Toppleton's Client; Or, A Spirit in Exile

something over fifty thousand dollars a year, derived from investments which time had shown to be as far removed from instability, and as little influenced by the fluct

ledge of law was scant, receiving a share of the profits of the concern for the use of his patronymic, which, owing to his father's pre-eminent success at the Bar, Messrs. Morley, Harkins, et al., were anxious to retain. This desire of Mr. Toppleton's late associates was most natural, for such was the tremendous force exerted by the name he bore, that plaintiffs when they perceived it arrayed in opp

oppleton had been associated. Nor was this feeling, that with the departure of Toppleton, the illustrious, for other worlds the firm was deprived of a most considerable portion of its claims to high standing, confined to cavilling outsiders. No one recognized the unhappy state of aff

profession, was to retain the name of Toppleton at the mast-head, and, as Mr. Mawson put it, "to bluff it out." Mr. Perkins agreed with Mr. Hicks, and suggested th

y-I should say Hopkins-has never studied law, I think he could be induced to do so, in which event he could be taken in here,

his being addressed by them as Hoppy; nor would it conduce toward good discipline, I am convinced, for the nominal head of the concern to be engaged in making pools on baseball games with our book-keepers and clerks, which, during his lamented father's life, I understand was one of the lad's most cherished customs. Now, while I agr

est as an alternative

er in the firm, and have him travel abroad for his hea

stead of sending him for his health, we establish a London branch office, and put him in charge on a salary of, say, 10,000 dollars. We have no business interests outside of this country, so that such a course, in view of his absolute ignorance of l

son. "In fact, if Hoppy declines that respons

the law, but he had no objection to receiving an extra ten thousand dollars a year as a silent partner in a flourishing conce

. "Even as a baby I was fond of it. I remember my mother saying that I slept for nearly the whole of my first year of existence, and when I came to my school days my reputation wit

er ideas with ennui, but he did on occasions find fault with the powers for having condemned him to birth in

arly to have had me born a rich duke or a prince, whose chief duty it would be to lead the fashionable world and to set styles of dress for others to follow. I'd have made a magnificent member of the House of Lords, or proprietor of a rich estate somewhere in England, with nothing to do but to spend my income and open horse shows; but in Ne

ng the value to society of the drones, a life free from responsibility, yet possessing a semblance of dignity bound to impress those unacquainted with t

investments, but it is an awkward sum to spend. It doesn't divide up well. But sixty thousand a year is simply ideal. Twelve goes into sixty five time

when the young man had thus unbosomed himself,

o show that I deserved it. I shall give up the reading of my irresponsible days, and take to reading law. I shall stop my subscription to the sporting papers, and take the Daily Register and Court Calendar instead,

n't think you'd better give up the sporting pape

y on legal subjects, Mr. Hicks. In that I am firm. I am a good deal of a book-lover anyhow, and since law is t

ne," said Mr. Hicks, gravely. "You w

recommend,-and I tell you what, Mr. Hicks, when my collection gets going it will be the talk of the town. I'll have 'em all in absolute firsts, and as for the bindings, your old yellow-backed tomes at

ed the lawyer. "Every one of the volumes

, but you'll find your mistake some day. I'm serious in this busines

d then you might put in the summer in Norway, de

e first step to take, really, is to pack up my thi

e, and law is seldom that; nor must you forget that in asking you to represent us in London, it is not our desire to inflict upon you any really active work. We simply desire you to live in an atmosphere that, to one of your tastes, is necessarily broadeni

ks," said Hopkins. "I shall endeav

the present stage of your legal development, of the maxim, that to a young lawyer not sure of his law, and devoid of experience, there is nothing quite so dange

urned his attention to preparations for departure; paying his bills, laying in a stock of cigars, and instructing his valet as to the disposition of his lare

f this appalling fact would have come to light even then, had not Mr. Mawson, in endeavouring to discharge one of the office-boys for insubordination, been informed by the delinquent that he defied him; the senior member of the firm, the departed Hoppy, having promised to retain the youth in his employ at increased wages, until he was old enough to go to London, and assis