"I wouldn't do that. You can do much better here than you can there."
"What can I do here now?"
"Set up business for yourself."
"I have no money to do it with."
"My father has," said Meredith; "and I will go into company with you if he will furnish the means. I am not acquainted with the business, and you are; so I will furnish the capital, and you shall manage the concern, and we will share the profits equally."
"Your father will never do it," suggested Benjamin.
"I am confident that he will," replied Meredith. "He has a high opinion of you, and he wants a good opportunity to set me up. I will ask him, at any rate."
"I would like such an enterprise myself," added Benjamin; "but can we succeed against Keimer? He will now do all he can to crush me."
"He will be crushed himself before long," answered Meredith. "I happen to know that he is in debt for all the property in his hands. He keeps his shop miserably, too; often sells without profit in order to raise money; and trusts people without keeping accounts. He will fail as surely as he keeps on in this way."
"I will agree to your plan if you can make it work," said Benjamin. "See your father immediately, and let me know the result."