t least one strange and
unhappy story, which had ended in my losing sight forever of a man who
was very dear to me. I do not think that the fact of having been in
danger necessarily brings with it a liking for dangerous adventures,
though it undoubtedly makes a man more fit to encounter perils of all
kinds. Few men are absolutely careless of life, and those who are, do
not of necessity court death. It is one thing to say that one would
readily die at any moment; it is quite another to seek risks and to
incur them voluntarily. The brave man, as a general rule, does not feel
a thrill of pleasure until the struggle has actually begun; when he is
expecting it he is grave and cautious, lest it should come upon him
unawares. This, at least, I believe to be the character of the Northern
man, and I think it constitutes one of his elements of superiority.

Balsamides is an Oriental, and looks at things very differently. In his
belief death will come at its appointed time, whether a man stay at home
and nurse his safety, or whether he lead the front in battle. The
essence of fatalism is the conviction that death must come at a certain
time, no matter what a man is doing, nor how he may try to protect
himself. This is the reason why the fanatic Mussulman is absolutely
indifferent to danger. He firmly believes that if he is to die, death
will overtake him at the plow as surely as in storming an enemy's
battery. But he believes also that if he dies fighting against
unbelievers his place in Paradise will be far higher than if he dies
upon his farm, his ambrosial refreshment more abundant, and the
dark-eyed houris who will soothe his eternal repose more beautiful and
more numerous. The low-born hamal in the street will march up to the
mouth of the guns without so much as a cup of coffee to animate him,
with an absolute courage not found in men who have not his unswerving
faith. To him Paradise is an almost visible reality, and the attainment
of it depends only on his individual exertions. But what is most strange
is the fact that this indifference to death is contagious, so that
Christians who live among Turks unconsciously acquire much of the Moslem
belief in fate. The Albanians, who are chiefly Christians, are among the
bravest officers in the Turkish army, as they are amongst the most
faithfully devoted to the Sultan and to the interests of the Empire.

Balsamides was in a mood which differed widely from mine. As we
clattered over