book_id
stringlengths 2
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| title
stringclasses 1
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listlengths 1
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|---|---|---|---|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Still pinning your faith to steel-jacketed streams of bullets, are you, as against ion-jacketed streams of vibrations? the Master rallied him."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We shall see, immediately, whether you're right or _I_ am! Bullets are all well enough in their place, Major, but electrons are sometimes necessary. Vibrations, Major--I pin my faith to vibrations."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Vibrate all you want to! exclaimed the Celt, irefully, his eyes on the thickening swarm of flyers, some of them now plainly visible in detail against the aching smears of color flung across the eastern reaches of cloudland."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Vibrate away; but give me _this_! He fondled the gleaming gun as if it had been a pet."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I tell you frankly, if I were in charge here, I'd let the vibrations go to Hell and begin pumping lead. I'd have all gun-crews at stations, and the second we got in range I'd open with all six Lewises!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The secret of life, of the universe itself, is vibration. If we understood all about that, the cosmos would have no secrets from us. So now--ah, see there, will you? See, Major, and be convinced!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "See there, now!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Lord above!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Astonished, eh? demanded the Master, smiling with malice."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Didn't think it would work, did you? Well, which do you choose now, Major--bullets or vibrations?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This--this is extraordinary! exclaimed Bohannan. His glasses traveled to and fro, sweeping the fringelike fan of the attackers, still five or six miles away."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Faith, but this is--"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "My device is the absolute ruler of whatever spark I direct it against. Our own ignition is screened; but all others within the critical radius become impotent. So you recognize, do you not, the uselessness of machine-guns? The groundlessness of any fears about the Air Patrol's forces?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Lord, but this is wonderful! Bohannan ejaculated."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If we'd only had this in the Great War, the Hun would have been wiped out in a month!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, but we didn't have it, the Master smiled."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I've just finished perfecting it. Put the last touches on it hardly twenty-four hours ago. If there's ever another war, though--ah, see there, now! Here comes one lone, last attacker!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He has his nerve right in his baggage with him, announced the Celt."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sure, he's 'there.' There can be no doubt he's seen the others fall. Yet--what now? He's turning tail, eh? He's on the run?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not a bit of it! He's driving straight ahead. That was only a dip and turn, for better air. Ah, but he's good, that fellow! There's a man after my own heart, Major. Maybe there's more than one, aboard that plane. But there's one, anyhow, that's a real man!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Enemark? he called."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That you?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Hello! Yes, sir! What orders, sir?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Cut off the ray! Quick, there!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, sir!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What's the idea, now? demanded the major, astonished."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Going to let that plane close in on us, and maybe riddle us?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'll chance the bullets, this time. There's a _man_ on board that plane. A _man_! And we--need men!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll chance the bullets, this time. There's a man on board that plane. A man! And we--need men!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Only one man aboard her, with a machine-gun,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah, see? She's turning, now. Banking around! We may catch a burst of machine-gun fire, in a minute. Or, no--she's coming up on our tail, Major. I think she's going to try and board us!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You going to let her? protestingly demanded Bohannan. His hand twitched against the butt of the Lewis."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In two seconds I could sight an aft gun, sir, and blow that machine Hell-for-leather!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, no--let that fellow come aboard, if he wants,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Which of you gentlemen is in command, here?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "answered the Master, also speaking French."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And what is your errand?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I have come to inform you, in the name of the A.C.B.'s law, recognized as binding by all air-traffic, that you and your entire crew are under arrest."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Indeed? And then--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I am to take charge of this machine at once, and proceed with it as per further instructions from International Aerial headquarters at Washington."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Very interesting news, no doubt, replied the Master, unmoved."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But I cannot examine your credentials, nor can we negotiate matters of such importance in so off-hand a manner. This gallery will not serve. Pray accompany me to my cabin?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Major, said the Master,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You understand, of course, _n'est-ce pas?_ that it is useless to offer any resistance to the authority of the A.C.B."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "May I take the liberty of inquiring what your credentials may be, and with whom I have the great pleasure of speaking?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I, answered the other,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Leclair? demanded the Master quickly, his face lighting with a glad surprise."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Leclair, of the Mesopotamian campaign? Leclair, the world-famous ace?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Leclair, nothing else. I deprecate the adjectives."
