initial commit of ebook 1840HEADmain

11 files changed, 85841 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/1840-0.txt b/1840-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d15c99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/1840-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,20162 @@
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Financier, by Theodore Dreiser
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Financier
+
+Author: Theodore Dreiser
+
+Release Date: February 25, 2006 [EBook #1840]
+Last Updated: December 1, 2019
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FINANCIER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Kirk Pearson and David Widger
+
+
+
+
+The Financier
+
+by Theodore Dreiser
+
+
+Contents
+
+ Chapter I
+ Chapter II
+ Chapter III
+ Chapter IV
+ Chapter V
+ Chapter VI
+ Chapter VII
+ Chapter VIII
+ Chapter IX
+ Chapter X
+ Chapter XI
+ Chapter XII
+ Chapter XIII
+ Chapter XIV
+ Chapter XV
+ Chapter XVI
+ Chapter XVII
+ Chapter XVIII
+ Chapter XIX
+ Chapter XX
+ Chapter XXI
+ Chapter XXII
+ Chapter XXIII
+ Chapter XXIV
+ Chapter XXV
+ Chapter XXVI
+ Chapter XXVII
+ Chapter XXVIII
+ Chapter XXIX
+ Chapter XXX
+ Chapter XXXI
+ Chapter XXXII
+ Chapter XXXIII
+ Chapter XXXIV
+ Chapter XXXV
+ Chapter XXXVI
+ Chapter XXXVII
+ Chapter XXXVIII
+ Chapter XXXIX
+ Chapter XL
+ Chapter XLI
+ Chapter XLII
+ Chapter XLIII
+ Chapter XLIV
+ Chapter XLV
+ Chapter XLVI
+ Chapter XLVII
+ Chapter XLVIII
+ Chapter XLIX
+ Chapter L
+ Chapter LI
+ Chapter LII
+ Chapter LIII
+ Chapter LIV
+ Chapter LV
+ Chapter LVI
+ Chapter LVII
+ Chapter LVIII
+ Chapter LIX
+ Concerning Mycteroperca Bonaci
+ The Magic Crystal
+
+
+
+
+Chapter I
+
+
+The Philadelphia into which Frank Algernon Cowperwood was born was a
+city of two hundred and fifty thousand and more. It was set with
+handsome parks, notable buildings, and crowded with historic memories.
+Many of the things that we and he knew later were not then in
+existence—the telegraph, telephone, express company, ocean steamer,
+city delivery of mails. There were no postage-stamps or registered
+letters. The street car had not arrived. In its place were hosts of
+omnibuses, and for longer travel the slowly developing railroad system
+still largely connected by canals.
+
+Cowperwood’s father was a bank clerk at the time of Frank’s birth, but
+ten years later, when the boy was already beginning to turn a very
+sensible, vigorous eye on the world, Mr. Henry Worthington Cowperwood,
+because of the death of the bank’s president and the consequent moving
+ahead of the other officers, fell heir to the place vacated by the
+promoted teller, at the, to him, munificent salary of thirty-five
+hundred dollars a year. At once he decided, as he told his wife
+joyously, to remove his family from 21 Buttonwood Street to 124 New
+Market Street, a much better neighborhood, where there was a nice brick
+house of three stories in height as opposed to their present
+two-storied domicile. There was the probability that some day they
+would come into something even better, but for the present this was
+sufficient. He was exceedingly grateful.
+
+Henry Worthington Cowperwood was a man who believed only what he saw
+and was content to be what he was—a banker, or a prospective one. He
+was at this time a significant figure—tall, lean, inquisitorial,
+clerkly—with nice, smooth, closely-cropped side whiskers coming to
+almost the lower lobes of his ears. His upper lip was smooth and
+curiously long, and he had a long, straight nose and a chin that tended
+to be pointed. His eyebrows were bushy, emphasizing vague,
+grayish-green eyes, and his hair was short and smooth and nicely
+parted. He wore a frock-coat always—it was quite the thing in financial
+circles in those days—and a high hat. And he kept his hands and nails
+immaculately clean. His manner might have been called severe, though
+really it was more cultivated than austere.
+
+Being ambitious to get ahead socially and financially, he was very
+careful of whom or with whom he talked. He was as much afraid of
+expressing a rabid or unpopular political or social opinion as he was
+of being seen with an evil character, though he had really no opinion
+of great political significance to express. He was neither anti- nor
+pro-slavery, though the air was stormy with abolition sentiment and its
+opposition. He believed sincerely that vast fortunes were to be made
+out of railroads if one only had the capital and that curious thing, a
+magnetic personality—the ability to win the confidence of others. He
+was sure that Andrew Jackson was all wrong in his opposition to
+Nicholas Biddle and the United States Bank, one of the great issues of
+the day; and he was worried, as he might well be, by the perfect storm
+of wildcat money which was floating about and which was constantly
+coming to his bank—discounted, of course, and handed out again to
+anxious borrowers at a profit. His bank was the Third National of
+Philadelphia, located in that center of all Philadelphia and indeed, at
+that time, of practically all national finance—Third Street—and its
+owners conducted a brokerage business as a side line. There was a
+perfect plague of State banks, great and small, in those days, issuing
+notes practically without regulation upon insecure and unknown assets
+and failing and suspending with astonishing rapidity; and a knowledge
+of all these was an important requirement of Mr. Cowperwood’s position.
+As a result, he had become the soul of caution. Unfortunately, for him,
+he lacked in a great measure the two things that are necessary for
+distinction in any field—magnetism and vision. He was not destined to
+be a great financier, though he was marked out to be a moderately
+successful one.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood was of a religious temperament—a small woman, with
+light-brown hair and clear, brown eyes, who had been very attractive in
+her day, but had become rather prim and matter-of-fact and inclined to
+take very seriously the maternal care of her three sons and one
+daughter. The former, captained by Frank, the eldest, were a source of
+considerable annoyance to her, for they were forever making expeditions
+to different parts of the city, getting in with bad boys, probably, and
+seeing and hearing things they should neither see nor hear.
+
+Frank Cowperwood, even at ten, was a natural-born leader. At the day
+school he attended, and later at the Central High School, he was looked
+upon as one whose common sense could unquestionably be trusted in all
+cases. He was a sturdy youth, courageous and defiant. From the very
+start of his life, he wanted to know about economics and politics. He
+cared nothing for books. He was a clean, stalky, shapely boy, with a
+bright, clean-cut, incisive face; large, clear, gray eyes; a wide
+forehead; short, bristly, dark-brown hair. He had an incisive,
+quick-motioned, self-sufficient manner, and was forever asking
+questions with a keen desire for an intelligent reply. He never had an
+ache or pain, ate his food with gusto, and ruled his brothers with a
+rod of iron. “Come on, Joe!” “Hurry, Ed!” These commands were issued in
+no rough but always a sure way, and Joe and Ed came. They looked up to
+Frank from the first as a master, and what he had to say was listened
+to eagerly.
+
+He was forever pondering, pondering—one fact astonishing him quite as
+much as another—for he could not figure out how this thing he had come
+into—this life—was organized. How did all these people get into the
+world? What were they doing here? Who started things, anyhow? His
+mother told him the story of Adam and Eve, but he didn’t believe it.
+There was a fish-market not so very far from his home, and there, on
+his way to see his father at the bank, or conducting his brothers on
+after-school expeditions, he liked to look at a certain tank in front
+of one store where were kept odd specimens of sea-life brought in by
+the Delaware Bay fishermen. He saw once there a sea-horse—just a queer
+little sea-animal that looked somewhat like a horse—and another time he
+saw an electric eel which Benjamin Franklin’s discovery had explained.
+One day he saw a squid and a lobster put in the tank, and in connection
+with them was witness to a tragedy which stayed with him all his life
+and cleared things up considerably intellectually. The lobster, it
+appeared from the talk of the idle bystanders, was offered no food, as
+the squid was considered his rightful prey. He lay at the bottom of the
+clear glass tank on the yellow sand, apparently seeing nothing—you
+could not tell in which way his beady, black buttons of eyes were
+looking—but apparently they were never off the body of the squid. The
+latter, pale and waxy in texture, looking very much like pork fat or
+jade, moved about in torpedo fashion; but his movements were apparently
+never out of the eyes of his enemy, for by degrees small portions of
+his body began to disappear, snapped off by the relentless claws of his
+pursuer. The lobster would leap like a catapult to where the squid was
+apparently idly dreaming, and the squid, very alert, would dart away,
+shooting out at the same time a cloud of ink, behind which it would
+disappear. It was not always completely successful, however. Small
+portions of its body or its tail were frequently left in the claws of
+the monster below. Fascinated by the drama, young Cowperwood came daily
+to watch.
+
+One morning he stood in front of the tank, his nose almost pressed to
+the glass. Only a portion of the squid remained, and his ink-bag was
+emptier than ever. In the corner of the tank sat the lobster, poised
+apparently for action.
+
+The boy stayed as long as he could, the bitter struggle fascinating
+him. Now, maybe, or in an hour or a day, the squid might die, slain by
+the lobster, and the lobster would eat him. He looked again at the
+greenish-copperish engine of destruction in the corner and wondered
+when this would be. To-night, maybe. He would come back to-night.
+
+He returned that night, and lo! the expected had happened. There was a
+little crowd around the tank. The lobster was in the corner. Before him
+was the squid cut in two and partially devoured.
+
+“He got him at last,” observed one bystander. “I was standing right
+here an hour ago, and up he leaped and grabbed him. The squid was too
+tired. He wasn’t quick enough. He did back up, but that lobster he
+calculated on his doing that. He’s been figuring on his movements for a
+long time now. He got him to-day.”
+
+Frank only stared. Too bad he had missed this. The least touch of
+sorrow for the squid came to him as he stared at it slain. Then he
+gazed at the victor.
+
+“That’s the way it has to be, I guess,” he commented to himself. “That
+squid wasn’t quick enough.” He figured it out.
+
+“The squid couldn’t kill the lobster—he had no weapon. The lobster
+could kill the squid—he was heavily armed. There was nothing for the
+squid to feed on; the lobster had the squid as prey. What was the
+result to be? What else could it be? He didn’t have a chance,” he
+concluded finally, as he trotted on homeward.
+
+The incident made a great impression on him. It answered in a rough way
+that riddle which had been annoying him so much in the past: “How is
+life organized?” Things lived on each other—that was it. Lobsters lived
+on squids and other things. What lived on lobsters? Men, of course!
+Sure, that was it! And what lived on men? he asked himself. Was it
+other men? Wild animals lived on men. And there were Indians and
+cannibals. And some men were killed by storms and accidents. He wasn’t
+so sure about men living on men; but men did kill each other. How about
+wars and street fights and mobs? He had seen a mob once. It attacked
+the Public Ledger building as he was coming home from school. His
+father had explained why. It was about the slaves. That was it! Sure,
+men lived on men. Look at the slaves. They were men. That’s what all
+this excitement was about these days. Men killing other men—negroes.
+
+He went on home quite pleased with himself at his solution.
+
+“Mother!” he exclaimed, as he entered the house, “he finally got him!”
+
+“Got who? What got what?” she inquired in amazement. “Go wash your
+hands.”
+
+“Why, that lobster got that squid I was telling you and pa about the
+other day.”
+
+“Well, that’s too bad. What makes you take any interest in such things?
+Run, wash your hands.”
+
+“Well, you don’t often see anything like that. I never did.” He went
+out in the back yard, where there was a hydrant and a post with a
+little table on it, and on that a shining tin-pan and a bucket of
+water. Here he washed his face and hands.
+
+“Say, papa,” he said to his father, later, “you know that squid?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Well, he’s dead. The lobster got him.”
+
+His father continued reading. “Well, that’s too bad,” he said,
+indifferently.
+
+But for days and weeks Frank thought of this and of the life he was
+tossed into, for he was already pondering on what he should be in this
+world, and how he should get along. From seeing his father count money,
+he was sure that he would like banking; and Third Street, where his
+father’s office was, seemed to him the cleanest, most fascinating
+street in the world.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II
+
+
+The growth of young Frank Algernon Cowperwood was through years of what
+might be called a comfortable and happy family existence. Buttonwood
+Street, where he spent the first ten years of his life, was a lovely
+place for a boy to live. It contained mostly small two and three-story
+red brick houses, with small white marble steps leading up to the front
+door, and thin, white marble trimmings outlining the front door and
+windows. There were trees in the street—plenty of them. The road
+pavement was of big, round cobblestones, made bright and clean by the
+rains; and the sidewalks were of red brick, and always damp and cool.
+In the rear was a yard, with trees and grass and sometimes flowers, for
+the lots were almost always one hundred feet deep, and the
+house-fronts, crowding close to the pavement in front, left a
+comfortable space in the rear.
+
+The Cowperwoods, father and mother, were not so lean and narrow that
+they could not enter into the natural tendency to be happy and joyous
+with their children; and so this family, which increased at the rate of
+a child every two or three years after Frank’s birth until there were
+four children, was quite an interesting affair when he was ten and they
+were ready to move into the New Market Street home. Henry Worthington
+Cowperwood’s connections were increased as his position grew more
+responsible, and gradually he was becoming quite a personage. He
+already knew a number of the more prosperous merchants who dealt with
+his bank, and because as a clerk his duties necessitated his calling at
+other banking-houses, he had come to be familiar with and favorably
+known in the Bank of the United States, the Drexels, the Edwards, and
+others. The brokers knew him as representing a very sound organization,
+and while he was not considered brilliant mentally, he was known as a
+most reliable and trustworthy individual.
+
+In this progress of his father young Cowperwood definitely shared. He
+was quite often allowed to come to the bank on Saturdays, when he would
+watch with great interest the deft exchange of bills at the brokerage
+end of the business. He wanted to know where all the types of money
+came from, why discounts were demanded and received, what the men did
+with all the money they received. His father, pleased at his interest,
+was glad to explain so that even at this early age—from ten to
+fifteen—the boy gained a wide knowledge of the condition of the country
+financially—what a State bank was and what a national one; what brokers
+did; what stocks were, and why they fluctuated in value. He began to
+see clearly what was meant by money as a medium of exchange, and how
+all values were calculated according to one primary value, that of
+gold. He was a financier by instinct, and all the knowledge that
+pertained to that great art was as natural to him as the emotions and
+subtleties of life are to a poet. This medium of exchange, gold,
+interested him intensely. When his father explained to him how it was
+mined, he dreamed that he owned a gold mine and waked to wish that he
+did. He was likewise curious about stocks and bonds and he learned that
+some stocks and bonds were not worth the paper they were written on,
+and that others were worth much more than their face value indicated.
+
+“There, my son,” said his father to him one day, “you won’t often see a
+bundle of those around this neighborhood.” He referred to a series of
+shares in the British East India Company, deposited as collateral at
+two-thirds of their face value for a loan of one hundred thousand
+dollars. A Philadelphia magnate had hypothecated them for the use of
+the ready cash. Young Cowperwood looked at them curiously. “They don’t
+look like much, do they?” he commented.
+
+“They are worth just four times their face value,” said his father,
+archly.
+
+Frank reexamined them. “The British East India Company,” he read. “Ten
+pounds—that’s pretty near fifty dollars.”
+
+“Forty-eight, thirty-five,” commented his father, dryly. “Well, if we
+had a bundle of those we wouldn’t need to work very hard. You’ll notice
+there are scarcely any pin-marks on them. They aren’t sent around very
+much. I don’t suppose these have ever been used as collateral before.”
+
+Young Cowperwood gave them back after a time, but not without a keen
+sense of the vast ramifications of finance. What was the East India
+Company? What did it do? His father told him.
+
+At home also he listened to considerable talk of financial investment
+and adventure. He heard, for one thing, of a curious character by the
+name of Steemberger, a great beef speculator from Virginia, who was
+attracted to Philadelphia in those days by the hope of large and easy
+credits. Steemberger, so his father said, was close to Nicholas Biddle,
+Lardner, and others of the United States Bank, or at least friendly
+with them, and seemed to be able to obtain from that organization
+nearly all that he asked for. His operations in the purchase of cattle
+in Virginia, Ohio, and other States were vast, amounting, in fact, to
+an entire monopoly of the business of supplying beef to Eastern cities.
+He was a big man, enormous, with a face, his father said, something
+like that of a pig; and he wore a high beaver hat and a long frock-coat
+which hung loosely about his big chest and stomach. He had managed to
+force the price of beef up to thirty cents a pound, causing all the
+retailers and consumers to rebel, and this was what made him so
+conspicuous. He used to come to the brokerage end of the elder
+Cowperwood’s bank, with as much as one hundred thousand or two hundred
+thousand dollars, in twelve months—post-notes of the United States Bank
+in denominations of one thousand, five thousand, and ten thousand
+dollars. These he would cash at from ten to twelve per cent. under
+their face value, having previously given the United States Bank his
+own note at four months for the entire amount. He would take his pay
+from the Third National brokerage counter in packages of Virginia,
+Ohio, and western Pennsylvania bank-notes at par, because he made his
+disbursements principally in those States. The Third National would in
+the first place realize a profit of from four to five per cent. on the
+original transaction; and as it took the Western bank-notes at a
+discount, it also made a profit on those.
+
+There was another man his father talked about—one Francis J. Grund, a
+famous newspaper correspondent and lobbyist at Washington, who
+possessed the faculty of unearthing secrets of every kind, especially
+those relating to financial legislation. The secrets of the President
+and the Cabinet, as well as of the Senate and the House of
+Representatives, seemed to be open to him. Grund had been about, years
+before, purchasing through one or two brokers large amounts of the
+various kinds of Texas debt certificates and bonds. The Republic of
+Texas, in its struggle for independence from Mexico, had issued bonds
+and certificates in great variety, amounting in value to ten or fifteen
+million dollars. Later, in connection with the scheme to make Texas a
+State of the Union, a bill was passed providing a contribution on the
+part of the United States of five million dollars, to be applied to the
+extinguishment of this old debt. Grund knew of this, and also of the
+fact that some of this debt, owing to the peculiar conditions of issue,
+was to be paid in full, while other portions were to be scaled down,
+and there was to be a false or pre-arranged failure to pass the bill at
+one session in order to frighten off the outsiders who might have heard
+and begun to buy the old certificates for profit. He acquainted the
+Third National Bank with this fact, and of course the information came
+to Cowperwood as teller. He told his wife about it, and so his son, in
+this roundabout way, heard it, and his clear, big eyes glistened. He
+wondered why his father did not take advantage of the situation and buy
+some Texas certificates for himself. Grund, so his father said, and
+possibly three or four others, had made over a hundred thousand dollars
+apiece. It wasn’t exactly legitimate, he seemed to think, and yet it
+was, too. Why shouldn’t such inside information be rewarded? Somehow,
+Frank realized that his father was too honest, too cautious, but when
+he grew up, he told himself, he was going to be a broker, or a
+financier, or a banker, and do some of these things.
+
+Just at this time there came to the Cowperwoods an uncle who had not
+previously appeared in the life of the family. He was a brother of Mrs.
+Cowperwood’s—Seneca Davis by name—solid, unctuous, five feet ten in
+height, with a big, round body, a round, smooth head rather bald, a
+clear, ruddy complexion, blue eyes, and what little hair he had of a
+sandy hue. He was exceedingly well dressed according to standards
+prevailing in those days, indulging in flowered waistcoats, long,
+light-colored frock-coats, and the invariable (for a fairly prosperous
+man) high hat. Frank was fascinated by him at once. He had been a
+planter in Cuba and still owned a big ranch there and could tell him
+tales of Cuban life—rebellions, ambuscades, hand-to-hand fighting with
+machetes on his own plantation, and things of that sort. He brought
+with him a collection of Indian curies, to say nothing of an
+independent fortune and several slaves—one, named Manuel, a tall,
+raw-boned black, was his constant attendant, a bodyservant, as it were.
+He shipped raw sugar from his plantation in boat-loads to the Southwark
+wharves in Philadelphia. Frank liked him because he took life in a
+hearty, jovial way, rather rough and offhand for this somewhat quiet
+and reserved household.
+
+“Why, Nancy Arabella,” he said to Mrs Cowperwood on arriving one Sunday
+afternoon, and throwing the household into joyous astonishment at his
+unexpected and unheralded appearance, “you haven’t grown an inch! I
+thought when you married old brother Hy here that you were going to
+fatten up like your brother. But look at you! I swear to Heaven you
+don’t weigh five pounds.” And he jounced her up and down by the waist,
+much to the perturbation of the children, who had never before seen
+their mother so familiarly handled.
+
+Henry Cowperwood was exceedingly interested in and pleased at the
+arrival of this rather prosperous relative; for twelve years before,
+when he was married, Seneca Davis had not taken much notice of him.
+
+“Look at these little putty-faced Philadelphians,” he continued, “They
+ought to come down to my ranch in Cuba and get tanned up. That would
+take away this waxy look.” And he pinched the cheek of Anna Adelaide,
+now five years old. “I tell you, Henry, you have a rather nice place
+here.” And he looked at the main room of the rather conventional
+three-story house with a critical eye.
+
+Measuring twenty by twenty-four and finished in imitation cherry, with
+a set of new Sheraton parlor furniture it presented a quaintly
+harmonious aspect. Since Henry had become teller the family had
+acquired a piano—a decided luxury in those days—brought from Europe;
+and it was intended that Anna Adelaide, when she was old enough, should
+learn to play. There were a few uncommon ornaments in the room—a gas
+chandelier for one thing, a glass bowl with goldfish in it, some rare
+and highly polished shells, and a marble Cupid bearing a basket of
+flowers. It was summer time, the windows were open, and the trees
+outside, with their widely extended green branches, were pleasantly
+visible shading the brick sidewalk. Uncle Seneca strolled out into the
+back yard.
+
+“Well, this is pleasant enough,” he observed, noting a large elm and
+seeing that the yard was partially paved with brick and enclosed within
+brick walls, up the sides of which vines were climbing. “Where’s your
+hammock? Don’t you string a hammock here in summer? Down on my veranda
+at San Pedro I have six or seven.”
+
+“We hadn’t thought of putting one up because of the neighbors, but it
+would be nice,” agreed Mrs. Cowperwood. “Henry will have to get one.”
+
+“I have two or three in my trunks over at the hotel. My niggers make
+’em down there. I’ll send Manuel over with them in the morning.”
+
+He plucked at the vines, tweaked Edward’s ear, told Joseph, the second
+boy, he would bring him an Indian tomahawk, and went back into the
+house.
+
+“This is the lad that interests me,” he said, after a time, laying a
+hand on the shoulder of Frank. “What did you name him in full, Henry?”
+
+“Frank Algernon.”
+
+“Well, you might have named him after me. There’s something to this
+boy. How would you like to come down to Cuba and be a planter, my boy?”
+
+“I’m not so sure that I’d like to,” replied the eldest.
+
+“Well, that’s straight-spoken. What have you against it?”
+
+“Nothing, except that I don’t know anything about it.”
+
+“What do you know?”
+
+The boy smiled wisely. “Not very much, I guess.”
+
+“Well, what are you interested in?”
+
+“Money!”
+
+“Aha! What’s bred in the bone, eh? Get something of that from your
+father, eh? Well, that’s a good trait. And spoken like a man, too!
+We’ll hear more about that later. Nancy, you’re breeding a financier
+here, I think. He talks like one.”
+
+He looked at Frank carefully now. There was real force in that sturdy
+young body—no doubt of it. Those large, clear gray eyes were full of
+intelligence. They indicated much and revealed nothing.
+
+“A smart boy!” he said to Henry, his brother-in-law. “I like his
+get-up. You have a bright family.”
+
+Henry Cowperwood smiled dryly. This man, if he liked Frank, might do
+much for the boy. He might eventually leave him some of his fortune. He
+was wealthy and single.
+
+Uncle Seneca became a frequent visitor to the house—he and his negro
+body-guard, Manuel, who spoke both English and Spanish, much to the
+astonishment of the children; and he took an increasing interest in
+Frank.
+
+“When that boy gets old enough to find out what he wants to do, I think
+I’ll help him to do it,” he observed to his sister one day; and she
+told him she was very grateful. He talked to Frank about his studies,
+and found that he cared little for books or most of the study he was
+compelled to pursue. Grammar was an abomination. Literature silly.
+Latin was of no use. History—well, it was fairly interesting.
+
+“I like bookkeeping and arithmetic,” he observed. “I want to get out
+and get to work, though. That’s what I want to do.”
+
+“You’re pretty young, my son,” observed his uncle. “You’re only how old
+now? Fourteen?”
+
+“Thirteen.”
+
+“Well, you can’t leave school much before sixteen. You’ll do better if
+you stay until seventeen or eighteen. It can’t do you any harm. You
+won’t be a boy again.”
+
+“I don’t want to be a boy. I want to get to work.”
+
+“Don’t go too fast, son. You’ll be a man soon enough. You want to be a
+banker, do you?”
+
+“Yes, sir!”
+
+“Well, when the time comes, if everything is all right and you’ve
+behaved yourself and you still want to, I’ll help you get a start in
+business. If I were you and were going to be a banker, I’d first spend
+a year or so in some good grain and commission house. There’s good
+training to be had there. You’ll learn a lot that you ought to know.
+And, meantime, keep your health and learn all you can. Wherever I am,
+you let me know, and I’ll write and find out how you’ve been conducting
+yourself.”
+
+He gave the boy a ten-dollar gold piece with which to start a
+bank-account. And, not strange to say, he liked the whole Cowperwood
+household much better for this dynamic, self-sufficient, sterling youth
+who was an integral part of it.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III
+
+
+It was in his thirteenth year that young Cowperwood entered into his
+first business venture. Walking along Front Street one day, a street of
+importing and wholesale establishments, he saw an auctioneer’s flag
+hanging out before a wholesale grocery and from the interior came the
+auctioneer’s voice: “What am I bid for this exceptional lot of Java
+coffee, twenty-two bags all told, which is now selling in the market
+for seven dollars and thirty-two cents a bag wholesale? What am I bid?
+What am I bid? The whole lot must go as one. What am I bid?”
+
+“Eighteen dollars,” suggested a trader standing near the door, more to
+start the bidding than anything else. Frank paused.
+
+“Twenty-two!” called another.
+
+“Thirty!” a third. “Thirty-five!” a fourth, and so up to seventy-five,
+less than half of what it was worth.
+
+“I’m bid seventy-five! I’m bid seventy-five!” called the auctioneer,
+loudly. “Any other offers? Going once at seventy-five; am I offered
+eighty? Going twice at seventy-five, and”—he paused, one hand raised
+dramatically. Then he brought it down with a slap in the palm of the
+other—“sold to Mr. Silas Gregory for seventy-five. Make a note of that,
+Jerry,” he called to his red-haired, freckle-faced clerk beside him.
+Then he turned to another lot of grocery staples—this time starch,
+eleven barrels of it.
+
+Young Cowperwood was making a rapid calculation. If, as the auctioneer
+said, coffee was worth seven dollars and thirty-two cents a bag in the
+open market, and this buyer was getting this coffee for seventy-five
+dollars, he was making then and there eighty-six dollars and four
+cents, to say nothing of what his profit would be if he sold it at
+retail. As he recalled, his mother was paying twenty-eight cents a
+pound. He drew nearer, his books tucked under his arm, and watched
+these operations closely. The starch, as he soon heard, was valued at
+ten dollars a barrel, and it only brought six. Some kegs of vinegar
+were knocked down at one-third their value, and so on. He began to wish
+he could bid; but he had no money, just a little pocket change. The
+auctioneer noticed him standing almost directly under his nose, and was
+impressed with the stolidity—solidity—of the boy’s expression.
+
+“I am going to offer you now a fine lot of Castile soap—seven cases, no
+less—which, as you know, if you know anything about soap, is now
+selling at fourteen cents a bar. This soap is worth anywhere at this
+moment eleven dollars and seventy-five cents a case. What am I bid?
+What am I bid? What am I bid?” He was talking fast in the usual style
+of auctioneers, with much unnecessary emphasis; but Cowperwood was not
+unduly impressed. He was already rapidly calculating for himself. Seven
+cases at eleven dollars and seventy-five cents would be worth just
+eighty-two dollars and twenty-five cents; and if it went at half—if it
+went at half—
+
+“Twelve dollars,” commented one bidder.
+
+“Fifteen,” bid another.
+
+“Twenty,” called a third.
+
+“Twenty-five,” a fourth.
+
+Then it came to dollar raises, for Castile soap was not such a vital
+commodity. “Twenty-six.” “Twenty-seven.” “Twenty-eight.” “Twenty-nine.”
+There was a pause. “Thirty,” observed young Cowperwood, decisively.
+
+The auctioneer, a short lean faced, spare man with bushy hair and an
+incisive eye, looked at him curiously and almost incredulously but
+without pausing. He had, somehow, in spite of himself, been impressed
+by the boy’s peculiar eye; and now he felt, without knowing why, that
+the offer was probably legitimate enough, and that the boy had the
+money. He might be the son of a grocer.
+
+“I’m bid thirty! I’m bid thirty! I’m bid thirty for this fine lot of
+Castile soap. It’s a fine lot. It’s worth fourteen cents a bar. Will
+any one bid thirty-one? Will any one bid thirty-one? Will any one bid
+thirty-one?”
+
+“Thirty-one,” said a voice.
+
+“Thirty-two,” replied Cowperwood. The same process was repeated.
+
+“I’m bid thirty-two! I’m bid thirty-two! I’m bid thirty-two! Will
+anybody bid thirty-three? It’s fine soap. Seven cases of fine Castile
+soap. Will anybody bid thirty-three?”
+
+Young Cowperwood’s mind was working. He had no money with him; but his
+father was teller of the Third National Bank, and he could quote him as
+reference. He could sell all of his soap to the family grocer, surely;
+or, if not, to other grocers. Other people were anxious to get this
+soap at this price. Why not he?
+
+The auctioneer paused.
+
+“Thirty-two once! Am I bid thirty-three? Thirty-two twice! Am I bid
+thirty-three? Thirty-two three times! Seven fine cases of soap. Am I
+bid anything more? Once, twice! Three times! Am I bid anything
+more?”—his hand was up again—“and sold to Mr.—?” He leaned over and
+looked curiously into the face of his young bidder.
+
+“Frank Cowperwood, son of the teller of the Third National Bank,”
+replied the boy, decisively.
+
+“Oh, yes,” said the man, fixed by his glance.
+
+“Will you wait while I run up to the bank and get the money?”
+
+“Yes. Don’t be gone long. If you’re not here in an hour I’ll sell it
+again.”
+
+Young Cowperwood made no reply. He hurried out and ran fast; first, to
+his mother’s grocer, whose store was within a block of his home.
+
+Thirty feet from the door he slowed up, put on a nonchalant air, and
+strolling in, looked about for Castile soap. There it was, the same
+kind, displayed in a box and looking just as his soap looked.
+
+“How much is this a bar, Mr. Dalrymple?” he inquired.
+
+“Sixteen cents,” replied that worthy.
+
+“If I could sell you seven boxes for sixty-two dollars just like this,
+would you take them?”
+
+“The same soap?”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+Mr. Dalrymple calculated a moment.
+
+“Yes, I think I would,” he replied, cautiously.
+
+“Would you pay me to-day?”
+
+“I’d give you my note for it. Where is the soap?”
+
+He was perplexed and somewhat astonished by this unexpected proposition
+on the part of his neighbor’s son. He knew Mr. Cowperwood well—and
+Frank also.
+
+“Will you take it if I bring it to you to-day?”
+
+“Yes, I will,” he replied. “Are you going into the soap business?”
+
+“No. But I know where I can get some of that soap cheap.”
+
+He hurried out again and ran to his father’s bank. It was after banking
+hours; but he knew how to get in, and he knew that his father would be
+glad to see him make thirty dollars. He only wanted to borrow the money
+for a day.
+
+“What’s the trouble, Frank?” asked his father, looking up from his desk
+when he appeared, breathless and red faced.
+
+“I want you to loan me thirty-two dollars! Will you?”
+
+“Why, yes, I might. What do you want to do with it?”
+
+“I want to buy some soap—seven boxes of Castile soap. I know where I
+can get it and sell it. Mr. Dalrymple will take it. He’s already
+offered me sixty-two for it. I can get it for thirty-two. Will you let
+me have the money? I’ve got to run back and pay the auctioneer.”
+
+His father smiled. This was the most business-like attitude he had seen
+his son manifest. He was so keen, so alert for a boy of thirteen.
+
+“Why, Frank,” he said, going over to a drawer where some bills were,
+“are you going to become a financier already? You’re sure you’re not
+going to lose on this? You know what you’re doing, do you?”
+
+“You let me have the money, father, will you?” he pleaded. “I’ll show
+you in a little bit. Just let me have it. You can trust me.”
+
+He was like a young hound on the scent of game. His father could not
+resist his appeal.
+
+“Why, certainly, Frank,” he replied. “I’ll trust you.” And he counted
+out six five-dollar certificates of the Third National’s own issue and
+two ones. “There you are.”
+
+Frank ran out of the building with a briefly spoken thanks and returned
+to the auction room as fast as his legs would carry him. When he came
+in, sugar was being auctioned. He made his way to the auctioneer’s
+clerk.
+
+“I want to pay for that soap,” he suggested.
+
+“Now?”
+
+“Yes. Will you give me a receipt?”
+
+“Yep.”
+
+“Do you deliver this?”
+
+“No. No delivery. You have to take it away in twenty-four hours.”
+
+That difficulty did not trouble him.
+
+“All right,” he said, and pocketed his paper testimony of purchase.
+
+The auctioneer watched him as he went out. In half an hour he was back
+with a drayman—an idle levee-wharf hanger-on who was waiting for a job.
+
+Frank had bargained with him to deliver the soap for sixty cents. In
+still another half-hour he was before the door of the astonished Mr.
+Dalrymple whom he had come out and look at the boxes before attempting
+to remove them. His plan was to have them carried on to his own home if
+the operation for any reason failed to go through. Though it was his
+first great venture, he was cool as glass.
+
+“Yes,” said Mr. Dalrymple, scratching his gray head reflectively. “Yes,
+that’s the same soap. I’ll take it. I’ll be as good as my word. Where’d
+you get it, Frank?”
+
+“At Bixom’s auction up here,” he replied, frankly and blandly.
+
+Mr. Dalrymple had the drayman bring in the soap; and after some
+formality—because the agent in this case was a boy—made out his note at
+thirty days and gave it to him.
+
+Frank thanked him and pocketed the note. He decided to go back to his
+father’s bank and discount it, as he had seen others doing, thereby
+paying his father back and getting his own profit in ready money. It
+couldn’t be done ordinarily on any day after business hours; but his
+father would make an exception in his case.
+
+He hurried back, whistling; and his father glanced up smiling when he
+came in.
+
+“Well, Frank, how’d you make out?” he asked.
+
+“Here’s a note at thirty days,” he said, producing the paper Dalrymple
+had given him. “Do you want to discount that for me? You can take your
+thirty-two out of that.”
+
+His father examined it closely. “Sixty-two dollars!” he observed. “Mr.
+Dalrymple! That’s good paper! Yes, I can. It will cost you ten per
+cent.,” he added, jestingly. “Why don’t you just hold it, though? I’ll
+let you have the thirty-two dollars until the end of the month.”
+
+“Oh, no,” said his son, “you discount it and take your money. I may
+want mine.”
+
+His father smiled at his business-like air. “All right,” he said. “I’ll
+fix it to-morrow. Tell me just how you did this.” And his son told him.
+
+At seven o’clock that evening Frank’s mother heard about it, and in due
+time Uncle Seneca.
+
+“What’d I tell you, Cowperwood?” he asked. “He has stuff in him, that
+youngster. Look out for him.”
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood looked at her boy curiously at dinner. Was this the son
+she had nursed at her bosom not so very long before? Surely he was
+developing rapidly.
+
+“Well, Frank, I hope you can do that often,” she said.
+
+“I hope so, too, ma,” was his rather noncommittal reply.
+
+Auction sales were not to be discovered every day, however, and his
+home grocer was only open to one such transaction in a reasonable
+period of time, but from the very first young Cowperwood knew how to
+make money. He took subscriptions for a boys’ paper; handled the agency
+for the sale of a new kind of ice-skate, and once organized a band of
+neighborhood youths into a union for the purpose of purchasing their
+summer straw hats at wholesale. It was not his idea that he could get
+rich by saving. From the first he had the notion that liberal spending
+was better, and that somehow he would get along.
+
+It was in this year, or a little earlier, that he began to take an
+interest in girls. He had from the first a keen eye for the beautiful
+among them; and, being good-looking and magnetic himself, it was not
+difficult for him to attract the sympathetic interest of those in whom
+he was interested. A twelve-year old girl, Patience Barlow, who lived
+further up the street, was the first to attract his attention or be
+attracted by him. Black hair and snapping black eyes were her portion,
+with pretty pigtails down her back, and dainty feet and ankles to match
+a dainty figure. She was a Quakeress, the daughter of Quaker parents,
+wearing a demure little bonnet. Her disposition, however, was
+vivacious, and she liked this self-reliant, self-sufficient,
+straight-spoken boy. One day, after an exchange of glances from time to
+time, he said, with a smile and the courage that was innate in him:
+“You live up my way, don’t you?”
+
+“Yes,” she replied, a little flustered—this last manifested in a
+nervous swinging of her school-bag—“I live at number one-forty-one.”
+
+“I know the house,” he said. “I’ve seen you go in there. You go to the
+same school my sister does, don’t you? Aren’t you Patience Barlow?” He
+had heard some of the boys speak her name. “Yes. How do you know?”
+
+“Oh, I’ve heard,” he smiled. “I’ve seen you. Do you like licorice?”
+
+He fished in his coat and pulled out some fresh sticks that were sold
+at the time.
+
+“Thank you,” she said, sweetly, taking one.
+
+“It isn’t very good. I’ve been carrying it a long time. I had some
+taffy the other day.”
+
+“Oh, it’s all right,” she replied, chewing the end of hers.
+
+“Don’t you know my sister, Anna Cowperwood?” he recurred, by way of
+self-introduction. “She’s in a lower grade than you are, but I thought
+maybe you might have seen her.”
+
+“I think I know who she is. I’ve seen her coming home from school.”
+
+“I live right over there,” he confided, pointing to his own home as he
+drew near to it, as if she didn’t know. “I’ll see you around here now,
+I guess.”
+
+“Do you know Ruth Merriam?” she asked, when he was about ready to turn
+off into the cobblestone road to reach his own door.
+
+“No, why?”
+
+“She’s giving a party next Tuesday,” she volunteered, seemingly
+pointlessly, but only seemingly.
+
+“Where does she live?”
+
+“There in twenty-eight.”
+
+“I’d like to go,” he affirmed, warmly, as he swung away from her.
+
+“Maybe she’ll ask you,” she called back, growing more courageous as the
+distance between them widened. “I’ll ask her.”
+
+“Thanks,” he smiled.
+
+And she began to run gayly onward.
+
+He looked after her with a smiling face. She was very pretty. He felt a
+keen desire to kiss her, and what might transpire at Ruth Merriam’s
+party rose vividly before his eyes.
+
+This was just one of the early love affairs, or puppy loves, that held
+his mind from time to time in the mixture of after events. Patience
+Barlow was kissed by him in secret ways many times before he found
+another girl. She and others of the street ran out to play in the snow
+of a winter’s night, or lingered after dusk before her own door when
+the days grew dark early. It was so easy to catch and kiss her then,
+and to talk to her foolishly at parties. Then came Dora Fitler, when he
+was sixteen years old and she was fourteen; and Marjorie Stafford, when
+he was seventeen and she was fifteen. Dora Fitter was a brunette, and
+Marjorie Stafford was as fair as the morning, with bright-red cheeks,
+bluish-gray eyes, and flaxen hair, and as plump as a partridge.
+
+It was at seventeen that he decided to leave school. He had not
+graduated. He had only finished the third year in high school; but he
+had had enough. Ever since his thirteenth year his mind had been on
+finance; that is, in the form in which he saw it manifested in Third
+Street. There had been odd things which he had been able to do to earn
+a little money now and then. His Uncle Seneca had allowed him to act as
+assistant weigher at the sugar-docks in Southwark, where
+three-hundred-pound bags were weighed into the government bonded
+warehouses under the eyes of United States inspectors. In certain
+emergencies he was called to assist his father, and was paid for it. He
+even made an arrangement with Mr. Dalrymple to assist him on Saturdays;
+but when his father became cashier of his bank, receiving an income of
+four thousand dollars a year, shortly after Frank had reached his
+fifteenth year, it was self-evident that Frank could no longer continue
+in such lowly employment.
+
+Just at this time his Uncle Seneca, again back in Philadelphia and
+stouter and more domineering than ever, said to him one day:
+
+“Now, Frank, if you’re ready for it, I think I know where there’s a
+good opening for you. There won’t be any salary in it for the first
+year, but if you mind your p’s and q’s, they’ll probably give you
+something as a gift at the end of that time. Do you know of Henry
+Waterman & Company down in Second Street?”
+
+“I’ve seen their place.”
+
+“Well, they tell me they might make a place for you as a bookkeeper.
+They’re brokers in a way—grain and commission men. You say you want to
+get in that line. When school’s out, you go down and see Mr.
+Waterman—tell him I sent you, and he’ll make a place for you, I think.
+Let me know how you come out.”
+
+Uncle Seneca was married now, having, because of his wealth, attracted
+the attention of a poor but ambitious Philadelphia society matron; and
+because of this the general connections of the Cowperwoods were
+considered vastly improved. Henry Cowperwood was planning to move with
+his family rather far out on North Front Street, which commanded at
+that time a beautiful view of the river and was witnessing the
+construction of some charming dwellings. His four thousand dollars a
+year in these pre-Civil-War times was considerable. He was making what
+he considered judicious and conservative investments and because of his
+cautious, conservative, clock-like conduct it was thought he might
+reasonably expect some day to be vice-president and possibly president,
+of his bank.
+
+This offer of Uncle Seneca to get him in with Waterman & Company seemed
+to Frank just the thing to start him off right. So he reported to that
+organization at 74 South Second Street one day in June, and was
+cordially received by Mr. Henry Waterman, Sr. There was, he soon
+learned, a Henry Waterman, Jr., a young man of twenty-five, and a
+George Waterman, a brother, aged fifty, who was the confidential inside
+man. Henry Waterman, Sr., a man of fifty-five years of age, was the
+general head of the organization, inside and out—traveling about the
+nearby territory to see customers when that was necessary, coming into
+final counsel in cases where his brother could not adjust matters,
+suggesting and advising new ventures which his associates and hirelings
+carried out. He was, to look at, a phlegmatic type of man—short, stout,
+wrinkled about the eyes, rather protuberant as to stomach, red-necked,
+red-faced, the least bit popeyed, but shrewd, kindly, good-natured, and
+witty. He had, because of his naturally common-sense ideas and rather
+pleasing disposition built up a sound and successful business here. He
+was getting strong in years and would gladly have welcomed the hearty
+cooperation of his son, if the latter had been entirely suited to the
+business.
+
+He was not, however. Not as democratic, as quick-witted, or as pleased
+with the work in hand as was his father, the business actually offended
+him. And if the trade had been left to his care, it would have rapidly
+disappeared. His father foresaw this, was grieved, and was hoping some
+young man would eventually appear who would be interested in the
+business, handle it in the same spirit in which it had been handled,
+and who would not crowd his son out.
+
+Then came young Cowperwood, spoken of to him by Seneca Davis. He looked
+him over critically. Yes, this boy might do, he thought. There was
+something easy and sufficient about him. He did not appear to be in the
+least flustered or disturbed. He knew how to keep books, he said,
+though he knew nothing of the details of the grain and commission
+business. It was interesting to him. He would like to try it.
+
+“I like that fellow,” Henry Waterman confided to his brother the moment
+Frank had gone with instructions to report the following morning.
+“There’s something to him. He’s the cleanest, briskest, most alive
+thing that’s walked in here in many a day.”
+
+“Yes,” said George, a much leaner and slightly taller man, with dark,
+blurry, reflective eyes and a thin, largely vanished growth of
+brownish-black hair which contrasted strangely with the egg-shaped
+whiteness of his bald head. “Yes, he’s a nice young man. It’s a wonder
+his father don’t take him in his bank.”
+
+“Well, he may not be able to,” said his brother. “He’s only the cashier
+there.”
+
+“That’s right.”
+
+“Well, we’ll give him a trial. I bet anything he makes good. He’s a
+likely-looking youth.”
+
+Henry got up and walked out into the main entrance looking into Second
+Street. The cool cobble pavements, shaded from the eastern sun by the
+wall of buildings on the east—of which his was a part—the noisy trucks
+and drays, the busy crowds hurrying to and fro, pleased him. He looked
+at the buildings over the way—all three and four stories, and largely
+of gray stone and crowded with life—and thanked his stars that he had
+originally located in so prosperous a neighborhood. If he had only
+brought more property at the time he bought this!
+
+“I wish that Cowperwood boy would turn out to be the kind of man I
+want,” he observed to himself, meditatively. “He could save me a lot of
+running these days.”
+
+Curiously, after only three or four minutes of conversation with the
+boy, he sensed this marked quality of efficiency. Something told him he
+would do well.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV
+
+
+The appearance of Frank Cowperwood at this time was, to say the least,
+prepossessing and satisfactory. Nature had destined him to be about
+five feet ten inches tall. His head was large, shapely, notably
+commercial in aspect, thickly covered with crisp, dark-brown hair and
+fixed on a pair of square shoulders and a stocky body. Already his eyes
+had the look that subtle years of thought bring. They were inscrutable.
+You could tell nothing by his eyes. He walked with a light, confident,
+springy step. Life had given him no severe shocks nor rude awakenings.
+He had not been compelled to suffer illness or pain or deprivation of
+any kind. He saw people richer than himself, but he hoped to be rich.
+His family was respected, his father well placed. He owed no man
+anything. Once he had let a small note of his become overdue at the
+bank, but his father raised such a row that he never forgot it. “I
+would rather crawl on my hands and knees than let my paper go to
+protest,” the old gentleman observed; and this fixed in his mind what
+scarcely needed to be so sharply emphasized—the significance of credit.
+No paper of his ever went to protest or became overdue after that
+through any negligence of his.
+
+He turned out to be the most efficient clerk that the house of Waterman
+& Co. had ever known. They put him on the books at first as assistant
+bookkeeper, vice Mr. Thomas Trixler, dismissed, and in two weeks George
+said: “Why don’t we make Cowperwood head bookkeeper? He knows more in a
+minute than that fellow Sampson will ever know.”
+
+“All right, make the transfer, George, but don’t fuss so. He won’t be a
+bookkeeper long, though. I want to see if he can’t handle some of these
+transfers for me after a bit.”
+
+The books of Messrs. Waterman & Co., though fairly complicated, were
+child’s play to Frank. He went through them with an ease and rapidity
+which surprised his erstwhile superior, Mr. Sampson.
+
+“Why, that fellow,” Sampson told another clerk on the first day he had
+seen Cowperwood work, “he’s too brisk. He’s going to make a bad break.
+I know that kind. Wait a little bit until we get one of those rush
+credit and transfer days.” But the bad break Mr. Sampson anticipated
+did not materialize. In less than a week Cowperwood knew the financial
+condition of the Messrs. Waterman as well as they did—better—to a
+dollar. He knew how their accounts were distributed; from what section
+they drew the most business; who sent poor produce and good—the varying
+prices for a year told that. To satisfy himself he ran back over
+certain accounts in the ledger, verifying his suspicions. Bookkeeping
+did not interest him except as a record, a demonstration of a firm’s
+life. He knew he would not do this long. Something else would happen;
+but he saw instantly what the grain and commission business was—every
+detail of it. He saw where, for want of greater activity in offering
+the goods consigned—quicker communication with shippers and buyers, a
+better working agreement with surrounding commission men—this house,
+or, rather, its customers, for it had nothing, endured severe losses. A
+man would ship a tow-boat or a car-load of fruit or vegetables against
+a supposedly rising or stable market; but if ten other men did the same
+thing at the same time, or other commission men were flooded with fruit
+or vegetables, and there was no way of disposing of them within a
+reasonable time, the price had to fall. Every day was bringing its
+special consignments. It instantly occurred to him that he would be of
+much more use to the house as an outside man disposing of heavy
+shipments, but he hesitated to say anything so soon. More than likely,
+things would adjust themselves shortly.
+
+The Watermans, Henry and George, were greatly pleased with the way he
+handled their accounts. There was a sense of security in his very
+presence. He soon began to call Brother George’s attention to the
+condition of certain accounts, making suggestions as to their possible
+liquidation or discontinuance, which pleased that individual greatly.
+He saw a way of lightening his own labors through the intelligence of
+this youth; while at the same time developing a sense of pleasant
+companionship with him.
+
+Brother Henry was for trying him on the outside. It was not always
+possible to fill the orders with the stock on hand, and somebody had to
+go into the street or the Exchange to buy and usually he did this. One
+morning, when way-bills indicated a probable glut of flour and a
+shortage of grain—Frank saw it first—the elder Waterman called him into
+his office and said:
+
+“Frank, I wish you would see what you can do with this condition that
+confronts us on the street. By to-morrow we’re going to be overcrowded
+with flour. We can’t be paying storage charges, and our orders won’t
+eat it up. We’re short on grain. Maybe you could trade out the flour to
+some of those brokers and get me enough grain to fill these orders.”
+
+“I’d like to try,” said his employee.
+
+He knew from his books where the various commission-houses were. He
+knew what the local merchants’ exchange, and the various
+commission-merchants who dealt in these things, had to offer. This was
+the thing he liked to do—adjust a trade difficulty of this nature. It
+was pleasant to be out in the air again, to be going from door to door.
+He objected to desk work and pen work and poring over books. As he said
+in later years, his brain was his office. He hurried to the principal
+commission-merchants, learning what the state of the flour market was,
+and offering his surplus at the very rate he would have expected to get
+for it if there had been no prospective glut. Did they want to buy for
+immediate delivery (forty-eight hours being immediate) six hundred
+barrels of prime flour? He would offer it at nine dollars straight, in
+the barrel. They did not. He offered it in fractions, and some agreed
+to take one portion, and some another. In about an hour he was all
+secure on this save one lot of two hundred barrels, which he decided to
+offer in one lump to a famous operator named Genderman with whom his
+firm did no business. The latter, a big man with curly gray hair, a
+gnarled and yet pudgy face, and little eyes that peeked out shrewdly
+through fat eyelids, looked at Cowperwood curiously when he came in.
+
+“What’s your name, young man?” he asked, leaning back in his wooden
+chair.
+
+“Cowperwood.”
+
+“So you work for Waterman & Company? You want to make a record, no
+doubt. That’s why you came to me?”
+
+Cowperwood merely smiled.
+
+“Well, I’ll take your flour. I need it. Bill it to me.”
+
+Cowperwood hurried out. He went direct to a firm of brokers in Walnut
+Street, with whom his firm dealt, and had them bid in the grain he
+needed at prevailing rates. Then he returned to the office.
+
+“Well,” said Henry Waterman, when he reported, “you did that quick.
+Sold old Genderman two hundred barrels direct, did you? That’s doing
+pretty well. He isn’t on our books, is he?”
+
+“No, sir.”
+
+“I thought not. Well, if you can do that sort of work on the street you
+won’t be on the books long.”
+
+Thereafter, in the course of time, Frank became a familiar figure in
+the commission district and on ’change (the Produce Exchange), striking
+balances for his employer, picking up odd lots of things they needed,
+soliciting new customers, breaking gluts by disposing of odd lots in
+unexpected quarters. Indeed the Watermans were astonished at his
+facility in this respect. He had an uncanny faculty for getting
+appreciative hearings, making friends, being introduced into new
+realms. New life began to flow through the old channels of the Waterman
+company. Their customers were better satisfied. George was for sending
+him out into the rural districts to drum up trade, and this was
+eventually done.
+
+Near Christmas-time Henry said to George: “We’ll have to make
+Cowperwood a liberal present. He hasn’t any salary. How would five
+hundred dollars do?”
+
+“That’s pretty much, seeing the way times are, but I guess he’s worth
+it. He’s certainly done everything we’ve expected, and more. He’s cut
+out for this business.”
+
+“What does he say about it? Do you ever hear him say whether he’s
+satisfied?”
+
+“Oh, he likes it pretty much, I guess. You see him as much as I do.”
+
+“Well, we’ll make it five hundred. That fellow wouldn’t make a bad
+partner in this business some day. He has the real knack for it. You
+see that he gets the five hundred dollars with a word from both of us.”
+
+So the night before Christmas, as Cowperwood was looking over some
+way-bills and certificates of consignment preparatory to leaving all in
+order for the intervening holiday, George Waterman came to his desk.
+
+“Hard at it,” he said, standing under the flaring gaslight and looking
+at his brisk employee with great satisfaction.
+
+It was early evening, and the snow was making a speckled pattern
+through the windows in front.
+
+“Just a few points before I wind up,” smiled Cowperwood.
+
+“My brother and I have been especially pleased with the way you have
+handled the work here during the past six months. We wanted to make
+some acknowledgment, and we thought about five hundred dollars would be
+right. Beginning January first we’ll give you a regular salary of
+thirty dollars a week.”
+
+“I’m certainly much obliged to you,” said Frank. “I didn’t expect that
+much. It’s a good deal. I’ve learned considerable here that I’m glad to
+know.”
+
+“Oh, don’t mention it. We know you’ve earned it. You can stay with us
+as long as you like. We’re glad to have you with us.”
+
+Cowperwood smiled his hearty, genial smile. He was feeling very
+comfortable under this evidence of approval. He looked bright and
+cheery in his well-made clothes of English tweed.
+
+On the way home that evening he speculated as to the nature of this
+business. He knew he wasn’t going to stay there long, even in spite of
+this gift and promise of salary. They were grateful, of course; but why
+shouldn’t they be? He was efficient, he knew that; under him things
+moved smoothly. It never occurred to him that he belonged in the realm
+of clerkdom. Those people were the kind of beings who ought to work for
+him, and who would. There was nothing savage in his attitude, no rage
+against fate, no dark fear of failure. These two men he worked for were
+already nothing more than characters in his eyes—their business
+significated itself. He could see their weaknesses and their
+shortcomings as a much older man might have viewed a boy’s.
+
+After dinner that evening, before leaving to call on his girl, Marjorie
+Stafford, he told his father of the gift of five hundred dollars and
+the promised salary.
+
+“That’s splendid,” said the older man. “You’re doing better than I
+thought. I suppose you’ll stay there.”
+
+“No, I won’t. I think I’ll quit sometime next year.”
+
+“Why?”
+
+“Well, it isn’t exactly what I want to do. It’s all right, but I’d
+rather try my hand at brokerage, I think. That appeals to me.”
+
+“Don’t you think you are doing them an injustice not to tell them?”
+
+“Not at all. They need me.” All the while surveying himself in a
+mirror, straightening his tie and adjusting his coat.
+
+“Have you told your mother?”
+
+“No. I’m going to do it now.”
+
+He went out into the dining-room, where his mother was, and slipping
+his arms around her little body, said: “What do you think, Mammy?”
+
+“Well, what?” she asked, looking affectionately into his eyes.
+
+“I got five hundred dollars to-night, and I get thirty a week next
+year. What do you want for Christmas?”
+
+“You don’t say! Isn’t that nice! Isn’t that fine! They must like you.
+You’re getting to be quite a man, aren’t you?”
+
+“What do you want for Christmas?”
+
+“Nothing. I don’t want anything. I have my children.”
+
+He smiled. “All right. Then nothing it is.”
+
+But she knew he would buy her something.
+
+He went out, pausing at the door to grab playfully at his sister’s
+waist, and saying that he’d be back about midnight, hurried to
+Marjorie’s house, because he had promised to take her to a show.
+
+“Anything you want for Christmas this year, Margy?” he asked, after
+kissing her in the dimly-lighted hall. “I got five hundred to-night.”
+
+She was an innocent little thing, only fifteen, no guile, no
+shrewdness.
+
+“Oh, you needn’t get me anything.”
+
+“Needn’t I?” he asked, squeezing her waist and kissing her mouth again.
+
+It was fine to be getting on this way in the world and having such a
+good time.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V
+
+
+The following October, having passed his eighteenth year by nearly six
+months, and feeling sure that he would never want anything to do with
+the grain and commission business as conducted by the Waterman Company,
+Cowperwood decided to sever his relations with them and enter the
+employ of Tighe & Company, bankers and brokers.
+
+Cowperwood’s meeting with Tighe & Company had come about in the
+ordinary pursuance of his duties as outside man for Waterman & Company.
+From the first Mr. Tighe took a keen interest in this subtle young
+emissary.
+
+“How’s business with you people?” he would ask, genially; or, “Find
+that you’re getting many I.O.U.’s these days?”
+
+Because of the unsettled condition of the country, the over-inflation
+of securities, the slavery agitation, and so forth, there were
+prospects of hard times. And Tighe—he could not have told you why—was
+convinced that this young man was worth talking to in regard to all
+this. He was not really old enough to know, and yet he did know.
+
+“Oh, things are going pretty well with us, thank you, Mr. Tighe,”
+Cowperwood would answer.
+
+“I tell you,” he said to Cowperwood one morning, “this slavery
+agitation, if it doesn’t stop, is going to cause trouble.”
+
+A negro slave belonging to a visitor from Cuba had just been abducted
+and set free, because the laws of Pennsylvania made freedom the right
+of any negro brought into the state, even though in transit only to
+another portion of the country, and there was great excitement because
+of it. Several persons had been arrested, and the newspapers were
+discussing it roundly.
+
+“I don’t think the South is going to stand for this thing. It’s making
+trouble in our business, and it must be doing the same thing for
+others. We’ll have secession here, sure as fate, one of these days.” He
+talked with the vaguest suggestion of a brogue.
+
+“It’s coming, I think,” said Cowperwood, quietly. “It can’t be healed,
+in my judgment. The negro isn’t worth all this excitement, but they’ll
+go on agitating for him—emotional people always do this. They haven’t
+anything else to do. It’s hurting our Southern trade.”
+
+“I thought so. That’s what people tell me.”
+
+He turned to a new customer as young Cowperwood went out, but again the
+boy struck him as being inexpressibly sound and deep-thinking on
+financial matters. “If that young fellow wanted a place, I’d give it to
+him,” he thought.
+
+Finally, one day he said to him: “How would you like to try your hand
+at being a floor man for me in ’change? I need a young man here. One of
+my clerks is leaving.”
+
+“I’d like it,” replied Cowperwood, smiling and looking intensely
+gratified. “I had thought of speaking to you myself some time.”
+
+“Well, if you’re ready and can make the change, the place is open. Come
+any time you like.”
+
+“I’ll have to give a reasonable notice at the other place,” Cowperwood
+said, quietly. “Would you mind waiting a week or two?”
+
+“Not at all. It isn’t as important as that. Come as soon as you can
+straighten things out. I don’t want to inconvenience your employers.”
+
+It was only two weeks later that Frank took his departure from Waterman
+& Company, interested and yet in no way flustered by his new prospects.
+And great was the grief of Mr. George Waterman. As for Mr. Henry
+Waterman, he was actually irritated by this defection.
+
+“Why, I thought,” he exclaimed, vigorously, when informed by Cowperwood
+of his decision, “that you liked the business. Is it a matter of
+salary?”
+
+“No, not at all, Mr. Waterman. It’s just that I want to get into the
+straight-out brokerage business.”
+
+“Well, that certainly is too bad. I’m sorry. I don’t want to urge you
+against your own best interests. You know what you are doing. But
+George and I had about agreed to offer you an interest in this thing
+after a bit. Now you’re picking up and leaving. Why, damn it, man,
+there’s good money in this business.”
+
+“I know it,” smiled Cowperwood, “but I don’t like it. I have other
+plans in view. I’ll never be a grain and commission man.” Mr. Henry
+Waterman could scarcely understand why obvious success in this field
+did not interest him. He feared the effect of his departure on the
+business.
+
+And once the change was made Cowperwood was convinced that this new
+work was more suited to him in every way—as easy and more profitable,
+of course. In the first place, the firm of Tighe & Co., unlike that of
+Waterman & Co., was located in a handsome green-gray stone building at
+66 South Third Street, in what was then, and for a number of years
+afterward, the heart of the financial district. Great institutions of
+national and international import and repute were near at hand—Drexel &
+Co., Edward Clark & Co., the Third National Bank, the First National
+Bank, the Stock Exchange, and similar institutions. Almost a score of
+smaller banks and brokerage firms were also in the vicinity. Edward
+Tighe, the head and brains of this concern, was a Boston Irishman, the
+son of an immigrant who had flourished and done well in that
+conservative city. He had come to Philadelphia to interest himself in
+the speculative life there. “Sure, it’s a right good place for those of
+us who are awake,” he told his friends, with a slight Irish accent, and
+he considered himself very much awake. He was a medium-tall man, not
+very stout, slightly and prematurely gray, and with a manner which was
+as lively and good-natured as it was combative and self-reliant. His
+upper lip was ornamented by a short, gray mustache.
+
+“May heaven preserve me,” he said, not long after he came there, “these
+Pennsylvanians never pay for anything they can issue bonds for.” It was
+the period when Pennsylvania’s credit, and for that matter
+Philadelphia’s, was very bad in spite of its great wealth. “If there’s
+ever a war there’ll be battalions of Pennsylvanians marching around
+offering notes for their meals. If I could just live long enough I
+could get rich buyin’ up Pennsylvania notes and bonds. I think they’ll
+pay some time; but, my God, they’re mortal slow! I’ll be dead before
+the State government will ever catch up on the interest they owe me
+now.”
+
+It was true. The condition of the finances of the state and city was
+most reprehensible. Both State and city were rich enough; but there
+were so many schemes for looting the treasury in both instances that
+when any new work had to be undertaken bonds were necessarily issued to
+raise the money. These bonds, or warrants, as they were called, pledged
+interest at six per cent.; but when the interest fell due, instead of
+paying it, the city or State treasurer, as the case might be, stamped
+the same with the date of presentation, and the warrant then bore
+interest for not only its original face value, but the amount then due
+in interest. In other words, it was being slowly compounded. But this
+did not help the man who wanted to raise money, for as security they
+could not be hypothecated for more than seventy per cent. of their
+market value, and they were not selling at par, but at ninety. A man
+might buy or accept them in foreclosure, but he had a long wait. Also,
+in the final payment of most of them favoritism ruled, for it was only
+when the treasurer knew that certain warrants were in the hands of “a
+friend” that he would advertise that such and such warrants—those
+particular ones that he knew about—would be paid.
+
+What was more, the money system of the United States was only then
+beginning slowly to emerge from something approximating chaos to
+something more nearly approaching order. The United States Bank, of
+which Nicholas Biddle was the progenitor, had gone completely in 1841,
+and the United States Treasury with its subtreasury system had come in
+1846; but still there were many, many wildcat banks, sufficient in
+number to make the average exchange-counter broker a walking
+encyclopedia of solvent and insolvent institutions. Still, things were
+slowly improving, for the telegraph had facilitated stock-market
+quotations, not only between New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, but
+between a local broker’s office in Philadelphia and his stock exchange.
+In other words, the short private wire had been introduced.
+Communication was quicker and freer, and daily grew better.
+
+Railroads had been built to the South, East, North, and West. There was
+as yet no stock-ticker and no telephone, and the clearing-house had
+only recently been thought of in New York, and had not yet been
+introduced in Philadelphia. Instead of a clearing-house service,
+messengers ran daily between banks and brokerage firms, balancing
+accounts on pass-books, exchanging bills, and, once a week,
+transferring the gold coin, which was the only thing that could be
+accepted for balances due, since there was no stable national currency.
+“On ’change,” when the gong struck announcing the close of the day’s
+business, a company of young men, known as “settlement clerks,” after a
+system borrowed from London, gathered in the center of the room and
+compared or gathered the various trades of the day in a ring, thus
+eliminating all those sales and resales between certain firms which
+naturally canceled each other. They carried long account books, and
+called out the transactions—“Delaware and Maryland sold to Beaumont and
+Company,” “Delware and Maryland sold to Tighe and Company,” and so on.
+This simplified the bookkeeping of the various firms, and made for
+quicker and more stirring commercial transactions.
+
+Seats “on ’change” sold for two thousand dollars each. The members of
+the exchange had just passed rules limiting the trading to the hours
+between ten and three (before this they had been any time between
+morning and midnight), and had fixed the rates at which brokers could
+do business, in the face of cut-throat schemes which had previously
+held. Severe penalties were fixed for those who failed to obey. In
+other words, things were shaping up for a great ’change business, and
+Edward Tighe felt, with other brokers, that there was a great future
+ahead.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI
+
+
+The Cowperwood family was by this time established in its new and
+larger and more tastefully furnished house on North Front Street,
+facing the river. The house was four stories tall and stood twenty-five
+feet on the street front, without a yard.
+
+Here the family began to entertain in a small way, and there came to
+see them, now and then, representatives of the various interests that
+Henry Cowperwood had encountered in his upward climb to the position of
+cashier. It was not a very distinguished company, but it included a
+number of people who were about as successful as himself—heads of small
+businesses who traded at his bank, dealers in dry-goods, leather,
+groceries (wholesale), and grain. The children had come to have
+intimacies of their own. Now and then, because of church connections,
+Mrs. Cowperwood ventured to have an afternoon tea or reception, at
+which even Cowperwood attempted the gallant in so far as to stand about
+in a genially foolish way and greet those whom his wife had invited.
+And so long as he could maintain his gravity very solemnly and greet
+people without being required to say much, it was not too painful for
+him. Singing was indulged in at times, a little dancing on occasion,
+and there was considerably more “company to dinner,” informally, than
+there had been previously.
+
+And here it was, during the first year of the new life in this house,
+that Frank met a certain Mrs. Semple, who interested him greatly. Her
+husband had a pretentious shoe store on Chestnut Street, near Third,
+and was planning to open a second one farther out on the same street.
+
+The occasion of the meeting was an evening call on the part of the
+Semples, Mr. Semple being desirous of talking with Henry Cowperwood
+concerning a new transportation feature which was then entering the
+world—namely, street-cars. A tentative line, incorporated by the North
+Pennsylvania Railway Company, had been put into operation on a mile and
+a half of tracks extending from Willow Street along Front to Germantown
+Road, and thence by various streets to what was then known as the
+Cohocksink Depot; and it was thought that in time this mode of
+locomotion might drive out the hundreds of omnibuses which now crowded
+and made impassable the downtown streets. Young Cowperwood had been
+greatly interested from the start. Railway transportation, as a whole,
+interested him, anyway, but this particular phase was most fascinating.
+It was already creating widespread discussion, and he, with others, had
+gone to see it. A strange but interesting new type of car, fourteen
+feet long, seven feet wide, and nearly the same height, running on
+small iron car-wheels, was giving great satisfaction as being quieter
+and easier-riding than omnibuses; and Alfred Semple was privately
+considering investing in another proposed line which, if it could
+secure a franchise from the legislature, was to run on Fifth and Sixth
+streets.
+
+Cowperwood, Senior, saw a great future for this thing; but he did not
+see as yet how the capital was to be raised for it. Frank believed that
+Tighe & Co. should attempt to become the selling agents of this new
+stock of the Fifth and Sixth Street Company in the event it succeeded
+in getting a franchise. He understood that a company was already
+formed, that a large amount of stock was to be issued against the
+prospective franchise, and that these shares were to be sold at five
+dollars, as against an ultimate par value of one hundred. He wished he
+had sufficient money to take a large block of them.
+
+Meanwhile, Lillian Semple caught and held his interest. Just what it
+was about her that attracted him at this age it would be hard to say,
+for she was really not suited to him emotionally, intellectually, or
+otherwise. He was not without experience with women or girls, and still
+held a tentative relationship with Marjorie Stafford; but Lillian
+Semple, in spite of the fact that she was married and that he could
+have legitimate interest in her, seemed not wiser and saner, but more
+worth while. She was twenty-four as opposed to Frank’s nineteen, but
+still young enough in her thoughts and looks to appear of his own age.
+She was slightly taller than he—though he was now his full height (five
+feet ten and one-half inches)—and, despite her height, shapely,
+artistic in form and feature, and with a certain unconscious placidity
+of soul, which came more from lack of understanding than from force of
+character. Her hair was the color of a dried English walnut, rich and
+plentiful, and her complexion waxen—cream wax—-with lips of faint pink,
+and eyes that varied from gray to blue and from gray to brown,
+according to the light in which you saw them. Her hands were thin and
+shapely, her nose straight, her face artistically narrow. She was not
+brilliant, not active, but rather peaceful and statuesque without
+knowing it. Cowperwood was carried away by her appearance. Her beauty
+measured up to his present sense of the artistic. She was lovely, he
+thought—gracious, dignified. If he could have his choice of a wife,
+this was the kind of a girl he would like to have.
+
+As yet, Cowperwood’s judgment of women was temperamental rather than
+intellectual. Engrossed as he was by his desire for wealth, prestige,
+dominance, he was confused, if not chastened by considerations relating
+to position, presentability and the like. None the less, the homely
+woman meant nothing to him. And the passionate woman meant much. He
+heard family discussions of this and that sacrificial soul among women,
+as well as among men—women who toiled and slaved for their husbands or
+children, or both, who gave way to relatives or friends in crises or
+crucial moments, because it was right and kind to do so—but somehow
+these stories did not appeal to him. He preferred to think of
+people—even women—as honestly, frankly self-interested. He could not
+have told you why. People seemed foolish, or at the best very
+unfortunate not to know what to do in all circumstances and how to
+protect themselves. There was great talk concerning morality, much
+praise of virtue and decency, and much lifting of hands in righteous
+horror at people who broke or were even rumored to have broken the
+Seventh Commandment. He did not take this talk seriously. Already he
+had broken it secretly many times. Other young men did. Yet again, he
+was a little sick of the women of the streets and the bagnio. There
+were too many coarse, evil features in connection with such contacts.
+For a little while, the false tinsel-glitter of the house of ill repute
+appealed to him, for there was a certain force to its luxury—rich, as a
+rule, with red-plush furniture, showy red hangings, some coarse but
+showily-framed pictures, and, above all, the strong-bodied or
+sensuously lymphatic women who dwelt there, to (as his mother phrased
+it) prey on men. The strength of their bodies, the lust of their souls,
+the fact that they could, with a show of affection or good-nature,
+receive man after man, astonished and later disgusted him. After all,
+they were not smart. There was no vivacity of thought there. All that
+they could do, in the main, he fancied, was this one thing. He pictured
+to himself the dreariness of the mornings after, the stale dregs of
+things when only sleep and thought of gain could aid in the least; and
+more than once, even at his age, he shook his head. He wanted contact
+which was more intimate, subtle, individual, personal.
+
+So came Lillian Semple, who was nothing more to him than the shadow of
+an ideal. Yet she cleared up certain of his ideas in regard to women.
+She was not physically as vigorous or brutal as those other women whom
+he had encountered in the lupanars, thus far—raw, unashamed
+contraveners of accepted theories and notions—and for that very reason
+he liked her. And his thoughts continued to dwell on her,
+notwithstanding the hectic days which now passed like flashes of light
+in his new business venture. For this stock exchange world in which he
+now found himself, primitive as it would seem to-day, was most
+fascinating to Cowperwood. The room that he went to in Third Street, at
+Dock, where the brokers or their agents and clerks gathered one hundred
+and fifty strong, was nothing to speak of artistically—a square chamber
+sixty by sixty, reaching from the second floor to the roof of a
+four-story building; but it was striking to him. The windows were high
+and narrow; a large-faced clock faced the west entrance of the room
+where you came in from the stairs; a collection of telegraph
+instruments, with their accompanying desks and chairs, occupied the
+northeast corner. On the floor, in the early days of the exchange, were
+rows of chairs where the brokers sat while various lots of stocks were
+offered to them. Later in the history of the exchange the chairs were
+removed and at different points posts or floor-signs indicating where
+certain stocks were traded in were introduced. Around these the men who
+were interested gathered to do their trading. From a hall on the third
+floor a door gave entrance to a visitor’s gallery, small and poorly
+furnished; and on the west wall a large blackboard carried current
+quotations in stocks as telegraphed from New York and Boston. A
+wicket-like fence in the center of the room surrounded the desk and
+chair of the official recorder; and a very small gallery opening from
+the third floor on the west gave place for the secretary of the board,
+when he had any special announcement to make. There was a room off the
+southwest corner, where reports and annual compendiums of chairs were
+removed and at different signs indicating where certain stocks of
+various kinds were kept and were available for the use of members.
+
+Young Cowperwood would not have been admitted at all, as either a
+broker or broker’s agent or assistant, except that Tighe, feeling that
+he needed him and believing that he would be very useful, bought him a
+seat on ’change—charging the two thousand dollars it cost as a debt and
+then ostensibly taking him into partnership. It was against the rules
+of the exchange to sham a partnership in this way in order to put a man
+on the floor, but brokers did it. These men who were known to be minor
+partners and floor assistants were derisively called “eighth chasers”
+and “two-dollar brokers,” because they were always seeking small orders
+and were willing to buy or sell for anybody on their commission,
+accounting, of course, to their firms for their work. Cowperwood,
+regardless of his intrinsic merits, was originally counted one of their
+number, and he was put under the direction of Mr. Arthur Rivers, the
+regular floor man of Tighe & Company.
+
+Rivers was an exceedingly forceful man of thirty-five, well-dressed,
+well-formed, with a hard, smooth, evenly chiseled face, which was
+ornamented by a short, black mustache and fine, black, clearly penciled
+eyebrows. His hair came to an odd point at the middle of his forehead,
+where he divided it, and his chin was faintly and attractively cleft.
+He had a soft voice, a quiet, conservative manner, and both in and out
+of this brokerage and trading world was controlled by good form.
+Cowperwood wondered at first why Rivers should work for Tighe—he
+appeared almost as able—but afterward learned that he was in the
+company. Tighe was the organizer and general hand-shaker, Rivers the
+floor and outside man.
+
+It was useless, as Frank soon found, to try to figure out exactly why
+stocks rose and fell. Some general reasons there were, of course, as he
+was told by Tighe, but they could not always be depended on.
+
+“Sure, anything can make or break a market”—Tighe explained in his
+delicate brogue—“from the failure of a bank to the rumor that your
+second cousin’s grandmother has a cold. It’s a most unusual world,
+Cowperwood. No man can explain it. I’ve seen breaks in stocks that you
+could never explain at all—no one could. It wouldn’t be possible to
+find out why they broke. I’ve seen rises the same way. My God, the
+rumors of the stock exchange! They beat the devil. If they’re going
+down in ordinary times some one is unloading, or they’re rigging the
+market. If they’re going up—God knows times must be good or somebody
+must be buying—that’s sure. Beyond that—well, ask Rivers to show you
+the ropes. Don’t you ever lose for me, though. That’s the cardinal sin
+in this office.” He grinned maliciously, even if kindly, at that.
+
+Cowperwood understood—none better. This subtle world appealed to him.
+It answered to his temperament.
+
+There were rumors, rumors, rumors—of great railway and street-car
+undertakings, land developments, government revision of the tariff, war
+between France and Turkey, famine in Russia or Ireland, and so on. The
+first Atlantic cable had not been laid as yet, and news of any kind
+from abroad was slow and meager. Still there were great financial
+figures in the held, men who, like Cyrus Field, or William H.
+Vanderbilt, or F. X. Drexel, were doing marvelous things, and their
+activities and the rumors concerning them counted for much.
+
+Frank soon picked up all of the technicalities of the situation. A
+“bull,” he learned, was one who bought in anticipation of a higher
+price to come; and if he was “loaded up” with a “line” of stocks he was
+said to be “long.” He sold to “realize” his profit, or if his margins
+were exhausted he was “wiped out.” A “bear” was one who sold stocks
+which most frequently he did not have, in anticipation of a lower
+price, at which he could buy and satisfy his previous sales. He was
+“short” when he had sold what he did not own, and he “covered” when he
+bought to satisfy his sales and to realize his profits or to protect
+himself against further loss in case prices advanced instead of
+declining. He was in a “corner” when he found that he could not buy in
+order to make good the stock he had borrowed for delivery and the
+return of which had been demanded. He was then obliged to settle
+practically at a price fixed by those to whom he and other “shorts” had
+sold.
+
+He smiled at first at the air of great secrecy and wisdom on the part
+of the younger men. They were so heartily and foolishly suspicious. The
+older men, as a rule, were inscrutable. They pretended indifference,
+uncertainty. They were like certain fish after a certain kind of bait,
+however. Snap! and the opportunity was gone. Somebody else had picked
+up what you wanted. All had their little note-books. All had their
+peculiar squint of eye or position or motion which meant “Done! I take
+you!” Sometimes they seemed scarcely to confirm their sales or
+purchases—they knew each other so well—but they did. If the market was
+for any reason active, the brokers and their agents were apt to be more
+numerous than if it were dull and the trading indifferent. A gong
+sounded the call to trading at ten o’clock, and if there was a
+noticeable rise or decline in a stock or a group of stocks, you were
+apt to witness quite a spirited scene. Fifty to a hundred men would
+shout, gesticulate, shove here and there in an apparently aimless
+manner; endeavoring to take advantage of the stock offered or called
+for.
+
+“Five-eighths for five hundred P. and W.,” some one would call—Rivers
+or Cowperwood, or any other broker.
+
+“Five hundred at three-fourths,” would come the reply from some one
+else, who either had an order to sell the stock at that price or who
+was willing to sell it short, hoping to pick up enough of the stock at
+a lower figure later to fill his order and make a little something
+besides. If the supply of stock at that figure was large Rivers would
+probably continue to bid five-eighths. If, on the other hand, he
+noticed an increasing demand, he would probably pay three-fourths for
+it. If the professional traders believed Rivers had a large buying
+order, they would probably try to buy the stock before he could at
+three-fourths, believing they could sell it out to him at a slightly
+higher price. The professional traders were, of course, keen students
+of psychology; and their success depended on their ability to guess
+whether or not a broker representing a big manipulator, like Tighe, had
+an order large enough to affect the market sufficiently to give them an
+opportunity to “get in and out,” as they termed it, at a profit before
+he had completed the execution of his order. They were like hawks
+watching for an opportunity to snatch their prey from under the very
+claws of their opponents.
+
+Four, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and sometimes
+the whole company would attempt to take advantage of the given rise of
+a given stock by either selling or offering to buy, in which case the
+activity and the noise would become deafening. Given groups might be
+trading in different things; but the large majority of them would
+abandon what they were doing in order to take advantage of a
+speciality. The eagerness of certain young brokers or clerks to
+discover all that was going on, and to take advantage of any given rise
+or fall, made for quick physical action, darting to and fro, the
+excited elevation of explanatory fingers. Distorted faces were shoved
+over shoulders or under arms. The most ridiculous grimaces were
+purposely or unconsciously indulged in. At times there were situations
+in which some individual was fairly smothered with arms, faces,
+shoulders, crowded toward him when he manifested any intention of
+either buying or selling at a profitable rate. At first it seemed quite
+a wonderful thing to young Cowperwood—the very physical face of it—for
+he liked human presence and activity; but a little later the sense of
+the thing as a picture or a dramatic situation, of which he was a part
+faded, and he came down to a clearer sense of the intricacies of the
+problem before him. Buying and selling stocks, as he soon learned, was
+an art, a subtlety, almost a psychic emotion. Suspicion, intuition,
+feeling—these were the things to be “long” on.
+
+Yet in time he also asked himself, who was it who made the real
+money—the stock-brokers? Not at all. Some of them were making money,
+but they were, as he quickly saw, like a lot of gulls or stormy
+petrels, hanging on the lee of the wind, hungry and anxious to snap up
+any unwary fish. Back of them were other men, men with shrewd ideas,
+subtle resources. Men of immense means whose enterprise and holdings
+these stocks represented, the men who schemed out and built the
+railroads, opened the mines, organized trading enterprises, and built
+up immense manufactories. They might use brokers or other agents to buy
+and sell on ’change; but this buying and selling must be, and always
+was, incidental to the actual fact—the mine, the railroad, the wheat
+crop, the flour mill, and so on. Anything less than straight-out sales
+to realize quickly on assets, or buying to hold as an investment, was
+gambling pure and simple, and these men were gamblers. He was nothing
+more than a gambler’s agent. It was not troubling him any just at this
+moment, but it was not at all a mystery now, what he was. As in the
+case of Waterman & Company, he sized up these men shrewdly, judging
+some to be weak, some foolish, some clever, some slow, but in the main
+all small-minded or deficient because they were agents, tools, or
+gamblers. A man, a real man, must never be an agent, a tool, or a
+gambler—acting for himself or for others—he must employ such. A real
+man—a financier—was never a tool. He used tools. He created. He led.
+
+Clearly, very clearly, at nineteen, twenty, and twenty-one years of
+age, he saw all this, but he was not quite ready yet to do anything
+about it. He was certain, however, that his day would come.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VII
+
+
+In the meantime, his interest in Mrs. Semple had been secretly and
+strangely growing. When he received an invitation to call at the Semple
+home, he accepted with a great deal of pleasure. Their house was
+located not so very far from his own, on North Front Street, in the
+neighborhood of what is now known as No. 956. It had, in summer, quite
+a wealth of green leaves and vines. The little side porch which
+ornamented its south wall commanded a charming view of the river, and
+all the windows and doors were topped with lunettes of small-paned
+glass. The interior of the house was not as pleasing as he would have
+had it. Artistic impressiveness, as to the furniture at least, was
+wanting, although it was new and good. The pictures were—well, simply
+pictures. There were no books to speak of—the Bible, a few current
+novels, some of the more significant histories, and a collection of
+antiquated odds and ends in the shape of books inherited from
+relatives. The china was good—of a delicate pattern. The carpets and
+wall-paper were too high in key. So it went. Still, the personality of
+Lillian Semple was worth something, for she was really pleasing to look
+upon, making a picture wherever she stood or sat.
+
+There were no children—a dispensation of sex conditions which had
+nothing to do with her, for she longed to have them. She was without
+any notable experience in social life, except such as had come to the
+Wiggin family, of which she was a member—relatives and a few
+neighborhood friends visiting. Lillian Wiggin, that was her maiden
+name—had two brothers and one sister, all living in Philadelphia and
+all married at this time. They thought she had done very well in her
+marriage.
+
+It could not be said that she had wildly loved Mr. Semple at any time.
+Although she had cheerfully married him, he was not the kind of man who
+could arouse a notable passion in any woman. He was practical,
+methodic, orderly. His shoe store was a good one—well-stocked with
+styles reflecting the current tastes and a model of cleanliness and
+what one might term pleasing brightness. He loved to talk, when he
+talked at all, of shoe manufacturing, the development of lasts and
+styles. The ready-made shoe—machine-made to a certain extent—was just
+coming into its own slowly, and outside of these, supplies of which he
+kept, he employed bench-making shoemakers, satisfying his customers
+with personal measurements and making the shoes to order.
+
+Mrs. Semple read a little—not much. She had a habit of sitting and
+apparently brooding reflectively at times, but it was not based on any
+deep thought. She had that curious beauty of body, though, that made
+her somewhat like a figure on an antique vase, or out of a Greek
+chorus. It was in this light, unquestionably, that Cowperwood saw her,
+for from the beginning he could not keep his eyes off her. In a way,
+she was aware of this but she did not attach any significance to it.
+Thoroughly conventional, satisfied now that her life was bound
+permanently with that of her husband, she had settled down to a staid
+and quiet existence.
+
+At first, when Frank called, she did not have much to say. She was
+gracious, but the burden of conversation fell on her husband.
+Cowperwood watched the varying expression of her face from time to
+time, and if she had been at all psychic she must have felt something.
+Fortunately she was not. Semple talked to him pleasantly, because in
+the first place Frank was becoming financially significant, was suave
+and ingratiating, and in the next place he was anxious to get richer
+and somehow Frank represented progress to him in that line. One spring
+evening they sat on the porch and talked—nothing very
+important—slavery, street-cars, the panic—it was on then, that of
+1857—the development of the West. Mr. Semple wanted to know all about
+the stock exchange. In return Frank asked about the shoe business,
+though he really did not care. All the while, inoffensively, he watched
+Mrs. Semple. Her manner, he thought, was soothing, attractive,
+delightful. She served tea and cake for them. They went inside after a
+time to avoid the mosquitoes. She played the piano. At ten o’clock he
+left.
+
+Thereafter, for a year or so, Cowperwood bought his shoes of Mr.
+Semple. Occasionally also he stopped in the Chestnut Street store to
+exchange the time of the day. Semple asked his opinion as to the
+advisability of buying some shares in the Fifth and Sixth Street line,
+which, having secured a franchise, was creating great excitement.
+Cowperwood gave him his best judgment. It was sure to be profitable. He
+himself had purchased one hundred shares at five dollars a share, and
+urged Semple to do so. But he was not interested in him personally. He
+liked Mrs. Semple, though he did not see her very often.
+
+About a year later, Mr. Semple died. It was an untimely death, one of
+those fortuitous and in a way insignificant episodes which are,
+nevertheless, dramatic in a dull way to those most concerned. He was
+seized with a cold in the chest late in the fall—one of those seizures
+ordinarily attributed to wet feet or to going out on a damp day without
+an overcoat—and had insisted on going to business when Mrs. Semple
+urged him to stay at home and recuperate. He was in his way a very
+determined person, not obstreperously so, but quietly and under the
+surface. Business was a great urge. He saw himself soon to be worth
+about fifty thousand dollars. Then this cold—nine more days of
+pneumonia—and he was dead. The shoe store was closed for a few days;
+the house was full of sympathetic friends and church people. There was
+a funeral, with burial service in the Callowhill Presbyterian Church,
+to which they belonged, and then he was buried. Mrs. Semple cried
+bitterly. The shock of death affected her greatly and left her for a
+time in a depressed state. A brother of hers, David Wiggin, undertook
+for the time being to run the shoe business for her. There was no will,
+but in the final adjustment, which included the sale of the shoe
+business, there being no desire on anybody’s part to contest her right
+to all the property, she received over eighteen thousand dollars. She
+continued to reside in the Front Street house, and was considered a
+charming and interesting widow.
+
+Throughout this procedure young Cowperwood, only twenty years of age,
+was quietly manifest. He called during the illness. He attended the
+funeral. He helped her brother, David Wiggin, dispose of the shoe
+business. He called once or twice after the funeral, then stayed away
+for a considerable time. In five months he reappeared, and thereafter
+he was a caller at stated intervals—periods of a week or ten days.
+
+Again, it would be hard to say what he saw in Semple. Her prettiness,
+wax-like in its quality, fascinated him; her indifference aroused
+perhaps his combative soul. He could not have explained why, but he
+wanted her in an urgent, passionate way. He could not think of her
+reasonably, and he did not talk of her much to any one. His family knew
+that he went to see her, but there had grown up in the Cowperwood
+family a deep respect for the mental force of Frank. He was genial,
+cheerful, gay at most times, without being talkative, and he was
+decidedly successful. Everybody knew he was making money now. His
+salary was fifty dollars a week, and he was certain soon to get more.
+Some lots of his in West Philadelphia, bought three years before, had
+increased notably in value. His street-car holdings, augmented by still
+additional lots of fifty and one hundred and one hundred and fifty
+shares in new lines incorporated, were slowly rising, in spite of hard
+times, from the initiative five dollars in each case to ten, fifteen,
+and twenty-five dollars a share—all destined to go to par. He was liked
+in the financial district and he was sure that he had a successful
+future. Because of his analysis of the brokerage situation he had come
+to the conclusion that he did not want to be a stock gambler. Instead,
+he was considering the matter of engaging in bill-brokering, a business
+which he had observed to be very profitable and which involved no risk
+as long as one had capital. Through his work and his father’s
+connections he had met many people—merchants, bankers, traders. He
+could get their business, or a part of it, he knew. People in Drexel &
+Co. and Clark & Co. were friendly to him. Jay Cooke, a rising banking
+personality, was a personal friend of his.
+
+Meanwhile he called on Mrs. Semple, and the more he called the better
+he liked her. There was no exchange of brilliant ideas between them;
+but he had a way of being comforting and social when he wished. He
+advised her about her business affairs in so intelligent a way that
+even her relatives approved of it. She came to like him, because he was
+so considerate, quiet, reassuring, and so ready to explain over and
+over until everything was quite plain to her. She could see that he was
+looking on her affairs quite as if they were his own, trying to make
+them safe and secure.
+
+“You’re so very kind, Frank,” she said to him, one night. “I’m awfully
+grateful. I don’t know what I would have done if it hadn’t been for
+you.”
+
+She looked at his handsome face, which was turned to hers, with
+child-like simplicity.
+
+“Not at all. Not at all. I want to do it. I wouldn’t have been happy if
+I couldn’t.”
+
+His eyes had a peculiar, subtle ray in them—not a gleam. She felt warm
+toward him, sympathetic, quite satisfied that she could lean on him.
+
+“Well, I am very grateful just the same. You’ve been so good. Come out
+Sunday again, if you want to, or any evening. I’ll be home.”
+
+It was while he was calling on her in this way that his Uncle Seneca
+died in Cuba and left him fifteen thousand dollars. This money made him
+worth nearly twenty-five thousand dollars in his own right, and he knew
+exactly what to do with it. A panic had come since Mr. Semple had died,
+which had illustrated to him very clearly what an uncertain thing the
+brokerage business was. There was really a severe business depression.
+Money was so scarce that it could fairly be said not to exist at all.
+Capital, frightened by uncertain trade and money conditions,
+everywhere, retired to its hiding-places in banks, vaults, tea-kettles,
+and stockings. The country seemed to be going to the dogs. War with the
+South or secession was vaguely looming up in the distance. The temper
+of the whole nation was nervous. People dumped their holdings on the
+market in order to get money. Tighe discharged three of his clerks. He
+cut down his expenses in every possible way, and used up all his
+private savings to protect his private holdings. He mortgaged his
+house, his land holdings—everything; and in many instances young
+Cowperwood was his intermediary, carrying blocks of shares to different
+banks to get what he could on them.
+
+“See if your father’s bank won’t loan me fifteen thousand on these,” he
+said to Frank, one day, producing a bundle of Philadelphia & Wilmington
+shares. Frank had heard his father speak of them in times past as
+excellent.
+
+“They ought to be good,” the elder Cowperwood said, dubiously, when
+shown the package of securities. “At any other time they would be. But
+money is so tight. We find it awfully hard these days to meet our own
+obligations. I’ll talk to Mr. Kugel.” Mr. Kugel was the president.
+
+There was a long conversation—a long wait. His father came back to say
+it was doubtful whether they could make the loan. Eight per cent., then
+being secured for money, was a small rate of interest, considering its
+need. For ten per cent. Mr. Kugel might make a call-loan. Frank went
+back to his employer, whose commercial choler rose at the report.
+
+“For Heaven’s sake, is there no money at all in the town?” he demanded,
+contentiously. “Why, the interest they want is ruinous! I can’t stand
+that. Well, take ’em back and bring me the money. Good God, this’ll
+never do at all, at all!”
+
+Frank went back. “He’ll pay ten per cent.,” he said, quietly.
+
+Tighe was credited with a deposit of fifteen thousand dollars, with
+privilege to draw against it at once. He made out a check for the total
+fifteen thousand at once to the Girard National Bank to cover a
+shrinkage there. So it went.
+
+During all these days young Cowperwood was following these financial
+complications with interest. He was not disturbed by the cause of
+slavery, or the talk of secession, or the general progress or decline
+of the country, except in so far as it affected his immediate
+interests. He longed to become a stable financier; but, now that he saw
+the inside of the brokerage business, he was not so sure that he wanted
+to stay in it. Gambling in stocks, according to conditions produced by
+this panic, seemed very hazardous. A number of brokers failed. He saw
+them rush in to Tighe with anguished faces and ask that certain trades
+be canceled. Their very homes were in danger, they said. They would be
+wiped out, their wives and children put out on the street.
+
+This panic, incidentally, only made Frank more certain as to what he
+really wanted to do—now that he had this free money, he would go into
+business for himself. Even Tighe’s offer of a minor partnership failed
+to tempt him.
+
+“I think you have a nice business,” he explained, in refusing, “but I
+want to get in the note-brokerage business for myself. I don’t trust
+this stock game. I’d rather have a little business of my own than all
+the floor work in this world.”
+
+“But you’re pretty young, Frank,” argued his employer. “You have lots
+of time to work for yourself.” In the end he parted friends with both
+Tighe and Rivers. “That’s a smart young fellow,” observed Tighe,
+ruefully.
+
+“He’ll make his mark,” rejoined Rivers. “He’s the shrewdest boy of his
+age I ever saw.”
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VIII
+
+
+Cowperwood’s world at this time was of roseate hue. He was in love and
+had money of his own to start his new business venture. He could take
+his street-car stocks, which were steadily increasing in value, and
+raise seventy per cent. of their market value. He could put a mortgage
+on his lots and get money there, if necessary. He had established
+financial relations with the Girard National Bank—President Davison
+there having taken a fancy to him—and he proposed to borrow from that
+institution some day. All he wanted was suitable investments—things in
+which he could realize surely, quickly. He saw fine prospective profits
+in the street-car lines, which were rapidly developing into local
+ramifications.
+
+He purchased a horse and buggy about this time—the most
+attractive-looking animal and vehicle he could find—the combination
+cost him five hundred dollars—and invited Mrs. Semple to drive with
+him. She refused at first, but later consented. He had told her of his
+success, his prospects, his windfall of fifteen thousand dollars, his
+intention of going into the note-brokerage business. She knew his
+father was likely to succeed to the position of vice-president in the
+Third National Bank, and she liked the Cowperwoods. Now she began to
+realize that there was something more than mere friendship here. This
+erstwhile boy was a man, and he was calling on her. It was almost
+ridiculous in the face of things—her seniority, her widowhood, her
+placid, retiring disposition—but the sheer, quiet, determined force of
+this young man made it plain that he was not to be balked by her sense
+of convention.
