rather," he agreed modestly, "but on my life, Betty, you'd
never believe----Well, I'll tell you.

"I dropped in first of all on Dixon. Not a bad chap at all, one of
those--you know--solicitors. Partner in an A1 firm an' all that. They're
fairly rakin' in money at present with this boom in Divorce Court stunts.

"Anyway we began talkin' about old times and so on, as I hadn't seen him
for ages. We got laughin' over some of his funny stories about their
stuff--no names or anythin' like that, of course--and then bit by bit I
started tellin' him what was really at the back of my mind about takin' up
the work. I don't think he grasped it quite at first, but when he did he
just leant back in his chair and looked at me with a kind of pityin'
expression. 'My dear old boy,' he said, 'take it from a friend, one who has
been through it--don't! It's a dog's life; years of training; work all day
and night. No peace. Responsibility all the time. You know, dear old
fellow, what you want is a soft job. Why don't you start stock-brokin' or
somethin'?'

"Well, of course that was a bit of a set-back; still I thought, 'Are we
down-hearted?' So I trotted on round to old Simkins--remember that
stockbroker chap we ran into at the Gaiety the other evenin'? He's a decent
sort of fellow; clever an' all that too--but not by way of overworkin'
himself.

"Well, I got to his office and asked him out to lunch at the Club, but he
wouldn't hear of it. 'My dear old man,' he said, 'you're comin' right along
with me to the Carlton, and we're goin' to have the best lunch they can
turn out. I tell you I've struck lucky this morning; absolutely had a
haul!'

"Well, I thought that sounded pretty cheery, so we toddled off, and I must
say they did us jolly well. It seemed just the chance to get him to talk in
a pally sort of way, so I simply put it to him straight and told him what I
was thinkin' of doin'. He listened to me a bit doubtfully for a few minutes
and then leaned across the table and put his hand on my arm, interruptin'
me. 'Don't you do it, my son,' he said. 'As a pal I warn you. The work! the
worry! the carking anxiety! Take my word for it the life of a stockbroker
isn't fit for a dog.'

"Seemed funny, didn't it? Only he was so insistent that I began to get the
hump about it myself too and after a little while I managed to leave him
and rolled off to get cheered up by Bird. Teddy Bird's one of the best of
fellows--always merry an' bright. They