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "As for you, monsieur, I already know you, of course. You are--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Many here do not even know my name. No man speaks it. I am quite anonymous; quite so. Therefore I pray you, keep silent on that matter. What, after all, is the significance of a name? You are an ace, an officer. So am I."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "True, very true. Therefore I more keenly regret the fact that I must place you under arrest, and that charges of piracy in the high air must be lodged against you."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Thank you for the regret, indeed, answered the Master dryly. Save for the fact that this strange man never laughed and seldom smiled, one would have thought the odd twinkle in his eye prefaced merriment."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, what now?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Thank you, no, said he."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I never smoke. But you will perhaps pardon me if I nibble two or three of these khat leaves. You yourself, from your experience in Oriental countries, know the value of khat."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I do, indeed,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And may I offer you a few leaves?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Already perhaps a hundred and fifty air police have fallen this morning. It is strange. I do not understand, but such is the fact. Nevertheless, I am here, myself. I have survived--survived, to convey organized society's message of arrest. Individuals do not count. They are only representatives of the mass-power of society. _N'est-ce pas?_"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Quite correct. And then--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sooner or later you must land somewhere for petrol, you know. For _essence_, eh? Just as sea-pirates were wiped out by the coming of steam-power, which they had to adopt and which forced them to call at ports for coal, so air-pirates will perish because they must have essence. That is entirely obvious. Have I the honor of your signed surrender, my dear sir, including that of all your men?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Just one question, please!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A thousand, if you like,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What, demanded the Master,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I have no opinion as to that. Strange air-currents, failure of ignition due to lack of oxygen--how do I know? A thousand things may happen in the air."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not to more than a hundred planes, all in a half-hour."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It does not signify, in the least, he murmured."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am here. That suffices."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Do you realize that I, perhaps, have forces at my command which may negative ordinary conditions and recognized laws?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Nothing can negative the forces of organized society. I repeat my request, _monsieur_, for your unconditional written surrender."
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Are you prepared to sign a receipt for this airship, if I deliver her over to you, sir?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah, you do not answer? asked the other, with indulgent patronage."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I assume, however, that you have the authority to accept my surrender and that of my crew. I assume, also, that you are willing to sign for the airship."
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "said he."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Will you sign this?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I have no wish unnecessarily to trouble your mind. Let me state the facts. Not one of those machines was precipitated into the sea. No life was lost. Ah, that astonishes you?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You can hear me, perfectly. You can see me. I ask you to watch me closely. Then consider, if you please, the matter of placing me under arrest."
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You will note, _monsieur_, he continued, while the dun penumbra still more and more withdrew him from Leclair's sight,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If the true nature of the universe could suddenly be revealed to our senses, went on the Master, now hardly more than a dull blur,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Nor could those creatures understand human life. We are safe in our own little corner of the universe, comfortably sheltered in our vestments of clay. And what we cannot understand, though it is all perfectly natural, we call religion, the supernatural, God."
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am not really vanishing. That is but an illusion of your senses, unable to penetrate the screen surrounding me. I am still here, as materially as ever. Illusion, _mon cher monsieur_, yet to you very real!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A miracle? _Pas du tout!_ Nothing but an application of perfectly natural laws. And so--well, now let us come back to the matter under discussion. You have come hither to arrest me, _monsieur_. What do you think of arresting me, now? I am going to leave that to your own judgment."
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "he gulped, and fell weakly to rubbing his arms and legs that still prickled with a numb tingling."
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If you still desire my arrest and the delivery to you of this air-liner, I am at your complete disposal. You have only to sign the receipt I have already written. If-- and for a moment the Master paused, while his dark eyes sought and held the other's,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "choked the lieutenant, gripping the Master's hand."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You mean that I--I--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, that you can be one of us."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Can that be true?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "cried he."
