CHAPTER II.

A GLANCE back at the last chapter makes me terribly afraid someone will exclaim, "But Philip chatter'd more than brook or bird." But pardon me this once, and the remainder of the tale shall feel the spur.

To work as a barrister you must settle down somewhere. Now, where is it to be? Have you a little money ? Then try Allahabad-seat of the N.W.P. High Court. Lots to be made in time. Yes, in time! As a sarcastic judge remarked of this place, "There are more dogs than bones, and some bones are scarcely fresh!' Most insulting, but, alas! the warning should not be despised.

The successful seniors do well, but the junior bar are terribly pressed by "heathen cheap labour."

Lucknow, the Chief Court of Oude, attracts many, and splendid fees are still paid by the wealthy Talookdars, while the social joys of this station far exceed those of any upcountry rival. The climate is, beyond doubt, better than that of Allahabad; escape to the hills in case of illness far easier.

Of Lahore, in the Punjaub, I can only speak from hearsay. There is a strong Bar there, many of its members doing splendidly, but how it fares with the struggling junior I know not.

These three towns invite the man who can wait; he who cannot must try Meerut, Bareilly, Agra, Delhi, or some such place, where, rivals being fewer, work of some kind soon falls to his share.

"Less money, more fun," should be the motto of such stragglers. Polo and racquets, an occasional day's pig-sticking or shooting

must serve as a set-off to the heavier fees made in headquarters.

A good-natured magistrate will, when possible, adjourn cases so as to suit all parties, he having lots of other work ever ready.

In moderation, then, the local barrister may amuse himself far more than his High Court friends, who are forced by competition to pay more respect to popular opinion, as represented by the Vakil element, through whom work filters to the bar. A Vakil is utterly unable to understand or appreciate our British capacity for combining brain and muscle, work and play; solemnity is with him a synonym for wisdom. If once dubbed by the native a "kehlne-wallah," or a man who likes to play, you must rub hard and long to efface the stain cast on your professional escutcheon. "But yet the pity of it, Iago."

In no country is good hard exercise so much needed as in India. Is it likely that a

cranky man with swollen liver can do such work as a sound in wind and limb product? Besides, do look at facts. Who is the best barrister in Bombay? Ask the man in the street. What income is that barrister

making? £25,000 a year ! How many tiger did he kill? More than all the Vakils would care to eat, even cum grano.

Tiger-shooting takes more time than a stray bit of pig-sticking, and polo never begins before 4.30 p.m., so, briefless, rush home, slip into breeches and boots, rattle off to the polo ground, but, for heaven's sake, learn the rules, and don't cause a good fellow's death by crossing or standing over the ball!

Bombay sets a good example, yet is the Mufassal not utterly benighted. Begin at the beginning. Where can you find a better shot than our Chief Justice in Allahabad ? Who has long been the champion racquetplayer of the N.W.P., if not of India? Who but the "courteous George," whose winning

address has pulled so many an appeal out of the fire ?

Finally, does not Allahabad rejoice in one so learned in the law that his brethren all bow down to him; yea, they beg a morsel of advice from him not unfrequently! But, ea fama vagatur, that on a certain blazing day in April he rode out upon a long-tailed Arab horse, and did, in company with an illiterate subaltern of sporting appearance, give battle to no fewer than eight wild boar, vulgarly known as pig, of which they did slay five. An unholy proceeding, indeed, and one of which, let us hope, he is now much ashamed!

How about that smart four-in-hand in Lucknow ? Is the driver of it less capable of conducting a case than his solemn and portly rival who takes his "hawa khana" or mouthful of fresh air in a landau driven by a gailyattired coachman ?

In holding such absurd notions the native is simply worshipping at the altar of the