+
+Cowperwood did not delude himself with any noble theories of conduct in
+regard to her. She was beautiful, with a mental and physical lure for
+him that was irresistible, and that was all he desired to know. No
+other woman was holding him like that. It never occurred to him that he
+could not or should not like other women at the same time. There was a
+great deal of palaver about the sanctity of the home. It rolled off his
+mental sphere like water off the feathers of a duck. He was not eager
+for her money, though he was well aware of it. He felt that he could
+use it to her advantage. He wanted her physically. He felt a keen,
+primitive interest in the children they would have. He wanted to find
+out if he could make her love him vigorously and could rout out the
+memory of her former life. Strange ambition. Strange perversion, one
+might almost say.
+
+In spite of her fears and her uncertainty, Lillian Semple accepted his
+attentions and interest because, equally in spite of herself, she was
+drawn to him. One night, when she was going to bed, she stopped in
+front of her dressing table and looked at her face and her bare neck
+and arms. They were very pretty. A subtle something came over her as
+she surveyed her long, peculiarly shaded hair. She thought of young
+Cowperwood, and then was chilled and shamed by the vision of the late
+Mr. Semple and the force and quality of public opinion.
+
+“Why do you come to see me so often?” she asked him when he called the
+following evening.
+
+“Oh, don’t you know?” he replied, looking at her in an interpretive
+way.
+
+“No.”
+
+“Sure you don’t?”
+
+“Well, I know you liked Mr. Semple, and I always thought you liked me
+as his wife. He’s gone, though, now.”
+
+“And you’re here,” he replied.
+
+“And I’m here?”
+
+“Yes. I like you. I like to be with you. Don’t you like me that way?”
+
+“Why, I’ve never thought of it. You’re so much younger. I’m five years
+older than you are.”
+
+“In years,” he said, “certainly. That’s nothing. I’m fifteen years
+older than you are in other ways. I know more about life in some ways
+than you can ever hope to learn—don’t you think so?” he added, softly,
+persuasively.
+
+“Well, that’s true. But I know a lot of things you don’t know.” She
+laughed softly, showing her pretty teeth.
+
+It was evening. They were on the side porch. The river was before them.
+
+“Yes, but that’s only because you’re a woman. A man can’t hope to get a
+woman’s point of view exactly. But I’m talking about practical affairs
+of this world. You’re not as old that way as I am.”
+
+“Well, what of it?”
+
+“Nothing. You asked why I came to see you. That’s why. Partly.”
+
+He relapsed into silence and stared at the water.
+
+She looked at him. His handsome body, slowly broadening, was nearly
+full grown. His face, because of its full, clear, big, inscrutable
+eyes, had an expression which was almost babyish. She could not have
+guessed the depths it veiled. His cheeks were pink, his hands not
+large, but sinewy and strong. Her pale, uncertain, lymphatic body
+extracted a form of dynamic energy from him even at this range.
+
+“I don’t think you ought to come to see me so often. People won’t think
+well of it.” She ventured to take a distant, matronly air—the air she
+had originally held toward him.
+
+“People,” he said, “don’t worry about people. People think what you
+want them to think. I wish you wouldn’t take that distant air toward
+me.”
+
+“Why?”
+
+“Because I like you.”
+
+“But you mustn’t like me. It’s wrong. I can’t ever marry you. You’re
+too young. I’m too old.”
+
+“Don’t say that!” he said, imperiously. “There’s nothing to it. I want
+you to marry me. You know I do. Now, when will it be?”
+
+“Why, how silly! I never heard of such a thing!” she exclaimed. “It
+will never be, Frank. It can’t be!”
+
+“Why can’t it?” he asked.
+
+“Because—well, because I’m older. People would think it strange. I’m
+not long enough free.”
+
+“Oh, long enough nothing!” he exclaimed, irritably. “That’s the one
+thing I have against you—you are so worried about what people think.
+They don’t make your life. They certainly don’t make mine. Think of
+yourself first. You have your own life to make. Are you going to let
+what other people think stand in the way of what you want to do?”
+
+“But I don’t want to,” she smiled.
+
+He arose and came over to her, looking into her eyes.
+
+“Well?” she asked, nervously, quizzically.
+
+He merely looked at her.
+
+“Well?” she queried, more flustered.
+
+He stooped down to take her arms, but she got up.
+
+“Now you must not come near me,” she pleaded, determinedly. “I’ll go in
+the house, and I’ll not let you come any more. It’s terrible! You’re
+silly! You mustn’t interest yourself in me.”
+
+She did show a good deal of determination, and he desisted. But for the
+time being only. He called again and again. Then one night, when they
+had gone inside because of the mosquitoes, and when she had insisted
+that he must stop coming to see her, that his attentions were
+noticeable to others, and that she would be disgraced, he caught her,
+under desperate protest, in his arms.
+
+“Now, see here!” she exclaimed. “I told you! It’s silly! You mustn’t
+kiss me! How dare you! Oh! oh! oh!—”
+
+She broke away and ran up the near-by stairway to her room. Cowperwood
+followed her swiftly. As she pushed the door to he forced it open and
+recaptured her. He lifted her bodily from her feet and held her
+crosswise, lying in his arms.
+
+“Oh, how could you!” she exclaimed. “I will never speak to you any
+more. I will never let you come here any more if you don’t put me down
+this minute. Put me down!”
+
+“I’ll put you down, sweet,” he said. “I’ll take you down,” at the same
+time pulling her face to him and kissing her. He was very much aroused,
+excited.
+
+While she was twisting and protesting, he carried her down the stairs
+again into the living-room, and seated himself in the great armchair,
+still holding her tight in his arms.
+
+“Oh!” she sighed, falling limp on his shoulder when he refused to let
+her go. Then, because of the set determination of his face, some
+intense pull in him, she smiled. “How would I ever explain if I did
+marry you?” she asked, weakly. “Your father! Your mother!”
+
+“You don’t need to explain. I’ll do that. And you needn’t worry about
+my family. They won’t care.”
+
+“But mine,” she recoiled.
+
+“Don’t worry about yours. I’m not marrying your family. I’m marrying
+you. We have independent means.”
+
+She relapsed into additional protests; but he kissed her the more.
+There was a deadly persuasion to his caresses. Mr. Semple had never
+displayed any such fire. He aroused a force of feeling in her which had
+not previously been there. She was afraid of it and ashamed.
+
+“Will you marry me in a month?” he asked, cheerfully, when she paused.
+
+“You know I won’t!” she exclaimed, nervously. “The idea! Why do you
+ask?”
+
+“What difference does it make? We’re going to get married eventually.”
+He was thinking how attractive he could make her look in other
+surroundings. Neither she nor his family knew how to live.
+
+“Well, not in a month. Wait a little while. I will marry you after a
+while—after you see whether you want me.”
+
+He caught her tight. “I’ll show you,” he said.
+
+“Please stop. You hurt me.”
+
+“How about it? Two months?”
+
+“Certainly not.”
+
+“Three?”
+
+“Well, maybe.”
+
+“No maybe in that case. We marry.”
+
+“But you’re only a boy.”
+
+“Don’t worry about me. You’ll find out how much of a boy I am.”
+
+He seemed of a sudden to open up a new world to her, and she realized
+that she had never really lived before. This man represented something
+bigger and stronger than ever her husband had dreamed of. In his young
+way he was terrible, irresistible.
+
+“Well, in three months then,” she whispered, while he rocked her cozily
+in his arms.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IX
+
+
+Cowperwood started in the note brokerage business with a small office
+at No. 64 South Third Street, where he very soon had the pleasure of
+discovering that his former excellent business connections remembered
+him. He would go to one house, where he suspected ready money might be
+desirable, and offer to negotiate their notes or any paper they might
+issue bearing six per cent. interest for a commission and then he would
+sell the paper for a small commission to some one who would welcome a
+secure investment. Sometimes his father, sometimes other people, helped
+him with suggestions as to when and how. Between the two ends he might
+make four and five per cent. on the total transaction. In the first
+year he cleared six thousand dollars over and above all expenses. That
+wasn’t much, but he was augmenting it in another way which he believed
+would bring great profit in the future.
+
+Before the first street-car line, which was a shambling affair, had
+been laid on Front Street, the streets of Philadelphia had been crowded
+with hundreds of springless omnibuses rattling over rough, hard,
+cobblestones. Now, thanks to the idea of John Stephenson, in New York,
+the double rail track idea had come, and besides the line on Fifth and
+Sixth Streets (the cars running out one street and back on another)
+which had paid splendidly from the start, there were many other lines
+proposed or under way. The city was as eager to see street-cars replace
+omnibuses as it was to see railroads replace canals. There was
+opposition, of course. There always is in such cases. The cry of
+probable monopoly was raised. Disgruntled and defeated omnibus owners
+and drivers groaned aloud.
+
+Cowperwood had implicit faith in the future of the street railway. In
+support of this belief he risked all he could spare on new issues of
+stock shares in new companies. He wanted to be on the inside wherever
+possible, always, though this was a little difficult in the matter of
+the street-railways, he having been so young when they started and not
+having yet arranged his financial connections to make them count for
+much. The Fifth and Sixth Street line, which had been but recently
+started, was paying six hundred dollars a day. A project for a West
+Philadelphia line (Walnut and Chestnut) was on foot, as were lines to
+occupy Second and Third Streets, Race and Vine, Spruce and Pine, Green
+and Coates, Tenth and Eleventh, and so forth. They were engineered and
+backed by some powerful capitalists who had influence with the State
+legislature and could, in spite of great public protest, obtain
+franchises. Charges of corruption were in the air. It was argued that
+the streets were valuable, and that the companies should pay a road tax
+of a thousand dollars a mile. Somehow, however, these splendid grants
+were gotten through, and the public, hearing of the Fifth and Sixth
+Street line profits, was eager to invest. Cowperwood was one of these,
+and when the Second and Third Street line was engineered, he invested
+in that and in the Walnut and Chestnut Street line also. He began to
+have vague dreams of controlling a line himself some day, but as yet he
+did not see exactly how it was to be done, since his business was far
+from being a bonanza.
+
+In the midst of this early work he married Mrs. Semple. There was no
+vast to-do about it, as he did not want any and his bride-to-be was
+nervous, fearsome of public opinion. His family did not entirely
+approve. She was too old, his mother and father thought, and then
+Frank, with his prospects, could have done much better. His sister Anna
+fancied that Mrs. Semple was designing, which was, of course, not true.
+His brothers, Joseph and Edward, were interested, but not certain as to
+what they actually thought, since Mrs. Semple was good-looking and had
+some money.
+
+It was a warm October day when he and Lillian went to the altar, in the
+First Presbyterian Church of Callowhill Street. His bride, Frank was
+satisfied, looked exquisite in a trailing gown of cream lace—a creation
+that had cost months of labor. His parents, Mrs. Seneca Davis, the
+Wiggin family, brothers and sisters, and some friends were present. He
+was a little opposed to this idea, but Lillian wanted it. He stood up
+straight and correct in black broadcloth for the wedding
+ceremony—because she wished it, but later changed to a smart business
+suit for traveling. He had arranged his affairs for a two weeks’ trip
+to New York and Boston. They took an afternoon train for New York,
+which required five hours to reach. When they were finally alone in the
+Astor House, New York, after hours of make-believe and public pretense
+of indifference, he gathered her in his arms.
+
+“Oh, it’s delicious,” he exclaimed, “to have you all to myself.”
+
+She met his eagerness with that smiling, tantalizing passivity which he
+had so much admired but which this time was tinged strongly with a
+communicated desire. He thought he should never have enough of her, her
+beautiful face, her lovely arms, her smooth, lymphatic body. They were
+like two children, billing and cooing, driving, dining, seeing the
+sights. He was curious to visit the financial sections of both cities.
+New York and Boston appealed to him as commercially solid. He wondered,
+as he observed the former, whether he should ever leave Philadelphia.
+He was going to be very happy there now, he thought, with Lillian and
+possibly a brood of young Cowperwoods. He was going to work hard and
+make money. With his means and hers now at his command, he might
+become, very readily, notably wealthy.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter X
+
+
+The home atmosphere which they established when they returned from
+their honeymoon was a great improvement in taste over that which had
+characterized the earlier life of Mrs. Cowperwood as Mrs. Semple. They
+had decided to occupy her house, on North Front Street, for a while at
+least. Cowperwood, aggressive in his current artistic mood, had
+objected at once after they were engaged to the spirit of the furniture
+and decorations, or lack of them, and had suggested that he be allowed
+to have it brought more in keeping with his idea of what was
+appropriate. During the years in which he had been growing into manhood
+he had come instinctively into sound notions of what was artistic and
+refined. He had seen so many homes that were more distinguished and
+harmonious than his own. One could not walk or drive about Philadelphia
+without seeing and being impressed with the general tendency toward a
+more cultivated and selective social life. Many excellent and expensive
+houses were being erected. The front lawn, with some attempt at floral
+gardening, was achieving local popularity. In the homes of the Tighes,
+the Leighs, Arthur Rivers, and others, he had noticed art objects of
+some distinction—bronzes, marbles, hangings, pictures, clocks, rugs.
+
+It seemed to him now that his comparatively commonplace house could be
+made into something charming and for comparatively little money. The
+dining-room for instance which, through two plain windows set in a hat
+side wall back of the veranda, looked south over a stretch of grass and
+several trees and bushes to a dividing fence where the Semple property
+ended and a neighbor’s began, could be made so much more attractive.
+That fence—sharp-pointed, gray palings—could be torn away and a hedge
+put in its place. The wall which divided the dining-room from the
+parlor could be knocked through and a hanging of some pleasing
+character put in its place. A bay-window could be built to replace the
+two present oblong windows—a bay which would come down to the floor and
+open out on the lawn via swiveled, diamond-shaped, lead-paned frames.
+All this shabby, nondescript furniture, collected from heaven knows
+where—partly inherited from the Semples and the Wiggins and partly
+bought—could be thrown out or sold and something better and more
+harmonious introduced. He knew a young man by the name of Ellsworth, an
+architect newly graduated from a local school, with whom he had struck
+up an interesting friendship—one of those inexplicable inclinations of
+temperament. Wilton Ellsworth was an artist in spirit, quiet,
+meditative, refined. From discussing the quality of a certain building
+on Chestnut Street which was then being erected, and which Ellsworth
+pronounced atrocious, they had fallen to discussing art in general, or
+the lack of it, in America. And it occurred to him that Ellsworth was
+the man to carry out his decorative views to a nicety. When he
+suggested the young man to Lillian, she placidly agreed with him and
+also with his own ideas of how the house could be revised.
+
+So while they were gone on their honeymoon Ellsworth began the revision
+on an estimated cost of three thousand dollars, including the
+furniture. It was not completed for nearly three weeks after their
+return; but when finished made a comparatively new house. The
+dining-room bay hung low over the grass, as Frank wished, and the
+windows were diamond-paned and leaded, swiveled on brass rods. The
+parlor and dining-room were separated by sliding doors; but the
+intention was to hang in this opening a silk hanging depicting a
+wedding scene in Normandy. Old English oak was used in the dining-room,
+an American imitation of Chippendale and Sheraton for the sitting-room
+and the bedrooms. There were a few simple water-colors hung here and
+there, some bronzes of Hosmer and Powers, a marble venus by Potter, a
+now forgotten sculptor, and other objects of art—nothing of any
+distinction. Pleasing, appropriately colored rugs covered the floor.
+Mrs. Cowperwood was shocked by the nudity of the Venus which conveyed
+an atmosphere of European freedom not common to America; but she said
+nothing. It was all harmonious and soothing, and she did not feel
+herself capable to judge. Frank knew about these things so much better
+than she did. Then with a maid and a man of all work installed, a
+program of entertaining was begun on a small scale.
+
+Those who recall the early years of their married life can best realize
+the subtle changes which this new condition brought to Frank, for, like
+all who accept the hymeneal yoke, he was influenced to a certain extent
+by the things with which he surrounded himself. Primarily, from certain
+traits of his character, one would have imagined him called to be a
+citizen of eminent respectability and worth. He appeared to be an ideal
+home man. He delighted to return to his wife in the evenings, leaving
+the crowded downtown section where traffic clamored and men hurried.
+Here he could feel that he was well-stationed and physically happy in
+life. The thought of the dinner-table with candles upon it (his idea);
+the thought of Lillian in a trailing gown of pale-blue or green silk—he
+liked her in those colors; the thought of a large fireplace flaming
+with solid lengths of cord-wood, and Lillian snuggling in his arms,
+gripped his immature imagination. As has been said before, he cared
+nothing for books, but life, pictures, trees, physical contact—these,
+in spite of his shrewd and already gripping financial calculations,
+held him. To live richly, joyously, fully—his whole nature craved that.
+
+And Mrs. Cowperwood, in spite of the difference in their years,
+appeared to be a fit mate for him at this time. She was once awakened,
+and for the time being, clinging, responsive, dreamy. His mood and hers
+was for a baby, and in a little while that happy expectation was
+whispered to him by her. She had half fancied that her previous
+barrenness was due to herself, and was rather surprised and delighted
+at the proof that it was not so. It opened new possibilities—a
+seemingly glorious future of which she was not afraid. He liked it, the
+idea of self-duplication. It was almost acquisitive, this thought. For
+days and weeks and months and years, at least the first four or five,
+he took a keen satisfaction in coming home evenings, strolling about
+the yard, driving with his wife, having friends in to dinner, talking
+over with her in an explanatory way the things he intended to do. She
+did not understand his financial abstrusities, and he did not trouble
+to make them clear.
+
+But love, her pretty body, her lips, her quiet manner—the lure of all
+these combined, and his two children, when they came—two in four
+years—held him. He would dandle Frank, Jr., who was the first to
+arrive, on his knee, looking at his chubby feet, his kindling eyes, his
+almost formless yet bud-like mouth, and wonder at the process by which
+children came into the world. There was so much to think of in this
+connection—the spermatozoic beginning, the strange period of gestation
+in women, the danger of disease and delivery. He had gone through a
+real period of strain when Frank, Jr., was born, for Mrs. Cowperwood
+was frightened. He feared for the beauty of her body—troubled over the
+danger of losing her; and he actually endured his first worry when he
+stood outside the door the day the child came. Not much—he was too
+self-sufficient, too resourceful; and yet he worried, conjuring up
+thoughts of death and the end of their present state. Then word came,
+after certain piercing, harrowing cries, that all was well, and he was
+permitted to look at the new arrival. The experience broadened his
+conception of things, made him more solid in his judgment of life. That
+old conviction of tragedy underlying the surface of things, like wood
+under its veneer, was emphasized. Little Frank, and later Lillian,
+blue-eyed and golden-haired, touched his imagination for a while. There
+was a good deal to this home idea, after all. That was the way life was
+organized, and properly so—its cornerstone was the home.
+
+It would be impossible to indicate fully how subtle were the material
+changes which these years involved—changes so gradual that they were,
+like the lap of soft waters, unnoticeable. Considerable—a great deal,
+considering how little he had to begin with—wealth was added in the
+next five years. He came, in his financial world, to know fairly
+intimately, as commercial relationships go, some of the subtlest
+characters of the steadily enlarging financial world. In his days at
+Tighe’s and on the exchange, many curious figures had been pointed out
+to him—State and city officials of one grade and another who were
+“making something out of politics,” and some national figures who came
+from Washington to Philadelphia at times to see Drexel & Co., Clark &
+Co., and even Tighe & Co. These men, as he learned, had tips or advance
+news of legislative or economic changes which were sure to affect
+certain stocks or trade opportunities. A young clerk had once pulled
+his sleeve at Tighe’s.
+
+“See that man going in to see Tighe?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“That’s Murtagh, the city treasurer. Say, he don’t do anything but play
+a fine game. All that money to invest, and he don’t have to account for
+anything except the principal. The interest goes to him.”
+
+Cowperwood understood. All these city and State officials speculated.
+They had a habit of depositing city and State funds with certain
+bankers and brokers as authorized agents or designated State
+depositories. The banks paid no interest—save to the officials
+personally. They loaned it to certain brokers on the officials’ secret
+order, and the latter invested it in “sure winners.” The bankers got
+the free use of the money a part of the time, the brokers another part:
+the officials made money, and the brokers received a fat commission.
+There was a political ring in Philadelphia in which the mayor, certain
+members of the council, the treasurer, the chief of police, the
+commissioner of public works, and others shared. It was a case
+generally of “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” Cowperwood
+thought it rather shabby work at first, but many men were rapidly
+getting rich and no one seemed to care. The newspapers were always
+talking about civic patriotism and pride but never a word about these
+things. And the men who did them were powerful and respected.
+
+There were many houses, a constantly widening circle, that found him a
+very trustworthy agent in disposing of note issues or note payment. He
+seemed to know so quickly where to go to get the money. From the first
+he made it a principle to keep twenty thousand dollars in cash on hand
+in order to be able to take up a proposition instantly and without
+discussion. So, often he was able to say, “Why, certainly, I can do
+that,” when otherwise, on the face of things, he would not have been
+able to do so. He was asked if he would not handle certain stock
+transactions on ’change. He had no seat, and he intended not to take
+any at first; but now he changed his mind, and bought one, not only in
+Philadelphia, but in New York also. A certain Joseph Zimmerman, a
+dry-goods man for whom he had handled various note issues, suggested
+that he undertake operating in street-railway shares for him, and this
+was the beginning of his return to the floor.
+
+In the meanwhile his family life was changing—growing, one might have
+said, finer and more secure. Mrs. Cowperwood had, for instance, been
+compelled from time to time to make a subtle readjustment of her
+personal relationship with people, as he had with his. When Mr. Semple
+was alive she had been socially connected with tradesmen
+principally—retailers and small wholesalers—a very few. Some of the
+women of her own church, the First Presbyterian, were friendly with
+her. There had been church teas and sociables which she and Mr. Semple
+attended, and dull visits to his relatives and hers. The Cowperwoods,
+the Watermans, and a few families of that caliber, had been the notable
+exceptions. Now all this was changed. Young Cowperwood did not care
+very much for her relatives, and the Semples had been alienated by her
+second, and to them outrageous, marriage. His own family was closely
+interested by ties of affection and mutual prosperity, but, better than
+this, he was drawing to himself some really significant personalities.
+He brought home with him, socially—not to talk business, for he
+disliked that idea—bankers, investors, customers and prospective
+customers. Out on the Schuylkill, the Wissahickon, and elsewhere, were
+popular dining places where one could drive on Sunday. He and Mrs.
+Cowperwood frequently drove out to Mrs. Seneca Davis’s, to Judge
+Kitchen’s, to the home of Andrew Sharpless, a lawyer whom he knew, to
+the home of Harper Steger, his own lawyer, and others. Cowperwood had
+the gift of geniality. None of these men or women suspected the depth
+of his nature—he was thinking, thinking, thinking, but enjoyed life as
+he went.
+
+One of his earliest and most genuine leanings was toward paintings. He
+admired nature, but somehow, without knowing why, he fancied one could
+best grasp it through the personality of some interpreter, just as we
+gain our ideas of law and politics through individuals. Mrs. Cowperwood
+cared not a whit one way or another, but she accompanied him to
+exhibitions, thinking all the while that Frank was a little peculiar.
+He tried, because he loved her, to interest her in these things
+intelligently, but while she pretended slightly, she could not really
+see or care, and it was very plain that she could not.
+
+The children took up a great deal of her time. However, Cowperwood was
+not troubled about this. It struck him as delightful and exceedingly
+worth while that she should be so devoted. At the same time, her
+lethargic manner, vague smile and her sometimes seeming indifference,
+which sprang largely from a sense of absolute security, attracted him
+also. She was so different from him! She took her second marriage quite
+as she had taken her first—a solemn fact which contained no possibility
+of mental alteration. As for himself, however, he was bustling about in
+a world which, financially at least, seemed all alteration—there were
+so many sudden and almost unheard-of changes. He began to look at her
+at times, with a speculative eye—not very critically, for he liked
+her—but with an attempt to weigh her personality. He had known her five
+years and more now. What did he know about her? The vigor of
+youth—those first years—had made up for so many things, but now that he
+had her safely...
+
+There came in this period the slow approach, and finally the
+declaration, of war between the North and the South, attended with so
+much excitement that almost all current minds were notably colored by
+it. It was terrific. Then came meetings, public and stirring, and
+riots; the incident of John Brown’s body; the arrival of Lincoln, the
+great commoner, on his way from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington
+via Philadelphia, to take the oath of office; the battle of Bull Run;
+the battle of Vicksburg; the battle of Gettysburg, and so on.
+Cowperwood was only twenty-five at the time, a cool, determined youth,
+who thought the slave agitation might be well founded in human
+rights—no doubt was—but exceedingly dangerous to trade. He hoped the
+North would win; but it might go hard with him personally and other
+financiers. He did not care to fight. That seemed silly for the
+individual man to do. Others might—there were many poor, thin-minded,
+half-baked creatures who would put themselves up to be shot; but they
+were only fit to be commanded or shot down. As for him, his life was
+sacred to himself and his family and his personal interests. He
+recalled seeing, one day, in one of the quiet side streets, as the
+working-men were coming home from their work, a small enlisting squad
+of soldiers in blue marching enthusiastically along, the Union flag
+flying, the drummers drumming, the fifes blowing, the idea being, of
+course, to so impress the hitherto indifferent or wavering citizen, to
+exalt him to such a pitch, that he would lose his sense of proportion,
+of self-interest, and, forgetting all—wife, parents, home, and
+children—and seeing only the great need of the country, fall in behind
+and enlist. He saw one workingman swinging his pail, and evidently not
+contemplating any such denouement to his day’s work, pause, listen as
+the squad approached, hesitate as it drew close, and as it passed, with
+a peculiar look of uncertainty or wonder in his eyes, fall in behind
+and march solemnly away to the enlisting quarters. What was it that had
+caught this man, Frank asked himself. How was he overcome so easily? He
+had not intended to go. His face was streaked with the grease and dirt
+of his work—he looked like a foundry man or machinist, say twenty-five
+years of age. Frank watched the little squad disappear at the end of
+the street round the corner under the trees.
+
+This current war-spirit was strange. The people seemed to him to want
+to hear nothing but the sound of the drum and fife, to see nothing but
+troops, of which there were thousands now passing through on their way
+to the front, carrying cold steel in the shape of guns at their
+shoulders, to hear of war and the rumors of war. It was a thrilling
+sentiment, no doubt, great but unprofitable. It meant self-sacrifice,
+and he could not see that. If he went he might be shot, and what would
+his noble emotion amount to then? He would rather make money, regulate
+current political, social and financial affairs. The poor fool who fell
+in behind the enlisting squad—no, not fool, he would not call him
+that—the poor overwrought working-man—well, Heaven pity him! Heaven
+pity all of them! They really did not know what they were doing.
+
+One day he saw Lincoln—a tall, shambling man, long, bony, gawky, but
+tremendously impressive. It was a raw, slushy morning of a late
+February day, and the great war President was just through with his
+solemn pronunciamento in regard to the bonds that might have been
+strained but must not be broken. As he issued from the doorway of
+Independence Hall, that famous birthplace of liberty, his face was set
+in a sad, meditative calm. Cowperwood looked at him fixedly as he
+issued from the doorway surrounded by chiefs of staff, local
+dignitaries, detectives, and the curious, sympathetic faces of the
+public. As he studied the strangely rough-hewn countenance a sense of
+the great worth and dignity of the man came over him.
+
+“A real man, that,” he thought; “a wonderful temperament.” His every
+gesture came upon him with great force. He watched him enter his
+carriage, thinking “So that is the railsplitter, the country lawyer.
+Well, fate has picked a great man for this crisis.”
+
+For days the face of Lincoln haunted him, and very often during the war
+his mind reverted to that singular figure. It seemed to him
+unquestionable that fortuitously he had been permitted to look upon one
+of the world’s really great men. War and statesmanship were not for
+him; but he knew how important those things were—at times.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XI
+
+
+It was while the war was on, and after it was perfectly plain that it
+was not to be of a few days’ duration, that Cowperwood’s first great
+financial opportunity came to him. There was a strong demand for money
+at the time on the part of the nation, the State, and the city. In
+July, 1861, Congress had authorized a loan of fifty million dollars, to
+be secured by twenty-year bonds with interest not to exceed seven per
+cent., and the State authorized a loan of three millions on much the
+same security, the first being handled by financiers of Boston, New
+York, and Philadelphia, the second by Philadelphia financiers alone.
+Cowperwood had no hand in this. He was not big enough. He read in the
+papers of gatherings of men whom he knew personally or by reputation,
+“to consider the best way to aid the nation or the State”; but he was
+not included. And yet his soul yearned to be of them. He noticed how
+often a rich man’s word sufficed—no money, no certificates, no
+collateral, no anything—just his word. If Drexel & Co., or Jay Cooke &
+Co., or Gould & Fiske were rumored to be behind anything, how secure it
+was! Jay Cooke, a young man in Philadelphia, had made a great strike
+taking this State loan in company with Drexel & Co., and selling it at
+par. The general opinion was that it ought to be and could only be sold
+at ninety. Cooke did not believe this. He believed that State pride and
+State patriotism would warrant offering the loan to small banks and
+private citizens, and that they would subscribe it fully and more.
+Events justified Cooke magnificently, and his public reputation was
+assured. Cowperwood wished he could make some such strike; but he was
+too practical to worry over anything save the facts and conditions that
+were before him.
+
+His chance came about six months later, when it was found that the
+State would have to have much more money. Its quota of troops would
+have to be equipped and paid. There were measures of defense to be
+taken, the treasury to be replenished. A call for a loan of
+twenty-three million dollars was finally authorized by the legislature
+and issued. There was great talk in the street as to who was to handle
+it—Drexel & Co. and Jay Cooke & Co., of course.
+
+Cowperwood pondered over this. If he could handle a fraction of this
+great loan now—he could not possibly handle the whole of it, for he had
+not the necessary connections—he could add considerably to his
+reputation as a broker while making a tidy sum. How much could he
+handle? That was the question. Who would take portions of it? His
+father’s bank? Probably. Waterman & Co.? A little. Judge Kitchen? A
+small fraction. The Mills-David Company? Yes. He thought of different
+individuals and concerns who, for one reason and another—personal
+friendship, good-nature, gratitude for past favors, and so on—would
+take a percentage of the seven-percent. bonds through him. He totaled
+up his possibilities, and discovered that in all likelihood, with a
+little preliminary missionary work, he could dispose of one million
+dollars if personal influence, through local political figures, could
+bring this much of the loan his way.
+
+One man in particular had grown strong in his estimation as having some
+subtle political connection not visible on the surface, and this was
+Edward Malia Butler. Butler was a contractor, undertaking the
+construction of sewers, water-mains, foundations for buildings,
+street-paving, and the like. In the early days, long before Cowperwood
+had known him, he had been a garbage-contractor on his own account. The
+city at that time had no extended street-cleaning service, particularly
+in its outlying sections and some of the older, poorer regions. Edward
+Butler, then a poor young Irishman, had begun by collecting and hauling
+away the garbage free of charge, and feeding it to his pigs and cattle.
+Later he discovered that some people were willing to pay a small charge
+for this service. Then a local political character, a councilman friend
+of his—they were both Catholics—saw a new point in the whole thing.
+Butler could be made official garbage-collector. The council could vote
+an annual appropriation for this service. Butler could employ more
+wagons than he did now—dozens of them, scores. Not only that, but no
+other garbage-collector would be allowed. There were others, but the
+official contract awarded him would also, officially, be the end of the
+life of any and every disturbing rival. A certain amount of the
+profitable proceeds would have to be set aside to assuage the feelings
+of those who were not contractors. Funds would have to be loaned at
+election time to certain individuals and organizations—but no matter.
+The amount would be small. So Butler and Patrick Gavin Comiskey, the
+councilman (the latter silently) entered into business relations.
+Butler gave up driving a wagon himself. He hired a young man, a smart
+Irish boy of his neighborhood, Jimmy Sheehan, to be his assistant,
+superintendent, stableman, bookkeeper, and what not. Since he soon
+began to make between four and five thousand a year, where before he
+made two thousand, he moved into a brick house in an outlying section
+of the south side, and sent his children to school. Mrs. Butler gave up
+making soap and feeding pigs. And since then times had been exceedingly
+good with Edward Butler.
+
+He could neither read nor write at first; but now he knew how, of
+course. He had learned from association with Mr. Comiskey that there
+were other forms of contracting—sewers, water-mains, gas-mains,
+street-paving, and the like. Who better than Edward Butler to do it? He
+knew the councilmen, many of them. Het met them in the back rooms of
+saloons, on Sundays and Saturdays at political picnics, at election
+councils and conferences, for as a beneficiary of the city’s largess he
+was expected to contribute not only money, but advice. Curiously he had
+developed a strange political wisdom. He knew a successful man or a
+coming man when he saw one. So many of his bookkeepers,
+superintendents, time-keepers had graduated into councilmen and state
+legislators. His nominees—suggested to political conferences—were so
+often known to make good. First he came to have influence in his
+councilman’s ward, then in his legislative district, then in the city
+councils of his party—Whig, of course—and then he was supposed to have
+an organization.
+
+Mysterious forces worked for him in council. He was awarded significant
+contracts, and he always bid. The garbage business was now a thing of
+the past. His eldest boy, Owen, was a member of the State legislature
+and a partner in his business affairs. His second son, Callum, was a
+clerk in the city water department and an assistant to his father also.
+Aileen, his eldest daughter, fifteen years of age, was still in St.
+Agatha’s, a convent school in Germantown. Norah, his second daughter
+and youngest child, thirteen years old, was in attendance at a local
+private school conducted by a Catholic sisterhood. The Butler family
+had moved away from South Philadelphia into Girard Avenue, near the
+twelve hundreds, where a new and rather interesting social life was
+beginning. They were not of it, but Edward Butler, contractor, now
+fifty-five years of age, worth, say, five hundred thousand dollars, had
+many political and financial friends. No longer a “rough neck,” but a
+solid, reddish-faced man, slightly tanned, with broad shoulders and a
+solid chest, gray eyes, gray hair, a typically Irish face made wise and
+calm and undecipherable by much experience. His big hands and feet
+indicated a day when he had not worn the best English cloth suits and
+tanned leather, but his presence was not in any way offensive—rather
+the other way about. Though still possessed of a brogue, he was
+soft-spoken, winning, and persuasive.
+
+He had been one of the first to become interested in the development of
+the street-car system and had come to the conclusion, as had Cowperwood
+and many others, that it was going to be a great thing. The money
+returns on the stocks or shares he had been induced to buy had been
+ample evidence of that, He had dealt through one broker and another,
+having failed to get in on the original corporate organizations. He
+wanted to pick up such stock as he could in one organization and
+another, for he believed they all had a future, and most of all he
+wanted to get control of a line or two. In connection with this idea he
+was looking for some reliable young man, honest and capable, who would
+work under his direction and do what he said. Then he learned of
+Cowperwood, and one day sent for him and asked him to call at his
+house.
+
+Cowperwood responded quickly, for he knew of Butler, his rise, his
+connections, his force. He called at the house as directed, one cold,
+crisp February morning. He remembered the appearance of the street
+afterward—broad, brick-paved sidewalks, macadamized roadway, powdered
+over with a light snow and set with young, leafless, scrubby trees and
+lamp-posts. Butler’s house was not new—he had bought and repaired
+it—but it was not an unsatisfactory specimen of the architecture of the
+time. It was fifty feet wide, four stories tall, of graystone and with
+four wide, white stone steps leading up to the door. The window arches,
+framed in white, had U-shaped keystones. There were curtains of lace
+and a glimpse of red plush through the windows, which gleamed warm
+against the cold and snow outside. A trim Irish maid came to the door
+and he gave her his card and was invited into the house.
+
+“Is Mr. Butler home?”
+
+“I’m not sure, sir. I’ll find out. He may have gone out.”
+
+In a little while he was asked to come upstairs, where he found Butler
+in a somewhat commercial-looking room. It had a desk, an office chair,
+some leather furnishings, and a bookcase, but no completeness or
+symmetry as either an office or a living room. There were several
+pictures on the wall—an impossible oil painting, for one thing, dark
+and gloomy; a canal and barge scene in pink and nile green for another;
+some daguerreotypes of relatives and friends which were not half bad.
+Cowperwood noticed one of two girls, one with reddish-gold hair,
+another with what appeared to be silky brown. The beautiful silver
+effect of the daguerreotype had been tinted. They were pretty girls,
+healthy, smiling, Celtic, their heads close together, their eyes
+looking straight out at you. He admired them casually, and fancied they
+must be Butler’s daughters.
+
+“Mr. Cowperwood?” inquired Butler, uttering the name fully with a
+peculiar accent on the vowels. (He was a slow-moving man, solemn and
+deliberate.) Cowperwood noticed that his body was hale and strong like
+seasoned hickory, tanned by wind and rain. The flesh of his cheeks was
+pulled taut and there was nothing soft or flabby about him.
+
+“I’m that man.”
+
+“I have a little matter of stocks to talk over with you” (“matter”
+almost sounded like “mather”), “and I thought you’d better come here
+rather than that I should come down to your office. We can be more
+private-like, and, besides, I’m not as young as I used to be.”
+
+He allowed a semi-twinkle to rest in his eye as he looked his visitor
+over.
+
+Cowperwood smiled.
+
+“Well, I hope I can be of service to you,” he said, genially.
+
+“I happen to be interested just at present in pickin’ up certain
+street-railway stocks on ’change. I’ll tell you about them later. Won’t
+you have somethin’ to drink? It’s a cold morning.”
+
+“No, thanks; I never drink.”
+
+“Never? That’s a hard word when it comes to whisky. Well, no matter.
+It’s a good rule. My boys don’t touch anything, and I’m glad of it. As
+I say, I’m interested in pickin’ up a few stocks on ’change; but, to
+tell you the truth, I’m more interested in findin’ some clever young
+felly like yourself through whom I can work. One thing leads to
+another, you know, in this world.” And he looked at his visitor
+non-committally, and yet with a genial show of interest.
+
+“Quite so,” replied Cowperwood, with a friendly gleam in return.
+
+“Well,” Butler meditated, half to himself, half to Cowperwood, “there
+are a number of things that a bright young man could do for me in the
+street if he were so minded. I have two bright boys of my own, but I
+don’t want them to become stock-gamblers, and I don’t know that they
+would or could if I wanted them to. But this isn’t a matter of
+stock-gambling. I’m pretty busy as it is, and, as I said awhile ago,
+I’m getting along. I’m not as light on my toes as I once was. But if I
+had the right sort of a young man—I’ve been looking into your record,
+by the way, never fear—he might handle a number of little
+things—investments and loans—which might bring us each a little
+somethin’. Sometimes the young men around town ask advice of me in one
+way and another—they have a little somethin’ to invest, and so—”
+
+He paused and looked tantalizingly out of the window, knowing full well
+Cowperwood was greatly interested, and that this talk of political
+influence and connections could only whet his appetite. Butler wanted
+him to see clearly that fidelity was the point in this case—fidelity,
+tact, subtlety, and concealment.
+
+“Well, if you have been looking into my record,” observed Cowperwood,
+with his own elusive smile, leaving the thought suspended.
+
+Butler felt the force of the temperament and the argument. He liked the
+young man’s poise and balance. A number of people had spoken of
+Cowperwood to him. (It was now Cowperwood & Co. The company was fiction
+purely.) He asked him something about the street; how the market was
+running; what he knew about street-railways. Finally he outlined his
+plan of buying all he could of the stock of two given lines—the Ninth
+and Tenth and the Fifteenth and Sixteenth—without attracting any
+attention, if possible. It was to be done slowly, part on ’change, part
+from individual holders. He did not tell him that there was a certain
+amount of legislative pressure he hoped to bring to bear to get him
+franchises for extensions in the regions beyond where the lines now
+ended, in order that when the time came for them to extend their
+facilities they would have to see him or his sons, who might be large
+minority stockholders in these very concerns. It was a far-sighted
+plan, and meant that the lines would eventually drop into his or his
+sons’ basket.
+
+“I’ll be delighted to work with you, Mr. Butler, in any way that you
+may suggest,” observed Cowperwood. “I can’t say that I have so much of
+a business as yet—merely prospects. But my connections are good. I am
+now a member of the New York and Philadelphia exchanges. Those who have
+dealt with me seem to like the results I get.”
+
+“I know a little something about your work already,” reiterated Butler,
+wisely.
+
+“Very well, then; whenever you have a commission you can call at my
+office, or write, or I will call here. I will give you my secret
+operating code, so that anything you say will be strictly
+confidential.”
+
+“Well, we’ll not say anything more now. In a few days I’ll have
+somethin’ for you. When I do, you can draw on my bank for what you
+need, up to a certain amount.” He got up and looked out into the
+street, and Cowperwood also arose.
+
+“It’s a fine day now, isn’t it?”
+
+“It surely is.”
+
+“Well, we’ll get to know each other better, I’m sure.”
+
+He held out his hand.
+
+“I hope so.”
+
+Cowperwood went out, Butler accompanying him to the door. As he did so
+a young girl bounded in from the street, red-cheeked, blue-eyed,
+wearing a scarlet cape with the peaked hood thrown over her red-gold
+hair.
+
+“Oh, daddy, I almost knocked you down.”
+
+She gave her father, and incidentally Cowperwood, a gleaming, radiant,
+inclusive smile. Her teeth were bright and small, and her lips bud-red.
+
+“You’re home early. I thought you were going to stay all day?”
+
+“I was, but I changed my mind.”
+
+She passed on in, swinging her arms.
+
+“Yes, well—” Butler continued, when she had gone. “Then well leave it
+for a day or two. Good day.”
+
+“Good day.”
+
+Cowperwood, warm with this enhancing of his financial prospects, went
+down the steps; but incidentally he spared a passing thought for the
+gay spirit of youth that had manifested itself in this red-cheeked
+maiden. What a bright, healthy, bounding girl! Her voice had the
+subtle, vigorous ring of fifteen or sixteen. She was all vitality. What
+a fine catch for some young fellow some day, and her father would make
+him rich, no doubt, or help to.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XII
+
+
+It was to Edward Malia Butler that Cowperwood turned now, some nineteen
+months later when he was thinking of the influence that might bring him
+an award of a portion of the State issue of bonds. Butler could
+probably be interested to take some of them himself, or could help him
+place some. He had come to like Cowperwood very much and was now being
+carried on the latter’s books as a prospective purchaser of large
+blocks of stocks. And Cowperwood liked this great solid Irishman. He
+liked his history. He had met Mrs. Butler, a rather fat and phlegmatic
+Irish woman with a world of hard sense who cared nothing at all for
+show and who still liked to go into the kitchen and superintend the
+cooking. He had met Owen and Callum Butler, the boys, and Aileen and
+Norah, the girls. Aileen was the one who had bounded up the steps the
+first day he had called at the Butler house several seasons before.
+
+There was a cozy grate-fire burning in Butler’s improvised private
+office when Cowperwood called. Spring was coming on, but the evenings
+were cool. The older man invited Cowperwood to make himself comfortable
+in one of the large leather chairs before the fire and then proceeded
+to listen to his recital of what he hoped to accomplish.
+
+“Well, now, that isn’t so easy,” he commented at the end. “You ought to
+know more about that than I do. I’m not a financier, as you well know.”
+And he grinned apologetically.
+
+“It’s a matter of influence,” went on Cowperwood. “And favoritism. That
+I know. Drexel & Company and Cooke & Company have connections at
+Harrisburg. They have men of their own looking after their interests.
+The attorney-general and the State treasurer are hand in glove with
+them. Even if I put in a bid, and can demonstrate that I can handle the
+loan, it won’t help me to get it. Other people have done that. I have
+to have friends—influence. You know how it is.”
+
+“Them things,” Butler said, “is easy enough if you know the right
+parties to approach. Now there’s Jimmy Oliver—he ought to know
+something about that.” Jimmy Oliver was the whilom district attorney
+serving at this time, and incidentally free adviser to Mr. Butler in
+many ways. He was also, accidentally, a warm personal friend of the
+State treasurer.
+
+“How much of the loan do you want?”
+
+“Five million.”
+
+“Five million!” Butler sat up. “Man, what are you talking about? That’s
+a good deal of money. Where are you going to sell all that?”
+
+“I want to bid for five million,” assuaged Cowperwood, softly. “I only
+want one million but I want the prestige of putting in a bona fide bid
+for five million. It will do me good on the street.”
+
+Butler sank back somewhat relieved.
+
+“Five million! Prestige! You want one million. Well, now, that’s
+different. That’s not such a bad idea. We ought to be able to get
+that.”
+
+He rubbed his chin some more and stared into the fire.
+
+And Cowperwood felt confident when he left the house that evening that
+Butler would not fail him but would set the wheels working. Therefore,
+he was not surprised, and knew exactly what it meant, when a few days
+later he was introduced to City Treasurer Julian Bode, who promised to
+introduce him to State Treasurer Van Nostrand and to see that his
+claims to consideration were put before the people. “Of course, you
+know,” he said to Cowperwood, in the presence of Butler, for it was at
+the latter’s home that the conference took place, “this banking crowd
+is very powerful. You know who they are. They don’t want any
+interference in this bond issue business. I was talking to Terrence
+Relihan, who represents them up there”—meaning Harrisburg, the State
+capital—“and he says they won’t stand for it at all. You may have
+trouble right here in Philadelphia after you get it—they’re pretty
+powerful, you know. Are you sure just where you can place it?”
+
+“Yes, I’m sure,” replied Cowperwood.
+
+“Well, the best thing in my judgment is not to say anything at all.
+Just put in your bid. Van Nostrand, with the governor’s approval, will
+make the award. We can fix the governor, I think. After you get it they
+may talk to you personally, but that’s your business.”
+
+Cowperwood smiled his inscrutable smile. There were so many ins and
+outs to this financial life. It was an endless network of underground
+holes, along which all sorts of influences were moving. A little wit, a
+little nimbleness, a little luck-time and opportunity—these sometimes
+availed. Here he was, through his ambition to get on, and nothing else,
+coming into contact with the State treasurer and the governor. They
+were going to consider his case personally, because he demanded that it
+be considered—nothing more. Others more influential than himself had
+quite as much right to a share, but they didn’t take it. Nerve, ideas,
+aggressiveness, how these counted when one had luck!
+
+He went away thinking how surprised Drexel & Co. and Cooke & Co. would
+be to see him appearing in the field as a competitor. In his home, in a
+little room on the second floor next his bedroom, which he had fixed up
+as an office with a desk, a safe, and a leather chair, he consulted his
+resources. There were so many things to think of. He went over again
+the list of people whom he had seen and whom he could count on to
+subscribe, and in so far as that was concerned—the award of one million
+dollars—he was safe. He figured to make two per cent. on the total
+transaction, or twenty thousand dollars. If he did he was going to buy
+a house out on Girard Avenue beyond the Butlers’, or, better yet, buy a
+piece of ground and erect one; mortgaging house and property so to do.
+His father was prospering nicely. He might want to build a house next
+to him, and they could live side by side. His own business, aside from
+this deal, would yield him ten thousand dollars this year. His
+street-car investments, aggregating fifty thousand, were paying six per
+cent. His wife’s property, represented by this house, some government
+bonds, and some real estate in West Philadelphia amounted to forty
+thousand more. Between them they were rich; but he expected to be much
+richer. All he needed now was to keep cool. If he succeeded in this
+bond-issue matter, he could do it again and on a larger scale. There
+would be more issues. He turned out the light after a while and went
+into his wife’s boudoir, where she was sleeping. The nurse and the
+children were in a room beyond.
+
+“Well, Lillian,” he observed, when she awoke and turned over toward
+him, “I think I have that bond matter that I was telling you about
+arranged at last. I think I’ll get a million of it, anyhow. That’ll
+mean twenty thousand. If I do we’ll build out on Girard Avenue. That’s
+going to be the street. The college is making that neighborhood.”
+
+“That’ll be fine, won’t it, Frank!” she observed, and rubbed his arm as
+he sat on the side of the bed.
+
+Her remark was vaguely speculative.
+
+“We’ll have to show the Butlers some attention from now on. He’s been
+very nice to me and he’s going to be useful—I can see that. He asked me
+to bring you over some time. We must go. Be nice to his wife. He can do
+a lot for me if he wants to. He has two daughters, too. We’ll have to
+have them over here.”
+
+“I’ll have them to dinner sometime,” she agreed cheerfully and
+helpfully, “and I’ll stop and take Mrs. Butler driving if she’ll go, or
+she can take me.”
+
+She had already learned that the Butlers were rather showy—the younger
+generation—that they were sensitive as to their lineage, and that money
+in their estimation was supposed to make up for any deficiency in any
+other respect. “Butler himself is a very presentable man,” Cowperwood
+had once remarked to her, “but Mrs. Butler—well, she’s all right, but
+she’s a little commonplace. She’s a fine woman, though, I think,
+good-natured and good-hearted.” He cautioned her not to overlook Aileen
+and Norah, because the Butlers, mother and father, were very proud of
+them.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood at this time was thirty-two years old; Cowperwood
+twenty-seven. The birth and care of two children had made some
+difference in her looks. She was no longer as softly pleasing, more
+angular. Her face was hollow-cheeked, like so many of Rossetti’s and
+Burne-Jones’s women. Her health was really not as good as it had
+been—the care of two children and a late undiagnosed tendency toward
+gastritis having reduced her. In short she was a little run down
+nervously and suffered from fits of depression. Cowperwood had noticed
+this. He tried to be gentle and considerate, but he was too much of a
+utilitarian and practical-minded observer not to realize that he was
+likely to have a sickly wife on his hands later. Sympathy and affection
+were great things, but desire and charm must endure or one was
+compelled to be sadly conscious of their loss. So often now he saw
+young girls who were quite in his mood, and who were exceedingly robust
+and joyous. It was fine, advisable, practical, to adhere to the virtues
+as laid down in the current social lexicon, but if you had a sickly
+wife—And anyhow, was a man entitled to only one wife? Must he never
+look at another woman? Supposing he found some one? He pondered those
+things between hours of labor, and concluded that it did not make so
+much difference. If a man could, and not be exposed, it was all right.
+He had to be careful, though. Tonight, as he sat on the side of his
+wife’s bed, he was thinking somewhat of this, for he had seen Aileen
+Butler again, playing and singing at her piano as he passed the parlor
+door. She was like a bright bird radiating health and enthusiasm—a
+reminder of youth in general.
+
+“It’s a strange world,” he thought; but his thoughts were his own, and
+he didn’t propose to tell any one about them.
+
+The bond issue, when it came, was a curious compromise; for, although
+it netted him his twenty thousand dollars and more and served to
+introduce him to the financial notice of Philadelphia and the State of
+Pennsylvania, it did not permit him to manipulate the subscriptions as
+he had planned. The State treasurer was seen by him at the office of a
+local lawyer of great repute, where he worked when in the city. He was
+gracious to Cowperwood, because he had to be. He explained to him just
+how things were regulated at Harrisburg. The big financiers were looked
+to for campaign funds. They were represented by henchmen in the State
+assembly and senate. The governor and the treasurer were foot-free; but
+there were other influences—prestige, friendship, social power,
+political ambitions, etc. The big men might constitute a close
+corporation, which in itself was unfair; but, after all, they were the
+legitimate sponsors for big money loans of this kind. The State had to
+keep on good terms with them, especially in times like these. Seeing
+that Mr. Cowperwood was so well able to dispose of the million he
+expected to get, it would be perfectly all right to award it to him;
+but Van Nostrand had a counter-proposition to make. Would Cowperwood,
+if the financial crowd now handling the matter so desired, turn over
+his award to them for a consideration—a sum equal to what he expected
+to make—in the event the award was made to him? Certain financiers
+desired this. It was dangerous to oppose them. They were perfectly
+willing he should put in a bid for five million and get the prestige of
+that; to have him awarded one million and get the prestige of that was
+well enough also, but they desired to handle the twenty-three million
+dollars in an unbroken lot. It looked better. He need not be advertised
+as having withdrawn. They would be content to have him achieve the
+glory of having done what he started out to do. Just the same the
+example was bad. Others might wish to imitate him. If it were known in
+the street privately that he had been coerced, for a consideration,
+into giving up, others would be deterred from imitating him in the
+future. Besides, if he refused, they could cause him trouble. His loans
+might be called. Various banks might not be so friendly in the future.
+His constituents might be warned against him in one way or another.
+
+Cowperwood saw the point. He acquiesced. It was something to have
+brought so many high and mighties to their knees. So they knew of him!
+They were quite well aware of him! Well and good. He would take the
+award and twenty thousand or thereabouts and withdraw. The State
+treasurer was delighted. It solved a ticklish proposition for him.
+
+“I’m glad to have seen you,” he said. “I’m glad we’ve met. I’ll drop in
+and talk with you some time when I’m down this way. We’ll have lunch
+together.”
+
+The State treasurer, for some odd reason, felt that Mr. Cowperwood was
+a man who could make him some money. His eye was so keen; his
+expression was so alert, and yet so subtle. He told the governor and
+some other of his associates about him.
+
+So the award was finally made; Cowperwood, after some private
+negotiations in which he met the officers of Drexel & Co., was paid his
+twenty thousand dollars and turned his share of the award over to them.
+New faces showed up in his office now from time to time—among them that
+of Van Nostrand and one Terrence Relihan, a representative of some
+other political forces at Harrisburg. He was introduced to the governor
+one day at lunch. His name was mentioned in the papers, and his
+prestige grew rapidly.
+
+Immediately he began working on plans with young Ellsworth for his new
+house. He was going to build something exceptional this time, he told
+Lillian. They were going to have to do some entertaining—entertaining
+on a larger scale than ever. North Front Street was becoming too tame.
+He put the house up for sale, consulted with his father and found that
+he also was willing to move. The son’s prosperity had redounded to the
+credit of the father. The directors of the bank were becoming much more
+friendly to the old man. Next year President Kugel was going to retire.
+Because of his son’s noted coup, as well as his long service, he was
+going to be made president. Frank was a large borrower from his
+father’s bank. By the same token he was a large depositor. His
+connection with Edward Butler was significant. He sent his father’s
+bank certain accounts which it otherwise could not have secured. The
+city treasurer became interested in it, and the State treasurer.
+Cowperwood, Sr., stood to earn twenty thousand a year as president, and
+he owed much of it to his son. The two families were now on the best of
+terms. Anna, now twenty-one, and Edward and Joseph frequently spent the
+night at Frank’s house. Lillian called almost daily at his mother’s.
+There was much interchange of family gossip, and it was thought well to
+build side by side. So Cowperwood, Sr., bought fifty feet of ground
+next to his son’s thirty-five, and together they commenced the erection
+of two charming, commodious homes, which were to be connected by a
+covered passageway, or pergola, which could be inclosed with glass in
+winter.
+
+The most popular local stone, a green granite was chosen; but Mr.
+Ellsworth promised to present it in such a way that it would be
+especially pleasing. Cowperwood, Sr., decided that he could afford to
+spent seventy-five thousand dollars—he was now worth two hundred and
+fifty thousand; and Frank decided that he could risk fifty, seeing that
+he could raise money on a mortgage. He planned at the same time to
+remove his office farther south on Third Street and occupy a building
+of his own. He knew where an option was to be had on a twenty-five-foot
+building, which, though old, could be given a new brownstone front and
+made very significant. He saw in his mind’s eye a handsome building,
+fitted with an immense plate-glass window; inside his hardwood fixtures
+visible; and over the door, or to one side of it, set in bronze
+letters, Cowperwood & Co. Vaguely but surely he began to see looming
+before him, like a fleecy tinted cloud on the horizon, his future
+fortune. He was to be rich, very, very rich.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIII
+
+
+During all the time that Cowperwood had been building himself up thus
+steadily the great war of the rebellion had been fought almost to its
+close. It was now October, 1864. The capture of Mobile and the Battle
+of the Wilderness were fresh memories. Grant was now before Petersburg,
+and the great general of the South, Lee, was making that last brilliant
+and hopeless display of his ability as a strategist and a soldier.
+There had been times—as, for instance, during the long, dreary period
+in which the country was waiting for Vicksburg to fall, for the Army of
+the Potomac to prove victorious, when Pennsylvania was invaded by
+Lee—when stocks fell and commercial conditions were very bad generally.
+In times like these Cowperwood’s own manipulative ability was taxed to
+the utmost, and he had to watch every hour to see that his fortune was
+not destroyed by some unexpected and destructive piece of news.
+
+His personal attitude toward the war, however, and aside from his
+patriotic feeling that the Union ought to be maintained, was that it
+was destructive and wasteful. He was by no means so wanting in
+patriotic emotion and sentiment but that he could feel that the Union,
+as it had now come to be, spreading its great length from the Atlantic
+to the Pacific and from the snows of Canada to the Gulf, was worth
+while. Since his birth in 1837 he had seen the nation reach that
+physical growth—barring Alaska—which it now possesses. Not so much
+earlier than his youth Florida had been added to the Union by purchase
+from Spain; Mexico, after the unjust war of 1848, had ceded Texas and
+the territory to the West. The boundary disputes between England and
+the United States in the far Northwest had been finally adjusted. To a
+man with great social and financial imagination, these facts could not
+help but be significant; and if they did nothing more, they gave him a
+sense of the boundless commercial possibilities which existed
+potentially in so vast a realm. His was not the order of speculative
+financial enthusiasm which, in the type known as the “promoter,” sees
+endless possibilities for gain in every unexplored rivulet and prairie
+reach; but the very vastness of the country suggested possibilities
+which he hoped might remain undisturbed. A territory covering the
+length of a whole zone and between two seas, seemed to him to possess
+potentialities which it could not retain if the States of the South
+were lost.
+
+At the same time, the freedom of the negro was not a significant point
+with him. He had observed that race from his boyhood with considerable
+interest, and had been struck with virtues and defects which seemed
+inherent and which plainly, to him, conditioned their experiences.
+
+He was not at all sure, for instance, that the negroes could be made
+into anything much more significant than they were. At any rate, it was
+a long uphill struggle for them, of which many future generations would
+not witness the conclusion. He had no particular quarrel with the
+theory that they should be free; he saw no particular reason why the
+South should not protest vigorously against the destruction of their
+property and their system. It was too bad that the negroes as slaves
+should be abused in some instances. He felt sure that that ought to be
+adjusted in some way; but beyond that he could not see that there was
+any great ethical basis for the contentions of their sponsors. The vast
+majority of men and women, as he could see, were not essentially above
+slavery, even when they had all the guarantees of a constitution
+formulated to prevent it. There was mental slavery, the slavery of the
+weak mind and the weak body. He followed the contentions of such men as
+Sumner, Garrison, Phillips, and Beecher, with considerable interest;
+but at no time could he see that the problem was a vital one for him.
+He did not care to be a soldier or an officer of soldiers; he had no
+gift for polemics; his mind was not of the disputatious order—not even
+in the realm of finance. He was concerned only to see what was of vast
+advantage to him, and to devote all his attention to that. This
+fratricidal war in the nation could not help him. It really delayed, he
+thought, the true commercial and financial adjustment of the country,
+and he hoped that it would soon end. He was not of those who complained
+bitterly of the excessive war taxes, though he knew them to be trying
+to many. Some of the stories of death and disaster moved him greatly;
+but, alas, they were among the unaccountable fortunes of life, and
+could not be remedied by him. So he had gone his way day by day,
+watching the coming in and the departing of troops, seeing the bands of
+dirty, disheveled, gaunt, sickly men returning from the fields and
+hospitals; and all he could do was to feel sorry. This war was not for
+him. He had taken no part in it, and he felt sure that he could only
+rejoice in its conclusion—not as a patriot, but as a financier. It was
+wasteful, pathetic, unfortunate.
+
+The months proceeded apace. A local election intervened and there was a
+new city treasurer, a new assessor of taxes, and a new mayor; but
+Edward Malia Butler continued to have apparently the same influence as
+before. The Butlers and the Cowperwoods had become quite friendly. Mrs.
+Butler rather liked Lillian, though they were of different religious
+beliefs; and they went driving or shopping together, the younger woman
+a little critical and ashamed of the elder because of her poor grammar,
+her Irish accent, her plebeian tastes—as though the Wiggins had not
+been as plebeian as any. On the other hand the old lady, as she was
+compelled to admit, was good-natured and good-hearted. She loved to
+give, since she had plenty, and sent presents here and there to
+Lillian, the children, and others. “Now youse must come over and take
+dinner with us”—the Butlers had arrived at the evening-dinner period—or
+“Youse must come drive with me to-morrow.”
+
+“Aileen, God bless her, is such a foine girl,” or “Norah, the darlin’,
+is sick the day.”
+
+But Aileen, her airs, her aggressive disposition, her love of
+attention, her vanity, irritated and at times disgusted Mrs.
+Cowperwood. She was eighteen now, with a figure which was subtly
+provocative. Her manner was boyish, hoydenish at times, and although
+convent-trained, she was inclined to balk at restraint in any form. But
+there was a softness lurking in her blue eyes that was most sympathetic
+and human.
+
+St. Timothy’s and the convent school in Germantown had been the choice
+of her parents for her education—what they called a good Catholic
+education. She had learned a great deal about the theory and forms of
+the Catholic ritual, but she could not understand them. The church,
+with its tall, dimly radiant windows, its high, white altar, its figure
+of St. Joseph on one side and the Virgin Mary on the other, clothed in
+golden-starred robes of blue, wearing haloes and carrying scepters, had
+impressed her greatly. The church as a whole—any Catholic church—was
+beautiful to look at—soothing. The altar, during high mass, lit with a
+half-hundred or more candles, and dignified and made impressive by the
+rich, lacy vestments of the priests and the acolytes, the impressive
+needlework and gorgeous colorings of the amice, chasuble, cope, stole,
+and maniple, took her fancy and held her eye. Let us say there was
+always lurking in her a sense of grandeur coupled with a love of color
+and a love of love. From the first she was somewhat sex-conscious. She
+had no desire for accuracy, no desire for precise information. Innate
+sensuousness rarely has. It basks in sunshine, bathes in color, dwells
+in a sense of the impressive and the gorgeous, and rests there.
+Accuracy is not necessary except in the case of aggressive, acquisitive
+natures, when it manifests itself in a desire to seize. True
+controlling sensuousness cannot be manifested in the most active
+dispositions, nor again in the most accurate.
+
+There is need of defining these statements in so far as they apply to
+Aileen. It would scarcely be fair to describe her nature as being
+definitely sensual at this time. It was too rudimentary. Any harvest is
+of long growth. The confessional, dim on Friday and Saturday evenings,
+when the church was lighted by but a few lamps, and the priest’s
+warnings, penances, and ecclesiastical forgiveness whispered through
+the narrow lattice, moved her as something subtly pleasing. She was not
+afraid of her sins. Hell, so definitely set forth, did not frighten
+her. Really, it had not laid hold on her conscience. The old women and
+old men hobbling into church, bowed in prayer, murmuring over their
+beads, were objects of curious interest like the wood-carvings in the
+peculiar array of wood-reliefs emphasizing the Stations of the Cross.
+She herself had liked to confess, particularly when she was fourteen
+and fifteen, and to listen to the priest’s voice as he admonished her
+with, “Now, my dear child.” A particularly old priest, a French father,
+who came to hear their confessions at school, interested her as being
+kind and sweet. His forgiveness and blessing seemed sincere—better than
+her prayers, which she went through perfunctorily. And then there was a
+young priest at St. Timothy’s, Father David, hale and rosy, with a curl
+of black hair over his forehead, and an almost jaunty way of wearing
+his priestly hat, who came down the aisle Sundays sprinkling holy water
+with a definite, distinguished sweep of the hand, who took her fancy.
+He heard confessions and now and then she liked to whisper her strange
+thoughts to him while she actually speculated on what he might
+privately be thinking. She could not, if she tried, associate him with
+any divine authority. He was too young, too human. There was something
+a little malicious, teasing, in the way she delighted to tell him about
+herself, and then walk demurely, repentantly out. At St. Agatha’s she
+had been rather a difficult person to deal with. She was, as the good
+sisters of the school had readily perceived, too full of life, too
+active, to be easily controlled. “That Miss Butler,” once observed
+Sister Constantia, the Mother Superior, to Sister Sempronia, Aileen’s
+immediate mentor, “is a very spirited girl, you may have a great deal
+of trouble with her unless you use a good deal of tact. You may have to
+coax her with little gifts. You will get on better.” So Sister
+Sempronia had sought to find what Aileen was most interested in, and
+bribe her therewith. Being intensely conscious of her father’s
+competence, and vain of her personal superiority, it was not so easy to
+do. She had wanted to go home occasionally, though; she had wanted to
+be allowed to wear the sister’s rosary of large beads with its pendent
+cross of ebony and its silver Christ, and this was held up as a great
+privilege. For keeping quiet in class, walking softly, and speaking
+softly—as much as it was in her to do—for not stealing into other
+girl’s rooms after lights were out, and for abandoning crushes on this
+and that sympathetic sister, these awards and others, such as walking
+out in the grounds on Saturday afternoons, being allowed to have all
+the flowers she wanted, some extra dresses, jewels, etc., were offered.
+She liked music and the idea of painting, though she had no talent in
+that direction; and books, novels, interested her, but she could not
+get them. The rest—grammar, spelling, sewing, church and general
+history—she loathed. Deportment—well, there was something in that. She
+had liked the rather exaggerated curtsies they taught her, and she had
+often reflected on how she would use them when she reached home.
+
+When she came out into life the little social distinctions which have
+been indicated began to impress themselves on her, and she wished
+sincerely that her father would build a better home—a mansion—such as
+those she saw elsewhere, and launch her properly in society. Failing in
+that, she could think of nothing save clothes, jewels, riding-horses,
+carriages, and the appropriate changes of costume which were allowed
+her for these. Her family could not entertain in any distinguished way
+where they were, and so already, at eighteen, she was beginning to feel
+the sting of a blighted ambition. She was eager for life. How was she
+to get it?
+
+Her room was a study in the foibles of an eager and ambitious mind. It
+was full of clothes, beautiful things for all occasions—jewelry—which
+she had small opportunity to wear—shoes, stockings, lingerie, laces. In
+a crude way she had made a study of perfumes and cosmetics, though she
+needed the latter not at all, and these were present in abundance. She
+was not very orderly, and she loved lavishness of display; and her
+curtains, hangings, table ornaments, and pictures inclined to
+gorgeousness, which did not go well with the rest of the house.
+
+Aileen always reminded Cowperwood of a high-stepping horse without a
+check-rein. He met her at various times, shopping with her mother, out
+driving with her father, and he was always interested and amused at the
+affected, bored tone she assumed before him—the “Oh, dear! Oh, dear!
+Life is so tiresome, don’t you know,” when, as a matter of fact, every
+moment of it was of thrilling interest to her. Cowperwood took her
+mental measurement exactly. A girl with a high sense of life in her,
+romantic, full of the thought of love and its possibilities. As he
+looked at her he had the sense of seeing the best that nature can do
+when she attempts to produce physical perfection. The thought came to
+him that some lucky young dog would marry her pretty soon and carry her
+away; but whoever secured her would have to hold her by affection and
+subtle flattery and attention if he held her at all.
+
+“The little snip”—she was not at all—“she thinks the sun rises and sets
+in her father’s pocket,” Lillian observed one day to her husband. “To
+hear her talk, you’d think they were descended from Irish kings. Her
+pretended interest in art and music amuses me.”
+
+“Oh, don’t be too hard on her,” coaxed Cowperwood diplomatically. He
+already liked Aileen very much. “She plays very well, and she has a
+good voice.”
+
+“Yes, I know; but she has no real refinement. How could she have? Look
+at her father and mother.”
+
+“I don’t see anything so very much the matter with her,” insisted
+Cowperwood. “She’s bright and good-looking. Of course, she’s only a
+girl, and a little vain, but she’ll come out of that. She isn’t without
+sense and force, at that.”
+
+Aileen, as he knew, was most friendly to him. She liked him. She made a
+point of playing the piano and singing for him in his home, and she
+sang only when he was there. There was something about his steady, even
+gait, his stocky body and handsome head, which attracted her. In spite
+of her vanity and egotism, she felt a little overawed before him at
+times—keyed up. She seemed to grow gayer and more brilliant in his
+presence.
+
+The most futile thing in this world is any attempt, perhaps, at exact
+definition of character. All individuals are a bundle of
+contradictions—none more so than the most capable.
+
+In the case of Aileen Butler it would be quite impossible to give an
+exact definition. Intelligence, of a raw, crude order she had
+certainly—also a native force, tamed somewhat by the doctrines and
+conventions of current society, still showed clear at times in an
+elemental and not entirely unattractive way. At this time she was only
+eighteen years of age—decidedly attractive from the point of view of a
+man of Frank Cowperwood’s temperament. She supplied something he had
+not previously known or consciously craved. Vitality and vivacity. No
+other woman or girl whom he had ever known had possessed so much innate
+force as she. Her red-gold hair—not so red as decidedly golden with a
+suggestion of red in it—looped itself in heavy folds about her forehead
+and sagged at the base of her neck. She had a beautiful nose, not
+sensitive, but straight-cut with small nostril openings, and eyes that
+were big and yet noticeably sensuous. They were, to him, a pleasing
+shade of blue-gray-blue, and her toilet, due to her temperament, of
+course, suggested almost undue luxury, the bangles, anklets, ear-rings,
+and breast-plates of the odalisque, and yet, of course, they were not
+there. She confessed to him years afterward that she would have loved
+to have stained her nails and painted the palms of her hands with
+madder-red. Healthy and vigorous, she was chronically interested in
+men—what they would think of her—and how she compared with other women.
+
+The fact that she could ride in a carriage, live in a fine home on
+Girard Avenue, visit such homes as those of the Cowperwoods and others,
+was of great weight; and yet, even at this age, she realized that life
+was more than these things. Many did not have them and lived.
+
+But these facts of wealth and advantage gripped her; and when she sat
+at the piano and played or rode in her carriage or walked or stood
+before her mirror, she was conscious of her figure, her charms, what
+they meant to men, how women envied her. Sometimes she looked at poor,
+hollow-chested or homely-faced girls and felt sorry for them; at other
+times she flared into inexplicable opposition to some handsome girl or
+woman who dared to brazen her socially or physically. There were such
+girls of the better families who, in Chestnut Street, in the expensive
+shops, or on the drive, on horseback or in carriages, tossed their
+heads and indicated as well as human motions can that they were
+better-bred and knew it. When this happened each stared defiantly at
+the other. She wanted ever so much to get up in the world, and yet
+namby-pamby men of better social station than herself did not attract
+her at all. She wanted a man. Now and then there was one “something
+like,” but not entirely, who appealed to her, but most of them were
+politicians or legislators, acquaintances of her father, and socially
+nothing at all—and so they wearied and disappointed her. Her father did
+not know the truly elite. But Mr. Cowperwood—he seemed so refined, so
+forceful, and so reserved. She often looked at Mrs. Cowperwood and
+thought how fortunate she was.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIV
+
+
+The development of Cowperwood as Cowperwood & Co. following his
+arresting bond venture, finally brought him into relationship with one
+man who was to play an important part in his life, morally,
+financially, and in other ways. This was George W. Stener, the new city
+treasurer-elect, who, to begin with, was a puppet in the hands of other
+men, but who, also in spite of this fact, became a personage of
+considerable importance, for the simple reason that he was weak. Stener
+had been engaged in the real estate and insurance business in a small
+way before he was made city treasurer. He was one of those men, of whom
+there are so many thousands in every large community, with no breadth
+of vision, no real subtlety, no craft, no great skill in anything. You
+would never hear a new idea emanating from Stener. He never had one in
+his life. On the other hand, he was not a bad fellow. He had a stodgy,
+dusty, commonplace look to him which was more a matter of mind than of
+body. His eye was of vague gray-blue; his hair a dusty light-brown and
+thin. His mouth—there was nothing impressive there. He was quite tall,
+nearly six feet, with moderately broad shoulders, but his figure was
+anything but shapely. He seemed to stoop a little, his stomach was the
+least bit protuberant, and he talked commonplaces—the small change of
+newspaper and street and business gossip. People liked him in his own
+neighborhood. He was thought to be honest and kindly; and he was, as
+far as he knew. His wife and four children were as average and
+insignificant as the wives and children of such men usually are.
+
+Just the same, and in spite of, or perhaps, politically speaking,
+because of all this, George W. Stener was brought into temporary public
+notice by certain political methods which had existed in Philadelphia
+practically unmodified for the previous half hundred years. First,
+because he was of the same political faith as the dominant local
+political party, he had become known to the local councilman and
+ward-leader of his ward as a faithful soul—one useful in the matter of
+drumming up votes. And next—although absolutely without value as a
+speaker, for he had no ideas—you could send him from door to door,
+asking the grocer and the blacksmith and the butcher how he felt about
+things and he would make friends, and in the long run predict fairly
+accurately the probable vote. Furthermore, you could dole him out a few
+platitudes and he would repeat them. The Republican party, which was
+the new-born party then, but dominant in Philadelphia, needed your
+vote; it was necessary to keep the rascally Democrats out—he could
+scarcely have said why. They had been for slavery. They were for free
+trade. It never once occurred to him that these things had nothing to
+do with the local executive and financial administration of
+Philadelphia. Supposing they didn’t? What of it?
+
+In Philadelphia at this time a certain United States Senator, one Mark
+Simpson, together with Edward Malia Butler and Henry A. Mollenhauer, a
+rich coal dealer and investor, were supposed to, and did, control
+jointly the political destiny of the city. They had representatives,
+benchmen, spies, tools—a great company. Among them was this same
+Stener—a minute cog in the silent machinery of their affairs.
+
+In scarcely any other city save this, where the inhabitants were of a
+deadly average in so far as being commonplace was concerned, could such
+a man as Stener have been elected city treasurer. The rank and file did
+not, except in rare instances, make up their political program. An
+inside ring had this matter in charge. Certain positions were allotted
+to such and such men or to such and such factions of the party for such
+and such services rendered—but who does not know politics?
+
+In due course of time, therefore, George W. Stener had become persona
+grata to Edward Strobik, a quondam councilman who afterward became ward
+leader and still later president of council, and who, in private life
+was a stone-dealer and owner of a brickyard. Strobik was a benchman of
+Henry A. Mollenhauer, the hardest and coldest of all three of the
+political leaders. The latter had things to get from council, and
+Strobik was his tool. He had Stener elected; and because he was
+faithful in voting as he was told the latter was later made an
+assistant superintendent of the highways department.
+
+Here he came under the eyes of Edward Malia Butler, and was slightly
+useful to him. Then the central political committee, with Butler in
+charge, decided that some nice, docile man who would at the same time
+be absolutely faithful was needed for city treasurer, and Stener was
+put on the ticket. He knew little of finance, but was an excellent
+bookkeeper; and, anyhow, was not corporation counsel Regan, another
+political tool of this great triumvirate, there to advise him at all
+times? He was. It was a very simple matter. Being put on the ticket was
+equivalent to being elected, and so, after a few weeks of exceedingly
+trying platform experiences, in which he had stammered through
+platitudinous declarations that the city needed to be honestly
+administered, he was inducted into office; and there you were.
+
+Now it wouldn’t have made so much difference what George W. Stener’s
+executive and financial qualifications for the position were, but at
+this time the city of Philadelphia was still hobbling along under
+perhaps as evil a financial system, or lack of it, as any city ever
+endured—the assessor and the treasurer being allowed to collect and
+hold moneys belonging to the city, outside of the city’s private
+vaults, and that without any demand on the part of anybody that the
+same be invested by them at interest for the city’s benefit. Rather,
+all they were expected to do, apparently, was to restore the principal
+and that which was with them when they entered or left office. It was
+not understood or publicly demanded that the moneys so collected, or
+drawn from any source, be maintained intact in the vaults of the city
+treasury. They could be loaned out, deposited in banks or used to
+further private interests of any one, so long as the principal was
+returned, and no one was the wiser. Of course, this theory of finance
+was not publicly sanctioned, but it was known politically and
+journalistically, and in high finance. How were you to stop it?
+
+Cowperwood, in approaching Edward Malia Butler, had been unconsciously
+let in on this atmosphere of erratic and unsatisfactory speculation
+without really knowing it. When he had left the office of Tighe & Co.,
+seven years before, it was with the idea that henceforth and forever he
+would have nothing to do with the stock-brokerage proposition; but now
+behold him back in it again, with more vim than he had ever displayed,
+for now he was working for himself, the firm of Cowperwood & Co., and
+he was eager to satisfy the world of new and powerful individuals who
+by degrees were drifting to him. All had a little money. All had tips,
+and they wanted him to carry certain lines of stock on margin for them,
+because he was known to other political men, and because he was safe.
+And this was true. He was not, or at least up to this time had not
+been, a speculator or a gambler on his own account. In fact he often
+soothed himself with the thought that in all these years he had never
+gambled for himself, but had always acted strictly for others instead.
+But now here was George W. Stener with a proposition which was not
+quite the same thing as stock-gambling, and yet it was.
+
+During a long period of years preceding the Civil War, and through it,
+let it here be explained and remembered, the city of Philadelphia had
+been in the habit, as a corporation, when there were no available funds
+in the treasury, of issuing what were known as city warrants, which
+were nothing more than notes or I.O.U.’s bearing six per cent.
+interest, and payable sometimes in thirty days, sometimes in three,
+sometimes in six months—all depending on the amount and how soon the
+city treasurer thought there would be sufficient money in the treasury
+to take them up and cancel them. Small tradesmen and large contractors
+were frequently paid in this way; the small tradesman who sold supplies
+to the city institutions, for instance, being compelled to discount his
+notes at the bank, if he needed ready money, usually for ninety cents
+on the dollar, while the large contractor could afford to hold his and
+wait. It can readily be seen that this might well work to the
+disadvantage of the small dealer and merchant, and yet prove quite a
+fine thing for a large contractor or note-broker, for the city was sure
+to pay the warrants at some time, and six per cent. interest was a fat
+rate, considering the absolute security. A banker or broker who
+gathered up these things from small tradesmen at ninety cents on the
+dollar made a fine thing of it all around if he could wait.
+
+Originally, in all probability, there was no intention on the part of
+the city treasurer to do any one an injustice, and it is likely that
+there really were no funds to pay with at the time. However that may
+have been, there was later no excuse for issuing the warrants, seeing
+that the city might easily have been managed much more economically.
+But these warrants, as can readily be imagined, had come to be a fine
+source of profit for note-brokers, bankers, political financiers, and
+inside political manipulators generally and so they remained a part of
+the city’s fiscal policy.
+
+There was just one drawback to all this. In order to get the full
+advantage of this condition the large banker holding them must be an
+“inside banker,” one close to the political forces of the city, for if
+he was not and needed money and he carried his warrants to the city
+treasurer, he would find that he could not get cash for them. But if he
+transferred them to some banker or note-broker who was close to the
+political force of the city, it was quite another matter. The treasury
+would find means to pay. Or, if so desired by the note-broker or
+banker—the right one—notes which were intended to be met in three
+months, and should have been settled at that time, were extended to run
+on years and years, drawing interest at six per cent. even when the
+city had ample funds to meet them. Yet this meant, of course, an
+illegal interest drain on the city, but that was all right also. “No
+funds” could cover that. The general public did not know. It could not
+find out. The newspapers were not at all vigilant, being pro-political.
+There were no persistent, enthusiastic reformers who obtained any
+political credence. During the war, warrants outstanding in this manner
+arose in amount to much over two million dollars, all drawing six per
+cent. interest, but then, of course, it began to get a little
+scandalous. Besides, at least some of the investors began to want their
+money back.
+
+In order, therefore, to clear up this outstanding indebtedness and make
+everything shipshape again, it was decided that the city must issue a
+loan, say for two million dollars—no need to be exact about the amount.
+And this loan must take the shape of interest-bearing certificates of a
+par value of one hundred dollars, redeemable in six, twelve, or
+eighteen months, as the case may be. These certificates of loan were
+then ostensibly to be sold in the open market, a sinking-fund set aside
+for their redemption, and the money so obtained used to take up the
+long-outstanding warrants which were now such a subject of public
+comment.
+
+It is obvious that this was merely a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
+There was no real clearing up of the outstanding debt. It was the
+intention of the schemers to make it possible for the financial
+politicians on the inside to reap the same old harvest by allowing the
+certificates to be sold to the right parties for ninety or less,
+setting up the claim that there was no market for them, the credit of
+the city being bad. To a certain extent this was true. The war was just
+over. Money was high. Investors could get more than six per cent.
+elsewhere unless the loan was sold at ninety. But there were a few
+watchful politicians not in the administration, and some newspapers and
+non-political financiers who, because of the high strain of patriotism
+existing at the time, insisted that the loan should be sold at par.
+Therefore a clause to that effect had to be inserted in the enabling
+ordinance.
+
+This, as one might readily see, destroyed the politicians’ little
+scheme to get this loan at ninety. Nevertheless since they desired that
+the money tied up in the old warrants and now not redeemable because of
+lack of funds should be paid them, the only way this could be done
+would be to have some broker who knew the subtleties of the stock
+market handle this new city loan on ’change in such a way that it would
+be made to seem worth one hundred and to be sold to outsiders at that
+figure. Afterward, if, as it was certain to do, it fell below that, the
+politicians could buy as much of it as they pleased, and eventually
+have the city redeem it at par.
+
+George W. Stener, entering as city treasurer at this time, and bringing
+no special financial intelligence to the proposition, was really
+troubled. Henry A. Mollenhauer, one of the men who had gathered up a
+large amount of the old city warrants, and who now wanted his money, in
+order to invest it in bonanza offers in the West, called on Stener, and
+also on the mayor. He with Simpson and Butler made up the Big Three.
+
+“I think something ought to be done about these warrants that are
+outstanding,” he explained. “I am carrying a large amount of them, and
+there are others. We have helped the city a long time by saying
+nothing; but now I think that something ought to be done. Mr. Butler
+and Mr. Simpson feel the same way. Couldn’t these new loan certificates
+be listed on the stock exchange and the money raised that way? Some
+clever broker could bring them to par.”
+
+Stener was greatly flattered by the visit from Mollenhauer. Rarely did
+he trouble to put in a personal appearance, and then only for the
+weight and effect his presence would have. He called on the mayor and
+the president of council, much as he called on Stener, with a lofty,
+distant, inscrutable air. They were as office-boys to him.
+
+In order to understand exactly the motive for Mollenhauer’s interest in
+Stener, and the significance of this visit and Stener’s subsequent
+action in regard to it, it will be necessary to scan the political
+horizon for some little distance back. Although George W. Stener was in
+a way a political henchman and appointee of Mollenhauer’s, the latter
+was only vaguely acquainted with him. He had seen him before; knew of
+him; had agreed that his name should be put on the local slate largely
+because he had been assured by those who were closest to him and who
+did his bidding that Stener was “all right,” that he would do as he was
+told, that he would cause no one any trouble, etc. In fact, during
+several previous administrations, Mollenhauer had maintained a
+subsurface connection with the treasury, but never so close a one as
+could easily be traced. He was too conspicuous a man politically and
+financially for that. But he was not above a plan, in which Simpson if
+not Butler shared, of using political and commercial stool-pigeons to
+bleed the city treasury as much as possible without creating a scandal.
+In fact, for some years previous to this, various agents had already
+been employed—Edward Strobik, president of council, Asa Conklin, the
+then incumbent of the mayor’s chair, Thomas Wycroft, alderman, Jacob
+Harmon, alderman, and others—to organize dummy companies under various
+names, whose business it was to deal in those things which the city
+needed—lumber, stone, steel, iron, cement—a long list—and of course,
+always at a fat profit to those ultimately behind the dummy companies,
+so organized. It saved the city the trouble of looking far and wide for
+honest and reasonable dealers.
+
+Since the action of at least three of these dummies will have something
+to do with the development of Cowperwood’s story, they may be briefly
+described. Edward Strobik, the chief of them, and the one most useful
+to Mollenhauer, in a minor way, was a very spry person of about
+thirty-five at this time—lean and somewhat forceful, with black hair,
+black eyes, and an inordinately large black mustache. He was dapper,
+inclined to noticeable clothing—a pair of striped trousers, a white
+vest, a black cutaway coat and a high silk hat. His markedly ornamental
+shoes were always polished to perfection, and his immaculate appearance
+gave him the nickname of “The Dude” among some. Nevertheless he was
+quite able on a small scale, and was well liked by many.
+
+His two closest associates, Messrs. Thomas Wycroft and Jacob Harmon,
+were rather less attractive and less brilliant. Jacob Harmon was a
+thick wit socially, but no fool financially. He was big and rather
+doleful to look upon, with sandy brown hair and brown eyes, but fairly
+intelligent, and absolutely willing to approve anything which was not
+too broad in its crookedness and which would afford him sufficient
+protection to keep him out of the clutches of the law. He was really
+not so cunning as dull and anxious to get along.
+
+Thomas Wycroft, the last of this useful but minor triumvirate, was a
+tall, lean man, candle-waxy, hollow-eyed, gaunt of face, pathetic to
+look at physically, but shrewd. He was an iron-molder by trade and had
+gotten into politics much as Stener had—because he was useful; and he
+had managed to make some money—via this triumvirate of which Strobik
+was the ringleader, and which was engaged in various peculiar
+businesses which will now be indicated.
+
+The companies which these several henchmen had organized under previous
+administrations, and for Mollenhauer, dealt in meat, building material,
+lamp-posts, highway supplies, anything you will, which the city
+departments or its institutions needed. A city contract once awarded
+was irrevocable, but certain councilmen had to be fixed in advance and
+it took money to do that. The company so organized need not actually
+slaughter any cattle or mold lamp-posts. All it had to do was to
+organize to do that, obtain a charter, secure a contract for supplying
+such material to the city from the city council (which Strobik, Harmon,
+and Wycroft would attend to), and then sublet this to some actual
+beef-slaughterer or iron-founder, who would supply the material and
+allow them to pocket their profit which in turn was divided or paid for
+to Mollenhauer and Simpson in the form of political donations to clubs
+or organizations. It was so easy and in a way so legitimate. The
+particular beef-slaughterer or iron-founder thus favored could not hope
+of his own ability thus to obtain a contract. Stener, or whoever was in
+charge of the city treasury at the time, for his services in loaning
+money at a low rate of interest to be used as surety for the proper
+performance of contract, and to aid in some instances the beef-killer
+or iron-founder to carry out his end, was to be allowed not only the
+one or two per cent. which he might pocket (other treasurers had), but
+a fair proportion of the profits. A complacent, confidential chief
+clerk who was all right would be recommended to him. It did not concern
+Stener that Strobik, Harmon, and Wycroft, acting for Mollenhauer, were
+incidentally planning to use a little of the money loaned for purposes
+quite outside those indicated. It was his business to loan it.
+
+However, to be going on. Some time before he was even nominated, Stener
+had learned from Strobik, who, by the way, was one of his sureties as
+treasurer (which suretyship was against the law, as were those of
+Councilmen Wycroft and Harmon, the law of Pennsylvania stipulating that
+one political servant might not become surety for another), that those
+who had brought about this nomination and election would by no means
+ask him to do anything which was not perfectly legal, but that he must
+be complacent and not stand in the way of big municipal perquisites nor
+bite the hands that fed him. It was also made perfectly plain to him,
+that once he was well in office a little money for himself was to be
+made. As has been indicated, he had always been a poor man. He had seen
+all those who had dabbled in politics to any extent about him
+heretofore do very well financially indeed, while he pegged along as an
+insurance and real-estate agent. He had worked hard as a small
+political henchman. Other politicians were building themselves nice
+homes in newer portions of the city. They were going off to New York or
+Harrisburg or Washington on jaunting parties. They were seen in happy
+converse at road-houses or country hotels in season with their wives or
+their women favorites, and he was not, as yet, of this happy throng.
+Naturally now that he was promised something, he was interested and
+compliant. What might he not get?
+
+When it came to this visit from Mollenhauer, with its suggestion in
+regard to bringing city loan to par, although it bore no obvious
+relation to Mollenhauer’s subsurface connection with Stener, through
+Strobik and the others, Stener did definitely recognize his own
+political subservience—his master’s stentorian voice—and immediately
+thereafter hurried to Strobik for information.
+
+“Just what would you do about this?” he asked of Strobik, who knew of
+Mollenhauer’s visit before Stener told him, and was waiting for Stener
+to speak to him. “Mr. Mollenhauer talks about having this new loan
+listed on ’change and brought to par so that it will sell for one
+hundred.”
+
+Neither Strobik, Harmon, nor Wycroft knew how the certificates of city
+loan, which were worth only ninety on the open market, were to be made
+to sell for one hundred on ’change, but Mollenhauer’s secretary, one
+Abner Sengstack, had suggested to Strobik that, since Butler was
+dealing with young Cowperwood and Mollenhauer did not care particularly
+for his private broker in this instance, it might be as well to try
+Cowperwood.
+
+So it was that Cowperwood was called to Stener’s office. And once
+there, and not as yet recognizing either the hand of Mollenhauer or
+Simpson in this, merely looked at the peculiarly shambling,
+heavy-cheeked, middle-class man before him without either interest or
+sympathy, realizing at once that he had a financial baby to deal with.
+If he could act as adviser to this man—be his sole counsel for four
+years!
+
+“How do you do, Mr. Stener?” he said in his soft, ingratiating voice,
+as the latter held out his hand. “I am glad to meet you. I have heard
+of you before, of course.”
+
+Stener was long in explaining to Cowperwood just what his difficulty
+was. He went at it in a clumsy fashion, stumbling through the
+difficulties of the situation he was suffered to meet.
+
+“The main thing, as I see it, is to make these certificates sell at
+par. I can issue them in any sized lots you like, and as often as you
+like. I want to get enough now to clear away two hundred thousand
+dollars’ worth of the outstanding warrants, and as much more as I can
+get later.”
+
+Cowperwood felt like a physician feeling a patient’s pulse—a patient
+who is really not sick at all but the reassurance of whom means a fat
+fee. The abstrusities of the stock exchange were as his A B C’s to him.
+He knew if he could have this loan put in his hands—all of it, if he
+could have the fact kept dark that he was acting for the city, and that
+if Stener would allow him to buy as a “bull” for the sinking-fund while
+selling judiciously for a rise, he could do wonders even with a big
+issue. He had to have all of it, though, in order that he might have
+agents under him. Looming up in his mind was a scheme whereby he could
+make a lot of the unwary speculators about ’change go short of this
+stock or loan under the impression, of course, that it was scattered
+freely in various persons’ hands, and that they could buy as much of it
+as they wanted. Then they would wake to find that they could not get
+it; that he had it all. Only he would not risk his secret that far. Not
+he, oh, no. But he would drive the city loan to par and then sell. And
+what a fat thing for himself among others in so doing. Wisely enough he
+sensed that there was politics in all this—shrewder and bigger men
+above and behind Stener. But what of that? And how slyly and shrewdly
+they were sending Stener to him. It might be that his name was becoming
+very potent in their political world here. And what might that not
+mean!
+
+“I tell you what I’d like to do, Mr. Stener,” he said, after he had
+listened to his explanation and asked how much of the city loan he
+would like to sell during the coming year. “I’ll be glad to undertake
+it. But I’d like to have a day or two in which to think it over.”
+
+“Why, certainly, certainly, Mr. Cowperwood,” replied Stener, genially.
+“That’s all right. Take your time. If you know how it can be done, just
+show me when you’re ready. By the way, what do you charge?”
+
+“Well, the stock exchange has a regular scale of charges which we
+brokers are compelled to observe. It’s one-fourth of one per cent. on
+the par value of bonds and loans. Of course, I may hav to add a lot of
+fictitious selling—I’ll explain that to you later—but I won’t charge
+you anything for that so long as it is a secret between us. I’ll give
+you the best service I can, Mr. Stener. You can depend on that. Let me
+have a day or two to think it over, though.”
+
+He shook hands with Stener, and they parted. Cowperwood was satisfied
+that he was on the verge of a significant combination, and Stener that
+he had found someone on whom he could lean.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XV
+
+
+The plan Cowperwood developed after a few days’ meditation will be
+plain enough to any one who knows anything of commercial and financial
+manipulation, but a dark secret to those who do not. In the first
+place, the city treasurer was to use his (Cowperwood’s) office as a
+bank of deposit. He was to turn over to him, actually, or set over to
+his credit on the city’s books, subject to his order, certain amounts
+of city loans—two hundred thousand dollars at first, since that was the
+amount it was desired to raise quickly—and he would then go into the
+market and see what could be done to have it brought to par. The city
+treasurer was to ask leave of the stock exchange at once to have it
+listed as a security. Cowperwood would then use his influence to have
+this application acted upon quickly. Stener was then to dispose of all
+city loan certificates through him, and him only. He was to allow him
+to buy for the sinking-fund, supposedly, such amounts as he might have
+to buy in order to keep the price up to par. To do this, once a
+considerable number of the loan certificates had been unloaded on the
+public, it might be necessary to buy back a great deal. However, these
+would be sold again. The law concerning selling only at par would have
+to be abrogated to this extent—i.e., that the wash sales and
+preliminary sales would have to be considered no sales until par was
+reached.
+
+There was a subtle advantage here, as Cowperwood pointed out to Stener.
+In the first place, since the certificates were going ultimately to
+reach par anyway, there was no objection to Stener or any one else
+buying low at the opening price and holding for a rise. Cowperwood
+would be glad to carry him on his books for any amount, and he would
+settle at the end of each month. He would not be asked to buy the
+certificates outright. He could be carried on the books for a certain
+reasonable margin, say ten points. The money was as good as made for
+Stener now. In the next place, in buying for the sinking-fund it would
+be possible to buy these certificates very cheap, for, having the new
+and reserve issue entirely in his hands, Cowperwood could throw such
+amounts as he wished into the market at such times as he wished to buy,
+and consequently depress the market. Then he could buy, and, later, up
+would go the price. Having the issues totally in his hands to boost or
+depress the market as he wished, there was no reason why the city
+should not ultimately get par for all its issues, and at the same time
+considerable money be made out of the manufactured fluctuations. He,
+Cowperwood, would be glad to make most of his profit that way. The city
+should allow him his normal percentage on all his actual sales of
+certificates for the city at par (he would have to have that in order
+to keep straight with the stock exchange); but beyond that, and for all
+the other necessary manipulative sales, of which there would be many,
+he would depend on his knowledge of the stock market to reimburse him.
+And if Stener wanted to speculate with him—well.
+
+Dark as this transaction may seem to the uninitiated, it will appear
+quite clear to those who know. Manipulative tricks have always been
+worked in connection with stocks of which one man or one set of men has
+had complete control. It was no different from what subsequently was
+done with Erie, Standard Oil, Copper, Sugar, Wheat, and what not.