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If they show such hysteria at just the initial stages of the game, he murmured,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Captain Alden"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We can't be more than a hundred and fifty miles west of the Canaries, judged the major."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sure, we can eat supper tonight in an oasis, if we're so minded--with Ouled Naïls and houris to hand round the palm-wine and--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You forget, my dear fellow, the Master interrupted,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ah, sure, I did forget! admitted the Celt."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, well, a look at a camel and a palm tree could do no harm. And it won't be long, at this rate, before--"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I've done for _you_! he howled exultantly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Fuel-tanks afire--you'll all go to Hell blazing when they explode! But first--I'll get the boss pirate of the outfit--"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "CAPTAIN ALDEN"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Captain Alden"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "As neat a shot as the other's was bad, calmly remarked the Master, brushing from his sleeve some glittering splinters of glass. A lurch of _Nissr_ threw him against the rail. He had to steady himself there, a moment. Down his cheek, a trickle of blood serpented."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, rather neat,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hm! A sliver from that broken shield must have cut me,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Captain Alden"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Captain's"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, no! the Master shouted, stung into sudden activity."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not that! Alive--take him alive!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Take me alive, eh? the stowaway shouted, madly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ha-ha! I see you! You're all dead men, anyhow! I'll go first--show you I'm not afraid!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Very good, approved the Master, unmoved. He lurched against the rail, as a sudden maneuver of the pilot somewhat flattened out the air-liner's fall. The helicopters began to turn, to buzz, to roar into furious activity, seeking to check the plunge. The major came staggering back. But quicker than he,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Captain Alden"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He shot you?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Bah! A splinter of glass! And the Master shook off the blood with a twitch of his head."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That was a neat bull's-eye you made on him, Captain. It saves you from punishment for forgetting you were under arrest; for climbing the ladder and coming above-decks. Yes--I've got to rescind my order. You're at liberty. And--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And I stay with the expedition, sir? demanded Alden, her hand going out in an involuntary gesture of appeal. For the first time, she was showing eagerness of a feminine sort. But she suppressed it, instantly, and stood at attention."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If I have done you any service, sir, reward me by letting me stay!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I will see. There may be no expedition to stay with. Now--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Life-belts, sir? And take to the small planes? came a voice from the companion-way. The face of Manderson--of him who had found the stowaway--appeared there. Manderson looked anxious, a trifle pale. Aft, more figures were appearing. In spite of the iron discipline of the Legion, signs of disorder were becoming evident."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We're hard hit, sir, Manderson reported."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Every man for himself, now? Orders, sir?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "My orders are, every man back to his post! cried the Master, his voice a trumpet-call of resolution."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There'll be no _sauve qui peut_, here! He laid a hand on the butt of his pistol."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Back, every man of you!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The aft starboard float--it's gone! And the stabilizer--"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What chance?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If--the fire spreads to the forward petrol-tanks, none! gasped the chief engineer."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Aft pit's flooded with blazing oil. Gorlitz--my God!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What about Gorlitz?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Burned alive--to a crisp! I've got four extinguishers at work. Two engines out of commission. Another only limping! And--"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If he's breathed flame--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Volunteers!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Captain,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, not you! he shouted."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You, with only one arm--faith, it's worse than useless! Back, you!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Captain Alden."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Still sagging down, eh? he commented, his eyes on the needle of the altimeter."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Some situation! Two men dead and others injured. Engines crippled, propellers the same, and two floats so damaged we couldn't stay on the surface if we came down. Well, by God!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I regret only, said he in broken English,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It won't be much like navigating over that Hell-spot, three or four miles in the air,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Faith, are we going to make it, chief?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What chance, sir? he insisted."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It's damned bad, according to my way of thinking."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What you think and what you say won't have any weight with this problem of aerial flotation, the Master curtly retorted."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If we make land, we make it, that's all, sir. He relapsed into silence. Leclair muttered, in Arabic--his words audible only to himself--an ancient Islamic proverb:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Allah knows best, and time will show! Then, after a moment's pause, the single word:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Kismet!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Can you do any better? exclaimed the chief."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "This is not enough!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We're doing our best, sir,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If you can possibly strain a point, in some way, and wring a little more power out of the remaining engines--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We're straining them beyond the limit now, sir."
