He recognized Grim after staring hard at him for about a minute.
"Jimgrim!" "Sidi bin Tagim, isn't it?
Well, well I thought it might be you," said Grim, speaking the northern dialect of Arabic, which differs quite a bit from that spoken around Jerusalem.
"Who are these ?" asked the man in bed, speaking hoarsely as he stared first at Jeremy and then at me.
"Jmil Ras, a friend of mine," Grim answered.
"And that one ?" He didn't like the look of me at all.

Western clothes and a shaven face spell nothing reassuring to the Arab when in trouble; he has been "helped" by the foreigner a time or two too often.
"An American named Ramsden.

Also a friend of mine." "Oh! An Amirikani?
A hakim ?" "No.

Not a doctor.

Not a man to fear.