+Cowperwood was one of the first and one of the youngest to see how it
+could be done. When he first talked to Stener he was twenty-eight years
+of age. When he last did business with him he was thirty-four.
+
+The houses and the bank-front of Cowperwood & Co. had been proceeding
+apace. The latter was early Florentine in its decorations with windows
+which grew narrower as they approached the roof, and a door of wrought
+iron set between delicately carved posts, and a straight lintel of
+brownstone. It was low in height and distinguished in appearance. In
+the center panel had been hammered a hand, delicately wrought, thin and
+artistic, holding aloft a flaming brand. Ellsworth informed him that
+this had formerly been a money-changer’s sign used in old Venice, the
+significance of which had long been forgotten.
+
+The interior was finished in highly-polished hardwood, stained in
+imitation of the gray lichens which infest trees. Large sheets of
+clear, beveled glass were used, some oval, some oblong, some square,
+and some circular, following a given theory of eye movement. The
+fixtures for the gas-jets were modeled after the early Roman
+flame-brackets, and the office safe was made an ornament, raised on a
+marble platform at the back of the office and lacquered a silver-gray,
+with Cowperwood & Co. lettered on it in gold. One had a sense of
+reserve and taste pervading the place, and yet it was also inestimably
+prosperous, solid and assuring. Cowperwood, when he viewed it at its
+completion, complimented Ellsworth cheerily. “I like this. It is really
+beautiful. It will be a pleasure to work here. If those houses are
+going to be anything like this, they will be perfect.”
+
+“Wait till you see them. I think you will be pleased, Mr. Cowperwood. I
+am taking especial pains with yours because it is smaller. It is really
+easier to treat your father’s. But yours—” He went off into a
+description of the entrance-hall, reception-room and parlor, which he
+was arranging and decorating in such a way as to give an effect of size
+and dignity not really conformable to the actual space.
+
+And when the houses were finished, they were effective and
+arresting—quite different from the conventional residences of the
+street. They were separated by a space of twenty feet, laid out as
+greensward. The architect had borrowed somewhat from the Tudor school,
+yet not so elaborated as later became the style in many of the
+residences in Philadelphia and elsewhere. The most striking features
+were rather deep-recessed doorways under wide, low, slightly floriated
+arches, and three projecting windows of rich form, one on the second
+floor of Frank’s house, two on the facade of his father’s. There were
+six gables showing on the front of the two houses, two on Frank’s and
+four on his father’s. In the front of each house on the ground floor
+was a recessed window unconnected with the recessed doorways, formed by
+setting the inner external wall back from the outer face of the
+building. This window looked out through an arched opening to the
+street, and was protected by a dwarf parapet or balustrade. It was
+possible to set potted vines and flowers there, which was later done,
+giving a pleasant sense of greenery from the street, and to place a few
+chairs there, which were reached via heavily barred French casements.
+
+On the ground floor of each house was placed a conservatory of flowers,
+facing each other, and in the yard, which was jointly used, a pool of
+white marble eight feet in diameter, with a marble Cupid upon which
+jets of water played. The yard which was enclosed by a high but pierced
+wall of green-gray brick, especially burnt for the purpose the same
+color as the granite of the house, and surmounted by a white marble
+coping which was sown to grass and had a lovely, smooth, velvety
+appearance. The two houses, as originally planned, were connected by a
+low, green-columned pergola which could be enclosed in glass in winter.
+
+The rooms, which were now slowly being decorated and furnished in
+period styles were very significant in that they enlarged and
+strengthened Frank Cowperwood’s idea of the world of art in general. It
+was an enlightening and agreeable experience—one which made for
+artistic and intellectual growth—to hear Ellsworth explain at length
+the styles and types of architecture and furniture, the nature of woods
+and ornaments employed, the qualities and peculiarities of hangings,
+draperies, furniture panels, and door coverings. Ellsworth was a
+student of decoration as well as of architecture, and interested in the
+artistic taste of the American people, which he fancied would some day
+have a splendid outcome. He was wearied to death of the prevalent
+Romanesque composite combinations of country and suburban villa. The
+time was ripe for something new. He scarcely knew what it would be; but
+this that he had designed for Cowperwood and his father was at least
+different, as he said, while at the same time being reserved, simple,
+and pleasing. It was in marked contrast to the rest of the architecture
+of the street. Cowperwood’s dining-room, reception-room, conservatory,
+and butler’s pantry he had put on the first floor, together with the
+general entry-hall, staircase, and coat-room under the stairs. For the
+second floor he had reserved the library, general living-room, parlor,
+and a small office for Cowperwood, together with a boudoir for Lillian,
+connected with a dressing-room and bath.
+
+On the third floor, neatly divided and accommodated with baths and
+dressing-rooms, were the nursery, the servants’ quarters, and several
+guest-chambers.
+
+Ellsworth showed Cowperwood books of designs containing furniture,
+hangings, etageres, cabinets, pedestals, and some exquisite piano
+forms. He discussed woods with him—rosewood, mahogany, walnut, English
+oak, bird’s-eye maple, and the manufactured effects such as ormolu,
+marquetry, and Boule, or buhl. He explained the latter—how difficult it
+was to produce, how unsuitable it was in some respects for this
+climate, the brass and tortoise-shell inlay coming to swell with the
+heat or damp, and so bulging or breaking. He told of the difficulties
+and disadvantages of certain finishes, but finally recommended ormolu
+furniture for the reception room, medallion tapestry for the parlor,
+French renaissance for the dining-room and library, and bird’s-eye
+maple (dyed blue in one instance, and left its natural color in
+another) and a rather lightly constructed and daintily carved walnut
+for the other rooms. The hangings, wall-paper, and floor coverings were
+to harmonize—not match—and the piano and music-cabinet for the parlor,
+as well as the etagere, cabinets, and pedestals for the
+reception-rooms, were to be of buhl or marquetry, if Frank cared to
+stand the expense.
+
+Ellsworth advised a triangular piano—the square shapes were so
+inexpressibly wearisome to the initiated. Cowperwood listened
+fascinated. He foresaw a home which would be chaste, soothing, and
+delightful to look upon. If he hung pictures, gilt frames were to be
+the setting, large and deep; and if he wished a picture-gallery, the
+library could be converted into that, and the general living-room,
+which lay between the library and the parlor on the second-floor, could
+be turned into a combination library and living-room. This was
+eventually done; but not until his taste for pictures had considerably
+advanced.
+
+It was now that he began to take a keen interest in objects of art,
+pictures, bronzes, little carvings and figurines, for his cabinets,
+pedestals, tables, and etageres. Philadelphia did not offer much that
+was distinguished in this realm—certainly not in the open market. There
+were many private houses which were enriched by travel; but his
+connection with the best families was as yet small. There were then two
+famous American sculptors, Powers and Hosmer, of whose work he had
+examples; but Ellsworth told him that they were not the last word in
+sculpture and that he should look into the merits of the ancients. He
+finally secured a head of David, by Thorwaldsen, which delighted him,
+and some landscapes by Hunt, Sully, and Hart, which seemed somewhat in
+the spirit of his new world.
+
+The effect of a house of this character on its owner is unmistakable.
+We think we are individual, separate, above houses and material objects
+generally; but there is a subtle connection which makes them reflect us
+quite as much as we reflect them. They lend dignity, subtlety, force,
+each to the other, and what beauty, or lack of it, there is, is shot
+back and forth from one to the other as a shuttle in a loom, weaving,
+weaving. Cut the thread, separate a man from that which is rightfully
+his own, characteristic of him, and you have a peculiar figure, half
+success, half failure, much as a spider without its web, which will
+never be its whole self again until all its dignities and emoluments
+are restored.
+
+The sight of his new house going up made Cowperwood feel of more weight
+in the world, and the possession of his suddenly achieved connection
+with the city treasurer was as though a wide door had been thrown open
+to the Elysian fields of opportunity. He rode about the city those days
+behind a team of spirited bays, whose glossy hides and metaled harness
+bespoke the watchful care of hostler and coachman. Ellsworth was
+building an attractive stable in the little side street back of the
+houses, for the joint use of both families. He told Mrs. Cowperwood
+that he intended to buy her a victoria—as the low, open, four-wheeled
+coach was then known—as soon as they were well settled in their new
+home, and that they were to go out more. There was some talk about the
+value of entertaining—that he would have to reach out socially for
+certain individuals who were not now known to him. Together with Anna,
+his sister, and his two brothers, Joseph and Edward, they could use the
+two houses jointly. There was no reason why Anna should not make a
+splendid match. Joe and Ed might marry well, since they were not
+destined to set the world on fire in commerce. At least it would not
+hurt them to try.
+
+“Don’t you think you will like that?” he asked his wife, referring to
+his plans for entertaining.
+
+She smiled wanly. “I suppose so,” she said.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVI
+
+
+It was not long after the arrangement between Treasurer Stener and
+Cowperwood had been made that the machinery for the carrying out of
+that political-financial relationship was put in motion. The sum of two
+hundred and ten thousand dollars in six per cent. interest-bearing
+certificates, payable in ten years, was set over to the credit of
+Cowperwood & Co. on the books of the city, subject to his order. Then,
+with proper listing, he began to offer it in small amounts at more than
+ninety, at the same time creating the impression that it was going to
+be a prosperous investment. The certificates gradually rose and were
+unloaded in rising amounts until one hundred was reached, when all the
+two hundred thousand dollars’ worth—two thousand certificates in
+all—was fed out in small lots. Stener was satisfied. Two hundred shares
+had been carried for him and sold at one hundred, which netted him two
+thousand dollars. It was illegitimate gain, unethical; but his
+conscience was not very much troubled by that. He had none, truly. He
+saw visions of a halcyon future.
+
+It is difficult to make perfectly clear what a subtle and significant
+power this suddenly placed in the hands of Cowperwood. Consider that he
+was only twenty-eight—nearing twenty-nine. Imagine yourself by nature
+versed in the arts of finance, capable of playing with sums of money in
+the forms of stocks, certificates, bonds, and cash, as the ordinary man
+plays with checkers or chess. Or, better yet, imagine yourself one of
+those subtle masters of the mysteries of the higher forms of chess—the
+type of mind so well illustrated by the famous and historic
+chess-players, who could sit with their backs to a group of rivals
+playing fourteen men at once, calling out all the moves in turn,
+remembering all the positions of all the men on all the boards, and
+winning. This, of course, would be an overstatement of the subtlety of
+Cowperwood at this time, and yet it would not be wholly out of bounds.
+He knew instinctively what could be done with a given sum of money—how
+as cash it could be deposited in one place, and yet as credit and the
+basis of moving checks, used in not one but many other places at the
+same time. When properly watched and followed this manipulation gave
+him the constructive and purchasing power of ten and a dozen times as
+much as his original sum might have represented. He knew instinctively
+the principles of “pyramiding” and “kiting.” He could see exactly not
+only how he could raise and lower the value of these certificates of
+loan, day after day and year after year—if he were so fortunate as to
+retain his hold on the city treasurer—but also how this would give him
+a credit with the banks hitherto beyond his wildest dreams. His
+father’s bank was one of the first to profit by this and to extend him
+loans. The various local politicians and bosses—Mollenhauer, Butler,
+Simpson, and others—seeing the success of his efforts in this
+direction, speculated in city loan. He became known to Mollenhauer and
+Simpson, by reputation, if not personally, as the man who was carrying
+this city loan proposition to a successful issue. Stener was supposed
+to have done a clever thing in finding him. The stock exchange
+stipulated that all trades were to be compared the same day and settled
+before the close of the next; but this working arrangement with the new
+city treasurer gave Cowperwood much more latitude, and now he had
+always until the first of the month, or practically thirty days at
+times, in which to render an accounting for all deals connected with
+the loan issue.
+
+And, moreover, this was really not an accounting in the sense of
+removing anything from his hands. Since the issue was to be so large,
+the sum at his disposal would always be large, and so-called transfers
+and balancing at the end of the month would be a mere matter of
+bookkeeping. He could use these city loan certificates deposited with
+him for manipulative purposes, deposit them at any bank as collateral
+for a loan, quite as if they were his own, thus raising seventy per
+cent. of their actual value in cash, and he did not hesitate to do so.
+He could take this cash, which need not be accounted for until the end
+of the month, and cover other stock transactions, on which he could
+borrow again. There was no limit to the resources of which he now found
+himself possessed, except the resources of his own energy, ingenuity,
+and the limits of time in which he had to work. The politicians did not
+realize what a bonanza he was making of it all for himself, because
+they were as yet unaware of the subtlety of his mind. When Stener told
+him, after talking the matter over with the mayor, Strobik, and others
+that he would formally, during the course of the year, set over on the
+city’s books all of the two millions in city loan, Cowperwood was
+silent—but with delight. Two millions! His to play with! He had been
+called in as a financial adviser, and he had given his advice and it
+had been taken! Well. He was not a man who inherently was troubled with
+conscientious scruples. At the same time he still believed himself
+financially honest. He was no sharper or shrewder than any other
+financier—certainly no sharper than any other would be if he could.
+
+It should be noted here that this proposition of Stener’s in regard to
+city money had no connection with the attitude of the principal leaders
+in local politics in regard to street-railway control, which was a new
+and intriguing phase of the city’s financial life. Many of the leading
+financiers and financier-politicians were interested in that. For
+instance, Messrs. Mollenhauer, Butler, and Simpson were interested in
+street-railways separately on their own account. There was no
+understanding between them on this score. If they had thought at all on
+the matter they would have decided that they did not want any outsider
+to interfere. As a matter of fact the street-railway business in
+Philadelphia was not sufficiently developed at this time to suggest to
+any one the grand scheme of union which came later. Yet in connection
+with this new arrangement between Stener and Cowperwood, it was Strobik
+who now came forward to Stener with an idea of his own. All were
+certain to make money through Cowperwood—he and Stener, especially.
+What was amiss, therefore, with himself and Stener and with Cowperwood
+as their—or rather Stener’s secret representative, since Strobik did
+not dare to appear in the matter—buying now sufficient street-railway
+shares in some one line to control it, and then, if he, Strobik, could,
+by efforts of his own, get the city council to set aside certain
+streets for its extension, why, there you were—they would own it. Only,
+later, he proposed to shake Stener out if he could. But this
+preliminary work had to be done by some one, and it might as well be
+Stener. At the same time, as he saw, this work had to be done very
+carefully, because naturally his superiors were watchful, and if they
+found him dabbling in affairs of this kind to his own advantage, they
+might make it impossible for him to continue politically in a position
+where he could help himself just the same. Any outside organization
+such as a street-railway company already in existence had a right to
+appeal to the city council for privileges which would naturally further
+its and the city’s growth, and, other things being equal, these could
+not be refused. It would not do for him to appear, however, both as a
+shareholder and president of the council. But with Cowperwood acting
+privately for Stener it would be another thing.
+
+The interesting thing about this proposition as finally presented by
+Stener for Strobik to Cowperwood, was that it raised, without appearing
+to do so, the whole question of Cowperwood’s attitude toward the city
+administration. Although he was dealing privately for Edward Butler as
+an agent, and with this same plan in mind, and although he had never
+met either Mollenhauer or Simpson, he nevertheless felt that in so far
+as the manipulation of the city loan was concerned he was acting for
+them. On the other hand, in this matter of the private street-railway
+purchase which Stener now brought to him, he realized from the very
+beginning, by Stener’s attitude, that there was something untoward in
+it, that Stener felt he was doing something which he ought not to do.
+
+“Cowperwood,” he said to him the first morning he ever broached this
+matter—it was in Stener’s office, at the old city hall at Sixth and
+Chestnut, and Stener, in view of his oncoming prosperity, was feeling
+very good indeed—“isn’t there some street-railway property around town
+here that a man could buy in on and get control of if he had sufficient
+money?”
+
+Cowperwood knew that there were such properties. His very alert mind
+had long since sensed the general opportunities here. The omnibuses
+were slowly disappearing. The best routes were already preempted.
+Still, there were other streets, and the city was growing. The incoming
+population would make great business in the future. One could afford to
+pay almost any price for the short lines already built if one could
+wait and extend the lines into larger and better areas later. And
+already he had conceived in his own mind the theory of the “endless
+chain,” or “argeeable formula,” as it was later termed, of buying a
+certain property on a long-time payment and issuing stocks or bonds
+sufficient not only to pay your seller, but to reimburse you for your
+trouble, to say nothing of giving you a margin wherewith to invest in
+other things—allied properties, for instance, against which more bonds
+could be issued, and so on, ad infinitum. It became an old story later,
+but it was new at that time, and he kept the thought closely to
+himself. None the less he was glad to have Stener speak of this, since
+street-railways were his hobby, and he was convinced that he would be a
+great master of them if he ever had an opportunity to control them.
+
+“Why, yes, George,” he said, noncommittally, “there are two or three
+that offer a good chance if a man had money enough. I notice blocks of
+stock being offered on ’change now and then by one person and another.
+It would be good policy to pick these things up as they’re offered, and
+then to see later if some of the other stockholders won’t want to sell
+out. Green and Coates, now, looks like a good proposition to me. If I
+had three or four hundred thousand dollars that I thought I could put
+into that by degrees I would follow it up. It only takes about thirty
+per cent. of the stock of any railroad to control it. Most of the
+shares are scattered around so far and wide that they never vote, and I
+think two or three hundred thousand dollars would control that road.”
+He mentioned one other line that might be secured in the same way in
+the course of time.
+
+Stener meditated. “That’s a good deal of money,” he said, thoughtfully.
+“I’ll talk to you about that some more later.” And he was off to see
+Strobik none the less.
+
+Cowperwood knew that Stener did not have any two or three hundred
+thousand dollars to invest in anything. There was only one way that he
+could get it—and that was to borrow it out of the city treasury and
+forego the interest. But he would not do that on his own initiative.
+Some one else must be behind him and who else other than Mollenhauer,
+or Simpson, or possibly even Butler, though he doubted that, unless the
+triumvirate were secretly working together. But what of it? The larger
+politicians were always using the treasury, and he was thinking now,
+only, of his own attitude in regard to the use of this money. No harm
+could come to him, if Stener’s ventures were successful; and there was
+no reason why they should not be. Even if they were not he would be
+merely acting as an agent. In addition, he saw how in the manipulation
+of this money for Stener he could probably eventually control certain
+lines for himself.
+
+There was one line being laid out to within a few blocks of his new
+home—the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line it was called—which
+interested him greatly. He rode on it occasionally when he was delayed
+or did not wish to trouble about a vehicle. It ran through two thriving
+streets of red-brick houses, and was destined to have a great future
+once the city grew large enough. As yet it was really not long enough.
+If he could get that, for instance, and combine it with Butler’s lines,
+once they were secured—or Mollenhauer’s, or Simpson’s, the legislature
+could be induced to give them additional franchises. He even dreamed of
+a combination between Butler, Mollenhauer, Simpson, and himself.
+Between them, politically, they could get anything. But Butler was not
+a philanthropist. He would have to be approached with a very sizable
+bird in hand. The combination must be obviously advisable. Besides, he
+was dealing for Butler in street-railway stocks, and if this particular
+line were such a good thing Butler might wonder why it had not been
+brought to him in the first place. It would be better, Frank thought,
+to wait until he actually had it as his own, in which case it would be
+a different matter. Then he could talk as a capitalist. He began to
+dream of a city-wide street-railway system controlled by a few men, or
+preferably himself alone.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVII
+
+
+The days that had been passing brought Frank Cowperwood and Aileen
+Butler somewhat closer together in spirit. Because of the pressure of
+his growing affairs he had not paid so much attention to her as he
+might have, but he had seen her often this past year. She was now
+nineteen and had grown into some subtle thoughts of her own. For one
+thing, she was beginning to see the difference between good taste and
+bad taste in houses and furnishings.
+
+“Papa, why do we stay in this old barn?” she asked her father one
+evening at dinner, when the usual family group was seated at the table.
+
+“What’s the matter with this house, I’d like to know?” demanded Butler,
+who was drawn up close to the table, his napkin tucked comfortably
+under his chin, for he insisted on this when company was not present.
+“I don’t see anything the matter with this house. Your mother and I
+manage to live in it well enough.”
+
+“Oh, it’s terrible, papa. You know it,” supplemented Norah, who was
+seventeen and quite as bright as her sister, though a little less
+experienced. “Everybody says so. Look at all the nice houses that are
+being built everywhere about here.”
+
+“Everybody! Everybody! Who is ‘everybody,’ I’d like to know?” demanded
+Butler, with the faintest touch of choler and much humor. “I’m
+somebody, and I like it. Those that don’t like it don’t have to live in
+it. Who are they? What’s the matter with it, I’d like to know?”
+
+The question in just this form had been up a number of times before,
+and had been handled in just this manner, or passed over entirely with
+a healthy Irish grin. To-night, however, it was destined for a little
+more extended thought.
+
+“You know it’s bad, papa,” corrected Aileen, firmly. “Now what’s the
+use getting mad about it? It’s old and cheap and dingy. The furniture
+is all worn out. That old piano in there ought to be given away. I
+won’t play on it any more. The Cowperwoods—”
+
+“Old is it!” exclaimed Butler, his accent sharpening somewhat with his
+self-induced rage. He almost pronounced it “owled.” “Dingy, hi! Where
+do you get that? At your convent, I suppose. And where is it worn? Show
+me where it’s worn.”
+
+He was coming to her reference to Cowperwood, but he hadn’t reached
+that when Mrs. Butler interfered. She was a stout, broad-faced woman,
+smiling-mouthed most of the time, with blurry, gray Irish eyes, and a
+touch of red in her hair, now modified by grayness. Her cheek, below
+the mouth, on the left side, was sharply accented by a large wen.
+
+“Children! children!” (Mr. Butler, for all his commercial and political
+responsibility, was as much a child to her as any.) “Youse mustn’t
+quarrel now. Come now. Give your father the tomatoes.”
+
+There was an Irish maid serving at table; but plates were passed from
+one to the other just the same. A heavily ornamented chandelier,
+holding sixteen imitation candles in white porcelain, hung low over the
+table and was brightly lighted, another offense to Aileen.
+
+“Mama, how often have I told you not to say ‘youse’?” pleaded Norah,
+very much disheartened by her mother’s grammatical errors. “You know
+you said you wouldn’t.”
+
+“And who’s to tell your mother what she should say?” called Butler,
+more incensed than ever at this sudden and unwarranted rebellion and
+assault. “Your mother talked before ever you was born, I’d have you
+know. If it weren’t for her workin’ and slavin’ you wouldn’t have any
+fine manners to be paradin’ before her. I’d have you know that. She’s a
+better woman nor any you’ll be runnin’ with this day, you little
+baggage, you!”
+
+“Mama, do you hear what he’s calling me?” complained Norah, hugging
+close to her mother’s arm and pretending fear and dissatisfaction.
+
+“Eddie! Eddie!” cautioned Mrs. Butler, pleading with her husband. “You
+know he don’t mean that, Norah, dear. Don’t you know he don’t?”
+
+She was stroking her baby’s head. The reference to her grammar had not
+touched her at all.
+
+Butler was sorry that he had called his youngest a baggage; but these
+children—God bless his soul—were a great annoyance. Why, in the name of
+all the saints, wasn’t this house good enough for them?
+
+“Why don’t you people quit fussing at the table?” observed Callum, a
+likely youth, with black hair laid smoothly over his forehead in a
+long, distinguished layer reaching from his left to close to his right
+ear, and his upper lip carrying a short, crisp mustache. His nose was
+short and retrousse, and his ears were rather prominent; but he was
+bright and attractive. He and Owen both realized that the house was old
+and poorly arranged; but their father and mother liked it, and business
+sense and family peace dictated silence on this score.
+
+“Well, I think it’s mean to have to live in this old place when people
+not one-fourth as good as we are are living in better ones. The
+Cowperwoods—why, even the Cowperwoods—”
+
+“Yes, the Cowperwoods! What about the Cowperwoods?” demanded Butler,
+turning squarely to Aileen—she was sitting beside him—-his big, red
+face glowing.
+
+“Why, even they have a better house than we have, and he’s merely an
+agent of yours.”
+
+“The Cowperwoods! The Cowperwoods! I’ll not have any talk about the
+Cowperwoods. I’m not takin’ my rules from the Cowperwoods. Suppose they
+have a fine house, what of it? My house is my house. I want to live
+here. I’ve lived here too long to be pickin’ up and movin’ away. If you
+don’t like it you know what else you can do. Move if you want to. I’ll
+not move.”
+
+It was Butler’s habit when he became involved in these family quarrels,
+which were as shallow as puddles, to wave his hands rather
+antagonistically under his wife’s or his children’s noses.
+
+“Oh, well, I will get out one of these days,” Aileen replied. “Thank
+heaven I won’t have to live here forever.”
+
+There flashed across her mind the beautiful reception-room, library,
+parlor, and boudoirs of the Cowperwoods, which were now being arranged
+and about which Anna Cowperwood talked to her so much—their dainty,
+lovely triangular grand piano in gold and painted pink and blue. Why
+couldn’t they have things like that? Her father was unquestionably a
+dozen times as wealthy. But no, her father, whom she loved dearly, was
+of the old school. He was just what people charged him with being, a
+rough Irish contractor. He might be rich. She flared up at the
+injustice of things—why couldn’t he have been rich and refined, too?
+Then they could have—but, oh, what was the use of complaining? They
+would never get anywhere with her father and mother in charge. She
+would just have to wait. Marriage was the answer—the right marriage.
+But whom was she to marry?
+
+“You surely are not going to go on fighting about that now,” pleaded
+Mrs. Butler, as strong and patient as fate itself. She knew where
+Aileen’s trouble lay.
+
+“But we might have a decent house,” insisted Aileen. “Or this one done
+over,” whispered Norah to her mother.
+
+“Hush now! In good time,” replied Mrs. Butler to Norah. “Wait. We’ll
+fix it all up some day, sure. You run to your lessons now. You’ve had
+enough.”
+
+Norah arose and left. Aileen subsided. Her father was simply stubborn
+and impossible. And yet he was sweet, too. She pouted in order to
+compel him to apologize.
+
+“Come now,” he said, after they had left the table, and conscious of
+the fact that his daughter was dissatisfied with him. He must do
+something to placate her. “Play me somethin’ on the piano, somethin’
+nice.” He preferred showy, clattery things which exhibited her skill
+and muscular ability and left him wondering how she did it. That was
+what education was for—to enable her to play these very difficult
+things quickly and forcefully. “And you can have a new piano any time
+you like. Go and see about it. This looks pretty good to me, but if you
+don’t want it, all right.” Aileen squeezed his arm. What was the use of
+arguing with her father? What good would a lone piano do, when the
+whole house and the whole family atmosphere were at fault? But she
+played Schumann, Schubert, Offenbach, Chopin, and the old gentleman
+strolled to and fro and mused, smiling. There was real feeling and a
+thoughtful interpretation given to some of these things, for Aileen was
+not without sentiment, though she was so strong, vigorous, and withal
+so defiant; but it was all lost on him. He looked on her, his bright,
+healthy, enticingly beautiful daughter, and wondered what was going to
+become of her. Some rich man was going to many her—some fine, rich
+young man with good business instincts—and he, her father, would leave
+her a lot of money.
+
+There was a reception and a dance to be given to celebrate the opening
+of the two Cowperwood homes—the reception to be held in Frank
+Cowperwood’s residence, and the dance later at his father’s. The Henry
+Cowperwood domicile was much more pretentious, the reception-room,
+parlor, music-room, and conservatory being in this case all on the
+ground floor and much larger. Ellsworth had arranged it so that those
+rooms, on occasion, could be thrown into one, leaving excellent space
+for promenade, auditorium, dancing—anything, in fact, that a large
+company might require. It had been the intention all along of the two
+men to use these houses jointly. There was, to begin with, a
+combination use of the various servants, the butler, gardener,
+laundress, and maids. Frank Cowperwood employed a governess for his
+children. The butler was really not a butler in the best sense. He was
+Henry Cowperwood’s private servitor. But he could carve and preside,
+and he could be used in either house as occasion warranted. There was
+also a hostler and a coachman for the joint stable. When two carriages
+were required at once, both drove. It made a very agreeable and
+satisfactory working arrangement.
+
+The preparation of this reception had been quite a matter of
+importance, for it was necessary for financial reasons to make it as
+extensive as possible, and for social reasons as exclusive. It was
+therefore decided that the afternoon reception at Frank’s house, with
+its natural overflow into Henry W.’s, was to be for all—the Tighes,
+Steners, Butlers, Mollenhauers, as well as the more select groups to
+which, for instance, belonged Arthur Rivers, Mrs. Seneca Davis, Mr. and
+Mrs. Trenor Drake, and some of the younger Drexels and Clarks, whom
+Frank had met. It was not likely that the latter would condescend, but
+cards had to be sent. Later in the evening a less democratic group if
+possible was to be entertained, albeit it would have to be extended to
+include the friends of Anna, Mrs. Cowperwood, Edward, and Joseph, and
+any list which Frank might personally have in mind. This was to be the
+list. The best that could be persuaded, commanded, or influenced of the
+young and socially elect were to be invited here.
+
+It was not possible, however, not to invite the Butlers, parents and
+children, particularly the children, for both afternoon and evening,
+since Cowperwood was personally attracted to Aileen and despite the
+fact that the presence of the parents would be most unsatisfactory.
+Even Aileen as he knew was a little unsatisfactory to Anna and Mrs.
+Frank Cowperwood; and these two, when they were together supervising
+the list of invitations, often talked about it.
+
+“She’s so hoidenish,” observed Anna, to her sister-in-law, when they
+came to the name of Aileen. “She thinks she knows so much, and she
+isn’t a bit refined. Her father! Well, if I had her father I wouldn’t
+talk so smart.”
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood, who was before her secretaire in her new boudoir,
+lifted her eyebrows.
+
+“You know, Anna, I sometimes wish that Frank’s business did not compel
+me to have anything to do with them. Mrs. Butler is such a bore. She
+means well enough, but she doesn’t know anything. And Aileen is too
+rough. She’s too forward, I think. She comes over here and plays upon
+the piano, particularly when Frank’s here. I wouldn’t mind so much for
+myself, but I know it must annoy him. All her pieces are so noisy. She
+never plays anything really delicate and refined.”
+
+“I don’t like the way she dresses,” observed Anna, sympathetically.
+“She gets herself up too conspicuously. Now, the other day I saw her
+out driving, and oh, dear! you should have seen her! She had on a
+crimson Zouave jacket heavily braided with black about the edges, and a
+turban with a huge crimson feather, and crimson ribbons reaching nearly
+to her waist. Imagine that kind of a hat to drive in. And her hands!
+You should have seen the way she held her hands—oh—just
+so—self-consciously. They were curved just so”—and she showed how. “She
+had on yellow gauntlets, and she held the reins in one hand and the
+whip in the other. She drives just like mad when she drives, anyhow,
+and William, the footman, was up behind her. You should just have seen
+her. Oh, dear! oh, dear! she does think she is so much!” And Anna
+giggled, half in reproach, half in amusement.
+
+“I suppose we’ll have to invite her; I don’t see how we can get out of
+it. I know just how she’ll do, though. She’ll walk about and pose and
+hold her nose up.”
+
+“Really, I don’t see how she can,” commented Anna. “Now, I like Norah.
+She’s much nicer. She doesn’t think she’s so much.”
+
+“I like Norah, too,” added Mrs. Cowperwood. “She’s really very sweet,
+and to me she’s prettier.”
+
+“Oh, indeed, I think so, too.”
+
+It was curious, though, that it was Aileen who commanded nearly all
+their attention and fixed their minds on her so-called idiosyncrasies.
+All they said was in its peculiar way true; but in addition the girl
+was really beautiful and much above the average intelligence and force.
+She was running deep with ambition, and she was all the more
+conspicuous, and in a way irritating to some, because she reflected in
+her own consciousness her social defects, against which she was
+inwardly fighting. She resented the fact that people could justly
+consider her parents ineligible, and for that reason her also. She was
+intrinsically as worth while as any one. Cowperwood, so able, and
+rapidly becoming so distinguished, seemed to realize it. The days that
+had been passing had brought them somewhat closer together in spirit.
+He was nice to her and liked to talk to her. Whenever he was at her
+home now, or she was at his and he was present, he managed somehow to
+say a word. He would come over quite near and look at her in a warm
+friendly fashion.
+
+“Well, Aileen”—she could see his genial eyes—“how is it with you? How
+are your father and mother? Been out driving? That’s fine. I saw you
+to-day. You looked beautiful.”
+
+“Oh, Mr. Cowperwood!”
+
+“You did. You looked stunning. A black riding-habit becomes you. I can
+tell your gold hair a long way off.”
+
+“Oh, now, you mustn’t say that to me. You’ll make me vain. My mother
+and father tell me I’m too vain as it is.”
+
+“Never mind your mother and father. I say you looked stunning, and you
+did. You always do.”
+
+“Oh!”
+
+She gave a little gasp of delight. The color mounted to her cheeks and
+temples. Mr. Cowperwood knew of course. He was so informed and
+intensely forceful. And already he was so much admired by so many, her
+own father and mother included, and by Mr. Mollenhauer and Mr. Simpson,
+so she heard. And his own home and office were so beautiful. Besides,
+his quiet intensity matched her restless force.
+
+Aileen and her sister were accordingly invited to the reception but the
+Butlers mere and pere were given to understand, in as tactful a manner
+as possible, that the dance afterward was principally for young people.
+
+The reception brought a throng of people. There were many, very many,
+introductions. There were tactful descriptions of little effects Mr.
+Ellsworth had achieved under rather trying circumstances; walks under
+the pergola; viewings of both homes in detail. Many of the guests were
+old friends. They gathered in the libraries and dining-rooms and
+talked. There was much jesting, some slappings of shoulders, some good
+story-telling, and so the afternoon waned into evening, and they went
+away.
+
+Aileen had created an impression in a street costume of dark blue silk
+with velvet pelisse to match, and trimmed with elaborate pleatings and
+shirrings of the same materials. A toque of blue velvet, with high
+crown and one large dark-red imitation orchid, had given her a jaunty,
+dashing air. Beneath the toque her red-gold hair was arranged in an
+enormous chignon, with one long curl escaping over her collar. She was
+not exactly as daring as she seemed, but she loved to give that
+impression.
+
+“You look wonderful,” Cowperwood said as she passed him.
+
+“I’ll look different to-night,” was her answer.
+
+She had swung herself with a slight, swaggering stride into the
+dining-room and disappeared. Norah and her mother stayed to chat with
+Mrs. Cowperwood.
+
+“Well, it’s lovely now, isn’t it?” breathed Mrs. Butler. “Sure you’ll
+be happy here. Sure you will. When Eddie fixed the house we’re in now,
+says I: ‘Eddie, it’s almost too fine for us altogether—surely it is,’
+and he says, says ’e, ‘Norah, nothin’ this side o’ heavin or beyond is
+too good for ye’—and he kissed me. Now what d’ye think of that fer a
+big, hulkin’ gossoon?”
+
+“It’s perfectly lovely, I think, Mrs. Butler,” commented Mrs.
+Cowperwood, a little bit nervous because of others.
+
+“Mama does love to talk so. Come on, mama. Let’s look at the
+dining-room.” It was Norah talking.
+
+“Well, may ye always be happy in it. I wish ye that. I’ve always been
+happy in mine. May ye always be happy.” And she waddled good-naturedly
+along.
+
+The Cowperwood family dined hastily alone between seven and eight. At
+nine the evening guests began to arrive, and now the throng was of a
+different complexion—girls in mauve and cream-white and salmon-pink and
+silver-gray, laying aside lace shawls and loose dolmans, and the men in
+smooth black helping them. Outside in the cold, the carriage doors were
+slamming, and new guests were arriving constantly. Mrs. Cowperwood
+stood with her husband and Anna in the main entrance to the reception
+room, while Joseph and Edward Cowperwood and Mr. and Mrs. Henry W.
+Cowperwood lingered in the background. Lillian looked charming in a
+train gown of old rose, with a low, square neck showing a delicate
+chemisette of fine lace. Her face and figure were still notable, though
+her face was not as smoothly sweet as it had been years before when
+Cowperwood had first met her. Anna Cowperwood was not pretty, though
+she could not be said to be homely. She was small and dark, with a
+turned-up nose, snapping black eyes, a pert, inquisitive, intelligent,
+and alas, somewhat critical, air. She had considerable tact in the
+matter of dressing. Black, in spite of her darkness, with shining beads
+of sequins on it, helped her complexion greatly, as did a red rose in
+her hair. She had smooth, white well-rounded arms and shoulders. Bright
+eyes, a pert manner, clever remarks—these assisted to create an
+illusion of charm, though, as she often said, it was of little use.
+“Men want the dolly things.”
+
+In the evening inpour of young men and women came Aileen and Norah, the
+former throwing off a thin net veil of black lace and a dolman of black
+silk, which her brother Owen took from her. Norah was with Callum, a
+straight, erect, smiling young Irishman, who looked as though he might
+carve a notable career for himself. She wore a short, girlish dress
+that came to a little below her shoe-tops, a pale-figured lavender and
+white silk, with a fluffy hoop-skirt of dainty laced-edged ruffles,
+against which tiny bows of lavender stood out in odd places. There was
+a great sash of lavender about her waist, and in her hair a rosette of
+the same color. She looked exceedingly winsome—eager and bright-eyed.
+
+But behind her was her sister in ravishing black satin, scaled as a
+fish with glistening crimsoned-silver sequins, her round, smooth arms
+bare to the shoulders, her corsage cut as low in the front and back as
+her daring, in relation to her sense of the proprieties, permitted. She
+was naturally of exquisite figure, erect, full-breasted, with somewhat
+more than gently swelling hips, which, nevertheless, melted into
+lovely, harmonious lines; and this low-cut corsage, receding back and
+front into a deep V, above a short, gracefully draped overskirt of
+black tulle and silver tissue, set her off to perfection. Her full,
+smooth, roundly modeled neck was enhanced in its cream-pink whiteness
+by an inch-wide necklet of black jet cut in many faceted black squares.
+Her complexion, naturally high in tone because of the pink of health,
+was enhanced by the tiniest speck of black court-plaster laid upon her
+cheekbone; and her hair, heightened in its reddish-gold by her dress,
+was fluffed loosely and adroitly about her eyes. The main mass of this
+treasure was done in two loose braids caught up in a black spangled net
+at the back of her neck; and her eyebrows had been emphasized by a
+pencil into something almost as significant as her hair. She was, for
+the occasion, a little too emphatic, perhaps, and yet more because of
+her burning vitality than of her costume. Art for her should have meant
+subduing her physical and spiritual significance. Life for her meant
+emphasizing them.
+
+“Lillian!” Anna nudged her sister-in-law. She was grieved to think that
+Aileen was wearing black and looked so much better than either of them.
+
+“I see,” Lillian replied, in a subdued tone.
+
+“So you’re back again.” She was addressing Aileen. “It’s chilly out,
+isn’t it?”
+
+“I don’t mind. Don’t the rooms look lovely?”
+
+She was gazing at the softly lighted chambers and the throng before
+her.
+
+Norah began to babble to Anna. “You know, I just thought I never would
+get this old thing on.” She was speaking of her dress. “Aileen wouldn’t
+help me—the mean thing!”
+
+Aileen had swept on to Cowperwood and his mother, who was near him. She
+had removed from her arm the black satin ribbon which held her train
+and kicked the skirts loose and free. Her eyes gleamed almost
+pleadingly for all her hauteur, like a spirited collie’s, and her even
+teeth showed beautifully.
+
+Cowperwood understood her precisely, as he did any fine, spirited
+animal.
+
+“I can’t tell you how nice you look,” he whispered to her, familiarly,
+as though there was an old understanding between them. “You’re like
+fire and song.”
+
+He did not know why he said this. He was not especially poetic. He had
+not formulated the phrase beforehand. Since his first glimpse of her in
+the hall, his feelings and ideas had been leaping and plunging like
+spirited horses. This girl made him set his teeth and narrow his eyes.
+Involuntarily he squared his jaw, looking more defiant, forceful,
+efficient, as she drew near.
+
+But Aileen and her sister were almost instantly surrounded by young men
+seeking to be introduced and to write their names on dance-cards, and
+for the time being she was lost to view.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVIII
+
+
+The seeds of change—subtle, metaphysical—are rooted deeply. From the
+first mention of the dance by Mrs. Cowperwood and Anna, Aileen had been
+conscious of a desire toward a more effective presentation of herself
+than as yet, for all her father’s money, she had been able to achieve.
+The company which she was to encounter, as she well knew, was to be so
+much more impressive, distinguished than anything she had heretofore
+known socially. Then, too, Cowperwood appeared as something more
+definite in her mind than he had been before, and to save herself she
+could not get him out of her consciousness.
+
+A vision of him had come to her but an hour before as she was dressing.
+In a way she had dressed for him. She was never forgetful of the times
+he had looked at her in an interested way. He had commented on her
+hands once. To-day he had said that she looked “stunning,” and she had
+thought how easy it would be to impress him to-night—to show him how
+truly beautiful she was.
+
+She had stood before her mirror between eight and nine—it was
+nine-fifteen before she was really ready—and pondered over what she
+should wear. There were two tall pier-glasses in her wardrobe—an unduly
+large piece of furniture—and one in her closet door. She stood before
+the latter, looking at her bare arms and shoulders, her shapely figure,
+thinking of the fact that her left shoulder had a dimple, and that she
+had selected garnet garters decorated with heart-shaped silver buckles.
+The corset could not be made quite tight enough at first, and she
+chided her maid, Kathleen Kelly. She studied how to arrange her hair,
+and there was much ado about that before it was finally adjusted. She
+penciled her eyebrows and plucked at the hair about her forehead to
+make it loose and shadowy. She cut black court-plaster with her
+nail-shears and tried different-sized pieces in different places.
+Finally, she found one size and one place that suited her. She turned
+her head from side to side, looking at the combined effect of her hair,
+her penciled brows, her dimpled shoulder, and the black beauty-spot. If
+some one man could see her as she was now, some time! Which man? That
+thought scurried back like a frightened rat into its hole. She was, for
+all her strength, afraid of the thought of the one—the very deadly—the
+man.
+
+And then she came to the matter of a train-gown. Kathleen laid out
+five, for Aileen had come into the joy and honor of these things
+recently, and she had, with the permission of her mother and father,
+indulged herself to the full. She studied a golden-yellow silk, with
+cream-lace shoulder-straps, and some gussets of garnet beads in the
+train that shimmered delightfully, but set it aside. She considered
+favorably a black-and-white striped silk of odd gray effect, and,
+though she was sorely tempted to wear it, finally let it go. There was
+a maroon dress, with basque and overskirt over white silk; a rich
+cream-colored satin; and then this black sequined gown, which she
+finally chose. She tried on the cream-colored satin first, however,
+being in much doubt about it; but her penciled eyes and beauty-spot did
+not seem to harmonize with it. Then she put on the black silk with its
+glistening crimsoned-silver sequins, and, lo, it touched her. She liked
+its coquettish drapery of tulle and silver about the hips. The
+“overskirt,” which was at that time just coming into fashion, though
+avoided by the more conservative, had been adopted by Aileen with
+enthusiasm. She thrilled a little at the rustle of this black dress,
+and thrust her chin and nose forward to make it set right. Then after
+having Kathleen tighten her corsets a little more, she gathered the
+train over her arm by its train-band and looked again. Something was
+wanting. Oh, yes, her neck! What to wear—red coral? It did not look
+right. A string of pearls? That would not do either. There was a
+necklace made of small cameos set in silver which her mother had
+purchased, and another of diamonds which belonged to her mother, but
+they were not right. Finally, her jet necklet, which she did not value
+very highly, came into her mind, and, oh, how lovely it looked! How
+soft and smooth and glistening her chin looked above it. She caressed
+her neck affectionately, called for her black lace mantilla, her long,
+black silk dolman lined with red, and she was ready.
+
+The ball-room, as she entered, was lovely enough. The young men and
+young women she saw there were interesting, and she was not wanting for
+admirers. The most aggressive of these youths—the most
+forceful—recognized in this maiden a fillip to life, a sting to
+existence. She was as a honey-jar surrounded by too hungry flies.
+
+But it occurred to her, as her dance-list was filling up, that there
+was not much left for Mr. Cowperwood, if he should care to dance with
+her.
+
+Cowperwood was meditating, as he received the last of the guests, on
+the subtlety of this matter of the sex arrangement of life. Two sexes.
+He was not at all sure that there was any law governing them. By
+comparison now with Aileen Butler, his wife looked rather dull, quite
+too old, and when he was ten years older she would look very much
+older.
+
+“Oh, yes, Ellsworth had made quite an attractive arrangement out of
+these two houses—better than we ever thought he could do.” He was
+talking to Henry Hale Sanderson, a young banker. “He had the advantage
+of combining two into one, and I think he’s done more with my little
+one, considering the limitations of space, than he has with this big
+one. Father’s has the advantage of size. I tell the old gentleman he’s
+simply built a lean-to for me.”
+
+His father and a number of his cronies were over in the dining-room of
+his grand home, glad to get away from the crowd. He would have to stay,
+and, besides, he wanted to. Had he better dance with Aileen? His wife
+cared little for dancing, but he would have to dance with her at least
+once. There was Mrs. Seneca Davis smiling at him, and Aileen. By
+George, how wonderful! What a girl!
+
+“I suppose your dance-list is full to overflowing. Let me see.” He was
+standing before her and she was holding out the little blue-bordered,
+gold-monogrammed booklet. An orchestra was playing in the music room.
+The dance would begin shortly. There were delicately constructed,
+gold-tinted chairs about the walls and behind palms.
+
+He looked down into her eyes—those excited, life-loving, eager eyes.
+
+“You’re quite full up. Let me see. Nine, ten, eleven. Well, that will
+be enough. I don’t suppose I shall want to dance very much. It’s nice
+to be popular.”
+
+“I’m not sure about number three. I think that’s a mistake. You might
+have that if you wish.”
+
+She was falsifying.
+
+“It doesn’t matter so much about him, does it?”
+
+His cheeks flushed a little as he said this.
+
+“No.”
+
+Her own flamed.
+
+“Well, I’ll see where you are when it’s called. You’re darling. I’m
+afraid of you.” He shot a level, interpretive glance into her eyes,
+then left. Aileen’s bosom heaved. It was hard to breathe sometimes in
+this warm air.
+
+While he was dancing first with Mrs. Cowperwood and later with Mrs.
+Seneca Davis, and still later with Mrs. Martyn Walker, Cowperwood had
+occasion to look at Aileen often, and each time that he did so there
+swept over him a sense of great vigor there, of beautiful if raw,
+dynamic energy that to him was irresistible and especially so to-night.
+She was so young. She was beautiful, this girl, and in spite of his
+wife’s repeated derogatory comments he felt that she was nearer to his
+clear, aggressive, unblinking attitude than any one whom he had yet
+seen in the form of woman. She was unsophisticated, in a way, that was
+plain, and yet in another way it would take so little to make her
+understand so much. Largeness was the sense he had of her—not
+physically, though she was nearly as tall as himself—but emotionally.
+She seemed so intensely alive. She passed close to him a number of
+times, her eyes wide and smiling, her lips parted, her teeth agleam,
+and he felt a stirring of sympathy and companionship for her which he
+had not previously experienced. She was lovely, all of her—delightful.
+
+“I’m wondering if that dance is open now,” he said to her as he drew
+near toward the beginning of the third set. She was seated with her
+latest admirer in a far corner of the general living-room, a clear
+floor now waxed to perfection. A few palms here and there made
+embrasured parapets of green. “I hope you’ll excuse me,” he added,
+deferentially, to her companion.
+
+“Surely,” the latter replied, rising.
+
+“Yes, indeed,” she replied. “And you’d better stay here with me. It’s
+going to begin soon. You won’t mind?” she added, giving her companion a
+radiant smile.
+
+“Not at all. I’ve had a lovely waltz.” He strolled off.
+
+Cowperwood sat down. “That’s young Ledoux, isn’t it? I thought so. I
+saw you dancing. You like it, don’t you?”
+
+“I’m crazy about it.”
+
+“Well, I can’t say that myself. It’s fascinating, though. Your partner
+makes such a difference. Mrs. Cowperwood doesn’t like it as much as I
+do.”
+
+His mention of Lillian made Aileen think of her in a faintly derogative
+way for a moment.
+
+“I think you dance very well. I watched you, too.” She questioned
+afterwards whether she should have said this. It sounded most forward
+now—almost brazen.
+
+“Oh, did you?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+He was a little keyed up because of her—slightly cloudy in his
+thoughts—because she was generating a problem in his life, or would if
+he let her, and so his talk was a little tame. He was thinking of
+something to say—some words which would bring them a little nearer
+together. But for the moment he could not. Truth to tell, he wanted to
+say a great deal.
+
+“Well, that was nice of you,” he added, after a moment. “What made you
+do it?”
+
+He turned with a mock air of inquiry. The music was beginning again.
+The dancers were rising. He arose.
+
+He had not intended to give this particular remark a serious turn; but,
+now that she was so near him, he looked into her eyes steadily but with
+a soft appeal and said, “Yes, why?”
+
+They had come out from behind the palms. He had put his hand to her
+waist. His right arm held her left extended arm to arm, palm to palm.
+Her right hand was on his shoulder, and she was close to him, looking
+into his eyes. As they began the gay undulations of the waltz she
+looked away and then down without answering. Her movements were as
+light and airy as those of a butterfly. He felt a sudden lightness
+himself, communicated as by an invisible current. He wanted to match
+the suppleness of her body with his own, and did. Her arms, the flash
+and glint of the crimson sequins against the smooth, black silk of her
+closely fitting dress, her neck, her glowing, radiant hair, all
+combined to provoke a slight intellectual intoxication. She was so
+vigorously young, so, to him, truly beautiful.
+
+“But you didn’t answer,” he continued.
+
+“Isn’t this lovely music?”
+
+He pressed her fingers.
+
+She lifted shy eyes to him now, for, in spite of her gay, aggressive
+force, she was afraid of him. His personality was obviously so
+dominating. Now that he was so close to her, dancing, she conceived of
+him as something quite wonderful, and yet she experienced a nervous
+reaction—a momentary desire to run away.
+
+“Very well, if you won’t tell me,” he smiled, mockingly.
+
+He thought she wanted him to talk to her so, to tease her with
+suggestions of this concealed feeling of his—this strong liking. He
+wondered what could come of any such understanding as this, anyhow?
+
+“Oh, I just wanted to see how you danced,” she said, tamely, the force
+of her original feeling having been weakened by a thought of what she
+was doing. He noted the change and smiled. It was lovely to be dancing
+with her. He had not thought mere dancing could hold such charm.
+
+“You like me?” he said, suddenly, as the music drew to its close.
+
+She thrilled from head to toe at the question. A piece of ice dropped
+down her back could not have startled her more. It was apparently
+tactless, and yet it was anything but tactless. She looked up quickly,
+directly, but his strong eyes were too much for her.
+
+“Why, yes,” she answered, as the music stopped, trying to keep an even
+tone to her voice. She was glad they were walking toward a chair.
+
+“I like you so much,” he said, “that I have been wondering if you
+really like me.” There was an appeal in his voice, soft and gentle. His
+manner was almost sad.
+
+“Why, yes,” she replied, instantly, returning to her earlier mood
+toward him. “You know I do.”
+
+“I need some one like you to like me,” he continued, in the same vein.
+“I need some one like you to talk to. I didn’t think so before—but now
+I do. You are beautiful—wonderful.”
+
+“We mustn’t,” she said. “I mustn’t. I don’t know what I’m doing.” She
+looked at a young man strolling toward her, and asked: “I have to
+explain to him. He’s the one I had this dance with.”
+
+Cowperwood understood. He walked away. He was quite warm and tense
+now—almost nervous. It was quite clear to him that he had done or was
+contemplating perhaps a very treacherous thing. Under the current code
+of society he had no right to do it. It was against the rules, as they
+were understood by everybody. Her father, for instance—his father—every
+one in this particular walk of life. However, much breaking of the
+rules under the surface of things there might be, the rules were still
+there. As he had heard one young man remark once at school, when some
+story had been told of a boy leading a girl astray and to a disastrous
+end, “That isn’t the way at all.”
+
+Still, now that he had said this, strong thoughts of her were in his
+mind. And despite his involved social and financial position, which he
+now recalled, it was interesting to him to see how deliberately and
+even calculatingly—and worse, enthusiastically—he was pumping the
+bellows that tended only to heighten the flames of his desire for this
+girl; to feed a fire that might ultimately consume him—and how
+deliberately and resourcefully!
+
+Aileen toyed aimlessly with her fan as a black-haired, thin-faced young
+law student talked to her, and seeing Norah in the distance she asked
+to be allowed to run over to her.
+
+“Oh, Aileen,” called Norah, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.
+Where have you been?”
+
+“Dancing, of course. Where do you suppose I’ve been? Didn’t you see me
+on the floor?”
+
+“No, I didn’t,” complained Norah, as though it were most essential that
+she should. “How late are you going to stay?”
+
+“Until it’s over, I suppose. I don’t know.”
+
+“Owen says he’s going at twelve.”
+
+“Well, that doesn’t matter. Some one will take me home. Are you having
+a good time?”
+
+“Fine. Oh, let me tell you. I stepped on a lady’s dress over there,
+last dance. She was terribly angry. She gave me such a look.”
+
+“Well, never mind, honey. She won’t hurt you. Where are you going now?”
+
+Aileen always maintained a most guardian-like attitude toward her
+sister.
+
+“I want to find Callum. He has to dance with me next time. I know what
+he’s trying to do. He’s trying to get away from me. But he won’t.”
+
+Aileen smiled. Norah looked very sweet. And she was so bright. What
+would she think of her if she knew? She turned back, and her fourth
+partner sought her. She began talking gayly, for she felt that she had
+to make a show of composure; but all the while there was ringing in her
+ears that definite question of his, “You like me, don’t you?” and her
+later uncertain but not less truthful answer, “Yes, of course I do.”
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIX
+
+
+The growth of a passion is a very peculiar thing. In highly organized
+intellectual and artistic types it is so often apt to begin with keen
+appreciation of certain qualities, modified by many, many mental
+reservations. The egoist, the intellectual, gives but little of himself
+and asks much. Nevertheless, the lover of life, male or female, finding
+himself or herself in sympathetic accord with such a nature, is apt to
+gain much.
+
+Cowperwood was innately and primarily an egoist and intellectual,
+though blended strongly therewith, was a humane and democratic spirit.
+We think of egoism and intellectualism as closely confined to the arts.
+Finance is an art. And it presents the operations of the subtlest of
+the intellectuals and of the egoists. Cowperwood was a financier.
+Instead of dwelling on the works of nature, its beauty and subtlety, to
+his material disadvantage, he found a happy mean, owing to the
+swiftness of his intellectual operations, whereby he could,
+intellectually and emotionally, rejoice in the beauty of life without
+interfering with his perpetual material and financial calculations. And
+when it came to women and morals, which involved so much relating to
+beauty, happiness, a sense of distinction and variety in living, he was
+but now beginning to suspect for himself at least that apart from
+maintaining organized society in its present form there was no basis
+for this one-life, one-love idea. How had it come about that so many
+people agreed on this single point, that it was good and necessary to
+marry one woman and cleave to her until death? He did not know. It was
+not for him to bother about the subtleties of evolution, which even
+then was being noised abroad, or to ferret out the curiosities of
+history in connection with this matter. He had no time. Suffice it that
+the vagaries of temperament and conditions with which he came into
+immediate contact proved to him that there was great dissatisfaction
+with that idea. People did not cleave to each other until death; and in
+thousands of cases where they did, they did not want to. Quickness of
+mind, subtlety of idea, fortuitousness of opportunity, made it possible
+for some people to right their matrimonial and social infelicities;
+whereas for others, because of dullness of wit, thickness of
+comprehension, poverty, and lack of charm, there was no escape from the
+slough of their despond. They were compelled by some devilish accident
+of birth or lack of force or resourcefulness to stew in their own juice
+of wretchedness, or to shuffle off this mortal coil—which under other
+circumstances had such glittering possibilities—via the rope, the
+knife, the bullet, or the cup of poison.
+
+“I would die, too,” he thought to himself, one day, reading of a man
+who, confined by disease and poverty, had lived for twelve years alone
+in a back bedroom attended by an old and probably decrepit housekeeper.
+A darning-needle forced into his heart had ended his earthly woes. “To
+the devil with such a life! Why twelve years? Why not at the end of the
+second or third?”
+
+Again, it was so very evident, in so many ways, that force was the
+answer—great mental and physical force. Why, these giants of commerce
+and money could do as they pleased in this life, and did. He had
+already had ample local evidence of it in more than one direction.
+Worse—the little guardians of so-called law and morality, the
+newspapers, the preachers, the police, and the public moralists
+generally, so loud in their denunciation of evil in humble places, were
+cowards all when it came to corruption in high ones. They did not dare
+to utter a feeble squeak until some giant had accidentally fallen and
+they could do so without danger to themselves. Then, O Heavens, the
+palaver! What beatings of tom-toms! What mouthings of pharisaical
+moralities—platitudes! Run now, good people, for you may see clearly
+how evil is dealt with in high places! It made him smile. Such
+hypocrisy! Such cant! Still, so the world was organized, and it was not
+for him to set it right. Let it wag as it would. The thing for him to
+do was to get rich and hold his own—to build up a seeming of virtue and
+dignity which would pass muster for the genuine thing. Force would do
+that. Quickness of wit. And he had these. “I satisfy myself,” was his
+motto; and it might well have been emblazoned upon any coat of arms
+which he could have contrived to set forth his claim to intellectual
+and social nobility.
+
+But this matter of Aileen was up for consideration and solution at this
+present moment, and because of his forceful, determined character he
+was presently not at all disturbed by the problem it presented. It was
+a problem, like some of those knotty financial complications which
+presented themselves daily; but it was not insoluble. What did he want
+to do? He couldn’t leave his wife and fly with Aileen, that was
+certain. He had too many connections. He had too many social, and
+thinking of his children and parents, emotional as well as financial
+ties to bind him. Besides, he was not at all sure that he wanted to. He
+did not intend to leave his growing interests, and at the same time he
+did not intend to give up Aileen immediately. The unheralded
+manifestation of interest on her part was too attractive. Mrs.
+Cowperwood was no longer what she should be physically and mentally,
+and that in itself to him was sufficient to justify his present
+interest in this girl. Why fear anything, if only he could figure out a
+way to achieve it without harm to himself? At the same time he thought
+it might never be possible for him to figure out any practical or
+protective program for either himself or Aileen, and that made him
+silent and reflective. For by now he was intensely drawn to her, as he
+could feel—something chemic and hence dynamic was uppermost in him now
+and clamoring for expression.
+
+At the same time, in contemplating his wife in connection with all
+this, he had many qualms, some emotional, some financial. While she had
+yielded to his youthful enthusiasm for her after her husband’s death,
+he had only since learned that she was a natural conservator of public
+morals—the cold purity of the snowdrift in so far as the world might
+see, combined at times with the murky mood of the wanton. And yet, as
+he had also learned, she was ashamed of the passion that at times swept
+and dominated her. This irritated Cowperwood, as it would always
+irritate any strong, acquisitive, direct-seeing temperament. While he
+had no desire to acquaint the whole world with his feelings, why should
+there be concealment between them, or at least mental evasion of a fact
+which physically she subscribed to? Why do one thing and think another?
+To be sure, she was devoted to him in her quiet way, not passionately
+(as he looked back he could not say that she had ever been that), but
+intellectually. Duty, as she understood it, played a great part in
+this. She was dutiful. And then what people thought, what the
+time-spirit demanded—these were the great things. Aileen, on the
+contrary, was probably not dutiful, and it was obvious that she had no
+temperamental connection with current convention. No doubt she had been
+as well instructed as many another girl, but look at her. She was not
+obeying her instructions.
+
+In the next three months this relationship took on a more flagrant
+form. Aileen, knowing full well what her parents would think, how
+unspeakable in the mind of the current world were the thoughts she was
+thinking, persisted, nevertheless, in so thinking and longing.
+Cowperwood, now that she had gone thus far and compromised herself in
+intention, if not in deed, took on a peculiar charm for her. It was not
+his body—great passion is never that, exactly. The flavor of his spirit
+was what attracted and compelled, like the glow of a flame to a moth.
+There was a light of romance in his eyes, which, however governed and
+controlled—was directive and almost all-powerful to her.
+
+When he touched her hand at parting, it was as though she had received
+an electric shock, and she recalled that it was very difficult for her
+to look directly into his eyes. Something akin to a destructive force
+seemed to issue from them at times. Other people, men particularly,
+found it difficult to face Cowperwood’s glazed stare. It was as though
+there were another pair of eyes behind those they saw, watching through
+thin, obscuring curtains. You could not tell what he was thinking.
+
+And during the next few months she found herself coming closer and
+closer to Cowperwood. At his home one evening, seated at the piano, no
+one else being present at the moment, he leaned over and kissed her.
+There was a cold, snowy street visible through the interstices of the
+hangings of the windows, and gas-lamps flickering outside. He had come
+in early, and hearing Aileen, he came to where she was seated at the
+piano. She was wearing a rough, gray wool cloth dress, ornately banded
+with fringed Oriental embroidery in blue and burnt-orange, and her
+beauty was further enhanced by a gray hat planned to match her dress,
+with a plume of shaded orange and blue. On her fingers were four or
+five rings, far too many—an opal, an emerald, a ruby, and a
+diamond—flashing visibly as she played.
+
+She knew it was he, without turning. He came beside her, and she looked
+up smiling, the reverie evoked by Schubert partly vanishing—or melting
+into another mood. Suddenly he bent over and pressed his lips firmly to
+hers. His mustache thrilled her with its silky touch. She stopped
+playing and tried to catch her breath, for, strong as she was, it
+affected her breathing. Her heart was beating like a triphammer. She
+did not say, “Oh,” or, “You mustn’t,” but rose and walked over to a
+window, where she lifted a curtain, pretending to look out. She felt as
+though she might faint, so intensely happy was she.
+
+Cowperwood followed her quickly. Slipping his arms about her waist, he
+looked at her flushed cheeks, her clear, moist eyes and red mouth.
+
+“You love me?” he whispered, stern and compelling because of his
+desire.
+
+“Yes! Yes! You know I do.”
+
+He crushed her face to his, and she put up her hands and stroked his
+hair.
+
+A thrilling sense of possession, mastery, happiness and understanding,
+love of her and of her body, suddenly overwhelmed him.
+
+“I love you,” he said, as though he were surprised to hear himself say
+it. “I didn’t think I did, but I do. You’re beautiful. I’m wild about
+you.”
+
+“And I love you” she answered. “I can’t help it. I know I shouldn’t,
+but—oh—” Her hands closed tight over his ears and temples. She put her
+lips to his and dreamed into his eyes. Then she stepped away quickly,
+looking out into the street, and he walked back into the living-room.
+They were quite alone. He was debating whether he should risk anything
+further when Norah, having been in to see Anna next door, appeared and
+not long afterward Mrs. Cowperwood. Then Aileen and Norah left.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XX
+
+
+This definite and final understanding having been reached, it was but
+natural that this liaison should proceed to a closer and closer
+relationship. Despite her religious upbringing, Aileen was decidedly a
+victim of her temperament. Current religious feeling and belief could
+not control her. For the past nine or ten years there had been slowly
+forming in her mind a notion of what her lover should be like. He
+should be strong, handsome, direct, successful, with clear eyes, a
+ruddy glow of health, and a certain native understanding and sympathy—a
+love of life which matched her own. Many young men had approached her.
+Perhaps the nearest realization of her ideal was Father David, of St.
+Timothy’s, and he was, of course, a priest and sworn to celibacy. No
+word had ever passed between them but he had been as conscious of her
+as she of him. Then came Frank Cowperwood, and by degrees, because of
+his presence and contact, he had been slowly built up in her mind as
+the ideal person. She was drawn as planets are drawn to their sun.
+
+It is a question as to what would have happened if antagonistic forces
+could have been introduced just at this time. Emotions and liaisons of
+this character can, of course, occasionally be broken up and destroyed.
+The characters of the individuals can be modified or changed to a
+certain extent, but the force must be quite sufficient. Fear is a great
+deterrent—fear of material loss where there is no spiritual dread—but
+wealth and position so often tend to destroy this dread. It is so easy
+to scheme with means. Aileen had no spiritual dread whatever.
+Cowperwood was without spiritual or religious feeling. He looked at
+this girl, and his one thought was how could he so deceive the world
+that he could enjoy her love and leave his present state undisturbed.
+Love her he did surely.
+
+Business necessitated his calling at the Butlers’ quite frequently, and
+on each occasion he saw Aileen. She managed to slip forward and squeeze
+his hand the first time he came—to steal a quick, vivid kiss; and
+another time, as he was going out, she suddenly appeared from behind
+the curtains hanging at the parlor door.
+
+“Honey!”
+
+The voice was soft and coaxing. He turned, giving her a warning nod in
+the direction of her father’s room upstairs.
+
+She stood there, holding out one hand, and he stepped forward for a
+second. Instantly her arms were about his neck, as he slipped his about
+her waist.
+
+“I long to see you so.”
+
+“I, too. I’ll fix some way. I’m thinking.”
+
+He released her arms, and went out, and she ran to the window and
+looked out after him. He was walking west on the street, for his house
+was only a few blocks away, and she looked at the breadth of his
+shoulders, the balance of his form. He stepped so briskly, so
+incisively. Ah, this was a man! He was her Frank. She thought of him in
+that light already. Then she sat down at the piano and played pensively
+until dinner.
+
+And it was so easy for the resourceful mind of Frank Cowperwood,
+wealthy as he was, to suggest ways and means. In his younger
+gallivantings about places of ill repute, and his subsequent occasional
+variations from the straight and narrow path, he had learned much of
+the curious resources of immorality. Being a city of five hundred
+thousand and more at this time, Philadelphia had its nondescript
+hotels, where one might go, cautiously and fairly protected from
+observation; and there were houses of a conservative, residential
+character, where appointments might be made, for a consideration. And
+as for safeguards against the production of new life—they were not
+mysteries to him any longer. He knew all about them. Care was the point
+of caution. He had to be cautious, for he was so rapidly coming to be
+an influential and a distinguished man. Aileen, of course, was not
+conscious, except in a vague way, of the drift of her passion; the
+ultimate destiny to which this affection might lead was not clear to
+her. Her craving was for love—to be fondled and caressed—and she really
+did not think so much further. Further thoughts along this line were
+like rats that showed their heads out of dark holes in shadowy corners
+and scuttled back at the least sound. And, anyhow, all that was to be
+connected with Cowperwood would be beautiful. She really did not think
+that he loved her yet as he should; but he would. She did not know that
+she wanted to interfere with the claims of his wife. She did not think
+she did. But it would not hurt Mrs. Cowperwood if Frank loved
+her—Aileen—also.
+
+How shall we explain these subtleties of temperament and desire? Life
+has to deal with them at every turn. They will not down, and the large,
+placid movements of nature outside of man’s little organisms would
+indicate that she is not greatly concerned. We see much punishment in
+the form of jails, diseases, failures, and wrecks; but we also see that
+the old tendency is not visibly lessened. Is there no law outside of
+the subtle will and power of the individual to achieve? If not, it is
+surely high time that we knew it—one and all. We might then agree to do
+as we do; but there would be no silly illusion as to divine regulation.
+Vox populi, vox Dei.
+
+So there were other meetings, lovely hours which they soon began to
+spend the moment her passion waxed warm enough to assure compliance,
+without great fear and without thought of the deadly risk involved.
+From odd moments in his own home, stolen when there was no one about to
+see, they advanced to clandestine meetings beyond the confines of the
+city. Cowperwood was not one who was temperamentally inclined to lose
+his head and neglect his business. As a matter of fact, the more he
+thought of this rather unexpected affectional development, the more
+certain he was that he must not let it interfere with his business time
+and judgment. His office required his full attention from nine until
+three, anyhow. He could give it until five-thirty with profit; but he
+could take several afternoons off, from three-thirty until five-thirty
+or six, and no one would be the wiser. It was customary for Aileen to
+drive alone almost every afternoon a spirited pair of bays, or to ride
+a mount, bought by her father for her from a noted horse-dealer in
+Baltimore. Since Cowperwood also drove and rode, it was not difficult
+to arrange meeting-places far out on the Wissahickon or the Schuylkill
+road. There were many spots in the newly laid-out park, which were as
+free from interruption as the depths of a forest. It was always
+possible that they might encounter some one; but it was also always
+possible to make a rather plausible explanation, or none at all, since
+even in case of such an encounter nothing, ordinarily, would be
+suspected.
+
+So, for the time being there was love-making, the usual billing and
+cooing of lovers in a simple and much less than final fashion; and the
+lovely horseback rides together under the green trees of the
+approaching spring were idyllic. Cowperwood awakened to a sense of joy
+in life such as he fancied, in the blush of this new desire, he had
+never experienced before. Lillian had been lovely in those early days
+in which he had first called on her in North Front Street, and he had
+fancied himself unspeakably happy at that time; but that was nearly ten
+years since, and he had forgotten. Since then he had had no great
+passion, no notable liaison; and then, all at once, in the midst of his
+new, great business prosperity, Aileen. Her young body and soul, her
+passionate illusions. He could see always, for all her daring, that she
+knew so little of the calculating, brutal world with which he was
+connected. Her father had given her all the toys she wanted without
+stint; her mother and brothers had coddled her, particularly her
+mother. Her young sister thought she was adorable. No one imagined for
+one moment that Aileen would ever do anything wrong. She was too
+sensible, after all, too eager to get up in the world. Why should she,
+when her life lay open and happy before her—a delightful love-match,
+some day soon, with some very eligible and satisfactory lover?
+
+“When you marry, Aileen,” her mother used to say to her, “we’ll have a
+grand time here. Sure we’ll do the house over then, if we don’t do it
+before. Eddie will have to fix it up, or I’ll do it meself. Never
+fear.”
+
+“Yes—well, I’d rather you’d fix it now,” was her reply.
+
+Butler himself used to strike her jovially on the shoulder in a rough,
+loving way, and ask, “Well, have you found him yet?” or “Is he hanging
+around the outside watchin’ for ye?”
+
+If she said, “No,” he would reply: “Well, he will be, never fear—worse
+luck. I’ll hate to see ye go, girlie! You can stay here as long as ye
+want to, and ye want to remember that you can always come back.”
+
+Aileen paid very little attention to this bantering. She loved her
+father, but it was all such a matter of course. It was the commonplace
+of her existence, and not so very significant, though delightful
+enough.
+
+But how eagerly she yielded herself to Cowperwood under the spring
+trees these days! She had no sense of that ultimate yielding that was
+coming, for now he merely caressed and talked to her. He was a little
+doubtful about himself. His growing liberties for himself seemed
+natural enough, but in a sense of fairness to her he began to talk to
+her about what their love might involve. Would she? Did she understand?
+This phase of it puzzled and frightened Aileen a little at first. She
+stood before him one afternoon in her black riding-habit and high silk
+riding-hat perched jauntily on her red-gold hair; and striking her
+riding-skirt with her short whip, pondering doubtfully as she listened.
+He had asked her whether she knew what she was doing? Whither they were
+drifting? If she loved him truly enough? The two horses were tethered
+in a thicket a score of yards away from the main road and from the bank
+of a tumbling stream, which they had approached. She was trying to
+discover if she could see them. It was pretense. There was no interest
+in her glance. She was thinking of him and the smartness of his habit,
+and the exquisiteness of this moment. He had such a charming calico
+pony. The leaves were just enough developed to make a diaphanous
+lacework of green. It was like looking through a green-spangled arras
+to peer into the woods beyond or behind. The gray stones were already
+faintly messy where the water rippled and sparkled, and early birds
+were calling—robins and blackbirds and wrens.
+
+“Baby mine,” he said, “do you understand all about this? Do you know
+exactly what you’re doing when you come with me this way?”
+
+“I think I do.”
+
+She struck her boot and looked at the ground, and then up through the
+trees at the blue sky.
+
+“Look at me, honey.”
+
+“I don’t want to.”
+
+“But look at me, sweet. I want to ask you something.”
+
+“Don’t make me, Frank, please. I can’t.”
+
+“Oh yes, you can look at me.”
+
+“No.”
+
+She backed away as he took her hands, but came forward again, easily
+enough.
+
+“Now look in my eyes.”
+
+“I can’t.”
+
+“See here.”
+
+“I can’t. Don’t ask me. I’ll answer you, but don’t make me look at
+you.”
+
+His hand stole to her cheek and fondled it. He petted her shoulder, and
+she leaned her head against him.
+
+“Sweet, you’re so beautiful,” he said finally, “I can’t give you up. I
+know what I ought to do. You know, too, I suppose; but I can’t. I must
+have you. If this should end in exposure, it would be quite bad for you
+and me. Do you understand?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“I don’t know your brothers very well; but from looking at them I judge
+they’re pretty determined people. They think a great deal of you.”
+
+“Indeed, they do.” Her vanity prinked slightly at this.
+
+“They would probably want to kill me, and very promptly, for just this
+much. What do you think they would want to do if—well, if anything
+should happen, some time?”
+
+He waited, watching her pretty face.
+
+“But nothing need happen. We needn’t go any further.”
+
+“Aileen!”
+
+“I won’t look at you. You needn’t ask. I can’t.”
+
+“Aileen! Do you mean that?”
+
+“I don’t know. Don’t ask me, Frank.”
+
+“You know it can’t stop this way, don’t you? You know it. This isn’t
+the end. Now, if—” He explained the whole theory of illicit meetings,
+calmly, dispassionately. “You are perfectly safe, except for one thing,
+chance exposure. It might just so happen; and then, of course, there
+would be a great deal to settle for. Mrs. Cowperwood would never give
+me a divorce; she has no reason to. If I should clean up in the way I
+hope to—if I should make a million—I wouldn’t mind knocking off now. I
+don’t expect to work all my days. I have always planned to knock off at
+thirty-five. I’ll have enough by that time. Then I want to travel. It
+will only be a few more years now. If you were free—if your father and
+mother were dead”—curiously she did not wince at this practical
+reference—“it would be a different matter.”
+
+He paused. She still gazed thoughtfully at the water below, her mind
+running out to a yacht on the sea with him, a palace somewhere—just
+they two. Her eyes, half closed, saw this happy world; and, listening
+to him, she was fascinated.
+
+“Hanged if I see the way out of this, exactly. But I love you!” He
+caught her to him. “I love you—love you!”
+
+“Oh, yes,” she replied intensely, “I want you to. I’m not afraid.”
+
+“I’ve taken a house in North Tenth Street,” he said finally, as they
+walked over to the horses and mounted them. “It isn’t furnished yet;
+but it will be soon. I know a woman who will take charge.”
+
+“Who is she?”
+
+“An interesting widow of nearly fifty. Very intelligent—she is
+attractive, and knows a good deal of life. I found her through an
+advertisement. You might call on her some afternoon when things are
+arranged, and look the place over. You needn’t meet her except in a
+casual way. Will you?”
+
+She rode on, thinking, making no reply. He was so direct and practical
+in his calculations.
+
+“Will you? It will be all right. You might know her. She isn’t
+objectionable in any way. Will you?”
+
+“Let me know when it is ready,” was all she said finally.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXI
+
+
+The vagaries of passion! Subtleties! Risks! What sacrifices are not
+laid willfully upon its altar! In a little while this more than average
+residence to which Cowperwood had referred was prepared solely to
+effect a satisfactory method of concealment. The house was governed by
+a seemingly recently-bereaved widow, and it was possible for Aileen to
+call without seeming strangely out of place. In such surroundings, and
+under such circumstances, it was not difficult to persuade her to give
+herself wholly to her lover, governed as she was by her wild and
+unreasoning affection and passion. In a way, there was a saving element
+of love, for truly, above all others, she wanted this man. She had no
+thought or feeling toward any other. All her mind ran toward visions of
+the future, when, somehow, she and he might be together for all time.
+Mrs. Cowperwood might die, or he might run away with her at thirty-five
+when he had a million. Some adjustment would be made, somehow. Nature
+had given her this man. She relied on him implicitly. When he told her
+that he would take care of her so that nothing evil should befall, she
+believed him fully. Such sins are the commonplaces of the confessional.
+
+It is a curious fact that by some subtlety of logic in the Christian
+world, it has come to be believed that there can be no love outside the
+conventional process of courtship and marriage. One life, one love, is
+the Christian idea, and into this sluice or mold it has been
+endeavoring to compress the whole world. Pagan thought held no such
+belief. A writing of divorce for trivial causes was the theory of the
+elders; and in the primeval world nature apparently holds no scheme for
+the unity of two beyond the temporary care of the young. That the
+modern home is the most beautiful of schemes, when based upon mutual
+sympathy and understanding between two, need not be questioned. And yet
+this fact should not necessarily carry with it a condemnation of all
+love not so fortunate as to find so happy a denouement. Life cannot be
+put into any mold, and the attempt might as well be abandoned at once.
+Those so fortunate as to find harmonious companionship for life should
+congratulate themselves and strive to be worthy of it. Those not so
+blessed, though they be written down as pariahs, have yet some
+justification. And, besides, whether we will or not, theory or no
+theory, the basic facts of chemistry and physics remain. Like is drawn
+to like. Changes in temperament bring changes in relationship. Dogma
+may bind some minds; fear, others. But there are always those in whom
+the chemistry and physics of life are large, and in whom neither dogma
+nor fear is operative. Society lifts its hands in horror; but from age
+to age the Helens, the Messalinas, the Du Barrys, the Pompadours, the
+Maintenons, and the Nell Gwyns flourish and point a freer basis of
+relationship than we have yet been able to square with our lives.
+
+These two felt unutterably bound to each other. Cowperwood, once he
+came to understand her, fancied that he had found the one person with
+whom he could live happily the rest of his life. She was so young, so
+confident, so hopeful, so undismayed. All these months since they had
+first begun to reach out to each other he had been hourly contrasting
+her with his wife. As a matter of fact, his dissatisfaction, though it
+may be said to have been faint up to this time, was now surely tending
+to become real enough. Still, his children were pleasing to him; his
+home beautiful. Lillian, phlegmatic and now thin, was still not homely.
+All these years he had found her satisfactory enough; but now his
+dissatisfaction with her began to increase. She was not like Aileen—not
+young, not vivid, not as unschooled in the commonplaces of life. And
+while ordinarily, he was not one who was inclined to be querulous,
+still now on occasion, he could be. He began by asking questions
+concerning his wife’s appearance—irritating little whys which are so
+trivial and yet so exasperating and discouraging to a woman. Why didn’t
+she get a mauve hat nearer the shade of her dress? Why didn’t she go
+out more? Exercise would do her good. Why didn’t she do this, and why
+didn’t she do that? He scarcely noticed that he was doing this; but she
+did, and she felt the undertone—the real significance—and took umbrage.
+
+“Oh, why—why?” she retorted, one day, curtly. “Why do you ask so many
+questions? You don’t care so much for me any more; that’s why. I can
+tell.”
+
+He leaned back startled by the thrust. It had not been based on any
+evidence of anything save his recent remarks; but he was not absolutely
+sure. He was just the least bit sorry that he had irritated her, and he
+said so.
+
+“Oh, it’s all right,” she replied. “I don’t care. But I notice that you
+don’t pay as much attention to me as you used to. It’s your business
+now, first, last, and all the time. You can’t get your mind off of
+that.”
+
+He breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t suspect, then.
+
+But after a little time, as he grew more and more in sympathy with
+Aileen, he was not so disturbed as to whether his wife might suspect or
+not. He began to think on occasion, as his mind followed the various
+ramifications of the situation, that it would be better if she did. She
+was really not of the contentious fighting sort. He now decided because
+of various calculations in regard to her character that she might not
+offer as much resistance to some ultimate rearrangement, as he had
+originally imagined. She might even divorce him. Desire, dreams, even
+in him were evoking calculations not as sound as those which ordinarily
+generated in his brain.
+
+No, as he now said to himself, the rub was not nearly so much in his
+own home, as it was in the Butler family. His relations with Edward
+Malia Butler had become very intimate. He was now advising with him
+constantly in regard to the handling of his securities, which were
+numerous. Butler held stocks in such things as the Pennsylvania Coal
+Company, the Delaware and Hudson Canal, the Morris and Essex Canal, the
+Reading Railroad. As the old gentleman’s mind had broadened to the
+significance of the local street-railway problem in Philadelphia, he
+had decided to close out his other securities at such advantageous
+terms as he could, and reinvest the money in local lines. He knew that
+Mollenhauer and Simpson were doing this, and they were excellent judges
+of the significance of local affairs. Like Cowperwood, he had the idea
+that if he controlled sufficient of the local situation in this field,
+he could at last effect a joint relationship with Mollenhauer and
+Simpson. Political legislation, advantageous to the combined lines,
+could then be so easily secured. Franchises and necessary extensions to
+existing franchises could be added. This conversion of his outstanding
+stock in other fields, and the picking up of odd lots in the local
+street-railway, was the business of Cowperwood. Butler, through his
+sons, Owen and Callum, was also busy planning a new line and obtaining
+a franchise, sacrificing, of course, great blocks of stock and actual
+cash to others, in order to obtain sufficient influence to have the
+necessary legislation passed. Yet it was no easy matter, seeing that
+others knew what the general advantages of the situation were, and
+because of this Cowperwood, who saw the great source of profit here,
+was able, betimes, to serve himself—buying blocks, a part of which only
+went to Butler, Mollenhauer or others. In short he was not as eager to
+serve Butler, or any one else, as he was to serve himself if he could.
+
+In this connection, the scheme which George W. Stener had brought
+forward, representing actually in the background Strobik, Wycroft, and
+Harmon, was an opening wedge for himself. Stener’s plan was to loan him
+money out of the city treasury at two per cent., or, if he would waive
+all commissions, for nothing (an agent for self-protective purposes was
+absolutely necessary), and with it take over the North Pennsylvania
+Company’s line on Front Street, which, because of the shortness of its
+length, one mile and a half, and the brevity of the duration of its
+franchise, was neither doing very well nor being rated very high.
+Cowperwood in return for his manipulative skill was to have a fair
+proportion of the stock—twenty per cent. Strobik and Wycroft knew the
+parties from whom the bulk of the stock could be secured if engineered
+properly. Their plan was then, with this borrowed treasury money, to
+extend its franchise and then the line itself, and then later again, by
+issuing a great block of stock and hypothecating it with a favored
+bank, be able to return the principal to the city treasury and pocket
+their profits from the line as earned. There was no trouble in this, in
+so far as Cowperwood was concerned, except that it divided the stock
+very badly among these various individuals, and left him but a
+comparatively small share—for his thought and pains.
+
+But Cowperwood was an opportunist. And by this time his financial
+morality had become special and local in its character. He did not
+think it was wise for any one to steal anything from anybody where the
+act of taking or profiting was directly and plainly considered
+stealing. That was unwise—dangerous—hence wrong. There were so many
+situations wherein what one might do in the way of taking or profiting
+was open to discussion and doubt. Morality varied, in his mind at
+least, with conditions, if not climates. Here, in Philadelphia, the
+tradition (politically, mind you—not generally) was that the city
+treasurer might use the money of the city without interest so long as
+he returned the principal intact. The city treasury and the city
+treasurer were like a honey-laden hive and a queen bee around which the
+drones—the politicians—swarmed in the hope of profit. The one
+disagreeable thing in connection with this transaction with Stener was
+that neither Butler, Mollenhauer nor Simpson, who were the actual
+superiors of Stener and Strobik, knew anything about it. Stener and
+those behind him were, through him, acting for themselves. If the
+larger powers heard of this, it might alienate them. He had to think of
+this. Still, if he refused to make advantageous deals with Stener or
+any other man influential in local affairs, he was cutting off his nose
+to spite his face, for other bankers and brokers would, and gladly. And
+besides it was not at all certain that Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson
+would ever hear.
+
+In this connection, there was another line, which he rode on
+occasionally, the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line, which he felt
+was a much more interesting thing for him to think about, if he could
+raise the money. It had been originally capitalized for five hundred
+thousand dollars; but there had been a series of bonds to the value of
+two hundred and fifty thousand dollars added for improvements, and the
+company was finding great difficulty in meeting the interest. The bulk
+of the stock was scattered about among small investors, and it would
+require all of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to collect it and
+have himself elected president or chairman of the board of directors.
+Once in, however, he could vote this stock as he pleased, hypothecating
+it meanwhile at his father’s bank for as much as he could get, and
+issuing more stocks with which to bribe legislators in the matter of
+extending the line, and in taking up other opportunities to either add
+to it by purchase or supplement it by working agreements. The word
+“bribe” is used here in this matter-of-fact American way, because
+bribery was what was in every one’s mind in connection with the State
+legislature. Terrence Relihan—the small, dark-faced Irishman, a dandy
+in dress and manners—who represented the financial interests at
+Harrisburg, and who had come to Cowperwood after the five million bond
+deal had been printed, had told him that nothing could be done at the
+capital without money, or its equivalent, negotiable securities. Each
+significant legislator, if he yielded his vote or his influence, must
+be looked after. If he, Cowperwood, had any scheme which he wanted
+handled at any time, Relihan had intimated to him that he would be glad
+to talk with him. Cowperwood had figured on this Seventeenth and
+Nineteenth Street line scheme more than once, but he had never felt
+quite sure that he was willing to undertake it. His obligations in
+other directions were so large. But the lure was there, and he pondered
+and pondered.
+
+Stener’s scheme of loaning him money wherewith to manipulate the North
+Pennsylvania line deal put this Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street dream
+in a more favorable light. As it was he was constantly watching the
+certificates of loan issue, for the city treasury,—buying large
+quantities when the market was falling to protect it and selling
+heavily, though cautiously, when he saw it rising and to do this he had
+to have a great deal of free money to permit him to do it. He was
+constantly fearful of some break in the market which would affect the
+value of all his securities and result in the calling of his loans.
+There was no storm in sight. He did not see that anything could happen
+in reason; but he did not want to spread himself out too thin. As he
+saw it now, therefore if he took one hundred and fifty thousand dollars
+of this city money and went after this Seventeenth and Nineteenth
+Street matter it would not mean that he was spreading himself out too
+thin, for because of this new proposition could he not call on Stener
+for more as a loan in connection with these other ventures? But if
+anything should happen—well—
+
+“Frank,” said Stener, strolling into his office one afternoon after
+four o’clock when the main rush of the day’s work was over—the
+relationship between Cowperwood and Stener had long since reached the
+“Frank” and “George” period—“Strobik thinks he has that North
+Pennsylvania deal arranged so that we can take it up if we want to. The
+principal stockholder, we find, is a man by the name of Coltan—not Ike
+Colton, but Ferdinand. How’s that for a name?” Stener beamed fatly and
+genially.
+
+Things had changed considerably for him since the days when he had been
+fortuitously and almost indifferently made city treasurer. His method
+of dressing had so much improved since he had been inducted into
+office, and his manner expressed so much more good feeling, confidence,
+aplomb, that he would not have recognized himself if he had been
+permitted to see himself as had those who had known him before. An old,
+nervous shifting of the eyes had almost ceased, and a feeling of
+restfulness, which had previously been restlessness, and had sprung
+from a sense of necessity, had taken its place. His large feet were
+incased in good, square-toed, soft-leather shoes; his stocky chest and
+fat legs were made somewhat agreeable to the eye by a well-cut suit of
+brownish-gray cloth; and his neck was now surrounded by a low,
+wing-point white collar and brown-silk tie. His ample chest, which
+spread out a little lower in around and constantly enlarging stomach,
+was ornamented by a heavy-link gold chain, and his white cuffs had
+large gold cuff-buttons set with rubies of a very notable size. He was
+rosy and decidedly well fed. In fact, he was doing very well indeed.
+
+He had moved his family from a shabby two-story frame house in South
+Ninth Street to a very comfortable brick one three stories in height,
+and three times as large, on Spring Garden Street. His wife had a few
+acquaintances—the wives of other politicians. His children were
+attending the high school, a thing he had hardly hoped for in earlier
+days. He was now the owner of fourteen or fifteen pieces of cheap real
+estate in different portions of the city, which might eventually become
+very valuable, and he was a silent partner in the South Philadelphia
+Foundry Company and the American Beef and Pork Company, two
+corporations on paper whose principal business was subletting contracts
+secured from the city to the humble butchers and foundrymen who would
+carry out orders as given and not talk too much or ask questions.
+
+“Well, that is an odd name,” said Cowperwood, blandly. “So he has it? I
+never thought that road would pay, as it was laid out. It’s too short.
+It ought to run about three miles farther out into the Kensington
+section.”
+
+“You’re right,” said Stener, dully.
+
+“Did Strobik say what Colton wants for his shares?”
+
+“Sixty-eight, I think.”
+
+“The current market rate. He doesn’t want much, does he? Well, George,
+at that rate it will take about”—he calculated quickly on the basis of
+the number of shares Cotton was holding—“one hundred and twenty
+thousand to get him out alone. That isn’t all. There’s Judge Kitchen
+and Joseph Zimmerman and Senator Donovan”—he was referring to the State
+senator of that name. “You’ll be paying a pretty fair price for that
+stud when you get it. It will cost considerable more to extend the
+line. It’s too much, I think.”
+
+Cowperwood was thinking how easy it would be to combine this line with
+his dreamed-of Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line, and after a time
+and with this in view he added:
+
+“Say, George, why do you work all your schemes through Strobik and
+Harmon and Wycroft? Couldn’t you and I manage some of these things for
+ourselves alone instead of for three or four? It seems to me that plan
+would be much more profitable to you.”
+
+“It would, it would!” exclaimed Stener, his round eyes fixed on
+Cowperwood in a rather helpless, appealing way. He liked Cowperwood and
+had always been hoping that mentally as well as financially he could
+get close to him. “I’ve thought of that. But these fellows have had
+more experience in these matters than I have had, Frank. They’ve been
+longer at the game. I don’t know as much about these things as they
+do.”
+
+Cowperwood smiled in his soul, though his face remained passive.
+
+“Don’t worry about them, George,” he continued genially and
+confidentially. “You and I together can know and do as much as they
+ever could and more. I’m telling you. Take this railroad deal you’re in
+on now, George; you and I could manipulate that just as well and better
+than it can be done with Wycroft, Strobik, and Harmon in on it. They’re
+not adding anything to the wisdom of the situation. They’re not putting
+up any money. You’re doing that. All they’re doing is agreeing to see
+it through the legislature and the council, and as far as the
+legislature is concerned, they can’t do any more with that than any one
+else could—than I could, for instance. It’s all a question of arranging
+things with Relihan, anyhow, putting up a certain amount of money for
+him to work with. Here in town there are other people who can reach the
+council just as well as Strobik.” He was thinking (once he controlled a
+road of his own) of conferring with Butler and getting him to use his
+influence. It would serve to quiet Strobik and his friends. “I’m not
+asking you to change your plans on this North Pennsylvania deal. You
+couldn’t do that very well. But there are other things. In the future
+why not let’s see if you and I can’t work some one thing together?
+You’ll be much better off, and so will I. We’ve done pretty well on the
+city-loan proposition so far, haven’t we?”
+
+The truth was, they had done exceedingly well. Aside from what the
+higher powers had made, Stener’s new house, his lots, his bank-account,
+his good clothes, and his changed and comfortable sense of life were
+largely due to Cowperwood’s successful manipulation of these city-loan
+certificates. Already there had been four issues of two hundred
+thousand dollars each. Cowperwood had bought and sold nearly three
+million dollars’ worth of these certificates, acting one time as a
+“bull” and another as a “bear.” Stener was now worth all of one hundred
+and fifty thousand dollars.
+
+“There’s a line that I know of here in the city which could be made
+into a splendidly paying property,” continued Cowperwood, meditatively,
+“if the right things could be done with it. Just like this North
+Pennsylvania line, it isn’t long enough. The territory it serves isn’t
+big enough. It ought to be extended; but if you and I could get it, it
+might eventually be worked with this North Pennsylvania Company or some
+other as one company. That would save officers and offices and a lot of
+things. There is always money to be made out of a larger purchasing
+power.”
+
+He paused and looked out the window of his handsome little hardwood
+office, speculating upon the future. The window gave nowhere save into
+a back yard behind another office building which had formerly been a
+residence. Some grass grew feebly there. The red wall and old-fashioned
+brick fence which divided it from the next lot reminded him somehow of
+his old home in New Market Street, to which his Uncle Seneca used to
+come as a Cuban trader followed by his black Portuguese servitor. He
+could see him now as he sat here looking at the yard.
+
+“Well,” asked Stener, ambitiously, taking the bait, “why don’t we get
+hold of that—you and me? I suppose I could fix it so far as the money
+is concerned. How much would it take?”
+
+Cowperwood smiled inwardly again.
+
+“I don’t know exactly,” he said, after a time. “I want to look into it
+more carefully. The one trouble is that I’m carrying a good deal of the
+city’s money as it is. You see, I have that two hundred thousand
+dollars against your city-loan deals. And this new scheme will take two
+or three hundred thousand more. If that were out of the way—”
+
+He was thinking of one of the inexplicable stock panics—those strange
+American depressions which had so much to do with the temperament of
+the people, and so little to do with the basic conditions of the
+country. “If this North Pennsylvania deal were through and done with—”
+
+He rubbed his chin and pulled at his handsome silky mustache.
+
+“Don’t ask me any more about it, George,” he said, finally, as he saw
+that the latter was beginning to think as to which line it might be.
+“Don’t say anything at all about it. I want to get my facts exactly
+right, and then I’ll talk to you. I think you and I can do this thing a
+little later, when we get the North Pennsylvania scheme under way. I’m
+so rushed just now I’m not sure that I want to undertake it at once;
+but you keep quiet and we’ll see.” He turned toward his desk, and
+Stener got up.
+
+“I’ll make any sized deposit with you that you wish, the moment you
+think you’re ready to act, Frank,” exclaimed Stener, and with the
+thought that Cowperwood was not nearly as anxious to do this as he
+should be, since he could always rely on him (Stener) when there was
+anything really profitable in the offing. Why should not the able and
+wonderful Cowperwood be allowed to make the two of them rich? “Just
+notify Stires, and he’ll send you a check. Strobik thought we ought to
+act pretty soon.”
