me the creeps."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mon, it's guid to see ye again! The great paw engulfed his hand."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Where've ye been a' the while?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Can't tell you that,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Aweel, you'll permit me to make my own guesses, then. Culquhoun cocked an eye at the paper."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Who do they think they're fooling, anyhow? We can look for the Russian bombers any day now."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Quite possibly, he said at last."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But with their internal troubles, they won't be able to make many raids, or any big ones--and the little they will be able to throw at us should be stopped while they're still over northern Canada."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Let's hope so, nodded Culquhoun."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But the people in the large cities won't want to take the chance. There's going to be an exodus of considerable dimensions in the next few days, with all that that implies. He paused, frowning."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I've spent the last couple of months organizing a kind of local militia. Bob has been making capacitite guns, and there are about a hundred of us trying to train ourselves. Want in on it?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They'd probably shoot me first,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No. There's less feeling against you locally than you seem to think. After all, few if any of the people in this area have been hurt--they're farmers, small shopkeepers trading in the essentials, students, college employees. Many of them have actually benefited. You have your enemies here, but you have more friends."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I think, said Arch thinly,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ah, foosh, mon! If you hadn't brought the stuff out, somebody else would have. It's not your fault that we don't have the kind of economy to absorb it smoothly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "All right, said Arch without tone."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll join your minute men. There doesn't seem to be anything else to do."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But what'll they do? he asked blindly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Where will they stay? My God, there are women and children in those cars!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Women and children here in town too, said Hinkel."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We've got to look after our own. It won't kill these characters to go a few days without eating. Every house here is filled already--there've been refugees trickling in for weeks."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We could bunk down a family in our place,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Save that space, answered Hinkel."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It'll be needed later."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You and Betty come up to the college, Somerset Hall, right away. There's hell to pay."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How--?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Our lookout on the water tower has seen fires starting to the south. Something's approaching, and it doesn't look friendly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Slowly, he nodded."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We'll be right along."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There you are, he snapped."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Betty, can you help take charge of the women and children and old people? Get them inside--this one building ought to hold them all, with some crowding. Kind of circulate around, keep them calm. We'll pass out coffee and doughnuts as soon as the Salvation Army bunch can set up a canteen."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What's the plan?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I don't know what those arsonists intend or where they're bound, said Culquhoun,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Colin, it can't be! Plain people like us--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Hungry, frightened, angry, desperate, confused people. A mob has nothing to do with the individuals in it, my friend. And one small push is enough to knock down a row of dominoes. Once lawlessness really gets started, a lot of others are driven into it in self-defense."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "About a hundred, marching down the highway, he panted."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They threw a couple shots at me."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Stay here, said Culquhoun."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'm going down to see if we can't parley. I'll want about ten men with me. Volunteers?"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Okay, if yuh wanna talk, go ahead."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Cover me,"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Okay, pal, said the leader."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This is O'Farrell's bunch, and we're after food and shelter. What can yuh do for us?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Food and shelter? Culquhoun glanced at the trucks."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You seem to've been helping yourselves pretty generously already."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What'd yuh have us do? Starve?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You're from the Boston area, I suppose. You could have stayed there."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And been blown off the map!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It hasn't happened yet, said Culquhoun mildly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's not likely to happen, either. They have organized relief back there, you didn't have to starve. But no, you panicked and then you turned mean."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's easy enough for yuh to say so. _Yuh're_ safe. We're here after our proper share, that's all."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Your proper share is waiting in Boston, said Culquhoun with a sudden chill."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Now, if you want to proceed through our town, we'll let you; but we don't want you to stay. Not after what you've been doing lately."
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Out the rear! he snapped."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We'll have to fight!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Keep drawing 'em on, boys, he said as he knelt in the slush and snapped a shot."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If they spread through town, we'll have hell's own time routing 'em all out--but this way--"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ye did richt well, laddie, he rumbled."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No bad at all."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What's happening? groaned Arch."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What's become of the world?"
}
] |
59314
|
Unknown Title
|
Unknown Author
|
[
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We'll learn how fast enough, I imagine. There's going to be order again, if only because the majority of people are decent, hard-working fellows who won't put up with much more of this sort of thing. But there has to be a transition period, and what counts is surviving that."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If I hadn't--Colin, it's enough to make a man believe in demoniac possession."
}
] |
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