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Simonds! Is that you?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, sir,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Have you jettisoned everything?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "All we can spare, sir. All but the absolute minimum of food and water."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Overboard with them all!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, sir--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And drop the body of Auchincloss, too. This is no time for sentiment!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "My order, sir!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "God! If we only had an ounce more power!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If _I_ were in charge, which I'm not, I'd stop those damned helicopters, let her down, turn what power we've got into the remaining propellers, and taxi ashore!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And probably sink, or break up in the surf, on the beach, there! curtly rejoined the Master."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah! _What_?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You see something, _mon capitaine?_ asked Leclair, blowing smoke from his cigarette."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Allow me also to look! Where is it?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Just to north of that gash--that wady, or gully, making down to the beach. You see it, eh?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Smoke, my Captain! he exclaimed."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "See, it curls aloft like a lady's ringlet. And--beyond the wady--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah, you see them, too?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Captain Alden's."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I see them, the Master answered."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And the green flag--the flag of the Prophet--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The flag, _oui, mon capitaine!_ There are many men, but--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But what, Lieutenant?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah, do you not see? No horses. No camels. That means their oasis is not far. That means they are not traveling. This is no nomadic moving of the Ahl Bayt. No, no, my Captain. It is--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, what?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A war-party. What you in your language call the--the reception committee, _n'est-ce pas?_ Ah, yes, the reception committee."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And the guests?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The guests are all the members of the Flying Legion!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ah, sure now, but that's fine! exclaimed the major with delight, his eyes beginning to sparkle in anticipation."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The best of news! A little action, eh? I ask nothing better. All I ask is that we live to reach the committee--live to be properly killed! It's this dying-alive that kills _me_! Faith, it tears the nerves clean out of my body!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That is a true Arab idea, Major, smiled Leclair."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "To this extent you are brother to the Bedouin. They call a man _fatis_, as a reproach, who dies any other way than fighting. May you never--may none of us--ever suffer the disgrace of being _fatis_!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There's not much danger of that! put in the Master."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That's a big war-party, and we're drifting ashore almost exactly where they're waiting. From the appearance of the group, they look like Beni Harb people--'Sons of Fighting' you know--though I didn't expect we'd sight any of that breed so far to westward."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Beni Harb, eh? echoed the Frenchman, his face going grim."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah, _mes amis_, it is with pleasure I see that race, again! He sighted carefully through his glass, as _Nissr_ sagged on and on, ever closer to the waves, ever nearer the hard, sun-roasted shores of Africa."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, those are Beni Harb men. _Dieu_! May it be Sheik Abd el Rahman's tribe! May I have strength to repay the debt I owe them!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What debt, Lieutenant?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "A personal matter, my Captain! A personal debt I owe them--with interest!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You will have nearly a score and a half of good fighting men to help you settle your account, smiled the Master. Then, to Bohannan:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It looks now, Major, as if you'd have a chance to try your sovereign remedy."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Faith! Machine-guns, eh?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, provided we get near enough to use them."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No vibrations this time, eh? demanded the Celt, a bit of good-humored malice in his voice."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Vibrations are all very well in their way, sir, but when it comes to a man-to-man fight--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You, sir, and Lieutenant Leclair, get the six gun-crews together at their stations. When we drift in range, give the Beni Harb a few trays of blanks. That may scatter them without any further trouble. We want peace, but if it's got to be war, very well. If they show real fight, rake them hard!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mohammed laid a special curse on them. I imagine your orderly, Rrisa, will have something to say when he learns that we have Beni Harb as opponents. Now, sir, we shall make all haste to get the machine-guns into action!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Captain Alden, said he, bruskly, with the unwillingness of a determined man forced to reverse a fixed decision."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I have reconsidered my dictum regarding you."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Indeed, sir? asked the woman, from where she stood leaning against the sill of the slanted window."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You mean, sir, I am to stay with the Legion, till the end?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I can weigh relative values. I grant your request. The score is wiped clean. You shall remain, on one condition."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And what is that, sir? asked"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Captain Alden,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That you still maintain the masculine disguise. The presence of a woman, as such, in this Legion, would be a disturbing factor. You accept my terms?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Certainly! May I ask one other favor?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What favor?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Spare Kloof and Lombardo!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Impossible!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I know their guilt, sir. Through their carelessness in not having discovered the stowaway and in having let him escape, the Legion came near sudden death. I know _Nissr_ is a wreck, because of them. Still, we need men, and those two are good fighters. Above all, we need Lombardo, the doctor I ask you to spare them at least their lives!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That is the woman's heart in you speaking, now,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The woman's heart, repeated the Master."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "That is your only fault and weakness, that you are a woman and that you forgive."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You grant my request?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, Captain. Nor can I even discuss it. Those two men have cut themselves off from the Legion and signed their own death warrant. The sentence I have decided on, must stand. Do not speak of this to me again, madam! Now, kindly withdraw."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, sir!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "One moment! Send Leclair back to me. Inform Ferrara that he is to command the second gun-crew."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, sir!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Captain Alden."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You sent for me, sir?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I did. I have some questions to ask you. Others can handle the guns, but you have special knowledge of great importance to me. And first, as an expert ace, what are our chances of making that shore, sir, now probably five miles off? In a crisis, I always want to ask an expert's opinion."