+
+“I’ll tend to it, George,” replied Cowperwood, confidently. “It will
+come out all right. Leave it to me.”
+
+Stener kicked his stout legs to straighten his trousers, and extended
+his hand. He strolled out in the street thinking of this new scheme.
+Certainly, if he could get in with Cowperwood right he would be a rich
+man, for Cowperwood was so successful and so cautious. His new house,
+this beautiful banking office, his growing fame, and his subtle
+connections with Butler and others put Stener in considerable awe of
+him. Another line! They would control it and the North Pennsylvania!
+Why, if this went on, he might become a magnate—he really might—he,
+George W. Stener, once a cheap real-estate and insurance agent. He
+strolled up the street thinking, but with no more idea of the
+importance of his civic duties and the nature of the social ethics
+against which he was offending than if they had never existed.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXII
+
+
+The services which Cowperwood performed during the ensuing year and a
+half for Stener, Strobik, Butler, State Treasurer Van Nostrand, State
+Senator Relihan, representative of “the interests,” so-called, at
+Harrisburg, and various banks which were friendly to these gentlemen,
+were numerous and confidential. For Stener, Strobik, Wycroft, Harmon
+and himself he executed the North Pennsylvania deal, by which he became
+a holder of a fifth of the controlling stock. Together he and Stener
+joined to purchase the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line and in
+the concurrent gambling in stocks.
+
+By the summer of 1871, when Cowperwood was nearly thirty-four years of
+age, he had a banking business estimated at nearly two million dollars,
+personal holdings aggregating nearly half a million, and prospects
+which other things being equal looked to wealth which might rival that
+of any American. The city, through its treasurer—still Mr. Stener—was a
+depositor with him to the extent of nearly five hundred thousand
+dollars. The State, through its State treasurer, Van Nostrand, carried
+two hundred thousand dollars on his books. Bode was speculating in
+street-railway stocks to the extent of fifty thousand dollars. Relihan
+to the same amount. A small army of politicians and political
+hangers-on were on his books for various sums. And for Edward Malia
+Butler he occasionally carried as high as one hundred thousand dollars
+in margins. His own loans at the banks, varying from day to day on
+variously hypothecated securities, were as high as seven and eight
+hundred thousand dollars. Like a spider in a spangled net, every thread
+of which he knew, had laid, had tested, he had surrounded and entangled
+himself in a splendid, glittering network of connections, and he was
+watching all the details.
+
+His one pet idea, the thing he put more faith in than anything else,
+was his street-railway manipulations, and particularly his actual
+control of the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line. Through an
+advance to him, on deposit, made in his bank by Stener at a time when
+the stock of the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line was at a low
+ebb, he had managed to pick up fifty-one per cent. of the stock for
+himself and Stener, by virtue of which he was able to do as he pleased
+with the road. To accomplish this, however, he had resorted to some
+very “peculiar” methods, as they afterward came to be termed in
+financial circles, to get this stock at his own valuation. Through
+agents he caused suits for damages to be brought against the company
+for non-payment of interest due. A little stock in the hands of a
+hireling, a request made to a court of record to examine the books of
+the company in order to determine whether a receivership were not
+advisable, a simultaneous attack in the stock market, selling at three,
+five, seven, and ten points off, brought the frightened stockholders
+into the market with their holdings. The banks considered the line a
+poor risk, and called their loans in connection with it. His father’s
+bank had made one loan to one of the principal stockholders, and that
+was promptly called, of course. Then, through an agent, the several
+heaviest shareholders were approached and an offer was made to help
+them out. The stocks would be taken off their hands at forty. They had
+not really been able to discover the source of all their woes; and they
+imagined that the road was in bad condition, which it was not. Better
+let it go. The money was immediately forthcoming, and Cowperwood and
+Stener jointly controlled fifty-one per cent. But, as in the case of
+the North Pennsylvania line, Cowperwood had been quietly buying all of
+the small minority holdings, so that he had in reality fifty-one per
+cent. of the stock, and Stener twenty-five per cent. more.
+
+This intoxicated him, for immediately he saw the opportunity of
+fulfilling his long-contemplated dream—that of reorganizing the company
+in conjunction with the North Pennsylvania line, issuing three shares
+where one had been before and after unloading all but a control on the
+general public, using the money secured to buy into other lines which
+were to be boomed and sold in the same way. In short, he was one of
+those early, daring manipulators who later were to seize upon other and
+ever larger phases of American natural development for their own
+aggrandizement.
+
+In connection with this first consolidation, his plan was to spread
+rumors of the coming consolidation of the two lines, to appeal to the
+legislature for privileges of extension, to get up an arresting
+prospectus and later annual reports, and to boom the stock on the stock
+exchange as much as his swelling resources would permit. The trouble is
+that when you are trying to make a market for a stock—to unload a large
+issue such as his was (over five hundred thousand dollars’ worth)—while
+retaining five hundred thousand for yourself, it requires large capital
+to handle it. The owner in these cases is compelled not only to go on
+the market and do much fictitious buying, thus creating a fictitious
+demand, but once this fictitious demand has deceived the public and he
+has been able to unload a considerable quantity of his wares, he is,
+unless he rids himself of all his stock, compelled to stand behind it.
+If, for instance, he sold five thousand shares, as was done in this
+instance, and retained five thousand, he must see that the public price
+of the outstanding five thousand shares did not fall below a certain
+point, because the value of his private shares would fall with it. And
+if, as is almost always the case, the private shares had been
+hypothecated with banks and trust companies for money wherewith to
+conduct other enterprises, the falling of their value in the open
+market merely meant that the banks would call for large margins to
+protect their loans or call their loans entirely. This meant that his
+work was a failure, and he might readily fail. He was already
+conducting one such difficult campaign in connection with this
+city-loan deal, the price of which varied from day to day, and which he
+was only too anxious to have vary, for in the main he profited by these
+changes.
+
+But this second burden, interesting enough as it was, meant that he had
+to be doubly watchful. Once the stock was sold at a high price, the
+money borrowed from the city treasurer could be returned; his own
+holdings created out of foresight, by capitalizing the future, by
+writing the shrewd prospectuses and reports, would be worth their face
+value, or little less. He would have money to invest in other lines. He
+might obtain the financial direction of the whole, in which case he
+would be worth millions. One shrewd thing he did, which indicated the
+foresight and subtlety of the man, was to make a separate organization
+or company of any extension or addition which he made to his line.
+Thus, if he had two or three miles of track on a street, and he wanted
+to extend it two or three miles farther on the same street, instead of
+including this extension in the existing corporation, he would make a
+second corporation to control the additional two or three miles of
+right of way. This corporation he would capitalize at so much, and
+issue stocks and bonds for its construction, equipment, and
+manipulation. Having done this he would then take the sub-corporation
+over into the parent concern, issuing more stocks and bonds of the
+parent company wherewith to do it, and, of course, selling these bonds
+to the public. Even his brothers who worked for him did not know the
+various ramifications of his numerous deals, and executed his orders
+blindly. Sometimes Joseph said to Edward, in a puzzled way, “Well,
+Frank knows what he is about, I guess.”
+
+On the other hand, he was most careful to see that every current
+obligation was instantly met, and even anticipated, for he wanted to
+make a great show of regularity. Nothing was so precious as reputation
+and standing. His forethought, caution, and promptness pleased the
+bankers. They thought he was one of the sanest, shrewdest men they had
+ever met.
+
+However, by the spring and summer of 1871, Cowperwood had actually,
+without being in any conceivable danger from any source, spread himself
+out very thin. Because of his great success he had grown more
+liberal—easier—in his financial ventures. By degrees, and largely
+because of his own confidence in himself, he had induced his father to
+enter upon his street-car speculations, to use the resources of the
+Third National to carry a part of his loans and to furnish capital at
+such times as quick resources were necessary. In the beginning the old
+gentleman had been a little nervous and skeptical, but as time had worn
+on and nothing but profit eventuated, he grew bolder and more
+confident.
+
+“Frank,” he would say, looking up over his spectacles, “aren’t you
+afraid you’re going a little too fast in these matters? You’re carrying
+a lot of loans these days.”
+
+“No more than I ever did, father, considering my resources. You can’t
+turn large deals without large loans. You know that as well as I do.”
+
+“Yes, I know, but—now that Green and Coates—aren’t you going pretty
+strong there?”
+
+“Not at all. I know the inside conditions there. The stock is bound to
+go up eventually. I’ll bull it up. I’ll combine it with my other lines,
+if necessary.”
+
+Cowperwood stared at his boy. Never was there such a defiant, daring
+manipulator.
+
+“You needn’t worry about me, father. If you are going to do that, call
+my loans. Other banks will loan on my stocks. I’d like to see your bank
+have the interest.”
+
+So Cowperwood, Sr., was convinced. There was no gainsaying this
+argument. His bank was loaning Frank heavily, but not more so than any
+other. And as for the great blocks of stocks he was carrying in his
+son’s companies, he was to be told when to get out should that prove
+necessary. Frank’s brothers were being aided in the same way to make
+money on the side, and their interests were also now bound up
+indissolubly with his own.
+
+With his growing financial opportunities, however, Cowperwood had also
+grown very liberal in what might be termed his standard of living.
+Certain young art dealers in Philadelphia, learning of his artistic
+inclinations and his growing wealth, had followed him up with
+suggestions as to furniture, tapestries, rugs, objects of art, and
+paintings—at first the American and later the foreign masters
+exclusively. His own and his father’s house had not been furnished
+fully in these matters, and there was that other house in North Tenth
+Street, which he desired to make beautiful. Aileen had always objected
+to the condition of her own home. Love of distinguished surroundings
+was a basic longing with her, though she had not the gift of
+interpreting her longings. But this place where they were secretly
+meeting must be beautiful. She was as keen for that as he was. So it
+became a veritable treasure-trove, more distinguished in furnishings
+than some of the rooms of his own home. He began to gather here some
+rare examples of altar cloths, rugs, and tapestries of the Middle Ages.
+He bought furniture after the Georgian theory—a combination of
+Chippendale, Sheraton, and Heppelwhite modified by the Italian
+Renaissance and the French Louis. He learned of handsome examples of
+porcelain, statuary, Greek vase forms, lovely collections of Japanese
+ivories and netsukes. Fletcher Gray, a partner in Cable & Gray, a local
+firm of importers of art objects, called on him in connection with a
+tapestry of the fourteenth century weaving. Gray was an enthusiast and
+almost instantly he conveyed some of his suppressed and yet fiery love
+of the beautiful to Cowperwood.
+
+“There are fifty periods of one shade of blue porcelain alone, Mr.
+Cowperwood,” Gray informed him. “There are at least seven distinct
+schools or periods of rugs—Persian, Armenian, Arabian, Flemish, Modern
+Polish, Hungarian, and so on. If you ever went into that, it would be a
+distinguished thing to get a complete—I mean a
+representative—collection of some one period, or of all these periods.
+They are beautiful. I have seen some of them, others I’ve read about.”
+
+“You’ll make a convert of me yet, Fletcher,” replied Cowperwood. “You
+or art will be the ruin of me. I’m inclined that way temperamentally as
+it is, I think, and between you and Ellsworth and Gordon
+Strake”—another young man intensely interested in painting—“you’ll
+complete my downfall. Strake has a splendid idea. He wants me to begin
+right now—I’m using that word ‘right’ in the sense of ‘properly,’” he
+commented—“and get what examples I can of just the few rare things in
+each school or period of art which would properly illustrate each. He
+tells me the great pictures are going to increase in value, and what I
+could get for a few hundred thousand now will be worth millions later.
+He doesn’t want me to bother with American art.”
+
+“He’s right,” exclaimed Gray, “although it isn’t good business for me
+to praise another art man. It would take a great deal of money,
+though.”
+
+“Not so very much. At least, not all at once. It would be a matter of
+years, of course. Strake thinks that some excellent examples of
+different periods could be picked up now and later replaced if anything
+better in the same held showed up.”
+
+His mind, in spite of his outward placidity, was tinged with a great
+seeking. Wealth, in the beginning, had seemed the only goal, to which
+had been added the beauty of women. And now art, for art’s sake—the
+first faint radiance of a rosy dawn—had begun to shine in upon him, and
+to the beauty of womanhood he was beginning to see how necessary it was
+to add the beauty of life—the beauty of material background—how, in
+fact, the only background for great beauty was great art. This girl,
+this Aileen Butler, her raw youth and radiance, was nevertheless
+creating in him a sense of the distinguished and a need for it which
+had never existed in him before to the same degree. It is impossible to
+define these subtleties of reaction, temperament on temperament, for no
+one knows to what degree we are marked by the things which attract us.
+A love affair such as this had proved to be was little less or more
+than a drop of coloring added to a glass of clear water, or a foreign
+chemical agent introduced into a delicate chemical formula.
+
+In short, for all her crudeness, Aileen Butler was a definite force
+personally. Her nature, in a way, a protest against the clumsy
+conditions by which she found herself surrounded, was almost
+irrationally ambitious. To think that for so long, having been born
+into the Butler family, she had been the subject, as well as the victim
+of such commonplace and inartistic illusions and conditions, whereas
+now, owing to her contact with, and mental subordination to Cowperwood,
+she was learning so many wonderful phases of social, as well as
+financial, refinement of which previously she had guessed nothing. The
+wonder, for instance, of a future social career as the wife of such a
+man as Frank Cowperwood. The beauty and resourcefulness of his mind,
+which, after hours of intimate contact with her, he was pleased to
+reveal, and which, so definite were his comments and instructions, she
+could not fail to sense. The wonder of his financial and artistic and
+future social dreams. And, oh, oh, she was his, and he was hers. She
+was actually beside herself at times with the glory, as well as the
+delight of all this.
+
+At the same time, her father’s local reputation as a quondam garbage
+contractor (“slop-collector” was the unfeeling comment of the vulgarian
+cognoscenti); her own unavailing efforts to right a condition of
+material vulgarity or artistic anarchy in her own home; the
+hopelessness of ever being admitted to those distinguished portals
+which she recognized afar off as the last sanctum sanctorum of
+established respectability and social distinction, had bred in her,
+even at this early age, a feeling of deadly opposition to her home
+conditions as they stood. Such a house compared to Cowperwood’s! Her
+dear, but ignorant, father! And this great man, her lover, had now
+condescended to love her—see in her his future wife. Oh, God, that it
+might not fail! Through the Cowperwoods at first she had hoped to meet
+a few people, young men and women—and particularly men—who were above
+the station in which she found herself, and to whom her beauty and
+prospective fortune would commend her; but this had not been the case.
+The Cowperwoods themselves, in spite of Frank Cowperwood’s artistic
+proclivities and growing wealth, had not penetrated the inner circle as
+yet. In fact, aside from the subtle, preliminary consideration which
+they were receiving, they were a long way off.
+
+None the less, and instinctively in Cowperwood Aileen recognized a way
+out—a door—and by the same token a subtle, impending artistic future of
+great magnificence. This man would rise beyond anything he now dreamed
+of—she felt it. There was in him, in some nebulous, unrecognizable
+form, a great artistic reality which was finer than anything she could
+plan for herself. She wanted luxury, magnificence, social station.
+Well, if she could get this man they would come to her. There were,
+apparently, insuperable barriers in the way; but hers was no weakling
+nature, and neither was his. They ran together temperamentally from the
+first like two leopards. Her own thoughts—crude, half formulated, half
+spoken—nevertheless matched his to a degree in the equality of their
+force and their raw directness.
+
+“I don’t think papa knows how to do,” she said to him, one day. “It
+isn’t his fault. He can’t help it. He knows that he can’t. And he knows
+that I know it. For years I wanted him to move out of that old house
+there. He knows that he ought to. But even that wouldn’t do much good.”
+
+She paused, looking at him with a straight, clear, vigorous glance. He
+liked the medallion sharpness of her features—their smooth, Greek
+modeling.
+
+“Never mind, pet,” he replied. “We will arrange all these things later.
+I don’t see my way out of this just now; but I think the best thing to
+do is to confess to Lillian some day, and see if some other plan can’t
+be arranged. I want to fix it so the children won’t suffer. I can
+provide for them amply, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Lillian
+would be willing to let me go. She certainly wouldn’t want any
+publicity.”
+
+He was counting practically, and man-fashion, on her love for her
+children.
+
+Aileen looked at him with clear, questioning, uncertain eyes. She was
+not wholly without sympathy, but in a way this situation did not appeal
+to her as needing much. Mrs. Cowperwood was not friendly in her mood
+toward her. It was not based on anything save a difference in their
+point of view. Mrs. Cowperwood could never understand how a girl could
+carry her head so high and “put on such airs,” and Aileen could not
+understand how any one could be so lymphatic and lackadaisical as
+Lillian Cowperwood. Life was made for riding, driving, dancing, going.
+It was made for airs and banter and persiflage and coquetry. To see
+this woman, the wife of a young, forceful man like Cowperwood, acting,
+even though she were five years older and the mother of two children,
+as though life on its romantic and enthusiastic pleasurable side were
+all over was too much for her. Of course Lillian was unsuited to Frank;
+of course he needed a young woman like herself, and fate would surely
+give him to her. Then what a delicious life they would lead!
+
+“Oh, Frank,” she exclaimed to him, over and over, “if we could only
+manage it. Do you think we can?”
+
+“Do I think we can? Certainly I do. It’s only a matter of time. I think
+if I were to put the matter to her clearly, she wouldn’t expect me to
+stay. You look out how you conduct your affairs. If your father or your
+brother should ever suspect me, there’d be an explosion in this town,
+if nothing worse. They’d fight me in all my money deals, if they didn’t
+kill me. Are you thinking carefully of what you are doing?”
+
+“All the time. If anything happens I’ll deny everything. They can’t
+prove it, if I deny it. I’ll come to you in the long run, just the
+same.”
+
+They were in the Tenth Street house at the time. She stroked his cheeks
+with the loving fingers of the wildly enamored woman.
+
+“I’ll do anything for you, sweetheart,” she declared. “I’d die for you
+if I had to. I love you so.”
+
+“Well, pet, no danger. You won’t have to do anything like that. But be
+careful.”
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIII
+
+
+Then, after several years of this secret relationship, in which the
+ties of sympathy and understanding grew stronger instead of weaker,
+came the storm. It burst unexpectedly and out of a clear sky, and bore
+no relation to the intention or volition of any individual. It was
+nothing more than a fire, a distant one—the great Chicago fire, October
+7th, 1871, which burned that city—its vast commercial section—to the
+ground, and instantly and incidentally produced a financial panic,
+vicious though of short duration in various other cities in America.
+The fire began on Saturday and continued apparently unabated until the
+following Wednesday. It destroyed the banks, the commercial houses, the
+shipping conveniences, and vast stretches of property. The heaviest
+loss fell naturally upon the insurance companies, which instantly, in
+many cases—the majority—closed their doors. This threw the loss back on
+the manufacturers and wholesalers in other cities who had had dealings
+with Chicago as well as the merchants of that city. Again, very
+grievous losses were borne by the host of eastern capitalists which had
+for years past partly owned, or held heavy mortgages on, the
+magnificent buildings for business purposes and residences in which
+Chicago was already rivaling every city on the continent.
+Transportation was disturbed, and the keen scent of Wall Street, and
+Third Street in Philadelphia, and State Street in Boston, instantly
+perceived in the early reports the gravity of the situation. Nothing
+could be done on Saturday or Sunday after the exchange closed, for the
+opening reports came too late. On Monday, however, the facts were
+pouring in thick and fast; and the owners of railroad securities,
+government securities, street-car securities, and, indeed, all other
+forms of stocks and bonds, began to throw them on the market in order
+to raise cash. The banks naturally were calling their loans, and the
+result was a stock stampede which equaled the Black Friday of Wall
+Street of two years before.
+
+Cowperwood and his father were out of town at the time the fire began.
+They had gone with several friends—bankers—to look at a proposed route
+of extension of a local steam-railroad, on which a loan was desired. In
+buggies they had driven over a good portion of the route, and were
+returning to Philadelphia late Sunday evening when the cries of
+newsboys hawking an “extra” reached their ears.
+
+“Ho! Extra! Extra! All about the big Chicago fire!”
+
+“Ho! Extra! Extra! Chicago burning down! Extra! Extra!”
+
+The cries were long-drawn-out, ominous, pathetic. In the dusk of the
+dreary Sunday afternoon, when the city had apparently retired to
+Sabbath meditation and prayer, with that tinge of the dying year in the
+foliage and in the air, one caught a sense of something grim and
+gloomy.
+
+“Hey, boy,” called Cowperwood, listening, seeing a shabbily clothed
+misfit of a boy with a bundle of papers under his arm turning a corner.
+“What’s that? Chicago burning!”
+
+He looked at his father and the other men in a significant way as he
+reached for the paper, and then, glancing at the headlines, realized
+the worst.
+
+ALL CHICAGO BURNING
+
+
+FIRE RAGES UNCHECKED IN COMMERCIAL SECTION SINCE YESTERDAY EVENING.
+BANKS, COMMERCIAL HOUSES, PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN RUINS. DIRECT TELEGRAPHIC
+COMMUNICATION SUSPENDED SINCE THREE O’CLOCK TO-DAY. NO END TO PROGRESS
+OF DISASTER IN SIGHT.
+
+
+“That looks rather serious,” he said, calmly, to his companions, a
+cold, commanding force coming into his eyes and voice. To his father he
+said a little later, “It’s panic, unless the majority of the banks and
+brokerage firms stand together.”
+
+He was thinking quickly, brilliantly, resourcefully of his own
+outstanding obligations. His father’s bank was carrying one hundred
+thousand dollars’ worth of his street-railway securities at sixty, and
+fifty thousand dollars’ worth of city loan at seventy. His father had
+“up with him” over forty thousand dollars in cash covering market
+manipulations in these stocks. The banking house of Drexel & Co. was on
+his books as a creditor for one hundred thousand, and that loan would
+be called unless they were especially merciful, which was not likely.
+Jay Cooke & Co. were his creditors for another one hundred and fifty
+thousand. They would want their money. At four smaller banks and three
+brokerage companies he was debtor for sums ranging from fifty thousand
+dollars down. The city treasurer was involved with him to the extent of
+nearly five hundred thousand dollars, and exposure of that would create
+a scandal; the State treasurer for two hundred thousand. There were
+small accounts, hundreds of them, ranging from one hundred dollars up
+to five and ten thousand. A panic would mean not only a withdrawal of
+deposits and a calling of loans, but a heavy depression of securities.
+How could he realize on his securities?—that was the question—how
+without selling so many points off that his fortune would be swept away
+and he would be ruined?
+
+He figured briskly the while he waved adieu to his friends, who hurried
+away, struck with their own predicament.
+
+“You had better go on out to the house, father, and I’ll send some
+telegrams.” (The telephone had not yet been invented.) “I’ll be right
+out and we’ll go into this thing together. It looks like black weather
+to me. Don’t say anything to any one until after we have had our talk;
+then we can decide what to do.”
+
+Cowperwood, Sr., was already plucking at his side-whiskers in a
+confused and troubled way. He was cogitating as to what might happen to
+him in case his son failed, for he was deeply involved with him. He was
+a little gray in his complexion now, frightened, for he had already
+strained many points in his affairs to accommodate his son. If Frank
+should not be able promptly on the morrow to meet the call which the
+bank might have to make for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the
+onus and scandal of the situation would be on him.
+
+On the other hand, his son was meditating on the tangled relation in
+which he now found himself in connection with the city treasurer and
+the fact that it was not possible for him to support the market alone.
+Those who should have been in a position to help him were now as bad
+off as himself. There were many unfavorable points in the whole
+situation. Drexel & Co. had been booming railway stocks—loaning heavily
+on them. Jay Cooke & Co. had been backing Northern Pacific—were
+practically doing their best to build that immense transcontinental
+system alone. Naturally, they were long on that and hence in a ticklish
+position. At the first word they would throw over their surest
+securities—government bonds, and the like—in order to protect their
+more speculative holdings. The bears would see the point. They would
+hammer and hammer, selling short all along the line. But he did not
+dare to do that. He would be breaking his own back quickly, and what he
+needed was time. If he could only get time—three days, a week, ten
+days—this storm would surely blow over.
+
+The thing that was troubling him most was the matter of the
+half-million invested with him by Stener. A fall election was drawing
+near. Stener, although he had served two terms, was slated for
+reelection. A scandal in connection with the city treasury would be a
+very bad thing. It would end Stener’s career as an official—would very
+likely send him to the penitentiary. It might wreck the Republican
+party’s chances to win. It would certainly involve himself as having
+much to do with it. If that happened, he would have the politicians to
+reckon with. For, if he were hard pressed, as he would be, and failed,
+the fact that he had been trying to invade the city street-railway
+preserves which they held sacred to themselves, with borrowed city
+money, and that this borrowing was liable to cost them the city
+election, would all come out. They would not view all that with a
+kindly eye. It would be useless to say, as he could, that he had
+borrowed the money at two per cent. (most of it, to save himself, had
+been covered by a protective clause of that kind), or that he had
+merely acted as an agent for Stener. That might go down with the
+unsophisticated of the outer world, but it would never be swallowed by
+the politicians. They knew better than that.
+
+There was another phase to this situation, however, that encouraged
+him, and that was his knowledge of how city politics were going in
+general. It was useless for any politician, however loftly, to take a
+high and mighty tone in a crisis like this. All of them, great and
+small, were profiting in one way and another through city privileges.
+Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson, he knew, made money out of
+contracts—legal enough, though they might be looked upon as rank
+favoritism—and also out of vast sums of money collected in the shape of
+taxes—land taxes, water taxes, etc.—which were deposited in the various
+banks designated by these men and others as legal depositories for city
+money. The banks supposedly carried the city’s money in their vaults as
+a favor, without paying interest of any kind, and then reinvested
+it—for whom? Cowperwood had no complaint to make, for he was being well
+treated, but these men could scarcely expect to monopolize all the
+city’s benefits. He did not know either Mollenhauer or Simpson
+personally—but he knew they as well as Butler had made money out of his
+own manipulation of city loan. Also, Butler was most friendly to him.
+It was not unreasonable for him to think, in a crisis like this, that
+if worst came to worst, he could make a clean breast of it to Butler
+and receive aid. In case he could not get through secretly with
+Stener’s help, Cowperwood made up his mind that he would do this.
+
+His first move, he decided, would be to go at once to Stener’s house
+and demand the loan of an additional three or four hundred thousand
+dollars. Stener had always been very tractable, and in this instance
+would see how important it was that his shortage of half a million
+should not be made public. Then he must get as much more as possible.
+But where to get it? Presidents of banks and trust companies, large
+stock jobbers, and the like, would have to be seen. Then there was a
+loan of one hundred thousand dollars he was carrying for Butler. The
+old contractor might be induced to leave that. He hurried to his home,
+secured his runabout, and drove rapidly to Stener’s.
+
+As it turned out, however, much to his distress and confusion, Stener
+was out of town—down on the Chesapeake with several friends shooting
+ducks and fishing, and was not expected back for several days. He was
+in the marshes back of some small town. Cowperwood sent an urgent wire
+to the nearest point and then, to make assurance doubly sure, to
+several other points in the same neighborhood, asking him to return
+immediately. He was not at all sure, however, that Stener would return
+in time and was greatly nonplussed and uncertain for the moment as to
+what his next step would be. Aid must be forthcoming from somewhere and
+at once.
+
+Suddenly a helpful thought occurred to him. Butler and Mollenhauer and
+Simpson were long on local street-railways. They must combine to
+support the situation and protect their interests. They could see the
+big bankers, Drexel & Co. and Cooke & Co., and others and urge them to
+sustain the market. They could strengthen things generally by
+organizing a buying ring, and under cover of their support, if they
+would, he might sell enough to let him out, and even permit him to go
+short and make something—a whole lot. It was a brilliant thought,
+worthy of a greater situation, and its only weakness was that it was
+not absolutely certain of fulfillment.
+
+He decided to go to Butler at once, the only disturbing thought being
+that he would now be compelled to reveal his own and Stener’s affairs.
+So reentering his runabout he drove swiftly to the Butler home.
+
+When he arrived there the famous contractor was at dinner. He had not
+heard the calling of the extras, and of course, did not understand as
+yet the significance of the fire. The servant’s announcement of
+Cowperwood brought him smiling to the door.
+
+“Won’t you come in and join us? We’re just havin’ a light supper. Have
+a cup of coffee or tea, now—do.”
+
+“I can’t,” replied Cowperwood. “Not to-night, I’m in too much of a
+hurry. I want to see you for just a few moments, and then I’ll be off
+again. I won’t keep you very long.”
+
+“Why, if that’s the case, I’ll come right out.” And Butler returned to
+the dining-room to put down his napkin. Aileen, who was also dining,
+had heard Cowperwood’s voice, and was on the qui vive to see him. She
+wondered what it was that brought him at this time of night to see her
+father. She could not leave the table at once, but hoped to before he
+went. Cowperwood was thinking of her, even in the face of this
+impending storm, as he was of his wife, and many other things. If his
+affairs came down in a heap it would go hard with those attached to
+him. In this first clouding of disaster, he could not tell how things
+would eventuate. He meditated on this desperately, but he was not
+panic-stricken. His naturally even-molded face was set in fine, classic
+lines; his eyes were as hard as chilled steel.
+
+“Well, now,” exclaimed Butler, returning, his countenance manifesting a
+decidedly comfortable relationship with the world as at present
+constituted. “What’s up with you to-night? Nawthin’ wrong, I hope. It’s
+been too fine a day.”
+
+“Nothing very serious, I hope myself,” replied Cowperwood, “But I want
+to talk with you a few minutes, anyhow. Don’t you think we had better
+go up to your room?”
+
+“I was just going to say that,” replied Butler—“the cigars are up
+there.”
+
+They started from the reception-room to the stairs, Butler preceding
+and as the contractor mounted, Aileen came out from the dining-room in
+a frou-frou of silk. Her splendid hair was drawn up from the base of
+the neck and the line of the forehead into some quaint convolutions
+which constituted a reddish-gold crown. Her complexion was glowing, and
+her bare arms and shoulders shone white against the dark red of her
+evening gown. She realized there was something wrong.
+
+“Oh, Mr. Cowperwood, how do you do?” she exclaimed, coming forward and
+holding out her hand as her father went on upstairs. She was delaying
+him deliberately in order to have a word with him and this bold acting
+was for the benefit of the others.
+
+“What’s the trouble, honey?” she whispered, as soon as her father was
+out of hearing. “You look worried.”
+
+“Nothing much, I hope, sweet,” he said. “Chicago is burning up and
+there’s going to be trouble to-morrow. I have to talk to your father.”
+
+She had time only for a sympathetic, distressed “Oh,” before he
+withdrew his hand and followed Butler upstairs. She squeezed his arm,
+and went through the reception-room to the parlor. She sat down,
+thinking, for never before had she seen Cowperwood’s face wearing such
+an expression of stern, disturbed calculation. It was placid, like
+fine, white wax, and quite as cold; and those deep, vague, inscrutable
+eyes! So Chicago was burning. What would happen to him? Was he very
+much involved? He had never told her in detail of his affairs. She
+would not have understood fully any more than would have Mrs.
+Cowperwood. But she was worried, nevertheless, because it was her
+Frank, and because she was bound to him by what to her seemed
+indissoluble ties.
+
+Literature, outside of the masters, has given us but one idea of the
+mistress, the subtle, calculating siren who delights to prey on the
+souls of men. The journalism and the moral pamphleteering of the time
+seem to foster it with almost partisan zeal. It would seem that a
+censorship of life had been established by divinity, and the care of
+its execution given into the hands of the utterly conservative. Yet
+there is that other form of liaison which has nothing to do with
+conscious calculation. In the vast majority of cases it is without
+design or guile. The average woman, controlled by her affections and
+deeply in love, is no more capable than a child of anything save
+sacrificial thought—the desire to give; and so long as this state
+endures, she can only do this. She may change—Hell hath no fury,
+etc.—but the sacrificial, yielding, solicitous attitude is more often
+the outstanding characteristic of the mistress; and it is this very
+attitude in contradistinction to the grasping legality of established
+matrimony that has caused so many wounds in the defenses of the latter.
+The temperament of man, either male or female, cannot help falling down
+before and worshiping this nonseeking, sacrificial note. It approaches
+vast distinction in life. It appears to be related to that last word in
+art, that largeness of spirit which is the first characteristic of the
+great picture, the great building, the great sculpture, the great
+decoration—namely, a giving, freely and without stint, of itself, of
+beauty. Hence the significance of this particular mood in Aileen.
+
+All the subtleties of the present combination were troubling Cowperwood
+as he followed Butler into the room upstairs.
+
+“Sit down, sit down. You won’t take a little somethin’? You never do. I
+remember now. Well, have a cigar, anyhow. Now, what’s this that’s
+troublin’ you to-night?”
+
+Voices could be heard faintly in the distance, far off toward the
+thicker residential sections.
+
+“Extra! Extra! All about the big Chicago fire! Chicago burning down!”
+
+“Just that,” replied Cowperwood, hearkening to them. “Have you heard
+the news?”
+
+“No. What’s that they’re calling?”
+
+“It’s a big fire out in Chicago.”
+
+“Oh,” replied Butler, still not gathering the significance of it.
+
+“It’s burning down the business section there, Mr. Butler,” went on
+Cowperwood ominously, “and I fancy it’s going to disturb financial
+conditions here to-morrow. That is what I have come to see you about.
+How are your investments? Pretty well drawn in?”
+
+Butler suddenly gathered from Cowperwood’s expression that there was
+something very wrong. He put up his large hand as he leaned back in his
+big leather chair, and covered his mouth and chin with it. Over those
+big knuckles, and bigger nose, thick and cartilaginous, his large,
+shaggy-eyebrowed eyes gleamed. His gray, bristly hair stood up stiffly
+in a short, even growth all over his head.
+
+“So that’s it,” he said. “You’re expectin’ trouble to-morrow. How are
+your own affairs?”
+
+“I’m in pretty good shape, I think, all told, if the money element of
+this town doesn’t lose its head and go wild. There has to be a lot of
+common sense exercised to-morrow, or to-night, even. You know we are
+facing a real panic. Mr. Butler, you may as well know that. It may not
+last long, but while it does it will be bad. Stocks are going to drop
+to-morrow ten or fifteen points on the opening. The banks are going to
+call their loans unless some arrangement can be made to prevent them.
+No one man can do that. It will have to be a combination of men. You
+and Mr. Simpson and Mr. Mollenhauer might do it—that is, you could if
+you could persuade the big banking people to combine to back the
+market. There is going to be a raid on local street-railways—all of
+them. Unless they are sustained the bottom is going to drop out. I have
+always known that you were long on those. I thought you and Mr.
+Mollenhauer and some of the others might want to act. If you don’t I
+might as well confess that it is going to go rather hard with me. I am
+not strong enough to face this thing alone.”
+
+He was meditating on how he should tell the whole truth in regard to
+Stener.
+
+“Well, now, that’s pretty bad,” said Butler, calmly and meditatively.
+He was thinking of his own affairs. A panic was not good for him
+either, but he was not in a desperate state. He could not fail. He
+might lose some money, but not a vast amount—before he could adjust
+things. Still he did not care to lose any money.
+
+“How is it you’re so bad off?” he asked, curiously. He was wondering
+how the fact that the bottom was going to drop out of local
+street-railways would affect Cowperwood so seriously. “You’re not
+carryin’ any of them things, are you?” he added.
+
+It was now a question of lying or telling the truth, and Cowperwood was
+literally afraid to risk lying in this dilemma. If he did not gain
+Butler’s comprehending support he might fail, and if he failed the
+truth would come out, anyhow.
+
+“I might as well make a clean breast of this, Mr. Butler,” he said,
+throwing himself on the old man’s sympathies and looking at him with
+that brisk assurance which Butler so greatly admired. He felt as proud
+of Cowperwood at times as he did of his own sons. He felt that he had
+helped to put him where he was.
+
+“The fact is that I have been buying street-railway stocks, but not for
+myself exactly. I am going to do something now which I think I ought
+not to do, but I cannot help myself. If I don’t do it, it will injure
+you and a lot of people whom I do not wish to injure. I know you are
+naturally interested in the outcome of the fall election. The truth is
+I have been carrying a lot of stocks for Mr. Stener and some of his
+friends. I do not know that all the money has come from the city
+treasury, but I think that most of it has. I know what that means to
+Mr. Stener and the Republican party and your interests in case I fail.
+I don’t think Mr. Stener started this of his own accord in the first
+place—I think I am as much to blame as anybody—but it grew out of other
+things. As you know, I handled that matter of city loan for him and
+then some of his friends wanted me to invest in street-railways for
+them. I have been doing that ever since. Personally I have borrowed
+considerable money from Mr. Stener at two per cent. In fact, originally
+the transactions were covered in that way. Now I don’t want to shift
+the blame on any one. It comes back to me and I am willing to let it
+stay there, except that if I fail Mr. Stener will be blamed and that
+will reflect on the administration. Naturally, I don’t want to fail.
+There is no excuse for my doing so. Aside from this panic I have never
+been in a better position in my life. But I cannot weather this storm
+without assistance, and I want to know if you won’t help me. If I pull
+through I will give you my word that I will see that the money which
+has been taken from the treasury is put back there. Mr. Stener is out
+of town or I would have brought him here with me.”
+
+Cowperwood was lying out of the whole cloth in regard to bringing
+Stener with him, and he had no intention of putting the money back in
+the city treasury except by degrees and in such manner as suited his
+convenience; but what he had said sounded well and created a great
+seeming of fairness.
+
+“How much money is it Stener has invested with you?” asked Butler. He
+was a little confused by this curious development. It put Cowperwood
+and Stener in an odd light.
+
+“About five hundred thousand dollars,” replied Cowperwood.
+
+The old man straightened up. “Is it as much as that?” he said.
+
+“Just about—a little more or a little less; I’m not sure which.”
+
+The old contractor listened solemnly to all Cowperwood had to say on
+this score, thinking of the effect on the Republican party and his own
+contracting interests. He liked Cowperwood, but this was a rough thing
+the latter was telling him—rough, and a great deal to ask. He was a
+slow-thinking and a slow-moving man, but he did well enough when he did
+think. He had considerable money invested in Philadelphia
+street-railway stocks—perhaps as much as eight hundred thousand
+dollars. Mollenhauer had perhaps as much more. Whether Senator Simpson
+had much or little he could not tell. Cowperwood had told him in the
+past that he thought the Senator had a good deal. Most of their
+holdings, as in the case of Cowperwood’s, were hypothecated at the
+various banks for loans and these loans invested in other ways. It was
+not advisable or comfortable to have these loans called, though the
+condition of no one of the triumvirate was anything like as bad as that
+of Cowperwood. They could see themselves through without much trouble,
+though not without probable loss unless they took hurried action to
+protect themselves.
+
+He would not have thought so much of it if Cowperwood had told him that
+Stener was involved, say, to the extent of seventy-five or a hundred
+thousand dollars. That might be adjusted. But five hundred thousand
+dollars!
+
+“That’s a lot of money,” said Butler, thinking of the amazing audacity
+of Stener, but failing at the moment to identify it with the astute
+machinations of Cowperwood. “That’s something to think about. There’s
+no time to lose if there’s going to be a panic in the morning. How much
+good will it do ye if we do support the market?”
+
+“A great deal,” returned Cowperwood, “although of course I have to
+raise money in other ways. I have that one hundred thousand dollars of
+yours on deposit. Is it likely that you’ll want that right away?”
+
+“It may be,” said Butler.
+
+“It’s just as likely that I’ll need it so badly that I can’t give it up
+without seriously injuring myself,” added Cowperwood. “That’s just one
+of a lot of things. If you and Senator Simpson and Mr. Mollenhauer were
+to get together—you’re the largest holders of street-railway stocks—and
+were to see Mr. Drexel and Mr. Cooke, you could fix things so that
+matters would be considerably easier. I will be all right if my loans
+are not called, and my loans will not be called if the market does not
+slump too heavily. If it does, all my securities are depreciated, and I
+can’t hold out.”
+
+Old Butler got up. “This is serious business,” he said. “I wish you’d
+never gone in with Stener in that way. It don’t look quite right and it
+can’t be made to. It’s bad, bad business,” he added dourly. “Still,
+I’ll do what I can. I can’t promise much, but I’ve always liked ye and
+I’ll not be turning on ye now unless I have to. But I’m sorry—very. And
+I’m not the only one that has a hand in things in this town.” At the
+same time he was thinking it was right decent of Cowperwood to forewarn
+him this way in regard to his own affairs and the city election, even
+though he was saving his own neck by so doing. He meant to do what he
+could.
+
+“I don’t suppose you could keep this matter of Stener and the city
+treasury quiet for a day or two until I see how I come out?” suggested
+Cowperwood warily.
+
+“I can’t promise that,” replied Butler. “I’ll have to do the best I
+can. I won’t lave it go any further than I can help—you can depend on
+that.” He was thinking how the effect of Stener’s crime could be
+overcome if Cowperwood failed.
+
+“Owen!”
+
+He stepped to the door, and, opening it, called down over the banister.
+
+“Yes, father.”
+
+“Have Dan hitch up the light buggy and bring it around to the door. And
+you get your hat and coat. I want you to go along with me.”
+
+“Yes, father.”
+
+He came back.
+
+“Sure that’s a nice little storm in a teapot, now, isn’t it? Chicago
+begins to burn, and I have to worry here in Philadelphia. Well, well—”
+Cowperwood was up now and moving to the door. “And where are you
+going?”
+
+“Back to the house. I have several people coming there to see me. But
+I’ll come back here later, if I may.”
+
+“Yes, yes,” replied Butler. “To be sure I’ll be here by midnight,
+anyhow. Well, good night. I’ll see you later, then, I suppose. I’ll
+tell you what I find out.”
+
+He went back in his room for something, and Cowperwood descended the
+stair alone. From the hangings of the reception-room entryway Aileen
+signaled him to draw near.
+
+“I hope it’s nothing serious, honey?” she sympathized, looking into his
+solemn eyes.
+
+It was not time for love, and he felt it.
+
+“No,” he said, almost coldly, “I think not.”
+
+“Frank, don’t let this thing make you forget me for long, please. You
+won’t, will you? I love you so.”
+
+“No, no, I won’t!” he replied earnestly, quickly and yet absently.
+
+“I can’t! Don’t you know I won’t?” He had started to kiss her, but a
+noise disturbed him. “Sh!”
+
+He walked to the door, and she followed him with eager, sympathetic
+eyes.
+
+What if anything should happen to her Frank? What if anything could?
+What would she do? That was what was troubling her. What would, what
+could she do to help him? He looked so pale—strained.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIV
+
+
+The condition of the Republican party at this time in Philadelphia, its
+relationship to George W. Stener, Edward Malia Butler, Henry A.
+Mollenhauer, Senator Mark Simpson, and others, will have to be briefly
+indicated here, in order to foreshadow Cowperwood’s actual situation.
+Butler, as we have seen, was normally interested in and friendly to
+Cowperwood. Stener was Cowperwood’s tool. Mollenhauer and Senator
+Simpson were strong rivals of Butler for the control of city affairs.
+Simpson represented the Republican control of the State legislature,
+which could dictate to the city if necessary, making new election laws,
+revising the city charter, starting political investigations, and the
+like. He had many influential newspapers, corporations, banks, at his
+beck and call. Mollenhauer represented the Germans, some Americans, and
+some large stable corporations—a very solid and respectable man. All
+three were strong, able, and dangerous politically. The two latter
+counted on Butler’s influence, particularly with the Irish, and a
+certain number of ward leaders and Catholic politicians and laymen, who
+were as loyal to him as though he were a part of the church itself.
+Butler’s return to these followers was protection, influence, aid, and
+good-will generally. The city’s return to him, via Mollenhauer and
+Simpson, was in the shape of contracts—fat ones—street-paving, bridges,
+viaducts, sewers. And in order for him to get these contracts the
+affairs of the Republican party, of which he was a beneficiary as well
+as a leader, must be kept reasonably straight. At the same time it was
+no more a part of his need to keep the affairs of the party straight
+than it was of either Mollenhauer’s or Simpson’s, and Stener was not
+his appointee. The latter was more directly responsible to Mollenhauer
+than to any one else.
+
+As Butler stepped into the buggy with his son he was thinking about
+this, and it was puzzling him greatly.
+
+“Cowperwood’s just been here,” he said to Owen, who had been rapidly
+coming into a sound financial understanding of late, and was already a
+shrewder man politically and socially than his father, though he had
+not the latter’s magnetism. “He’s been tellin’ me that he’s in a rather
+tight place. You hear that?” he continued, as some voice in the
+distance was calling “Extra! Extra!” “That’s Chicago burnin’, and
+there’s goin’ to be trouble on the stock exchange to-morrow. We have a
+lot of our street-railway stocks around at the different banks. If we
+don’t look sharp they’ll be callin’ our loans. We have to ’tend to that
+the first thing in the mornin’. Cowperwood has a hundred thousand of
+mine with him that he wants me to let stay there, and he has some money
+that belongs to Stener, he tells me.”
+
+“Stener?” asked Owen, curiously. “Has he been dabbling in stocks?” Owen
+had heard some rumors concerning Stener and others only very recently,
+which he had not credited nor yet communicated to his father. “How much
+money of his has Cowperwood?” he asked.
+
+Butler meditated. “Quite a bit, I’m afraid,” he finally said. “As a
+matter of fact, it’s a great deal—about five hundred thousand dollars.
+If that should become known, it would be makin’ a good deal of noise,
+I’m thinkin’.”
+
+“Whew!” exclaimed Owen in astonishment. “Five hundred thousand dollars!
+Good Lord, father! Do you mean to say Stener has got away with five
+hundred thousand dollars? Why, I wouldn’t think he was clever enough to
+do that. Five hundred thousand dollars! It will make a nice row if that
+comes out.”
+
+“Aisy, now! Aisy, now!” replied Butler, doing his best to keep all
+phases of the situation in mind. “We can’t tell exactly what the
+circumstances were yet. He mayn’t have meant to take so much. It may
+all come out all right yet. The money’s invested. Cowperwood hasn’t
+failed yet. It may be put back. The thing to be settled on now is
+whether anything can be done to save him. If he’s tellin’ me the
+truth—and I never knew him to lie—he can get out of this if
+street-railway stocks don’t break too heavy in the mornin’. I’m going
+over to see Henry Mollenhauer and Mark Simpson. They’re in on this.
+Cowperwood wanted me to see if I couldn’t get them to get the bankers
+together and have them stand by the market. He thought we might protect
+our loans by comin’ on and buyin’ and holdin’ up the price.”
+
+Owen was running swiftly in his mind over Cowperwood’s affairs—as much
+as he knew of them. He felt keenly that the banker ought to be shaken
+out. This dilemma was his fault, not Stener’s—he felt. It was strange
+to him that his father did not see it and resent it.
+
+“You see what it is, father,” he said, dramatically, after a time.
+“Cowperwood’s been using this money of Stener’s to pick up stocks, and
+he’s in a hole. If it hadn’t been for this fire he’d have got away with
+it; but now he wants you and Simpson and Mollenhauer and the others to
+pull him out. He’s a nice fellow, and I like him fairly well; but
+you’re a fool if you do as he wants you to. He has more than belongs to
+him already. I heard the other day that he has the Front Street line,
+and almost all of Green and Coates; and that he and Stener own the
+Seventeenth and Nineteenth; but I didn’t believe it. I’ve been
+intending to ask you about it. I think Cowperwood has a majority for
+himself stowed away somewhere in every instance. Stener is just a pawn.
+He moves him around where he pleases.”
+
+Owen’s eyes gleamed avariciously, opposingly. Cowperwood ought to be
+punished, sold out, driven out of the street-railway business in which
+Owen was anxious to rise.
+
+“Now you know,” observed Butler, thickly and solemnly, “I always
+thought that young felly was clever, but I hardly thought he was as
+clever as all that. So that’s his game. You’re pretty shrewd yourself,
+aren’t you? Well, we can fix that, if we think well of it. But there’s
+more than that to all this. You don’t want to forget the Republican
+party. Our success goes with the success of that, you know”—and he
+paused and looked at his son. “If Cowperwood should fail and that money
+couldn’t be put back—” He broke off abstractedly. “The thing that’s
+troublin’ me is this matter of Stener and the city treasury. If
+somethin’ ain’t done about that, it may go hard with the party this
+fall, and with some of our contracts. You don’t want to forget that an
+election is comin’ along in November. I’m wonderin’ if I ought to call
+in that one hundred thousand dollars. It’s goin’ to take considerable
+money to meet my loans in the mornin’.”
+
+It is a curious matter of psychology, but it was only now that the real
+difficulties of the situation were beginning to dawn on Butler. In the
+presence of Cowperwood he was so influenced by that young man’s
+personality and his magnetic presentation of his need and his own
+liking for him that he had not stopped to consider all the phases of
+his own relationship to the situation. Out here in the cool night air,
+talking to Owen, who was ambitious on his own account and anything but
+sentimentally considerate of Cowperwood, he was beginning to sober down
+and see things in their true light. He had to admit that Cowperwood had
+seriously compromised the city treasury and the Republican party, and
+incidentally Butler’s own private interests. Nevertheless, he liked
+Cowperwood. He was in no way prepared to desert him. He was now going
+to see Mollenhauer and Simpson as much to save Cowperwood really as the
+party and his own affairs. And yet a scandal. He did not like
+that—resented it. This young scalawag! To think he should be so sly.
+None the less he still liked him, even here and now, and was feeling
+that he ought to do something to help the young man, if anything could
+help him. He might even leave his hundred-thousand-dollar loan with him
+until the last hour, as Cowperwood had requested, if the others were
+friendly.
+
+“Well, father,” said Owen, after a time, “I don’t see why you need to
+worry any more than Mollenhauer or Simpson. If you three want to help
+him out, you can; but for the life of me I don’t see why you should. I
+know this thing will have a bad effect on the election, if it comes out
+before then; but it could be hushed up until then, couldn’t it? Anyhow,
+your street-railway holdings are more important than this election, and
+if you can see your way clear to getting the street-railway lines in
+your hands you won’t need to worry about any elections. My advice to
+you is to call that one-hundred-thousand-dollar loan of yours in the
+morning, and meet the drop in your stocks that way. It may make
+Cowperwood fail, but that won’t hurt you any. You can go into the
+market and buy his stocks. I wouldn’t be surprised if he would run to
+you and ask you to take them. You ought to get Mollenhauer and Simpson
+to scare Stener so that he won’t loan Cowperwood any more money. If you
+don’t, Cowperwood will run there and get more. Stener’s in too far now.
+If Cowperwood won’t sell out, well and good; the chances are he will
+bust, anyhow, and then you can pick up as much on the market as any one
+else. I think he’ll sell. You can’t afford to worry about Stener’s five
+hundred thousand dollars. No one told him to loan it. Let him look out
+for himself. It may hurt the party, but you can look after that later.
+You and Mollenhauer can fix the newspapers so they won’t talk about it
+till after election.”
+
+“Aisy! Aisy!” was all the old contractor would say. He was thinking
+hard.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXV
+
+
+The residence of Henry A. Mollenhauer was, at that time, in a section
+of the city which was almost as new as that in which Butler was living.
+It was on South Broad Street, near a handsome library building which
+had been recently erected. It was a spacious house of the type usually
+affected by men of new wealth in those days—a structure four stories in
+height of yellow brick and white stone built after no school which one
+could readily identify, but not unattractive in its architectural
+composition. A broad flight of steps leading to a wide veranda gave
+into a decidedly ornate door, which was set on either side by narrow
+windows and ornamented to the right and left with pale-blue jardinieres
+of considerable charm of outline. The interior, divided into twenty
+rooms, was paneled and parqueted in the most expensive manner for homes
+of that day. There was a great reception-hall, a large parlor or
+drawing-room, a dining-room at least thirty feet square paneled in oak;
+and on the second floor were a music-room devoted to the talents of
+Mollenhauer’s three ambitious daughters, a library and private office
+for himself, a boudoir and bath for his wife, and a conservatory.
+
+Mollenhauer was, and felt himself to be, a very important man. His
+financial and political judgment was exceedingly keen. Although he was
+a German, or rather an American of German parentage, he was a man of a
+rather impressive American presence. He was tall and heavy and shrewd
+and cold. His large chest and wide shoulders supported a head of
+distinguished proportions, both round and long when seen from different
+angles. The frontal bone descended in a protruding curve over the nose,
+and projected solemnly over the eyes, which burned with a shrewd,
+inquiring gaze. And the nose and mouth and chin below, as well as his
+smooth, hard cheeks, confirmed the impression that he knew very well
+what he wished in this world, and was very able without regard to let
+or hindrance to get it. It was a big face, impressive, well modeled. He
+was an excellent friend of Edward Malia Butler’s, as such friendships
+go, and his regard for Mark Simpson was as sincere as that of one tiger
+for another. He respected ability; he was willing to play fair when
+fair was the game. When it was not, the reach of his cunning was not
+easily measured.
+
+When Edward Butler and his son arrived on this Sunday evening, this
+distinguished representative of one-third of the city’s interests was
+not expecting them. He was in his library reading and listening to one
+of his daughters playing the piano. His wife and his other two
+daughters had gone to church. He was of a domestic turn of mind. Still,
+Sunday evening being an excellent one for conference purposes generally
+in the world of politics, he was not without the thought that some one
+or other of his distinguished confreres might call, and when the
+combination footman and butler announced the presence of Butler and his
+son, he was well pleased.
+
+“So there you are,” he remarked to Butler, genially, extending his
+hand. “I’m certainly glad to see you. And Owen! How are you, Owen? What
+will you gentlemen have to drink, and what will you smoke? I know
+you’ll have something. John”—to the servitor—-“see if you can find
+something for these gentlemen. I have just been listening to Caroline
+play; but I think you’ve frightened her off for the time being.”
+
+He moved a chair into position for Butler, and indicated to Owen
+another on the other side of the table. In a moment his servant had
+returned with a silver tray of elaborate design, carrying whiskies and
+wines of various dates and cigars in profusion. Owen was the new type
+of young financier who neither smoked nor drank. His father temperately
+did both.
+
+“It’s a comfortable place you have here,” said Butler, without any
+indication of the important mission that had brought him. “I don’t
+wonder you stay at home Sunday evenings. What’s new in the city?”
+
+“Nothing much, so far as I can see,” replied Mollenhauer, pacifically.
+“Things seem to be running smooth enough. You don’t know anything that
+we ought to worry about, do you?”
+
+“Well, yes,” said Butler, draining off the remainder of a brandy and
+soda that had been prepared for him. “One thing. You haven’t seen an
+avenin’ paper, have you?”
+
+“No, I haven’t,” said Mollenhauer, straightening up. “Is there one out?
+What’s the trouble anyhow?”
+
+“Nothing—except Chicago’s burning, and it looks as though we’d have a
+little money-storm here in the morning.”
+
+“You don’t say! I didn’t hear that. There’s a paper out, is there?
+Well, well—is it much of a fire?”
+
+“The city is burning down, so they say,” put in Owen, who was watching
+the face of the distinguished politician with considerable interest.
+
+“Well, that is news. I must send out and get a paper. John!” he called.
+His man-servant appeared. “See if you can get me a paper somewhere.”
+The servant disappeared. “What makes you think that would have anything
+to do with us?” observed Mollenhauer, returning to Butler.
+
+“Well, there’s one thing that goes with that that I didn’t know till a
+little while ago and that is that our man Stener is apt to be short in
+his accounts, unless things come out better than some people seem to
+think,” suggested Butler, calmly. “That might not look so well before
+election, would it?” His shrewd gray Irish eyes looked into
+Mollenhauer’s, who returned his gaze.
+
+“Where did you get that?” queried Mr. Mollenhauer icily. “He hasn’t
+deliberately taken much money, has he? How much has he taken—do you
+know?”
+
+“Quite a bit,” replied Butler, quietly. “Nearly five hundred thousand,
+so I understand. Only I wouldn’t say that it has been taken as yet.
+It’s in danger of being lost.”
+
+“Five hundred thousand!” exclaimed Mollenhauer in amazement, and yet
+preserving his usual calm. “You don’t tell me! How long has this been
+going on? What has he been doing with the money?”
+
+“He’s loaned a good deal—about five hundred thousand dollars to this
+young Cowperwood in Third Street, that’s been handlin’ city loan.
+They’ve been investin’ it for themselves in one thing and
+another—mostly in buyin’ up street-railways.” (At the mention of
+street-railways Mollenhauer’s impassive countenance underwent a barely
+perceptible change.) “This fire, accordin’ to Cowperwood, is certain to
+produce a panic in the mornin’, and unless he gets considerable help he
+doesn’t see how he’s to hold out. If he doesn’t hold out, there’ll be
+five hundred thousand dollars missin’ from the city treasury which
+can’t be put back. Stener’s out of town and Cowperwood’s come to me to
+see what can be done about it. As a matter of fact, he’s done a little
+business for me in times past, and he thought maybe I could help him
+now—that is, that I might get you and the Senator to see the big
+bankers with me and help support the market in the mornin’. If we don’t
+he’s goin’ to fail, and he thought the scandal would hurt us in the
+election. He doesn’t appear to me to be workin’ any game—just anxious
+to save himself and do the square thing by me—by us, if he can.” Butler
+paused.
+
+Mollenhauer, sly and secretive himself, was apparently not at all moved
+by this unexpected development. At the same time, never having thought
+of Stener as having any particular executive or financial ability, he
+was a little stirred and curious. So his treasurer was using money
+without his knowing it, and now stood in danger of being prosecuted!
+Cowperwood he knew of only indirectly, as one who had been engaged to
+handle city loan. He had profited by his manipulation of city loan.
+Evidently the banker had made a fool of Stener, and had used the money
+for street-railway shares! He and Stener must have quite some private
+holdings then. That did interest Mollenhauer greatly.
+
+“Five hundred thousand dollars!” he repeated, when Butler had finished.
+“That is quite a little money. If merely supporting the market would
+save Cowperwood we might do that, although if it’s a severe panic I do
+not see how anything we can do will be of very much assistance to him.
+If he’s in a very tight place and a severe slump is coming, it will
+take a great deal more than our merely supporting the market to save
+him. I’ve been through that before. You don’t know what his liabilities
+are?”
+
+“I do not,” said Butler.
+
+“He didn’t ask for money, you say?”
+
+“He wants me to l’ave a hundred thousand he has of mine until he sees
+whether he can get through or not.”
+
+“Stener is really out of town, I suppose?” Mollenhauer was innately
+suspicious.
+
+“So Cowperwood says. We can send and find out.”
+
+Mollenhauer was thinking of the various aspects of the case. Supporting
+the market would be all very well if that would save Cowperwood, and
+the Republican party and his treasurer. At the same time Stener could
+then be compelled to restore the five hundred thousand dollars to the
+city treasury, and release his holdings to some one—preferably to
+him—Mollenhauer. But here was Butler also to be considered in this
+matter. What might he not want? He consulted with Butler and learned
+that Cowperwood had agreed to return the five hundred thousand in case
+he could get it together. The various street-car holdings were not
+asked after. But what assurance had any one that Cowperwood could be so
+saved? And could, or would get the money together? And if he were saved
+would he give the money back to Stener? If he required actual money,
+who would loan it to him in a time like this—in case a sharp panic was
+imminent? What security could he give? On the other hand, under
+pressure from the right parties he might be made to surrender all his
+street-railway holdings for a song—his and Stener’s. If he
+(Mollenhauer) could get them he would not particularly care whether the
+election was lost this fall or not, although he felt satisfied, as had
+Owen, that it would not be lost. It could be bought, as usual. The
+defalcation—if Cowperwood’s failure made Stener’s loan into one—could
+be concealed long enough, Mollenhauer thought, to win. Personally as it
+came to him now he would prefer to frighten Stener into refusing
+Cowperwood additional aid, and then raid the latter’s street-railway
+stock in combination with everybody else’s, for that matter—Simpson’s
+and Butler’s included. One of the big sources of future wealth in
+Philadelphia lay in these lines. For the present, however, he had to
+pretend an interest in saving the party at the polls.
+
+“I can’t speak for the Senator, that’s sure,” pursued Mollenhauer,
+reflectively. “I don’t know what he may think. As for myself, I am
+perfectly willing to do what I can to keep up the price of stocks, if
+that will do any good. I would do so naturally in order to protect my
+loans. The thing that we ought to be thinking about, in my judgment, is
+how to prevent exposure, in case Mr. Cowperwood does fail, until after
+election. We have no assurance, of course, that however much we support
+the market we will be able to sustain it.”
+
+“We have not,” replied Butler, solemnly.
+
+Owen thought he could see Cowperwood’s approaching doom quite plainly.
+At that moment the door-bell rang. A maid, in the absence of the
+footman, brought in the name of Senator Simpson.
+
+“Just the man,” said Mollenhauer. “Show him up. You can see what he
+thinks.”
+
+“Perhaps I had better leave you alone now,” suggested Owen to his
+father. “Perhaps I can find Miss Caroline, and she will sing for me.
+I’ll wait for you, father,” he added.
+
+Mollenhauer cast him an ingratiating smile, and as he stepped out
+Senator Simpson walked in.
+
+A more interesting type of his kind than Senator Mark Simpson never
+flourished in the State of Pennsylvania, which has been productive of
+interesting types. Contrasted with either of the two men who now
+greeted him warmly and shook his hand, he was physically unimpressive.
+He was small—five feet nine inches, to Mollenhauer’s six feet and
+Butler’s five feet eleven inches and a half, and then his face was
+smooth, with a receding jaw. In the other two this feature was
+prominent. Nor were his eyes as frank as those of Butler, nor as
+defiant as those of Mollenhauer; but for subtlety they were unmatched
+by either—deep, strange, receding, cavernous eyes which contemplated
+you as might those of a cat looking out of a dark hole, and suggesting
+all the artfulness that has ever distinguished the feline family. He
+had a strange mop of black hair sweeping down over a fine, low, white
+forehead, and a skin as pale and bluish as poor health might make it;
+but there was, nevertheless, resident here a strange, resistant,
+capable force that ruled men—the subtlety with which he knew how to
+feed cupidity with hope and gain and the ruthlessness with which he
+repaid those who said him nay. He was a still man, as such a man might
+well have been—feeble and fish-like in his handshake, wan and slightly
+lackadaisical in his smile, but speaking always with eyes that answered
+for every defect.
+
+“Av’nin’, Mark, I’m glad to see you,” was Butler’s greeting.
+
+“How are you, Edward?” came the quiet reply.
+
+“Well, Senator, you’re not looking any the worse for wear. Can I pour
+you something?”
+
+“Nothing to-night, Henry,” replied Simpson. “I haven’t long to stay. I
+just stopped by on my way home. My wife’s over here at the Cavanaghs’,
+and I have to stop by to fetch her.”
+
+“Well, it’s a good thing you dropped in, Senator, just when you did,”
+began Mollenhauer, seating himself after his guest. “Butler here has
+been telling me of a little political problem that has arisen since I
+last saw you. I suppose you’ve heard that Chicago is burning?”
+
+“Yes; Cavanagh was just telling me. It looks to be quite serious. I
+think the market will drop heavily in the morning.”
+
+“I wouldn’t be surprised myself,” put in Mollenhauer, laconically.
+
+“Here’s the paper now,” said Butler, as John, the servant, came in from
+the street bearing the paper in his hand. Mollenhauer took it and
+spread it out before them. It was among the earliest of the “extras”
+that were issued in this country, and contained a rather impressive
+spread of type announcing that the conflagration in the lake city was
+growing hourly worse since its inception the day before.
+
+“Well, that is certainly dreadful,” said Simpson. “I’m very sorry for
+Chicago. I have many friends there. I shall hope to hear that it is not
+so bad as it seems.”
+
+The man had a rather grandiloquent manner which he never abandoned
+under any circumstances.
+
+“The matter that Butler was telling me about,” continued Mollenhauer,
+“has something to do with this in a way. You know the habit our city
+treasurers have of loaning out their money at two per cent.?”
+
+“Yes?” said Simpson, inquiringly.
+
+“Well, Mr. Stener, it seems, has been loaning out a good deal of the
+city’s money to this young Cowperwood, in Third Street, who has been
+handling city loans.”
+
+“You don’t say!” said Simpson, putting on an air of surprise. “Not
+much, I hope?” The Senator, like Butler and Mollenhauer, was profiting
+greatly by cheap loans from the same source to various designated city
+depositories.
+
+“Well, it seems that Stener has loaned him as much as five hundred
+thousand dollars, and if by any chance Cowperwood shouldn’t be able to
+weather this storm, Stener is apt to be short that amount, and that
+wouldn’t look so good as a voting proposition to the people in
+November, do you think? Cowperwood owes Mr. Butler here one hundred
+thousand dollars, and because of that he came to see him to-night. He
+wanted Butler to see if something couldn’t be done through us to tide
+him over. If not”—he waved one hand suggestively—“well, he might fail.”
+
+Simpson fingered his strange, wide mouth with his delicate hand. “What
+have they been doing with the five hundred thousand dollars?” he asked.
+
+“Oh, the boys must make a little somethin’ on the side,” said Butler,
+cheerfully. “I think they’ve been buyin’ up street-railways, for one
+thing.” He stuck his thumbs in the armholes of his vest. Both
+Mollenhauer and Simpson smiled wan smiles.
+
+“Quite so,” said Mollenhauer. Senator Simpson merely looked the deep
+things that he thought.
+
+He, too, was thinking how useless it was for any one to approach a
+group of politicians with a proposition like this, particularly in a
+crisis such as bid fair to occur. He reflected that if he and Butler
+and Mollenhauer could get together and promise Cowperwood protection in
+return for the surrender of his street-railway holdings it would be a
+very different matter. It would be very easy in this case to carry the
+city treasury loan along in silence and even issue more money to
+support it; but it was not sure, in the first place, that Cowperwood
+could be made to surrender his stocks, and in the second place that
+either Butler or Mollenhauer would enter into any such deal with him,
+Simpson. Butler had evidently come here to say a good word for
+Cowperwood. Mollenhauer and himself were silent rivals. Although they
+worked together politically it was toward essentially different
+financial ends. They were allied in no one particular financial
+proposition, any more than Mollenhauer and Butler were. And besides, in
+all probability Cowperwood was no fool. He was not equally guilty with
+Stener; the latter had loaned him money. The Senator reflected on
+whether he should broach some such subtle solution of the situation as
+had occurred to him to his colleagues, but he decided not. Really
+Mollenhauer was too treacherous a man to work with on a thing of this
+kind. It was a splendid chance but dangerous. He had better go it
+alone. For the present they should demand of Stener that he get
+Cowperwood to return the five hundred thousand dollars if he could. If
+not, Stener could be sacrificed for the benefit of the party, if need
+be. Cowperwood’s stocks, with this tip as to his condition, would,
+Simpson reflected, offer a good opportunity for a little stock-exchange
+work on the part of his own brokers. They could spread rumors as to
+Cowperwood’s condition and then offer to take his shares off his
+hands—for a song, of course. It was an evil moment that led Cowperwood
+to Butler.
+
+“Well, now,” said the Senator, after a prolonged silence, “I might
+sympathize with Mr. Cowperwood in his situation, and I certainly don’t
+blame him for buying up street-railways if he can; but I really don’t
+see what can be done for him very well in this crisis. I don’t know
+about you, gentlemen, but I am rather certain that I am not in a
+position to pick other people’s chestnuts out of the fire if I wanted
+to, just now. It all depends on whether we feel that the danger to the
+party is sufficient to warrant our going down into our pockets and
+assisting him.”
+
+At the mention of real money to be loaned Mollenhauer pulled a long
+face. “I can’t see that I will be able to do very much for Mr.
+Cowperwood,” he sighed.
+
+“Begad,” said Buler, with a keen sense of humor, “it looks to me as if
+I’d better be gettin’ in my one hundred thousand dollars. That’s the
+first business of the early mornin’.” Neither Simpson nor Mollenhauer
+condescended on this occasion to smile even the wan smile they had
+smiled before. They merely looked wise and solemn.
+
+“But this matter of the city treasury, now,” said Senator Simpson,
+after the atmosphere had been allowed to settle a little, “is something
+to which we shall have to devote a little thought. If Mr. Cowperwood
+should fail, and the treasury lose that much money, it would embarrass
+us no little. What lines are they,” he added, as an afterthought, “that
+this man has been particularly interested in?”
+
+“I really don’t know,” replied Butler, who did not care to say what
+Owen had told him on the drive over.
+
+“I don’t see,” said Mollenhauer, “unless we can make Stener get the
+money back before this man Cowperwood fails, how we can save ourselves
+from considerable annoyance later; but if we did anything which would
+look as though we were going to compel restitution, he would probably
+shut up shop anyhow. So there’s no remedy in that direction. And it
+wouldn’t be very kind to our friend Edward here to do it until we hear
+how he comes out on his affair.” He was referring to Butler’s loan.
+
+“Certainly not,” said Senator Simpson, with true political sagacity and
+feeling.
+
+“I’ll have that one hundred thousand dollars in the mornin’,” said
+Butler, “and never fear.”
+
+“I think,” said Simpson, “if anything comes of this matter that we will
+have to do our best to hush it up until after the election. The
+newspapers can just as well keep silent on that score as not. There’s
+one thing I would suggest”—and he was now thinking of the
+street-railway properties which Cowperwood had so judiciously
+collected—“and that is that the city treasurer be cautioned against
+advancing any more money in a situation of this kind. He might readily
+be compromised into advancing much more. I suppose a word from you,
+Henry, would prevent that.”
+
+“Yes; I can do that,” said Mollenhauer, solemnly.
+
+“My judgement would be,” said Butler, in a rather obscure manner,
+thinking of Cowperwood’s mistake in appealing to these noble protectors
+of the public, “that it’s best to let sleepin’ dogs run be thimselves.”
+
+Thus ended Frank Cowperwood’s dreams of what Butler and his political
+associates might do for him in his hour of distress.
+
+The energies of Cowperwood after leaving Butler were devoted to the
+task of seeing others who might be of some assistance to him. He had
+left word with Mrs. Stener that if any message came from her husband he
+was to be notified at once. He hunted up Walter Leigh, of Drexel & Co.,
+Avery Stone of Jay Cooke & Co., and President Davison of the Girard
+National Bank. He wanted to see what they thought of the situation and
+to negotiate a loan with President Davison covering all his real and
+personal property.
+
+“I can’t tell you, Frank,” Walter Leigh insisted, “I don’t know how
+things will be running by to-morrow noon. I’m glad to know how you
+stand. I’m glad you’re doing what you’re doing—getting all your affairs
+in shape. It will help a lot. I’ll favor you all I possibly can. But if
+the chief decides on a certain group of loans to be called, they’ll
+have to be called, that’s all. I’ll do my best to make things look
+better. If the whole of Chicago is wiped out, the insurance
+companies—some of them, anyhow—are sure to go, and then look out. I
+suppose you’ll call in all your loans?”
+
+“Not any more than I have to.”
+
+“Well, that’s just the way it is here—or will be.”
+
+The two men shook hands. They liked each other. Leigh was of the city’s
+fashionable coterie, a society man to the manner born, but with a
+wealth of common sense and a great deal of worldly experience.
+
+“I’ll tell you, Frank,” he observed at parting, “I’ve always thought
+you were carrying too much street-railway. It’s great stuff if you can
+get away with it, but it’s just in a pinch like this that you’re apt to
+get hurt. You’ve been making money pretty fast out of that and city
+loans.”
+
+He looked directly into his long-time friend’s eyes, and they smiled.
+
+It was the same with Avery Stone, President Davison, and others. They
+had all already heard rumors of disaster when he arrived. They were not
+sure what the morrow would bring forth. It looked very unpromising.
+
+Cowperwood decided to stop and see Butler again for he felt certain his
+interview with Mollenhauer and Simpson was now over. Butler, who had
+been meditating what he should say to Cowperwood, was not unfriendly in
+his manner. “So you’re back,” he said, when Cowperwood appeared.
+
+“Yes, Mr. Butler.”
+
+“Well, I’m not sure that I’ve been able to do anything for you. I’m
+afraid not,” Butler said, cautiously. “It’s a hard job you set me.
+Mollenhauer seems to think that he’ll support the market, on his own
+account. I think he will. Simpson has interests which he has to
+protect. I’m going to buy for myself, of course.”
+
+He paused to reflect.
+
+“I couldn’t get them to call a conference with any of the big moneyed
+men as yet,” he added, warily. “They’d rather wait and see what happens
+in the mornin’. Still, I wouldn’t be down-hearted if I were you. If
+things turn out very bad they may change their minds. I had to tell
+them about Stener. It’s pretty bad, but they’re hopin’ you’ll come
+through and straighten that out. I hope so. About my own loan—well,
+I’ll see how things are in the mornin’. If I raisonably can I’ll lave
+it with you. You’d better see me again about it. I wouldn’t try to get
+any more money out of Stener if I were you. It’s pretty bad as it is.”
+
+Cowperwood saw at once that he was to get no aid from the politicians.
+The one thing that disturbed him was this reference to Stener. Had they
+already communicated with him—warned him? If so, his own coming to
+Butler had been a bad move; and yet from the point of view of his
+possible failure on the morrow it had been advisable. At least now the
+politicians knew where he stood. If he got in a very tight corner he
+would come to Butler again—the politicians could assist him or not, as
+they chose. If they did not help him and he failed, and the election
+were lost, it was their own fault. Anyhow, if he could see Stener first
+the latter would not be such a fool as to stand in his own light in a
+crisis like this.
+
+“Things look rather dark to-night, Mr. Butler,” he said, smartly, “but
+I still think I’ll come through. I hope so, anyhow. I’m sorry to have
+put you to so much trouble. I wish, of course, that you gentlemen could
+see your way clear to assist me, but if you can’t, you can’t. I have a
+number of things that I can do. I hope that you will leave your loan as
+long as you can.”
+
+He went briskly out, and Butler meditated. “A clever young chap that,”
+he said. “It’s too bad. But he may come out all right at that.”
+
+Cowperwood hurried to his own home only to find his father awake and
+brooding. To him he talked with that strong vein of sympathy and
+understanding which is usually characteristic of those drawn by ties of
+flesh and blood. He liked his father. He sympathized with his
+painstaking effort to get up in the world. He could not forget that as
+a boy he had had the loving sympathy and interest of his father. The
+loan which he had from the Third National, on somewhat weak Union
+Street Railway shares he could probably replace if stocks did not drop
+too tremendously. He must replace this at all costs. But his father’s
+investments in street-railways, which had risen with his own ventures,
+and which now involved an additional two hundred thousand—how could he
+protect those? The shares were hypothecated and the money was used for
+other things. Additional collateral would have to be furnished the
+several banks carrying them. It was nothing except loans, loans, loans,
+and the need of protecting them. If he could only get an additional
+deposit of two or three hundred thousand dollars from Stener. But that,
+in the face of possible financial difficulties, was rank criminality.
+All depended on the morrow.
+
+Monday, the ninth, dawned gray and cheerless. He was up with the first
+ray of light, shaved and dressed, and went over, under the gray-green
+pergola, to his father’s house. He was up, also, and stirring about,
+for he had not been able to sleep. His gray eyebrows and gray hair
+looked rather shaggy and disheveled, and his side-whiskers anything but
+decorative. The old gentleman’s eyes were tired, and his face was gray.
+Cowperwood could see that he was worrying. He looked up from a small,
+ornate escritoire of buhl, which Ellsworth had found somewhere, and
+where he was quietly tabulating a list of his resources and
+liabilities. Cowperwood winced. He hated to see his father worried, but
+he could not help it. He had hoped sincerely, when they built their
+houses together, that the days of worry for his father had gone
+forever.
+
+“Counting up?” he asked, familiarly, with a smile. He wanted to hearten
+the old gentleman as much as possible.
+
+“I was just running over my affairs again to see where I stood in
+case—” He looked quizzically at his son, and Frank smiled again.
+
+“I wouldn’t worry, father. I told you how I fixed it so that Butler and
+that crowd will support the market. I have Rivers and Targool and Harry
+Eltinge on ’change helping me sell out, and they are the best men
+there. They’ll handle the situation carefully. I couldn’t trust Ed or
+Joe in this case, for the moment they began to sell everybody would
+know what was going on with me. This way my men will seem like bears
+hammering the market, but not hammering too hard. I ought to be able to
+unload enough at ten points off to raise five hundred thousand. The
+market may not go lower than that. You can’t tell. It isn’t going to
+sink indefinitely. If I just knew what the big insurance companies were
+going to do! The morning paper hasn’t come yet, has it?”
+
+He was going to pull a bell, but remembered that the servants would
+scarcely be up as yet. He went to the front door himself. There were
+the Press and the Public Ledger lying damp from the presses. He picked
+them up and glanced at the front pages. His countenance fell. On one,
+the Press, was spread a great black map of Chicago, a most
+funereal-looking thing, the black portion indicating the burned
+section. He had never seen a map of Chicago before in just this clear,
+definite way. That white portion was Lake Michigan, and there was the
+Chicago River dividing the city into three almost equal portions—the
+north side, the west side, the south side. He saw at once that the city
+was curiously arranged, somewhat like Philadelphia, and that the
+business section was probably an area of two or three miles square, set
+at the juncture of the three sides, and lying south of the main stem of
+the river, where it flowed into the lake after the southwest and
+northwest branches had united to form it. This was a significant
+central area; but, according to this map, it was all burned out.
+“Chicago in Ashes” ran a great side-heading set in heavily leaded black
+type. It went on to detail the sufferings of the homeless, the number
+of the dead, the number of those whose fortunes had been destroyed.
+Then it descanted upon the probable effect in the East. Insurance
+companies and manufacturers might not be able to meet the great strain
+of all this.
+
+“Damn!” said Cowperwood gloomily. “I wish I were out of this
+stock-jobbing business. I wish I had never gotten into it.” He returned
+to his drawing-room and scanned both accounts most carefully.
+
+Then, though it was still early, he and his father drove to his office.
+There were already messages awaiting him, a dozen or more, to cancel or
+sell. While he was standing there a messenger-boy brought him three
+more. One was from Stener and said that he would be back by twelve
+o’clock, the very earliest he could make it. Cowperwood was relieved
+and yet distressed. He would need large sums of money to meet various
+loans before three. Every hour was precious. He must arrange to meet
+Stener at the station and talk to him before any one else should see
+him. Clearly this was going to be a hard, dreary, strenuous day.
+
+Third Street, by the time he reached there, was stirring with other
+bankers and brokers called forth by the exigencies of the occasion.
+There was a suspicious hurrying of feet—that intensity which makes all
+the difference in the world between a hundred people placid and a
+hundred people disturbed. At the exchange, the atmosphere was feverish.
+At the sound of the gong, the staccato uproar began. Its metallic
+vibrations were still in the air when the two hundred men who composed
+this local organization at its utmost stress of calculation, threw
+themselves upon each other in a gibbering struggle to dispose of or
+seize bargains of the hour. The interests were so varied that it was
+impossible to say at which pole it was best to sell or buy.
+
+Targool and Rivers had been delegated to stay at the center of things,
+Joseph and Edward to hover around on the outside and to pick up such
+opportunities of selling as might offer a reasonable return on the
+stock. The “bears” were determined to jam things down, and it all
+depended on how well the agents of Mollenhauer, Simpson, Butler, and
+others supported things in the street-railway world whether those
+stocks retained any strength or not. The last thing Butler had said the
+night before was that they would do the best they could. They would buy
+up to a certain point. Whether they would support the market
+indefinitely he would not say. He could not vouch for Mollenhauer and
+Simpson. Nor did he know the condition of their affairs.
+
+While the excitement was at its highest Cowperwood came in. As he stood
+in the door looking to catch the eye of Rivers, the ’change gong
+sounded, and trading stopped. All the brokers and traders faced about
+to the little balcony, where the secretary of the ’change made his
+announcements; and there he stood, the door open behind him, a small,
+dark, clerkly man of thirty-eight or forty, whose spare figure and pale
+face bespoke the methodic mind that knows no venturous thought. In his
+right hand he held a slip of white paper.
+
+“The American Fire Insurance Company of Boston announces its inability
+to meet its obligations.” The gong sounded again.
+
+Immediately the storm broke anew, more voluble than before, because, if
+after one hour of investigation on this Monday morning one insurance
+company had gone down, what would four or five hours or a day or two
+bring forth? It meant that men who had been burned out in Chicago would
+not be able to resume business. It meant that all loans connected with
+this concern had been, or would be called now. And the cries of
+frightened “bulls” offering thousand and five thousand lot holdings in
+Northern Pacific, Illinois Central, Reading, Lake Shore, Wabash; in all
+the local streetcar lines; and in Cowperwood’s city loans at constantly
+falling prices was sufficient to take the heart out of all concerned.
+He hurried to Arthur Rivers’s side in the lull; but there was little he
+could say.
+
+“It looks as though the Mollenhauer and Simpson crowds aren’t doing
+much for the market,” he observed, gravely.
+
+“They’ve had advices from New York,” explained Rivers solemnly. “It
+can’t be supported very well. There are three insurance companies over
+there on the verge of quitting, I understand. I expect to see them
+posted any minute.”
+
+They stepped apart from the pandemonium, to discuss ways and means.
+Under his agreement with Stener, Cowperwood could buy up to one hundred
+thousand dollars of city loan, above the customary wash sales, or
+market manipulation, by which they were making money. This was in case
+the market had to be genuinely supported. He decided to buy sixty
+thousand dollars worth now, and use this to sustain his loans
+elsewhere. Stener would pay him for this instantly, giving him more
+ready cash. It might help him in one way and another; and, anyhow, it
+might tend to strengthen the other securities long enough at least to
+allow him to realize a little something now at better than ruinous
+rates. If only he had the means “to go short” on this market! If only
+doing so did not really mean ruin to his present position. It was
+characteristic of the man that even in this crisis he should be seeing
+how the very thing that of necessity, because of his present
+obligations, might ruin him, might also, under slightly different
+conditions, yield him a great harvest. He could not take advantage of
+it, however. He could not be on both sides of this market. It was
+either “bear” or “bull,” and of necessity he was “bull.” It was strange
+but true. His subtlety could not avail him here. He was about to turn
+and hurry to see a certain banker who might loan him something on his
+house, when the gong struck again. Once more trading ceased. Arthur
+Rivers, from his position at the State securities post, where city loan
+was sold, and where he had started to buy for Cowperwood, looked
+significantly at him. Newton Targool hurried to Cowperwood’s side.
+
+“You’re up against it,” he exclaimed. “I wouldn’t try to sell against
+this market. It’s no use. They’re cutting the ground from under you.
+The bottom’s out. Things are bound to turn in a few days. Can’t you
+hold out? Here’s more trouble.”
+
+He raised his eyes to the announcer’s balcony.
+
+“The Eastern and Western Fire Insurance Company of New York announces
+that it cannot meet its obligations.”
+
+A low sound something like “Haw!” broke forth. The announcer’s gavel
+struck for order.
+
+“The Erie Fire Insurance Company of Rochester announces that it cannot
+meet its obligations.”
+
+Again that “H-a-a-a-w!”
+
+Once more the gavel.
+
+“The American Trust Company of New York has suspended payment.”
+
+“H-a-a-a-w!”
+
+The storm was on.
+
+“What do you think?” asked Targool. “You can’t brave this storm. Can’t
+you quit selling and hold out for a few days? Why not sell short?”
+
+“They ought to close this thing up,” Cowperwood said, shortly. “It
+would be a splendid way out. Then nothing could be done.”
+
+He hurried to consult with those who, finding themselves in a similar
+predicament with himself, might use their influence to bring it about.
+It was a sharp trick to play on those who, now finding the market
+favorable to their designs in its falling condition, were harvesting a
+fortune. But what was that to him? Business was business. There was no
+use selling at ruinous figures, and he gave his lieutenants orders to
+stop. Unless the bankers favored him heavily, or the stock exchange was
+closed, or Stener could be induced to deposit an additional three
+hundred thousand with him at once, he was ruined. He hurried down the
+street to various bankers and brokers suggesting that they do
+this—close the exchange. At a few minutes before twelve o’clock he
+drove rapidly to the station to meet Stener; but to his great
+disappointment the latter did not arrive. It looked as though he had
+missed his train. Cowperwood sensed something, some trick; and decided
+to go to the city hall and also to Stener’s house. Perhaps he had
+returned and was trying to avoid him.
+
+Not finding him at his office, he drove direct to his house. Here he
+was not surprised to meet Stener just coming out, looking very pale and
+distraught. At the sight of Cowperwood he actually blanched.
+
+“Why, hello, Frank,” he exclaimed, sheepishly, “where do you come
+from?”
+
+“What’s up, George?” asked Cowperwood. “I thought you were coming into
+Broad Street.”
+
+“So I was,” returned Stener, foolishly, “but I thought I would get off
+at West Philadelphia and change my clothes. I’ve a lot of things to
+’tend to yet this afternoon. I was coming in to see you.” After
+Cowperwood’s urgent telegram this was silly, but the young banker let
+it pass.
+
+“Jump in, George,” he said. “I have something very important to talk to
+you about. I told you in my telegram about the likelihood of a panic.
+It’s on. There isn’t a moment to lose. Stocks are way down, and most of
+my loans are being called. I want to know if you won’t let me have
+three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for a few days at four or five
+per cent. I’ll pay it all back to you. I need it very badly. If I don’t
+get it I’m likely to fail. You know what that means, George. It will
+tie up every dollar I have. Those street-car holdings of yours will be
+tied up with me. I won’t be able to let you realize on them, and that
+will put those loans of mine from the treasury in bad shape. You won’t
+be able to put the money back, and you know what that means. We’re in
+this thing together. I want to see you through safely, but I can’t do
+it without your help. I had to go to Butler last night to see about a
+loan of his, and I’m doing my best to get money from other sources. But
+I can’t see my way through on this, I’m afraid, unless you’re willing
+to help me.” Cowperwood paused. He wanted to put the whole case clearly
+and succinctly to him before he had a chance to refuse—to make him
+realize it as his own predicament.
+
+As a matter of fact, what Cowperwood had keenly suspected was literally
+true. Stener had been reached. The moment Butler and Simpson had left
+him the night before, Mollenhauer had sent for his very able secretary,
+Abner Sengstack, and despatched him to learn the truth about Stener’s
+whereabouts. Sengstack had then sent a long wire to Strobik, who was
+with Stener, urging him to caution the latter against Cowperwood. The
+state of the treasury was known. Stener and Strobik were to be met by
+Sengstack at Wilmington (this to forefend against the possibility of
+Cowperwood’s reaching Stener first)—and the whole state of affairs made
+perfectly plain. No more money was to be used under penalty of
+prosecution. If Stener wanted to see any one he must see Mollenhauer.
+Sengstack, having received a telegram from Strobik informing him of
+their proposed arrival at noon the next day, had proceeded to
+Wilmington to meet them. The result was that Stener did not come direct
+into the business heart of the city, but instead got off at West
+Philadelphia, proposing to go first to his house to change his clothes
+and then to see Mollenhauer before meeting Cowperwood. He was very
+badly frightened and wanted time to think.
+
+“I can’t do it, Frank,” he pleaded, piteously. “I’m in pretty bad in
+this matter. Mollenhauer’s secretary met the train out at Wilmington
+just now to warn me against this situation, and Strobik is against it.
+They know how much money I’ve got outstanding. You or somebody has told
+them. I can’t go against Mollenhauer. I owe everything I’ve got to him,
+in a way. He got me this place.”
+
+“Listen, George. Whatever you do at this time, don’t let this political
+loyalty stuff cloud your judgment. You’re in a very serious position
+and so am I. If you don’t act for yourself with me now no one is going
+to act for you—now or later—no one. And later will be too late. I
+proved that last night when I went to Butler to get help for the two of
+us. They all know about this business of our street-railway holdings
+and they want to shake us out and that’s the big and little of
+it—nothing more and nothing less. It’s a case of dog eat dog in this
+game and this particular situation and it’s up to us to save ourselves
+against everybody or go down together, and that’s just what I’m here to
+tell you. Mollenhauer doesn’t care any more for you to-day than he does
+for that lamp-post. It isn’t that money you’ve paid out to me that’s
+worrying him, but who’s getting something for it and what. Well they
+know that you and I are getting street-railways, don’t you see, and
+they don’t want us to have them. Once they get those out of our hands
+they won’t waste another day on you or me. Can’t you see that? Once
+we’ve lost all we’ve invested, you’re down and so am I—and no one is
+going to turn a hand for you or me politically or in any other way. I
+want you to understand that, George, because it’s true. And before you
+say you won’t or you will do anything because Mollenhauer says so, you
+want to think over what I have to tell you.”
+
+He was in front of Stener now, looking him directly in the eye and by
+the kinetic force of his mental way attempting to make Stener take the
+one step that might save him—Cowperwood—however little in the long run
+it might do for Stener. And, more interesting still, he did not care.
+Stener, as he saw him now, was a pawn in whosoever’s hands he happened
+to be at the time, and despite Mr. Mollenhauer and Mr. Simpson and Mr.
+Butler he proposed to attempt to keep him in his own hands if possible.
+And so he stood there looking at him as might a snake at a bird
+determined to galvanize him into selfish self-interest if possible. But
+Stener was so frightened that at the moment it looked as though there
+was little to be done with him. His face was a grayish-blue: his
+eyelids and eye rings puffy and his hands and lips moist. God, what a
+hole he was in now!
+
+“Say that’s all right, Frank,” he exclaimed desperately. “I know what
+you say is true. But look at me and my position, if I do give you this
+money. What can’t they do to me, and won’t. If you only look at it from
+my point of view. If only you hadn’t gone to Butler before you saw me.”
+
+“As though I could see you, George, when you were off duck shooting and
+when I was wiring everywhere I knew to try to get in touch with you.
+How could I? The situation had to be met. Besides, I thought Butler was
+more friendly to me than he proved. But there’s no use being angry with
+me now, George, for going to Butler as I did, and anyhow you can’t
+afford to be now. We’re in this thing together. It’s a case of sink or
+swim for just us two—not any one else—just us—don’t you get that?
+Butler couldn’t or wouldn’t do what I wanted him to do—get Mollenhauer
+and Simpson to support the market. Instead of that they are hammering
+it. They have a game of their own. It’s to shake us out—can’t you see
+that? Take everything that you and I have gathered. It is up to you and
+me, George, to save ourselves, and that’s what I’m here for now. If you
+don’t let me have three hundred and fifty thousand dollars—three
+hundred thousand, anyhow—you and I are ruined. It will be worse for
+you, George, than for me, for I’m not involved in this thing in any
+way—not legally, anyhow. But that’s not what I’m thinking of. What I
+want to do is to save us both—put us on easy street for the rest of our
+lives, whatever they say or do, and it’s in your power, with my help,
+to do that for both of us. Can’t you see that? I want to save my
+business so then I can help you to save your name and money.” He
+paused, hoping this had convinced Stener, but the latter was still
+shaking.
+
+“But what can I do, Frank?” he pleaded, weakly. “I can’t go against
+Mollenhauer. They can prosecute me if I do that. They can do it,
+anyhow. I can’t do that. I’m not strong enough. If they didn’t know, if
+you hadn’t told them, it might be different, but this way—” He shook
+his head sadly, his gray eyes filled with a pale distress.
+
+“George,” replied Cowperwood, who realized now that only the sternest
+arguments would have any effect here, “don’t talk about what I did.
+What I did I had to do. You’re in danger of losing your head and your
+nerve and making a serious mistake here, and I don’t want to see you
+make it. I have five hundred thousand of the city’s money invested for
+you—partly for me, and partly for you, but more for you than for
+me”—which, by the way, was not true—“and here you are hesitating in an
+hour like this as to whether you will protect your interest or not. I
+can’t understand it. This is a crisis, George. Stocks are tumbling on
+every side—everybody’s stocks. You’re not alone in this—neither am I.
+This is a panic, brought on by a fire, and you can’t expect to come out
+of a panic alive unless you do something to protect yourself. You say
+you owe your place to Mollenhauer and that you’re afraid of what he’ll
+do. If you look at your own situation and mine, you’ll see that it
+doesn’t make much difference what he does, so long as I don’t fail. If
+I fail, where are you? Who’s going to save you from prosecution? Will
+Mollenhauer or any one else come forward and put five hundred thousand
+dollars in the treasury for you? He will not. If Mollenhauer and the
+others have your interests at heart, why aren’t they helping me on
+’change today? I’ll tell you why. They want your street-railway
+holdings and mine, and they don’t care whether you go to jail afterward
+or not. Now if you’re wise you will listen to me. I’ve been loyal to
+you, haven’t I? You’ve made money through me—lots of it. If you’re
+wise, George, you’ll go to your office and write me your check for
+three hundred thousand dollars, anyhow, before you do a single other
+thing. Don’t see anybody and don’t do anything till you’ve done that.
+You can’t be hung any more for a sheep than you can for a lamb. No one
+can prevent you from giving me that check. You’re the city treasurer.
+Once I have that I can see my way out of this, and I’ll pay it all back
+to you next week or the week after—this panic is sure to end in that
+time. With that put back in the treasury we can see them about the five
+hundred thousand a little later. In three months, or less, I can fix it
+so that you can put that back. As a matter of fact, I can do it in
+fifteen days once I am on my feet again. Time is all I want. You won’t
+have lost your holdings and nobody will cause you any trouble if you
+put the money back. They don’t care to risk a scandal any more than you
+do. Now what’ll you do, George? Mollenhauer can’t stop you from doing
+this any more than I can make you. Your life is in your own hands. What
+will you do?”
+
+Stener stood there ridiculously meditating when, as a matter of fact,
+his very financial blood was oozing away. Yet he was afraid to act. He
+was afraid of Mollenhauer, afraid of Cowperwood, afraid of life and of
+himself. The thought of panic, loss, was not so much a definite thing
+connected with his own property, his money, as it was with his social
+and political standing in the community. Few people have the sense of
+financial individuality strongly developed. They do not know what it
+means to be a controller of wealth, to have that which releases the
+sources of social action—its medium of exchange. They want money, but
+not for money’s sake. They want it for what it will buy in the way of
+simple comforts, whereas the financier wants it for what it will
+control—for what it will represent in the way of dignity, force, power.
