"What sort of gun?"
"A pistol."
We went in and I unbuttoned my belt and laid it with the emply holster on the counter.
Two women were behind the counter.
The women brought out several pistols.
"It must fit this," I said, opening the holster.
It was a gray leather holster and I had bought it second-hand to wear in the town.
"Have they good pistols?" Catherine asked.
"They're all about the same.
Can I try this one?" I asked the woman.
"I have no place now to shoot," she said. "But it is very good.
You will not make a mistake with it."
I snapped it and pulled back the action.
The spring was rather strong but it worked smoothly.
I sighted it and snapped it again.
"It is used," the woman said. "It belonged to an officer who was an excellent shot."
"Did you sell it to him?"
"Yes."
"How did you get it back?"
"From his orderly."
"Maybe you have mine," I said. "How much is this?"
"Fifty lire.
It is very cheap."
"All right.
I want two extra clips and a box of cartridges."
She brought them from under the counter.
"Have you any need for a sword?" she asked. "I have some used swords very cheap."
"I'm going to the front," I said.
"Oh yes, then you won't need a sword," she said.
I paid for the cartridges and the pistol, filled the magazine and put it in place, put the pistol in my empty holster, filled the extra clips with cartridges and put them in the leather slots on the holster and then buckled on my belt.
The pistol felt heavy on the belt.
Still, I thought, it was better to have a regulation pistol.
You could always get shells.
"Now we're fully armed," I said. "That was the one thing I had to remember to do.
Some one got my other one going to the hospital."
"I hope it's a good pistol," Catherine said.
"Was there anything else?" the woman asked.
"I don't believe so."
"The pistol has a lanyard," she said.
"So I noticed."
The woman wanted to sell something else.
"You don't need a whistle?"
"I don't believe so."
The woman said good-by and we went out onto the sidewalk.
Catherine looked in the window.
The woman looked out and bowed to us.
"What are those little mirrors set in wood for?"
"They're for attracting birds.
They twirl them out in the field and larks see them and come out and the Italians shoot them."
"They are an ingenious people," Catherine said. "You don't shoot larks do you, darling, in America?"