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Well, can we make it, sir?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "he quoted the cynical old French proverb."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If nothing gives way, there is a chance."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If we settle into the sea, do you think that with our damaged floats we can drive ashore without breaking up?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I do not, my Captain. There is a heavy sea running, and the surf is bad on the beach. This Rio de Oro coast is cruel. Have you our exact position?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Almost exactly on the Tropic of Cancer, half-way between Cape Bojador to north of us, and Cape Blanco, to south."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, I understand. That brings us to the Tarmanant region of the Sahara. Fate could not have chosen worse for us. But, _c'est la guerre_. All I regret, however, is that in a crippled condition we have to face a war-party of the Beni Harb. Were we intact, and a match for them, how gladly would I welcome battle with that scum of Islam! Ah, the _canaille_!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You call them dogs, eh? asked the chief."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And why?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "People who practice the barbaric _thar_, or blood-feud! People who torture their victims by cutting off the ends of their fingers before beheading or crucifying them! People who glory in murdering the 'idolators of Feringistan,' as they call us white men! Let me advise you now, my Captain, when dealing with these people or fighting them, never use your last shot on them. Always keep a mercy-bullet in your gun!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "A mercy-bullet?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "For yourself!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You seem to know these folk well."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Only too well!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Five years I spent among the Arabs, doing air-work, surveying the Sahara, locating oases, mapping what until then were absolutely unknown stretches of territory. I did a bit of bombing, too, in the campaign against Sheik Abd el Rahman, in 1913."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, so I have heard. You almost lost your life, that time?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Only by the thickness of a _semmah_ seed did I preserve it, answered the Frenchman."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "My mechanician, Lebon, and I--we fell among them on account of engine trouble, near the oasis of Adrar, not far from here. We had no machine-gun--nothing but revolvers. We stood them off for seven hours, before they rushed us. They captured us only because our last cartridges were gone."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You did not save the mercy-bullet that time, eh?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Superstition festers in their very bones! The giant bird, they believed, would ruin their date crops; and, besides, they thirsted for the blood of the Franks. As a matter of fact, my Captain, these people do sometimes drink a little of the blood of a slaughtered enemy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Impossible!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "True, I tell you! They destroyed our plane with fire and sword, reviled us as pigs and brothers of pigs, and named poor Lebon 'kalb ibn kalb,' or 'dog and son of a dog.' Then they separated into two bands. One band departed toward Wady Tawarik, taking Lebon. They informed me that on the morrow they would crucify him on a cross of palm-wood, head downward."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And they executed Lebon?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I suppose so, he answered with great bitterness."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I have never seen or heard of him since. As for me, they reserved me for some festivities at Makam Jibrail. During the next night, a column of Spanish troops from Rio de Oro rushed their camp, killed sixty or seventy of the brown demons, and rescued me. Since then I have lusted revenge on the Beni Harb!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No wonder, put in the chief, once more looking at the beach, where now the war-party was plainly visible to the naked eye in some detail. The waving of their arms could be distinguished; and plainly glittered the blood-crimson sunset light on rifle-barrels, swords, and javelins. The Master loosened his revolver in its holster."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "About twenty minutes from now, at this rate, he added,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, and may Jehannum take them all! exclaimed the Frenchman, passionately. His eyes glowered with hate as he peered across the narrowing strip of waves and surf."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Jehannum, where every time their skins are burned off, as the Koran says, new ones will grow to be burned off again! Where 'they shall have garments of fire fitted upon them and boiling water poured upon their heads, and they shall be beaten with maces of iron--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And their tormentors shall say unto them: 'Taste ye the pain of burning!' the Master concluded the familiar quotation with a smile."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Waste no time in wishing the Beni Harb future pain, my dear Lieutenant. Jehannum may indeed reserve the fruit of the tree Al Zakkum, for these dogs, but our work is to give them a foretaste of it, today. Kismet seems to have willed it that you and the Beni Harb shall meet again. Is it not a fortunate circumstance, for you?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Fortunate, yes, the Frenchman answered, his eyes glowing as they estimated the strength of the war-party, now densely massed along the shining sands,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, thank God, there are no women in this party! That would mean that one of us would have to kill a woman--for God help a woman of Feringistan caught by these _jinnee_, these devils of the waste!