Harold Lamb

“ He rose in his stirrups and lifted his voice.
“Noble sirs, it is not modest in a man to relate all his deeds, so I will only touch on a few. When you wish to know how to capture the Sultan's navy, I can put a word or two in your ears, where at present there are only fleas. And as for capturing such cities as Aleppo with walls as high as the tallest pines—why I and Demid and the little cockerel of a Frank do not bother our heads about such trifles any more.”
The throng pressed nearer and Ayub’s old comrades began to grin and nudge each other. ”

“ As the saints are dear to me, I have as good a tongue as their’s, and I do not need any fiddles or lutes to give it tone. Come, brothers, a cup of vodka, now—I tasted the pasha’s sherbet in Aleppo, but he had no vodka. ”

“ For a while the elders of the council were angry, then they scratched their heads, and began to pull at their mustaches moodily. A buzz of talk drifted in from the groups of the warriors, and yet no man put hand to the wealth that lay on the earth. ”