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ON HIS WAY THROUGH THE WORLD 485
short of it. But it's good to see him haw-haw Bickerton if ever
they meet in the office, that it is ! Bickerton won't bully him any
more, I promise you ! "
The conclaves and conspiracies of these women were endless in
Philip's behalf. One day, I let the Little Sister out of my house
with a handkerchief to her eyes, and in a great state of flurry and
excitement, which perhaps communicates itself to the gentleman
who passes her at his own door. The gentleman's wife is, on her
part, not a little moved and excited. " What do you think Mrs.
Brandon says? Philip is learning shorthand. He says he does
not think he is clever enough to be a writer of any mark ;—but he
can be a reporter, and with this, and his place at Mr. Mugford's,
he thinks he can earn enough to _________ . Oh, he is a fine fellow !"
I suppose feminine emotion stopped the completion of this speech.
But when Mr. Philip slouched in to dinner that day, his hostess
did homage before him; she loved him; she treated him with a
tender respect and sympathy which her like are ever wont to
bestow upon brave and honest men in misfortune.
Why should not Mr. Philip Firmin, barrister-at-law, bethink
him that he belonged to a profession which has helped very many
men to competence, and not a few to wealth and honours'? A
barrister might surely hope for as good earnings as could be made
by a newspaper reporter. We all know instances of men who,
having commenced their careers as writers for the press, had carried
on the legal profession simultaneously, and attained the greatest
honours of the bar and the bench. " Can I sit in a Pump Court
garret waiting for attorneys ?" asked poor Phil ; " I shall break my
heart before they come. My brains are not worth much ; I should
addle them altogether in poring over law-books. I am not at all
a clever fellow, you see; and I haven't the ambition and obstinate
will to succeed which carry on many a man with no greater capacity
than my own. I may have as good brains as Bickerton, for example :
but I am not so bumptious as he is. By claiming the first place
wherever he goes, he gets it very often. My dear friends, don't
you see how modest I am ? There never was a man less likely
to get on than myself—you must own that; and I tell you that
Charlotte and I must look forward to a life of poverty, of cheeseparings,
and second-floor lodgings at Pentonville or Islington.
That's about my mark. I would let her off, only I know she would
not take me at my word—the dear little thing ! She has set her
heart upon a hulking pauper; that's the truth. And I tell you
what I am going to do. I am going seriously to learn the profession
of poverty, and make myself master of it. What's the price of
cow-heel and tripe ? You don't know. I do ; and the right place