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Certainly more than three hundred of these 'abusers of the salt,' my Captain. And we are hardly thirty. Even if we reach land, we must soon sink to earth. Without food, water, anything--_ce n'est pas gai, hein?_"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No, it is not gay, the chief answered."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But with machine-guns--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Machine-guns cannot fight against the African sun, against famine, thirst, delirium, madness. Well--'blessed be certainty,' as the Arabs say."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You mean death?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, I mean death. We always have that in our grasp, at any rate--after having taken full toll of these devils. I should not mind, so much, defeat at the hands of the nobler breed of the Arabian Peninsula. There, in the _Ruba el Khali_[1] itself, I know a chivalric race dwells that any soldier might be proud to fight or to rule over. But these Shiah heretic swine--ah, see now, they are taking cover already? They will not stand and fight, like men!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They are going to ambush us, my Captain, said Leclair."
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Listen, Lieutenant! Events are at a crisis, now. I will speak very plainly. You know the Arabs, good and bad. You know Islam, and all that the Mohammedan world is. You know there are more than 230,000,000 people of this faith, scattered from Canton to Sierra Leone, and from Cape Town to Tobolsk, all over Turkey, Africa, and Arabia--an enormous, fanatic, fighting race! Probably, if trained, the finest fighting-men in the world, for they fear neither pain nor' death. They welcome both, if their hearts are enlisted!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, yes, I know! Their Hell yawns for cowards; their Paradise opens to receive the brave! Death is as a bride to the Moslem!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But how many hundreds have been beheaded or crucified? No pilgrimage ever takes place without a few such victims. A race of this type is a potential world-power of incalculable magnitude. Men who will die for Islam and for their master without a quiver--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "My Captain! What do you mean?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah, laughed Leclair,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hear how that bullet sang? questioned the Frenchman."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It was notched--a notched slug, you understand. That is a familiar trick with these dog-people of the Beni Harb. Sometimes, if they have poison, they dip the notched slug in that too. And, ah, what a wound one makes! Dum-dums are a joke beside such!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, the ball is opening!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Let it open! returned the chief."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We'll not refuse battle, no, by Allah! Our first encounter with Islam shall not be a surrender! Even if we could survive that, it would be fatal to this vast plan of mine--of ours, Lieutenant. No, we will stand and fight--even till 'certainty,' if Allah wills it so!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "There goes a tray of blanks, said the Master."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Perhaps that will rout them out, eh? Once we can get them on the run--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Those dog-sons will not run from blanks, no, nor from shotted charges! he declared."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Pariahs in faith, despoilers of the Haram--the sacred inner temple--still this breed of _Rafaz_ (heretic) is bold. Ah, 'these dogs bare their teeth to fight more willingly than to eat.' It will come to hot work soon, I think!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Major Bohannan! he ordered."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No more blanks! The real thing, now--but hold your fire till we drift over the dune!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Drift over! echoed Leclair."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "But, _monsieur_, we'll never even make the beach!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "So?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Frazier! Lift her a little, now! Rack everything--strain everything--break everything, if you must, but lift her!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, sir! came the engineer's voice."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I'll scrap the engines, sir, but I'll do that!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah, _nom de Dieu_!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "La Illaha illa Allah! M'hámed rasul Allah!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A devil of a place! he exclaimed, his blood up for a fight, but all circumstances baffling him. A very different man, this, from the calm, impersonal victim of ennui at _Niss'rosh_, or even from the unmoved individual when the liner had first swooped away from New York. His eye was sparkling now, his face was pale and drawn with anger; and the blood-soaked cotton and collodion gave a vivid touch of color to the ensemble. That the Master had emotions, after all, was evident. Obvious, too, was the fact these emotions were now fully aroused."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What a devil of a place! No way to get at those dog-sons, and they can lie there and wait for _Nissr_ to break up!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, my Captain, or else starve us where we lie! the lieutenant put in."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Or wait for thirst and fever to do the work. Then--rich plunder for the sons of theft!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah, Leclair, but we're not going to stay here, for any such contingency! exclaimed the chief, and turned toward the door."