+Cowperwood wanted money in that way; Stener not. That was why he had
+been so ready to let Cowperwood act for him; and now, when he should
+have seen more clearly than ever the significance of what Cowperwood
+was proposing, he was frightened and his reason obscured by such things
+as Mollenhauer’s probable opposition and rage, Cowperwood’s possible
+failure, his own inability to face a real crisis. Cowperwood’s innate
+financial ability did not reassure Stener in this hour. The banker was
+too young, too new. Mollenhauer was older, richer. So was Simpson; so
+was Butler. These men, with their wealth, represented the big forces,
+the big standards in his world. And besides, did not Cowperwood himself
+confess that he was in great danger—that he was in a corner. That was
+the worst possible confession to make to Stener—although under the
+circumstances it was the only one that could be made—for he had no
+courage to face danger.
+
+So it was that now, Stener stood by Cowperwood meditating—pale,
+flaccid; unable to see the main line of his interests quickly, unable
+to follow it definitely, surely, vigorously—while they drove to his
+office. Cowperwood entered it with him for the sake of continuing his
+plea.
+
+“Well, George,” he said earnestly, “I wish you’d tell me. Time’s short.
+We haven’t a moment to lose. Give me the money, won’t you, and I’ll get
+out of this quick. We haven’t a moment, I tell you. Don’t let those
+people frighten you off. They’re playing their own little game; you
+play yours.”
+
+“I can’t, Frank,” said Stener, finally, very weakly, his sense of his
+own financial future, overcome for the time being by the thought of
+Mollenhauer’s hard, controlling face. “I’ll have to think. I can’t do
+it right now. Strobik just left me before I saw you, and—”
+
+“Good God, George,” exclaimed Cowperwood, scornfully, “don’t talk about
+Strobik! What’s he got to do with it? Think of yourself. Think of where
+you will be. It’s your future—not Strobik’s—that you have to think of.”
+
+“I know, Frank,” persisted Stener, weakly; “but, really, I don’t see
+how I can. Honestly I don’t. You say yourself you’re not sure whether
+you can come out of things all right, and three hundred thousand more
+is three hundred thousand more. I can’t, Frank. I really can’t. It
+wouldn’t be right. Besides, I want to talk to Mollenhauer first,
+anyhow.”
+
+“Good God, how you talk!” exploded Cowperwood, angrily, looking at him
+with ill-concealed contempt. “Go ahead! See Mollenhauer! Let him tell
+you how to cut your own throat for his benefit. It won’t be right to
+loan me three hundred thousand dollars more, but it will be right to
+let the five hundred thousand dollars you have loaned stand unprotected
+and lose it. That’s right, isn’t it? That’s just what you propose to
+do—lose it, and everything else besides. I want to tell you what it is,
+George—you’ve lost your mind. You’ve let a single message from
+Mollenhauer frighten you to death, and because of that you’re going to
+risk your fortune, your reputation, your standing—everything. Do you
+really realize what this means if I fail? You will be a convict, I tell
+you, George. You will go to prison. This fellow Mollenhauer, who is so
+quick to tell you what not to do now, will be the last man to turn a
+hand for you once you’re down. Why, look at me—I’ve helped you, haven’t
+I? Haven’t I handled your affairs satisfactorily for you up to now?
+What in Heaven’s name has got into you? What have you to be afraid of?”
+
+Stener was just about to make another weak rejoinder when the door from
+the outer office opened, and Albert Stires, Stener’s chief clerk,
+entered. Stener was too flustered to really pay any attention to Stires
+for the moment; but Cowperwood took matters in his own hands.
+
+“What is it, Albert?” he asked, familiarly.
+
+“Mr. Sengstack from Mr. Mollenhauer to see Mr. Stener.”
+
+At the sound of this dreadful name Stener wilted like a leaf.
+Cowperwood saw it. He realized that his last hope of getting the three
+hundred thousand dollars was now probably gone. Still he did not
+propose to give up as yet.
+
+“Well, George,” he said, after Albert had gone out with instructions
+that Stener would see Sengstack in a moment. “I see how it is. This man
+has got you mesmerized. You can’t act for yourself now—you’re too
+frightened. I’ll let it rest for the present; I’ll come back. But for
+Heaven’s sake pull yourself together. Think what it means. I’m telling
+you exactly what’s going to happen if you don’t. You’ll be
+independently rich if you do. You’ll be a convict if you don’t.”
+
+And deciding he would make one more effort in the street before seeing
+Butler again, he walked out briskly, jumped into his light spring
+runabout waiting outside—a handsome little yellow-glazed vehicle, with
+a yellow leather cushion seat, drawn by a young, high-stepping bay
+mare—and sent her scudding from door to door, throwing down the lines
+indifferently and bounding up the steps of banks and into office doors.
+
+But all without avail. All were interested, considerate; but things
+were very uncertain. The Girard National Bank refused an hour’s grace,
+and he had to send a large bundle of his most valuable securities to
+cover his stock shrinkage there. Word came from his father at two that
+as president of the Third National he would have to call for his one
+hundred and fifty thousand dollars due there. The directors were
+suspicious of his stocks. He at once wrote a check against fifty
+thousand dollars of his deposits in that bank, took twenty-five
+thousand of his available office funds, called a loan of fifty thousand
+against Tighe & Co., and sold sixty thousand Green & Coates, a line he
+had been tentatively dabbling in, for one-third their value—and,
+combining the general results, sent them all to the Third National. His
+father was immensely relieved from one point of view, but sadly
+depressed from another. He hurried out at the noon-hour to see what his
+own holdings would bring. He was compromising himself in a way by doing
+it, but his parental heart, as well as is own financial interests, were
+involved. By mortgaging his house and securing loans on his furniture,
+carriages, lots, and stocks, he managed to raise one hundred thousand
+in cash, and deposited it in his own bank to Frank’s credit; but it was
+a very light anchor to windward in this swirling storm, at that. Frank
+had been counting on getting all of his loans extended three or four
+days at least. Reviewing his situation at two o’clock of this Monday
+afternoon, he said to himself thoughtfully but grimly: “Well, Stener
+has to loan me three hundred thousand—that’s all there is to it. And
+I’ll have to see Butler now, or he’ll be calling his loan before
+three.”
+
+He hurried out, and was off to Butler’s house, driving like mad.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVI
+
+
+Things had changed greatly since last Cowperwood had talked with
+Butler. Although most friendly at the time the proposition was made
+that he should combine with Mollenhauer and Simpson to sustain the
+market, alas, now on this Monday morning at nine o’clock, an additional
+complication had been added to the already tangled situation which had
+changed Butler’s attitude completely. As he was leaving his home to
+enter his runabout, at nine o’clock in the morning of this same day in
+which Cowperwood was seeking Stener’s aid, the postman, coming up, had
+handed Butler four letters, all of which he paused for a moment to
+glance at. One was from a sub-contractor by the name of O’Higgins, the
+second was from Father Michel, his confessor, of St. Timothy’s,
+thanking him for a contribution to the parish poor fund; a third was
+from Drexel & Co. relating to a deposit, and the fourth was an
+anonymous communication, on cheap stationery from some one who was
+apparently not very literate—a woman most likely—written in a scrawling
+hand, which read:
+
+DEAR SIR—This is to warn you that your daughter Aileen is running
+around with a man that she shouldn’t, Frank A. Cowperwood, the banker.
+If you don’t believe it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street.
+Then you can see for yourself.
+
+
+There was neither signature nor mark of any kind to indicate from
+whence it might have come. Butler got the impression strongly that it
+might have been written by some one living in the vicinity of the
+number indicated. His intuitions were keen at times. As a matter of
+fact, it was written by a girl, a member of St. Timothy’s Church, who
+did live in the vicinity of the house indicated, and who knew Aileen by
+sight and was jealous of her airs and her position. She was a thin,
+anemic, dissatisfied creature who had the type of brain which can
+reconcile the gratification of personal spite with a comforting sense
+of having fulfilled a moral duty. Her home was some five doors north of
+the unregistered Cowperwood domicile on the opposite side of the
+street, and by degrees, in the course of time, she made out, or
+imagined that she had, the significance of this institution, piecing
+fact to fancy and fusing all with that keen intuition which is so
+closely related to fact. The result was eventually this letter which
+now spread clear and grim before Butler’s eyes.
+
+The Irish are a philosophic as well as a practical race. Their first
+and strongest impulse is to make the best of a bad situation—to put a
+better face on evil than it normally wears. On first reading these
+lines the intelligence they conveyed sent a peculiar chill over
+Butler’s sturdy frame. His jaw instinctively closed, and his gray eyes
+narrowed. Could this be true? If it were not, would the author of the
+letter say so practically, “If you don’t believe it, watch the house at
+931 North Tenth Street”? Wasn’t that in itself proof positive—the hard,
+matter-of-fact realism of it? And this was the man who had come to him
+the night before seeking aid—whom he had done so much to assist. There
+forced itself into his naturally slow-moving but rather accurate mind a
+sense of the distinction and charm of his daughter—a considerably
+sharper picture than he had ever had before, and at the same time a
+keener understanding of the personality of Frank Algernon Cowperwood.
+How was it he had failed to detect the real subtlety of this man? How
+was it he had never seen any sign of it, if there had been anything
+between Cowperwood and Aileen?
+
+Parents are frequently inclined, because of a time-flattered sense of
+security, to take their children for granted. Nothing ever has
+happened, so nothing ever will happen. They see their children every
+day, and through the eyes of affection; and despite their natural charm
+and their own strong parental love, the children are apt to become not
+only commonplaces, but ineffably secure against evil. Mary is naturally
+a good girl—a little wild, but what harm can befall her? John is a
+straight-forward, steady-going boy—how could he get into trouble? The
+astonishment of most parents at the sudden accidental revelation of
+evil in connection with any of their children is almost invariably
+pathetic. “My John! My Mary! Impossible!” But it is possible. Very
+possible. Decidedly likely. Some, through lack of experience or
+understanding, or both, grow hard and bitter on the instant. They feel
+themselves astonishingly abased in the face of notable tenderness and
+sacrifice. Others collapse before the grave manifestation of the
+insecurity and uncertainty of life—the mystic chemistry of our being.
+Still others, taught roughly by life, or endowed with understanding or
+intuition, or both, see in this the latest manifestation of that
+incomprehensible chemistry which we call _life_ and personality, and,
+knowing that it is quite vain to hope to gainsay it, save by greater
+subtlety, put the best face they can upon the matter and call a truce
+until they can think. We all know that life is unsolvable—we who think.
+The remainder imagine a vain thing, and are full of sound and fury
+signifying nothing.
+
+So Edward Butler, being a man of much wit and hard, grim experience,
+stood there on his doorstep holding in his big, rough hand his thin
+slip of cheap paper which contained such a terrific indictment of his
+daughter. There came to him now a picture of her as she was when she
+was a very little girl—she was his first baby girl—and how keenly he
+had felt about her all these years. She had been a beautiful child—her
+red-gold hair had been pillowed on his breast many a time, and his
+hard, rough fingers had stroked her soft cheeks, lo, these thousands of
+times. Aileen, his lovely, dashing daughter of twenty-three! He was
+lost in dark, strange, unhappy speculations, without any present
+ability to think or say or do the right thing. He did not know what the
+right thing was, he finally confessed to himself. Aileen! Aileen! His
+Aileen! If her mother knew this it would break her heart. She mustn’t!
+She mustn’t! And yet mustn’t she?
+
+The heart of a father! The world wanders into many strange by-paths of
+affection. The love of a mother for her children is dominant, leonine,
+selfish, and unselfish. It is concentric. The love of a husband for his
+wife, or of a lover for his sweetheart, is a sweet bond of agreement
+and exchange trade in a lovely contest. The love of a father for his
+son or daughter, where it is love at all, is a broad, generous, sad,
+contemplative giving without thought of return, a hail and farewell to
+a troubled traveler whom he would do much to guard, a balanced judgment
+of weakness and strength, with pity for failure and pride in
+achievement. It is a lovely, generous, philosophic blossom which rarely
+asks too much, and seeks only to give wisely and plentifully. “That my
+boy may succeed! That my daughter may be happy!” Who has not heard and
+dwelt upon these twin fervors of fatherly wisdom and tenderness?
+
+As Butler drove downtown his huge, slow-moving, in some respects
+chaotic mind turned over as rapidly as he could all of the
+possibilities in connection with this unexpected, sad, and disturbing
+revelation. Why had Cowperwood not been satisfied with his wife? Why
+should he enter into his (Butler’s) home, of all places, to establish a
+clandestine relationship of this character? Was Aileen in any way to
+blame? She was not without mental resources of her own. She must have
+known what she was doing. She was a good Catholic, or, at least, had
+been raised so. All these years she had been going regularly to
+confession and communion. True, of late Butler had noticed that she did
+not care so much about going to church, would sometimes make excuses
+and stay at home on Sundays; but she had gone, as a rule. And now,
+now—his thoughts would come to the end of a blind alley, and then he
+would start back, as it were, mentally, to the center of things, and
+begin all over again.
+
+He went up the stairs to his own office slowly. He went in and sat
+down, and thought and thought. Ten o’clock came, and eleven. His son
+bothered him with an occasional matter of interest, but, finding him
+moody, finally abandoned him to his own speculations. It was twelve,
+and then one, and he was still sitting there thinking, when the
+presence of Cowperwood was announced.
+
+Cowperwood, on finding Butler not at home, and not encountering Aileen,
+had hurried up to the office of the Edward Butler Contracting Company,
+which was also the center of some of Butler’s street-railway interests.
+The floor space controlled by the company was divided into the usual
+official compartments, with sections for the bookkeepers, the
+road-managers, the treasurer, and so on. Owen Butler, and his father
+had small but attractively furnished offices in the rear, where they
+transacted all the important business of the company.
+
+During this drive, curiously, by reason of one of those strange
+psychologic intuitions which so often precede a human difficulty of one
+sort or another, he had been thinking of Aileen. He was thinking of the
+peculiarity of his relationship with her, and of the fact that now he
+was running to her father for assistance. As he mounted the stairs he
+had a peculiar sense of the untoward; but he could not, in his view of
+life, give it countenance. One glance at Butler showed him that
+something had gone amiss. He was not so friendly; his glance was dark,
+and there was a certain sternness to his countenance which had never
+previously been manifested there in Cowperwood’s memory. He perceived
+at once that here was something different from a mere intention to
+refuse him aid and call his loan. What was it? Aileen? It must be that.
+Somebody had suggested something. They had been seen together. Well,
+even so, nothing could be proved. Butler would obtain no sign from him.
+But his loan—that was to be called, surely. And as for an additional
+loan, he could see now, before a word had been said, that that thought
+was useless.
+
+“I came to see you about that loan of yours, Mr. Butler,” he observed,
+briskly, with an old-time, jaunty air. You could not have told from his
+manner or his face that he had observed anything out of the ordinary.
+
+Butler, who was alone in the room—Owen having gone into an adjoining
+room—merely stared at him from under his shaggy brows.
+
+“I’ll have to have that money,” he said, brusquely, darkly.
+
+An old-time Irish rage suddenly welled up in his bosom as he
+contemplated this jaunty, sophisticated undoer of his daughter’s
+virtue. He fairly glared at him as he thought of him and her.
+
+“I judged from the way things were going this morning that you might
+want it,” Cowperwood replied, quietly, without sign of tremor. “The
+bottom’s out, I see.”
+
+“The bottom’s out, and it’ll not be put back soon, I’m thinkin’. I’ll
+have to have what’s belongin’ to me to-day. I haven’t any time to
+spare.”
+
+“Very well,” replied Cowperwood, who saw clearly how treacherous the
+situation was. The old man was in a dour mood. His presence was an
+irritation to him, for some reason—a deadly provocation. Cowperwood
+felt clearly that it must be Aileen, that he must know or suspect
+something.
+
+He must pretend business hurry and end this. “I’m sorry. I thought I
+might get an extension; but that’s all right. I can get the money,
+though. I’ll send it right over.”
+
+He turned and walked quickly to the door.
+
+Butler got up. He had thought to manage this differently.
+
+He had thought to denounce or even assault this man. He was about to
+make some insinuating remark which would compel an answer, some direct
+charge; but Cowperwood was out and away as jaunty as ever.
+
+The old man was flustered, enraged, disappointed. He opened the small
+office door which led into the adjoining room, and called, “Owen!”
+
+“Yes, father.”
+
+“Send over to Cowperwood’s office and get that money.”
+
+“You decided to call it, eh?”
+
+“I have.”
+
+Owen was puzzled by the old man’s angry mood. He wondered what it all
+meant, but thought he and Cowperwood might have had a few words. He
+went out to his desk to write a note and call a clerk. Butler went to
+the window and stared out. He was angry, bitter, brutal in his vein.
+
+“The dirty dog!” he suddenly exclaimed to himself, in a low voice.
+“I’ll take every dollar he’s got before I’m through with him. I’ll send
+him to jail, I will. I’ll break him, I will. Wait!”
+
+He clinched his big fists and his teeth.
+
+“I’ll fix him. I’ll show him. The dog! The damned scoundrel!”
+
+Never in his life before had he been so bitter, so cruel, so relentless
+in his mood.
+
+He walked his office floor thinking what he could do. Question
+Aileen—that was what he would do. If her face, or her lips, told him
+that his suspicion was true, he would deal with Cowperwood later. This
+city treasurer business, now. It was not a crime in so far as
+Cowperwood was concerned; but it might be made to be.
+
+So now, telling the clerk to say to Owen that he had gone down the
+street for a few moments, he boarded a street-car and rode out to his
+home, where he found his elder daughter just getting ready to go out.
+She wore a purple-velvet street dress edged with narrow, flat gilt
+braid, and a striking gold-and-purple turban. She had on dainty new
+boots of bronze kid and long gloves of lavender suede. In her ears was
+one of her latest affectations, a pair of long jet earrings. The old
+Irishman realized on this occasion, when he saw her, perhaps more
+clearly than he ever had in his life, that he had grown a bird of rare
+plumage.
+
+“Where are you going, daughter?” he asked, with a rather unsuccessful
+attempt to conceal his fear, distress, and smoldering anger.
+
+“To the library,” she said easily, and yet with a sudden realization
+that all was not right with her father. His face was too heavy and
+gray. He looked tired and gloomy.
+
+“Come up to my office a minute,” he said. “I want to see you before you
+go.”
+
+Aileen heard this with a strange feeling of curiosity and wonder. It
+was not customary for her father to want to see her in his office just
+when she was going out; and his manner indicated, in this instance,
+that the exceptional procedure portended a strange revelation of some
+kind. Aileen, like every other person who offends against a rigid
+convention of the time, was conscious of and sensitive to the possible
+disastrous results which would follow exposure. She had often thought
+about what her family would think if they knew what she was doing; she
+had never been able to satisfy herself in her mind as to what they
+would do. Her father was a very vigorous man. But she had never known
+him to be cruel or cold in his attitude toward her or any other member
+of the family, and especially not toward her. Always he seemed too fond
+of her to be completely alienated by anything that might happen; yet
+she could not be sure.
+
+Butler led the way, planting his big feet solemnly on the steps as he
+went up. Aileen followed with a single glance at herself in the tall
+pier-mirror which stood in the hall, realizing at once how charming she
+looked and how uncertain she was feeling about what was to follow. What
+could her father want? It made the color leave her cheeks for the
+moment, as she thought what he might want.
+
+Butler strolled into his stuffy room and sat down in the big leather
+chair, disproportioned to everything else in the chamber, but which,
+nevertheless, accompanied his desk. Before him, against the light, was
+the visitor’s chair, in which he liked to have those sit whose faces he
+was anxious to study. When Aileen entered he motioned her to it, which
+was also ominous to her, and said, “Sit down there.”
+
+She took the seat, not knowing what to make of his procedure. On the
+instant her promise to Cowperwood to deny everything, whatever
+happened, came back to her. If her father was about to attack her on
+that score, he would get no satisfaction, she thought. She owed it to
+Frank. Her pretty face strengthened and hardened on the instant. Her
+small, white teeth set themselves in two even rows; and her father saw
+quite plainly that she was consciously bracing herself for an attack of
+some kind. He feared by this that she was guilty, and he was all the
+more distressed, ashamed, outraged, made wholly unhappy. He fumbled in
+the left-hand pocket of his coat and drew forth from among the various
+papers the fatal communication so cheap in its physical texture. His
+big fingers fumbled almost tremulously as he fished the letter-sheet
+out of the small envelope and unfolded it without saying a word. Aileen
+watched his face and his hands, wondering what it could be that he had
+here. He handed the paper over, small in his big fist, and said, “Read
+that.”
+
+Aileen took it, and for a second was relieved to be able to lower her
+eyes to the paper. Her relief vanished in a second, when she realized
+how in a moment she would have to raise them again and look him in the
+face.
+
+DEAR SIR—This is to warn you that your daughter Aileen is running
+around with a man that she shouldn’t, Frank A. Cowperwood, the banker.
+If you don’t believe it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street.
+Then you can see for yourself.
+
+
+In spite of herself the color fled from her cheeks instantly, only to
+come back in a hot, defiant wave.
+
+“Why, what a lie!” she said, lifting her eyes to her father’s. “To
+think that any one should write such a thing of me! How dare they! I
+think it’s a shame!”
+
+Old Butler looked at her narrowly, solemnly. He was not deceived to any
+extent by her bravado. If she were really innocent, he knew she would
+have jumped to her feet in her defiant way. Protest would have been
+written all over her. As it was, she only stared haughtily. He read
+through her eager defiance to the guilty truth.
+
+“How do ye know, daughter, that I haven’t had the house watched?” he
+said, quizzically. “How do ye know that ye haven’t been seen goin’ in
+there?”
+
+Only Aileen’s solemn promise to her lover could have saved her from
+this subtle thrust. As it was, she paled nervously; but she saw Frank
+Cowperwood, solemn and distinguished, asking her what she would say if
+she were caught.
+
+“It’s a lie!” she said, catching her breath. “I wasn’t at any house at
+that number, and no one saw me going in there. How can you ask me that,
+father?”
+
+In spite of his mixed feelings of uncertainty and yet unshakable belief
+that his daughter was guilty, he could not help admiring her
+courage—she was so defiant, as she sat there, so set in her
+determination to lie and thus defend herself. Her beauty helped her in
+his mood, raised her in his esteem. After all, what could you do with a
+woman of this kind? She was not a ten-year-old girl any more, as in a
+way he sometimes continued to fancy her.
+
+“Ye oughtn’t to say that if it isn’t true, Aileen,” he said. “Ye
+oughtn’t to lie. It’s against your faith. Why would anybody write a
+letter like that if it wasn’t so?”
+
+“But it’s not so,” insisted Aileen, pretending anger and outraged
+feeling, “and I don’t think you have any right to sit there and say
+that to me. I haven’t been there, and I’m not running around with Mr.
+Cowperwood. Why, I hardly know the man except in a social way.”
+
+Butler shook his head solemnly.
+
+“It’s a great blow to me, daughter. It’s a great blow to me,” he said.
+“I’m willing to take your word if ye say so; but I can’t help thinkin’
+what a sad thing it would be if ye were lyin’ to me. I haven’t had the
+house watched. I only got this this mornin’. And what’s written here
+may not be so. I hope it isn’t. But we’ll not say any more about that
+now. If there is anythin’ in it, and ye haven’t gone too far yet to
+save yourself, I want ye to think of your mother and your sister and
+your brothers, and be a good girl. Think of the church ye was raised
+in, and the name we’ve got to stand up for in the world. Why, if ye
+were doin’ anything wrong, and the people of Philadelphy got a hold of
+it, the city, big as it is, wouldn’t be big enough to hold us. Your
+brothers have got a reputation to make, their work to do here. You and
+your sister want to get married sometime. How could ye expect to look
+the world in the face and do anythin’ at all if ye are doin’ what this
+letter says ye are, and it was told about ye?”
+
+The old man’s voice was thick with a strange, sad, alien emotion. He
+did not want to believe that his daughter was guilty, even though he
+knew she was. He did not want to face what he considered in his
+vigorous, religious way to be his duty, that of reproaching her
+sternly. There were some fathers who would have turned her out, he
+fancied. There were others who might possibly kill Cowperwood after a
+subtle investigation. That course was not for him. If vengeance he was
+to have, it must be through politics and finance—he must drive him out.
+But as for doing anything desperate in connection with Aileen, he could
+not think of it.
+
+“Oh, father,” returned Aileen, with considerable histrionic ability in
+her assumption of pettishness, “how can you talk like this when you
+know I’m not guilty? When I tell you so?”
+
+The old Irishman saw through her make-believe with profound sadness—the
+feeling that one of his dearest hopes had been shattered. He had
+expected so much of her socially and matrimonially. Why, any one of a
+dozen remarkable young men might have married her, and she would have
+had lovely children to comfort him in his old age.
+
+“Well, we’ll not talk any more about it now, daughter,” he said,
+wearily. “Ye’ve been so much to me during all these years that I can
+scarcely belave anythin’ wrong of ye. I don’t want to, God knows. Ye’re
+a grown woman, though, now; and if ye are doin’ anythin’ wrong I don’t
+suppose I could do so much to stop ye. I might turn ye out, of course,
+as many a father would; but I wouldn’t like to do anythin’ like that.
+But if ye are doin’ anythin’ wrong”—and he put up his hand to stop a
+proposed protest on the part of Aileen—“remember, I’m certain to find
+it out in the long run, and Philadelphy won’t be big enough to hold me
+and the man that’s done this thing to me. I’ll get him,” he said,
+getting up dramatically. “I’ll get him, and when I do—” He turned a
+livid face to the wall, and Aileen saw clearly that Cowperwood, in
+addition to any other troubles which might beset him, had her father to
+deal with. Was this why Frank had looked so sternly at her the night
+before?
+
+“Why, your mother would die of a broken heart if she thought there was
+anybody could say the least word against ye,” pursued Butler, in a
+shaken voice. “This man has a family—a wife and children, Ye oughtn’t
+to want to do anythin’ to hurt them. They’ll have trouble enough, if
+I’m not mistaken—facin’ what’s comin’ to them in the future,” and
+Butler’s jaw hardened just a little. “Ye’re a beautiful girl. Ye’re
+young. Ye have money. There’s dozens of young men’d be proud to make ye
+their wife. Whatever ye may be thinkin’ or doin’, don’t throw away your
+life. Don’t destroy your immortal soul. Don’t break my heart entirely.”
+
+Aileen, not ungenerous—fool of mingled affection and passion—could now
+have cried. She pitied her father from her heart; but her allegiance
+was to Cowperwood, her loyalty unshaken. She wanted to say something,
+to protest much more; but she knew that it was useless. Her father knew
+that she was lying.
+
+“Well, there’s no use of my saying anything more, father,” she said,
+getting up. The light of day was fading in the windows. The downstairs
+door closed with a light slam, indicating that one of the boys had come
+in. Her proposed trip to the library was now without interest to her.
+“You won’t believe me, anyhow. I tell you, though, that I’m innocent
+just the same.”
+
+Butler lifted his big, brown hand to command silence. She saw that this
+shameful relationship, as far as her father was concerned, had been
+made quite clear, and that this trying conference was now at an end.
+She turned and walked shamefacedly out. He waited until he heard her
+steps fading into faint nothings down the hall toward her room. Then he
+arose. Once more he clinched his big fists.
+
+“The scoundrel!” he said. “The scoundrel! I’ll drive him out of
+Philadelphy, if it takes the last dollar I have in the world.”
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVII
+
+
+For the first time in his life Cowperwood felt conscious of having been
+in the presence of that interesting social phenomenon—the outraged
+sentiment of a parent. While he had no absolute knowledge as to why
+Butler had been so enraged, he felt that Aileen was the contributing
+cause. He himself was a father. His boy, Frank, Jr., was to him not so
+remarkable. But little Lillian, with her dainty little slip of a body
+and bright-aureoled head, had always appealed to him. She was going to
+be a charming woman one day, he thought, and he was going to do much to
+establish her safely. He used to tell her that she had “eyes like
+buttons,” “feet like a pussy-cat,” and hands that were “just five
+cents’ worth,” they were so little. The child admired her father and
+would often stand by his chair in the library or the sitting-room, or
+his desk in his private office, or by his seat at the table, asking him
+questions.
+
+This attitude toward his own daughter made him see clearly how Butler
+might feel toward Aileen. He wondered how he would feel if it were his
+own little Lillian, and still he did not believe he would make much
+fuss over the matter, either with himself or with her, if she were as
+old as Aileen. Children and their lives were more or less above the
+willing of parents, anyhow, and it would be a difficult thing for any
+parent to control any child, unless the child were naturally
+docile-minded and willing to be controlled.
+
+It also made him smile, in a grim way, to see how fate was raining
+difficulties on him. The Chicago fire, Stener’s early absence, Butler,
+Mollenhauer, and Simpson’s indifference to Stener’s fate and his. And
+now this probable revelation in connection with Aileen. He could not be
+sure as yet, but his intuitive instincts told him that it must be
+something like this.
+
+Now he was distressed as to what Aileen would do, say if suddenly she
+were confronted by her father. If he could only get to her! But if he
+was to meet Butler’s call for his loan, and the others which would come
+yet to-day or on the morrow, there was not a moment to lose. If he did
+not pay he must assign at once. Butler’s rage, Aileen, his own danger,
+were brushed aside for the moment. His mind concentrated wholly on how
+to save himself financially.
+
+He hurried to visit George Waterman; David Wiggin, his wife’s brother,
+who was now fairly well to do; Joseph Zimmerman, the wealthy dry-goods
+dealer who had dealt with him in the past; Judge Kitchen, a private
+manipulator of considerable wealth; Frederick Van Nostrand, the State
+treasurer, who was interested in local street-railway stocks, and
+others. Of all those to whom he appealed one was actually not in a
+position to do anything for him; another was afraid; a third was
+calculating eagerly to drive a hard bargain; a fourth was too
+deliberate, anxious to have much time. All scented the true value of
+his situation, all wanted time to consider, and he had no time to
+consider. Judge Kitchen did agree to lend him thirty thousand dollars—a
+paltry sum. Joseph Zimmerman would only risk twenty-five thousand
+dollars. He could see where, all told, he might raise seventy-five
+thousand dollars by hypothecating double the amount in shares; but this
+was ridiculously insufficient. He had figured again, to a dollar, and
+he must have at least two hundred and fifty thousand dollars above all
+his present holdings, or he must close his doors. To-morrow at two
+o’clock he would know. If he didn’t he would be written down as
+“failed” on a score of ledgers in Philadelphia.
+
+What a pretty pass for one to come to whose hopes had so recently run
+so high! There was a loan of one hundred thousand dollars from the
+Girard National Bank which he was particularly anxious to clear off.
+This bank was the most important in the city, and if he retained its
+good will by meeting this loan promptly he might hope for favors in the
+future whatever happened. Yet, at the moment, he did not see how he
+could do it. He decided, however, after some reflection, that he would
+deliver the stocks which Judge Kitchen, Zimmerman, and others had
+agreed to take and get their checks or cash yet this night. Then he
+would persuade Stener to let him have a check for the sixty thousand
+dollars’ worth of city loan he had purchased this morning on ’change.
+Out of it he could take twenty-five thousand dollars to make up the
+balance due the bank, and still have thirty-five thousand for himself.
+
+The one unfortunate thing about such an arrangement was that by doing
+it he was building up a rather complicated situation in regard to these
+same certificates. Since their purchase in the morning, he had not
+deposited them in the sinking-fund, where they belonged (they had been
+delivered to his office by half past one in the afternoon), but, on the
+contrary, had immediately hypothecated them to cover another loan. It
+was a risky thing to have done, considering that he was in danger of
+failing and that he was not absolutely sure of being able to take them
+up in time.
+
+But, he reasoned, he had a working agreement with the city treasurer
+(illegal of course), which would make such a transaction rather
+plausible, and almost all right, even if he failed, and that was that
+none of his accounts were supposed necessarily to be put straight until
+the end of the month. If he failed, and the certificates were not in
+the sinking-fund, he could say, as was the truth, that he was in the
+habit of taking his time, and had forgotten. This collecting of a
+check, therefore, for these as yet undeposited certificates would be
+technically, if not legally and morally, plausible. The city would be
+out only an additional sixty thousand dollars—making five hundred and
+sixty thousand dollars all told, which in view of its probable loss of
+five hundred thousand did not make so much difference. But his caution
+clashed with his need on this occasion, and he decided that he would
+not call for the check unless Stener finally refused to aid him with
+three hundred thousand more, in which case he would claim it as his
+right. In all likelihood Stener would not think to ask whether the
+certificates were in the sinking-fund or not. If he did, he would have
+to lie—that was all.
+
+He drove rapidly back to his office, and, finding Butler’s note, as he
+expected, wrote a check on his father’s bank for the one hundred
+thousand dollars which had been placed to his credit by his loving
+parent, and sent it around to Butler’s office. There was another note,
+from Albert Stires, Stener’s secretary, advising him not to buy or sell
+any more city loan—that until further notice such transactions would
+not be honored. Cowperwood immediately sensed the source of this
+warning. Stener had been in conference with Butler or Mollenhauer, and
+had been warned and frightened. Nevertheless, he got in his buggy again
+and drove directly to the city treasurer’s office.
+
+Since Cowperwood’s visit Stener had talked still more with Sengstack,
+Strobik, and others, all sent to see that a proper fear of things
+financial had been put in his heart. The result was decidedly one which
+spelled opposition to Cowperwood.
+
+Strobik was considerably disturbed himself. He and Wycroft and Harmon
+had also been using money out of the treasury—much smaller sums, of
+course, for they had not Cowperwood’s financial imagination—and were
+disturbed as to how they would return what they owed before the storm
+broke. If Cowperwood failed, and Stener was short in his accounts, the
+whole budget might be investigated, and then their loans would be
+brought to light. The thing to do was to return what they owed, and
+then, at least, no charge of malfeasance would lie against them.
+
+“Go to Mollenhauer,” Strobik had advised Stener, shortly after
+Cowperwood had left the latter’s office, “and tell him the whole story.
+He put you here. He was strong for your nomination. Tell him just where
+you stand and ask him what to do. He’ll probably be able to tell you.
+Offer him your holdings to help you out. You have to. You can’t help
+yourself. Don’t loan Cowperwood another damned dollar, whatever you do.
+He’s got you in so deep now you can hardly hope to get out. Ask
+Mollenhauer if he won’t help you to get Cowperwood to put that money
+back. He may be able to influence him.”
+
+There was more in this conversation to the same effect, and then Stener
+hurried as fast as his legs could carry him to Mollenhauer’s office. He
+was so frightened that he could scarcely breathe, and he was quite
+ready to throw himself on his knees before the big German-American
+financier and leader. Oh, if Mr. Mollenhauer would only help him! If he
+could just get out of this without going to jail!
+
+“Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!” he repeated, over and over to himself,
+as he walked. “What shall I do?”
+
+The attitude of Henry A. Mollenhauer, grim, political boss that he
+was—trained in a hard school—was precisely the attitude of every such
+man in all such trying circumstances.
+
+He was wondering, in view of what Butler had told him, just how much he
+could advantage himself in this situation. If he could, he wanted to
+get control of whatever street-railway stock Stener now had, without in
+any way compromising himself. Stener’s shares could easily be
+transferred on ’change through Mollenhauer’s brokers to a dummy, who
+would eventually transfer them to himself (Mollenhauer). Stener must be
+squeezed thoroughly, though, this afternoon, and as for his five
+hundred thousand dollars’ indebtedness to the treasury, Mollenhauer did
+not see what could be done about that. If Cowperwood could not pay it,
+the city would have to lose it; but the scandal must be hushed up until
+after election. Stener, unless the various party leaders had more
+generosity than Mollenhauer imagined, would have to suffer exposure,
+arrest, trial, confiscation of his property, and possibly sentence to
+the penitentiary, though this might easily be commuted by the governor,
+once public excitement died down. He did not trouble to think whether
+Cowperwood was criminally involved or not. A hundred to one he was not.
+Trust a shrewd man like that to take care of himself. But if there was
+any way to shoulder the blame on to Cowperwood, and so clear the
+treasurer and the skirts of the party, he would not object to that. He
+wanted to hear the full story of Stener’s relations with the broker
+first. Meanwhile, the thing to do was to seize what Stener had to
+yield.
+
+The troubled city treasurer, on being shown in Mr. Mollenhauer’s
+presence, at once sank feebly in a chair and collapsed. He was entirely
+done for mentally. His nerve was gone, his courage exhausted like a
+breath.
+
+“Well, Mr. Stener?” queried Mr. Mollenhauer, impressively, pretending
+not to know what brought him.
+
+“I came about this matter of my loans to Mr. Cowperwood.”
+
+“Well, what about them?”
+
+“Well, he owes me, or the city treasury rather, five hundred thousand
+dollars, and I understand that he is going to fail and that he can’t
+pay it back.”
+
+“Who told you that?”
+
+“Mr. Sengstack, and since then Mr. Cowperwood has been to see me. He
+tells me he must have more money or he will fail and he wants to borrow
+three hundred thousand dollars more. He says he must have it.”
+
+“So!” said Mr. Mollenhauer, impressively, and with an air of
+astonishment which he did not feel. “You would not think of doing that,
+of course. You’re too badly involved as it is. If he wants to know why,
+refer him to me. Don’t advance him another dollar. If you do, and this
+case comes to trial, no court would have any mercy on you. It’s going
+to be difficult enough to do anything for you as it is. However, if you
+don’t advance him any more—we will see. It may be possible, I can’t
+say, but at any rate, no more money must leave the treasury to bolster
+up this bad business. It’s much too difficult as it now is.” He stared
+at Stener warningly. And he, shaken and sick, yet because of the faint
+suggestion of mercy involved somewhere in Mollenhauer’s remarks, now
+slipped from his chair to his knees and folded his hands in the
+uplifted attitude of a devotee before a sacred image.
+
+“Oh, Mr. Mollenhauer,” he choked, beginning to cry, “I didn’t mean to
+do anything wrong. Strobik and Wycroft told me it was all right. You
+sent me to Cowperwood in the first place. I only did what I thought the
+others had been doing. Mr. Bode did it, just like I have been doing. He
+dealt with Tighe and Company. I have a wife and four children, Mr.
+Mollenhauer. My youngest boy is only seven years old. Think of them,
+Mr. Mollenhauer! Think of what my arrest will mean to them! I don’t
+want to go to jail. I didn’t think I was doing anything very
+wrong—honestly I didn’t. I’ll give up all I’ve got. You can have all my
+stocks and houses and lots—anything—if you’ll only get me out of this.
+You won’t let ’em send me to jail, will you?”
+
+His fat, white lips were trembling—wabbling nervously—and big hot tears
+were coursing down his previously pale but now flushed cheeks. He
+presented one of those almost unbelievable pictures which are yet so
+intensely human and so true. If only the great financial and political
+giants would for once accurately reveal the details of their lives!
+
+Mollenhauer looked at him calmly, meditatively. How often had he seen
+weaklings no more dishonest than himself, but without his courage and
+subtlety, pleading to him in this fashion, not on their knees exactly,
+but intellectually so! Life to him, as to every other man of large
+practical knowledge and insight, was an inexplicable tangle. What were
+you going to do about the so-called morals and precepts of the world?
+This man Stener fancied that he was dishonest, and that he,
+Mollenhauer, was honest. He was here, self-convicted of sin, pleading
+to him, Mollenhauer, as he would to a righteous, unstained saint. As a
+matter of fact, Mollenhauer knew that he was simply shrewder, more
+far-seeing, more calculating, not less dishonest. Stener was lacking in
+force and brains—not morals. This lack was his principal crime. There
+were people who believed in some esoteric standard of right—some ideal
+of conduct absolutely and very far removed from practical life; but he
+had never seen them practice it save to their own financial (not
+moral—he would not say that) destruction. They were never significant,
+practical men who clung to these fatuous ideals. They were always poor,
+nondescript, negligible dreamers. He could not have made Stener
+understand all this if he had wanted to, and he certainly did not want
+to. It was too bad about Mrs. Stener and the little Steners. No doubt
+she had worked hard, as had Stener, to get up in the world and be
+something—just a little more than miserably poor; and now this
+unfortunate complication had to arise to undo them—this Chicago fire.
+What a curious thing that was! If any one thing more than another made
+him doubt the existence of a kindly, overruling Providence, it was the
+unheralded storms out of clear skies—financial, social, anything you
+choose—that so often brought ruin and disaster to so many.
+
+“Get Up, Stener,” he said, calmly, after a few moments. “You mustn’t
+give way to your feelings like this. You must not cry. These troubles
+are never unraveled by tears. You must do a little thinking for
+yourself. Perhaps your situation isn’t so bad.”
+
+As he was saying this Stener was putting himself back in his chair,
+getting out his handkerchief, and sobbing hopelessly in it.
+
+“I’ll do what I can, Stener. I won’t promise anything. I can’t tell you
+what the result will be. There are many peculiar political forces in
+this city. I may not be able to save you, but I am perfectly willing to
+try. You must put yourself absolutely under my direction. You must not
+say or do anything without first consulting with me. I will send my
+secretary to you from time to time. He will tell you what to do. You
+must not come to me unless I send for you. Do you understand that
+thoroughly?”
+
+“Yes, Mr. Mollenhauer.”
+
+“Well, now, dry your eyes. I don’t want you to go out of this office
+crying. Go back to your office, and I will send Sengstack to see you.
+He will tell you what to do. Follow him exactly. And whenever I send
+for you come at once.”
+
+He got up, large, self-confident, reserved. Stener, buoyed up by the
+subtle reassurance of his remarks, recovered to a degree his
+equanimity. Mr. Mollenhauer, the great, powerful Mr. Mollenhauer was
+going to help him out of his scrape. He might not have to go to jail
+after all. He left after a few moments, his face a little red from
+weeping, but otherwise free of telltale marks, and returned to his
+office.
+
+Three-quarters of an hour later, Sengstack called on him for the second
+time that day—Abner Sengstack, small, dark-faced, club-footed, a great
+sole of leather three inches thick under his short, withered right leg,
+his slightly Slavic, highly intelligent countenance burning with a pair
+of keen, piercing, inscrutable black eyes. Sengstack was a fit
+secretary for Mollenhauer. You could see at one glance that he would
+make Stener do exactly what Mollenhauer suggested. His business was to
+induce Stener to part with his street-railway holdings at once through
+Tighe & Co., Butler’s brokers, to the political sub-agent who would
+eventually transfer them to Mollenhauer. What little Stener received
+for them might well go into the treasury. Tighe & Co. would manage the
+“’change” subtleties of this without giving any one else a chance to
+bid, while at the same time making it appear an open-market
+transaction. At the same time Sengstack went carefully into the state
+of the treasurer’s office for his master’s benefit—finding out what it
+was that Strobik, Wycroft, and Harmon had been doing with their loans.
+Via another source they were ordered to disgorge at once or face
+prosecution. They were a part of Mollenhauer’s political machine. Then,
+having cautioned Stener not to set over the remainder of his property
+to any one, and not to listen to any one, most of all to the
+Machiavellian counsel of Cowperwood, Sengstack left.
+
+Needless to say, Mollenhauer was greatly gratified by this turn of
+affairs. Cowperwood was now most likely in a position where he would
+have to come and see him, or if not, a good share of the properties he
+controlled were already in Mollenhauer’s possession. If by some hook or
+crook he could secure the remainder, Simpson and Butler might well talk
+to him about this street-railway business. His holdings were now as
+large as any, if not quite the largest.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVIII
+
+
+It was in the face of this very altered situation that Cowperwood
+arrived at Stener’s office late this Monday afternoon.
+
+Stener was quite alone, worried and distraught. He was anxious to see
+Cowperwood, and at the same time afraid.
+
+“George,” began Cowperwood, briskly, on seeing him, “I haven’t much
+time to spare now, but I’ve come, finally, to tell you that you’ll have
+to let me have three hundred thousand more if you don’t want me to
+fail. Things are looking very bad today. They’ve caught me in a corner
+on my loans; but this storm isn’t going to last. You can see by the
+very character of it that it can’t.”
+
+He was looking at Stener’s face, and seeing fear and a pained and yet
+very definite necessity for opposition written there. “Chicago is
+burning, but it will be built up again. Business will be all the better
+for it later on. Now, I want you to be reasonable and help me. Don’t
+get frightened.”
+
+Stener stirred uneasily. “Don’t let these politicians scare you to
+death. It will all blow over in a few days, and then we’ll be better
+off than ever. Did you see Mollenhauer?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Well, what did he have to say?”
+
+“He said just what I thought he’d say. He won’t let me do this. I
+can’t, Frank, I tell you!” exclaimed Stener, jumping up. He was so
+nervous that he had had a hard time keeping his seat during this short,
+direct conversation. “I can’t! They’ve got me in a corner! They’re
+after me! They all know what we’ve been doing. Oh, say, Frank”—he threw
+up his arms wildly—“you’ve got to get me out of this. You’ve got to let
+me have that five hundred thousand back and get me out of this. If you
+don’t, and you should fail, they’ll send me to the penitentiary. I’ve
+got a wife and four children, Frank. I can’t go on in this. It’s too
+big for me. I never should have gone in on it in the first place. I
+never would have if you hadn’t persuaded me, in a way. I never thought
+when I began that I would ever get in as bad as all this. I can’t go
+on, Frank. I can’t! I’m willing you should have all my stock. Only give
+me back that five hundred thousand, and we’ll call it even.” His voice
+rose nervously as he talked, and he wiped his wet forehead with his
+hand and stared at Cowperwood pleadingly, foolishly.
+
+Cowperwood stared at him in return for a few moments with a cold, fishy
+eye. He knew a great deal about human nature, and he was ready for and
+expectant of any queer shift in an individual’s attitude, particularly
+in time of panic; but this shift of Stener’s was quite too much. “Whom
+else have you been talking to, George, since I saw you? Whom have you
+seen? What did Sengstack have to say?”
+
+“He says just what Mollenhauer does, that I mustn’t loan any more money
+under any circumstances, and he says I ought to get that five hundred
+thousand back as quickly as possible.”
+
+“And you think Mollenhauer wants to help you, do you?” inquired
+Cowperwood, finding it hard to efface the contempt which kept forcing
+itself into his voice.
+
+“I think he does, yes. I don’t know who else will, Frank, if he don’t.
+He’s one of the big political forces in this town.”
+
+“Listen to me,” began Cowperwood, eyeing him fixedly. Then he paused.
+“What did he say you should do about your holdings?”
+
+“Sell them through Tighe & Company and put the money back in the
+treasury, if you won’t take them.”
+
+“Sell them to whom?” asked Cowperwood, thinking of Stener’s last words.
+
+“To any one on ’change who’ll take them, I suppose. I don’t know.”
+
+“I thought so,” said Cowperwood, comprehendingly. “I might have known
+as much. They’re working you, George. They’re simply trying to get your
+stocks away from you. Mollenhauer is leading you on. He knows I can’t
+do what you want—give you back the five hundred thousand dollars. He
+wants you to throw your stocks on the market so that he can pick them
+up. Depend on it, that’s all arranged for already. When you do, he’s
+got me in his clutches, or he thinks he has—he and Butler and Simpson.
+They want to get together on this local street-railway situation, and I
+know it, I feel it. I’ve felt it coming all along. Mollenhauer hasn’t
+any more intention of helping you than he has of flying. Once you’ve
+sold your stocks he’s through with you—mark my word. Do you think he’ll
+turn a hand to keep you out of the penitentiary once you’re out of this
+street-railway situation? He will not. And if you think so, you’re a
+bigger fool than I take you to be, George. Don’t go crazy. Don’t lose
+your head. Be sensible. Look the situation in the face. Let me explain
+it to you. If you don’t help me now—if you don’t let me have three
+hundred thousand dollars by to-morrow noon, at the very latest, I’m
+through, and so are you. There is not a thing the matter with our
+situation. Those stocks of ours are as good to-day as they ever were.
+Why, great heavens, man, the railways are there behind them. They’re
+paying. The Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line is earning one
+thousand dollars a day right now. What better evidence do you want than
+that? Green & Coates is earning five hundred dollars. You’re
+frightened, George. These damned political schemers have scared you.
+Why, you’ve as good a right to loan that money as Bode and Murtagh had
+before you. They did it. You’ve been doing it for Mollenhauer and the
+others, only so long as you do it for them it’s all right. What’s a
+designated city depository but a loan?”
+
+Cowperwood was referring to the system under which certain portions of
+city money, like the sinking-fund, were permitted to be kept in certain
+banks at a low rate of interest or no rate—banks in which Mollenhauer
+and Butler and Simpson were interested. This was their safe graft.
+
+“Don’t throw your chances away, George. Don’t quit now. You’ll be worth
+millions in a few years, and you won’t have to turn a hand. All you
+will have to do will be to keep what you have. If you don’t help me,
+mark my word, they’ll throw you over the moment I’m out of this, and
+they’ll let you go to the penitentiary. Who’s going to put up five
+hundred thousand dollars for you, George? Where is Mollenhauer going to
+get it, or Butler, or anybody, in these times? They can’t. They don’t
+intend to. When I’m through, you’re through, and you’ll be exposed
+quicker than any one else. They can’t hurt me, George. I’m an agent. I
+didn’t ask you to come to me. You came to me in the first place of your
+own accord. If you don’t help me, you’re through, I tell you, and
+you’re going to be sent to the penitentiary as sure as there are jails.
+Why don’t you take a stand, George? Why don’t you stand your ground?
+You have your wife and children to look after. You can’t be any worse
+off loaning me three hundred thousand more than you are right now. What
+difference does it make—five hundred thousand or eight hundred
+thousand? It’s all one and the same thing, if you’re going to be tried
+for it. Besides, if you loan me this, there isn’t going to be any
+trial. I’m not going to fail. This storm will blow over in a week or
+ten days, and we’ll be rich again. For Heaven’s sake, George, don’t go
+to pieces this way! Be sensible! Be reasonable!”
+
+He paused, for Stener’s face had become a jelly-like mass of woe.
+
+“I can’t, Frank,” he wailed. “I tell you I can’t. They’ll punish me
+worse than ever if I do that. They’ll never let up on me. You don’t
+know these people.”
+
+In Stener’s crumpling weakness Cowperwood read his own fate. What could
+you do with a man like that? How brace him up? You couldn’t! And with a
+gesture of infinite understanding, disgust, noble indifference, he
+threw up his hands and started to walk out. At the door he turned.
+
+“George,” he said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for you, not for myself. I’ll
+come out of things all right, eventually. I’ll be rich. But, George,
+you’re making the one great mistake of your life. You’ll be poor;
+you’ll be a convict, and you’ll have only yourself to blame. There
+isn’t a thing the matter with this money situation except the fire.
+There isn’t a thing wrong with my affairs except this slump in
+stocks—this panic. You sit there, a fortune in your hands, and you
+allow a lot of schemers, highbinders, who don’t know any more of your
+affairs or mine than a rabbit, and who haven’t any interest in you
+except to plan what they can get out of you, to frighten you and
+prevent you from doing the one thing that will save your life. Three
+hundred thousand paltry dollars that in three or four weeks from now I
+can pay back to you four and five times over, and for that you will see
+me go broke and yourself to the penitentiary. I can’t understand it,
+George. You’re out of your mind. You’re going to rue this the longest
+day that you live.”
+
+He waited a few moments to see if this, by any twist of chance, would
+have any effect; then, noting that Stener still remained a wilted,
+helpless mass of nothing, he shook his head gloomily and walked out.
+
+It was the first time in his life that Cowperwood had ever shown the
+least sign of weakening or despair. He had felt all along as though
+there were nothing to the Greek theory of being pursued by the furies.
+Now, however, there seemed an untoward fate which was pursuing him. It
+looked that way. Still, fate or no fate, he did not propose to be
+daunted. Even in this very beginning of a tendency to feel despondent
+he threw back his head, expanded his chest, and walked as briskly as
+ever.
+
+In the large room outside Stener’s private office he encountered Albert
+Stires, Stener’s chief clerk and secretary. He and Albert had exchanged
+many friendly greetings in times past, and all the little minor
+transactions in regard to city loan had been discussed between them,
+for Albert knew more of the intricacies of finance and financial
+bookkeeping than Stener would ever know.
+
+At the sight of Stires the thought in regard to the sixty thousand
+dollars’ worth of city loan certificates, previously referred to,
+flashed suddenly through his mind. He had not deposited them in the
+sinking-fund, and did not intend to for the present—could not, unless
+considerable free money were to reach him shortly—for he had used them
+to satisfy other pressing demands, and had no free money to buy them
+back—or, in other words, release them. And he did not want to just at
+this moment. Under the law governing transactions of this kind with the
+city treasurer, he was supposed to deposit them at once to the credit
+of the city, and not to draw his pay therefor from the city treasurer
+until he had. To be very exact, the city treasurer, under the law, was
+not supposed to pay him for any transaction of this kind until he or
+his agents presented a voucher from the bank or other organization
+carrying the sinking-fund for the city showing that the certificates so
+purchased had actually been deposited there. As a matter of fact, under
+the custom which had grown up between him and Stener, the law had long
+been ignored in this respect. He could buy certificates of city loan
+for the sinking-fund up to any reasonable amount, hypothecate them
+where he pleased, and draw his pay from the city without presenting a
+voucher. At the end of the month sufficient certificates of city loan
+could usually be gathered from one source and another to make up the
+deficiency, or the deficiency could actually be ignored, as had been
+done on more than one occasion, for long periods of time, while he used
+money secured by hypothecating the shares for speculative purposes.
+This was actually illegal; but neither Cowperwood nor Stener saw it in
+that light or cared.
+
+The trouble with this particular transaction was the note that he had
+received from Stener ordering him to stop both buying and selling,
+which put his relations with the city treasury on a very formal basis.
+He had bought these certificates before receiving this note, but had
+not deposited them. He was going now to collect his check; but perhaps
+the old, easy system of balancing matters at the end of the month might
+not be said to obtain any longer. Stires might ask him to present a
+voucher of deposit. If so, he could not now get this check for sixty
+thousand dollars, for he did not have the certificates to deposit. If
+not, he might get the money; but, also, it might constitute the basis
+of some subsequent legal action. If he did not eventually deposit the
+certificates before failure, some charge such as that of larceny might
+be brought against him. Still, he said to himself, he might not really
+fail even yet. If any of his banking associates should, for any reason,
+modify their decision in regard to calling his loans, he would not.
+Would Stener make a row about this if he so secured this check? Would
+the city officials pay any attention to him if he did? Could you get
+any district attorney to take cognizance of such a transaction, if
+Stener did complain? No, not in all likelihood; and, anyhow, nothing
+would come of it. No jury would punish him in the face of the
+understanding existing between him and Stener as agent or broker and
+principal. And, once he had the money, it was a hundred to one Stener
+would think no more about it. It would go in among the various
+unsatisfied liabilities, and nothing more would be thought about it.
+Like lightning the entire situation hashed through his mind. He would
+risk it. He stopped before the chief clerk’s desk.
+
+“Albert,” he said, in a low voice, “I bought sixty thousand dollars’
+worth of city loan for the sinking-fund this morning. Will you give my
+boy a check for it in the morning, or, better yet, will you give it to
+me now? I got your note about no more purchases. I’m going back to the
+office. You can just credit the sinking-fund with eight hundred
+certificates at from seventy-five to eighty. I’ll send you the itemized
+list later.”
+
+“Certainly, Mr. Cowperwood, certainly,” replied Albert, with alacrity.
+“Stocks are getting an awful knock, aren’t they? I hope you’re not very
+much troubled by it?”
+
+“Not very, Albert,” replied Cowperwood, smiling, the while the chief
+clerk was making out his check. He was wondering if by any chance
+Stener would appear and attempt to interfere with this. It was a legal
+transaction. He had a right to the check provided he deposited the
+certificates, as was his custom, with the trustee of the fund. He
+waited tensely while Albert wrote, and finally, with the check actually
+in his hand, breathed a sigh of relief. Here, at least, was sixty
+thousand dollars, and to-night’s work would enable him to cash the
+seventy-five thousand that had been promised him. To-morrow, once more
+he must see Leigh, Kitchen, Jay Cooke & Co., Edward Clark & Co.—all the
+long list of people to whom he owed loans and find out what could be
+done. If he could only get time! If he could get just a week!
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIX
+
+
+But time was not a thing to be had in this emergency. With the
+seventy-five thousand dollars his friends had extended to him, and
+sixty thousand dollars secured from Stires, Cowperwood met the Girard
+call and placed the balance, thirty-five thousand dollars, in a private
+safe in his own home. He then made a final appeal to the bankers and
+financiers, but they refused to help him. He did not, however,
+commiserate himself in this hour. He looked out of his office window
+into the little court, and sighed. What more could he do? He sent a
+note to his father, asking him to call for lunch. He sent a note to his
+lawyer, Harper Steger, a man of his own age whom he liked very much,
+and asked him to call also. He evolved in his own mind various plans of
+delay, addresses to creditors and the like, but alas! he was going to
+fail. And the worst of it was that this matter of the city treasurer’s
+loans was bound to become a public, and more than a public, a
+political, scandal. And the charge of conniving, if not illegally, at
+least morally, at the misuse of the city’s money was the one thing that
+would hurt him most.
+
+How industriously his rivals would advertise this fact! He might get on
+his feet again if he failed; but it would be uphill work. And his
+father! His father would be pulled down with him. It was probable that
+he would be forced out of the presidency of his bank. With these
+thoughts Cowperwood sat there waiting. As he did so Aileen Butler was
+announced by his office-boy, and at the same time Albert Stires.
+
+“Show in Miss Butler,” he said, getting up. “Tell Mr. Stires to wait.”
+Aileen came briskly, vigorously in, her beautiful body clothed as
+decoratively as ever. The street suit that she wore was of a light
+golden-brown broadcloth, faceted with small, dark-red buttons. Her head
+was decorated with a brownish-red shake of a type she had learned was
+becoming to her, brimless and with a trailing plume, and her throat was
+graced by a three-strand necklace of gold beads. Her hands were
+smoothly gloved as usual, and her little feet daintily shod. There was
+a look of girlish distress in her eyes, which, however, she was trying
+hard to conceal.
+
+“Honey,” she exclaimed, on seeing him, her arms extended—“what is the
+trouble? I wanted so much to ask you the other night. You’re not going
+to fail, are you? I heard father and Owen talking about you last
+night.”
+
+“What did they say?” he inquired, putting his arm around her and
+looking quietly into her nervous eyes.
+
+“Oh, you know, I think papa is very angry with you. He suspects. Some
+one sent him an anonymous letter. He tried to get it out of me last
+night, but he didn’t succeed. I denied everything. I was in here twice
+this morning to see you, but you were out. I was so afraid that he
+might see you first, and that you might say something.”
+
+“Me, Aileen?”
+
+“Well, no, not exactly. I didn’t think that. I don’t know what I
+thought. Oh, honey, I’ve been so worried. You know, I didn’t sleep at
+all. I thought I was stronger than that; but I was so worried about
+you. You know, he put me in a strong light by his desk, where he could
+see my face, and then he showed me the letter. I was so astonished for
+a moment I hardly know what I said or how I looked.”
+
+“What did you say?”
+
+“Why, I said: ‘What a shame! It isn’t so!’ But I didn’t say it right
+away. My heart was going like a trip-hammer. I’m afraid he must have
+been able to tell something from my face. I could hardly get my
+breath.”
+
+“He’s a shrewd man, your father,” he commented. “He knows something
+about life. Now you see how difficult these situations are. It’s a
+blessing he decided to show you the letter instead of watching the
+house. I suppose he felt too bad to do that. He can’t prove anything
+now. But he knows. You can’t deceive him.”
+
+“How do you know he knows?”
+
+“I saw him yesterday.”
+
+“Did he talk to you about it?”
+
+“No; I saw his face. He simply looked at me.”
+
+“Honey! I’m so sorry for him!”
+
+“I know you are. So am I. But it can’t be helped now. We should have
+thought of that in the first place.”
+
+“But I love you so. Oh, honey, he will never forgive me. He loves me
+so. He mustn’t know. I won’t admit anything. But, oh, dear!”
+
+She put her hands tightly together on his bosom, and he looked
+consolingly into her eyes. Her eyelids, were trembling, and her lips.
+She was sorry for her father, herself, Cowperwood. Through her he could
+sense the force of Butler’s parental affection; the volume and danger
+of his rage. There were so many, many things as he saw it now
+converging to make a dramatic denouement.
+
+“Never mind,” he replied; “it can’t be helped now. Where is my strong,
+determined Aileen? I thought you were going to be so brave? Aren’t you
+going to be? I need to have you that way now.”
+
+“Do you?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Are you in trouble?”
+
+“I think I am going to fail, dear.”
+
+“Oh, no!”
+
+“Yes, honey. I’m at the end of my rope. I don’t see any way out just at
+present. I’ve sent for my father and my lawyer. You mustn’t stay here,
+sweet. Your father may come in here at any time. We must meet
+somewhere—to-morrow, say—to-morrow afternoon. You remember Indian Rock,
+out on the Wissahickon?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Could you be there at four?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Look out for who’s following. If I’m not there by four-thirty, don’t
+wait. You know why. It will be because I think some one is watching.
+There won’t be, though, if we work it right. And now you must run,
+sweet. We can’t use Nine-thirty-one any more. I’ll have to rent another
+place somewhere else.”
+
+“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.”
+
+“Aren’t you going to be strong and brave? You see, I need you to be.”
+
+He was almost, for the first time, a little sad in his mood.
+
+“Yes, dear, yes,” she declared, slipping her arms under his and pulling
+him tight. “Oh, yes! You can depend on me. Oh, Frank, I love you so!
+I’m so sorry. Oh, I do hope you don’t fail! But it doesn’t make any
+difference, dear, between you and me, whatever happens, does it? We
+will love each other just the same. I’ll do anything for you, honey!
+I’ll do anything you say. You can trust me. They sha’n’t know anything
+from me.”
+
+She looked at his still, pale face, and a sudden strong determination
+to fight for him welled up in her heart. Her love was unjust, illegal,
+outlawed; but it was love, just the same, and had much of the fiery
+daring of the outcast from justice.
+
+“I love you! I love you! I love you, Frank!” she declared. He unloosed
+her hands.
+
+“Run, sweet. To-morrow at four. Don’t fail. And don’t talk. And don’t
+admit anything, whatever you do.”
+
+“I won’t.”
+
+“And don’t worry about me. I’ll be all right.”
+
+He barely had time to straighten his tie, to assume a nonchalant
+attitude by the window, when in hurried Stener’s chief clerk—pale,
+disturbed, obviously out of key with himself.
+
+“Mr. Cowperwood! You know that check I gave you last night? Mr. Stener
+says it’s illegal, that I shouldn’t have given it to you, that he will
+hold me responsible. He says I can be arrested for compounding a
+felony, and that he will discharge me and have me sent to prison if I
+don’t get it back. Oh, Mr. Cowperwood, I am only a young man! I’m just
+really starting out in life. I’ve got my wife and little boy to look
+after. You won’t let him do that to me? You’ll give me that check back,
+won’t you? I can’t go back to the office without it. He says you’re
+going to fail, and that you knew it, and that you haven’t any right to
+it.”
+
+Cowperwood looked at him curiously. He was surprised at the variety and
+character of these emissaries of disaster. Surely, when troubles chose
+to multiply they had great skill in presenting themselves in rapid
+order. Stener had no right to make any such statement. The transaction
+was not illegal. The man had gone wild. True, he, Cowperwood, had
+received an order after these securities were bought not to buy or sell
+any more city loan, but that did not invalidate previous purchases.
+Stener was browbeating and frightening his poor underling, a better man
+than himself, in order to get back this sixty-thousand-dollar check.
+What a petty creature he was! How true it was, as somebody had
+remarked, that you could not possibly measure the petty meannesses to
+which a fool could stoop!
+
+“You go back to Mr. Stener, Albert, and tell him that it can’t be done.
+The certificates of loan were purchased before his order arrived, and
+the records of the exchange will prove it. There is no illegality here.
+I am entitled to that check and could have collected it in any
+qualified court of law. The man has gone out of his head. I haven’t
+failed yet. You are not in any danger of any legal proceedings; and if
+you are, I’ll help defend you. I can’t give you the check back because
+I haven’t it to give; and if I had, I wouldn’t. That would be allowing
+a fool to make a fool of me. I’m sorry, very, but I can’t do anything
+for you.”
+
+“Oh, Mr. Cowperwood!” Tears were in Stires’s eyes. “He’ll discharge me!
+He’ll forfeit my sureties. I’ll be turned out into the street. I have
+only a little property of my own—outside of my salary!”
+
+He wrung his hands, and Cowperwood shook his head sadly.
+
+“This isn’t as bad as you think, Albert. He won’t do what he says. He
+can’t. It’s unfair and illegal. You can bring suit and recover your
+salary. I’ll help you in that as much as I’m able. But I can’t give you
+back this sixty-thousand-dollar check, because I haven’t it to give. I
+couldn’t if I wanted to. It isn’t here any more. I’ve paid for the
+securities I bought with it. The securities are not here. They’re in
+the sinking-fund, or will be.”
+
+He paused, wishing he had not mentioned that fact. It was a slip of the
+tongue, one of the few he ever made, due to the peculiar pressure of
+the situation. Stires pleaded longer. It was no use, Cowperwood told
+him. Finally he went away, crestfallen, fearsome, broken. There were
+tears of suffering in his eyes. Cowperwood was very sorry. And then his
+father was announced.
+
+The elder Cowperwood brought a haggard face. He and Frank had had a
+long conversation the evening before, lasting until early morning, but
+it had not been productive of much save uncertainty.
+
+“Hello, father!” exclaimed Cowperwood, cheerfully, noting his father’s
+gloom. He was satisfied that there was scarcely a coal of hope to be
+raked out of these ashes of despair, but there was no use admitting it.
+
+“Well?” said his father, lifting his sad eyes in a peculiar way.
+
+“Well, it looks like stormy weather, doesn’t it? I’ve decided to call a
+meeting of my creditors, father, and ask for time. There isn’t anything
+else to do. I can’t realize enough on anything to make it worth while
+talking about. I thought Stener might change his mind, but he’s worse
+rather than better. His head bookkeeper just went out of here.”
+
+“What did he want?” asked Henry Cowperwood.
+
+“He wanted me to give him back a check for sixty thousand that he paid
+me for some city loan I bought yesterday morning.” Frank did not
+explain to his father, however, that he had hypothecated the
+certificates this check had paid for, and used the check itself to
+raise money enough to pay the Girard National Bank and to give himself
+thirty-five thousand in cash besides.
+
+“Well, I declare!” replied the old man. “You’d think he’d have better
+sense than that. That’s a perfectly legitimate transaction. When did
+you say he notified you not to buy city loan?”
+
+“Yesterday noon.”
+
+“He’s out of his mind,” Cowperwood, Sr., commented, laconically.
+
+“It’s Mollenhauer and Simpson and Butler, I know. They want my
+street-railway lines. Well, they won’t get them. They’ll get them
+through a receivership, and after the panic’s all over. Our creditors
+will have first chance at these. If they buy, they’ll buy from them. If
+it weren’t for that five-hundred-thousand-dollar loan I wouldn’t think
+a thing of this. My creditors would sustain me nicely. But the moment
+that gets noised around!... And this election! I hypothecated those
+city loan certificates because I didn’t want to get on the wrong side
+of Davison. I expected to take in enough by now to take them up. They
+ought to be in the sinking-fund, really.”
+
+The old gentleman saw the point at once, and winced.
+
+“They might cause you trouble, there, Frank.”
+
+“It’s a technical question,” replied his son. “I might have been
+intending to take them up. As a matter of fact, I will if I can before
+three. I’ve been taking eight and ten days to deposit them in the past.
+In a storm like this I’m entitled to move my pawns as best I can.”
+
+Cowperwood, the father, put his hand over his mouth again. He felt very
+disturbed about this. He saw no way out, however. He was at the end of
+his own resources. He felt the side-whiskers on his left cheek. He
+looked out of the window into the little green court. Possibly it was a
+technical question, who should say. The financial relations of the city
+treasury with other brokers before Frank had been very lax. Every
+banker knew that. Perhaps precedent would or should govern in this
+case. He could not say. Still, it was dangerous—not straight. If Frank
+could get them out and deposit them it would be so much better.
+
+“I’d take them up if I were you and I could,” he added.
+
+“I will if I can.”
+
+“How much money have you?”
+
+“Oh, twenty thousand, all told. If I suspend, though, I’ll have to have
+a little ready cash.”
+
+“I have eight or ten thousand, or will have by night, I hope.”
+
+He was thinking of some one who would give him a second mortgage on his
+house.
+
+Cowperwood looked quietly at him. There was nothing more to be said to
+his father. “I’m going to make one more appeal to Stener after you
+leave here,” he said. “I’m going over there with Harper Steger when he
+comes. If he won’t change I’ll send out notice to my creditors, and
+notify the secretary of the exchange. I want you to keep a stiff upper
+lip, whatever happens. I know you will, though. I’m going into the
+thing head down. If Stener had any sense—” He paused. “But what’s the
+use talking about a damn fool?”
+
+He turned to the window, thinking of how easy it would have been, if
+Aileen and he had not been exposed by this anonymous note, to have
+arranged all with Butler. Rather than injure the party, Butler, in
+extremis, would have assisted him. Now...!
+
+His father got up to go. He was as stiff with despair as though he were
+suffering from cold.
+
+“Well,” he said, wearily.
+
+Cowperwood suffered intensely for him. What a shame! His father! He
+felt a great surge of sorrow sweep over him but a moment later mastered
+it, and settled to his quick, defiant thinking. As the old man went
+out, Harper Steger was brought in. They shook hands, and at once
+started for Stener’s office. But Stener had sunk in on himself like an
+empty gas-bag, and no efforts were sufficient to inflate him. They went
+out, finally, defeated.
+
+“I tell you, Frank,” said Steger, “I wouldn’t worry. We can tie this
+thing up legally until election and after, and that will give all this
+row a chance to die down. Then you can get your people together and
+talk sense to them. They’re not going to give up good properties like
+this, even if Stener does go to jail.”
+
+Steger did not know of the sixty thousand dollars’ worth of
+hypothecated securities as yet. Neither did he know of Aileen Butler
+and her father’s boundless rage.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXX
+
+
+There was one development in connection with all of this of which
+Cowperwood was as yet unaware. The same day that brought Edward Butler
+the anonymous communication in regard to his daughter, brought almost a
+duplicate of it to Mrs. Frank Algernon Cowperwood, only in this case
+the name of Aileen Butler had curiously been omitted.
+
+Perhaps you don’t know that your husband is running with another woman.
+If you don’t believe it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street.
+
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood was in the conservatory watering some plants when this
+letter was brought by her maid Monday morning. She was most placid in
+her thoughts, for she did not know what all the conferring of the night
+before meant. Frank was occasionally troubled by financial storms, but
+they did not see to harm him.
+
+“Lay it on the table in the library, Annie. I’ll get it.”
+
+She thought it was some social note.
+
+In a little while (such was her deliberate way), she put down her
+sprinkling-pot and went into the library. There it was lying on the
+green leather sheepskin which constituted a part of the ornamentation
+of the large library table. She picked it up, glanced at it curiously
+because it was on cheap paper, and then opened it. Her face paled
+slightly as she read it; and then her hand trembled—not much. Hers was
+not a soul that ever loved passionately, hence she could not suffer
+passionately. She was hurt, disgusted, enraged for the moment, and
+frightened; but she was not broken in spirit entirely. Thirteen years
+of life with Frank Cowperwood had taught her a number of things. He was
+selfish, she knew now, self-centered, and not as much charmed by her as
+he had been. The fear she had originally felt as to the effect of her
+preponderance of years had been to some extent justified by the lapse
+of time. Frank did not love her as he had—he had not for some time; she
+had felt it. What was it?—she had asked herself at times—almost, who
+was it? Business was engrossing him so.
+
+Finance was his master. Did this mean the end of her regime, she
+queried. Would he cast her off? Where would she go? What would she do?
+She was not helpless, of course, for she had money of her own which he
+was manipulating for her. Who was this other woman? Was she young,
+beautiful, of any social position? Was it—? Suddenly she stopped. Was
+it? Could it be, by any chance—her mouth opened—Aileen Butler?
+
+She stood still, staring at this letter, for she could scarcely
+countenance her own thought. She had observed often, in spite of all
+their caution, how friendly Aileen had been to him and he to her. He
+liked her; he never lost a chance to defend her. Lillian had thought of
+them at times as being curiously suited to each other temperamentally.
+He liked young people. But, of course, he was married, and Aileen was
+infinitely beneath him socially, and he had two children and herself.
+And his social and financial position was so fixed and stable that he
+did not dare trifle with it. Still she paused; for forty years and two
+children, and some slight wrinkles, and the suspicion that we may be no
+longer loved as we once were, is apt to make any woman pause, even in
+the face of the most significant financial position. Where would she go
+if she left him? What would people think? What about the children?
+Could she prove this liaison? Could she entrap him in a compromising
+situation? Did she want to?
+
+She saw now that she did not love him as some women love their
+husbands. She was not wild about him. In a way she had been taking him
+for granted all these years, had thought that he loved her enough not
+to be unfaithful to her; at least fancied that he was so engrossed with
+the more serious things of life that no petty liaison such as this
+letter indicated would trouble him or interrupt his great career.
+Apparently this was not true. What should she do? What say? How act?
+Her none too brilliant mind was not of much service in this crisis. She
+did not know very well how either to plan or to fight.
+
+The conventional mind is at best a petty piece of machinery. It is
+oyster-like in its functioning, or, perhaps better, clam-like. It has
+its little siphon of thought-processes forced up or down into the
+mighty ocean of fact and circumstance; but it uses so little, pumps so
+faintly, that the immediate contiguity of the vast mass is not
+disturbed. Nothing of the subtlety of life is perceived. No least
+inkling of its storms or terrors is ever discovered except through
+accident. When some crude, suggestive fact, such as this letter proved
+to be, suddenly manifests itself in the placid flow of events, there is
+great agony or disturbance and clogging of the so-called normal
+processes. The siphon does not work right. It sucks in fear and
+distress. There is great grinding of maladjusted parts—not unlike sand
+in a machine—and life, as is so often the case, ceases or goes lamely
+ever after.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood was possessed of a conventional mind. She really knew
+nothing about life. And life could not teach her. Reaction in her from
+salty thought-processes was not possible. She was not alive in the
+sense that Aileen Butler was, and yet she thought that she was very
+much alive. All illusion. She wasn’t. She was charming if you loved
+placidity. If you did not, she was not. She was not engaging,
+brilliant, or forceful. Frank Cowperwood might well have asked himself
+in the beginning why he married her. He did not do so now because he
+did not believe it was wise to question the past as to one’s failures
+and errors. It was, according to him, most unwise to regret. He kept
+his face and thoughts to the future.
+
+But Mrs. Cowperwood was truly distressed in her way, and she went about
+the house thinking, feeling wretchedly. She decided, since the letter
+asked her to see for herself, to wait. She must think how she would
+watch this house, if at all. Frank must not know. If it were Aileen
+Butler by any chance—but surely not—she thought she would expose her to
+her parents. Still, that meant exposing herself. She determined to
+conceal her mood as best she could at dinner-time—but Cowperwood was
+not able to be there. He was so rushed, so closeted with individuals,
+so closely in conference with his father and others, that she scarcely
+saw him this Monday night, nor the next day, nor for many days.
+
+For on Tuesday afternoon at two-thirty he issued a call for a meeting
+of his creditors, and at five-thirty he decided to go into the hands of
+a receiver. And yet, as he stood before his principal creditors—a group
+of thirty men—in his office, he did not feel that his life was ruined.
+He was temporarily embarrassed. Certainly things looked very black. The
+city-treasurership deal would make a great fuss. Those hypothecated
+city loan certificates, to the extent of sixty thousand, would make
+another, if Stener chose. Still, he did not feel that he was utterly
+destroyed.
+
+“Gentlemen,” he said, in closing his address of explanation at the
+meeting, quite as erect, secure, defiant, convincing as he had ever
+been, “you see how things are. These securities are worth just as much
+as they ever were. There is nothing the matter with the properties
+behind them. If you will give me fifteen days or twenty, I am satisfied
+that I can straighten the whole matter out. I am almost the only one
+who can, for I know all about it. The market is bound to recover.
+Business is going to be better than ever. It’s time I want. Time is the
+only significant factor in this situation. I want to know if you won’t
+give me fifteen or twenty days—a month, if you can. That is all I
+want.”
+
+He stepped aside and out of the general room, where the blinds were
+drawn, into his private office, in order to give his creditors an
+opportunity to confer privately in regard to his situation. He had
+friends in the meeting who were for him. He waited one, two, nearly
+three hours while they talked. Finally Walter Leigh, Judge Kitchen,
+Avery Stone, of Jay Cooke & Co., and several others came in. They were
+a committee appointed to gather further information.
+
+“Nothing more can be done to-day, Frank,” Walter Leigh informed him,
+quietly. “The majority want the privilege of examining the books. There
+is some uncertainty about this entanglement with the city treasurer
+which you say exists. They feel that you’d better announce a temporary
+suspension, anyhow; and if they want to let you resume later they can
+do so.”
+
+“I’m sorry for that, gentlemen,” replied Cowperwood, the least bit
+depressed. “I would rather do anything than suspend for one hour, if I
+could help it, for I know just what it means. You will find assets here
+far exceeding the liabilities if you will take the stocks at their
+normal market value; but that won’t help any if I close my doors. The
+public won’t believe in me. I ought to keep open.”
+
+“Sorry, Frank, old boy,” observed Leigh, pressing his hand
+affectionately. “If it were left to me personally, you could have all
+the time you want. There’s a crowd of old fogies out there that won’t
+listen to reason. They’re panic-struck. I guess they’re pretty hard hit
+themselves. You can scarcely blame them. You’ll come out all right,
+though I wish you didn’t have to shut up shop. We can’t do anything
+with them, however. Why, damn it, man, I don’t see how you can fail,
+really. In ten days these stocks will be all right.”
+
+Judge Kitchen commiserated with him also; but what good did that do? He
+was being compelled to suspend. An expert accountant would have to come
+in and go over his books. Butler might spread the news of this
+city-treasury connection. Stener might complain of this last city-loan
+transaction. A half-dozen of his helpful friends stayed with him until
+four o’clock in the morning; but he had to suspend just the same. And
+when he did that, he knew he was seriously crippled if not ultimately
+defeated in his race for wealth and fame.
+
+When he was really and finally quite alone in his private bedroom he
+stared at himself in the mirror. His face was pale and tired, he
+thought, but strong and effective. “Pshaw!” he said to himself, “I’m
+not whipped. I’m still young. I’ll get out of this in some way yet.
+Certainly I will. I’ll find some way out.”
+
+And so, cogitating heavily, wearily, he began to undress. Finally he
+sank upon his bed, and in a little while, strange as it may seem, with
+all the tangle of trouble around him, slept. He could do that—sleep and
+gurgle most peacefully, the while his father paced the floor in his
+room, refusing to be comforted. All was dark before the older man—the
+future hopeless. Before the younger man was still hope.
+
+And in her room Lillian Cowperwood turned and tossed in the face of
+this new calamity. For it had suddenly appeared from news from her
+father and Frank and Anna and her mother-in-law that Frank was about to
+fail, or would, or had—it was almost impossible to say just how it was.
+Frank was too busy to explain. The Chicago fire was to blame. There was
+no mention as yet of the city treasurership. Frank was caught in a
+trap, and was fighting for his life.
+
+In this crisis, for the moment, she forgot about the note as to his
+infidelity, or rather ignored it. She was astonished, frightened,
+dumbfounded, confused. Her little, placid, beautiful world was going
+around in a dizzy ring. The charming, ornate ship of their fortune was
+being blown most ruthlessly here and there. She felt it a sort of duty
+to stay in bed and try to sleep; but her eyes were quite wide, and her
+brain hurt her. Hours before Frank had insisted that she should not
+bother about him, that she could do nothing; and she had left him,
+wondering more than ever what and where was the line of her duty. To
+stick by her husband, convention told her; and so she decided. Yes,
+religion dictated that, also custom. There were the children. They must
+not be injured. Frank must be reclaimed, if possible. He would get over
+this. But what a blow!
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXI
+
+
+The suspension of the banking house of Frank A. Cowperwood & Co.
+created a great stir on ’change and in Philadelphia generally. It was
+so unexpected, and the amount involved was comparatively so large.
+Actually he failed for one million two hundred and fifty thousand
+dollars; and his assets, under the depressed condition of stock values,
+barely totaled seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. There had been
+considerable work done on the matter of his balance-sheet before it was
+finally given to the public; but when it was, stocks dropped an
+additional three points generally, and the papers the next day devoted
+notable headlines to it. Cowperwood had no idea of failing permanently;
+he merely wished to suspend temporarily, and later, if possible, to
+persuade his creditors to allow him to resume. There were only two
+things which stood in the way of this: the matter of the five hundred
+thousand dollars borrowed from the city treasury at a ridiculously low
+rate of interest, which showed plainer than words what had been going
+on, and the other, the matter of the sixty-thousand-dollar check. His
+financial wit had told him there were ways to assign his holdings in
+favor of his largest creditors, which would tend to help him later to
+resume; and he had been swift to act. Indeed, Harper Steger had drawn
+up documents which named Jay Cooke & Co., Edward Clark & Co., Drexel &
+Co., and others as preferred. He knew that even though dissatisfied
+holders of smaller shares in his company brought suit and compelled
+readjustment or bankruptcy later, the intention shown to prefer some of
+his most influential aids was important. They would like it, and might
+help him later when all this was over. Besides, suits in plenty are an
+excellent way of tiding over a crisis of this kind until stocks and
+common sense are restored, and he was for many suits. Harper Steger
+smiled once rather grimly, even in the whirl of the financial chaos
+where smiles were few, as they were figuring it out.
+
+“Frank,” he said, “you’re a wonder. You’ll have a network of suits
+spread here shortly, which no one can break through. They’ll all be
+suing each other.”
+
+Cowperwood smiled.
+
+“I only want a little time, that’s all,” he replied. Nevertheless, for
+the first time in his life he was a little depressed; for now this
+business, to which he had devoted years of active work and thought, was
+ended.
+
+The thing that was troubling him most in all of this was not the five
+hundred thousand dollars which was owing the city treasury, and which
+he knew would stir political and social life to the center once it was
+generally known—that was a legal or semi-legal transaction, at
+least—but rather the matter of the sixty thousand dollars’ worth of
+unrestored city loan certificates which he had not been able to replace
+in the sinking-fund and could not now even though the necessary money
+should fall from heaven. The fact of their absence was a matter of
+source. He pondered over the situation a good deal. The thing to do, he
+thought, if he went to Mollenhauer or Simpson, or both (he had never
+met either of them, but in view of Butler’s desertion they were his
+only recourse), was to say that, although he could not at present
+return the five hundred thousand dollars, if no action were taken
+against him now, which would prevent his resuming his business on a
+normal scale a little later, he would pledge his word that every dollar
+of the involved five hundred thousand dollars would eventually be
+returned to the treasury. If they refused, and injury was done him, he
+proposed to let them wait until he was “good and ready,” which in all
+probability would be never. But, really, it was not quite clear how
+action against him was to be prevented—even by them. The money was down
+on his books as owing the city treasury, and it was down on the city
+treasury’s books as owing from him. Besides, there was a local
+organization known as the Citizens’ Municipal Reform Association which
+occasionally conducted investigations in connection with public
+affairs. His defalcation would be sure to come to the ears of this body
+and a public investigation might well follow. Various private
+individuals knew of it already. His creditors, for instance, who were
+now examining his books.
+
+This matter of seeing Mollenhauer or Simpson, or both, was important,
+anyhow, he thought; but before doing so he decided to talk it all over
+with Harper Steger. So several days after he had closed his doors, he
+sent for Steger and told him all about the transaction, except that he
+did not make it clear that he had not intended to put the certificates
+in the sinking-fund unless he survived quite comfortably.
+
+Harper Steger was a tall, thin, graceful, rather elegant man, of gentle
+voice and perfect manners, who walked always as though he were a cat,
+and a dog were prowling somewhere in the offing. He had a longish, thin
+face of a type that is rather attractive to women. His eyes were blue,
+his hair brown, with a suggestion of sandy red in it. He had a steady,
+inscrutable gaze which sometimes came to you over a thin, delicate
+hand, which he laid meditatively over his mouth. He was cruel to the
+limit of the word, not aggressively but indifferently; for he had no
+faith in anything. He was not poor. He had not even been born poor. He
+was just innately subtle, with the rather constructive thought, which
+was about the only thing that compelled him to work, that he ought to
+be richer than he was—more conspicuous. Cowperwood was an excellent
+avenue toward legal prosperity. Besides, he was a fascinating customer.
+Of all his clients, Steger admired Cowperwood most.
+
+“Let them proceed against you,” he said on this occasion, his brilliant
+legal mind taking in all the phases of the situation at once. “I don’t
+see that there is anything more here than a technical charge. If it
+ever came to anything like that, which I don’t think it will, the
+charge would be embezzlement or perhaps larceny as bailee. In this
+instance, you were the bailee. And the only way out of that would be to
+swear that you had received the check with Stener’s knowledge and
+consent. Then it would only be a technical charge of irresponsibility
+on your part, as I see it, and I don’t believe any jury would convict
+you on the evidence of how this relationship was conducted. Still, it
+might; you never can tell what a jury is going to do. All this would
+have to come out at a trial, however. The whole thing, it seems to me,
+would depend on which of you two—yourself or Stener—the jury would be
+inclined to believe, and on how anxious this city crowd is to find a
+scapegoat for Stener. This coming election is the rub. If this panic
+had come at any other time—”
+
+Cowperwood waved for silence. He knew all about that. “It all depends
+on what the politicians decide to do. I’m doubtful. The situation is
+too complicated. It can’t be hushed up.” They were in his private
+office at his house. “What will be will be,” he added.
+
+“What would that mean, Harper, legally, if I were tried on a charge of
+larceny as bailee, as you put it, and convicted? How many years in the
+penitentiary at the outside?”
+
+Steger thought a minute, rubbing his chin with his hand. “Let me see,”
+he said, “that is a serious question, isn’t it? The law says one to
+five years at the outside; but the sentences usually average from one
+to three years in embezzlement cases. Of course, in this case—”
+
+“I know all about that,” interrupted Cowperwood, irritably. “My case
+isn’t any different from the others, and you know it. Embezzlement is
+embezzlement if the politicians want to have it so.” He fell to
+thinking, and Steger got up and strolled about leisurely. He was
+thinking also.
+
+“And would I have to go to jail at any time during the
+proceedings—before a final adjustment of the case by the higher
+courts?” Cowperwood added, directly, grimly, after a time.
+
+“Yes, there is one point in all legal procedure of the kind,” replied
+Steger, cautiously, now rubbing his ear and trying to put the matter as
+delicately as possible. “You can avoid jail sentences all through the
+earlier parts of a case like this; but if you are once tried and
+convicted it’s pretty hard to do anything—as a matter of fact, it
+becomes absolutely necessary then to go to jail for a few days, five or
+so, pending the motion for a new trial and the obtaining of a
+certificate of reasonable doubt. It usually takes that long.”
+
+The young banker sat there staring out of the window, and Steger
+observed, “It is a bit complicated, isn’t it?”
+
+“Well, I should say so,” returned Frank, and he added to himself:
+“Jail! Five days in prison!” That would be a terrific slap, all things
+considered. Five days in jail pending the obtaining of a certificate of
+reasonable doubt, if one could be obtained! He must avoid this! Jail!
+The penitentiary! His commercial reputation would never survive that.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXII
+
+
+The necessity of a final conference between Butler, Mollenhauer, and
+Simpson was speedily reached, for this situation was hourly growing
+more serious. Rumors were floating about in Third Street that in
+addition to having failed for so large an amount as to have further
+unsettled the already panicky financial situation induced by the
+Chicago fire, Cowperwood and Stener, or Stener working with Cowperwood,
+or the other way round, had involved the city treasury to the extent of
+five hundred thousand dollars. And the question was how was the matter
+to be kept quiet until after election, which was still three weeks
+away. Bankers and brokers were communicating odd rumors to each other
+about a check that had been taken from the city treasury after
+Cowperwood knew he was to fail, and without Stener’s consent. Also that
+there was danger that it would come to the ears of that very
+uncomfortable political organization known as the Citizens’ Municipal
+Reform Association, of which a well-known iron-manufacturer of great
+probity and moral rectitude, one Skelton C. Wheat, was president. Wheat
+had for years been following on the trail of the dominant Republican
+administration in a vain attempt to bring it to a sense of some of its
+political iniquities. He was a serious and austere man—-one of those
+solemn, self-righteous souls who see life through a peculiar veil of
+duty, and who, undisturbed by notable animal passions of any kind, go
+their way of upholding the theory of the Ten Commandments over the
+order of things as they are.
+
+The committee in question had originally been organized to protest
+against some abuses in the tax department; but since then, from
+election to election, it had been drifting from one subject to another,
+finding an occasional evidence of its worthwhileness in some newspaper
+comment and the frightened reformation of some minor political official
+who ended, usually, by taking refuge behind the skirts of some higher
+political power—in the last reaches, Messrs. Butler, Mollenhauer, and
+Simpson. Just now it was without important fuel or ammunition; and this
+assignment of Cowperwood, with its attendant crime, so far as the city
+treasury was concerned, threatened, as some politicians and bankers saw
+it, to give it just the club it was looking for.
+
+However, the decisive conference took place between Cowperwood and the
+reigning political powers some five days after Cowperwood’s failure, at
+the home of Senator Simpson, which was located in Rittenhouse Square—a
+region central for the older order of wealth in Philadelphia. Simpson
+was a man of no little refinement artistically, of Quaker extraction,
+and of great wealth-breeding judgment which he used largely to satisfy
+his craving for political predominance. He was most liberal where money
+would bring him a powerful or necessary political adherent. He fairly
+showered offices—commissionerships, trusteeships, judgeships, political
+nominations, and executive positions generally—on those who did his
+bidding faithfully and without question. Compared with Butler and
+Mollenhauer he was more powerful than either, for he represented the
+State and the nation. When the political authorities who were trying to
+swing a national election were anxious to discover what the State of
+Pennsylvania would do, so far as the Republican party was concerned, it
+was to Senator Simpson that they appealed. In the literal sense of the
+word, he knew. The Senator had long since graduated from State to
+national politics, and was an interesting figure in the United States
+Senate at Washington, where his voice in all the conservative and
+moneyed councils of the nation was of great weight.
+
+The house that he occupied, of Venetian design, and four stories in
+height, bore many architectural marks of distinction, such as the
+floriated window, the door with the semipointed arch, and medallions of
+colored marble set in the walls. The Senator was a great admirer of
+Venice. He had been there often, as he had to Athens and Rome, and had
+brought back many artistic objects representative of the civilizations
+and refinements of older days. He was fond, for one thing, of the
+stern, sculptured heads of the Roman emperors, and the fragments of
+gods and goddesses which are the best testimony of the artistic
+aspirations of Greece. In the entresol of this house was one of his
+finest treasures—a carved and floriated base bearing a tapering
+monolith some four feet high, crowned by the head of a peculiarly
+goatish Pan, by the side of which were the problematic remains of a
+lovely nude nymph—just the little feet broken off at the ankles. The
+base on which the feet of the nymph and the monolith stood was
+ornamented with carved ox-skulls intertwined with roses. In his
+reception hall were replicas of Caligula, Nero, and other Roman
+emperors; and on his stair-walls reliefs of dancing nymphs in
+procession, and priests bearing offerings of sheep and swine to the
+sacrificial altars. There was a clock in some corner of the house which
+chimed the quarter, the half, the three-quarters, and the hour in
+strange, euphonious, and pathetic notes. On the walls of the rooms were
+tapestries of Flemish origin, and in the reception-hall, the library,
+the living-room, and the drawing-room, richly carved furniture after
+the standards of the Italian Renaissance. The Senator’s taste in the
+matter of paintings was inadequate, and he mistrusted it; but such as
+he had were of distinguished origin and authentic. He cared more for
+his curio-cases filled with smaller imported bronzes, Venetian glass,
+and Chinese jade. He was not a collector of these in any notable
+sense—merely a lover of a few choice examples. Handsome tiger and
+leopard skin rugs, the fur of a musk-ox for his divan, and tanned and
+brown-stained goat and kid skins for his tables, gave a sense of
+elegance and reserved profusion. In addition the Senator had a
+dining-room done after the Jacobean idea of artistic excellence, and a
+wine-cellar which the best of the local vintners looked after with
+extreme care. He was a man who loved to entertain lavishly; and when
+his residence was thrown open for a dinner, a reception, or a ball, the
+best of local society was to be found there.
+
+The conference was in the Senator’s library, and he received his
+colleagues with the genial air of one who has much to gain and little
+to lose. There were whiskies, wines, cigars on the table, and while
+Mollenhauer and Simpson exchanged the commonplaces of the day awaiting
+the arrival of Butler, they lighted cigars and kept their inmost
+thoughts to themselves.
+
+It so happened that upon the previous afternoon Butler had learned from
+Mr. David Pettie, the district attorney, of the
+sixty-thousand-dollar-check transaction. At the same time the matter
+had been brought to Mollenhauer’s attention by Stener himself. It was
+Mollenhauer, not Butler who saw that by taking advantage of
+Cowperwood’s situation, he might save the local party from blame, and
+at the same time most likely fleece Cowperwood out of his
+street-railway shares without letting Butler or Simpson know anything
+about it. The thing to do was to terrorize him with a private threat of
+prosecution.
+
+Butler was not long in arriving, and apologized for the delay.
+Concealing his recent grief behind as jaunty an air as possible, he
+began with:
+
+“It’s a lively life I’m leadin’, what with every bank in the city
+wantin’ to know how their loans are goin’ to be taken care of.” He took
+a cigar and struck a match.
