Chapter Twenty.
The Ancient Dwellings.
“Look here; stop a minute,” said Mr Burne; “if we’ve got to climb up that break-neck place, hadn’t we better leave these guns and things at the bottom, so as to have our hands clear?”
“No—no—no,” exclaimed Yussuf impatiently; “a man in this country should never leave his weapons out of his reach.”
“Bah! what nonsense, sir! Anyone would think we were at sea again, or in a country where there are no laws.”
“There are plenty of laws, Burne,” said the professor, “but we are getting out of their reach.”
“Highwaymen and footpads about, I suppose?” said the old lawyer mockingly. “My dear sir, don’t put such romantic notions into the boy’s head. This is not Hounslow Heath. I suppose you will want to make me believe next that there are bands of robbers close at hand, with a captain whose belt is stuck full of pistols—eh, Yussuf?”
“Oh, yes, sir,” said their guide quietly. “I should not be surprised. There are plenty of brigands in the mountains.”