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Come, _en avant_! Forward, Leclair!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "My Captain! You cannot charge an entrenched enemy like that, by swimming a heavy surf, with nothing but revolvers in hand!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Can't, eh? Why not?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The rules of war--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "To Hell with the rules of war! shouted the Master, for the first time in years breaking into profanity."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Are you with me, or are you--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sir, do not say that word! cried the Frenchman, reddening ominously."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not even from you can I accept it!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Men! he called, his voice blaring a trumpet-call to action."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Volunteers for a shore-party to clean out that kennel of dogs!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Revolvers and lethal pistols! he ordered."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And knives in belts! Come on!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Cease firing! ordered the Master."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Simonds, you and Prisrend deal out the lethal guns. Look alive, now!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A task for me, sir! exclaimed"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Captain Alden,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No time for nursing, now! he negatived the plea."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Unless you choose to remain behind?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Never, sir!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Can you swim with one arm?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "With both tied!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Very well! All ready, men! Overboard, to the beach! There, dig in for further orders. No individual action! No charge, without command! Overboard--come on--who follows me?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Down! Down! shouted the Master."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Dig in!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Take cover!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Steady, men! the Master called."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Get your wind! Ready with the lethal guns! Each gun, one capsule. Then we'll charge them! And--no quarter!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They do not understand, these dog-brothers--may Allah make their faces cold! He grinned, frankly, with sparkling eyes and white teeth."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Already we have their beards in our hands!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ready, men! Fire!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He added:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "When the gas strikes them, they would think the Frankish brain more wonderful than ever--if they could think at all!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Hold your fire, men! Hold it--then give 'em Hell!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Captain Alden,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Give 'em Hell!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "shouted Rrisa, furiously."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, may Allah smite their faces!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sure, now, can you beat that? shouted Bohannan, exultantly, and waved his service cap."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Licked at the start! They quit cold!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "O rejected ones, and sons of the rejected! the Arab howled."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "O hogs and brothers of hogs! He fell to gnawing his own hand, as Arabs will in an excess of passion. Once more he screamed:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "O Allah, deny not their skin and bones to the eternal flame! O owls, oxen, beggars, cut-off ones! Oh, give them the burning oil, Allah! The cold faces! Oh, wither their hands! Make them _kusah_! (beardless). Oh, these swine with black livers, gray eyes, beards of red. Vilest that ever hammered tent-pegs, goats of El Akhfash! O Beni Harb![1]"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "H, becomes"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sons of Flight, or Cowardice."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "No more of that, Rrisa! he commanded, fiercely."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "These be old woman's ways, these screamings! Silence, _Bismillah_!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Dig in again! That's our only game now. We're facing a situation that's going to tax us to the utmost, but there's only one thing to do--dig in!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Captain Alden,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's touch-and-go now, he pondered."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We've got to annihilate these infernal Bedouins, repair the liner and get ahead, or--but there's no 'or' in this! None, at all!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Captain Alden's"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And stern business is what they shall have, once the dark is complete, the Master pondered."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is annihilation for them or for us. There can be no compromise, nor any terms but slaughter!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In any kind of a straight fight, we are hopelessly out-classed. There are about three hundred men against twenty-four of us, some of whom are wounded. Even if we took life for life, the Bedouins would lose less than ten percent, and we'd be wiped out. And we couldn't expect to take life for life, charging a position like theirs in the night. It can't be a stand-up battle. It's got to be science against savagery, or nothing."
