human
Now, says I,
gpt
Was he a fat little turkey with gray eyes?
human
The same,
gpt
Then it was Tom Kelly, he answered.
human
On his daily still hunt for the maimed, the halt and the blind. You say the chap had been run over by the stage? Well, Tom'll take his case on a contingent fee--fifty per cent. to Tom and fifty per cent. to the client of all that comes of it--bring an action against the stage line and recover heavy damages. Oh, it's terrible to think what that poor injured young man will suffer. To-day he may feel quite well, but to-morrow he will have all kinds of pains in his head and eyes, his spine will ache, he will experience symptoms of a nervous breakdown. He will retire to bed and not emerge for six months, and when he does he'll be a hopeless and helpless cripple for life. Tom is an artist, he is, in his own line. They tell me he made sixty thousand last year out of his accident practice alone. Why, the case he gave you twenty to keep out of may net him five thousand dollars.
gpt
If I'd known that it would have cost him fifty!
human
Twenty is the regular rate, answered Gottlieb.
gpt
There are too many chances to make it worth much more merely to get the other fellow out of the way. Sometimes, though, I've paid as high as fifteen hundred for a case.
human
Fifteen hundred!
gpt
Yes, and got a verdict of nineteen thousand, of which I pocketed ninety-five hundred and four hundred dollars costs besides.
human
Whew!
gpt
Oh, there's pretty good pickin's on occasion even for a police- court lawyer, he continued;
human
Well, I answered, remembering
gpt
human
I've no doubt that you could beat them all. But I fancy you have nothing to complain of in the way of returns, yourself. What worries me is how to get any start at all. I've tried half the law offices in town.
gpt
But, he exclaimed,
human
Thank you, Mr. Gottlieb, said I, suppressing an inclination to smile.
gpt
I'll take your advice. Perhaps you'll let me talk to you again later on.
human
Come as often as you like, he replied.
gpt
And look you, young- feller-me-lad, I'll give you half of all the profits I make out of any business you bring me. You don't have to be a lawyer to get clients. Hustle around among your friends and drum up some trade and you'll do almost as well as if you could try cases yourself. For every dollar I earn you get another. Is it a go?
human
Surely! I cried.
gpt
And if I'm not very much mistaken I'll not be long about it, for I have an idea or two in my head already.