"There's something I want to propose to you," said Eldrick, when they had finished the immediate business. "You're going to practise, of course?"
"Of course!" replied Collingwood, with a laugh. "If I get the chance!"
"You'll get the chance," said Eldrick. "What were you going in for?"
"Commercial law—company law—as a special thing," answered Collingwood.
"Why?"
"I'll tell you what it is," continued Eldrick eagerly. "There's a career for you if you'll take my advice. Leave London—come down here and take chambers in the town, and go the North-Eastern Circuit. I'll promise you—for our firm alone—plenty of work. You'll get more—there's lots of work waiting here for a good, smart young barrister. Ah!—you smile, but I know what I'm talking about. You don't know Barford men. They believe in the old adage that one should look at home before going abroad. They're terribly litigious, too, and if you were here, on the spot, they'd give you work. What do you say, Collingwood?"
"That sounds very tempting. But I was thinking of sticking to London."
"Not one hundredth part of the chance in London that there is here!" affirmed Eldrick "We badly want two or three barristers in this place. A man who's really well up in commercial and company law would soon have his hands full. There's work, I tell you. Take my advice, and come!"
"I couldn't come—in any case—for a few months,"