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Just one other word, the Master continued, his voice calm, unshaken, quite impersonal."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "If science fails, do not allow yourselves to be captured. The tortures of Hell await any white man taken by these fanatics. Remember, always keep one mercy-bullet--for yourselves!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am going to take two men and undertake what seems a preposterous attack. I need only two. I shall not call for volunteers, because you would all offer yourselves. You must stay here."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "In case my plan succeeds, you are to come at my call--three long hails. If my plan fails, Major Bohannan will command you; and I know you will all fight to the last breath and to the final drop of blood!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Don't do this thing, sir! the major protested."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What chance of success has it? These desert men can see, where a white man is blind. They can scent danger as a hunting-dog scents the spoor of game. You're simply throwing your life away, and we need that life!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I will take Lieutenant Leclair, who knows these people, the Master continued, paying no heed,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "One of the Sahara Sanitary Corps, remarked Leclair, dryly."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "A hyena. Well may he laugh! Feasting enough for him and his before this dance is over!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A signal-fire, Master! whispered Rrisa."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It will be seen in far oases. If it burn two hours, that will mean an enemy with great plunder. Others of the Beni Harb will come; there will be gathering of the tribes. That fire must not burn, _M'almé!_"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Nor must the Beni Harb live! To the major:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Collect a dozen lethal guns and bring them to me!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In three minutes, Major, said the Master,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Ah, a barrage, sir?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Remember, I will give three long hails when we start to come back. Those will warn you not to shoot if you see dim figures in the night. Either we shall be back in these lines by nine o'clock, or--"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Or we will go after you! came the voice of"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Captain Alden,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Either we shall return by nine, or never,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Let me go, then! whispered Alden."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Go, in place of you! You are more needed than I. Without you all these men are lost. Without me--they would not miss me, sir!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I cannot argue that point with you, Captain. We start at once."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The road we are about to take may lead thee to Paradise. A sand-adder, a scorpion, or a bullet may be the means. Dost thou stand firm with me?"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I go with you, Master, where you go, were it to Jehannum! I swear that by the rising of the stars, which is a mighty oath. _Tawakkàl al Allah!_"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "By the rising of the stars! repeated Leclair, also in Arabic."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I too am with you to the end, _M'almé!_"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "By the rising of the stars!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Come! Let us go!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ah, dog-sons, may you suffer the extreme cold of El Zamharir! Ah, may _Rih al Asfar_, the yellow wind (cholera), carry you all away!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Peace, it is peace until the rising of the morn! a thought came to the Master's mind, a line from the chapter Al Kadr, in the Koran. He smiled to himself."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "False peace, he reflected."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The calm before the storm!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Lieutenant, he whispered,"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Master, he whispered,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The _jinnee_ of the waste? the Master answered, in a low tone."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What nonsense is this?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The simoom, Master--the storm of sand. We call it the work of evil spirits!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "calling on a patron saint, died before the last word,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Strong medicine for the Beni Harb, Lieutenant, said he."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Their own _imams_ (priests) have strong medicine, too, but not so strong as that of the cursed sons of Feringistan. Sleep already lies heavy on the eyelids of these sons of Allah. And a deeper sleep shall soon overcome them. Tell me, Lieutenant, can you kill men wholesale?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, my Captain."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sleeping men, who cannot resist you? Can you kill them scientifically, in masses, without anger?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "How do you know now, my Captain, that it will not be in anger? And the Frenchman half eased himself up on hands and knees, peering forward into the night."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "After what these Beni Harb--or their close kin--have done to me and to poor Lebon--listen! What was that?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What do you mean?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "That far, roaring noise?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is nothing! A little wind, maybe; but it is nothing, nothing! Come, I am ready for the work!"
}
]
|
12265 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "They are near, now, _Ya M'almé!_ said he."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They are close at hand, these _nakhawilah_! (pariahs). Allah, the high, the great, hath delivered them into our hands. Verily there is no power or might but Allah. Shall I scout ahead, Master, and spy out the camp?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, Rrisa. I send no man where I will not gladly go myself. All three of us, forward!"
}
]
|
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