+
+“It does look a little threatening,” said Senator Simpson, smiling.
+“Sit down. I have just been talking with Avery Stone, of Jay Cooke &
+Company, and he tells me that the talk in Third Street about Stener’s
+connection with this Cowperwood failure is growing very strong, and
+that the newspapers are bound to take up the matter shortly, unless
+something is done about it. I am sure that the news will also reach Mr.
+Wheat, of the Citizens’ Reform Association, very shortly. We ought to
+decide now, gentlemen, what we propose to do. One thing, I am sure, is
+to eliminate Stener from the ticket as quietly as possible. This really
+looks to me as if it might become a very serious issue, and we ought to
+be doing what we can now to offset its effect later.”
+
+Mollenhauer pulled a long breath through his cigar, and blew it out in
+a rolling steel-blue cloud. He studied the tapestry on the opposite
+wall but said nothing.
+
+“There is one thing sure,” continued Senator Simpson, after a time,
+seeing that no one else spoke, “and that is, if we do not begin a
+prosecution on our own account within a reasonable time, some one else
+is apt to; and that would put rather a bad face on the matter. My own
+opinion would be that we wait until it is very plain that prosecution
+is going to be undertaken by some one else—possibly the Municipal
+Reform Association—but that we stand ready to step in and act in such a
+way as to make it look as though we had been planning to do it all the
+time. The thing to do is to gain time; and so I would suggest that it
+be made as difficult as possible to get at the treasurer’s books. An
+investigation there, if it begins at all—as I think is very
+likely—should be very slow in producing the facts.”
+
+The Senator was not at all for mincing words with his important
+confreres, when it came to vital issues. He preferred, in his
+grandiloquent way, to call a spade a spade.
+
+“Now that sounds like very good sense to me,” said Butler, sinking a
+little lower in his chair for comfort’s sake, and concealing his true
+mood in regard to all this. “The boys could easily make that
+investigation last three weeks, I should think. They’re slow enough
+with everything else, if me memory doesn’t fail me.” At the same time
+he was cogitating as to how to inject the personality of Cowperwood and
+his speedy prosecution without appearing to be neglecting the general
+welfare of the local party too much.
+
+“Yes, that isn’t a bad idea,” said Mollenhauer, solemnly, blowing a
+ring of smoke, and thinking how to keep Cowperwood’s especial offense
+from coming up at this conference and until after he had seen him.
+
+“We ought to map out our program very carefully,” continued Senator
+Simpson, “so that if we are compelled to act we can do so very quickly.
+I believe myself that this thing is certain to come to an issue within
+a week, if not sooner, and we have no time to lose. If my advice were
+followed now, I should have the mayor write the treasurer a letter
+asking for information, and the treasurer write the mayor his answer,
+and also have the mayor, with the authority of the common council,
+suspend the treasurer for the time being—I think we have the authority
+to do that—or, at least, take over his principal duties but without for
+the time being, anyhow, making any of these transactions public—until
+we have to, of course. We ought to be ready with these letters to show
+to the newspapers at once, in case this action is forced upon us.”
+
+“I could have those letters prepared, if you gentlemen have no
+objection,” put in Mollenhauer, quietly, but quickly.
+
+“Well, that strikes me as sinsible,” said Butler, easily. “It’s about
+the only thing we can do under the circumstances, unless we could find
+some one else to blame it on, and I have a suggestion to make in that
+direction. Maybe we’re not as helpless as we might be, all things
+considered.”
+
+There was a slight gleam of triumph in his eye as he said this, at the
+same time that there was a slight shadow of disappointment in
+Mollenhauer’s. So Butler knew, and probably Simpson, too.
+
+“Just what do you mean?” asked the Senator, looking at Butler
+interestedly. He knew nothing of the sixty-thousand-dollar check
+transaction. He had not followed the local treasury dealings very
+closely, nor had he talked to either of his confreres since the
+original conference between them. “There haven’t been any outside
+parties mixed up with this, have there?” His own shrewd, political mind
+was working.
+
+“No-o. I wouldn’t call him an outside party, exactly, Senator,” went on
+Butler suavely. “It’s Cowperwood himself I’m thinkin’ of. There’s
+somethin’ that has come up since I saw you gentlemen last that makes me
+think that perhaps that young man isn’t as innocent as he might be. It
+looks to me as though he was the ringleader in this business, as though
+he had been leadin’ Stener on against his will. I’ve been lookin’ into
+the matter on me own account, and as far as I can make out this man
+Stener isn’t as much to blame as I thought. From all I can learn,
+Cowperwood’s been threatenin’ Stener with one thing and another if he
+didn’t give him more money, and only the other day he got a big sum on
+false pretinses, which might make him equally guilty with Stener.
+There’s sixty-thousand dollars of city loan certificates that has been
+paid for that aren’t in the sinking-fund. And since the reputation of
+the party’s in danger this fall, I don’t see that we need to have any
+particular consideration for him.” He paused, strong in the conviction
+that he had sent a most dangerous arrow flying in the direction of
+Cowperwood, as indeed he had. Yet at this moment, both the Senator and
+Mollenhauer were not a little surprised, seeing at their last meeting
+he had appeared rather friendly to the young banker, and this recent
+discovery seemed scarcely any occasion for a vicious attitude on his
+part. Mollenhauer in particular was surprised, for he had been looking
+on Butler’s friendship for Cowperwood as a possible stumbling block.
+
+“Um-m, you don’t tell me,” observed Senator Simpson, thoughtfully,
+stroking his mouth with his pale hand.
+
+“Yes, I can confirm that,” said Mollenhauer, quietly, seeing his own
+little private plan of browbeating Cowperwood out of his street-railway
+shares going glimmering. “I had a talk with Stener the other day about
+this very matter, and he told me that Cowperwood had been trying to
+force him to give him three hundred thousand dollars more, and that
+when he refused Cowperwood managed to get sixty thousand dollars
+further without his knowledge or consent.”
+
+“How could he do that?” asked Senator Simpson, incredulously.
+Mollenhauer explained the transaction.
+
+“Oh,” said the Senator, when Mollenhauer had finished, “that indicates
+a rather sharp person, doesn’t it? And the certificates are not in the
+sinking-fund, eh?”
+
+“They’re not,” chimed in Butler, with considerable enthusiasm.
+
+“Well, I must say,” said Simpson, rather relieved in his manner, “this
+looks like a rather good thing than not to me. A scapegoat possibly. We
+need something like this. I see no reason under the circumstances for
+trying to protect Mr. Cowperwood. We might as well try to make a point
+of that, if we have to. The newspapers might just as well talk loud
+about that as anything else. They are bound to talk; and if we give
+them the right angle, I think that the election might well come and go
+before the matter could be reasonably cleared up, even though Mr. Wheat
+does interfere. I will be glad to undertake to see what can be done
+with the papers.”
+
+“Well, that bein’ the case,” said Butler, “I don’t see that there’s so
+much more we can do now; but I do think it will be a mistake if
+Cowperwood isn’t punished with the other one. He’s equally guilty with
+Stener, if not more so, and I for one want to see him get what he
+deserves. He belongs in the penitentiary, and that’s where he’ll go if
+I have my say.” Both Mollenhauer and Simpson turned a reserved and
+inquiring eye on their usually genial associate. What could be the
+reason for his sudden determination to have Cowperwood punished?
+Cowperwood, as Mollenhauer and Simpson saw it, and as Butler would
+ordinarily have seen it, was well within his human, if not his strictly
+legal rights. They did not blame him half as much for trying to do what
+he had done as they blamed Stener for letting him do it. But, since
+Butler felt as he did, and there was an actual technical crime here,
+they were perfectly willing that the party should have the advantage of
+it, even if Cowperwood went to the penitentiary.
+
+“You may be right,” said Senator Simpson, cautiously. “You might have
+those letters prepared, Henry; and if we have to bring any action at
+all against anybody before election, it would, perhaps, be advisable to
+bring it against Cowperwood. Include Stener if you have to but not
+unless you have to. I leave it to you two, as I am compelled to start
+for Pittsburg next Friday; but I know you will not overlook any point.”
+
+The Senator arose. His time was always valuable. Butler was highly
+gratified by what he had accomplished. He had succeeded in putting the
+triumvirate on record against Cowperwood as the first victim, in case
+of any public disturbance or demonstration against the party. All that
+was now necessary was for that disturbance to manifest itself; and,
+from what he could see of local conditions, it was not far off. There
+was now the matter of Cowperwood’s disgruntled creditors to look into;
+and if by buying in these he should succeed in preventing the financier
+from resuming business, he would have him in a very precarious
+condition indeed. It was a sad day for Cowperwood, Butler thought—the
+day he had first tried to lead Aileen astray—and the time was not far
+off when he could prove it to him.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIII
+
+
+In the meantime Cowperwood, from what he could see and hear, was
+becoming more and more certain that the politicians would try to make a
+scapegoat of him, and that shortly. For one thing, Stires had called
+only a few days after he closed his doors and imparted a significant
+bit of information. Albert was still connected with the city treasury,
+as was Stener, and engaged with Sengstack and another personal
+appointee of Mollenhauer’s in going over the treasurer’s books and
+explaining their financial significance. Stires had come to Cowperwood
+primarily to get additional advice in regard to the
+sixty-thousand-dollar check and his personal connection with it.
+Stener, it seemed, was now threatening to have his chief clerk
+prosecuted, saying that he was responsible for the loss of the money
+and that his bondsmen could be held responsible. Cowperwood had merely
+laughed and assured Stires that there was nothing to this.
+
+“Albert,” he had said, smilingly, “I tell you positively, there’s
+nothing in it. You’re not responsible for delivering that check to me.
+I’ll tell you what you do, now. Go and consult my lawyer—Steger. It
+won’t cost you a cent, and he’ll tell you exactly what to do. Now go on
+back and don’t worry any more about it. I am sorry this move of mine
+has caused you so much trouble, but it’s a hundred to one you couldn’t
+have kept your place with a new city treasurer, anyhow, and if I see
+any place where you can possibly fit in later, I’ll let you know.”
+
+Another thing that made Cowperwood pause and consider at this time was
+a letter from Aileen, detailing a conversation which had taken place at
+the Butler dinner table one evening when Butler, the elder, was not at
+home. She related how her brother Owen in effect had stated that
+they—the politicians—her father, Mollenhauer, and Simpson, were going
+to “get him yet” (meaning Cowperwood), for some criminal financial
+manipulation of something—she could not explain what—a check or
+something. Aileen was frantic with worry. Could they mean the
+penitentiary, she asked in her letter? Her dear lover! Her beloved
+Frank! Could anything like this really happen to him?
+
+His brow clouded, and he set his teeth with rage when he read her
+letter. He would have to do something about this—see Mollenhauer or
+Simpson, or both, and make some offer to the city. He could not promise
+them money for the present—only notes—but they might take them. Surely
+they could not be intending to make a scapegoat of him over such a
+trivial and uncertain matter as this check transaction! When there was
+the five hundred thousand advanced by Stener, to say nothing of all the
+past shady transactions of former city treasurers! How rotten! How
+political, but how real and dangerous.
+
+But Simpson was out of the city for a period of ten days, and
+Mollenhauer, having in mind the suggestion made by Butler in regard to
+utilizing Cowperwood’s misdeed for the benefit of the party, had
+already moved as they had planned. The letters were ready and waiting.
+Indeed, since the conference, the smaller politicians, taking their cue
+from the overlords, had been industriously spreading the story of the
+sixty-thousand-dollar check, and insisting that the burden of guilt for
+the treasury defalcation, if any, lay on the banker. The moment
+Mollenhauer laid eyes on Cowperwood he realized, however, that he had a
+powerful personality to deal with. Cowperwood gave no evidence of
+fright. He merely stated, in his bland way, that he had been in the
+habit of borrowing money from the city treasury at a low rate of
+interest, and that this panic had involved him so that he could not
+possibly return it at present.
+
+“I have heard rumors, Mr. Mollenhauer,” he said, “to the effect that
+some charge is to be brought against me as a partner with Mr. Stener in
+this matter; but I am hoping that the city will not do that, and I
+thought I might enlist your influence to prevent it. My affairs are not
+in a bad way at all, if I had a little time to arrange matters. I am
+making all of my creditors an offer of fifty cents on the dollar now,
+and giving notes at one, two, and three years; but in this matter of
+the city treasury loans, if I could come to terms, I would be glad to
+make it a hundred cents—only I would want a little more time. Stocks
+are bound to recover, as you know, and, barring my losses at this time,
+I will be all right. I realize that the matter has gone pretty far
+already. The newspapers are likely to start talking at any time, unless
+they are stopped by those who can control them.” (He looked at
+Mollenhauer in a complimentary way.) “But if I could be kept out of the
+general proceedings as much as possible, my standing would not be
+injured, and I would have a better chance of getting on my feet. It
+would be better for the city, for then I could certainly pay it what I
+owe it.” He smiled his most winsome and engaging smile. And Mollenhauer
+seeing him for the first time, was not unimpressed. Indeed he looked at
+this young financial David with an interested eye. If he could have
+seen a way to accept this proposition of Cowperwood’s, so that the
+money offered would have been eventually payable to him, and if
+Cowperwood had had any reasonable prospect of getting on his feet soon,
+he would have considered carefully what he had to say. For then
+Cowperwood could have assigned his recovered property to him. As it
+was, there was small likelihood of this situation ever being
+straightened out. The Citizens’ Municipal Reform Association, from all
+he could hear, was already on the move—investigating, or about to, and
+once they had set their hands to this, would unquestionably follow it
+closely to the end.
+
+“The trouble with this situation, Mr. Cowperwood,” he said, affably,
+“is that it has gone so far that it is practically out of my hands. I
+really have very little to do with it. I don’t suppose, though, really,
+it is this matter of the five-hundred-thousand-dollar loan that is
+worrying you so much, as it is this other matter of the
+sixty-thousand-dollar check you received the other day. Mr. Stener
+insists that you secured that illegally, and he is very much wrought up
+about it. The mayor and the other city officials know of it now, and
+they may force some action. I don’t know.”
+
+Mollenhauer was obviously not frank in his attitude—a little bit
+evasive in his sly reference to his official tool, the mayor; and
+Cowperwood saw it. It irritated him greatly, but he was tactful enough
+to be quite suave and respectful.
+
+“I did get a check for sixty thousand dollars, that’s true,” he
+replied, with apparent frankness, “the day before I assigned. It was
+for certificates I had purchased, however, on Mr. Stener’s order, and
+was due me. I needed the money, and asked for it. I don’t see that
+there is anything illegal in that.”
+
+“Not if the transaction was completed in all its details,” replied
+Mollenhauer, blandly. “As I understand it, the certificates were bought
+for the sinking-fund, and they are not there. How do you explain that?”
+
+“An oversight, merely,” replied Cowperwood, innocently, and quite as
+blandly as Mollenhauer. “They would have been there if I had not been
+compelled to assign so unexpectedly. It was not possible for me to
+attend to everything in person. It has not been our custom to deposit
+them at once. Mr. Stener will tell you that, if you ask him.”
+
+“You don’t say,” replied Mollenhauer. “He did not give me that
+impression. However, they are not there, and I believe that that makes
+some difference legally. I have no interest in the matter one way or
+the other, more than that of any other good Republican. I don’t see
+exactly what I can do for you. What did you think I could do?”
+
+“I don’t believe you can do anything for me, Mr. Mollenhauer,” replied
+Cowperwood, a little tartly, “unless you are willing to deal quite
+frankly with me. I am not a beginner in politics in Philadelphia. I
+know something about the powers in command. I thought that you could
+stop any plan to prosecute me in this matter, and give me time to get
+on my feet again. I am not any more criminally responsible for that
+sixty thousand dollars than I am for the five hundred thousand dollars
+that I had as loan before it—not as much so. I did not create this
+panic. I did not set Chicago on fire. Mr. Stener and his friends have
+been reaping some profit out of dealing with me. I certainly was
+entitled to make some effort to save myself after all these years of
+service, and I can’t understand why I should not receive some courtesy
+at the hands of the present city administration, after I have been so
+useful to it. I certainly have kept city loan at par; and as for Mr.
+Stener’s money, he has never wanted for his interest on that, and more
+than his interest.”
+
+“Quite so,” replied Mollenhauer, looking Cowperwood in the eye steadily
+and estimating the force and accuracy of the man at their real value.
+“I understand exactly how it has all come about, Mr. Cowperwood. No
+doubt Mr. Stener owes you a debt of gratitude, as does the remainder of
+the city administration. I’m not saying what the city administration
+ought or ought not do. All I know is that you find yourself wittingly
+or unwittingly in a dangerous situation, and that public sentiment in
+some quarters is already very strong against you. I personally have no
+feeling one way or the other, and if it were not for the situation
+itself, which looks to be out of hand, would not be opposed to
+assisting you in any reasonable way. But how? The Republican party is
+in a very bad position, so far as this election is concerned. In a way,
+however innocently, you have helped to put it there, Mr. Cowperwood.
+Mr. Butler, for some reason to which I am not a party, seems deeply and
+personally incensed. And Mr. Butler is a great power here—” (Cowperwood
+began to wonder whether by any chance Butler had indicated the nature
+of his social offense against himself, but he could not bring himself
+to believe that. It was not probable.) “I sympathize with you greatly,
+Mr. Cowperwood, but what I suggest is that you first See Mr. Butler and
+Mr. Simpson. If they agree to any program of aid, I will not be opposed
+to joining. But apart from that I do not know exactly what I can do. I
+am only one of those who have a slight say in the affairs of
+Philadelphia.”
+
+At this point, Mollenhauer rather expected Cowperwood to make an offer
+of his own holdings, but he did not. Instead he said, “I’m very much
+obliged to you, Mr. Mollenhauer, for the courtesy of this interview. I
+believe you would help me if you could. I shall just have to fight it
+out the best way I can. Good day.”
+
+And he bowed himself out. He saw clearly how hopeless was his quest.
+
+In the meanwhile, finding that the rumors were growing in volume and
+that no one appeared to be willing to take steps to straighten the
+matter out, Mr. Skelton C. Wheat, President of the Citizens’ Municipal
+Reform Association, was, at last and that by no means against his will,
+compelled to call together the committee of ten estimable
+Philadelphians of which he was chairman, in a local committee-hall on
+Market Street, and lay the matter of the Cowperwood failure before it.
+
+“It strikes me, gentlemen,” he announced, “that this is an occasion
+when this organization can render a signal service to the city and the
+people of Philadelphia, and prove the significance and the merit of the
+title originally selected for it, by making such a thoroughgoing
+investigation as will bring to light all the facts in this case, and
+then by standing vigorously behind them insist that such nefarious
+practices as we are informed were indulged in in this case shall cease.
+I know it may prove to be a difficult task. The Republican party and
+its local and State interests are certain to be against us. Its leaders
+are unquestionably most anxious to avoid comment and to have their
+ticket go through undisturbed, and they will not contemplate with any
+equanimity our opening activity in this matter; but if we persevere,
+great good will surely come of it. There is too much dishonesty in
+public life as it is. There is a standard of right in these matters
+which cannot permanently be ignored, and which must eventually be
+fulfilled. I leave this matter to your courteous consideration.”
+
+Mr. Wheat sat down, and the body before him immediately took the matter
+which he proposed under advisement. It was decided to appoint a
+subcommittee “to investigate” (to quote the statement eventually given
+to the public) “the peculiar rumors now affecting one of the most
+important and distinguished offices of our municipal government,” and
+to report at the next meeting, which was set for the following evening
+at nine o’clock. The meeting adjourned, and the following night at nine
+reassembled, four individuals of very shrewd financial judgment having
+meantime been about the task assigned them. They drew up a very
+elaborate statement, not wholly in accordance with the facts, but as
+nearly so as could be ascertained in so short a space of time.
+
+“It appears [read the report, after a preamble which explained why the
+committee had been appointed] that it has been the custom of city
+treasurers for years, when loans have been authorized by councils, to
+place them in the hands of some favorite broker for sale, the broker
+accounting to the treasurer for the moneys received by such sales at
+short periods, generally the first of each month. In the present case
+Frank A. Cowperwood has been acting as such broker for the city
+treasurer. But even this vicious and unbusiness-like system appears not
+to have been adhered to in the case of Mr. Cowperwood. The accident of
+the Chicago fire, the consequent depression of stock values, and the
+subsequent failure of Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood have so involved matters
+temporarily that the committee has not been able to ascertain with
+accuracy that regular accounts have been rendered; but from the manner
+in which Mr. Cowperwood has had possession of bonds (city loan) for
+hypothecation, etc., it would appear that he has been held to no
+responsibility in these matters, and that there have always been under
+his control several hundred thousand dollars of cash or securities
+belonging to the city, which he has manipulated for various purposes;
+but the details of the results of these transactions are not easily
+available.
+    “Some of the operations consisted of hypothecation of large amounts
+    of these loans before the certificates were issued, the lender
+    seeing that the order for the hypothecated securities was duly made
+    to him on the books of the treasurer. Such methods appear to have
+    been occurring for a long time, and it being incredible that the
+    city treasurer could be unaware of the nature of the business,
+    there is indication of a complicity between him and Mr. Cowperwood
+    to benefit by the use of the city credit, in violation of the law.
+    “Furthermore, at the very time these hypothecations were being
+    made, and the city paying interest upon such loans, the money
+    representing them was in the hands of the treasurer’s broker and
+    bearing no interest to the city. The payment of municipal warrants
+    was postponed, and they were being purchased at a discount in large
+    amounts by Mr. Cowperwood with the very money that should have been
+    in the city treasury. The _bona fide_ holders of the orders for
+    certificates of loans are now unable to obtain them, and thus the
+    city’s credit is injured to a greater extent than the present
+    defalcation, which amounts to over five hundred thousand dollars.
+    An accountant is now at work on the treasurer’s books, and a few
+    days should make clear the whole _modus operandi_. It is hoped that
+    the publicity thus obtained will break up such vicious practices.”
+
+
+There was appended to this report a quotation from the law governing
+the abuse of a public trust; and the committee went on to say that,
+unless some taxpayer chose to initiate proceedings for the prosecution
+of those concerned, the committee itself would be called upon to do so,
+although such action hardly came within the object for which it was
+formed.
+
+This report was immediately given to the papers. Though some sort of a
+public announcement had been anticipated by Cowperwood and the
+politicians, this was, nevertheless, a severe blow. Stener was beside
+himself with fear. He broke into a cold sweat when he saw the
+announcement which was conservatively headed, “Meeting of the Municipal
+Reform Association.” All of the papers were so closely identified with
+the political and financial powers of the city that they did not dare
+to come out openly and say what they thought. The chief facts had
+already been in the hands of the various editors and publishers for a
+week and more, but word had gone around from Mollenhauer, Simpson, and
+Butler to use the soft pedal for the present. It was not good for
+Philadelphia, for local commerce, etc., to make a row. The fair name of
+the city would be smirched. It was the old story.
+
+At once the question was raised as to who was really guilty, the city
+treasurer or the broker, or both. How much money had actually been
+lost? Where had it gone? Who was Frank Algernon Cowperwood, anyway? Why
+was he not arrested? How did he come to be identified so closely with
+the financial administration of the city? And though the day of what
+later was termed “yellow journalism” had not arrived, and the local
+papers were not given to such vital personal comment as followed later,
+it was not possible, even bound as they were, hand and foot, by the
+local political and social magnates, to avoid comment of some sort.
+Editorials had to be written. Some solemn, conservative references to
+the shame and disgrace which one single individual could bring to a
+great city and a noble political party had to be ventured upon.
+
+That desperate scheme to cast the blame on Cowperwood temporarily,
+which had been concocted by Mollenhauer, Butler, and Simpson, to get
+the odium of the crime outside the party lines for the time being, was
+now lugged forth and put in operation. It was interesting and strange
+to note how quickly the newspapers, and even the Citizens’ Municipal
+Reform Association, adopted the argument that Cowperwood was largely,
+if not solely, to blame. Stener had loaned him the money, it is
+true—had put bond issues in his hands for sale, it is true, but somehow
+every one seemed to gain the impression that Cowperwood had desperately
+misused the treasurer. The fact that he had taken a
+sixty-thousand-dollar check for certificates which were not in the
+sinking-fund was hinted at, though until they could actually confirm
+this for themselves both the newspapers and the committee were too
+fearful of the State libel laws to say so.
+
+In due time there were brought forth several noble municipal letters,
+purporting to be a stern call on the part of the mayor, Mr. Jacob
+Borchardt, on Mr. George W. Stener for an immediate explanation of his
+conduct, and the latter’s reply, which were at once given to the
+newspapers and the Citizens’ Municipal Reform Association. These
+letters were enough to show, so the politicians figured, that the
+Republican party was anxious to purge itself of any miscreant within
+its ranks, and they also helped to pass the time until after election.
+
+OFFICE OF THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
+
+
+GEORGE W. STENER, ESQ.,                    _October_ 18, 1871.
+City Treasurer.
+
+    DEAR SIR,—Information has been given me that certificates of city
+    loan to a large amount, issued by you for sale on account of the
+    city, and, I presume, after the usual requisition from the mayor of
+    the city, have passed out of your custody, and that the proceeds of
+    the sale of said certificates have not been paid into the city
+    treasury.
+    I have also been informed that a large amount of the city’s money
+    has been permitted to pass into the hands of some one or more
+    brokers or bankers doing business on Third Street, and that said
+    brokers or bankers have since met with financial difficulties,
+    whereby, and by reason of the above generally, the interests of the
+    city are likely to be very seriously affected.
+    I have therefore to request that you will promptly advise me of the
+    truth or falsity of these statements, so that such duties as
+    devolve upon me as the chief magistrate of the city, in view of
+    such facts, if they exist, may be intelligently discharged. Yours
+    respectfully,
+
+
+JACOB BORCHARDT,
+_Mayor of Philadelphia._
+
+
+OFFICE OF THE TREASURER OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
+
+
+HON. JACOB BORCHARDT.                    _October_ 19, 1871.
+
+    DEAR SIR,—I have to acknowledge the receipt of your communication
+    of the 21st instant, and to express my regret that I cannot at this
+    time give you the information you ask. There is undoubtedly an
+    embarrassment in the city treasury, owing to the delinquency of the
+    broker who for several years past has negotiated the city loans,
+    and I have been, since the discovery of this fact, and still am
+    occupied in endeavoring to avert or lessen the loss with which the
+    city is threatened.
+
+
+I am, very respectfully,
+GEORGE W. STENER.
+
+
+OFFICE OF THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
+
+
+GEORGE W. STENER, ESQ.,                    _October_ 21, 1871.
+City Treasurer.
+
+    DEAR SIR—Under the existing circumstances you will consider this as
+    a notice of withdrawal and revocation of any requisition or
+    authority by me for the sale of loan, so far as the same has not
+    been fulfilled. Applications for loans may for the present be made
+    at this office.
+
+
+Very respectfully,
+JACOB BORCHARDT,
+_Mayor of Philadelphia._
+
+
+And did Mr. Jacob Borchardt write the letters to which his name was
+attached? He did not. Mr. Abner Sengstack wrote them in Mr.
+Mollenhauer’s office, and Mr. Mollenhauer’s comment when he saw them
+was that he thought they would do—that they were very good, in fact.
+And did Mr. George W. Stener, city treasurer of Philadelphia, write
+that very politic reply? He did not. Mr. Stener was in a state of
+complete collapse, even crying at one time at home in his bathtub. Mr.
+Abner Sengstack wrote that also, and had Mr. Stener sign it. And Mr.
+Mollenhauer’s comment on that, before it was sent, was that he thought
+it was “all right.” It was a time when all the little rats and mice
+were scurrying to cover because of the presence of a great, fiery-eyed
+public cat somewhere in the dark, and only the older and wiser rats
+were able to act.
+
+Indeed, at this very time and for some days past now, Messrs.
+Mollenhauer, Butler, and Simpson were, and had been, considering with
+Mr. Pettie, the district attorney, just what could be done about
+Cowperwood, if anything, and in order to further emphasize the blame in
+that direction, and just what defense, if any, could be made for
+Stener. Butler, of course, was strong for Cowperwood’s prosecution.
+Pettie did not see that any defense could be made for Stener, since
+various records of street-car stocks purchased for him were spread upon
+Cowperwood’s books; but for Cowperwood—“Let me see,” he said. They were
+speculating, first of all, as to whether it might not be good policy to
+arrest Cowperwood, and if necessary try him, since his mere arrest
+would seem to the general public, at least, positive proof of his
+greater guilt, to say nothing of the virtuous indignation of the
+administration, and in consequence might tend to divert attention from
+the evil nature of the party until after election.
+
+So finally, on the afternoon of October 26, 1871, Edward Strobik,
+president of the common council of Philadelphia, appeared before the
+mayor, as finally ordered by Mollenhauer, and charged by affidavit that
+Frank A. Cowperwood, as broker, employed by the treasurer to sell the
+bonds of the city, had committed embezzlement and larceny as bailee. It
+did not matter that he charged George W. Stener with embezzlement at
+the same time. Cowperwood was the scapegoat they were after.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIV
+
+
+The contrasting pictures presented by Cowperwood and Stener at this
+time are well worth a moment’s consideration. Stener’s face was
+grayish-white, his lips blue. Cowperwood, despite various solemn
+thoughts concerning a possible period of incarceration which this hue
+and cry now suggested, and what that meant to his parents, his wife and
+children, his business associates, and his friends, was as calm and
+collected as one might assume his great mental resources would permit
+him to be. During all this whirl of disaster he had never once lost his
+head or his courage. That thing conscience, which obsesses and rides
+some people to destruction, did not trouble him at all. He had no
+consciousness of what is currently known as sin. There were just two
+faces to the shield of life from the point of view of his peculiar
+mind-strength and weakness. Right and wrong? He did not know about
+those. They were bound up in metaphysical abstrusities about which he
+did not care to bother. Good and evil? Those were toys of clerics, by
+which they made money. And as for social favor or social ostracism
+which, on occasion, so quickly followed upon the heels of disaster of
+any kind, well, what was social ostracism? Had either he or his parents
+been of the best society as yet? And since not, and despite this
+present mix-up, might not the future hold social restoration and
+position for him? It might. Morality and immorality? He never
+considered them. But strength and weakness—oh, yes! If you had strength
+you could protect yourself always and be something. If you were
+weak—pass quickly to the rear and get out of the range of the guns. He
+was strong, and he knew it, and somehow he always believed in his star.
+Something—he could not say what—it was the only metaphysics he bothered
+about—was doing something for him. It had always helped him. It made
+things come out right at times. It put excellent opportunities in his
+way. Why had he been given so fine a mind? Why always favored
+financially, personally? He had not deserved it—earned it. Accident,
+perhaps, but somehow the thought that he would always be
+protected—these intuitions, the “hunches” to act which he frequently
+had—could not be so easily explained. Life was a dark, insoluble
+mystery, but whatever it was, strength and weakness were its two
+constituents. Strength would win—weakness lose. He must rely on
+swiftness of thought, accuracy, his judgment, and on nothing else. He
+was really a brilliant picture of courage and energy—moving about
+briskly in a jaunty, dapper way, his mustaches curled, his clothes
+pressed, his nails manicured, his face clean-shaven and tinted with
+health.
+
+In the meantime, Cowperwood had gone personally to Skelton C. Wheat and
+tried to explain his side of the situation, alleging that he had done
+no differently from many others before him, but Wheat was dubious. He
+did not see how it was that the sixty thousand dollars’ worth of
+certificates were not in the sinking-fund. Cowperwood’s explanation of
+custom did not avail. Nevertheless, Mr. Wheat saw that others in
+politics had been profiting quite as much as Cowperwood in other ways
+and he advised Cowperwood to turn state’s evidence. This, however, he
+promptly refused to do—he was no “squealer,” and indicated as much to
+Mr. Wheat, who only smiled wryly.
+
+Butler, Sr., was delighted (concerned though he was about party success
+at the polls), for now he had this villain in the toils and he would
+have a fine time getting out of this. The incoming district attorney to
+succeed David Pettie if the Republican party won would be, as was now
+planned, an appointee of Butler’s—a young Irishman who had done
+considerable legal work for him—one Dennis Shannon. The other two party
+leaders had already promised Butler that. Shannon was a smart,
+athletic, good-looking fellow, all of five feet ten inches in height,
+sandy-haired, pink-cheeked, blue-eyed, considerable of an orator and a
+fine legal fighter. He was very proud to be in the old man’s favor—to
+be promised a place on the ticket by him—and would, he said, if
+elected, do his bidding to the best of his knowledge and ability.
+
+There was only one fly in the ointment, so far as some of the
+politicians were concerned, and that was that if Cowperwood were
+convicted, Stener must needs be also. There was no escape in so far as
+any one could see for the city treasurer. If Cowperwood was guilty of
+securing by trickery sixty thousand dollars’ worth of the city money,
+Stener was guilty of securing five hundred thousand dollars. The prison
+term for this was five years. He might plead not guilty, and by
+submitting as evidence that what he did was due to custom save himself
+from the odious necessity of pleading guilty; but he would be convicted
+nevertheless. No jury could get by the fact in regard to him. In spite
+of public opinion, when it came to a trial there might be considerable
+doubt in Cowperwood’s case. There was none in Stener’s.
+
+The practical manner in which the situation was furthered, after
+Cowperwood and Stener were formally charged may be quickly noted.
+Steger, Cowperwood’s lawyer, learned privately beforehand that
+Cowperwood was to be prosecuted. He arranged at once to have his client
+appear before any warrant could be served, and to forestall the
+newspaper palaver which would follow it if he had to be searched for.
+
+The mayor issued a warrant for Cowperwood’s arrest, and, in accordance
+with Steger’s plan, Cowperwood immediately appeared before Borchardt in
+company with his lawyer and gave bail in twenty thousand dollars (W. C.
+Davison, president of the Girard National Bank, being his surety), for
+his appearance at the central police station on the following Saturday
+for a hearing. Marcus Oldslaw, a lawyer, had been employed by Strobik
+as president of the common council, to represent him in prosecuting the
+case for the city. The mayor looked at Cowperwood curiously, for he,
+being comparatively new to the political world of Philadelphia, was not
+so familiar with him as others were; and Cowperwood returned the look
+pleasantly enough.
+
+“This is a great dumb show, Mr. Mayor,” he observed once to Borchardt,
+quietly, and the latter replied, with a smile and a kindly eye, that as
+far as he was concerned, it was a form of procedure which was
+absolutely unavoidable at this time.
+
+“You know how it is, Mr. Cowperwood,” he observed. The latter smiled.
+“I do, indeed,” he said.
+
+Later there followed several more or less perfunctory appearances in a
+local police court, known as the Central Court, where when arraigned he
+pleaded not guilty, and finally his appearance before the November
+grand jury, where, owing to the complicated nature of the charge drawn
+up against him by Pettie, he thought it wise to appear. He was properly
+indicted by the latter body (Shannon, the newly elected district
+attorney, making a demonstration in force), and his trial ordered for
+December 5th before a certain Judge Payderson in Part I of Quarter
+Sessions, which was the local branch of the State courts dealing with
+crimes of this character. His indictment did not occur, however, before
+the coming and going of the much-mooted fall election, which resulted,
+thanks to the clever political manipulations of Mollenhauer and Simpson
+(ballot-box stuffing and personal violence at the polls not barred), in
+another victory, by, however, a greatly reduced majority. The Citizens’
+Municipal Reform Association, in spite of a resounding defeat at the
+polls, which could not have happened except by fraud, continued to fire
+courageously away at those whom it considered to be the chief
+malefactors.
+
+Aileen Butler, during all this time, was following the trend of
+Cowperwood’s outward vicissitudes as heralded by the newspapers and the
+local gossip with as much interest and bias and enthusiasm for him as
+her powerful physical and affectional nature would permit. She was no
+great reasoner where affection entered in, but shrewd enough without
+it; and, although she saw him often and he told her much—as much as his
+natural caution would permit—she yet gathered from the newspapers and
+private conversation, at her own family’s table and elsewhere, that, as
+bad as they said he was, he was not as bad as he might be. One item
+only, clipped from the Philadelphia Public Ledger soon after Cowperwood
+had been publicly accused of embezzlement, comforted and consoled her.
+She cut it out and carried it in her bosom; for, somehow, it seemed to
+show that her adored Frank was far more sinned against than sinning. It
+was a part of one of those very numerous pronunciamientos or reports
+issued by the Citizens’ Municipal Reform Association, and it ran:
+
+“The aspects of the case are graver than have yet been allowed to reach
+the public. Five hundred thousand dollars of the deficiency arises not
+from city bonds sold and not accounted for, but from loans made by the
+treasurer to his broker. The committee is also informed, on what it
+believes to be good authority, that the loans sold by the broker were
+accounted for in the monthly settlements at the lowest prices current
+during the month, and that the difference between this rate and that
+actually realized was divided between the treasurer and the broker,
+thus making it to the interest of both parties to ‘bear’ the market at
+some time during the month, so as to obtain a low quotation for
+settlement. Nevertheless, the committee can only regard the prosecution
+instituted against the broker, Mr. Cowperwood, as an effort to divert
+public attention from more guilty parties while those concerned may be
+able to ‘fix’ matters to suit themselves.”
+
+
+“There,” thought Aileen, when she read it, “there you have it.” These
+politicians—her father among them as she gathered after his
+conversation with her—were trying to put the blame of their own evil
+deeds on her Frank. He was not nearly as bad as he was painted. The
+report said so. She gloated over the words “an effort to divert public
+attention from more guilty parties.” That was just what her Frank had
+been telling her in those happy, private hours when they had been
+together recently in one place and another, particularly the new
+rendezvous in South Sixth Street which he had established, since the
+old one had to be abandoned. He had stroked her rich hair, caressed her
+body, and told her it was all a prearranged political scheme to cast
+the blame as much as possible on him and make it as light as possible
+for Stener and the party generally. He would come out of it all right,
+he said, but he cautioned her not to talk. He did not deny his long and
+profitable relations with Stener. He told her exactly how it was. She
+understood, or thought she did. Anyhow, her Frank was telling her, and
+that was enough.
+
+As for the two Cowperwood households, so recently and pretentiously
+joined in success, now so gloomily tied in failure, the life was going
+out of them. Frank Algernon was that life. He was the courage and force
+of his father: the spirit and opportunity of his brothers, the hope of
+his children, the estate of his wife, the dignity and significance of
+the Cowperwood name. All that meant opportunity, force, emolument,
+dignity, and happiness to those connected with him, he was. And his
+marvelous sun was waning apparently to a black eclipse.
+
+Since the fatal morning, for instance, when Lillian Cowperwood had
+received that utterly destructive note, like a cannonball ripping
+through her domestic affairs, she had been walking like one in a
+trance. Each day now for weeks she had been going about her duties
+placidly enough to all outward seeming, but inwardly she was running
+with a troubled tide of thought. She was so utterly unhappy. Her
+fortieth year had come for her at a time when life ought naturally to
+stand fixed and firm on a solid base, and here she was about to be torn
+bodily from the domestic soil in which she was growing and blooming,
+and thrown out indifferently to wither in the blistering noonday sun of
+circumstance.
+
+As for Cowperwood, Senior, his situation at his bank and elsewhere was
+rapidly nearing a climax. As has been said, he had had tremendous faith
+in his son; but he could not help seeing that an error had been
+committed, as he thought, and that Frank was suffering greatly for it
+now. He considered, of course, that Frank had been entitled to try to
+save himself as he had; but he so regretted that his son should have
+put his foot into the trap of any situation which could stir up
+discussion of the sort that was now being aroused. Frank was
+wonderfully brilliant. He need never have taken up with the city
+treasurer or the politicians to have succeeded marvelously. Local
+street-railways and speculative politicians were his undoing. The old
+man walked the floor all of the days, realizing that his sun was
+setting, that with Frank’s failure he failed, and that this
+disgrace—these public charges—meant his own undoing. His hair had grown
+very gray in but a few weeks, his step slow, his face pallid, his eyes
+sunken. His rather showy side-whiskers seemed now like flags or
+ornaments of a better day that was gone. His only consolation through
+it all was that Frank had actually got out of his relationship with the
+Third National Bank without owing it a single dollar. Still as he knew
+the directors of that institution could not possibly tolerate the
+presence of a man whose son had helped loot the city treasury, and
+whose name was now in the public prints in this connection. Besides,
+Cowperwood, Sr., was too old. He ought to retire.
+
+The crisis for him therefore came on the day when Frank was arrested on
+the embezzlement charge. The old man, through Frank, who had it from
+Steger, knew it was coming, still had the courage to go to the bank but
+it was like struggling under the weight of a heavy stone to do it. But
+before going, and after a sleepless night, he wrote his resignation to
+Frewen Kasson, the chairman of the board of directors, in order that he
+should be prepared to hand it to him, at once. Kasson, a stocky,
+well-built, magnetic man of fifty, breathed an inward sigh of relief at
+the sight of it.
+
+“I know it’s hard, Mr. Cowperwood,” he said, sympathetically. “We—and I
+can speak for the other members of the board—we feel keenly the
+unfortunate nature of your position. We know exactly how it is that
+your son has become involved in this matter. He is not the only banker
+who has been involved in the city’s affairs. By no means. It is an old
+system. We appreciate, all of us, keenly, the services you have
+rendered this institution during the past thirty-five years. If there
+were any possible way in which we could help to tide you over the
+difficulties at this time, we would be glad to do so, but as a banker
+yourself you must realize just how impossible that would be. Everything
+is in a turmoil. If things were settled—if we knew how soon this would
+blow over—” He paused, for he felt that he could not go on and say that
+he or the bank was sorry to be forced to lose Mr. Cowperwood in this
+way at present. Mr. Cowperwood himself would have to speak.
+
+During all this Cowperwood, Sr., had been doing his best to pull
+himself together in order to be able to speak at all. He had gotten out
+a large white linen handkerchief and blown his nose, and had
+straightened himself in his chair, and laid his hands rather peacefully
+on his desk. Still he was intensely wrought up.
+
+“I can’t stand this!” he suddenly exclaimed. “I wish you would leave me
+alone now.”
+
+Kasson, very carefully dressed and manicured, arose and walked out of
+the room for a few moments. He appreciated keenly the intensity of the
+strain he had just witnessed. The moment the door was closed Cowperwood
+put his head in his hands and shook convulsively. “I never thought I’d
+come to this,” he muttered. “I never thought it.” Then he wiped away
+his salty hot tears, and went to the window to look out and to think of
+what else to do from now on.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXV
+
+
+As time went on Butler grew more and more puzzled and restive as to his
+duty in regard to his daughter. He was sure by her furtive manner and
+her apparent desire to avoid him, that she was still in touch with
+Cowperwood in some way, and that this would bring about a social
+disaster of some kind. He thought once of going to Mrs. Cowperwood and
+having her bring pressure to bear on her husband, but afterwards he
+decided that that would not do. He was not really positive as yet that
+Aileen was secretly meeting Cowperwood, and, besides, Mrs. Cowperwood
+might not know of her husband’s duplicity. He thought also of going to
+Cowperwood personally and threatening him, but that would be a severe
+measure, and again, as in the other case, he lacked proof. He hesitated
+to appeal to a detective agency, and he did not care to take the other
+members of the family into his confidence. He did go out and scan the
+neighborhood of 931 North Tenth Street once, looking at the house; but
+that helped him little. The place was for rent, Cowperwood having
+already abandoned his connection with it.
+
+Finally he hit upon the plan of having Aileen invited to go somewhere
+some distance off—Boston or New Orleans, where a sister of his wife
+lived. It was a delicate matter to engineer, and in such matters he was
+not exactly the soul of tact; but he undertook it. He wrote personally
+to his wife’s sister at New Orleans, and asked her if she would,
+without indicating in any way that she had heard from him, write his
+wife and ask if she would not permit Aileen to come and visit her,
+writing Aileen an invitation at the same time; but he tore the letter
+up. A little later he learned accidentally that Mrs. Mollenhauer and
+her three daughters, Caroline, Felicia, and Alta, were going to Europe
+early in December to visit Paris, the Riviera, and Rome; and he decided
+to ask Mollenhauer to persuade his wife to invite Norah and Aileen, or
+Aileen only, to go along, giving as an excuse that his own wife would
+not leave him, and that the girls ought to go. It would be a fine way
+of disposing of Aileen for the present. The party was to be gone six
+months. Mollenhauer was glad to do so, of course. The two families were
+fairly intimate. Mrs. Mollenhauer was willing—delighted from a politic
+point of view—and the invitation was extended. Norah was overjoyed. She
+wanted to see something of Europe, and had always been hoping for some
+such opportunity. Aileen was pleased from the point of view that Mrs.
+Mollenhauer should invite her. Years before she would have accepted in
+a flash. But now she felt that it only came as a puzzling interruption,
+one more of the minor difficulties that were tending to interrupt her
+relations with Cowperwood. She immediately threw cold water on the
+proposition, which was made one evening at dinner by Mrs. Butler, who
+did not know of her husband’s share in the matter, but had received a
+call that afternoon from Mrs. Mollenhauer, when the invitation had been
+extended.
+
+“She’s very anxious to have you two come along, if your father don’t
+mind,” volunteered the mother, “and I should think ye’d have a fine
+time. They’re going to Paris and the Riveera.”
+
+“Oh, fine!” exclaimed Norah. “I’ve always wanted to go to Paris.
+Haven’t you, Ai? Oh, wouldn’t that be fine?”
+
+“I don’t know that I want to go,” replied Aileen. She did not care to
+compromise herself by showing any interest at the start. “It’s coming
+on winter, and I haven’t any clothes. I’d rather wait and go some other
+time.”
+
+“Oh, Aileen Butler!” exclaimed Norah. “How you talk! I’ve heard you say
+a dozen times you’d like to go abroad some winter. Now when the chance
+comes—besides you can get your clothes made over there.”
+
+“Couldn’t you get somethin’ over there?” inquired Mrs. Butler.
+“Besides, you’ve got two or three weeks here yet.”
+
+“They wouldn’t want a man around as a sort of guide and adviser, would
+they, mother?” put in Callum.
+
+“I might offer my services in that capacity myself,” observed Owen,
+reservedly.
+
+“I’m sure I don’t know,” returned Mrs. Butler, smiling, and at the same
+time chewing a lusty mouthful. “You’ll have to ast ’em, my sons.”
+
+Aileen still persisted. She did not want to go. It was too sudden. It
+was this. It was that. Just then old Butler came in and took his seat
+at the head of the table. Knowing all about it, he was most anxious to
+appear not to.
+
+“You wouldn’t object, Edward, would you?” queried his wife, explaining
+the proposition in general.
+
+“Object!” he echoed, with a well simulated but rough attempt at gayety.
+“A fine thing I’d be doing for meself—objectin’. I’d be glad if I could
+get shut of the whole pack of ye for a time.”
+
+“What talk ye have!” said his wife. “A fine mess you’d make of it
+livin’ alone.”
+
+“I’d not be alone, belave me,” replied Butler. “There’s many a place
+I’d be welcome in this town—no thanks to ye.”
+
+“And there’s many a place ye wouldn’t have been if it hadn’t been for
+me. I’m tellin’ ye that,” retorted Mrs. Butler, genially.
+
+“And that’s not stretchin’ the troot much, aither,” he answered,
+fondly.
+
+Aileen was adamant. No amount of argument both on the part of Norah and
+her mother had any effect whatever. Butler witnessed the failure of his
+plan with considerable dissatisfaction, but he was not through. When he
+was finally convinced that there was no hope of persuading her to
+accept the Mollenhauer proposition, he decided, after a while, to
+employ a detective.
+
+At that time, the reputation of William A. Pinkerton, of detective
+fame, and of his agency was great. The man had come up from poverty
+through a series of vicissitudes to a high standing in his peculiar
+and, to many, distasteful profession; but to any one in need of such in
+themselves calamitous services, his very famous and decidedly patriotic
+connection with the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln was a recommendation.
+He, or rather his service, had guarded the latter all his stormy
+incumbency at the executive mansion. There were offices for the
+management of the company’s business in Philadelphia, Washington, and
+New York, to say nothing of other places. Butler was familiar with the
+Philadelphia sign, but did not care to go to the office there. He
+decided, once his mind was made up on this score, that he would go over
+to New York, where he was told the principal offices were.
+
+He made the simple excuse one day of business, which was common enough
+in his case, and journeyed to New York—nearly five hours away as the
+trains ran then—arriving at two o’clock. At the offices on lower
+Broadway, he asked to see the manager, whom he found to be a large,
+gross-featured, heavy-bodied man of fifty, gray-eyed, gray-haired,
+puffily outlined as to countenance, but keen and shrewd, and with
+short, fat-fingered hands, which drummed idly on his desk as he talked.
+He was dressed in a suit of dark-brown wool cloth, which struck Butler
+as peculiarly showy, and wore a large horseshoe diamond pin. The old
+man himself invariably wore conservative gray.
+
+“How do you do?” said Butler, when a boy ushered him into the presence
+of this worthy, whose name was Martinson—Gilbert Martinson, of American
+and Irish extraction. The latter nodded and looked at Butler shrewdly,
+recognizing him at once as a man of force and probably of position. He
+therefore rose and offered him a chair.
+
+“Sit down,” he said, studying the old Irishman from under thick, bushy
+eyebrows. “What can I do for you?”
+
+“You’re the manager, are you?” asked Butler, solemnly, eyeing the man
+with a shrewd, inquiring eye.
+
+“Yes, sir,” replied Martinson, simply. “That’s my position here.”
+
+“This Mr. Pinkerton that runs this agency—he wouldn’t be about this
+place, now, would he?” asked Butler, carefully. “I’d like to talk to
+him personally, if I might, meaning no offense to you.”
+
+“Mr. Pinkerton is in Chicago at present,” replied Mr. Martinson. “I
+don’t expect him back for a week or ten days. You can talk to me,
+though, with the same confidence that you could to him. I’m the
+responsible head here. However, you’re the best judge of that.”
+
+Butler debated with himself in silence for a few moments, estimating
+the man before him. “Are you a family man yourself?” he asked, oddly.
+
+“Yes, sir, I’m married,” replied Martinson, solemnly. “I have a wife
+and two children.”
+
+Martinson, from long experience conceived that this must be a matter of
+family misconduct—a son, daughter, wife. Such cases were not
+infrequent.
+
+“I thought I would like to talk to Mr. Pinkerton himself, but if you’re
+the responsible head—” Butler paused.
+
+“I am,” replied Martinson. “You can talk to me with the same freedom
+that you could to Mr. Pinkerton. Won’t you come into my private office?
+We can talk more at ease in there.”
+
+He led the way into an adjoining room which had two windows looking
+down into Broadway; an oblong table, heavy, brown, smoothly polished;
+four leather-backed chairs; and some pictures of the Civil War battles
+in which the North had been victorious. Butler followed doubtfully. He
+hated very much to take any one into his confidence in regard to
+Aileen. He was not sure that he would, even now. He wanted to “look
+these fellys over,” as he said in his mind. He would decide then what
+he wanted to do. He went to one of the windows and looked down into the
+street, where there was a perfect swirl of omnibuses and vehicles of
+all sorts. Mr. Martinson quietly closed the door.
+
+“Now then, if there’s anything I can do for you,” Mr. Martinson paused.
+He thought by this little trick to elicit Buder’s real name—it often
+“worked”—but in this instance the name was not forthcoming. Butler was
+too shrewd.
+
+“I’m not so sure that I want to go into this,” said the old man
+solemnly. “Certainly not if there’s any risk of the thing not being
+handled in the right way. There’s somethin’ I want to find out
+about—somethin’ that I ought to know; but it’s a very private matter
+with me, and—” He paused to think and conjecture, looking at Mr.
+Martinson the while. The latter understood his peculiar state of mind.
+He had seen many such cases.
+
+“Let me say right here, to begin with, Mr.—”
+
+“Scanlon,” interpolated Butler, easily; “that’s as good a name as any
+if you want to use one. I’m keepin’ me own to meself for the present.”
+
+“Scanlon,” continued Martinson, easily. “I really don’t care whether
+it’s your right name or not. I was just going to say that it might not
+be necessary to have your right name under any circumstances—it all
+depends upon what you want to know. But, so far as your private affairs
+are concerned, they are as safe with us, as if you had never told them
+to any one. Our business is built upon confidence, and we never betray
+it. We wouldn’t dare. We have men and women who have been in our employ
+for over thirty years, and we never retire any one except for cause,
+and we don’t pick people who are likely to need to be retired for
+cause. Mr. Pinkerton is a good judge of men. There are others here who
+consider that they are. We handle over ten thousand separate cases in
+all parts of the United States every year. We work on a case only so
+long as we are wanted. We try to find out only such things as our
+customers want. We do not pry unnecessarily into anybody’s affairs. If
+we decide that we cannot find out what you want to know, we are the
+first to say so. Many cases are rejected right here in this office
+before we ever begin. Yours might be such a one. We don’t want cases
+merely for the sake of having them, and we are frank to say so. Some
+matters that involve public policy, or some form of small persecution,
+we don’t touch at all—we won’t be a party to them. You can see how that
+is. You look to me to be a man of the world. I hope I am one. Does it
+strike you that an organization like ours would be likely to betray any
+one’s confidence?” He paused and looked at Butler for confirmation of
+what he had just said.
+
+“It wouldn’t seem likely,” said the latter; “that’s the truth. It’s not
+aisy to bring your private affairs into the light of day, though,”
+added the old man, sadly.
+
+They both rested.
+
+“Well,” said Butler, finally, “you look to me to be all right, and I’d
+like some advice. Mind ye, I’m willing to pay for it well enough; and
+it isn’t anything that’ll be very hard to find out. I want to know
+whether a certain man where I live is goin’ with a certain woman, and
+where. You could find that out aisy enough, I belave—couldn’t you?”
+
+“Nothing easier,” replied Martinson. “We are doing it all the time. Let
+me see if I can help you just a moment, Mr. Scanlon, in order to make
+it easier for you. It is very plain to me that you don’t care to tell
+any more than you can help, and we don’t care to have you tell any more
+than we absolutely need. We will have to have the name of the city, of
+course, and the name of either the man or the woman; but not
+necessarily both of them, unless you want to help us in that way.
+Sometimes if you give us the name of one party—say the man, for
+illustration—and the description of the woman—an accurate one—or a
+photograph, we can tell you after a little while exactly what you want
+to know. Of course, it’s always better if we have full information. You
+suit yourself about that. Tell me as much or as little as you please,
+and I’ll guarantee that we will do our best to serve you, and that you
+will be satisfied afterward.”
+
+He smiled genially.
+
+“Well, that bein’ the case,” said Butler, finally taking the leap, with
+many mental reservations, however, “I’ll be plain with you. My name’s
+not Scanlon. It’s Butler. I live in Philadelphy. There’s a man there, a
+banker by the name of Cowperwood—Frank A. Cowperwood—”
+
+“Wait a moment,” said Martinson, drawing an ample pad out of his pocket
+and producing a lead-pencil; “I want to get that. How do you spell it?”
+
+Butler told him.
+
+“Yes; now go on.”
+
+“He has a place in Third Street—Frank A. Cowperwood—any one can show
+you where it is. He’s just failed there recently.”
+
+“Oh, that’s the man,” interpolated Martinson. “I’ve heard of him. He’s
+mixed up in some city embezzlement case over there. I suppose the
+reason you didn’t go to our Philadelphia office is because you didn’t
+want our local men over there to know anything about it. Isn’t that
+it?”
+
+“That’s the man, and that’s the reason,” said Butler. “I don’t care to
+have anything of this known in Philadelphy. That’s why I’m here. This
+man has a house on Girard Avenue—Nineteen-thirty-seven. You can find
+that out, too, when you get over there.”
+
+“Yes,” agreed Mr. Martinson.
+
+“Well, it’s him that I want to know about—him—and a certain woman, or
+girl, rather.” The old man paused and winced at this necessity of
+introducing Aileen into the case. He could scarcely think of it—he was
+so fond of her. He had been so proud of Aileen. A dark, smoldering rage
+burned in his heart against Cowperwood.
+
+“A relative of yours—possibly, I suppose,” remarked Martinson,
+tactfully. “You needn’t tell me any more—just give me a description if
+you wish. We may be able to work from that.” He saw quite clearly what
+a fine old citizen in his way he was dealing with here, and also that
+the man was greatly troubled. Butler’s heavy, meditative face showed
+it. “You can be quite frank with me, Mr. Butler,” he added; “I think I
+understand. We only want such information as we must have to help you,
+nothing more.”
+
+“Yes,” said the old man, dourly. “She is a relative. She’s me daughter,
+in fact. You look to me like a sensible, honest man. I’m her father,
+and I wouldn’t do anything for the world to harm her. It’s tryin’ to
+save her I am. It’s him I want.” He suddenly closed one big fist
+forcefully.
+
+Martinson, who had two daughters of his own, observed the suggestive
+movement.
+
+“I understand how you feel, Mr. Butler,” he observed. “I am a father
+myself. We’ll do all we can for you. If you can give me an accurate
+description of her, or let one of my men see her at your house or
+office, accidentally, of course, I think we can tell you in no time at
+all if they are meeting with any regularity. That’s all you want to
+know, is it—just that?”
+
+“That’s all,” said Butler, solemnly.
+
+“Well, that oughtn’t to take any time at all, Mr. Butler—three or four
+days possibly, if we have any luck—a week, ten days, two weeks. It
+depends on how long you want us to shadow him in case there is no
+evidence the first few days.”
+
+“I want to know, however long it takes,” replied Butler, bitterly. “I
+want to know, if it takes a month or two months or three to find out. I
+want to know.” The old man got up as he said this, very positive, very
+rugged. “And don’t send me men that haven’t sinse—lots of it, plase. I
+want men that are fathers, if you’ve got ’em—and that have sinse enough
+to hold their tongues—not b’ys.”
+
+“I understand, Mr. Butler,” Martinson replied. “Depend on it, you’ll
+have the best we have, and you can trust them. They’ll be discreet. You
+can depend on that. The way I’ll do will be to assign just one man to
+the case at first, some one you can see for yourself whether you like
+or not. I’ll not tell him anything. You can talk to him. If you like
+him, tell him, and he’ll do the rest. Then, if he needs any more help,
+he can get it. What is your address?”
+
+Butler gave it to him.
+
+“And there’ll be no talk about this?”
+
+“None whatever—I assure you.”
+
+“And when’ll he be comin’ along?”
+
+“To-morrow, if you wish. I have a man I could send to-night. He isn’t
+here now or I’d have him talk with you. I’ll talk to him, though, and
+make everything clear. You needn’t worry about anything. Your
+daughter’s reputation will be safe in his hands.”
+
+“Thank you kindly,” commented Butler, softening the least bit in a
+gingerly way. “I’m much obliged to you. I’ll take it as a great favor,
+and pay you well.”
+
+“Never mind about that, Mr. Butler,” replied Martinson. “You’re welcome
+to anything this concern can do for you at its ordinary rates.”
+
+He showed Butler to the door, and the old man went out. He was feeling
+very depressed over this—very shabby. To think he should have to put
+detectives on the track of his Aileen, his daughter!
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVI
+
+
+The very next day there called at Butler’s office a long,
+preternaturally solemn man of noticeable height and angularity,
+dark-haired, dark-eyed, sallow, with a face that was long and leathery,
+and particularly hawk-like, who talked with Butler for over an hour and
+then departed. That evening he came to the Butler house around
+dinner-time, and, being shown into Butler’s room, was given a look at
+Aileen by a ruse. Butler sent for her, standing in the doorway just far
+enough to one side to yield a good view of her. The detective stood
+behind one of the heavy curtains which had already been put up for the
+winter, pretending to look out into the street.
+
+“Did any one drive Sissy this mornin’?” asked Butler of Aileen,
+inquiring after a favorite family horse. Butler’s plan, in case the
+detective was seen, was to give the impression that he was a horseman
+who had come either to buy or to sell. His name was Jonas Alderson, and
+be looked sufficiently like a horsetrader to be one.
+
+“I don’t think so, father,” replied Aileen. “I didn’t. I’ll find out.”
+
+“Never mind. What I want to know is did you intend using her
+to-morrow?”
+
+“No, not if you want her. Jerry suits me just as well.”
+
+“Very well, then. Leave her in the stable.” Butler quietly closed the
+door. Aileen concluded at once that it was a horse conference. She knew
+he would not dispose of any horse in which she was interested without
+first consulting her, and so she thought no more about it.
+
+After she was gone Alderson stepped out and declared that he was
+satisfied. “That’s all I need to know,” he said. “I’ll let you know in
+a few days if I find out anything.”
+
+He departed, and within thirty-six hours the house and office of
+Cowperwood, the house of Butler, the office of Harper Steger,
+Cowperwood’s lawyer, and Cowperwood and Aileen separately and
+personally were under complete surveillance. It took six men to do it
+at first, and eventually a seventh, when the second meeting-place,
+which was located in South Sixth Street, was discovered. All the
+detectives were from New York. In a week all was known to Alderson. It
+bad been agreed between him and Butler that if Aileen and Cowperwood
+were discovered to have any particular rendezvous Butler was to be
+notified some time when she was there, so that he might go immediately
+and confront her in person, if he wished. He did not intend to kill
+Cowperwood—and Alderson would have seen to it that he did not in his
+presence at least, but he would give him a good tongue-lashing, fell
+him to the floor, in all likelihood, and march Aileen away. There would
+be no more lying on her part as to whether she was or was not going
+with Cowperwood. She would not be able to say after that what she would
+or would not do. Butler would lay down the law to her. She would
+reform, or he would send her to a reformatory. Think of her influence
+on her sister, or on any good girl—knowing what she knew, or doing what
+she was doing! She would go to Europe after this, or any place he chose
+to send her.
+
+In working out his plan of action it was necessary for Butler to take
+Alderson into his confidence and the detective made plain his
+determination to safeguard Cowperwood’s person.
+
+“We couldn’t allow you to strike any blows or do any violence,”
+Alderson told Butler, when they first talked about it. “It’s against
+the rules. You can go in there on a search-warrant, if we have to have
+one. I can get that for you without anybody’s knowing anything about
+your connection with the case. We can say it’s for a girl from New
+York. But you’ll have to go in in the presence of my men. They won’t
+permit any trouble. You can get your daughter all right—we’ll bring her
+away, and him, too, if you say so; but you’ll have to make some charge
+against him, if we do. Then there’s the danger of the neighbors seeing.
+You can’t always guarantee you won’t collect a crowd that way.” Butler
+had many misgivings about the matter. It was fraught with great danger
+of publicity. Still he wanted to know. He wanted to terrify Aileen if
+he could—to reform her drastically.
+
+Within a week Alderson learned that Aileen and Cowperwood were visiting
+an apparently private residence, which was anything but that. The house
+on South Sixth Street was one of assignation purely; but in its way it
+was superior to the average establishment of its kind—of red brick,
+white-stone trimmings, four stories high, and all the rooms, some
+eighteen in number, furnished in a showy but cleanly way. It’s
+patronage was highly exclusive, only those being admitted who were
+known to the mistress, having been introduced by others. This
+guaranteed that privacy which the illicit affairs of this world so
+greatly required. The mere phrase, “I have an appointment,” was
+sufficient, where either of the parties was known, to cause them to be
+shown to a private suite. Cowperwood had known of the place from
+previous experiences, and when it became necessary to abandon the North
+Tenth Street house, he had directed Aileen to meet him here.
+
+The matter of entering a place of this kind and trying to find any one
+was, as Alderson informed Butler on hearing of its character,
+exceedingly difficult. It involved the right of search, which was
+difficult to get. To enter by sheer force was easy enough in most
+instances where the business conducted was in contradistinction to the
+moral sentiment of the community; but sometimes one encountered violent
+opposition from the tenants themselves. It might be so in this case.
+The only sure way of avoiding such opposition would be to take the
+woman who ran the place into one’s confidence, and by paying her
+sufficiently insure silence. “But I do not advise that in this
+instance,” Alderson had told Butler, “for I believe this woman is
+particularly friendly to your man. It might be better, in spite of the
+risk, to take it by surprise.” To do that, he explained, it would be
+necessary to have at least three men in addition to the leader—perhaps
+four, who, once one man had been able to make his entrance into the
+hallway, on the door being opened in response to a ring, would appear
+quickly and enter with and sustain him. Quickness of search was the
+next thing—the prompt opening of all doors. The servants, if any, would
+have to be overpowered and silenced in some way. Money sometimes did
+this; force accomplished it at other times. Then one of the detectives
+simulating a servant could tap gently at the different doors—Butler and
+the others standing by—and in case a face appeared identify it or not,
+as the case might be. If the door was not opened and the room was not
+empty, it could eventually be forced. The house was one of a solid
+block, so that there was no chance of escape save by the front and rear
+doors, which were to be safe-guarded. It was a daringly conceived
+scheme. In spite of all this, secrecy in the matter of removing Aileen
+was to be preserved.
+
+When Butler heard of this he was nervous about the whole terrible
+procedure. He thought once that without going to the house he would
+merely talk to his daughter declaring that he knew and that she could
+not possibly deny it. He would then give her her choice between going
+to Europe or going to a reformatory. But a sense of the raw brutality
+of Aileen’s disposition, and something essentially coarse in himself,
+made him eventually adopt the other method. He ordered Alderson to
+perfect his plan, and once he found Aileen or Cowperwood entering the
+house to inform him quickly. He would then drive there, and with the
+assistance of these men confront her.
+
+It was a foolish scheme, a brutalizing thing to do, both from the point
+of view of affection and any corrective theory he might have had. No
+good ever springs from violence. But Butler did not see that. He wanted
+to frighten Aileen, to bring her by shock to a realization of the
+enormity of the offense she was committing. He waited fully a week
+after his word had been given; and then, one afternoon, when his nerves
+were worn almost thin from fretting, the climax came. Cowperwood had
+already been indicted, and was now awaiting trial. Aileen had been
+bringing him news, from time to time, of just how she thought her
+father was feeling toward him. She did not get this evidence direct
+from Butler, of course—he was too secretive, in so far as she was
+concerned, to let her know how relentlessly he was engineering
+Cowperwood’s final downfall—but from odd bits confided to Owen, who
+confided them to Callum, who in turn, innocently enough, confided them
+to Aileen. For one thing, she had learned in this way of the new
+district attorney elect—his probable attitude—for he was a constant
+caller at the Butler house or office. Owen had told Callum that he
+thought Shannon was going to do his best to send Cowperwood “up”—that
+the old man thought he deserved it.
+
+In the next place she had learned that her father did not want
+Cowperwood to resume business—did not feel he deserved to be allowed
+to. “It would be a God’s blessing if the community were shut of him,”
+he had said to Owen one morning, apropos of a notice in the papers of
+Cowperwood’s legal struggles; and Owen had asked Callum why he thought
+the old man was so bitter. The two sons could not understand it.
+Cowperwood heard all this from her, and more—bits about Judge
+Payderson, the judge who was to try him, who was a friend of
+Butler’s—also about the fact that Stener might be sent up for the full
+term of his crime, but that he would be pardoned soon afterward.
+
+Apparently Cowperwood was not very much frightened. He told her that he
+had powerful financial friends who would appeal to the governor to
+pardon him in case he was convicted; and, anyhow, that he did not think
+that the evidence was strong enough to convict him. He was merely a
+political scapegoat through public clamor and her father’s influence;
+since the latter’s receipt of the letter about them he had been the
+victim of Butler’s enmity, and nothing more. “If it weren’t for your
+father, honey,” he declared, “I could have this indictment quashed in
+no time. Neither Mollenhauer nor Simpson has anything against me
+personally, I am sure. They want me to get out of the street-railway
+business here in Philadelphia, and, of course, they wanted to make
+things look better for Stener at first; but depend upon it, if your
+father hadn’t been against me they wouldn’t have gone to any such
+length in making me the victim. Your father has this fellow Shannon and
+these minor politicians just where he wants them, too. That’s where the
+trouble lies. They have to go on.”
+
+“Oh, I know,” replied Aileen. “It’s me, just me, that’s all. If it
+weren’t for me and what he suspects he’d help you in a minute.
+Sometimes, you know, I think I’ve been very bad for you. I don’t know
+what I ought to do. If I thought it would help you any I’d not see you
+any more for a while, though I don’t see what good that would do now.
+Oh, I love you, love you, Frank! I would do anything for you. I don’t
+care what people think or say. I love you.”
+
+“Oh, you just think you do,” he replied, jestingly. “You’ll get over
+it. There are others.”
+
+“Others!” echoed Aileen, resentfully and contemptuously. “After you
+there aren’t any others. I just want one man, my Frank. If you ever
+desert me, I’ll go to hell. You’ll see.”
+
+“Don’t talk like that, Aileen,” he replied, almost irritated. “I don’t
+like to hear you. You wouldn’t do anything of the sort. I love you. You
+know I’m not going to desert you. It would pay you to desert me just
+now.”
+
+“Oh, how you talk!” she exclaimed. “Desert you! It’s likely, isn’t it?
+But if ever you desert me, I’ll do just what I say. I swear it.”
+
+“Don’t talk like that. Don’t talk nonsense.”
+
+“I swear it. I swear by my love. I swear by your success—my own
+happiness. I’ll do just what I say. I’ll go to hell.”
+
+Cowperwood got up. He was a little afraid now of this deep-seated
+passion he had aroused. It was dangerous. He could not tell where it
+would lead.
+
+It was a cheerless afternoon in November, when Alderson, duly informed
+of the presence of Aileen and Cowperwood in the South Sixth Street
+house by the detective on guard drove rapidly up to Butler’s office and
+invited him to come with him. Yet even now Butler could scarcely
+believe that he was to find his daughter there. The shame of it. The
+horror. What would he say to her? How reproach her? What would he do to
+Cowperwood? His large hands shook as he thought. They drove rapidly to
+within a few doors of the place, where a second detective on guard
+across the street approached. Butler and Alderson descended from the
+vehicle, and together they approached the door. It was now almost
+four-thirty in the afternoon. In a room within the house, Cowperwood,
+his coat and vest off, was listening to Aileen’s account of her
+troubles.
+
+The room in which they were sitting at the time was typical of the
+rather commonplace idea of luxury which then prevailed. Most of the
+“sets” of furniture put on the market for general sale by the furniture
+companies were, when they approached in any way the correct idea of
+luxury, imitations of one of the Louis periods. The curtains were
+always heavy, frequently brocaded, and not infrequently red. The
+carpets were richly flowered in high colors with a thick, velvet nap.
+The furniture, of whatever wood it might be made, was almost invariably
+heavy, floriated, and cumbersome. This room contained a heavily
+constructed bed of walnut, with washstand, bureau, and wardrobe to
+match. A large, square mirror in a gold frame was hung over the
+washstand. Some poor engravings of landscapes and several nude figures
+were hung in gold frames on the wall. The gilt-framed chairs were
+upholstered in pink-and-white-flowered brocade, with polished brass
+tacks. The carpet was of thick Brussels, pale cream and pink in hue,
+with large blue jardinieres containing flowers woven in as ornaments.
+The general effect was light, rich, and a little stuffy.
+
+“You know I get desperately frightened, sometimes,” said Aileen.
+“Father might be watching us, you know. I’ve often wondered what I’d do
+if he caught us. I couldn’t lie out of this, could I?”
+
+“You certainly couldn’t,” said Cowperwood, who never failed to respond
+to the incitement of her charms. She had such lovely smooth arms, a
+full, luxuriously tapering throat and neck; her golden-red hair floated
+like an aureole about her head, and her large eyes sparkled. The
+wondrous vigor of a full womanhood was hers—errant, ill-balanced,
+romantic, but exquisite, “but you might as well not cross that bridge
+until you come to it,” he continued. “I myself have been thinking that
+we had better not go on with this for the present. That letter ought to
+have been enough to stop us for the time.”
+
+He came over to where she stood by the dressing-table, adjusting her
+hair.
+
+“You’re such a pretty minx,” he said. He slipped his arm about her and
+kissed her pretty mouth. “Nothing sweeter than you this side of
+Paradise,” he whispered in her ear.
+
+While this was enacting, Butler and the extra detective had stepped out
+of sight, to one side of the front door of the house, while Alderson,
+taking the lead, rang the bell. A negro servant appeared.
+
+“Is Mrs. Davis in?” he asked, genially, using the name of the woman in
+control. “I’d like to see her.”
+
+“Just come in,” said the maid, unsuspectingly, and indicated a
+reception-room on the right. Alderson took off his soft, wide-brimmed
+hat and entered. When the maid went up-stairs he immediately returned
+to the door and let in Butler and two detectives. The four stepped into
+the reception-room unseen. In a few moments the “madam” as the current
+word characterized this type of woman, appeared. She was tall, fair,
+rugged, and not at all unpleasant to look upon. She had light-blue eyes
+and a genial smile. Long contact with the police and the brutalities of
+sex in her early life had made her wary, a little afraid of how the
+world would use her. This particular method of making a living being
+illicit, and she having no other practical knowledge at her command,
+she was as anxious to get along peacefully with the police and the
+public generally as any struggling tradesman in any walk of life might
+have been. She had on a loose, blue-flowered peignoir, or
+dressing-gown, open at the front, tied with blue ribbons and showing a
+little of her expensive underwear beneath. A large opal ring graced her
+left middle finger, and turquoises of vivid blue were pendent from her
+ears. She wore yellow silk slippers with bronze buckles; and altogether
+her appearance was not out of keeping with the character of the
+reception-room itself, which was a composite of gold-flowered
+wall-paper, blue and cream-colored Brussels carpet, heavily gold-framed
+engravings of reclining nudes, and a gilt-framed pier-glass, which rose
+from the floor to the ceiling. Needless to say, Butler was shocked to
+the soul of him by this suggestive atmosphere which was supposed to
+include his daughter in its destructive reaches.
+
+Alderson motioned one of his detectives to get behind the woman—between
+her and the door—which he did.
+
+“Sorry to trouble you, Mrs. Davis,” he said, “but we are looking for a
+couple who are in your house here. We’re after a runaway girl. We don’t
+want to make any disturbance—merely to get her and take her away.” Mrs.
+Davis paled and opened her mouth. “Now don’t make any noise or try to
+scream, or we’ll have to stop you. My men are all around the house.
+Nobody can get out. Do you know anybody by the name of Cowperwood?”
+
+Mrs. Davis, fortunately from one point of view, was not of a
+particularly nervous nor yet contentious type. She was more or less
+philosophic. She was not in touch with the police here in Philadelphia,
+hence subject to exposure. What good would it do to cry out? she
+thought. The place was surrounded. There was no one in the house at the
+time to save Cowperwood and Aileen. She did not know Cowperwood by his
+name, nor Aileen by hers. They were a Mr. and Mrs. Montague to her.
+
+“I don’t know anybody by that name,” she replied nervously.
+
+“Isn’t there a girl here with red hair?” asked one of Alderson’s
+assistants. “And a man with a gray suit and a light-brown mustache?
+They came in here half an hour ago. You remember them, don’t you?”
+
+“There’s just one couple in the house, but I’m not sure whether they’re
+the ones you want. I’ll ask them to come down if you wish. Oh, I wish
+you wouldn’t make any disturbance. This is terrible.”
+
+“We’ll not make any disturbance,” replied Alderson, “if you don’t. Just
+you be quiet. We merely want to see the girl and take her away. Now,
+you stay where you are. What room are they in?”
+
+“In the second one in the rear up-stairs. Won’t you let me go, though?
+It will be so much better. I’ll just tap and ask them to come out.”
+
+“No. We’ll tend to that. You stay where you are. You’re not going to
+get into any trouble. You just stay where you are,” insisted Alderson.
+
+He motioned to Butler, who, however, now that he had embarked on his
+grim task, was thinking that he had made a mistake. What good would it
+do him to force his way in and make her come out, unless he intended to
+kill Cowperwood? If she were made to come down here, that would be
+enough. She would then know that he knew all. He did not care to
+quarrel with Cowperwood, in any public way, he now decided. He was
+afraid to. He was afraid of himself.
+
+“Let her go,” he said grimly, doggedly referring to Mrs. Davis, “But
+watch her. Tell the girl to come down-stairs to me.”
+
+Mrs. Davis, realizing on the moment that this was some family tragedy,
+and hoping in an agonized way that she could slip out of it peacefully,
+started upstairs at once with Alderson and his assistants who were
+close at his heels. Reaching the door of the room occupied by
+Cowperwood and Aileen, she tapped lightly. At the time Aileen and
+Cowperwood were sitting in a big arm-chair. At the first knock Aileen
+blanched and leaped to her feet. Usually not nervous, to-day, for some
+reason, she anticipated trouble. Cowperwood’s eyes instantly hardened.
+
+“Don’t be nervous,” he said, “no doubt it’s only the servant. I’ll go.”
+
+He started, but Aileen interfered. “Wait,” she said. Somewhat
+reassured, she went to the closet, and taking down a dressing-gown,
+slipped it on. Meanwhile the tap came again. Then she went to the door
+and opened it the least bit.
+
+“Mrs. Montague,” exclaimed Mrs. Davis, in an obviously nervous, forced
+voice, “there’s a gentleman downstairs who wishes to see you.”
+
+“A gentleman to see me!” exclaimed Aileen, astonished and paling. “Are
+you sure?”
+
+“Yes; he says he wants to see you. There are several other men with
+him. I think it’s some one who belongs to you, maybe.”
+
+Aileen realized on the instant, as did Cowperwood, what had in all
+likelihood happened. Butler or Mrs. Cowperwood had trailed them—in all
+probability her father. He wondered now what he should do to protect
+her, not himself. He was in no way deeply concerned for himself, even
+here. Where any woman was concerned he was too chivalrous to permit
+fear. It was not at all improbable that Butler might want to kill him;
+but that did not disturb him. He really did not pay any attention to
+that thought, and he was not armed.
+
+“I’ll dress and go down,” he said, when he saw Aileen’s pale face. “You
+stay here. And don’t you worry in any way for I’ll get you out of
+this—now, don’t worry. This is my affair. I got you in it and I’ll get
+you out of it.” He went for his hat and coat and added, as he did so,
+“You go ahead and dress; but let me go first.”
+
+Aileen, the moment the door closed, had begun to put on her clothes
+swiftly and nervously. Her mind was working like a rapidly moving
+machine. She was wondering whether this really could be her father.
+Perhaps it was not. Might there be some other Mrs. Montague—a real one?
+Supposing it was her father—he had been so nice to her in not telling
+the family, in keeping her secret thus far. He loved her—she knew that.
+It makes all the difference in the world in a child’s attitude on an
+occasion like this whether she has been loved and petted and spoiled,
+or the reverse. Aileen had been loved and petted and spoiled. She could
+not think of her father doing anything terrible physically to her or to
+any one else. But it was so hard to confront him—to look into his eyes.
+When she had attained a proper memory of him, her fluttering wits told
+her what to do.
+
+“No, Frank,” she whispered, excitedly; “if it’s father, you’d better
+let me go. I know how to talk to him. He won’t say anything to me. You
+stay here. I’m not afraid—really, I’m not. If I want you, I’ll call
+you.”
+
+He had come over and taken her pretty chin in his hands, and was
+looking solemnly into her eyes.
+
+“You mustn’t be afraid,” he said. “I’ll go down. If it’s your father,
+you can go away with him. I don’t think he’ll do anything either to you
+or to me. If it is he, write me something at the office. I’ll be there.
+If I can help you in any way, I will. We can fix up something. There’s
+no use trying to explain this. Say nothing at all.”
+
+He had on his coat and overcoat, and was standing with his hat in his
+hand. Aileen was nearly dressed, struggling with the row of red
+current-colored buttons which fastened her dress in the back.
+Cowperwood helped her. When she was ready—hat, gloves, and all—he said:
+
+“Now let me go first. I want to see.”
+
+“No; please, Frank,” she begged, courageously. “Let me, I know it’s
+father. Who else could it be?” She wondered at the moment whether her
+father had brought her two brothers but would not now believe it. He
+would not do that, she knew. “You can come if I call.” She went on.
+“Nothing’s going to happen, though. I understand him. He won’t do
+anything to me. If you go it will only make him angry. Let me go. You
+stand in the door here. If I don’t call, it’s all right. Will you?”
+
+She put her two pretty hands on his shoulders, and he weighed the
+matter very carefully. “Very well,” he said, “only I’ll go to the foot
+of the stairs with you.”
+
+They went to the door and he opened it. Outside were Alderson with two
+other detectives and Mrs. Davis, standing perhaps five feet away.
+
+“Well,” said Cowperwood, commandingly, looking at Alderson.
+
+“There’s a gentleman down-stairs wishes to see the lady,” said
+Alderson. “It’s her father, I think,” he added quietly.
+
+Cowperwood made way for Aileen, who swept by, furious at the presence
+of men and this exposure. Her courage had entirely returned. She was
+angry now to think her father would make a public spectacle of her.
+Cowperwood started to follow.
+
+“I’d advise you not to go down there right away,” cautioned Alderson,
+sagely. “That’s her father. Butler’s her name, isn’t it? He don’t want
+you so much as he wants her.”
+
+Cowperwood nevertheless walked slowly toward the head of the stairs,
+listening.
+
+“What made you come here, father?” he heard Aileen ask.
+
+Butler’s reply he could not hear, but he was now at ease for he knew
+how much Butler loved his daughter.
+
+Confronted by her father, Aileen was now attempting to stare defiantly,
+to look reproachful, but Butler’s deep gray eyes beneath their shaggy
+brows revealed such a weight of weariness and despair as even she, in
+her anger and defiance, could not openly flaunt. It was all too sad.
+
+“I never expected to find you in a place like this, daughter,” he said.
+“I should have thought you would have thought better of yourself.” His
+voice choked and he stopped.
+
+“I know who you’re here with,” he continued, shaking his head sadly.
+“The dog! I’ll get him yet. I’ve had men watchin’ you all the time. Oh,
+the shame of this day! The shame of this day! You’ll be comin’ home
+with me now.”
+
+“That’s just it, father,” began Aileen. “You’ve had men watching me. I
+should have thought—” She stopped, because he put up his hand in a
+strange, agonized, and yet dominating way.
+
+“None of that! none of that!” he said, glowering under his strange,
+sad, gray brows. “I can’t stand it! Don’t tempt me! We’re not out of
+this place yet. He’s not! You’ll come home with me now.”
+
+Aileen understood. It was Cowperwood he was referring to. That
+frightened her.
+
+“I’m ready,” she replied, nervously.
+
+The old man led the way broken-heartedly. He felt he would never live
+to forget the agony of this hour.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVII
+
+
+In spite of Butler’s rage and his determination to do many things to
+the financier, if he could, he was so wrought up and shocked by the
+attitude of Aileen that he could scarcely believe he was the same man
+he had been twenty-four hours before. She was so nonchalant, so
+defiant. He had expected to see her wilt completely when confronted
+with her guilt. Instead, he found, to his despair, after they were once
+safely out of the house, that he had aroused a fighting quality in the
+girl which was not incomparable to his own. She had some of his own and
+Owen’s grit. She sat beside him in the little runabout—not his own—in
+which he was driving her home, her face coloring and blanching by
+turns, as different waves of thought swept over her, determined to
+stand her ground now that her father had so plainly trapped her, to
+declare for Cowperwood and her love and her position in general. What
+did she care, she asked herself, what her father thought now? She was
+in this thing. She loved Cowperwood; she was permanently disgraced in
+her father’s eyes. What difference could it all make now? He had fallen
+so low in his parental feeling as to spy on her and expose her before
+other men—strangers, detectives, Cowperwood. What real affection could
+she have for him after this? He had made a mistake, according to her.
+He had done a foolish and a contemptible thing, which was not warranted
+however bad her actions might have been. What could he hope to
+accomplish by rushing in on her in this way and ripping the veil from
+her very soul before these other men—these crude detectives? Oh, the
+agony of that walk from the bedroom to the reception-room! She would
+never forgive her father for this—never, never, never! He had now
+killed her love for him—that was what she felt. It was to be a battle
+royal between them from now on. As they rode—in complete silence for a
+while—her hands clasped and unclasped defiantly, her nails cutting her
+palms, and her mouth hardened.
+
+It is an open question whether raw opposition ever accomplishes
+anything of value in this world. It seems so inherent in this mortal
+scheme of things that it appears to have a vast validity. It is more
+than likely that we owe this spectacle called life to it, and that this
+can be demonstrated scientifically; but when that is said and done,
+what is the value? What is the value of the spectacle? And what the
+value of a scene such as this enacted between Aileen and her father?
+
+The old man saw nothing for it, as they rode on, save a grim contest
+between them which could end in what? What could he do with her? They
+were riding away fresh from this awful catastrophe, and she was not
+saying a word! She had even asked him why he had come there! How was he
+to subdue her, when the very act of trapping her had failed to do so?
+His ruse, while so successful materially, had failed so utterly
+spiritually. They reached the house, and Aileen got out. The old man,
+too nonplussed to wish to go further at this time, drove back to his
+office. He then went out and walked—a peculiar thing for him to do; he
+had done nothing like that in years and years—walking to think. Coming
+to an open Catholic church, he went in and prayed for enlightenment,
+the growing dusk of the interior, the single everlasting lamp before
+the repository of the chalice, and the high, white altar set with
+candles soothing his troubled feelings.
+
+He came out of the church after a time and returned home. Aileen did
+not appear at dinner, and he could not eat. He went into his private
+room and shut the door—thinking, thinking, thinking. The dreadful
+spectacle of Aileen in a house of ill repute burned in his brain. To
+think that Cowperwood should have taken her to such a place—his Aileen,
+his and his wife’s pet. In spite of his prayers, his uncertainty, her
+opposition, the puzzling nature of the situation, she must be got out
+of this. She must go away for a while, give the man up, and then the
+law should run its course with him. In all likelihood Cowperwood would
+go to the penitentiary—if ever a man richly deserved to go, it was he.
+Butler would see that no stone was left unturned. He would make it a
+personal issue, if necessary. All he had to do was to let it be known
+in judicial circles that he wanted it so. He could not suborn a jury,
+that would be criminal; but he could see that the case was properly and
+forcefully presented; and if Cowperwood were convicted, Heaven help
+him. The appeal of his financial friends would not save him. The judges
+of the lower and superior courts knew on which side their bread was
+buttered. They would strain a point in favor of the highest political
+opinion of the day, and he certainly could influence that. Aileen
+meanwhile was contemplating the peculiar nature of her situation. In
+spite of their silence on the way home, she knew that a conversation
+was coming with her father. It had to be. He would want her to go
+somewhere. Most likely he would revive the European trip in some
+form—she now suspected the invitation of Mrs. Mollenhauer as a trick;
+and she had to decide whether she would go. Would she leave Cowperwood
+just when he was about to be tried? She was determined she would not.
+She wanted to see what was going to happen to him. She would leave home
+first—run to some relative, some friend, some stranger, if necessary,
+and ask to be taken in. She had some money—a little. Her father had
+always been very liberal with her. She could take a few clothes and
+disappear. They would be glad enough to send for her after she had been
+gone awhile. Her mother would be frantic; Norah and Callum and Owen
+would be beside themselves with wonder and worry; her father—she could
+see him. Maybe that would bring him to his senses. In spite of all her
+emotional vagaries, she was the pride and interest of this home, and
+she knew it.
+
+It was in this direction that her mind was running when her father, a
+few days after the dreadful exposure in the Sixth Street house, sent
+for her to come to him in his room. He had come home from his office
+very early in the afternoon, hoping to find Aileen there, in order that
+he might have a private interview with her, and by good luck found her
+in. She had had no desire to go out into the world these last few
+days—she was too expectant of trouble to come. She had just written
+Cowperwood asking for a rendezvous out on the Wissahickon the following
+afternoon, in spite of the detectives. She must see him. Her father,
+she said, had done nothing; but she was sure he would attempt to do
+something. She wanted to talk to Cowperwood about that.
+
+“I’ve been thinkin’ about ye, Aileen, and what ought to be done in this
+case,” began her father without preliminaries of any kind once they
+were in his “office room” in the house together. “You’re on the road to
+ruin if any one ever was. I tremble when I think of your immortal soul.
+I want to do somethin’ for ye, my child, before it’s too late. I’ve
+been reproachin’ myself for the last month and more, thinkin’, perhaps,
+it was somethin’ I had done, or maybe had failed to do, aither me or
+your mother, that has brought ye to the place where ye are to-day.
+Needless to say, it’s on me conscience, me child. It’s a heartbroken
+man you’re lookin’ at this day. I’ll never be able to hold me head up
+again. Oh, the shame—the shame! That I should have lived to see it!”
+
+“But father,” protested Aileen, who was a little distraught at the
+thought of having to listen to a long preachment which would relate to
+her duty to God and the Church and her family and her mother and him.
+She realized that all these were important in their way; but Cowperwood
+and his point of view had given her another outlook on life. They had
+discussed this matter of families—parents, children, husbands, wives,
+brothers, sisters—from almost every point of view. Cowperwood’s
+laissez-faire attitude had permeated and colored her mind completely.
+She saw things through his cold, direct “I satisfy myself” attitude. He
+was sorry for all the little differences of personality that sprang up
+between people, causing quarrels, bickerings, oppositions, and
+separation; but they could not be helped. People outgrew each other.
+Their points of view altered at varying ratios—hence changes.
+Morals—those who had them had them; those who hadn’t, hadn’t. There was
+no explaining. As for him, he saw nothing wrong in the sex
+relationship. Between those who were mutually compatible it was
+innocent and delicious. Aileen in his arms, unmarried, but loved by
+him, and he by her, was as good and pure as any living woman—a great
+deal purer than most. One found oneself in a given social order,
+theory, or scheme of things. For purposes of social success, in order
+not to offend, to smooth one’s path, make things easy, avoid useless
+criticism, and the like, it was necessary to create an outward
+seeming—ostensibly conform. Beyond that it was not necessary to do
+anything. Never fail, never get caught. If you did, fight your way out
+silently and say nothing. That was what he was doing in connection with
+his present financial troubles; that was what he had been ready to do
+the other day when they were caught. It was something of all this that
+was coloring Aileen’s mood as she listened at present.
+
+“But father,” she protested, “I love Mr. Cowperwood. It’s almost the
+same as if I were married to him. He will marry me some day when he
+gets a divorce from Mrs. Cowperwood. You don’t understand how it is.
+He’s very fond of me, and I love him. He needs me.”
+
+Butler looked at her with strange, non-understanding eyes. “Divorce,
+did you say,” he began, thinking of the Catholic Church and its dogma
+in regard to that. “He’ll divorce his own wife and children—and for
+you, will he? He needs you, does he?” he added, sarcastically. “What
+about his wife and children? I don’t suppose they need him, do they?
+What talk have ye?”
+
+Aileen flung her head back defiantly. “It’s true, nevertheless,” she
+reiterated. “You just don’t understand.”
+
+Butler could scarcely believe his ears. He had never heard such talk
+before in his life from any one. It amazed and shocked him. He was
+quite aware of all the subtleties of politics and business, but these
+of romance were too much for him. He knew nothing about them. To think
+a daughter of his should be talking like this, and she a Catholic! He
+could not understand where she got such notions unless it was from the
+Machiavellian, corrupting brain of Cowperwood himself.
+
+“How long have ye had these notions, my child?” he suddenly asked,
+calmly and soberly. “Where did ye get them? Ye certainly never heard
+anything like that in this house, I warrant. Ye talk as though ye had
+gone out of yer mind.”
+
+“Oh, don’t talk nonsense, father,” flared Aileen, angrily, thinking how
+hopeless it was to talk to her father about such things anyhow. “I’m
+not a child any more. I’m twenty-four years of age. You just don’t
+understand. Mr. Cowperwood doesn’t like his wife. He’s going to get a
+divorce when he can, and will marry me. I love him, and he loves me,
+and that’s all there is to it.”
+
+“Is it, though?” asked Butler, grimly determined by hook or by crook,
+to bring this girl to her senses. “Ye’ll be takin’ no thought of his
+wife and children then? The fact that he’s goin’ to jail, besides, is
+nawthin’ to ye, I suppose. Ye’d love him just as much in convict
+stripes, I suppose—more, maybe.” (The old man was at his best, humanly
+speaking, when he was a little sarcastic.) “Ye’ll have him that way,
+likely, if at all.”
+
+Aileen blazed at once to a furious heat. “Yes, I know,” she sneered.
+“That’s what you would like. I know what you’ve been doing. Frank does,
+too. You’re trying to railroad him to prison for something he didn’t
+do—and all on account of me. Oh, I know. But you won’t hurt him. You
+can’t! He’s bigger and finer than you think he is and you won’t hurt
+him in the long run. He’ll get out again. You want to punish him on my
+account; but he doesn’t care. I’ll marry him anyhow. I love him, and
+I’ll wait for him and marry him, and you can do what you please. So
+there!”
+
+“Ye’ll marry him, will you?” asked Butler, nonplussed and further
+astounded. “So ye’ll wait for him and marry him? Ye’ll take him away
+from his wife and children, where, if he were half a man, he’d be
+stayin’ this minute instead of gallivantin’ around with you. And marry
+him? Ye’d disgrace your father and yer mother and yer family? Ye’ll
+stand here and say this to me, I that have raised ye, cared for ye, and
+made somethin’ of ye? Where would you be if it weren’t for me and your
+poor, hard-workin’ mother, schemin’ and plannin’ for you year in and
+year out? Ye’re smarter than I am, I suppose. Ye know more about the
+world than I do, or any one else that might want to say anythin’ to ye.
+I’ve raised ye to be a fine lady, and this is what I get. Talk about me
+not bein’ able to understand, and ye lovin’ a convict-to-be, a robber,
+an embezzler, a bankrupt, a lyin’, thavin’—”
+
+“Father!” exclaimed Aileen, determinedly. “I’ll not listen to you
+talking that way. He’s not any of the things that you say. I’ll not
+stay here.” She moved toward the door; but Butler jumped up now and
+stopped her. His face for the moment was flushed and swollen with
+anger.
+
+“But I’m not through with him yet,” he went on, ignoring her desire to
+leave, and addressing her direct—confident now that she was as capable
+as another of understanding him. “I’ll get him as sure as I have a
+name. There’s law in this land, and I’ll have it on him. I’ll show him
+whether he’ll come sneakin’ into dacent homes and robbin’ parents of
+their children.”
