'You
see,' I said, 'there is one consideration that you appear to
overlook: there are a great many chances that your pistol may miss
fire.'
'I have a pair,' he returned. 'Never travel without a brace of
barkers.'
'I make you my compliment,' said I. 'You are able to take care of
yourself, and that is a good trait. But, my good man! let us look
at this matter dispassionately. You are not a coward, and no more
am I; we are both men of excellent sense; I have good reason,
whatever it may be, to keep my concerns to myself and to walk
alone. Now I put it to you pointedly, am I likely to stand it? Am
I likely to put up with your continued and--excuse me--highly
impudent ingerence into my private affairs?'
'Another French word,' says he composedly.
'Oh! damn your French words!' cried I. 'You seem to be a Frenchman
yourself!'
'I have had many opportunities by which I have profited,' he
explained. 'Few men are better acquainted with the similarities
and differences, whether of idiom or accent, of the two languages.'
'You are a pompous fellow, too!' said I.
'Oh, I can make distinctions, sir,' says he. 'I can talk with
Bedfordshire peasants; and I can express myself becomingly, I hope,
in the company of a gentleman of education like yourself.'
'If you set up to be a gentleman--' I began.
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