"As for danger," said I, "I think more of this than I do of
the Arabs," and I put my hand on my revolver. "But as they agreed
to be here, here they ought to be. Don't you carry a revolver,
Smith?"
Smith said that he never had done so, but that he would take the
charge of mine if I liked. To this, however, I demurred. "I never
part with my pistol to any one," I said, rather drily. But he
explained that he only intended to signify that if there were danger
to be encountered, he would be glad to encounter it; and I fully
believed him. "We shan't have much fighting," I replied; "but if
there be any, the tool will come readiest to the hand of its master.
But if you mean to remain here long I would advise you to get one.
These Orientals are a people with whom appearances go a long way,
and, as a rule, fear and respect mean the same thing with them. A
pistol hanging over your loins is no great trouble to you, and looks
as though you could bite. Many a dog goes through the world well by
merely showing his teeth."
And then my companion began to talk of himself. "He did not," he
said, "mean to remain in Syria very long.
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