+
+He paused after a time for want of breath and Aileen stared, her face
+tense and white. Her father could be so ridiculous. He was, contrasted
+with Cowperwood and his views, so old-fashioned. To think he could be
+talking of some one coming into their home and stealing her away from
+him, when she had been so willing to go. What silliness! And yet, why
+argue? What good could be accomplished, arguing with him here in this
+way? And so for the moment, she said nothing more—merely looked. But
+Butler was by no means done. His mood was too stormy even though he was
+doing his best now to subdue himself.
+
+“It’s too bad, daughter,” he resumed quietly, once he was satisfied
+that she was going to have little, if anything, to say. “I’m lettin’ my
+anger get the best of me. It wasn’t that I intended talkin’ to ye about
+when I ast ye to come in. It’s somethin’ else I have on me mind. I was
+thinkin’, perhaps, ye’d like to go to Europe for the time bein’ to
+study music. Ye’re not quite yourself just at present. Ye’re needin’ a
+rest. It would be good for ye to go away for a while. Ye could have a
+nice time over there. Norah could go along with ye, if you would, and
+Sister Constantia that taught you. Ye wouldn’t object to havin’ her, I
+suppose?”
+
+At the mention of this idea of a trip of Europe again, with Sister
+Constantia and music thrown in to give it a slightly new form, Aileen
+bridled, and yet half-smiled to herself now. It was so ridiculous—so
+tactless, really, for her father to bring up this now, and especially
+after denouncing Cowperwood and her, and threatening all the things he
+had. Had he no diplomacy at all where she was concerned? It was really
+too funny! But she restrained herself here again, because she felt as
+well as saw, that argument of this kind was all futile now.
+
+“I wish you wouldn’t talk about that, father,” she began, having
+softened under his explanation. “I don’t want to go to Europe now. I
+don’t want to leave Philadelphia. I know you want me to go; but I don’t
+want to think of going now. I can’t.”
+
+Butler’s brow darkened again. What was the use of all this opposition
+on her part? Did she really imagine that she was going to master
+him—her father, and in connection with such an issue as this? How
+impossible! But tempering his voice as much as possible, he went on,
+quite softly, in fact. “But it would be so fine for ye, Aileen. Ye
+surely can’t expect to stay here after—” He paused, for he was going to
+say “what has happened.” He knew she was very sensitive on that point.
+His own conduct in hunting her down had been such a breach of fatherly
+courtesy that he knew she felt resentful, and in a way properly so.
+Still, what could be greater than her own crime? “After,” he concluded,
+“ye have made such a mistake ye surely wouldn’t want to stay here. Ye
+won’t be wantin’ to keep up that—committin’ a mortal sin. It’s against
+the laws of God and man.”
+
+He did so hope the thought of sin would come to Aileen—the enormity of
+her crime from a spiritual point of view—but Aileen did not see it at
+all.
+
+“You don’t understand me, father,” she exclaimed, hopelessly toward the
+end. “You can’t. I have one idea, and you have another. But I don’t
+seem to be able to make you understand now. The fact is, if you want to
+know it, I don’t believe in the Catholic Church any more, so there.”
+
+The moment Aileen had said this she wished she had not. It was a slip
+of the tongue. Butler’s face took on an inexpressibly sad, despairing
+look.
+
+“Ye don’t believe in the Church?” he asked.
+
+“No, not exactly—not like you do.”
+
+He shook his head.
+
+“The harm that has come to yer soul!” he replied. “It’s plain to me,
+daughter, that somethin’ terrible has happened to ye. This man has
+ruined ye, body and soul. Somethin’ must be done. I don’t want to be
+hard on ye, but ye must leave Philadelphy. Ye can’t stay here. I can’t
+permit ye. Ye can go to Europe, or ye can go to yer aunt’s in New
+Orleans; but ye must go somewhere. I can’t have ye stayin’ here—it’s
+too dangerous. It’s sure to be comin’ out. The papers’ll be havin’ it
+next. Ye’re young yet. Yer life is before you. I tremble for yer soul;
+but so long as ye’re young and alive ye may come to yer senses. It’s me
+duty to be hard. It’s my obligation to you and the Church. Ye must quit
+this life. Ye must lave this man. Ye must never see him any more. I
+can’t permit ye. He’s no good. He has no intintion of marrying ye, and
+it would be a crime against God and man if he did. No, no! Never that!
+The man’s a bankrupt, a scoundrel, a thafe. If ye had him, ye’d soon be
+the unhappiest woman in the world. He wouldn’t be faithful to ye. No,
+he couldn’t. He’s not that kind.” He paused, sick to the depths of his
+soul. “Ye must go away. I say it once and for all. I mane it kindly,
+but I want it. I have yer best interests at heart. I love ye; but ye
+must. I’m sorry to see ye go—I’d rather have ye here. No one will be
+sorrier; but ye must. Ye must make it all seem natcheral and ordinary
+to yer mother; but ye must go—d’ye hear? Ye must.”
+
+He paused, looking sadly but firmly at Aileen under his shaggy
+eyebrows. She knew he meant this. It was his most solemn, his most
+religious expression. But she did not answer. She could not. What was
+the use? Only she was not going. She knew that—and so she stood there
+white and tense.
+
+“Now get all the clothes ye want,” went on Butler, by no means grasping
+her true mood. “Fix yourself up in any way you plase. Say where ye want
+to go, but get ready.”
+
+“But I won’t, father,” finally replied Aileen, equally solemnly,
+equally determinedly. “I won’t go! I won’t leave Philadelphia.”
+
+“Ye don’t mane to say ye will deliberately disobey me when I’m asking
+ye to do somethin’ that’s intended for yer own good, will ye daughter?”
+
+“Yes, I will,” replied Aileen, determinedly. “I won’t go! I’m sorry,
+but I won’t!”
+
+“Ye really mane that, do ye?” asked Butler, sadly but grimly.
+
+“Yes, I do,” replied Aileen, grimly, in return.
+
+“Then I’ll have to see what I can do, daughter,” replied the old man.
+“Ye’re still my daughter, whatever ye are, and I’ll not see ye come to
+wreck and ruin for want of doin’ what I know to be my solemn duty. I’ll
+give ye a few more days to think this over, but go ye must. There’s an
+end of that. There are laws in this land still. There are things that
+can be done to those who won’t obey the law. I found ye this time—much
+as it hurt me to do it. I’ll find ye again if ye try to disobey me. Ye
+must change yer ways. I can’t have ye goin’ on as ye are. Ye understand
+now. It’s the last word. Give this man up, and ye can have anything ye
+choose. Ye’re my girl—I’ll do everything I can in this world to make ye
+happy. Why, why shouldn’t I? What else have I to live for but me
+children? It’s ye and the rest of them that I’ve been workin’ and
+plannin’ for all these years. Come now, be a good girl. Ye love your
+old father, don’t ye? Why, I rocked ye in my arms as a baby, Aileen.
+I’ve watched over ye when ye were not bigger than what would rest in me
+two fists here. I’ve been a good father to ye—ye can’t deny that. Look
+at the other girls you’ve seen. Have any of them had more nor what ye
+have had? Ye won’t go against me in this. I’m sure ye won’t. Ye can’t.
+Ye love me too much—surely ye do—don’t ye?” His voice weakened. His
+eyes almost filled.
+
+He paused and put a big, brown, horny hand on Aileen’s arm. She had
+listened to his plea not unmoved—really more or less softened—because
+of the hopelessness of it. She could not give up Cowperwood. Her father
+just did not understand. He did not know what love was. Unquestionably
+he had never loved as she had.
+
+She stood quite silent while Butler appealed to her.
+
+“I’d like to, father,” she said at last and softly, tenderly. “Really I
+would. I do love you. Yes, I do. I want to please you; but I can’t in
+this—I can’t! I love Frank Cowperwood. You don’t understand—really you
+don’t!”
+
+At the repetition of Cowperwood’s name Butler’s mouth hardened. He
+could see that she was infatuated—that his carefully calculated plea
+had failed. So he must think of some other way.
+
+“Very well, then,” he said at last and sadly, oh, so sadly, as Aileen
+turned away. “Have it yer own way, if ye will. Ye must go, though,
+willy-nilly. It can’t be any other way. I wish to God it could.”
+
+Aileen went out, very solemn, and Butler went over to his desk and sat
+down. “Such a situation!” he said to himself. “Such a complication!”
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVIII
+
+
+The situation which confronted Aileen was really a trying one. A girl
+of less innate courage and determination would have weakened and
+yielded. For in spite of her various social connections and
+acquaintances, the people to whom Aileen could run in an emergency of
+the present kind were not numerous. She could scarcely think of any one
+who would be likely to take her in for any lengthy period, without
+question. There were a number of young women of her own age, married
+and unmarried, who were very friendly to her, but there were few with
+whom she was really intimate. The only person who stood out in her
+mind, as having any real possibility of refuge for a period, was a
+certain Mary Calligan, better known as “Mamie” among her friends, who
+had attended school with Aileen in former years and was now a teacher
+in one of the local schools.
+
+The Calligan family consisted of Mrs. Katharine Calligan, the mother, a
+dressmaker by profession and a widow—her husband, a house-mover by
+trade, having been killed by a falling wall some ten years before—and
+Mamie, her twenty-three-year-old daughter. They lived in a small
+two-story brick house in Cherry Street, near Fifteenth. Mrs. Calligan
+was not a very good dressmaker, not good enough, at least, for the
+Butler family to patronize in their present exalted state. Aileen went
+there occasionally for gingham house-dresses, underwear, pretty
+dressing-gowns, and alterations on some of her more important clothing
+which was made by a very superior modiste in Chestnut Street. She
+visited the house largely because she had gone to school with Mamie at
+St. Agatha’s, when the outlook of the Calligan family was much more
+promising. Mamie was earning forty dollars a month as the teacher of a
+sixth-grade room in one of the nearby public schools, and Mrs. Calligan
+averaged on the whole about two dollars a day—sometimes not so much.
+The house they occupied was their own, free and clear, and the
+furniture which it contained suggested the size of their joint income,
+which was somewhere near eighty dollars a month.
+
+Mamie Calligan was not good-looking, not nearly as good-looking as her
+mother had been before her. Mrs. Calligan was still plump, bright, and
+cheerful at fifty, with a fund of good humor. Mamie was somewhat duller
+mentally and emotionally. She was serious-minded—made so, perhaps, as
+much by circumstances as by anything else, for she was not at all
+vivid, and had little sex magnetism. Yet she was kindly, honest,
+earnest, a good Catholic, and possessed of that strangely excessive
+ingrowing virtue which shuts so many people off from the world—a sense
+of duty. To Mamie Calligan duty (a routine conformity to such theories
+and precepts as she had heard and worked by since her childhood) was
+the all-important thing, her principal source of comfort and relief;
+her props in a queer and uncertain world being her duty to her Church;
+her duty to her school; her duty to her mother; her duty to her
+friends, etc. Her mother often wished for Mamie’s sake that she was
+less dutiful and more charming physically, so that the men would like
+her.
+
+In spite of the fact that her mother was a dressmaker, Mamie’s clothes
+never looked smart or attractive—she would have felt out of keeping
+with herself if they had. Her shoes were rather large, and ill-fitting;
+her skirt hung in lifeless lines from her hips to her feet, of good
+material but seemingly bad design. At that time the colored “jersey,”
+so-called, was just coming into popular wear, and, being close-fitting,
+looked well on those of good form. Alas for Mamie Calligan! The mode of
+the time compelled her to wear one; but she had neither the arms nor
+the chest development which made this garment admirable. Her hat, by
+choice, was usually a pancake affair with a long, single feather, which
+somehow never seemed to be in exactly the right position, either to her
+hair or her face. At most times she looked a little weary; but she was
+not physically weary so much as she was bored. Her life held so little
+of real charm; and Aileen Butler was unquestionably the most
+significant element of romance in it.
+
+Mamie’s mother’s very pleasant social disposition, the fact that they
+had a very cleanly, if poor little home, that she could entertain them
+by playing on their piano, and that Mrs. Calligan took an adoring
+interest in the work she did for her, made up the sum and substance of
+the attraction of the Calligan home for Aileen. She went there
+occasionally as a relief from other things, and because Mamie Calligan
+had a compatible and very understanding interest in literature.
+Curiously, the books Aileen liked she liked—_Jane Eyre, Kenelm
+Chillingly, Tricotrin_, and _A Bow of Orange Ribbon_. Mamie
+occasionally recommended to Aileen some latest effusion of this
+character; and Aileen, finding her judgment good, was constrained to
+admire her.
+
+In this crisis it was to the home of the Calligans that Aileen turned
+in thought. If her father really was not nice to her, and she had to
+leave home for a time, she could go to the Calligans. They would
+receive her and say nothing. They were not sufficiently well known to
+the other members of the Butler family to have the latter suspect that
+she had gone there. She might readily disappear into the privacy of
+Cherry Street and not be seen or heard of for weeks. It is an
+interesting fact to contemplate that the Calligans, like the various
+members of the Butler family, never suspected Aileen of the least
+tendency toward a wayward existence. Hence her flight from her own
+family, if it ever came, would be laid more to the door of a
+temperamental pettishness than anything else.
+
+On the other hand, in so far as the Butler family as a unit was
+concerned, it needed Aileen more than she needed it. It needed the
+light of her countenance to keep it appropriately cheerful, and if she
+went away there would be a distinct gulf that would not soon be
+overcome.
+
+Butler, senior, for instance, had seen his little daughter grow into
+radiantly beautiful womanhood. He had seen her go to school and convent
+and learn to play the piano—to him a great accomplishment. Also he had
+seen her manner change and become very showy and her knowledge of life
+broaden, apparently, and become to him, at least, impressive. Her
+smart, dogmatic views about most things were, to him, at least, well
+worth listening to. She knew more about books and art than Owen or
+Callum, and her sense of social manners was perfect. When she came to
+the table—breakfast, luncheon, or dinner—she was to him always a
+charming object to see. He had produced Aileen—he congratulated
+himself. He had furnished her the money to be so fine. He would
+continue to do so. No second-rate upstart of a man should be allowed to
+ruin her life. He proposed to take care of her always—to leave her so
+much money in a legally involved way that a failure of a husband could
+not possibly affect her. “You’re the charming lady this evenin’, I’m
+thinkin’,” was one of his pet remarks; and also, “My, but we’re that
+fine!” At table almost invariably she sat beside him and looked out for
+him. That was what he wanted. He had put her there beside him at his
+meals years before when she was a child.
+
+Her mother, too, was inordinately fond of her, and Callum and Owen
+appropriately brotherly. So Aileen had thus far at least paid back with
+beauty and interest quite as much as she received, and all the family
+felt it to be so. When she was away for a day or two the house seemed
+glum—the meals less appetizing. When she returned, all were happy and
+gay again.
+
+Aileen understood this clearly enough in a way. Now, when it came to
+thinking of leaving and shifting for herself, in order to avoid a trip
+which she did not care to be forced into, her courage was based largely
+on this keen sense of her own significance to the family. She thought
+over what her father had said, and decided she must act at once. She
+dressed for the street the next morning, after her father had gone, and
+decided to step in at the Calligans’ about noon, when Mamie would be at
+home for luncheon. Then she would take up the matter casually. If they
+had no objection, she would go there. She sometimes wondered why
+Cowperwood did not suggest, in his great stress, that they leave for
+some parts unknown; but she also felt that he must know best what he
+could do. His increasing troubles depressed her.
+
+Mrs. Calligan was alone when she arrived and was delighted to see her.
+After exchanging the gossip of the day, and not knowing quite how to
+proceed in connection with the errand which had brought her, she went
+to the piano and played a melancholy air.
+
+“Sure, it’s lovely the way you play, Aileen,” observed Mrs. Calligan
+who was unduly sentimental herself. “I love to hear you. I wish you’d
+come oftener to see us. You’re so rarely here nowadays.”
+
+“Oh, I’ve been so busy, Mrs. Calligan,” replied Aileen. “I’ve had so
+much to do this fall, I just couldn’t. They wanted me to go to Europe;
+but I didn’t care to. Oh, dear!” she sighed, and in her playing swept
+off with a movement of sad, romantic significance. The door opened and
+Mamie came in. Her commonplace face brightened at the sight of Aileen.
+
+“Well, Aileen Butler!” she exclaimed. “Where did you come from? Where
+have you been keeping yourself so long?”
+
+Aileen rose to exchange kisses. “Oh, I’ve been very busy, Mamie. I’ve
+just been telling your mother. How are you, anyway? How are you getting
+along in your work?”
+
+Mamie recounted at once some school difficulties which were puzzling
+her—the growing size of classes and the amount of work expected. While
+Mrs. Calligan was setting the table Mamie went to her room and Aileen
+followed her.
+
+As she stood before her mirror arranging her hair Aileen looked at her
+meditatively.
+
+“What’s the matter with you, Aileen, to-day?” Mamie asked. “You look
+so—” She stopped to give her a second glance.
+
+“How do I look?” asked Aileen.
+
+“Well, as if you were uncertain or troubled about something. I never
+saw you look that way before. What’s the matter?”
+
+“Oh, nothing,” replied Aileen. “I was just thinking.” She went to one
+of the windows which looked into the little yard, meditating on whether
+she could endure living here for any length of time. The house was so
+small, the furnishings so very simple.
+
+“There is something the matter with you to-day, Aileen,” observed
+Mamie, coming over to her and looking in her face. “You’re not like
+yourself at all.”
+
+“I’ve got something on my mind,” replied Aileen—“something that’s
+worrying me. I don’t know just what to do—that’s what’s the matter.”
+
+“Well, whatever can it be?” commented Mamie. “I never saw you act this
+way before. Can’t you tell me? What is it?”
+
+“No, I don’t think I can—not now, anyhow.” Aileen paused. “Do you
+suppose your mother would object,” she asked, suddenly, “if I came here
+and stayed a little while? I want to get away from home for a time for
+a certain reason.”
+
+“Why, Aileen Butler, how you talk!” exclaimed her friend. “Object! You
+know she’d be delighted, and so would I. Oh, dear—can you come? But
+what makes you want to leave home?”
+
+“That’s just what I can’t tell you—not now, anyhow. Not you, so much,
+but your mother. You know, I’m afraid of what she’d think,” replied
+Aileen. “But, you mustn’t ask me yet, anyhow. I want to think. Oh,
+dear! But I want to come, if you’ll let me. Will you speak to your
+mother, or shall I?”
+
+“Why, I will,” said Mamie, struck with wonder at this remarkable
+development; “but it’s silly to do it. I know what she’ll say before I
+tell her, and so do you. You can just bring your things and come.
+That’s all. She’d never say anything or ask anything, either, and you
+know that—if you didn’t want her to.” Mamie was all agog and aglow at
+the idea. She wanted the companionship of Aileen so much.
+
+Aileen looked at her solemnly, and understood well enough why she was
+so enthusiastic—both she and her mother. Both wanted her presence to
+brighten their world. “But neither of you must tell anybody that I’m
+here, do you hear? I don’t want any one to know—particularly no one of
+my family. I’ve a reason, and a good one, but I can’t tell you what it
+is—not now, anyhow. You’ll promise not to tell any one.”
+
+“Oh, of course,” replied Mamie eagerly. “But you’re not going to run
+away for good, are you, Aileen?” she concluded curiously and gravely.
+
+“Oh, I don’t know; I don’t know what I’ll do yet. I only know that I
+want to get away for a while, just now—that’s all.” She paused, while
+Mamie stood before her, agape.
+
+“Well, of all things,” replied her friend. “Wonders never cease, do
+they, Aileen? But it will be so lovely to have you here. Mama will be
+so pleased. Of course, we won’t tell anybody if you don’t want us to.
+Hardly any one ever comes here; and if they do, you needn’t see them.
+You could have this big room next to me. Oh, wouldn’t that be nice? I’m
+perfectly delighted.” The young school-teacher’s spirits rose to a
+decided height. “Come on, why not tell mama right now?”
+
+Aileen hesitated because even now she was not positive whether she
+should do this, but finally they went down the stairs together, Aileen
+lingering behind a little as they neared the bottom. Mamie burst in
+upon her mother with: “Oh, mama, isn’t it lovely? Aileen’s coming to
+stay with us for a while. She doesn’t want any one to know, and she’s
+coming right away.” Mrs. Calligan, who was holding a sugarbowl in her
+hand, turned to survey her with a surprised but smiling face. She was
+immediately curious as to why Aileen should want to come—why leave
+home. On the other hand, her feeling for Aileen was so deep that she
+was greatly and joyously intrigued by the idea. And why not? Was not
+the celebrated Edward Butler’s daughter a woman grown, capable of
+regulating her own affairs, and welcome, of course, as the honored
+member of so important a family. It was very flattering to the
+Calligans to think that she would want to come under any circumstances.
+
+“I don’t see how your parents can let you go, Aileen; but you’re
+certainly welcome here as long as you want to stay, and that’s forever,
+if you want to.” And Mrs. Calligan beamed on her welcomingly. The idea
+of Aileen Butler asking to be permitted to come here! And the hearty,
+comprehending manner in which she said this, and Mamie’s enthusiasm,
+caused Aileen to breathe a sigh of relief. The matter of the expense of
+her presence to the Calligans came into her mind.
+
+“I want to pay you, of course,” she said to Mrs. Calligan, “if I come.”
+
+“The very idea, Aileen Butler!” exclaimed Mamie. “You’ll do nothing of
+the sort. You’ll come here and live with me as my guest.”
+
+“No, I won’t! If I can’t pay I won’t come,” replied Aileen. “You’ll
+have to let me do that.” She knew that the Calligans could not afford
+to keep her.
+
+“Well, we’ll not talk about that now, anyhow,” replied Mrs. Calligan.
+“You can come when you like and stay as long as you like. Reach me some
+clean napkins, Mamie.” Aileen remained for luncheon, and left soon
+afterward to keep her suggested appointment with Cowperwood, feeling
+satisfied that her main problem had been solved. Now her way was clear.
+She could come here if she wanted to. It was simply a matter of
+collecting a few necessary things or coming without bringing anything.
+Perhaps Frank would have something to suggest.
+
+In the meantime Cowperwood made no effort to communicate with Aileen
+since the unfortunate discovery of their meeting place, but had awaited
+a letter from her, which was not long in coming. And, as usual, it was
+a long, optimistic, affectionate, and defiant screed in which she
+related all that had occurred to her and her present plan of leaving
+home. This last puzzled and troubled him not a little.
+
+Aileen in the bosom of her family, smart and well-cared for, was one
+thing. Aileen out in the world dependent on him was another. He had
+never imagined that she would be compelled to leave before he was
+prepared to take her; and if she did now, it might stir up
+complications which would be anything but pleasant to contemplate.
+Still he was fond of her, very, and would do anything to make her
+happy. He could support her in a very respectable way even now, if he
+did not eventually go to prison, and even there he might manage to make
+some shift for her. It would be so much better, though, if he could
+persuade her to remain at home until he knew exactly what his fate was
+to be. He never doubted but that some day, whatever happened, within a
+reasonable length of time, he would be rid of all these complications
+and well-to-do again, in which case, if he could get a divorce, he
+wanted to marry Aileen. If not, he would take her with him anyhow, and
+from this point of view it might be just as well as if she broke away
+from her family now. But from the point of view of present
+complications—the search Butler would make—it might be dangerous. He
+might even publicly charge him with abduction. He therefore decided to
+persuade Aileen to stay at home, drop meetings and communications for
+the time being, and even go abroad. He would be all right until she
+came back and so would she—common sense ought to rule in this case.
+
+With all this in mind he set out to keep the appointment she suggested
+in her letter, nevertheless feeling it a little dangerous to do so.
+
+“Are you sure,” he asked, after he had listened to her description of
+the Calligan homestead, “that you would like it there? It sounds rather
+poor to me.”
+
+“Yes, but I like them so much,” replied Aileen.
+
+“And you’re sure they won’t tell on you?”
+
+“Oh, no; never, never!”
+
+“Very well,” he concluded. “You know what you’re doing. I don’t want to
+advise you against your will. If I were you, though, I’d take your
+father’s advice and go away for a while. He’ll get over this then, and
+I’ll still be here. I can write you occasionally, and you can write
+me.”
+
+The moment Cowperwood said this Aileen’s brow clouded. Her love for him
+was so great that there was something like a knife thrust in the merest
+hint at an extended separation. Her Frank here and in trouble—on trial
+maybe and she away! Never! What could he mean by suggesting such a
+thing? Could it be that he didn’t care for her as much as she did for
+him? Did he really love her? she asked herself. Was he going to desert
+her just when she was going to do the thing which would bring them
+nearer together? Her eyes clouded, for she was terribly hurt.
+
+“Why, how you talk!” she exclaimed. “You know I won’t leave
+Philadelphia now. You certainly don’t expect me to leave you.”
+
+Cowperwood saw it all very clearly. He was too shrewd not to. He was
+immensely fond of her. Good heaven, he thought, he would not hurt her
+feelings for the world!
+
+“Honey,” he said, quickly, when he saw her eyes, “you don’t understand.
+I want you to do what you want to do. You’ve planned this out in order
+to be with me; so now you do it. Don’t think any more about me or
+anything I’ve said. I was merely thinking that it might make matters
+worse for both of us; but I don’t believe it will. You think your
+father loves you so much that after you’re gone he’ll change his mind.
+Very good; go. But we must be very careful, sweet—you and I—really we
+must. This thing is getting serious. If you should go and your father
+should charge me with abduction—take the public into his confidence and
+tell all about this, it would be serious for both of us—as much for you
+as for me, for I’d be convicted sure then, just on that account, if
+nothing else. And then what? You’d better not try to see me often for
+the present—not any oftener than we can possibly help. If we had used
+common sense and stopped when your father got that letter, this
+wouldn’t have happened. But now that it has happened, we must be as
+wise as we can, don’t you see? So, think it over, and do what you think
+best and then write me and whatever you do will be all right with me—do
+you hear?” He drew her to him and kissed her. “You haven’t any money,
+have you?” he concluded wisely.
+
+Aileen, deeply moved by all he had just said, was none the less
+convinced once she had meditated on it a moment, that her course was
+best. Her father loved her too much. He would not do anything to hurt
+her publicly and so he would not attack Cowperwood through her openly.
+More than likely, as she now explained to Frank, he would plead with
+her to come back. And he, listening, was compelled to yield. Why argue?
+She would not leave him anyhow.
+
+He went down in his pocket for the first time since he had known Aileen
+and produced a layer of bills. “Here’s two hundred dollars, sweet,” he
+said, “until I see or hear from you. I’ll see that you have whatever
+you need; and now don’t think that I don’t love you. You know I do. I’m
+crazy about you.”
+
+Aileen protested that she did not need so much—that she did not really
+need any—she had some at home; but he put that aside. He knew that she
+must have money.
+
+“Don’t talk, honey,” he said. “I know what you need.” She had been so
+used to receiving money from her father and mother in comfortable
+amounts from time to time that she thought nothing of it. Frank loved
+her so much that it made everything right between them. She softened in
+her mood and they discussed the matter of letters, reaching the
+conclusion that a private messenger would be safest. When finally they
+parted, Aileen, from being sunk in the depths by his uncertain
+attitude, was now once more on the heights. She decided that he did
+love her, and went away smiling. She had her Frank to fall back on—she
+would teach her father. Cowperwood shook his head, following her with
+his eyes. She represented an additional burden, but give her up, he
+certainly could not. Tear the veil from this illusion of affection and
+make her feel so wretched when he cared for her so much? No. There was
+really nothing for him to do but what he had done. After all, he
+reflected, it might not work out so badly. Any detective work that
+Butler might choose to do would prove that she had not run to him. If
+at any moment it became necessary to bring common sense into play to
+save the situation from a deadly climax, he could have the Butlers
+secretly informed as to Aileen’s whereabouts. That would show he had
+little to do with it, and they could try to persuade Aileen to come
+home again. Good might result—one could not tell. He would deal with
+the evils as they arose. He drove quickly back to his office, and
+Aileen returned to her home determined to put her plan into action. Her
+father had given her some little time in which to decide—possibly he
+would give her longer—but she would not wait. Having always had her
+wish granted in everything, she could not understand why she was not to
+have her way this time. It was about five o’clock now. She would wait
+until all the members of the family were comfortably seated at the
+dinner-table, which would be about seven o’clock, and then slip out.
+
+On arriving home, however, she was greeted by an unexpected reason for
+suspending action. This was the presence of a certain Mr. and Mrs.
+Steinmetz—the former a well-known engineer who drew the plans for many
+of the works which Butler undertook. It was the day before
+Thanksgiving, and they were eager to have Aileen and Norah accompany
+them for a fortnight’s stay at their new home in West Chester—a
+structure concerning the charm of which Aileen had heard much. They
+were exceedingly agreeable people—comparatively young and surrounded by
+a coterie of interesting friends. Aileen decided to delay her flight
+and go. Her father was most cordial. The presence and invitation of the
+Steinmetzes was as much a relief to him as it was to Aileen. West
+Chester being forty miles from Philadelphia, it was unlikely that
+Aileen would attempt to meet Cowperwood while there.
+
+She wrote Cowperwood of the changed condition and departed, and he
+breathed a sigh of relief, fancying at the time that this storm had
+permanently blown over.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIX
+
+
+In the meanwhile the day of Cowperwood’s trial was drawing near. He was
+under the impression that an attempt was going to be made to convict
+him whether the facts warranted it or not. He did not see any way out
+of his dilemma, however, unless it was to abandon everything and leave
+Philadelphia for good, which was impossible. The only way to guard his
+future and retain his financial friends was to stand trial as quickly
+as possible, and trust them to assist him to his feet in the future in
+case he failed. He discussed the possibilities of an unfair trial with
+Steger, who did not seem to think that there was so much to that. In
+the first place, a jury could not easily be suborned by any one. In the
+next place, most judges were honest, in spite of their political
+cleavage, and would go no further than party bias would lead them in
+their rulings and opinions, which was, in the main, not so far. The
+particular judge who was to sit in this case, one Wilbur Payderson, of
+the Court of Quarter Sessions, was a strict party nominee, and as such
+beholden to Mollenhauer, Simpson, and Butler; but, in so far as Steger
+had ever heard, he was an honest man.
+
+“What I can’t understand,” said Steger, “is why these fellows should be
+so anxious to punish you, unless it is for the effect on the State at
+large. The election’s over. I understand there’s a movement on now to
+get Stener out in case he is convicted, which he will be. They have to
+try him. He won’t go up for more than a year, or two or three, and if
+he does he’ll be pardoned out in half the time or less. It would be the
+same in your case, if you were convicted. They couldn’t keep you in and
+let him out. But it will never get that far—take my word for it. We’ll
+win before a jury, or we’ll reverse the judgment of conviction before
+the State Supreme Court, certain. Those five judges up there are not
+going to sustain any such poppycock idea as this.”
+
+Steger actually believed what he said, and Cowperwood was pleased. Thus
+far the young lawyer had done excellently well in all of his cases.
+Still, he did not like the idea of being hunted down by Butler. It was
+a serious matter, and one of which Steger was totally unaware.
+Cowperwood could never quite forget that in listening to his lawyer’s
+optimistic assurances.
+
+The actual beginning of the trial found almost all of the inhabitants
+of this city of six hundred thousand “keyed up.” None of the women of
+Cowperwood’s family were coming into court. He had insisted that there
+should be no family demonstration for the newspapers to comment upon.
+His father was coming, for he might be needed as a witness. Aileen had
+written him the afternoon before saying she had returned from West
+Chester and wishing him luck. She was so anxious to know what was to
+become of him that she could not stay away any longer and had
+returned—not to go to the courtroom, for he did not want her to do
+that, but to be as near as possible when his fate was decided,
+adversely or otherwise. She wanted to run and congratulate him if he
+won, or to console with him if he lost. She felt that her return would
+be likely to precipitate a collision with her father, but she could not
+help that.
+
+The position of Mrs. Cowperwood was most anomalous. She had to go
+through the formality of seeming affectionate and tender, even when she
+knew that Frank did not want her to be. He felt instinctively now that
+she knew of Aileen. He was merely awaiting the proper hour in which to
+spread the whole matter before her. She put her arms around him at the
+door on the fateful morning, in the somewhat formal manner into which
+they had dropped these later years, and for a moment, even though she
+was keenly aware of his difficulties, she could not kiss him. He did
+not want to kiss her, but he did not show it. She did kiss him, though,
+and added: “Oh, I do hope things come out all right.”
+
+“You needn’t worry about that, I think, Lillian,” he replied,
+buoyantly. “I’ll be all right.”
+
+He ran down the steps and walked out on Girard Avenue to his former car
+line, where he boarded a car. He was thinking of Aileen and how keenly
+she was feeling for him, and what a mockery his married life now was,
+and whether he would face a sensible jury, and so on and so forth. If
+he didn’t—if he didn’t—this day was crucial!
+
+He stepped off the car at Third and Market and hurried to his office.
+Steger was already there. “Well, Harper,” observed Cowperwood,
+courageously, “today’s the day.”
+
+The Court of Quarter Sessions, Part I, where this trial was to take
+place, was held in famous Independence Hall, at Sixth and Chestnut
+Streets, which was at this time, as it had been for all of a century
+before, the center of local executive and judicial life. It was a low
+two-story building of red brick, with a white wooden central tower of
+old Dutch and English derivation, compounded of the square, the circle,
+and the octagon. The total structure consisted of a central portion and
+two T-shaped wings lying to the right and left, whose small,
+oval-topped old-fashioned windows and doors were set with those
+many-paned sashes so much admired by those who love what is known as
+Colonial architecture. Here, and in an addition known as State House
+Row (since torn down), which extended from the rear of the building
+toward Walnut Street, were located the offices of the mayor, the chief
+of police, the city treasurer, the chambers of council, and all the
+other important and executive offices of the city, together with the
+four branches of Quarter Sessions, which sat to hear the growing docket
+of criminal cases. The mammoth city hall which was subsequently
+completed at Broad and Market Streets was then building.
+
+An attempt had been made to improve the reasonably large courtrooms by
+putting in them raised platforms of dark walnut surmounted by large,
+dark walnut desks, behind which the judges sat; but the attempt was not
+very successful. The desks, jury-boxes, and railings generally were
+made too large, and so the general effect was one of disproportion. A
+cream-colored wall had been thought the appropriate thing to go with
+black walnut furniture, but time and dust had made the combination
+dreary. There were no pictures or ornaments of any kind, save the
+stalky, over-elaborated gas-brackets which stood on his honor’s desk,
+and the single swinging chandelier suspended from the center of the
+ceiling. Fat bailiffs and court officers, concerned only in holding
+their workless jobs, did not add anything to the spirit of the scene.
+Two of them in the particular court in which this trial was held
+contended hourly as to which should hand the judge a glass of water.
+One preceded his honor like a fat, stuffy, dusty majordomo to and from
+his dressing-room. His business was to call loudly, when the latter
+entered, “His honor the Court, hats off. Everybody please rise,” while
+a second bailiff, standing at the left of his honor when he was seated,
+and between the jury-box and the witness-chair, recited in an
+absolutely unintelligible way that beautiful and dignified statement of
+collective society’s obligation to the constituent units, which begins,
+“Hear ye! hear ye! hear ye!” and ends, “All those of you having just
+cause for complaint draw near and ye shall be heard.” However, you
+would have thought it was of no import here. Custom and indifference
+had allowed it to sink to a mumble. A third bailiff guarded the door of
+the jury-room; and in addition to these there were present a court
+clerk—small, pale, candle-waxy, with colorless milk-and-water eyes, and
+thin, pork-fat-colored hair and beard, who looked for all the world
+like an Americanized and decidedly decrepit Chinese mandarin—and a
+court stenographer.
+
+Judge Wilbur Payderson, a lean herring of a man, who had sat in this
+case originally as the examining judge when Cowperwood had been
+indicted by the grand jury, and who had bound him over for trial at
+this term, was a peculiarly interesting type of judge, as judges go. He
+was so meager and thin-blooded that he was arresting for those
+qualities alone. Technically, he was learned in the law; actually, so
+far as life was concerned, absolutely unconscious of that subtle
+chemistry of things that transcends all written law and makes for the
+spirit and, beyond that, the inutility of all law, as all wise judges
+know. You could have looked at his lean, pedantic body, his frizzled
+gray hair, his fishy, blue-gray eyes, without any depth of speculation
+in them, and his nicely modeled but unimportant face, and told him that
+he was without imagination; but he would not have believed you—would
+have fined you for contempt of court. By the careful garnering of all
+his little opportunities, the furbishing up of every meager advantage;
+by listening slavishly to the voice of party, and following as nearly
+as he could the behests of intrenched property, he had reached his
+present state. It was not very far along, at that. His salary was only
+six thousand dollars a year. His little fame did not extend beyond the
+meager realm of local lawyers and judges. But the sight of his name
+quoted daily as being about his duties, or rendering such and such a
+decision, was a great satisfaction to him. He thought it made him a
+significant figure in the world. “Behold I am not as other men,” he
+often thought, and this comforted him. He was very much flattered when
+a prominent case came to his calendar; and as he sat enthroned before
+the various litigants and lawyers he felt, as a rule, very significant
+indeed. Now and then some subtlety of life would confuse his really
+limited intellect; but in all such cases there was the letter of the
+law. He could hunt in the reports to find out what really thinking men
+had decided. Besides, lawyers everywhere are so subtle. They put the
+rules of law, favorable or unfavorable, under the judge’s thumb and
+nose. “Your honor, in the thirty-second volume of the Revised Reports
+of Massachusetts, page so and so, line so and so, in Arundel versus
+Bannerman, you will find, etc.” How often have you heard that in a
+court of law? The reasoning that is left to do in most cases is not
+much. And the sanctity of the law is raised like a great banner by
+which the pride of the incumbent is strengthened.
+
+Payderson, as Steger had indicated, could scarcely be pointed to as an
+unjust judge. He was a party judge—Republican in principle, or rather
+belief, beholden to the dominant party councils for his personal
+continuance in office, and as such willing and anxious to do whatever
+he considered that he reasonably could do to further the party welfare
+and the private interests of his masters. Most people never trouble to
+look into the mechanics of the thing they call their conscience too
+closely. Where they do, too often they lack the skill to disentangle
+the tangled threads of ethics and morals. Whatever the opinion of the
+time is, whatever the weight of great interests dictates, that they
+conscientiously believe. Some one has since invented the phrase “a
+corporation-minded judge.” There are many such.
+
+Payderson was one. He fairly revered property and power. To him Butler
+and Mollenhauer and Simpson were great men—reasonably sure to be right
+always because they were so powerful. This matter of Cowperwood’s and
+Stener’s defalcation he had long heard of. He knew by associating with
+one political light and another just what the situation was. The party,
+as the leaders saw it, had been put in a very bad position by
+Cowperwood’s subtlety. He had led Stener astray—more than an ordinary
+city treasurer should have been led astray—and, although Stener was
+primarily guilty as the original mover in the scheme, Cowperwood was
+more so for having led him imaginatively to such disastrous lengths.
+Besides, the party needed a scapegoat—that was enough for Payderson, in
+the first place. Of course, after the election had been won, and it
+appeared that the party had not suffered so much, he did not understand
+quite why it was that Cowperwood was still so carefully included in the
+Proceedings; but he had faith to believe that the leaders had some just
+grounds for not letting him off. From one source and another he learned
+that Butler had some private grudge against Cowperwood. What it was no
+one seemed to know exactly. The general impression was that Cowperwood
+had led Butler into some unwholesome financial transactions. Anyhow, it
+was generally understood that for the good of the party, and in order
+to teach a wholesome lesson to dangerous subordinates—it had been
+decided to allow these several indictments to take their course.
+Cowperwood was to be punished quite as severely as Stener for the moral
+effect on the community. Stener was to be sentenced the maximum
+sentence for his crime in order that the party and the courts should
+appear properly righteous. Beyond that he was to be left to the mercy
+of the governor, who could ease things up for him if he chose, and if
+the leaders wished. In the silly mind of the general public the various
+judges of Quarter Sessions, like girls incarcerated in
+boarding-schools, were supposed in their serene aloofness from life not
+to know what was going on in the subterranean realm of politics; but
+they knew well enough, and, knowing particularly well from whence came
+their continued position and authority, they were duly grateful.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XL
+
+
+When Cowperwood came into the crowded courtroom with his father and
+Steger, quite fresh and jaunty (looking the part of the shrewd
+financier, the man of affairs), every one stared. It was really too
+much to expect, most of them thought, that a man like this would be
+convicted. He was, no doubt, guilty; but, also, no doubt, he had ways
+and means of evading the law. His lawyer, Harper Steger, looked very
+shrewd and canny to them. It was very cold, and both men wore long,
+dark, bluish-gray overcoats, cut in the latest mode. Cowperwood was
+given to small boutonnieres in fair weather, but to-day he wore none.
+His tie, however, was of heavy, impressive silk, of lavender hue, set
+with a large, clear, green emerald. He wore only the thinnest of
+watch-chains, and no other ornament of any kind. He always looked
+jaunty and yet reserved, good-natured, and yet capable and
+self-sufficient. Never had he looked more so than he did to-day.
+
+He at once took in the nature of the scene, which had a peculiar
+interest for him. Before him was the as yet empty judge’s rostrum, and
+at its right the empty jury-box, between which, and to the judge’s
+left, as he sat facing the audience, stood the witness-chair where he
+must presently sit and testify. Behind it, already awaiting the arrival
+of the court, stood a fat bailiff, one John Sparkheaver whose business
+it was to present the aged, greasy Bible to be touched by the witnesses
+in making oath, and to say, “Step this way,” when the testimony was
+over. There were other bailiffs—one at the gate giving into the railed
+space before the judge’s desk, where prisoners were arraigned, lawyers
+sat or pleaded, the defendant had a chair, and so on; another in the
+aisle leading to the jury-room, and still another guarding the door by
+which the public entered. Cowperwood surveyed Stener, who was one of
+the witnesses, and who now, in his helpless fright over his own fate,
+was without malice toward any one. He had really never borne any. He
+wished if anything now that he had followed Cowperwood’s advice, seeing
+where he now was, though he still had faith that Mollenhauer and the
+political powers represented by him would do something for him with the
+governor, once he was sentenced. He was very pale and comparatively
+thin. Already he had lost that ruddy bulk which had been added during
+the days of his prosperity. He wore a new gray suit and a brown tie,
+and was clean-shaven. When his eye caught Cowperwood’s steady beam, it
+faltered and drooped. He rubbed his ear foolishly. Cowperwood nodded.
+
+“You know,” he said to Steger, “I feel sorry for George. He’s such a
+fool. Still I did all I could.”
+
+Cowperwood also watched Mrs. Stener out of the tail of his eye—an
+undersized, peaked, and sallow little woman, whose clothes fitted her
+abominably. It was just like Stener to marry a woman like that, he
+thought. The scrubby matches of the socially unelect or unfit always
+interested, though they did not always amuse, him. Mrs. Stener had no
+affection for Cowperwood, of course, looking on him, as she did, as the
+unscrupulous cause of her husband’s downfall. They were now quite poor
+again, about to move from their big house into cheaper quarters; and
+this was not pleasing for her to contemplate.
+
+Judge Payderson came in after a time, accompanied by his undersized but
+stout court attendant, who looked more like a pouter-pigeon than a
+human being; and as they came, Bailiff Sparkheaver rapped on the
+judge’s desk, beside which he had been slumbering, and mumbled, “Please
+rise!” The audience arose, as is the rule of all courts. Judge
+Payderson stirred among a number of briefs that were lying on his desk,
+and asked, briskly, “What’s the first case, Mr. Protus?” He was
+speaking to his clerk.
+
+During the long and tedious arrangement of the day’s docket and while
+the various minor motions of lawyers were being considered, this
+courtroom scene still retained interest for Cowperwood. He was so eager
+to win, so incensed at the outcome of untoward events which had brought
+him here. He was always intensely irritated, though he did not show it,
+by the whole process of footing delays and queries and quibbles, by
+which legally the affairs of men were too often hampered. Law, if you
+had asked him, and he had accurately expressed himself, was a mist
+formed out of the moods and the mistakes of men, which befogged the sea
+of life and prevented plain sailing for the little commercial and
+social barques of men; it was a miasma of misinterpretation where the
+ills of life festered, and also a place where the accidentally wounded
+were ground between the upper and the nether millstones of force or
+chance; it was a strange, weird, interesting, and yet futile battle of
+wits where the ignorant and the incompetent and the shrewd and the
+angry and the weak were made pawns and shuttlecocks for men—lawyers,
+who were playing upon their moods, their vanities, their desires, and
+their necessities. It was an unholy and unsatisfactory disrupting and
+delaying spectacle, a painful commentary on the frailties of life, and
+men, a trick, a snare, a pit and gin. In the hands of the strong, like
+himself when he was at his best, the law was a sword and a shield, a
+trap to place before the feet of the unwary; a pit to dig in the path
+of those who might pursue. It was anything you might choose to make of
+it—a door to illegal opportunity; a cloud of dust to be cast in the
+eyes of those who might choose, and rightfully, to see; a veil to be
+dropped arbitrarily between truth and its execution, justice and its
+judgment, crime and punishment. Lawyers in the main were intellectual
+mercenaries to be bought and sold in any cause. It amused him to hear
+the ethical and emotional platitudes of lawyers, to see how readily
+they would lie, steal, prevaricate, misrepresent in almost any cause
+and for any purpose. Great lawyers were merely great unscrupulous
+subtleties, like himself, sitting back in dark, close-woven lairs like
+spiders and awaiting the approach of unwary human flies. Life was at
+best a dark, inhuman, unkind, unsympathetic struggle built of cruelties
+and the law, and its lawyers were the most despicable representatives
+of the whole unsatisfactory mess. Still he used law as he would use any
+other trap or weapon to rid him of a human ill; and as for lawyers, he
+picked them up as he would any club or knife wherewith to defend
+himself. He had no particular respect for any of them—not even Harper
+Steger, though he liked him. They were tools to be used—knives, keys,
+clubs, anything you will; but nothing more. When they were through they
+were paid and dropped—put aside and forgotten. As for judges, they were
+merely incompetent lawyers, at a rule, who were shelved by some
+fortunate turn of chance, and who would not, in all likelihood, be as
+efficient as the lawyers who pleaded before them if they were put in
+the same position. He had no respect for judges—he knew too much about
+them. He knew how often they were sycophants, political climbers,
+political hacks, tools, time-servers, judicial door-mats lying before
+the financially and politically great and powerful who used them as
+such. Judges were fools, as were most other people in this dusty,
+shifty world. Pah! His inscrutable eyes took them all in and gave no
+sign. His only safety lay, he thought, in the magnificent subtley of
+his own brain, and nowhere else. You could not convince Cowperwood of
+any great or inherent virtue in this mortal scheme of things. He knew
+too much; he knew himself.
+
+When the judge finally cleared away the various minor motions pending,
+he ordered his clerk to call the case of the City of Philadelphia
+versus Frank A. Cowperwood, which was done in a clear voice. Both
+Dennis Shannon, the new district attorney, and Steger, were on their
+feet at once. Steger and Cowperwood, together with Shannon and Strobik,
+who had now come in and was standing as the representative of the State
+of Pennsylvania—the complainant—had seated themselves at the long table
+inside the railing which inclosed the space before the judge’s desk.
+Steger proposed to Judge Payderson, for effect’s sake more than
+anything else, that this indictment be quashed, but was overruled.
+
+A jury to try the case was now quickly impaneled—twelve men out of the
+usual list called to serve for the month—and was then ready to be
+challenged by the opposing counsel. The business of impaneling a jury
+was a rather simple thing so far as this court was concerned. It
+consisted in the mandarin-like clerk taking the names of all the jurors
+called to serve in this court for the month—some fifty in all—and
+putting them, each written on a separate slip of paper, in a whirling
+drum, spinning it around a few times, and then lifting out the first
+slip which his hand encountered, thus glorifying chance and settling on
+who should be juror No. 1. His hand reaching in twelve times drew out
+the names of the twelve jurymen, who as their names were called, were
+ordered to take their places in the jury-box.
+
+Cowperwood observed this proceeding with a great deal of interest. What
+could be more important than the men who were going to try him? The
+process was too swift for accurate judgment, but he received a faint
+impression of middle-class men. One man in particular, however, an old
+man of sixty-five, with iron-gray hair and beard, shaggy eyebrows,
+sallow complexion, and stooped shoulders, struck him as having that
+kindness of temperament and breadth of experience which might under
+certain circumstances be argumentatively swayed in his favor. Another,
+a small, sharp-nosed, sharp-chinned commercial man of some kind, he
+immediately disliked.
+
+“I hope I don’t have to have that man on my jury,” he said to Steger,
+quietly.
+
+“You don’t,” replied Steger. “I’ll challenge him. We have the right to
+fifteen peremptory challenges on a case like this, and so has the
+prosecution.”
+
+When the jury-box was finally full, the two lawyers waited for the
+clerk to bring them the small board upon which slips of paper bearing
+the names of the twelve jurors were fastened in rows in order of their
+selection—jurors one, two, and three being in the first row; four,
+five, and six in the second, and so on. It being the prerogative of the
+attorney for the prosecution to examine and challenge the jurors first,
+Shannon arose, and, taking the board, began to question them as to
+their trades or professions, their knowledge of the case before the
+court, and their possible prejudice for or against the prisoner.
+
+It was the business of both Steger and Shannon to find men who knew a
+little something of finance and could understand a peculiar situation
+of this kind without any of them (looking at it from Steger’s point of
+view) having any prejudice against a man’s trying to assist himself by
+reasonable means to weather a financial storm or (looking at it from
+Shannon’s point of view) having any sympathy with such means, if they
+bore about them the least suspicion of chicanery, jugglery, or
+dishonest manipulation of any kind. As both Shannon and Steger in due
+course observed for themselves in connection with this jury, it was
+composed of that assorted social fry which the dragnets of the courts,
+cast into the ocean of the city, bring to the surface for purposes of
+this sort. It was made up in the main of managers, agents, tradesmen,
+editors, engineers, architects, furriers, grocers, traveling salesmen,
+authors, and every other kind of working citizen whose experience had
+fitted him for service in proceedings of this character. Rarely would
+you have found a man of great distinction; but very frequently a group
+of men who were possessed of no small modicum of that interesting
+quality known as hard common sense.
+
+Throughout all this Cowperwood sat quietly examining the men. A young
+florist, with a pale face, a wide speculative forehead, and anemic
+hands, struck him as being sufficiently impressionable to his personal
+charm to be worth while. He whispered as much to Steger. There was a
+shrewd Jew, a furrier, who was challenged because he had read all of
+the news of the panic and had lost two thousand dollars in
+street-railway stocks. There was a stout wholesale grocer, with red
+cheeks, blue eyes, and flaxen hair, who Cowperwood said he thought was
+stubborn. He was eliminated. There was a thin, dapper manager of a
+small retail clothing store, very anxious to be excused, who declared,
+falsely, that he did not believe in swearing by the Bible. Judge
+Payderson, eyeing him severely, let him go. There were some ten more in
+all—men who knew of Cowperwood, men who admitted they were prejudiced,
+men who were hidebound Republicans and resentful of this crime, men who
+knew Stener—who were pleasantly eliminated.
+
+By twelve o’clock, however, a jury reasonably satisfactory to both
+sides had been chosen.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLI
+
+
+At two o’clock sharp Dennis Shannon, as district attorney, began his
+opening address. He stated in a very simple, kindly way—for he had a
+most engaging manner—that the indictment as here presented charged Mr.
+Frank A. Cowperwood, who was sitting at the table inside the jury-rail,
+first with larceny, second with embezzlement, third with larceny as
+bailee, and fourth with embezzlement of a certain sum of money—a
+specific sum, to wit, sixty thousand dollars—on a check given him
+(drawn to his order) October 9, 1871, which was intended to reimburse
+him for a certain number of certificates of city loan, which he as
+agent or bailee of the check was supposed to have purchased for the
+city sinking-fund on the order of the city treasurer (under some form
+of agreement which had been in existence between them, and which had
+been in force for some time)—said fund being intended to take up such
+certificates as they might mature in the hands of holders and be
+presented for payment—for which purpose, however, the check in question
+had never been used.
+
+“Now, gentlemen,” said Mr. Shannon, very quietly, “before we go into
+this very simple question of whether Mr. Cowperwood did or did not on
+the date in question get from the city treasurer sixty thousand
+dollars, for which he made no honest return, let me explain to you just
+what the people mean when they charge him first with larceny, second
+with embezzlement, third with larceny as bailee, and fourth with
+embezzlement on a check. Now, as you see, there are four counts here,
+as we lawyers term them, and the reason there are four counts is as
+follows: A man may be guilty of larceny and embezzlement at the same
+time, or of larceny or embezzlement separately, and without being
+guilty of the other, and the district attorney representing the people
+might be uncertain, not that he was not guilty of both, but that it
+might not be possible to present the evidence under one count, so as to
+insure his adequate punishment for a crime which in a way involved
+both. In such cases, gentlemen, it is customary to indict a man under
+separate counts, as has been done in this case. Now, the four counts in
+this case, in a way, overlap and confirm each other, and it will be
+your duty, after we have explained their nature and character and
+presented the evidence, to say whether the defendant is guilty on one
+count or the other, or on two or three of the counts, or on all four,
+just as you see fit and proper—or, to put it in a better way, as the
+evidence warrants. Larceny, as you may or may not know, is the act of
+taking away the goods or chattels of another without his knowledge or
+consent, and embezzlement is the fraudulent appropriation to one’s own
+use of what is intrusted to one’s care and management, especially
+money. Larceny as bailee, on the other hand, is simply a more definite
+form of larceny wherein one fixes the act of carrying away the goods of
+another without his knowledge or consent on the person to whom the
+goods were delivered in trust that is, the agent or bailee.
+Embezzlement on a check, which constitutes the fourth charge, is simply
+a more definite form of fixing charge number two in an exact way and
+signifies appropriating the money on a check given for a certain
+definite purpose. All of these charges, as you can see, gentlemen, are
+in a way synonymous. They overlap and overlay each other. The people,
+through their representative, the district attorney, contend that Mr.
+Cowperwood, the defendant here, is guilty of all four charges. So now,
+gentlemen, we will proceed to the history of this crime, which proves
+to me as an individual that this defendant has one of the most subtle
+and dangerous minds of the criminal financier type, and we hope by
+witnesses to prove that to you, also.”
+
+Shannon, because the rules of evidence and court procedure here
+admitted of no interruption of the prosecution in presenting a case,
+then went on to describe from his own point of view how Cowperwood had
+first met Stener; how he had wormed himself into his confidence; how
+little financial knowledge Stener had, and so forth; coming down
+finally to the day the check for sixty thousand dollars was given
+Cowperwood; how Stener, as treasurer, claimed that he knew nothing of
+its delivery, which constituted the base of the charge of larceny; how
+Cowperwood, having it, misappropriated the certificates supposed to
+have been purchased for the sinking-fund, if they were purchased at
+all—all of which Shannon said constituted the crimes with which the
+defendant was charged, and of which he was unquestionably guilty.
+
+“We have direct and positive evidence of all that we have thus far
+contended, gentlemen,” Mr. Shannon concluded violently. “This is not a
+matter of hearsay or theory, but of fact. You will be shown by direct
+testimony which cannot be shaken just how it was done. If, after you
+have heard all this, you still think this man is innocent—that he did
+not commit the crimes with which he is charged—it is your business to
+acquit him. On the other hand, if you think the witnesses whom we shall
+put on the stand are telling the truth, then it is your business to
+convict him, to find a verdict for the people as against the defendant.
+I thank you for your attention.”
+
+The jurors stirred comfortably and took positions of ease, in which
+they thought they were to rest for the time; but their idle comfort was
+of short duration for Shannon now called out the name of George W.
+Stener, who came hurrying forward very pale, very flaccid, very
+tired-looking. His eyes, as he took his seat in the witness-chair,
+laying his hand on the Bible and swearing to tell the truth, roved in a
+restless, nervous manner.
+
+His voice was a little weak as he started to give his testimony. He
+told first how he had met Cowperwood in the early months of 1866—he
+could not remember the exact day; it was during his first term as city
+treasurer—he had been elected to the office in the fall of 1864. He had
+been troubled about the condition of city loan, which was below par,
+and which could not be sold by the city legally at anything but par.
+Cowperwood had been recommended to him by some one—Mr. Strobik, he
+believed, though he couldn’t be sure. It was the custom of city
+treasurers to employ brokers, or a broker, in a crisis of this kind,
+and he was merely following what had been the custom. He went on to
+describe, under steady promptings and questions from the incisive mind
+of Shannon, just what the nature of this first conversation was—he
+remembered it fairly well; how Mr. Cowperwood had said he thought he
+could do what was wanted; how he had gone away and drawn up a plan or
+thought one out; and how he had returned and laid it before Stener.
+Under Shannon’s skillful guidance Stener elucidated just what this
+scheme was—which wasn’t exactly so flattering to the honesty of men in
+general as it was a testimonial to their subtlety and skill.
+
+After much discussion of Stener’s and Cowperwood’s relations the story
+finally got down to the preceding October, when by reason of
+companionship, long business understanding, mutually prosperous
+relationship, etc., the place had been reached where, it was explained,
+Cowperwood was not only handling several millions of city loan
+annually, buying and selling for the city and trading in it generally,
+but in the bargain had secured one five hundred thousand dollars’ worth
+of city money at an exceedingly low rate of interest, which was being
+invested for himself and Stener in profitable street-car ventures of
+one kind and another. Stener was not anxious to be altogether clear on
+this point; but Shannon, seeing that he was later to prosecute Stener
+himself for this very crime of embezzlement, and that Steger would soon
+follow in cross-examination, was not willing to let him be hazy.
+Shannon wanted to fix Cowperwood in the minds of the jury as a clever,
+tricky person, and by degrees he certainly managed to indicate a very
+subtle-minded man. Occasionally, as one sharp point after another of
+Cowperwood’s skill was brought out and made moderately clear, one juror
+or another turned to look at Cowperwood. And he noting this and in
+order to impress them all as favorably as possible merely gazed
+Stenerward with a steady air of intelligence and comprehension.
+
+The examination now came down to the matter of the particular check for
+sixty thousand dollars which Albert Stires had handed Cowperwood on the
+afternoon—late—of October 9, 1871. Shannon showed Stener the check
+itself. Had he ever seen it? Yes. Where? In the office of District
+Attorney Pettie on October 20th, or thereabouts last. Was that the
+first time he had seen it? Yes. Had he ever heard about it before then?
+Yes. When? On October 10th last. Would he kindly tell the jury in his
+own way just how and under what circumstances he first heard of it
+then? Stener twisted uncomfortably in his chair. It was a hard thing to
+do. It was not a pleasant commentary on his own character and degree of
+moral stamina, to say the least. However, he cleared his throat again
+and began a description of that small but bitter section of his life’s
+drama in which Cowperwood, finding himself in a tight place and about
+to fail, had come to him at his office and demanded that he loan him
+three hundred thousand dollars more in one lump sum.
+
+There was considerable bickering just at this point between Steger and
+Shannon, for the former was very anxious to make it appear that Stener
+was lying out of the whole cloth about this. Steger got in his
+objection at this point, and created a considerable diversion from the
+main theme, because Stener kept saying he “thought” or he “believed.”
+
+“Object!” shouted Steger, repeatedly. “I move that that be stricken
+from the record as incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial. The witness
+is not allowed to say what he thinks, and the prosecution knows it very
+well.”
+
+“Your honor,” insisted Shannon, “I am doing the best I can to have the
+witness tell a plain, straightforward story, and I think that it is
+obvious that he is doing so.”
+
+“Object!” reiterated Steger, vociferously. “Your honor, I insist that
+the district attorney has no right to prejudice the minds of the jury
+by flattering estimates of the sincerity of the witness. What he thinks
+of the witness and his sincerity is of no importance in this case. I
+must ask that your honor caution him plainly in this matter.”
+
+“Objection sustained,” declared Judge Payderson, “the prosecution will
+please be more explicit”; and Shannon went on with his case.
+
+Stener’s testimony, in one respect, was most important, for it made
+plain what Cowperwood did not want brought out—namely, that he and
+Stener had had a dispute before this; that Stener had distinctly told
+Cowperwood that he would not loan him any more money; that Cowperwood
+had told Stener, on the day before he secured this check, and again on
+that very day, that he was in a very desperate situation financially,
+and that if he were not assisted to the extent of three hundred
+thousand dollars he would fail, and that then both he and Stener would
+be ruined. On the morning of this day, according to Stener, he had sent
+Cowperwood a letter ordering him to cease purchasing city loan
+certificates for the sinking-fund. It was after their conversation on
+the same afternoon that Cowperwood surreptitiously secured the check
+for sixty thousand dollars from Albert Stires without his (Stener’s)
+knowledge; and it was subsequent to this latter again that Stener,
+sending Albert to demand the return of the check, was refused, though
+the next day at five o’clock in the afternoon Cowperwood made an
+assignment. And the certificates for which the check had been purloined
+were not in the sinking-fund as they should have been. This was dark
+testimony for Cowperwood.
+
+If any one imagines that all this was done without many vehement
+objections and exceptions made and taken by Steger, and subsequently
+when he was cross-examining Stener, by Shannon, he errs greatly. At
+times the chamber was coruscating with these two gentlemen’s bitter
+wrangles, and his honor was compelled to hammer his desk with his
+gavel, and to threaten both with contempt of court, in order to bring
+them to a sense of order. Indeed while Payderson was highly incensed,
+the jury was amused and interested.
+
+“You gentlemen will have to stop this, or I tell you now that you will
+both be heavily fined. This is a court of law, not a bar-room. Mr.
+Steger, I expect you to apologize to me and your colleague at once. Mr.
+Shannon, I must ask that you use less aggressive methods. Your manner
+is offensive to me. It is not becoming to a court of law. I will not
+caution either of you again.”
+
+Both lawyers apologized as lawyers do on such occasions, but it really
+made but little difference. Their individual attitudes and moods
+continued about as before.
+
+“What did he say to you,” asked Shannon of Stener, after one of these
+troublesome interruptions, “on that occasion, October 9th last, when he
+came to you and demanded the loan of an additional three hundred
+thousand dollars? Give his words as near as you can remember—exactly,
+if possible.”
+
+“Object!” interposed Steger, vigorously. “His exact words are not
+recorded anywhere except in Mr. Stener’s memory, and his memory of them
+cannot be admitted in this case. The witness has testified to the
+general facts.”
+
+Judge Payderson smiled grimly. “Objection overruled,” he returned.
+
+“Exception!” shouted Steger.
+
+“He said, as near as I can remember,” replied Stener, drumming on the
+arms of the witness-chair in a nervous way, “that if I didn’t give him
+three hundred thousand dollars he was going to fail, and I would be
+poor and go to the penitentiary.”
+
+“Object!” shouted Stager, leaping to his feet. “Your honor, I object to
+the whole manner in which this examination is being conducted by the
+prosecution. The evidence which the district attorney is here trying to
+extract from the uncertain memory of the witness is in defiance of all
+law and precedent, and has no definite bearing on the facts of the
+case, and could not disprove or substantiate whether Mr. Cowperwood
+thought or did not think that he was going to fail. Mr. Stener might
+give one version of this conversation or any conversation that took
+place at this time, and Mr. Cowperwood another. As a matter of fact,
+their versions are different. I see no point in Mr. Shannon’s line of
+inquiry, unless it is to prejudice the jury’s minds towards accepting
+certain allegations which the prosecution is pleased to make and which
+it cannot possibly substantiate. I think you ought to caution the
+witness to testify only in regard to things that he recalls exactly,
+not to what he thinks he remembers; and for my part I think that all
+that has been testified to in the last five minutes might be well
+stricken out.”
+
+“Objection overruled,” replied Judge Payderson, rather indifferently;
+and Steger who had been talking merely to overcome the weight of
+Stener’s testimony in the minds of the jury, sat down.
+
+Shannon once more approached Stener.
+
+“Now, as near as you can remember, Mr. Stener, I wish you would tell
+the jury what else it was that Mr. Cowperwood said on that occasion. He
+certainly didn’t stop with the remark that you would be ruined and go
+to the penitentiary. Wasn’t there other language that was employed on
+that occasion?”
+
+“He said, as far as I can remember,” replied Stener, “that there were a
+lot of political schemers who were trying to frighten me, that if I
+didn’t give him three hundred thousand dollars we would both be ruined,
+and that I might as well be tried for stealing a sheep as a lamb.”
+
+“Ha!” yelled Shannon. “He said that, did he?”
+
+“Yes, sir; he did,” said Stener.
+
+“How did he say it, exactly? What were his exact words?” Shannon
+demanded, emphatically, pointing a forceful forefinger at Stener in
+order to key him up to a clear memory of what had transpired.
+
+“Well, as near as I can remember, he said just that,” replied Stener,
+vaguely. “You might as well be tried for stealing a sheep as a lamb.”
+
+“Exactly!” exclaimed Shannon, whirling around past the jury to look at
+Cowperwood. “I thought so.”
+
+“Pure pyrotechnics, your honor,” said Steger, rising to his feet on the
+instant. “All intended to prejudice the minds of the jury. Acting. I
+wish you would caution the counsel for the prosecution to confine
+himself to the evidence in hand, and not act for the benefit of his
+case.”
+
+The spectators smiled; and Judge Payderson, noting it, frowned
+severely. “Do you make that as an objection, Mr. Steger?” he asked.
+
+“I certainly do, your honor,” insisted Steger, resourcefully.
+
+“Objection overruled. Neither counsel for the prosecution nor for the
+defense is limited to a peculiar routine of expression.”
+
+Steger himself was ready to smile, but he did not dare to.
+
+Cowperwood fearing the force of such testimony and regretting it, still
+looked at Stener, pityingly. The feebleness of the man; the weakness of
+the man; the pass to which his cowardice had brought them both!
+
+When Shannon was through bringing out this unsatisfactory data, Steger
+took Stener in hand; but he could not make as much out of him as he
+hoped. In so far as this particular situation was concerned, Stener was
+telling the exact truth; and it is hard to weaken the effect of the
+exact truth by any subtlety of interpretation, though it can,
+sometimes, be done. With painstaking care Steger went over all the
+ground of Stener’s long relationship with Cowperwood, and tried to make
+it appear that Cowperwood was invariably the disinterested agent—not
+the ringleader in a subtle, really criminal adventure. It was hard to
+do, but he made a fine impression. Still the jury listened with
+skeptical minds. It might not be fair to punish Cowperwood for seizing
+with avidity upon a splendid chance to get rich quick, they thought;
+but it certainly was not worth while to throw a veil of innocence over
+such palpable human cupidity. Finally, both lawyers were through with
+Stener for the time being, anyhow, and then Albert Stires was called to
+the stand.
+
+He was the same thin, pleasant, alert, rather agreeable soul that he
+had been in the heyday of his clerkly prosperity—a little paler now,
+but not otherwise changed. His small property had been saved for him by
+Cowperwood, who had advised Steger to inform the Municipal Reform
+Association that Stires’ bondsmen were attempting to sequestrate it for
+their own benefit, when actually it should go to the city if there were
+any real claim against him—which there was not. That watchful
+organization had issued one of its numerous reports covering this
+point, and Albert had had the pleasure of seeing Strobik and the others
+withdraw in haste. Naturally he was grateful to Cowperwood, even though
+once he had been compelled to cry in vain in his presence. He was
+anxious now to do anything he could to help the banker, but his
+naturally truthful disposition prevented him from telling anything
+except the plain facts, which were partly beneficial and partly not.
+
+Stires testified that he recalled Cowperwood’s saying that he had
+purchased the certificates, that he was entitled to the money, that
+Stener was unduly frightened, and that no harm would come to him,
+Albert. He identified certain memoranda in the city treasurer’s books,
+which were produced, as being accurate, and others in Cowperwood’s
+books, which were also produced, as being corroborative. His testimony
+as to Stener’s astonishment on discovering that his chief clerk had
+given Cowperwood a check was against the latter; but Cowperwood hoped
+to overcome the effect of this by his own testimony later.
+
+Up to now both Steger and Cowperwood felt that they were doing fairly
+well, and that they need not be surprised if they won their case.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLII
+
+
+The trial moved on. One witness for the prosecution after another
+followed until the State had built up an arraignment that satisfied
+Shannon that he had established Cowperwood’s guilt, whereupon he
+announced that he rested. Steger at once arose and began a long
+argument for the dismissal of the case on the ground that there was no
+evidence to show this, that and the other, but Judge Payderson would
+have none of it. He knew how important the matter was in the local
+political world.
+
+“I don’t think you had better go into all that now, Mr. Steger,” he
+said, wearily, after allowing him to proceed a reasonable distance. “I
+am familiar with the custom of the city, and the indictment as here
+made does not concern the custom of the city. Your argument is with the
+jury, not with me. I couldn’t enter into that now. You may renew your
+motion at the close of the defendants’ case. Motion denied.”
+
+District-Attorney Shannon, who had been listening attentively, sat
+down. Steger, seeing there was no chance to soften the judge’s mind by
+any subtlety of argument, returned to Cowperwood, who smiled at the
+result.
+
+“We’ll just have to take our chances with the jury,” he announced.
+
+“I was sure of it,” replied Cowperwood.
+
+Steger then approached the jury, and, having outlined the case briefly
+from his angle of observation, continued by telling them what he was
+sure the evidence would show from his point of view.
+
+“As a matter of fact, gentlemen, there is no essential difference in
+the evidence which the prosecution can present and that which we, the
+defense, can present. We are not going to dispute that Mr. Cowperwood
+received a check from Mr. Stener for sixty thousand dollars, or that he
+failed to put the certificate of city loan which that sum of money
+represented, and to which he was entitled in payment as agent, in the
+sinking-fund, as the prosecution now claims he should have done; but we
+are going to claim and prove also beyond the shadow of a reasonable
+doubt that he had a right, as the agent of the city, doing business
+with the city through its treasury department for four years, to
+withhold, under an agreement which he had with the city treasurer, all
+payments of money and all deposits of certificates in the sinking-fund
+until the first day of each succeeding month—the first month following
+any given transaction. As a matter of fact we can and will bring many
+traders and bankers who have had dealings with the city treasury in the
+past in just this way to prove this. The prosecution is going to ask
+you to believe that Mr. Cowperwood knew at the time he received this
+check that he was going to fail; that he did not buy the certificates,
+as he claimed, with the view of placing them in the sinking-fund; and
+that, knowing he was going to fail, and that he could not subsequently
+deposit them, he deliberately went to Mr. Albert Stires, Mr. Stener’s
+secretary, told him that he had purchased such certificates, and on the
+strength of a falsehood, implied if not actually spoken, secured the
+check, and walked away.
+
+“Now, gentlemen, I am not going to enter into a long-winded discussion
+of these points at this time, since the testimony is going to show very
+rapidly what the facts are. We have a number of witnesses here, and we
+are all anxious to have them heard. What I am going to ask you to
+remember is that there is not one scintilla of testimony outside of
+that which may possibly be given by Mr. George W. Stener, which will
+show either that Mr. Cowperwood knew, at the time he called on the city
+treasurer, that he was going to fail, or that he had not purchased the
+certificates in question, or that he had not the right to withhold them
+from the sinking-fund as long as he pleased up to the first of the
+month, the time he invariably struck a balance with the city. Mr.
+Stener, the ex-city treasurer, may possibly testify one way. Mr.
+Cowperwood, on his own behalf, will testify another. It will then be
+for you gentlemen to decide between them, to decide which one you
+prefer to believe—Mr. George W. Stener, the ex-city treasurer, the
+former commercial associate of Mr. Cowperwood, who, after years and
+years of profit, solely because of conditions of financial stress,
+fire, and panic, preferred to turn on his one-time associate from whose
+labors he had reaped so much profit, or Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood, the
+well-known banker and financier, who did his best to weather the storm
+alone, who fulfilled to the letter every agreement he ever had with the
+city, who has even until this hour been busy trying to remedy the
+unfair financial difficulties forced upon him by fire and panic, and
+who only yesterday made an offer to the city that, if he were allowed
+to continue in uninterrupted control of his affairs he would gladly
+repay as quickly as possible every dollar of his indebtedness (which is
+really not all his), including the five hundred thousand dollars under
+discussion between him and Mr. Stener and the city, and so prove by his
+works, not talk, that there was no basis for this unfair suspicion of
+his motives. As you perhaps surmise, the city has not chosen to accept
+his offer, and I shall try and tell you why later, gentlemen. For the
+present we will proceed with the testimony, and for the defense all I
+ask is that you give very close attention to all that is testified to
+here to-day. Listen very carefully to Mr. W. C. Davison when he is put
+on the stand. Listen equally carefully to Mr. Cowperwood when we call
+him to testify. Follow the other testimony closely, and then you will
+be able to judge for yourselves. See if you can distinguish a just
+motive for this prosecution. I can’t. I am very much obliged to you for
+listening to me, gentlemen, so attentively.”
+
+He then put on Arthur Rivers, who had acted for Cowperwood on ’change
+as special agent during the panic, to testify to the large quantities
+of city loan he had purchased to stay the market; and then after him,
+Cowperwood’s brothers, Edward and Joseph, who testified to instructions
+received from Rivers as to buying and selling city loan on that
+occasion—principally buying.
+
+The next witness was President W. C. Davison of the Girard National
+Bank. He was a large man physically, not so round of body as full and
+broad. His shoulders and chest were ample. He had a big blond head,
+with an ample breadth of forehead, which was high and sane-looking. He
+had a thick, squat nose, which, however, was forceful, and thin, firm,
+even lips. There was the faintest touch of cynical humor in his hard
+blue eyes at times; but mostly he was friendly, alert, placid-looking,
+without seeming in the least sentimental or even kindly. His business,
+as one could see plainly, was to insist on hard financial facts, and
+one could see also how he would naturally be drawn to Frank Algernon
+Cowperwood without being mentally dominated or upset by him. As he took
+the chair very quietly, and yet one might say significantly, it was
+obvious that he felt that this sort of legal-financial palaver was
+above the average man and beneath the dignity of a true financier—in
+other words, a bother. The drowsy Sparkheaver holding up a Bible beside
+him for him to swear by might as well have been a block of wood. His
+oath was a personal matter with him. It was good business to tell the
+truth at times. His testimony was very direct and very simple.
+
+He had known Mr. Frank Algernon Cowperwood for nearly ten years. He had
+done business with or through him nearly all of that time. He knew
+nothing of his personal relations with Mr. Stener, and did not know Mr.
+Stener personally. As for the particular check of sixty thousand
+dollars—yes, he had seen it before. It had come into the bank on
+October 10th along with other collateral to offset an overdraft on the
+part of Cowperwood & Co. It was placed to the credit of Cowperwood &
+Co. on the books of the bank, and the bank secured the cash through the
+clearing-house. No money was drawn out of the bank by Cowperwood & Co.
+after that to create an overdraft. The bank’s account with Cowperwood
+was squared.
+
+Nevertheless, Mr. Cowperwood might have drawn heavily, and nothing
+would have been thought of it. Mr. Davison did not know that Mr.
+Cowperwood was going to fail—did not suppose that he could, so quickly.
+He had frequently overdrawn his account with the bank; as a matter of
+fact, it was the regular course of his business to overdraw it. It kept
+his assets actively in use, which was the height of good business. His
+overdrafts were protected by collateral, however, and it was his custom
+to send bundles of collateral or checks, or both, which were variously
+distributed to keep things straight. Mr. Cowperwood’s account was the
+largest and most active in the bank, Mr. Davison kindly volunteered.
+When Mr. Cowperwood had failed there had been over ninety thousand
+dollars’ worth of certificates of city loan in the bank’s possession
+which Mr Cowperwood had sent there as collateral. Shannon, on
+cross-examination, tried to find out for the sake of the effect on the
+jury, whether Mr. Davison was not for some ulterior motive especially
+favorable to Cowperwood. It was not possible for him to do that. Steger
+followed, and did his best to render the favorable points made by Mr.
+Davison in Cowperwood’s behalf perfectly clear to the jury by having
+him repeat them. Shannon objected, of course, but it was of no use.
+Steger managed to make his point.
+
+He now decided to have Cowperwood take the stand, and at the mention of
+his name in this connection the whole courtroom bristled.
+
+Cowperwood came forward briskly and quickly. He was so calm, so jaunty,
+so defiant of life, and yet so courteous to it. These lawyers, this
+jury, this straw-and-water judge, these machinations of fate, did not
+basically disturb or humble or weaken him. He saw through the mental
+equipment of the jury at once. He wanted to assist his counsel in
+disturbing and confusing Shannon, but his reason told him that only an
+indestructible fabric of fact or seeming would do it. He believed in
+the financial rightness of the thing he had done. He was entitled to do
+it. Life was war—particularly financial life; and strategy was its
+keynote, its duty, its necessity. Why should he bother about petty,
+picayune minds which could not understand this? He went over his
+history for Steger and the jury, and put the sanest, most comfortable
+light on it that he could. He had not gone to Mr. Stener in the first
+place, he said—he had been called. He had not urged Mr. Stener to
+anything. He had merely shown him and his friends financial
+possibilities which they were only too eager to seize upon. And they
+had seized upon them. (It was not possible for Shannon to discover at
+this period how subtly he had organized his street-car companies so
+that he could have “shaken out” Stener and his friends without their
+being able to voice a single protest, so he talked of these things as
+opportunities which he had made for Stener and others. Shannon was not
+a financier, neither was Steger. They had to believe in a way, though
+they doubted it, partly—particularly Shannon.) He was not responsible
+for the custom prevailing in the office of the city treasurer, he said.
+He was a banker and broker.
+
+The jury looked at him, and believed all except this matter of the
+sixty-thousand-dollar check. When it came to that he explained it all
+plausibly enough. When he had gone to see Stener those several last
+days, he had not fancied that he was really going to fail. He had asked
+Stener for some money, it is true—not so very much, all things
+considered—one hundred and fifty thousand dollars; but, as Stener
+should have testified, he (Cowperwood) was not disturbed in his manner.
+Stener had merely been one resource of his. He was satisfied at that
+time that he had many others. He had not used the forceful language or
+made the urgent appeal which Stener said he had, although he had
+pointed out to Stener that it was a mistake to become panic-stricken,
+also to withhold further credit. It was true that Stener was his
+easiest, his quickest resource, but not his only one. He thought, as a
+matter of fact, that his credit would be greatly extended by his
+principal money friends if necessary, and that he would have ample time
+to patch up his affairs and keep things going until the storm should
+blow over. He had told Stener of his extended purchase of city loan to
+stay the market on the first day of the panic, and of the fact that
+sixty thousand dollars was due him. Stener had made no objection. It
+was just possible that he was too mentally disturbed at the time to pay
+close attention. After that, to his, Cowperwood’s, surprise, unexpected
+pressure on great financial houses from unexpected directions had
+caused them to be not willingly but unfortunately severe with him. This
+pressure, coming collectively the next day, had compelled him to close
+his doors, though he had not really expected to up to the last moment.
+His call for the sixty-thousand-dollar check at the time had been
+purely fortuitous. He needed the money, of course, but it was due him,
+and his clerks were all very busy. He merely asked for and took it
+personally to save time. Stener knew if it had been refused him he
+would have brought suit. The matter of depositing city loan
+certificates in the sinking-fund, when purchased for the city, was
+something to which he never gave any personal attention whatsoever. His
+bookkeeper, Mr. Stapley, attended to all that. He did not know, as a
+matter of fact, that they had not been deposited. (This was a barefaced
+lie. He did know.) As for the check being turned over to the Girard
+National Bank, that was fortuitous. It might just as well have been
+turned over to some other bank if the conditions had been different.
+
+Thus on and on he went, answering all of Steger’s and Shannon’s
+searching questions with the most engaging frankness, and you could
+have sworn from the solemnity with which he took it all—the serious
+business attention—that he was the soul of so-called commercial honor.
+And to say truly, he did believe in the justice as well as the
+necessity and the importance of all that he had done and now described.
+He wanted the jury to see it as he saw it—put itself in his place and
+sympathize with him.
+
+He was through finally, and the effect on the jury of his testimony and
+his personality was peculiar. Philip Moultrie, juror No. 1, decided
+that Cowperwood was lying. He could not see how it was possible that he
+could not know the day before that he was going to fail. He must have
+known, he thought. Anyhow, the whole series of transactions between him
+and Stener seemed deserving of some punishment, and all during this
+testimony he was thinking how, when he got in the jury-room, he would
+vote guilty. He even thought of some of the arguments he would use to
+convince the others that Cowperwood was guilty. Juror No. 2, on the
+contrary, Simon Glassberg, a clothier, thought he understood how it all
+came about, and decided to vote for acquittal. He did not think
+Cowperwood was innocent, but he did not think he deserved to be
+punished. Juror No. 3, Fletcher Norton, an architect, thought
+Cowperwood was guilty, but at the same time that he was too talented to
+be sent to prison. Juror No. 4, Charles Hillegan, an Irishman, a
+contractor, and a somewhat religious-minded person, thought Cowperwood
+was guilty and ought to be punished. Juror No. 5, Philip Lukash, a coal
+merchant, thought he was guilty. Juror No. 6, Benjamin Fraser, a mining
+expert, thought he was probably guilty, but he could not be sure.
+Uncertain what he would do, juror No. 7, J. J. Bridges, a broker in
+Third Street, small, practical, narrow, thought Cowperwood was shrewd
+and guilty and deserved to be punished. He would vote for his
+punishment. Juror No. 8, Guy E. Tripp, general manager of a small
+steamboat company, was uncertain. Juror No. 9, Joseph Tisdale, a
+retired glue manufacturer, thought Cowperwood was probably guilty as
+charged, but to Tisdale it was no crime. Cowperwood was entitled to do
+as he had done under the circumstances. Tisdale would vote for his
+acquittal. Juror No. 10, Richard Marsh, a young florist, was for
+Cowperwood in a sentimental way. He had, as a matter of fact, no real
+convictions. Juror No. 11, Richard Webber, a grocer, small financially,
+but heavy physically, was for Cowperwood’s conviction. He thought him
+guilty. Juror No. 12, Washington B. Thomas, a wholesale flour merchant,
+thought Cowperwood was guilty, but believed in a recommendation to
+mercy after pronouncing him so. Men ought to be reformed, was his
+slogan.
+
+So they stood, and so Cowperwood left them, wondering whether any of
+his testimony had had a favorable effect.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLIII
+
+
+Since it is the privilege of the lawyer for the defense to address the
+jury first, Steger bowed politely to his colleague and came forward.
+Putting his hands on the jury-box rail, he began in a very quiet,
+modest, but impressive way:
+
+“Gentlemen of the jury, my client, Mr. Frank Algernon Cowperwood, a
+well-known banker and financier of this city, doing business in Third
+Street, is charged by the State of Pennsylvania, represented by the
+district attorney of this district, with fraudulently transferring from
+the treasury of the city of Philadelphia to his own purse the sum of
+sixty thousand dollars, in the form of a check made out to his order,
+dated October 9, 1871, and by him received from one Albert Stires, the
+private secretary and head bookkeeper of the treasurer of this city, at
+the time in question. Now, gentlemen, what are the facts in this
+connection? You have heard the various witnesses and know the general
+outlines of the story. Take the testimony of George W. Stener, to begin
+with. He tells you that sometime back in the year 1866 he was greatly
+in need of some one, some banker or broker, who would tell him how to
+bring city loan, which was selling very low at the time, to par—who
+would not only tell him this, but proceed to demonstrate that his
+knowledge was accurate by doing it. Mr. Stener was an inexperienced man
+at the time in the matter of finance. Mr. Cowperwood was an active
+young man with an enviable record as a broker and a trader on ’change.
+He proceeded to demonstrate to Mr. Stener not only in theory, but in
+fact, how this thing of bringing city loan to par could be done. He
+made an arrangement at that time with Mr. Stener, the details of which
+you have heard from Mr. Stener himself, the result of which was that a
+large amount of city loan was turned over to Mr. Cowperwood by Mr.
+Stener for sale, and by adroit manipulation—methods of buying and
+selling which need not be gone into here, but which are perfectly sane
+and legitimate in the world in which Mr. Cowperwood operated, did bring
+that loan to par, and kept it there year after year as you have all
+heard here testified to.
+
+“Now what is the bone of contention here, gentlemen, the significant
+fact which brings Mr. Stener into this court at this time charging his
+old-time agent and broker with larceny and embezzlement, and alleging
+that he has transferred to his own use without a shadow of return sixty
+thousand dollars of the money which belongs to the city treasury? What
+is it? Is it that Mr. Cowperwood secretly, with great stealth, as it
+were, at some time or other, unknown to Mr. Stener or to his
+assistants, entered the office of the treasurer and forcibly, and with
+criminal intent, carried away sixty thousand dollars’ worth of the
+city’s money? Not at all. The charge is, as you have heard the district
+attorney explain, that Mr. Cowperwood came in broad daylight at between
+four and five o’clock of the afternoon preceeding the day of his
+assignment; was closeted with Mr. Stener for a half or three-quarters
+of an hour; came out; explained to Mr. Albert Stires that he had
+recently bought sixty thousand dollars’ worth of city loan for the city
+sinking-fund, for which he had not been paid; asked that the amount be
+credited on the city’s books to him, and that he be given a check,
+which was his due, and walked out. Anything very remarkable about that,
+gentlemen? Anything very strange? Has it been testified here to-day
+that Mr. Cowperwood was not the agent of the city for the transaction
+of just such business as he said on that occasion that he had
+transacted? Did any one say here on the witness-stand that he had not
+bought city loan as he said he had?
+
+“Why is it then that Mr. Stener charges Mr. Cowperwood with larcenously
+securing and feloniously disposing of a check for sixty thousand
+dollars for certificates which he had a right to buy, and which it has
+not been contested here that he did buy? The reason lies just
+here—listen—just here. At the time my client asked for the check and
+took it away with him and deposited it in his own bank to his own
+account, he failed, so the prosecution insists, to put the sixty
+thousand dollars’ worth of certificates for which he had received the
+check, in the sinking-fund; and having failed to do that, and being
+compelled by the pressure of financial events the same day to suspend
+payment generally, he thereby, according to the prosecution and the
+anxious leaders of the Republican party in the city, became an
+embezzler, a thief, a this or that—anything you please so long as you
+find a substitute for George W. Stener and the indifferent leaders of
+the Republican party in the eyes of the people.”
+
+And here Mr. Steger proceeded boldly and defiantly to outline the
+entire political situation as it had manifested itself in connection
+with the Chicago fire, the subsequent panic and its political
+consequences, and to picture Cowperwood as the unjustly maligned agent,
+who before the fire was valuable and honorable enough to suit any of
+the political leaders of Philadelphia, but afterward, and when
+political defeat threatened, was picked upon as the most available
+scapegoat anywhere within reach.
+
+And it took him a half hour to do that. And afterward but only after he
+had pointed to Stener as the true henchman and stalking horse, who had,
+in turn, been used by political forces above him to accomplish certain
+financial results, which they were not willing to have ascribed to
+themselves, he continued with:
+
+“But now, in the light of all this, only see how ridiculous all this
+is! How silly! Frank A. Cowperwood had always been the agent of the
+city in these matters for years and years. He worked under certain
+rules which he and Mr. Stener had agreed upon in the first place, and
+which obviously came from others, who were above Mr. Stener, since they
+were hold-over customs and rules from administrations, which had been
+long before Mr. Stener ever appeared on the scene as city treasurer.
+One of them was that he could carry all transactions over until the
+first of the month following before he struck a balance. That is, he
+need not pay any money over for anything to the city treasurer, need
+not send him any checks or deposit any money or certificates in the
+sinking-fund until the first of the month because—now listen to this
+carefully, gentlemen; it is important—because his transactions in
+connection with city loan and everything else that he dealt in for the
+city treasurer were so numerous, so swift, so uncalculated beforehand,
+that he had to have a loose, easy system of this kind in order to do
+his work properly—to do business at all. Otherwise he could not very
+well have worked to the best advantage for Mr. Stener, or for any one
+else. It would have meant too much bookkeeping for him—too much for the
+city treasurer. Mr. Stener has testified to that in the early part of
+his story. Albert Stires has indicated that that was his understanding
+of it. Well, then what? Why, just this. Would any jury suppose, would
+any sane business man believe that if such were the case Mr. Cowperwood
+would be running personally with all these items of deposit, to the
+different banks or the sinking-fund or the city treasurer’s office, or
+would be saying to his head bookkeeper, ‘Here, Stapley, here is a check
+for sixty thousand dollars. See that the certificates of loan which
+this represents are put in the sinking-fund to-day’? And why not? What
+a ridiculous supposition any other supposition is! As a matter of
+course and as had always been the case, Mr. Cowperwood had a system.
+When the time came, this check and these certificates would be
+automatically taken care of. He handed his bookkeeper the check and
+forgot all about it. Would you imagine a banker with a vast business of
+this kind doing anything else?”
+
+Mr. Steger paused for breath and inquiry, and then, having satisfied
+himself that his point had been sufficiently made, he continued:
+
+“Of course the answer is that he knew he was going to fail. Well, Mr.
+Cowperwood’s reply is that he didn’t know anything of the sort. He has
+personally testified here that it was only at the last moment before it
+actually happened that he either thought or knew of such an occurrence.
+Why, then, this alleged refusal to let him have the check to which he
+was legally entitled? I think I know. I think I can give a reason if
+you will hear me out.”
+
+Steger shifted his position and came at the jury from another
+intellectual angle:
+
+“It was simply because Mr. George W. Stener at that time, owing to a
+recent notable fire and a panic, imagined for some reason—perhaps
+because Mr. Cowperwood cautioned him not to become frightened over
+local developments generally—that Mr. Cowperwood was going to close his
+doors; and having considerable money on deposit with him at a low rate
+of interest, Mr. Stener decided that Mr. Cowperwood must not have any
+more money—not even the money that was actually due him for services
+rendered, and that had nothing whatsoever to do with the money loaned
+him by Mr. Stener at two and one-half per cent. Now isn’t that a
+ridiculous situation? But it was because Mr. George W. Stener was
+filled with his own fears, based on a fire and a panic which had
+absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Cowperwood’s solvency in the
+beginning that he decided not to let Frank A. Cowperwood have the money
+that was actually due him, because he, Stener, was criminally using the
+city’s money to further his own private interests (through Mr.
+Cowperwood as a broker), and in danger of being exposed and possibly
+punished. Now where, I ask you, does the good sense of that decision
+come in? Is it apparent to you, gentlemen? Was Mr. Cowperwood still an
+agent for the city at the time he bought the loan certificates as here
+testified? He certainly was. If so, was he entitled to that money? Who
+is going to stand up here and deny it? Where is the question then, as
+to his right or his honesty in this matter? How does it come in here at
+all? I can tell you. It sprang solely from one source and from nowhere
+else, and that is the desire of the politicians of this city to find a
+scapegoat for the Republican party.
+
+“Now you may think I am going rather far afield for an explanation of
+this very peculiar decision to prosecute Mr. Cowperwood, an agent of
+the city, for demanding and receiving what actually belonged to him.
+But I’m not. Consider the position of the Republican party at that
+time. Consider the fact that an exposure of the truth in regard to the
+details of a large defalcation in the city treasury would have a very
+unsatisfactory effect on the election about to be held. The Republican
+party had a new city treasurer to elect, a new district attorney. It
+had been in the habit of allowing its city treasurers the privilege of
+investing the funds in their possession at a low rate of interest for
+the benefit of themselves and their friends. Their salaries were small.
+They had to have some way of eking out a reasonable existence. Was Mr.
+George Stener responsible for this custom of loaning out the city
+money? Not at all. Was Mr. Cowperwood? Not at all. The custom had been
+in vogue long before either Mr. Cowperwood or Mr. Stener came on the
+scene. Why, then, this great hue and cry about it now? The entire
+uproar sprang solely from the fear of Mr. Stener at this juncture, the
+fear of the politicians at this juncture, of public exposure. No city
+treasurer had ever been exposed before. It was a new thing to face
+exposure, to face the risk of having the public’s attention called to a
+rather nefarious practice of which Mr. Stener was taking advantage,
+that was all. A great fire and a panic were endangering the security
+and well-being of many a financial organization in the city—Mr.
+Cowperwood’s among others. It meant many possible failures, and many
+possible failures meant one possible failure. If Frank A. Cowperwood
+failed, he would fail owing the city of Philadelphia five hundred
+thousand dollars, borrowed from the city treasurer at the very low rate
+of interest of two and one-half per cent. Anything very detrimental to
+Mr. Cowperwood in that? Had he gone to the city treasurer and asked to
+be loaned money at two and one-half per cent.? If he had, was there
+anything criminal in it from a business point of view? Isn’t a man
+entitled to borrow money from any source he can at the lowest possible
+rate of interest? Did Mr. Stener have to loan it to Mr. Cowperwood if
+he did not want to? As a matter of fact didn’t he testify here to-day
+that he personally had sent for Mr. Cowperwood in the first place? Why,
+then, in Heaven’s name, this excited charge of larceny, larceny as
+bailee, embezzlement, embezzlement on a check, etc., etc.?
+
+“Once more, gentlemen, listen. I’ll tell you why. The men who stood
+behind Stener, and whose bidding he was doing, wanted to make a
+political scapegoat of some one—of Frank Algernon Cowperwood, if they
+couldn’t get any one else. That’s why. No other reason under God’s blue
+sky, not one. Why, if Mr. Cowperwood needed more money just at that
+time to tide him over, it would have been good policy for them to have
+given it to him and hushed this matter up. It would have been
+illegal—though not any more illegal than anything else that has ever
+been done in this connection—but it would have been safer. Fear,
+gentlemen, fear, lack of courage, inability to meet a great crisis when
+a great crisis appears, was all that really prevented them from doing
+this. They were afraid to place confidence in a man who had never
+heretofore betrayed their trust and from whose loyalty and great
+financial ability they and the city had been reaping large profits. The
+reigning city treasurer of the time didn’t have the courage to go on in
+the face of fire and panic and the rumors of possible failure, and
+stick by his illegal guns; and so he decided to draw in his horns as
+testified here to-day—to ask Mr. Cowperwood to return all or at least a
+big part of the five hundred thousand dollars he had loaned him, and
+which Cowperwood had been actually using for his, Stener’s benefit, and
+to refuse him in addition the money that was actually due him for an
+authorized purchase of city loan. Was Cowperwood guilty as an agent in
+any of these transactions? Not in the least. Was there any suit pending
+to make him return the five hundred thousand dollars of city money
+involved in his present failure? Not at all. It was simply a case of
+wild, silly panic on the part of George W. Stener, and a strong desire
+on the part of the Republican party leaders, once they discovered what
+the situation was, to find some one outside of Stener, the party
+treasurer, upon whom they could blame the shortage in the treasury. You
+heard what Mr. Cowperwood testified to here in this case to-day—that he
+went to Mr. Stener to forfend against any possible action of this kind
+in the first place. And it was because of this very warning that Mr.
