“Who is a fountain of surprises,” said McGregor, smiling. “Meanwhile, how about protection? Do you want a body-guard?” It was not exactly clear why he was smiling.
“No,” said Ommony, looking contemplatively at Diana, who appeared to have fallen asleep on a Bokhara rug, “I’ve got a more than usually good one, thanks. Observe.”
He started on tiptoe for the door. Diana reached it several strides ahead of him and slipped out first, to sniff the wind and make sure that the shadows held no lurking enemy.
“If men were as faithful as dogs,” he began. But McGregor laughed:
“They’re not. Faith, very largely, is absence of intelligence. Intelligence has to be trained to be honest; it has no morals otherwise. Without a good Scots grounding in religion, the greater the intelligence the worse the crook.”
“Oh, rot!” said Ommony, and walked out, leaving McGregor chuckling.
[3] Carriage.
[4] Cab-driver.