+Stener became wildly excited, lost his head, and wanted Mr. Cowperwood
+to return him all his money, all the five hundred thousand dollars he
+had loaned him at two and one-half per cent. Isn’t that silly financial
+business at the best? Wasn’t that a fine time to try to call a
+perfectly legal loan?
+
+“But now to return to this particular check of sixty thousand dollars.
+When Mr. Cowperwood called that last afternoon before he failed, Mr.
+Stener testified that he told him that he couldn’t have any more money,
+that it was impossible, and that then Mr. Cowperwood went out into his
+general office and without his knowledge or consent persuaded his chief
+clerk and secretary, Mr. Albert Stires, to give him a check for sixty
+thousand dollars, to which he was not entitled and on which he, Stener,
+would have stopped payment if he had known.
+
+“What nonsense! Why didn’t he know? The books were there, open to him.
+Mr. Stires told him the first thing the next morning. Mr. Cowperwood
+thought nothing of it, for he was entitled to it, and could collect it
+in any court of law having jurisdiction in such cases, failure or no
+failure. It is silly for Mr. Stener to say he would have stopped
+payment. Such a claim was probably an after-thought of the next morning
+after he had talked with his friends, the politicians, and was all a
+part, a trick, a trap, to provide the Republican party with a scapegoat
+at this time. Nothing more and nothing less; and you may be sure no one
+knew it better than the people who were most anxious to see Mr.
+Cowperwood convicted.”
+
+Steger paused and looked significantly at Shannon.
+
+“Gentlemen of the jury [he finally concluded, quietly and earnestly],
+you are going to find, when you think it over in the jury-room this
+evening, that this charge of larceny and larceny as bailee, and
+embezzlement of a check for sixty thousand dollars, which are contained
+in this indictment, and which represent nothing more than the eager
+effort of the district attorney to word this one act in such a way that
+it will look like a crime, represents nothing more than the excited
+imagination of a lot of political refugees who are anxious to protect
+their own skirts at the expense of Mr. Cowperwood, and who care for
+nothing—honor, fair play, or anything else, so long as they are let off
+scot-free. They don’t want the Republicans of Pennsylvania to think too
+ill of the Republican party management and control in this city. They
+want to protect George W. Stener as much as possible and to make a
+political scapegoat of my client. It can’t be done, and it won’t be
+done. As honorable, intelligent men you won’t permit it to be done. And
+I think with that thought I can safely leave you.”
+
+Steger suddenly turned from the jury-box and walked to his seat beside
+Cowperwood, while Shannon arose, calm, forceful, vigorous, much
+younger.
+
+As between man and man, Shannon was not particularly opposed to the
+case Steger had made out for Cowperwood, nor was he opposed to
+Cowperwood’s having made money as he did. As a matter of fact, Shannon
+actually thought that if he had been in Cowperwood’s position he would
+have done exactly the same thing. However, he was the newly elected
+district attorney. He had a record to make; and, besides, the political
+powers who were above him were satisfied that Cowperwood ought to be
+convicted for the looks of the thing. Therefore he laid his hands
+firmly on the rail at first, looked the jurors steadily in the eyes for
+a time, and, having framed a few thoughts in his mind began:
+
+“Now, gentlemen of the jury, it seems to me that if we all pay strict
+attention to what has transpired here to-day, we will have no
+difficulty in reaching a conclusion; and it will be a very satisfactory
+one, if we all try to interpret the facts correctly. This defendant,
+Mr. Cowperwood, comes into this court to-day charged, as I have stated
+to you before, with larceny, with larceny as bailee, with embezzlement,
+and with embezzlement of a specific check—namely, one dated October 9,
+1871, drawn to the order of Frank A. Cowperwood & Company for the sum
+of sixty thousand dollars by the secretary of the city treasurer for
+the city treasurer, and by him signed, as he had a perfect right to
+sign it, and delivered to the said Frank A. Cowperwood, who claims that
+he was not only properly solvent at the time, but had previously
+purchased certificates of city loan to the value of sixty thousand
+dollars, and had at that time or would shortly thereafter, as was his
+custom, deposit them to the credit of the city in the city
+sinking-fund, and thus close what would ordinarily be an ordinary
+transaction—namely, that of Frank A. Cowperwood & Company as bankers
+and brokers for the city buying city loan for the city, depositing it
+in the sinking-fund, and being promptly and properly reimbursed. Now,
+gentlemen, what are the actual facts in this case? Was the said Frank
+A. Cowperwood & Company—there is no company, as you well know, as you
+have heard testified here to-day, only Frank A. Cowperwood—was the said
+Frank A. Cowperwood a fit person to receive the check at this time in
+the manner he received it—that is, was he authorized agent of the city
+at the time, or was he not? Was he solvent? Did he actually himself
+think he was going to fail, and was this sixty-thousand-dollar check a
+last thin straw which he was grabbing at to save his financial life
+regardless of what it involved legally, morally, or otherwise; or had
+he actually purchased certificates of city loan to the amount he said
+he had in the way he said he had, at the time he said he had, and was
+he merely collecting his honest due? Did he intend to deposit these
+certificates of loans in the city sinking-fund, as he said he would—as
+it was understood naturally and normally that he would—or did he not?
+Were his relations with the city treasurer as broker and agent the same
+as they had always been on the day that he secured this particular
+check for sixty thousand dollars, or were they not? Had they been
+terminated by a conversation fifteen minutes before or two days before
+or two weeks before—it makes no difference when, so long as they had
+been properly terminated—or had they not? A business man has a right to
+abrogate an agreement at any time where there is no specific form of
+contract and no fixed period of operation entered into—as you all must
+know. You must not forget that in considering the evidence in this
+case. Did George W. Stener, knowing or suspecting that Frank A.
+Cowperwood was in a tight place financially, unable to fulfill any
+longer properly and honestly the duties supposedly devolving on him by
+this agreement, terminate it then and there on October 9, 1871, before
+this check for sixty thousand dollars was given, or did he not? Did Mr.
+Frank A. Cowperwood then and there, knowing that he was no longer an
+agent of the city treasurer and the city, and knowing also that he was
+insolvent (having, as Mr. Stener contends, admitted to him that he was
+so), and having no intention of placing the certificates which he
+subsequently declared he had purchased in the sinking-fund, go out into
+Mr. Stener’s general office, meet his secretary, tell him he had
+purchased sixty thousand dollars’ worth of city loan, ask for the
+check, get it, put it in his pocket, walk off, and never make any
+return of any kind in any manner, shape, or form to the city, and then,
+subsequently, twenty-four hours later, fail, owing this and five
+hundred thousand dollars more to the city treasury, or did he not? What
+are the facts in this case? What have the witnesses testified to? What
+has George W. Stener testified to, Albert Stires, President Davison,
+Mr. Cowperwood himself? What are the interesting, subtle facts in this
+case, anyhow? Gentlemen, you have a very curious problem to decide.”
+
+He paused and gazed at the jury, adjusting his sleeves as he did so,
+and looking as though he knew for certain that he was on the trail of a
+slippery, elusive criminal who was in a fair way to foist himself upon
+an honorable and decent community and an honorable and innocent jury as
+an honest man.
+
+Then he continued:
+
+“Now, gentlemen, what are the facts? You can see for yourselves exactly
+how this whole situation has come about. You are sensible men. I don’t
+need to tell you. Here are two men, one elected treasurer of the city
+of Philadelphia, sworn to guard the interests of the city and to
+manipulate its finances to the best advantage, and the other called in
+at a time of uncertain financial cogitation to assist in unraveling a
+possibly difficult financial problem; and then you have a case of a
+quiet, private financial understanding being reached, and of subsequent
+illegal dealings in which one man who is shrewder, wiser, more versed
+in the subtle ways of Third Street leads the other along over seemingly
+charming paths of fortunate investment into an accidental but none the
+less criminal mire of failure and exposure and public calumny and what
+not. And then they get to the place where the more vulnerable
+individual of the two—the man in the most dangerous position, the city
+treasurer of Philadelphia, no less—can no longer reasonably or, let us
+say, courageously, follow the other fellow; and then you have such a
+spectacle as was described here this afternoon in the witness-chair by
+Mr. Stener—that is, you have a vicious, greedy, unmerciful financial
+wolf standing over a cowering, unsophisticated commercial lamb, and
+saying to him, his white, shiny teeth glittering all the while, ‘If you
+don’t advance me the money I ask for—the three hundred thousand dollars
+I now demand—you will be a convict, your children will be thrown in the
+street, you and your wife and your family will be in poverty again, and
+there will be no one to turn a hand for you.’ That is what Mr. Stener
+says Mr. Cowperwood said to him. I, for my part, haven’t a doubt in the
+world that he did. Mr. Steger, in his very guarded references to his
+client, describes him as a nice, kind, gentlemanly agent, a broker
+merely on whom was practically forced the use of five hundred thousand
+dollars at two and a half per cent. when money was bringing from ten to
+fifteen per cent. in Third Street on call loans, and even more. But I
+for one don’t choose to believe it. The thing that strikes me as
+strange in all of this is that if he was so nice and kind and gentle
+and remote—a mere hired and therefore subservient agent—how is it that
+he could have gone to Mr. Stener’s office two or three days before the
+matter of this sixty-thousand-dollar check came up and say to him, as
+Mr. Stener testifies under oath that he did say to him, ‘If you don’t
+give me three hundred thousand dollars’ worth more of the city’s money
+at once, to-day, I will fail, and you will be a convict. You will go to
+the penitentiary.’? That’s what he said to him. ‘I will fail and you
+will be a convict. They can’t touch me, but they will arrest you. I am
+an agent merely.’ Does that sound like a nice, mild, innocent,
+well-mannered agent, a hired broker, or doesn’t it sound like a hard,
+defiant, contemptuous master—a man in control and ready to rule and win
+by fair means or foul?
+
+“Gentlemen, I hold no brief for George W. Stener. In my judgment he is
+as guilty as his smug co-partner in crime—if not more so—this oily
+financier who came smiling and in sheep’s clothing, pointing out subtle
+ways by which the city’s money could be made profitable for both; but
+when I hear Mr. Cowperwood described as I have just heard him
+described, as a nice, mild, innocent agent, my gorge rises. Why,
+gentlemen, if you want to get a right point of view on this whole
+proposition you will have to go back about ten or twelve years and see
+Mr. George W. Stener as he was then, a rather poverty-stricken beginner
+in politics, and before this very subtle and capable broker and agent
+came along and pointed out ways and means by which the city’s money
+could be made profitable; George W. Stener wasn’t very much of a
+personage then, and neither was Frank A. Cowperwood when he found
+Stener newly elected to the office of city treasurer. Can’t you see him
+arriving at that time nice and fresh and young and well dressed, as
+shrewd as a fox, and saying: ‘Come to me. Let me handle city loan. Loan
+me the city’s money at two per cent. or less.’ Can’t you hear him
+suggesting this? Can’t you see him?
+
+“George W. Stener was a poor man, comparatively a very poor man, when
+he first became city treasurer. All he had was a small real-estate and
+insurance business which brought him in, say, twenty-five hundred
+dollars a year. He had a wife and four children to support, and he had
+never had the slightest taste of what for him might be called luxury or
+comfort. Then comes Mr. Cowperwood—at his request, to be sure, but on
+an errand which held no theory of evil gains in Mr. Stener’s mind at
+the time—and proposes his grand scheme of manipulating all the city
+loan to their mutual advantage. Do you yourselves think, gentlemen,
+from what you have seen of George W. Stener here on the witness-stand,
+that it was he who proposed this plan of ill-gotten wealth to that
+gentleman over there?”
+
+He pointed to Cowperwood.
+
+“Does he look to you like a man who would be able to tell that
+gentleman anything about finance or this wonderful manipulation that
+followed? I ask you, does he look clever enough to suggest all the
+subtleties by which these two subsequently made so much money? Why, the
+statement of this man Cowperwood made to his creditors at the time of
+his failure here a few weeks ago showed that he considered himself to
+be worth over one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and
+he is only a little over thirty-four years old to-day. How much was he
+worth at the time he first entered business relations with the ex-city
+treasurer? Have you any idea? I can tell. I had the matter looked up
+almost a month ago on my accession to office. Just a little over two
+hundred thousand dollars, gentlemen—just a little over two hundred
+thousand dollars. Here is an abstract from the files of Dun & Company
+for that year. Now you can see how rapidly our Caesar has grown in
+wealth since then. You can see how profitable these few short years
+have been to him. Was George W. Stener worth any such sum up to the
+time he was removed from his office and indicted for embezzlement? Was
+he? I have here a schedule of his liabilities and assets made out at
+the time. You can see it for yourselves, gentlemen. Just two hundred
+and twenty thousand dollars measured the sum of all his property three
+weeks ago; and it is an accurate estimate, as I have reason to know.
+Why was it, do you suppose, that Mr. Cowperwood grew so fast in wealth
+and Mr. Stener so slowly? They were partners in crime. Mr. Stener was
+loaning Mr. Cowperwood vast sums of the city’s money at two per cent.
+when call-rates for money in Third Street were sometimes as high as
+sixteen and seventeen per cent. Don’t you suppose that Mr. Cowperwood
+sitting there knew how to use this very cheaply come-by money to the
+very best advantage? Does he look to you as though he didn’t? You have
+seen him on the witness-stand. You have heard him testify. Very suave,
+very straightforward-seeming, very innocent, doing everything as a
+favor to Mr. Stener and his friends, of course, and yet making a
+million in a little over six years and allowing Mr. Stener to make one
+hundred and sixty thousand dollars or less, for Mr. Stener had some
+little money at the time this partnership was entered into—a few
+thousand dollars.”
+
+Shannon now came to the vital transaction of October 9th, when
+Cowperwood called on Stener and secured the check for sixty thousand
+dollars from Albert Stires. His scorn for this (as he appeared to
+think) subtle and criminal transaction was unbounded. It was plain
+larceny, stealing, and Cowperwood knew it when he asked Stires for the
+check.
+
+“Think of it! [Shannon exclaimed, turning and looking squarely at
+Cowperwood, who faced him quite calmly, undisturbed and unashamed.]
+Think of it! Think of the colossal nerve of the man—the Machiavellian
+subtlety of his brain. He knew he was going to fail. He knew after two
+days of financial work—after two days of struggle to offset the
+providential disaster which upset his nefarious schemes—that he had
+exhausted every possible resource save one, the city treasury, and that
+unless he could compel aid there he was going to fail. He already owed
+the city treasury five hundred thousand dollars. He had already used
+the city treasurer as a cat’s-paw so much, had involved him so deeply,
+that the latter, because of the staggering size of the debt, was
+becoming frightened. Did that deter Mr. Cowperwood? Not at all.”
+
+He shook his finger ominously in Cowperwood’s face, and the latter
+turned irritably away. “He is showing off for the benefit of his
+future,” he whispered to Steger. “I wish you could tell the jury that.”
+
+“I wish I could,” replied Steger, smiling scornfully, “but my hour is
+over.”
+
+“Why [continued Mr. Shannon, turning once more to the jury], think of
+the colossal, wolfish nerve that would permit a man to say to Albert
+Stires that he had just purchased sixty thousand dollars’ worth
+additional of city loan, and that he would then and there take the
+check for it! Had he actually purchased this city loan as he said he
+had? Who can tell? Could any human being wind through all the mazes of
+the complicated bookkeeping system which he ran, and actually tell? The
+best answer to that is that if he did purchase the certificates he
+intended that it should make no difference to the city, for he made no
+effort to put the certificates in the sinking-fund, where they
+belonged. His counsel says, and he says, that he didn’t have to until
+the first of the month, although the law says that he must do it at
+once, and he knew well enough that legally he was bound to do it. His
+counsel says, and he says, that he didn’t know he was going to fail.
+Hence there was no need of worrying about it. I wonder if any of you
+gentlemen really believed that? Had he ever asked for a check like that
+so quick before in his life? In all the history of these nefarious
+transactions was there another incident like that? You know there
+wasn’t. He had never before, on any occasion, asked personally for a
+check for anything in this office, and yet on this occasion he did it.
+Why? Why should he ask for it this time? A few hours more, according to
+his own statement, wouldn’t have made any difference one way or the
+other, would it? He could have sent a boy for it, as usual. That was
+the way it had always been done before. Why anything different now?
+I’ll tell you why! [Shannon suddenly shouted, varying his voice
+tremendously.] I’ll tell you why! He knew that he was a ruined man! He
+knew that his last semi-legitimate avenue of escape—the favor of George
+W. Stener—had been closed to him! He knew that honestly, by open
+agreement, he could not extract another single dollar from the treasury
+of the city of Philadelphia. He knew that if he left the office without
+this check and sent a boy for it, the aroused city treasurer would have
+time to inform his clerks, and that then no further money could be
+obtained. That’s why! That’s why, gentlemen, if you really want to
+know.
+
+“Now, gentlemen of the jury, I am about done with my arraignment of
+this fine, honorable, virtuous citizen whom the counsel for the
+defense, Mr. Steger, tells you you cannot possibly convict without
+doing a great injustice. All I have to say is that you look to me like
+sane, intelligent men—just the sort of men that I meet everywhere in
+the ordinary walks of life, doing an honorable American business in an
+honorable American way. Now, gentlemen of the jury [he was very
+soft-spoken now], all I have to say is that if, after all you have
+heard and seen here to-day, you still think that Mr. Frank A.
+Cowperwood is an honest, honorable man—that he didn’t steal, willfully
+and knowingly, sixty thousand dollars from the Philadelphia city
+treasury; that he had actually bought the certificates he said he had,
+and had intended to put them in the sinking-fund, as he said he did,
+then don’t you dare to do anything except turn him loose, and that
+speedily, so that he can go on back to-day into Third Street, and start
+to straighten out his much-entangled financial affairs. It is the only
+thing for honest, conscientious men to do—to turn him instantly loose
+into the heart of this community, so that some of the rank injustice
+that my opponent, Mr. Steger, alleges has been done him will be a
+little made up to him. You owe him, if that is the way you feel, a
+prompt acknowledgment of his innocence. Don’t worry about George W.
+Stener. His guilt is established by his own confession. He admits he is
+guilty. He will be sentenced without trial later on. But this man—he
+says he is an honest, honorable man. He says he didn’t think he was
+going to fail. He says he used all that threatening, compelling,
+terrifying language, not because he was in danger of failing, but
+because he didn’t want the bother of looking further for aid. What do
+you think? Do you really think that he had purchased sixty thousand
+dollars more of certificates for the sinking-fund, and that he was
+entitled to the money? If so, why didn’t he put them in the
+sinking-fund? They’re not there now, and the sixty thousand dollars is
+gone. Who got it? The Girard National Bank, where he was overdrawn to
+the extent of one hundred thousand dollars! Did it get it and forty
+thousand dollars more in other checks and certificates? Certainly. Why?
+Do you suppose the Girard National Bank might be in any way grateful
+for this last little favor before he closed his doors? Do you think
+that President Davison, whom you saw here testifying so kindly in this
+case feels at all friendly, and that that may possibly—I don’t say that
+it does—explain his very kindly interpretation of Mr. Cowperwood’s
+condition? It might be. You can think as well along that line as I can.
+Anyhow, gentlemen, President Davison says Mr. Cowperwood is an
+honorable, honest man, and so does his counsel, Mr. Steger. You have
+heard the testimony. Now you think it over. If you want to turn him
+loose—turn him loose. [He waved his hand wearily.] You’re the judges. I
+wouldn’t; but then I am merely a hard-working lawyer—one person, one
+opinion. You may think differently—that’s your business. [He waved his
+hand suggestively, almost contemptuously.] However, I’m through, and I
+thank you for your courtesy. Gentlemen, the decision rests with you.”
+
+He turned away grandly, and the jury stirred—so did the idle spectators
+in the court. Judge Payderson sighed a sigh of relief. It was now quite
+dark, and the flaring gas forms in the court were all brightly lighted.
+Outside one could see that it was snowing. The judge stirred among his
+papers wearily, and turning to the jurors solemnly, began his customary
+explanation of the law, after which they filed out to the jury-room.
+
+Cowperwood turned to his father who now came over across the
+fast-emptying court, and said:
+
+“Well, we’ll know now in a little while.”
+
+“Yes,” replied Cowperwood, Sr., a little wearily. “I hope it comes out
+right. I saw Butler back there a little while ago.”
+
+“Did you?” queried Cowperwood, to whom this had a peculiar interest.
+
+“Yes,” replied his father. “He’s just gone.”
+
+So, Cowperwood thought, Butler was curious enough as to his fate to
+want to come here and watch him tried. Shannon was his tool. Judge
+Payderson was his emissary, in a way. He, Cowperwood, might defeat him
+in the matter of his daughter, but it was not so easy to defeat him
+here unless the jury should happen to take a sympathetic attitude. They
+might convict him, and then Butler’s Judge Payderson would have the
+privilege of sentencing him—giving him the maximum sentence. That would
+not be so nice—five years! He cooled a little as he thought of it, but
+there was no use worrying about what had not yet happened. Steger came
+forward and told him that his bail was now ended—had been the moment
+the jury left the room—and that he was at this moment actually in the
+care of the sheriff, of whom he knew—Sheriff Adlai Jaspers. Unless he
+were acquitted by the jury, Steger added, he would have to remain in
+the sheriff’s care until an application for a certificate of reasonable
+doubt could be made and acted upon.
+
+“It would take all of five days, Frank,” Steger said, “but Jaspers
+isn’t a bad sort. He’d be reasonable. Of course if we’re lucky you
+won’t have to visit him. You will have to go with this bailiff now,
+though. Then if things come out right we’ll go home. Say, I’d like to
+win this case,” he said. “I’d like to give them the laugh and see you
+do it. I consider you’ve been pretty badly treated, and I think I made
+that perfectly clear. I can reverse this verdict on a dozen grounds if
+they happen to decide against you.”
+
+He and Cowperwood and the latter’s father now stalked off with the
+sheriff’s subordinate—a small man by the name of “Eddie” Zanders, who
+had approached to take charge. They entered a small room called the pen
+at the back of the court, where all those on trial whose liberty had
+been forfeited by the jury’s leaving the room had to wait pending its
+return. It was a dreary, high-ceiled, four-square place, with a window
+looking out into Chestnut Street, and a second door leading off into
+somewhere—one had no idea where. It was dingy, with a worn wooden
+floor, some heavy, plain, wooden benches lining the four sides, no
+pictures or ornaments of any kind. A single two-arm gas-pipe descended
+from the center of the ceiling. It was permeated by a peculiarly stale
+and pungent odor, obviously redolent of all the flotsam and jetsam of
+life—criminal and innocent—that had stood or sat in here from time to
+time, waiting patiently to learn what a deliberating fate held in
+store.
+
+Cowperwood was, of course, disgusted; but he was too self-reliant and
+capable to show it. All his life he had been immaculate, almost
+fastidious in his care of himself. Here he was coming, perforce, in
+contact with a form of life which jarred upon him greatly. Steger, who
+was beside him, made some comforting, explanatory, apologetic remarks.
+
+“Not as nice as it might be,” he said, “but you won’t mind waiting a
+little while. The jury won’t be long, I fancy.”
+
+“That may not help me,” he replied, walking to the window. Afterward he
+added: “What must be, must be.”
+
+His father winced. Suppose Frank was on the verge of a long prison
+term, which meant an atmosphere like this? Heavens! For a moment, he
+trembled, then for the first time in years he made a silent prayer.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLIV
+
+
+Meanwhile the great argument had been begun in the jury-room, and all
+the points that had been meditatively speculated upon in the jury-box
+were now being openly discussed.
+
+It is amazingly interesting to see how a jury will waver and speculate
+in a case like this—how curious and uncertain is the process by which
+it makes up its so-called mind. So-called truth is a nebulous thing at
+best; facts are capable of such curious inversion and interpretation,
+honest and otherwise. The jury had a strongly complicated problem
+before it, and it went over it and over it.
+
+Juries reach not so much definite conclusions as verdicts, in a curious
+fashion and for curious reasons. Very often a jury will have concluded
+little so far as its individual members are concerned and yet it will
+have reached a verdict. The matter of time, as all lawyers know, plays
+a part in this. Juries, speaking of the members collectively and
+frequently individually, object to the amount of time it takes to
+decide a case. They do not enjoy sitting and deliberating over a
+problem unless it is tremendously fascinating. The ramifications or the
+mystery of a syllogism can become a weariness and a bore. The jury-room
+itself may and frequently does become a dull agony.
+
+On the other hand, no jury contemplates a disagreement with any degree
+of satisfaction. There is something so inherently constructive in the
+human mind that to leave a problem unsolved is plain misery. It haunts
+the average individual like any other important task left unfinished.
+Men in a jury-room, like those scientifically demonstrated atoms of a
+crystal which scientists and philosophers love to speculate upon, like
+finally to arrange themselves into an orderly and artistic whole, to
+present a compact, intellectual front, to be whatever they have set out
+to be, properly and rightly—a compact, sensible jury. One sees this
+same instinct magnificently displayed in every other phase of nature—in
+the drifting of sea-wood to the Sargasso Sea, in the geometric
+interrelation of air-bubbles on the surface of still water, in the
+marvelous unreasoned architecture of so many insects and atomic forms
+which make up the substance and the texture of this world. It would
+seem as though the physical substance of life—this apparition of form
+which the eye detects and calls real were shot through with some vast
+subtlety that loves order, that is order. The atoms of our so-called
+being, in spite of our so-called reason—the dreams of a mood—know where
+to go and what to do. They represent an order, a wisdom, a willing that
+is not of us. They build orderly in spite of us. So the subconscious
+spirit of a jury. At the same time, one does not forget the strange
+hypnotic effect of one personality on another, the varying effects of
+varying types on each other, until a solution—to use the word in its
+purely chemical sense—is reached. In a jury-room the thought or
+determination of one or two or three men, if it be definite enough, is
+likely to pervade the whole room and conquer the reason or the
+opposition of the majority. One man “standing out” for the definite
+thought that is in him is apt to become either the triumphant leader of
+a pliant mass or the brutally battered target of a flaming,
+concentrated intellectual fire. Men despise dull opposition that is
+without reason. In a jury-room, of all places, a man is expected to
+give a reason for the faith that is in him—if one is demanded. It will
+not do to say, “I cannot agree.” Jurors have been known to fight.
+Bitter antagonisms lasting for years have been generated in these close
+quarters. Recalcitrant jurors have been hounded commercially in their
+local spheres for their unreasoned oppositions or conclusions.
+
+After reaching the conclusion that Cowperwood unquestionably deserved
+some punishment, there was wrangling as to whether the verdict should
+be guilty on all four counts, as charged in the indictment. Since they
+did not understand how to differentiate between the various charges
+very well, they decided it should be on all four, and a recommendation
+to mercy added. Afterward this last was eliminated, however; either he
+was guilty or he was not. The judge could see as well as they could all
+the extenuating circumstances—perhaps better. Why tie his hands? As a
+rule no attention was paid to such recommendations, anyhow, and it only
+made the jury look wabbly.
+
+So, finally, at ten minutes after twelve that night, they were ready to
+return a verdict; and Judge Payderson, who, because of his interest in
+the case and the fact that he lived not so far away, had decided to
+wait up this long, was recalled. Steger and Cowperwood were sent for.
+The court-room was fully lighted. The bailiff, the clerk, and the
+stenographer were there. The jury filed in, and Cowperwood, with Steger
+at his right, took his position at the gate which gave into the railed
+space where prisoners always stand to hear the verdict and listen to
+any commentary of the judge. He was accompanied by his father, who was
+very nervous.
+
+For the first time in his life he felt as though he were walking in his
+sleep. Was this the real Frank Cowperwood of two months before—so
+wealthy, so progressive, so sure? Was this only December 5th or 6th now
+(it was after midnight)? Why was it the jury had deliberated so long?
+What did it mean? Here they were now, standing and gazing solemnly
+before them; and here now was Judge Payderson, mounting the steps of
+his rostrum, his frizzled hair standing out in a strange, attractive
+way, his familiar bailiff rapping for order. He did not look at
+Cowperwood—it would not be courteous—but at the jury, who gazed at him
+in return. At the words of the clerk, “Gentlemen of the jury, have you
+agreed upon a verdict?” the foreman spoke up, “We have.”
+
+“Do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty?”
+
+“We find the defendant guilty as charged in the indictment.”
+
+How had they come to do this? Because he had taken a check for sixty
+thousand dollars which did not belong to him? But in reality it did.
+Good Lord, what was sixty thousand dollars in the sum total of all the
+money that had passed back and forth between him and George W. Stener?
+Nothing, nothing! A mere bagatelle in its way; and yet here it had
+risen up, this miserable, insignificant check, and become a mountain of
+opposition, a stone wall, a prison-wall barring his further progress.
+It was astonishing. He looked around him at the court-room. How large
+and bare and cold it was! Still he was Frank A. Cowperwood. Why should
+he let such queer thoughts disturb him? His fight for freedom and
+privilege and restitution was not over yet. Good heavens! It had only
+begun. In five days he would be out again on bail. Steger would take an
+appeal. He would be out, and he would have two long months in which to
+make an additional fight. He was not down yet. He would win his
+liberty. This jury was all wrong. A higher court would say so. It would
+reverse their verdict, and he knew it. He turned to Steger, where the
+latter was having the clerk poll the jury, in the hope that some one
+juror had been over-persuaded, made to vote against his will.
+
+“Is that your verdict?” he heard the clerk ask of Philip Moultrie,
+juror No. 1.
+
+“It is,” replied that worthy, solemnly.
+
+“Is that your verdict?” The clerk was pointing to Simon Glassberg.
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“Is that your verdict?” He pointed to Fletcher Norton.
+
+“Yes.”
+
+So it went through the whole jury. All the men answered firmly and
+clearly, though Steger thought it might barely be possible that one
+would have changed his mind. The judge thanked them and told them that
+in view of their long services this night, they were dismissed for the
+term. The only thing remaining to be done now was for Steger to
+persuade Judge Payderson to grant a stay of sentence pending the
+hearing of a motion by the State Supreme Court for a new trial.
+
+The Judge looked at Cowperwood very curiously as Steger made this
+request in proper form, and owing to the importance of the case and the
+feeling he had that the Supreme Court might very readily grant a
+certificate of reasonable doubt in this case, he agreed. There was
+nothing left, therefore, but for Cowperwood to return at this late hour
+with the deputy sheriff to the county jail, where he must now remain
+for five days at least—possibly longer.
+
+The jail in question, which was known locally as Moyamensing Prison,
+was located at Tenth and Reed Streets, and from an architectural and
+artistic point of view was not actually displeasing to the eye. It
+consisted of a central portion—prison, residence for the sheriff or
+what you will—three stories high, with a battlemented cornice and a
+round battlemented tower about one-third as high as the central portion
+itself, and two wings, each two stories high, with battlemented turrets
+at either end, giving it a highly castellated and consequently, from
+the American point of view, a very prison-like appearance. The facade
+of the prison, which was not more than thirty-five feet high for the
+central portion, nor more than twenty-five feet for the wings, was set
+back at least a hundred feet from the street, and was continued at
+either end, from the wings to the end of the street block, by a stone
+wall all of twenty feet high. The structure was not severely
+prison-like, for the central portion was pierced by rather large,
+unbarred apertures hung on the two upper stories with curtains, and
+giving the whole front a rather pleasant and residential air. The wing
+to the right, as one stood looking in from the street, was the section
+known as the county jail proper, and was devoted to the care of
+prisoners serving short-term sentences on some judicial order. The wing
+to the left was devoted exclusively to the care and control of untried
+prisoners. The whole building was built of a smooth, light-colored
+stone, which on a snowy night like this, with the few lamps that were
+used in it glowing feebly in the dark, presented an eery, fantastic,
+almost supernatural appearance.
+
+It was a rough and blowy night when Cowperwood started for this
+institution under duress. The wind was driving the snow before it in
+curious, interesting whirls. Eddie Zanders, the sheriff’s deputy on
+guard at the court of Quarter Sessions, accompanied him and his father
+and Steger. Zanders was a little man, dark, with a short, stubby
+mustache, and a shrewd though not highly intelligent eye. He was
+anxious first to uphold his dignity as a deputy sheriff, which was a
+very important position in his estimation, and next to turn an honest
+penny if he could. He knew little save the details of his small world,
+which consisted of accompanying prisoners to and from the courts and
+the jails, and seeing that they did not get away. He was not unfriendly
+to a particular type of prisoner—the well-to-do or moderately
+prosperous—for he had long since learned that it paid to be so.
+To-night he offered a few sociable suggestions—viz., that it was rather
+rough, that the jail was not so far but that they could walk, and that
+Sheriff Jaspers would, in all likelihood, be around or could be
+aroused. Cowperwood scarcely heard. He was thinking of his mother and
+his wife and of Aileen.
+
+When the jail was reached he was led to the central portion, as it was
+here that the sheriff, Adlai Jaspers, had his private office. Jaspers
+had recently been elected to office, and was inclined to conform to all
+outward appearances, in so far as the proper conduct of his office was
+concerned, without in reality inwardly conforming. Thus it was
+generally known among the politicians that one way he had of fattening
+his rather lean salary was to rent private rooms and grant special
+privileges to prisoners who had the money to pay for the same. Other
+sheriffs had done it before him. In fact, when Jaspers was inducted
+into office, several prisoners were already enjoying these privileges,
+and it was not a part of his scheme of things to disturb them. The
+rooms that he let to the “right parties,” as he invariably put it, were
+in the central portion of the jail, where were his own private living
+quarters. They were unbarred, and not at all cell-like. There was no
+particular danger of escape, for a guard stood always at his private
+door instructed “to keep an eye” on the general movements of all the
+inmates. A prisoner so accommodated was in many respects quite a free
+person. His meals were served to him in his room, if he wished. He
+could read or play cards, or receive guests; and if he had any favorite
+musical instrument, that was not denied him. There was just one rule
+that had to be complied with. If he were a public character, and any
+newspaper men called, he had to be brought down-stairs into the private
+interviewing room in order that they might not know that he was not
+confined in a cell like any other prisoner.
+
+Nearly all of these facts had been brought to Cowperwood’s attention
+beforehand by Steger; but for all that, when he crossed the threshold
+of the jail a peculiar sensation of strangeness and defeat came over
+him. He and his party were conducted to a little office to the left of
+the entrance, where were only a desk and a chair, dimly lighted by a
+low-burning gas-jet. Sheriff Jaspers, rotund and ruddy, met them,
+greeting them in quite a friendly way. Zanders was dismissed, and went
+briskly about his affairs.
+
+“A bad night, isn’t it?” observed Jaspers, turning up the gas and
+preparing to go through the routine of registering his prisoner. Steger
+came over and held a short, private conversation with him in his
+corner, over his desk which resulted presently in the sheriff’s face
+lighting up.
+
+“Oh, certainly, certainly! That’s all right, Mr. Steger, to be sure!
+Why, certainly!”
+
+Cowperwood, eyeing the fat sheriff from his position, understood what
+it was all about. He had regained completely his critical attitude, his
+cool, intellectual poise. So this was the jail, and this was the fat
+mediocrity of a sheriff who was to take care of him. Very good. He
+would make the best of it. He wondered whether he was to be
+searched—prisoners usually were—but he soon discovered that he was not
+to be.
+
+“That’s all right, Mr. Cowperwood,” said Jaspers, getting up. “I guess
+I can make you comfortable, after a fashion. We’re not running a hotel
+here, as you know”—he chuckled to himself—“but I guess I can make you
+comfortable. John,” he called to a sleepy factotum, who appeared from
+another room, rubbing his eyes, “is the key to Number Six down here?”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“Let me have it.”
+
+John disappeared and returned, while Steger explained to Cowperwood
+that anything he wanted in the way of clothing, etc., could be brought
+in. Steger himself would stop round next morning and confer with him,
+as would any of the members of Cowperwood’s family whom he wished to
+see. Cowperwood immediately explained to his father his desire for as
+little of this as possible. Joseph or Edward might come in the morning
+and bring a grip full of underwear, etc.; but as for the others, let
+them wait until he got out or had to remain permanently. He did think
+of writing Aileen, cautioning her to do nothing; but the sheriff now
+beckoned, and he quietly followed. Accompanied by his father and
+Steger, he ascended to his new room.
+
+It was a simple, white-walled chamber fifteen by twenty feet in size,
+rather high-ceiled, supplied with a high-backed, yellow wooden bed, a
+yellow bureau, a small imitation-cherry table, three very ordinary
+cane-seated chairs with carved hickory-rod backs, cherry-stained also,
+and a wash-stand of yellow-stained wood to match the bed, containing a
+washbasin, a pitcher, a soap-dish, uncovered, and a small, cheap,
+pink-flowered tooth and shaving brush mug, which did not match the
+other ware and which probably cost ten cents. The value of this room to
+Sheriff Jaspers was what he could get for it in cases like
+this—twenty-five to thirty-five dollars a week. Cowperwood would pay
+thirty-five.
+
+Cowperwood walked briskly to the window, which gave out on the lawn in
+front, now embedded in snow, and said he thought this was all right.
+Both his father and Steger were willing and anxious to confer with him
+for hours, if he wished; but there was nothing to say. He did not wish
+to talk.
+
+“Let Ed bring in some fresh linen in the morning and a couple of suits
+of clothes, and I will be all right. George can get my things
+together.” He was referring to a family servant who acted as valet and
+in other capacities. “Tell Lillian not to worry. I’m all right. I’d
+rather she would not come here so long as I’m going to be out in five
+days. If I’m not, it will be time enough then. Kiss the kids for me.”
+And he smiled good-naturedly.
+
+After his unfulfilled predictions in regard to the result of this
+preliminary trial Steger was almost afraid to suggest confidently what
+the State Supreme Court would or would not do; but he had to say
+something.
+
+“I don’t think you need worry about what the outcome of my appeal will
+be, Frank. I’ll get a certificate of reasonable doubt, and that’s as
+good as a stay of two months, perhaps longer. I don’t suppose the bail
+will be more than thirty thousand dollars at the outside. You’ll be out
+again in five or six days, whatever happens.”
+
+Cowperwood said that he hoped so, and suggested that they drop matters
+for the night. After a few fruitless parleys his father and Steger
+finally said good night, leaving him to his own private reflections. He
+was tired, however, and throwing off his clothes, tucked himself in his
+mediocre bed, and was soon fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLV
+
+
+Say what one will about prison life in general, modify it ever so much
+by special chambers, obsequious turnkeys, a general tendency to make
+one as comfortable as possible, a jail is a jail, and there is no
+getting away from that. Cowperwood, in a room which was not in any way
+inferior to that of the ordinary boarding-house, was nevertheless
+conscious of the character of that section of this real prison which
+was not yet his portion. He knew that there were cells there, probably
+greasy and smelly and vermin-infested, and that they were enclosed by
+heavy iron bars, which would have as readily clanked on him as on those
+who were now therein incarcerated if he had not had the price to pay
+for something better. So much for the alleged equality of man, he
+thought, which gave to one man, even within the grim confines of the
+machinery of justice, such personal liberty as he himself was now
+enjoying, and to another, because he chanced to lack wit or presence or
+friends or wealth, denied the more comfortable things which money would
+buy.
+
+The morning after the trial, on waking, he stirred curiously, and then
+it suddenly came to him that he was no longer in the free and
+comfortable atmosphere of his own bedroom, but in a jail-cell, or
+rather its very comfortable substitute, a sheriff’s rented bedroom. He
+got up and looked out the window. The ground outside and Passayunk
+Avenue were white with snow. Some wagons were silently lumbering by. A
+few Philadelphians were visible here and there, going to and fro on
+morning errands. He began to think at once what he must do, how he must
+act to carry on his business, to rehabilitate himself; and as he did so
+he dressed and pulled the bell-cord, which had been indicated to him,
+and which would bring him an attendant who would build him a fire and
+later bring him something to eat. A shabby prison attendant in a blue
+uniform, conscious of Cowperwood’s superiority because of the room he
+occupied, laid wood and coal in the grate and started a fire, and later
+brought him his breakfast, which was anything but prison fare, though
+poor enough at that.
+
+After that he was compelled to wait in patience several hours, in spite
+of the sheriff’s assumption of solicitous interest, before his brother
+Edward was admitted with his clothes. An attendant, for a
+consideration, brought him the morning papers, and these, except for
+the financial news, he read indifferently. Late in the afternoon Steger
+arrived, saying he had been busy having certain proceedings postponed,
+but that he had arranged with the sheriff for Cowperwood to be
+permitted to see such of those as had important business with him.
+
+By this time, Cowperwood had written Aileen under no circumstances to
+try to see him, as he would be out by the tenth, and that either that
+day, or shortly after, they would meet. As he knew, she wanted greatly
+to see him, but he had reason to believe she was under surveillance by
+detectives employed by her father. This was not true, but it was
+preying on her fancy, and combined with some derogatory remarks dropped
+by Owen and Callum at the dinner table recently, had proved almost too
+much for her fiery disposition. But, because of Cowperwood’s letter
+reaching her at the Calligans’, she made no move until she read on the
+morning of the tenth that Cowperwood’s plea for a certificate of
+reasonable doubt had been granted, and that he would once more, for the
+time being at least, be a free man. This gave her courage to do what
+she had long wanted to do, and that was to teach her father that she
+could get along without him and that he could not make her do anything
+she did not want to do. She still had the two hundred dollars
+Cowperwood had given her and some additional cash of her own—perhaps
+three hundred and fifty dollars in all. This she thought would be
+sufficient to see her to the end of her adventure, or at least until
+she could make some other arrangement for her personal well-being. From
+what she knew of the feeling of her family for her, she felt that the
+agony would all be on their side, not hers. Perhaps when her father saw
+how determined she was he would decide to let her alone and make peace
+with her. She was determined to try it, anyhow, and immediately sent
+word to Cowperwood that she was going to the Calligans and would
+welcome him to freedom.
+
+In a way, Cowperwood was rather gratified by Aileen’s message, for he
+felt that his present plight, bitter as it was, was largely due to
+Butler’s opposition and he felt no compunction in striking him through
+his daughter. His former feeling as to the wisdom of not enraging
+Butler had proved rather futile, he thought, and since the old man
+could not be placated it might be just as well to have Aileen
+demonstrate to him that she was not without resources of her own and
+could live without him. She might force him to change his attitude
+toward her and possibly even to modify some of his political
+machinations against him, Cowperwood. Any port in a storm—and besides,
+he had now really nothing to lose, and instinct told him that her move
+was likely to prove more favorable than otherwise—so he did nothing to
+prevent it.
+
+She took her jewels, some underwear, a couple of dresses which she
+thought would be serviceable, and a few other things, and packed them
+in the most capacious portmanteau she had. Shoes and stockings came
+into consideration, and, despite her efforts, she found that she could
+not get in all that she wished. Her nicest hat, which she was
+determined to take, had to be carried outside. She made a separate
+bundle of it, which was not pleasant to contemplate. Still she decided
+to take it. She rummaged in a little drawer where she kept her money
+and jewels, and found the three hundred and fifty dollars and put it in
+her purse. It wasn’t much, as Aileen could herself see, but Cowperwood
+would help her. If he did not arrange to take care of her, and her
+father would not relent, she would have to get something to do. Little
+she knew of the steely face the world presents to those who have not
+been practically trained and are not economically efficient. She did
+not understand the bitter reaches of life at all. She waited, humming
+for effect, until she heard her father go downstairs to dinner on this
+tenth day of December, then leaned over the upper balustrade to make
+sure that Owen, Callum, Norah, and her mother were at the table, and
+that Katy, the housemaid, was not anywhere in sight. Then she slipped
+into her father’s den, and, taking a note from inside her dress, laid
+it on his desk, and went out. It was addressed to “Father,” and read:
+
+Dear Father,—I just cannot do what you want me to. I have made up my
+mind that I love Mr. Cowperwood too much, so I am going away. Don’t
+look for me with him. You won’t find me where you think. I am not going
+to him; I will not be there. I am going to try to get along by myself
+for a while, until he wants me and can marry me. I’m terribly sorry;
+but I just can’t do what you want. I can’t ever forgive you for the way
+you acted to me. Tell mama and Norah and the boys good-by for me.
+
+
+Aileen
+
+
+To insure its discovery, she picked up Butler’s heavy-rimmed spectacles
+which he employed always when reading, and laid them on it. For a
+moment she felt very strange, somewhat like a thief—a new sensation for
+her. She even felt a momentary sense of ingratitude coupled with pain.
+Perhaps she was doing wrong. Her father had been very good to her. Her
+mother would feel so very bad. Norah would be sorry, and Callum and
+Owen. Still, they did not understand her any more. She was resentful of
+her father’s attitude. He might have seen what the point was; but no,
+he was too old, too hidebound in religion and conventional ideas—he
+never would. He might never let her come back. Very well, she would get
+along somehow. She would show him. She might get a place as a
+school-teacher, and live with the Calligans a long while, if necessary,
+or teach music.
+
+She stole downstairs and out into the vestibule, opening the outer door
+and looking out into the street. The lamps were already flaring in the
+dark, and a cool wind was blowing. Her portmanteau was heavy, but she
+was quite strong. She walked briskly to the corner, which was some
+fifty feet away, and turned south, walking rather nervously and
+irritably, for this was a new experience for her, and it all seemed so
+undignified, so unlike anything she was accustomed to doing. She put
+her bag down on a street corner, finally, to rest. A boy whistling in
+the distance attracted her attention, and as he drew near she called to
+him: “Boy! Oh, boy!”
+
+He came over, looking at her curiously.
+
+“Do you want to earn some money?”
+
+“Yes, ma’am,” he replied politely, adjusting a frowsy cap over one ear.
+
+“Carry this bag for me,” said Aileen, and he picked it up and marched
+off.
+
+In due time she arrived at the Calligans’, and amid much excitement was
+installed in the bosom of her new home. She took her situation with
+much nonchalance, once she was properly placed, distributing her toilet
+articles and those of personal wear with quiet care. The fact that she
+was no longer to have the services of Kathleen, the maid who had served
+her and her mother and Norah jointly, was odd, though not trying. She
+scarcely felt that she had parted from these luxuries permanently, and
+so made herself comfortable.
+
+Mamie Calligan and her mother were adoring slaveys, so she was not
+entirely out of the atmosphere which she craved and to which she was
+accustomed.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLVI
+
+
+Meanwhile, in the Butler home the family was assembling for dinner.
+Mrs. Butler was sitting in rotund complacency at the foot of the table,
+her gray hair combed straight back from her round, shiny forehead. She
+had on a dark-gray silk dress, trimmed with gray-and-white striped
+ribbon. It suited her florid temperament admirably. Aileen had dictated
+her mother’s choice, and had seen that it had been properly made. Norah
+was refreshingly youthful in a pale-green dress, with red-velvet cuffs
+and collar. She looked young, slender, gay. Her eyes, complexion and
+hair were fresh and healthy. She was trifling with a string of coral
+beads which her mother had just given her.
+
+“Oh, look, Callum,” she said to her brother opposite her, who was
+drumming idly on the table with his knife and fork. “Aren’t they
+lovely? Mama gave them to me.”
+
+“Mama does more for you than I would. You know what you’d get from me,
+don’t you?”
+
+“What?”
+
+He looked at her teasingly. For answer Norah made a face at him. Just
+then Owen came in and took his place at the table. Mrs. Butler saw
+Norah’s grimace.
+
+“Well, that’ll win no love from your brother, ye can depend on that,”
+she commented.
+
+“Lord, what a day!” observed Owen, wearily, unfolding his napkin. “I’ve
+had my fill of work for once.”
+
+“What’s the trouble?” queried his mother, feelingly.
+
+“No real trouble, mother,” he replied. “Just everything—ducks and
+drakes, that’s all.”
+
+“Well, ye must ate a good, hearty meal now, and that’ll refresh ye,”
+observed his mother, genially and feelingly. “Thompson”—she was
+referring to the family grocer—“brought us the last of his beans. You
+must have some of those.”
+
+“Sure, beans’ll fix it, whatever it is, Owen,” joked Callum. “Mother’s
+got the answer.”
+
+“They’re fine, I’d have ye know,” replied Mrs. Butler, quite
+unconscious of the joke.
+
+“No doubt of it, mother,” replied Callum. “Real brain-food. Let’s feed
+some to Norah.”
+
+“You’d better eat some yourself, smarty. My, but you’re gay! I suppose
+you’re going out to see somebody. That’s why.”
+
+“Right you are, Norah. Smart girl, you. Five or six. Ten to fifteen
+minutes each. I’d call on you if you were nicer.”
+
+“You would if you got the chance,” mocked Norah. “I’d have you know I
+wouldn’t let you. I’d feel very bad if I couldn’t get somebody better
+than you.”
+
+“As good as, you mean,” corrected Callum.
+
+“Children, children!” interpolated Mrs. Butler, calmly, looking about
+for old John, the servant. “You’ll be losin’ your tempers in a minute.
+Hush now. Here comes your father. Where’s Aileen?”
+
+Butler walked heavily in and took his seat.
+
+John, the servant, appeared bearing a platter of beans among other
+things, and Mrs. Butler asked him to send some one to call Aileen.
+
+“It’s gettin’ colder, I’m thinkin’,” said Butler, by way of
+conversation, and eyeing Aileen’s empty chair. She would come soon
+now—his heavy problem. He had been very tactful these last two
+months—avoiding any reference to Cowperwood in so far as he could help
+in her presence.
+
+“It’s colder,” remarked Owen, “much colder. We’ll soon see real winter
+now.”
+
+Old John began to offer the various dishes in order; but when all had
+been served Aileen had not yet come.
+
+“See where Aileen is, John,” observed Mrs. Butler, interestedly. “The
+meal will be gettin’ cold.”
+
+Old John returned with the news that Aileen was not in her room.
+
+“Sure she must be somewhere,” commented Mrs. Butler, only slightly
+perplexed. “She’ll be comin’, though, never mind, if she wants to. She
+knows it’s meal-time.”
+
+The conversation drifted from a new water-works that was being planned
+to the new city hall, then nearing completion; Cowperwood’s financial
+and social troubles, and the state of the stock market generally; a new
+gold-mine in Arizona; the departure of Mrs. Mollenhauer the following
+Tuesday for Europe, with appropriate comments by Norah and Callum; and
+a Christmas ball that was going to be given for charity.
+
+“Aileen’ll be wantin’ to go to that,” commented Mrs. Butler.
+
+“I’m going, you bet,” put in Norah.
+
+“Who’s going to take you?” asked Callum.
+
+“That’s my affair, mister,” she replied, smartly.
+
+The meal was over, and Mrs. Butler strolled up to Aileen’s room to see
+why she had not come down to dinner. Butler entered his den, wishing so
+much that he could take his wife into his confidence concerning all
+that was worrying him. On his desk, as he sat down and turned up the
+light, he saw the note. He recognized Aileen’s handwriting at once.
+What could she mean by writing him? A sense of the untoward came to
+him, and he tore it open slowly, and, putting on his glasses,
+contemplated it solemnly.
+
+So Aileen was gone. The old man stared at each word as if it had been
+written in fire. She said she had not gone with Cowperwood. It was
+possible, just the same, that he had run away from Philadelphia and
+taken her with him. This was the last straw. This ended it. Aileen
+lured away from home—to where—to what? Butler could scarcely believe,
+though, that Cowperwood had tempted her to do this. He had too much at
+stake; it would involve his own and Butler’s families. The papers would
+be certain to get it quickly. He got up, crumpling the paper in his
+hand, and turned about at a noise. His wife was coming in. He pulled
+himself together and shoved the letter in his pocket.
+
+“Aileen’s not in her room,” she said, curiously. “She didn’t say
+anything to you about going out, did she?”
+
+“No,” he replied, truthfully, wondering how soon he should have to tell
+his wife.
+
+“That’s odd,” observed Mrs. Butler, doubtfully. “She must have gone out
+after somethin’. It’s a wonder she wouldn’t tell somebody.”
+
+Butler gave no sign. He dared not. “She’ll be back,” he said, more in
+order to gain time than anything else. He was sorry to have to pretend.
+Mrs. Butler went out, and he closed the door. Then he took out the
+letter and read it again. The girl was crazy. She was doing an
+absolutely wild, inhuman, senseless thing. Where could she go, except
+to Cowperwood? She was on the verge of a public scandal, and this would
+produce it. There was just one thing to do as far as he could see.
+Cowperwood, if he were still in Philadelphia, would know. He would go
+to him—threaten, cajole, actually destroy him, if necessary. Aileen
+must come back. She need not go to Europe, perhaps, but she must come
+back and behave herself at least until Cowperwood could legitimately
+marry her. That was all he could expect now. She would have to wait,
+and some day perhaps he could bring himself to accept her wretched
+proposition. Horrible thought! It would kill her mother, disgrace her
+sister. He got up, took down his hat, put on his overcoat, and started
+out.
+
+Arriving at the Cowperwood home he was shown into the reception-room.
+Cowperwood at the time was in his den looking over some private papers.
+When the name of Butler was announced he immediately went down-stairs.
+It was characteristic of the man that the announcement of Butler’s
+presence created no stir in him whatsoever. So Butler had come. That
+meant, of course, that Aileen had gone. Now for a battle, not of words,
+but of weights of personalities. He felt himself to be intellectually,
+socially, and in every other way the more powerful man of the two. That
+spiritual content of him which we call life hardened to the texture of
+steel. He recalled that although he had told his wife and his father
+that the politicians, of whom Butler was one, were trying to make a
+scapegoat of him, Butler, nevertheless, was not considered to be wholly
+alienated as a friend, and civility must prevail. He would like very
+much to placate him if he could, to talk out the hard facts of life in
+a quiet and friendly way. But this matter of Aileen had to be adjusted
+now once and for all. And with that thought in his mind he walked
+quickly into Butler’s presence.
+
+The old man, when he learned that Cowperwood was in and would see him,
+determined to make his contact with the financier as short and
+effective as possible. He moved the least bit when he heard
+Cowperwood’s step, as light and springy as ever.
+
+“Good evening, Mr. Butler,” said Cowperwood, cheerfully, when he saw
+him, extending his hand. “What can I do for you?”
+
+“Ye can take that away from in front of me, for one thing,” said
+Butler, grimly referring to his hand. “I have no need of it. It’s my
+daughter I’ve come to talk to ye about, and I want plain answers. Where
+is she?”
+
+“You mean Aileen?” said Cowperwood, looking at him with steady,
+curious, unrevealing eyes, and merely interpolating this to obtain a
+moment for reflection. “What can I tell you about her?”
+
+“Ye can tell me where she is, that I know. And ye can make her come
+back to her home, where she belongs. It was bad fortune that ever
+brought ye across my doorstep; but I’ll not bandy words with ye here.
+Ye’ll tell me where my daughter is, and ye’ll leave her alone from now,
+or I’ll—” The old man’s fists closed like a vise, and his chest heaved
+with suppressed rage. “Ye’ll not be drivin’ me too far, man, if ye’re
+wise,” he added, after a time, recovering his equanimity in part. “I
+want no truck with ye. I want my daughter.”
+
+“Listen, Mr. Butler,” said Cowperwood, quite calmly, relishing the
+situation for the sheer sense of superiority it gave him. “I want to be
+perfectly frank with you, if you will let me. I may know where your
+daughter is, and I may not. I may wish to tell you, and I may not. She
+may not wish me to. But unless you wish to talk with me in a civil way
+there is no need of our going on any further. You are privileged to do
+what you like. Won’t you come up-stairs to my room? We can talk more
+comfortably there.”
+
+Butler looked at his former protege in utter astonishment. He had never
+before in all his experience come up against a more ruthless
+type—suave, bland, forceful, unterrified. This man had certainly come
+to him as a sheep, and had turned out to be a ravening wolf. His
+incarceration had not put him in the least awe.
+
+“I’ll not come up to your room,” Butler said, “and ye’ll not get out of
+Philadelphy with her if that’s what ye’re plannin’. I can see to that.
+Ye think ye have the upper hand of me, I see, and ye’re anxious to make
+something of it. Well, ye’re not. It wasn’t enough that ye come to me
+as a beggar, cravin’ the help of me, and that I took ye in and helped
+ye all I could—ye had to steal my daughter from me in the bargain. If
+it wasn’t for the girl’s mother and her sister and her
+brothers—dacenter men than ever ye’ll know how to be—I’d brain ye where
+ye stand. Takin’ a young, innocent girl and makin’ an evil woman out of
+her, and ye a married man! It’s a God’s blessin’ for ye that it’s me,
+and not one of me sons, that’s here talkin’ to ye, or ye wouldn’t be
+alive to say what ye’d do.”
+
+The old man was grim but impotent in his rage.
+
+“I’m sorry, Mr. Butler,” replied Cowperwood, quietly. “I’m willing to
+explain, but you won’t let me. I’m not planning to run away with your
+daughter, nor to leave Philadelphia. You ought to know me well enough
+to know that I’m not contemplating anything of that kind; my interests
+are too large. You and I are practical men. We ought to be able to talk
+this matter over together and reach an understanding. I thought once of
+coming to you and explaining this; but I was quite sure you wouldn’t
+listen to me. Now that you are here I would like to talk to you. If you
+will come up to my room I will be glad to—otherwise not. Won’t you come
+up?”
+
+Butler saw that Cowperwood had the advantage. He might as well go up.
+Otherwise it was plain he would get no information.
+
+“Very well,” he said.
+
+Cowperwood led the way quite amicably, and, having entered his private
+office, closed the door behind him.
+
+“We ought to be able to talk this matter over and reach an
+understanding,” he said again, when they were in the room and he had
+closed the door. “I am not as bad as you think, though I know I appear
+very bad.” Butler stared at him in contempt. “I love your daughter, and
+she loves me. I know you are asking yourself how I can do this while I
+am still married; but I assure you I can, and that I do. I am not
+happily married. I had expected, if this panic hadn’t come along, to
+arrange with my wife for a divorce and marry Aileen. My intentions are
+perfectly good. The situation which you can complain of, of course, is
+the one you encountered a few weeks ago. It was indiscreet, but it was
+entirely human. Your daughter does not complain—she understands.” At
+the mention of his daughter in this connection Butler flushed with rage
+and shame, but he controlled himself.
+
+“And ye think because she doesn’t complain that it’s all right, do ye?”
+he asked, sarcastically.
+
+“From my point of view, yes; from yours no. You have one view of life,
+Mr. Butler, and I have another.”
+
+“Ye’re right there,” put in Butler, “for once, anyhow.”
+
+“That doesn’t prove that either of us is right or wrong. In my judgment
+the present end justifies the means. The end I have in view is to marry
+Aileen. If I can possibly pull myself out of this financial scrape that
+I am in I will do so. Of course, I would like to have your consent for
+that—so would Aileen; but if we can’t, we can’t.” (Cowperwood was
+thinking that while this might not have a very soothing effect on the
+old contractor’s point of view, nevertheless it must make some appeal
+to his sense of the possible or necessary. Aileen’s present situation
+was quite unsatisfactory without marriage in view. And even if he,
+Cowperwood, was a convicted embezzler in the eyes of the public, that
+did not make him so. He might get free and restore himself—would
+certainly—and Aileen ought to be glad to marry him if she could under
+the circumstances. He did not quite grasp the depth of Butler’s
+religious and moral prejudices.) “Lately,” he went on, “you have been
+doing all you can, as I understand it, to pull me down, on account of
+Aileen, I suppose; but that is simply delaying what I want to do.”
+
+“Ye’d like me to help ye do that, I suppose?” suggested Butler, with
+infinite disgust and patience.
+
+“I want to marry Aileen,” Cowperwood repeated, for emphasis’ sake. “She
+wants to marry me. Under the circumstances, however you may feel, you
+can have no real objection to my doing that, I am sure; yet you go on
+fighting me—making it hard for me to do what you really know ought to
+be done.”
+
+“Ye’re a scoundrel,” said Butler, seeing through his motives quite
+clearly. “Ye’re a sharper, to my way of thinkin’, and it’s no child of
+mine I want connected with ye. I’m not sayin’, seein’ that things are
+as they are, that if ye were a free man it wouldn’t be better that she
+should marry ye. It’s the one dacent thing ye could do—if ye would,
+which I doubt. But that’s nayther here nor there now. What can ye want
+with her hid away somewhere? Ye can’t marry her. Ye can’t get a
+divorce. Ye’ve got your hands full fightin’ your lawsuits and kapin’
+yourself out of jail. She’ll only be an added expense to ye, and ye’ll
+be wantin’ all the money ye have for other things, I’m thinkin’. Why
+should ye want to be takin’ her away from a dacent home and makin’
+something out of her that ye’d be ashamed to marry if you could? The
+laist ye could do, if ye were any kind of a man at all, and had any of
+that thing that ye’re plased to call love, would be to lave her at home
+and keep her as respectable as possible. Mind ye, I’m not thinkin’ she
+isn’t ten thousand times too good for ye, whatever ye’ve made of her.
+But if ye had any sinse of dacency left, ye wouldn’t let her shame her
+family and break her old mother’s heart, and that for no purpose except
+to make her worse than she is already. What good can ye get out of it,
+now? What good can ye expect to come of it? Be hivins, if ye had any
+sinse at all I should think ye could see that for yerself. Ye’re only
+addin’ to your troubles, not takin’ away from them—and she’ll not thank
+ye for that later on.”
+
+He stopped, rather astonished that he should have been drawn into an
+argument. His contempt for this man was so great that he could scarcely
+look at him, but his duty and his need was to get Aileen back.
+Cowperwood looked at him as one who gives serious attention to another.
+He seemed to be thinking deeply over what Butler had said.
+
+“To tell you the truth, Mr. Butler,” he said, “I did not want Aileen to
+leave your home at all; and she will tell you so, if you ever talk to
+her about it. I did my best to persuade her not to, and when she
+insisted on going the only thing I could do was to be sure she would be
+comfortable wherever she went. She was greatly outraged to think you
+should have put detectives on her trail. That, and the fact that you
+wanted to send her away somewhere against her will, was the principal
+reasons for her leaving. I assure you I did not want her to go. I think
+you forget sometimes, Mr. Butler, that Aileen is a grown woman, and
+that she has a will of her own. You think I control her to her great
+disadvantage. As a matter of fact, I am very much in love with her, and
+have been for three or four years; and if you know anything about love
+you know that it doesn’t always mean control. I’m not doing Aileen any
+injustice when I say that she has had as much influence on me as I have
+had on her. I love her, and that’s the cause of all the trouble. You
+come and insist that I shall return your daughter to you. As a matter
+of fact, I don’t know whether I can or not. I don’t know that she would
+go if I wanted her to. She might turn on me and say that I didn’t care
+for her any more. That is not true, and I would not want her to feel
+that way. She is greatly hurt, as I told you, by what you did to her,
+and the fact that you want her to leave Philadelphia. You can do as
+much to remedy that as I can. I could tell you where she is, but I do
+not know that I want to. Certainly not until I know what your attitude
+toward her and this whole proposition is to be.”
+
+He paused and looked calmly at the old contractor, who eyed him grimly
+in return.
+
+“What proposition are ye talkin’ about?” asked Butler, interested by
+the peculiar developments of this argument. In spite of himself he was
+getting a slightly different angle on the whole situation. The scene
+was shifting to a certain extent. Cowperwood appeared to be reasonably
+sincere in the matter. His promises might all be wrong, but perhaps he
+did love Aileen; and it was possible that he did intend to get a
+divorce from his wife some time and marry her. Divorce, as Butler knew,
+was against the rules of the Catholic Church, which he so much revered.
+The laws of God and any sense of decency commanded that Cowperwood
+should not desert his wife and children and take up with another
+woman—not even Aileen, in order to save her. It was a criminal thing to
+plan, sociologically speaking, and showed what a villain Cowperwood
+inherently was; but, nevertheless, Cowperwood was not a Catholic, his
+views of life were not the same as his own, Butler’s, and besides and
+worst of all (no doubt due in part to Aileen’s own temperament), he had
+compromised her situation very materially. She might not easily be
+restored to a sense of the normal and decent, and so the matter was
+worth taking into thought. Butler knew that ultimately he could not
+countenance any such thing—certainly not, and keep his faith with the
+Church—but he was human enough none the less to consider it. Besides,
+he wanted Aileen to come back; and Aileen from now on, he knew, would
+have some say as to what her future should be.
+
+“Well, it’s simple enough,” replied Cowperwood. “I should like to have
+you withdraw your opposition to Aileen’s remaining in Philadelphia, for
+one thing; and for another, I should like you to stop your attacks on
+me.” Cowperwood smiled in an ingratiating way. He hoped really to
+placate Butler in part by his generous attitude throughout this
+procedure. “I can’t make you do that, of course, unless you want to. I
+merely bring it up, Mr. Butler, because I am sure that if it hadn’t
+been for Aileen you would not have taken the course you have taken
+toward me. I understood you received an anonymous letter, and that
+afternoon you called your loan with me. Since then I have heard from
+one source and another that you were strongly against me, and I merely
+wish to say that I wish you wouldn’t be. I am not guilty of embezzling
+any sixty thousand dollars, and you know it. My intentions were of the
+best. I did not think I was going to fail at the time I used those
+certificates, and if it hadn’t been for several other loans that were
+called I would have gone on to the end of the month and put them back
+in time, as I always had. I have always valued your friendship very
+highly, and I am very sorry to lose it. Now I have said all I am going
+to say.”
+
+Butler looked at Cowperwood with shrewd, calculating eyes. The man had
+some merit, but much unconscionable evil in him. Butler knew very well
+how he had taken the check, and a good many other things in connection
+with it. The manner in which he had played his cards to-night was on a
+par with the way he had run to him on the night of the fire. He was
+just shrewd and calculating and heartless.
+
+“I’ll make ye no promise,” he said. “Tell me where my daughter is, and
+I’ll think the matter over. Ye have no claim on me now, and I owe ye no
+good turn. But I’ll think it over, anyhow.”
+
+“That’s quite all right,” replied Cowperwood. “That’s all I can expect.
+But what about Aileen? Do you expect her to leave Philadelphia?”
+
+“Not if she settles down and behaves herself: but there must be an end
+of this between you and her. She’s disgracin’ her family and ruinin’
+her soul in the bargain. And that’s what you are doin’ with yours.
+It’ll be time enough to talk about anything else when you’re a free
+man. More than that I’ll not promise.”
+
+Cowperwood, satisfied that this move on Aileen’s part had done her a
+real service if it had not aided him especially, was convinced that it
+would be a good move for her to return to her home at once. He could
+not tell how his appeal to the State Supreme Court would eventuate. His
+motion for a new trial which was now to be made under the privilege of
+the certificate of reasonable doubt might not be granted, in which case
+he would have to serve a term in the penitentiary. If he were compelled
+to go to the penitentiary she would be safer—better off in the bosom of
+her family. His own hands were going to be exceedingly full for the
+next two months until he knew how his appeal was coming out. And after
+that—well, after that he would fight on, whatever happened.
+
+During all the time that Cowperwood had been arguing his case in this
+fashion he had been thinking how he could adjust this compromise so as
+to retain the affection of Aileen and not offend her sensibilities by
+urging her to return. He knew that she would not agree to give up
+seeing him, and he was not willing that she should. Unless he had a
+good and sufficient reason, he would be playing a wretched part by
+telling Butler where she was. He did not intend to do so until he saw
+exactly how to do it—the way that would make it most acceptable to
+Aileen. He knew that she would not long be happy where she was. Her
+flight was due in part to Butler’s intense opposition to himself and in
+part to his determination to make her leave Philadelphia and behave;
+but this last was now in part obviated. Butler, in spite of his words,
+was no longer a stern Nemesis. He was a melting man—very anxious to
+find his daughter, very willing to forgive her. He was whipped,
+literally beaten, at his own game, and Cowperwood could see it in the
+old man’s eyes. If he himself could talk to Aileen personally and
+explain just how things were, he felt sure he could make her see that
+it would be to their mutual advantage, for the present at least, to
+have the matter amicably settled. The thing to do was to make Butler
+wait somewhere—here, possibly—while he went and talked to her. When she
+learned how things were she would probably acquiesce.
+
+“The best thing that I can do under the circumstances,” he said, after
+a time, “would be to see Aileen in two or three days, and ask her what
+she wishes to do. I can explain the matter to her, and if she wants to
+go back, she can. I will promise to tell her anything that you say.”
+
+“Two or three days!” exclaimed Butler, irritably. “Two or three
+fiddlesticks! She must come home to-night. Her mother doesn’t know
+she’s left the place yet. To-night is the time! I’ll go and fetch her
+meself to-night.”
+
+“No, that won’t do,” said Cowperwood. “I shall have to go myself. If
+you wish to wait here I will see what can be done, and let you know.”
+
+“Very well,” grunted Butler, who was now walking up and down with his
+hands behind his back. “But for Heaven’s sake be quick about it.
+There’s no time to lose.” He was thinking of Mrs. Butler. Cowperwood
+called the servant, ordered his runabout, and told George to see that
+his private office was not disturbed. Then, as Butler strolled to and
+fro in this, to him, objectionable room, Cowperwood drove rapidly away.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLVII
+
+
+Although it was nearly eleven o’clock when he arrived at the
+Calligans’, Aileen was not yet in bed. In her bedroom upstairs she was
+confiding to Mamie and Mrs. Calligan some of her social experiences
+when the bell rang, and Mrs. Calligan went down and opened the door to
+Cowperwood.
+
+“Miss Butler is here, I believe,” he said. “Will you tell her that
+there is some one here from her father?” Although Aileen had instructed
+that her presence here was not to be divulged even to the members of
+her family the force of Cowperwood’s presence and the mention of
+Butler’s name cost Mrs. Calligan her presence of mind. “Wait a moment,”
+she said; “I’ll see.”
+
+She stepped back, and Cowperwood promptly stepped in, taking off his
+hat with the air of one who was satisfied that Aileen was there. “Say
+to her that I only want to speak to her for a few moments,” he called,
+as Mrs. Calligan went up-stairs, raising his voice in the hope that
+Aileen might hear. She did, and came down promptly. She was very much
+astonished to think that he should come so soon, and fancied, in her
+vanity, that there must be great excitement in her home. She would have
+greatly grieved if there had not been.
+
+The Calligans would have been pleased to hear, but Cowperwood was
+cautious. As she came down the stairs he put his finger to his lips in
+sign for silence, and said, “This is Miss Butler, I believe.”
+
+“Yes,” replied Aileen, with a secret smile. Her one desire was to kiss
+him. “What’s the trouble darling?” she asked, softly.
+
+“You’ll have to go back, dear, I’m afraid,” whispered Cowperwood.
+“You’ll have everything in a turmoil if you don’t. Your mother doesn’t
+know yet, it seems, and your father is over at my place now, waiting
+for you. It may be a good deal of help to me if you do. Let me tell
+you—” He went off into a complete description of his conversation with
+Butler and his own views in the matter. Aileen’s expression changed
+from time to time as the various phases of the matter were put before
+her; but, persuaded by the clearness with which he put the matter, and
+by his assurance that they could continue their relations as before
+uninterrupted, once this was settled, she decided to return. In a way,
+her father’s surrender was a great triumph. She made her farewells to
+the Calligans, saying, with a smile, that they could not do without her
+at home, and that she would send for her belongings later, and returned
+with Cowperwood to his own door. There he asked her to wait in the
+runabout while he sent her father down.
+
+“Well?” said Butler, turning on him when he opened the door, and not
+seeing Aileen.
+
+“You’ll find her outside in my runabout,” observed Cowperwood. “You may
+use that if you choose. I will send my man for it.”
+
+“No, thank you; we’ll walk,” said Butler.
+
+Cowperwood called his servant to take charge of the vehicle, and Butler
+stalked solemnly out.
+
+He had to admit to himself that the influence of Cowperwood over his
+daughter was deadly, and probably permanent. The best he could do would
+be to keep her within the precincts of the home, where she might still,
+possibly, be brought to her senses. He held a very guarded conversation
+with her on his way home, for fear that she would take additional
+offense. Argument was out of the question.
+
+“Ye might have talked with me once more, Aileen,” he said, “before ye
+left. Yer mother would be in a terrible state if she knew ye were gone.
+She doesn’t know yet. Ye’ll have to say ye stayed somewhere to dinner.”
+
+“I was at the Calligans,” replied Aileen. “That’s easy enough. Mama
+won’t think anything about it.”
+
+“It’s a sore heart I have, Aileen. I hope ye’ll think over your ways
+and do better. I’ll not say anythin’ more now.”
+
+Aileen returned to her room, decidedly triumphant in her mood for the
+moment, and things went on apparently in the Butler household as
+before. But those who imagine that this defeat permanently altered the
+attitude of Butler toward Cowperwood are mistaken.
+
+In the meanwhile between the day of his temporary release and the
+hearing of his appeal which was two months off, Cowperwood was going on
+doing his best to repair his shattered forces. He took up his work
+where he left off; but the possibility of reorganizing his business was
+distinctly modified since his conviction. Because of his action in
+trying to protect his largest creditors at the time of his failure, he
+fancied that once he was free again, if ever he got free, his credit,
+other things being equal, would be good with those who could help him
+most—say, Cooke & Co., Clark & Co., Drexel & Co., and the Girard
+National Bank—providing his personal reputation had not been too badly
+injured by his sentence. Fortunately for his own hopefulness of mind,
+he failed fully to realize what a depressing effect a legal decision of
+this character, sound or otherwise, had on the minds of even his most
+enthusiastic supporters.
+
+His best friends in the financial world were by now convinced that his
+was a sinking ship. A student of finance once observed that nothing is
+so sensitive as money, and the financial mind partakes largely of the
+quality of the thing in which it deals. There was no use trying to do
+much for a man who might be going to prison for a term of years.
+Something might be done for him possibly in connection with the
+governor, providing he lost his case before the Supreme Court and was
+actually sentenced to prison; but that was two months off, or more, and
+they could not tell what the outcome of that would be. So Cowperwood’s
+repeated appeals for assistance, extension of credit, or the acceptance
+of some plan he had for his general rehabilitation, were met with the
+kindly evasions of those who were doubtful. They would think it over.
+They would see about it. Certain things were standing in the way. And
+so on, and so forth, through all the endless excuses of those who do
+not care to act. In these days he went about the money world in his
+customary jaunty way, greeting all those whom he had known there many
+years and pretending, when asked, to be very hopeful, to be doing very
+well; but they did not believe him, and he really did not care whether
+they did or not. His business was to persuade or over-persuade any one
+who could really be of assistance to him, and at this task he worked
+untiringly, ignoring all others.
+
+“Why, hello, Frank,” his friends would call, on seeing him. “How are
+you getting on?”
+
+“Fine! Fine!” he would reply, cheerfully. “Never better,” and he would
+explain in a general way how his affairs were being handled. He
+conveyed much of his own optimism to all those who knew him and were
+interested in his welfare, but of course there were many who were not.
+
+In these days also, he and Steger were constantly to be met with in
+courts of law, for he was constantly being reexamined in some petition
+in bankruptcy. They were heartbreaking days, but he did not flinch. He
+wanted to stay in Philadelphia and fight the thing to a finish—putting
+himself where he had been before the fire; rehabilitating himself in
+the eyes of the public. He felt that he could do it, too, if he were
+not actually sent to prison for a long term; and even then, so
+naturally optimistic was his mood, when he got out again. But, in so
+far as Philadelphia was concerned, distinctly he was dreaming vain
+dreams.
+
+One of the things militating against him was the continued opposition
+of Butler and the politicians. Somehow—no one could have said exactly
+why—the general political feeling was that the financier and the former
+city treasurer would lose their appeals and eventually be sentenced
+together. Stener, in spite of his original intention to plead guilty
+and take his punishment without comment, had been persuaded by some of
+his political friends that it would be better for his future’s sake to
+plead not guilty and claim that his offense had been due to custom,
+rather than to admit his guilt outright and so seem not to have had any
+justification whatsoever. This he did, but he was convicted
+nevertheless. For the sake of appearances, a trumped-up appeal was made
+which was now before the State Supreme Court.
+
+Then, too, due to one whisper and another, and these originating with
+the girl who had written Butler and Cowperwood’s wife, there was at
+this time a growing volume of gossip relating to the alleged relations
+of Cowperwood with Butler’s daughter, Aileen. There had been a house in
+Tenth Street. It had been maintained by Cowperwood for her. No wonder
+Butler was so vindictive. This, indeed, explained much. And even in the
+practical, financial world, criticism was now rather against Cowperwood
+than his enemies. For, was it not a fact, that at the inception of his
+career, he had been befriended by Butler? And what a way to reward that
+friendship! His oldest and firmest admirers wagged their heads. For
+they sensed clearly that this was another illustration of that innate
+“I satisfy myself” attitude which so regulated Cowperwood’s conduct. He
+was a strong man, surely—and a brilliant one. Never had Third Street
+seen a more pyrotechnic, and yet fascinating and financially
+aggressive, and at the same time, conservative person. Yet might one
+not fairly tempt Nemesis by a too great daring and egotism? Like Death,
+it loves a shining mark. He should not, perhaps, have seduced Butler’s
+daughter; unquestionably he should not have so boldly taken that check,
+especially after his quarrel and break with Stener. He was a little too
+aggressive. Was it not questionable whether—with such a record—he could
+be restored to his former place here? The bankers and business men who
+were closest to him were decidedly dubious.
+
+But in so far as Cowperwood and his own attitude toward life was
+concerned, at this time—the feeling he had—“to satisfy myself”—when
+combined with his love of beauty and love and women, still made him
+ruthless and thoughtless. Even now, the beauty and delight of a girl
+like Aileen Butler were far more important to him than the good-will of
+fifty million people, if he could evade the necessity of having their
+good-will. Previous to the Chicago fire and the panic, his star had
+been so rapidly ascending that in the helter-skelter of great and
+favorable events he had scarcely taken thought of the social
+significance of the thing he was doing. Youth and the joy of life were
+in his blood. He felt so young, so vigorous, so like new grass looks
+and feels. The freshness of spring evenings was in him, and he did not
+care. After the crash, when one might have imagined he would have seen
+the wisdom of relinquishing Aileen for the time being, anyhow, he did
+not care to. She represented the best of the wonderful days that had
+gone before. She was a link between him and the past and a still-to-be
+triumphant future.
+
+His worst anxiety was that if he were sent to the penitentiary, or
+adjudged a bankrupt, or both, he would probably lose the privilege of a
+seat on ’change, and that would close to him the most distinguished
+avenue of his prosperity here in Philadelphia for some time, if not
+forever. At present, because of his complications, his seat had been
+attached as an asset, and he could not act. Edward and Joseph, almost
+the only employees he could afford, were still acting for him in a
+small way; but the other members on ’change naturally suspected his
+brothers as his agents, and any talk that they might raise of going
+into business for themselves merely indicated to other brokers and
+bankers that Cowperwood was contemplating some concealed move which
+would not necessarily be advantageous to his creditors, and against the
+law anyhow. Yet he must remain on ’change, whatever happened,
+potentially if not actively; and so in his quick mental searchings he
+hit upon the idea that in order to forfend against the event of his
+being put into prison or thrown into bankruptcy, or both, he ought to
+form a subsidiary silent partnership with some man who was or would be
+well liked on ’change, and whom he could use as a cat’s-paw and a
+dummy.
+
+Finally he hit upon a man who he thought would do. He did not amount to
+much—had a small business; but he was honest, and he liked Cowperwood.
+His name was Wingate—Stephen Wingate—and he was eking out a not too
+robust existence in South Third Street as a broker. He was forty-five
+years of age, of medium height, fairly thick-set, not at all
+unprepossessing, and rather intelligent and active, but not too
+forceful and pushing in spirit. He really needed a man like Cowperwood
+to make him into something, if ever he was to be made. He had a seat on
+’change, and was well thought of; respected, but not so very
+prosperous. In times past he had asked small favors of Cowperwood—the
+use of small loans at a moderate rate of interest, tips, and so forth;
+and Cowperwood, because he liked him and felt a little sorry for him,
+had granted them. Now Wingate was slowly drifting down toward a none
+too successful old age, and was as tractable as such a man would
+naturally be. No one for the time being would suspect him of being a
+hireling of Cowperwood’s, and the latter could depend on him to execute
+his orders to the letter. He sent for him and had a long conversation
+with him. He told him just what the situation was, what he thought he
+could do for him as a partner, how much of his business he would want
+for himself, and so on, and found him agreeable.
+
+“I’ll be glad to do anything you say, Mr. Cowperwood,” he assured the
+latter. “I know whatever happens that you’ll protect me, and there’s
+nobody in the world I would rather work with or have greater respect
+for. This storm will all blow over, and you’ll be all right. We can try
+it, anyhow. If it don’t work out you can see what you want to do about
+it later.”
+
+And so this relationship was tentatively entered into and Cowperwood
+began to act in a small way through Wingate.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLVIII
+
+
+By the time the State Supreme Court came to pass upon Cowperwood’s plea
+for a reversal of the lower court and the granting of a new trial, the
+rumor of his connection with Aileen had spread far and wide. As has
+been seen, it had done and was still doing him much damage. It
+confirmed the impression, which the politicians had originally tried to
+create, that Cowperwood was the true criminal and Stener the victim.
+His semi-legitimate financial subtlety, backed indeed by his financial
+genius, but certainly on this account not worse than that being
+practiced in peace and quiet and with much applause in many other
+quarters—was now seen to be Machiavellian trickery of the most
+dangerous type. He had a wife and two children; and without knowing
+what his real thoughts had been the fruitfully imaginative public
+jumped to the conclusion that he had been on the verge of deserting
+them, divorcing Lillian, and marrying Aileen. This was criminal enough
+in itself, from the conservative point of view; but when taken in
+connection with his financial record, his trial, conviction, and
+general bankruptcy situation, the public was inclined to believe that
+he was all the politicians said he was. He ought to be convicted. The
+Supreme Court ought not to grant his prayer for a new trial. It is thus
+that our inmost thoughts and intentions burst at times via no known
+material agency into public thoughts. People know, when they cannot
+apparently possibly know why they know. There is such a thing as
+thought-transference and transcendentalism of ideas.
+
+It reached, for one thing, the ears of the five judges of the State
+Supreme Court and of the Governor of the State.
+
+During the four weeks Cowperwood had been free on a certificate of
+reasonable doubt both Harper Steger and Dennis Shannon appeared before
+the judges of the State Supreme Court, and argued pro and con as to the
+reasonableness of granting a new trial. Through his lawyer, Cowperwood
+made a learned appeal to the Supreme Court judges, showing how he had
+been unfairly indicted in the first place, how there was no real
+substantial evidence on which to base a charge of larceny or anything
+else. It took Steger two hours and ten minutes to make his argument,
+and District-Attorney Shannon longer to make his reply, during which
+the five judges on the bench, men of considerable legal experience but
+no great financial understanding, listened with rapt attention. Three
+of them, Judges Smithson, Rainey, and Beckwith, men most amenable to
+the political feeling of the time and the wishes of the bosses, were
+little interested in this story of Cowperwood’s transaction,
+particularly since his relations with Butler’s daughter and Butler’s
+consequent opposition to him had come to them. They fancied that in a
+way they were considering the whole matter fairly and impartially; but
+the manner in which Cowperwood had treated Butler was never out of
+their minds. Two of them, Judges Marvin and Rafalsky, who were men of
+larger sympathies and understanding, but of no greater political
+freedom, did feel that Cowperwood had been badly used thus far, but
+they did not see what they could do about it. He had put himself in a
+most unsatisfactory position, politically and socially. They understood
+and took into consideration his great financial and social losses which
+Steger described accurately; and one of them, Judge Rafalsky, because
+of a similar event in his own life in so far as a girl was concerned,
+was inclined to argue strongly against the conviction of Cowperwood;
+but, owing to his political connections and obligations, he realized
+that it would not be wise politically to stand out against what was
+wanted. Still, when he and Marvin learned that Judges Smithson, Rainey,
+and Beckwith were inclined to convict Cowperwood without much argument,
+they decided to hand down a dissenting opinion. The point involved was
+a very knotty one. Cowperwood might carry it to the Supreme Court of
+the United States on some fundamental principle of liberty of action.
+Anyhow, other judges in other courts in Pennsylvania and elsewhere
+would be inclined to examine the decision in this case, it was so
+important. The minority decided that it would not do them any harm to
+hand down a dissenting opinion. The politicians would not mind as long
+as Cowperwood was convicted—would like it better, in fact. It looked
+fairer. Besides, Marvin and Rafalsky did not care to be included, if
+they could help it, with Smithson, Rainey, and Beckwith in a sweeping
+condemnation of Cowperwood. So all five judges fancied they were
+considering the whole matter rather fairly and impartially, as men will
+under such circumstances. Smithson, speaking for himself and Judges
+Rainey and Beckwith on the eleventh of February, 1872, said:
+
+“The defendant, Frank A. Cowperwood, asks that the finding of the jury
+in the lower court (the State of Pennsylvania vs. Frank A. Cowperwood)
+be reversed and a new trial granted. This court cannot see that any
+substantial injustice has been done the defendant. [Here followed a
+rather lengthy resume of the history of the case, in which it was
+pointed out that the custom and precedent of the treasurer’s office, to
+say nothing of Cowperwood’s easy method of doing business with the city
+treasury, could have nothing to do with his responsibility for failure
+to observe both the spirit and the letter of the law.] The obtaining of
+goods under color of legal process [went on Judge Smithson, speaking
+for the majority] may amount to larceny. In the present case it was the
+province of the jury to ascertain the felonious intent. They have
+settled that against the defendant as a question of fact, and the court
+cannot say that there was not sufficient evidence to sustain the
+verdict. For what purpose did the defendant get the check? He was upon
+the eve of failure. He had already hypothecated for his own debts the
+loan of the city placed in his hands for sale—he had unlawfully
+obtained five hundred thousand dollars in cash as loans; and it is
+reasonable to suppose that he could obtain nothing more from the city
+treasury by any ordinary means. Then it is that he goes there, and, by
+means of a falsehood implied if not actual, obtains sixty thousand
+dollars more. The jury has found the intent with which this was done.”
+
+It was in these words that Cowperwood’s appeal for a new trial was
+denied by the majority.
+
+For himself and Judge Rafalsky, Judge Marvin, dissenting, wrote:
+
+“It is plain from the evidence in the case that Mr. Cowperwood did not
+receive the check without authority as agent to do so, and it has not
+been clearly demonstrated that within his capacity as agent he did not
+perform or intend to perform the full measure of the obligation which
+the receipt of this check implied. It was shown in the trial that as a
+matter of policy it was understood that purchases for the sinking-fund
+should not be known or understood in the market or by the public in
+that light, and that Mr. Cowperwood as agent was to have an absolutely
+free hand in the disposal of his assets and liabilities so long as the
+ultimate result was satisfactory. There was no particular time when the
+loan was to be bought, nor was there any particular amount mentioned at
+any time to be purchased. Unless the defendant intended at the time he
+received the check fraudulently to appropriate it he could not be
+convicted even on the first count. The verdict of the jury does not
+establish this fact; the evidence does not show conclusively that it
+could be established; and the same jury, upon three other counts, found
+the defendant guilty without the semblance of shadow of evidence. How
+can we say that their conclusions upon the first count are unerring
+when they so palpably erred on the other counts? It is the opinion of
+the minority that the verdict of the jury in charging larceny on the
+first count is not valid, and that that verdict should be set aside and
+a new trial granted.”
+
+
+Judge Rafalsky, a meditative and yet practical man of Jewish extraction
+but peculiarly American appearance, felt called upon to write a third
+opinion which should especially reflect his own cogitation and be a
+criticism on the majority as well as a slight variation from and
+addition to the points on which he agreed with Judge Marvin. It was a
+knotty question, this, of Cowperwood’s guilt, and, aside from the
+political necessity of convicting him, nowhere was it more clearly
+shown than in these varying opinions of the superior court. Judge
+Rafalsky held, for instance, that if a crime had been committed at all,
+it was not that known as larceny, and he went on to add:
+
+“It is impossible, from the evidence, to come to the conclusion either
+that Cowperwood did not intend shortly to deliver the loan or that
+Albert Stires, the chief clerk, or the city treasurer did not intend to
+part not only with the possession, but also and absolutely with the
+property in the check and the money represented by it. It was testified
+by Mr. Stires that Mr. Cowperwood said he had bought certificates of
+city loan to this amount, and it has not been clearly demonstrated that
+he had not. His non-placement of the same in the sinking-fund must in
+all fairness, the letter of the law to the contrary notwithstanding, be
+looked upon and judged in the light of custom. Was it his custom so to
+do? In my judgment the doctrine now announced by the majority of the
+court extends the crime of constructive larceny to such limits that any
+business man who engages in extensive and perfectly legitimate stock
+transactions may, before he knows it, by a sudden panic in the market
+or a fire, as in this instance, become a felon. When a principle is
+asserted which establishes such a precedent, and may lead to such
+results, it is, to say the least, startling.”
+
+
+While he was notably comforted by the dissenting opinions of the judges
+in minority, and while he had been schooling himself to expect the
+worst in this connection and had been arranging his affairs as well as
+he could in anticipation of it, Cowperwood was still bitterly
+disappointed. It would be untrue to say that, strong and self-reliant
+as he normally was, he did not suffer. He was not without sensibilities
+of the highest order, only they were governed and controlled in him by
+that cold iron thing, his reason, which never forsook him. There was no
+further appeal possible save to the United States Supreme Court, as
+Steger pointed out, and there only on the constitutionality of some
+phase of the decision and his rights as a citizen, of which the Supreme
+Court of the United States must take cognizance. This was a tedious and
+expensive thing to do. It was not exactly obvious at the moment on what
+point he could make an appeal. It would involve a long delay—perhaps a
+year and a half, perhaps longer, at the end of which period he might
+have to serve his prison term anyhow, and pending which he would
+certainly have to undergo incarceration for a time.
+
+Cowperwood mused speculatively for a few moments after hearing Steger’s
+presentation of the case. Then he said: “Well, it looks as if I have to
+go to jail or leave the country, and I’ve decided on jail. I can fight
+this out right here in Philadelphia in the long run and win. I can get
+that decision reversed in the Supreme Court, or I can get the Governor
+to pardon me after a time, I think. I’m not going to run away, and
+everybody knows I’m not. These people who think they have me down
+haven’t got one corner of me whipped. I’ll get out of this thing after
+a while, and when I do I’ll show some of these petty little politicians
+what it means to put up a real fight. They’ll never get a damned dollar
+out of me now—not a dollar! I did intend to pay that five hundred
+thousand dollars some time if they had let me go. Now they can
+whistle!”
+
+He set his teeth and his gray eyes fairly snapped their determination.
+
+“Well, I’ve done all I can, Frank,” pleaded Steger, sympathetically.
+“You’ll do me the justice to say that I put up the best fight I knew
+how. I may not know how—you’ll have to answer for that—but within my
+limits I’ve done the best I can. I can do a few things more to carry
+this thing on, if you want me to, but I’m going to leave it to you now.
+Whatever you say goes.”
+
+“Don’t talk nonsense at this stage, Harper,” replied Cowperwood almost
+testily. “I know whether I’m satisfied or not, and I’d soon tell you if
+I wasn’t. I think you might as well go on and see if you can find some
+definite grounds for carrying it to the Supreme Court, but meanwhile
+I’ll begin my sentence. I suppose Payderson will be naming a day to
+have me brought before him now shortly.”
+
+“It depends on how you’d like to have it, Frank. I could get a stay of
+sentence for a week maybe, or ten days, if it will do you any good.
+Shannon won’t make any objection to that, I’m sure. There’s only one
+hitch. Jaspers will be around here tomorrow looking for you. It’s his
+duty to take you into custody again, once he’s notified that your
+appeal has been denied. He’ll be wanting to lock you up unless you pay
+him, but we can fix that. If you do want to wait, and want any time
+off, I suppose he’ll arrange to let you out with a deputy; but I’m
+afraid you’ll have to stay there nights. They’re pretty strict about
+that since that Albertson case of a few years ago.”
+
+Steger referred to the case of a noted bank cashier who, being let out
+of the county jail at night in the alleged custody of a deputy, was
+permitted to escape. There had been emphatic and severe condemnation of
+the sheriff’s office at the time, and since then, repute or no repute,
+money or no money, convicted criminals were supposed to stay in the
+county jail at night at least.
+
+Cowperwood meditated this calmly, looking out of the lawyer’s window
+into Second Street. He did not much fear anything that might happen to
+him in Jaspers’s charge since his first taste of that gentleman’s
+hospitality, although he did object to spending nights in the county
+jail when his general term of imprisonment was being reduced no whit
+thereby. All that he could do now in connection with his affairs,
+unless he could have months of freedom, could be as well adjusted from
+a prison cell as from his Third Street office—not quite, but nearly so.
+Anyhow, why parley? He was facing a prison term, and he might as well
+accept it without further ado. He might take a day or two finally to
+look after his affairs; but beyond that, why bother?
+
+“When, in the ordinary course of events, if you did nothing at all,
+would I come up for sentence?”
+
+“Oh, Friday or Monday, I fancy,” replied Steger. “I don’t know what
+move Shannon is planning to make in this matter. I thought I’d walk
+around and see him in a little while.”
+
+“I think you’d better do that,” replied Cowperwood. “Friday or Monday
+will suit me, either way. I’m really not particular. Better make it
+Monday if you can. You don’t suppose there is any way you can induce
+Jaspers to keep his hands off until then? He knows I’m perfectly
+responsible.”
+
+“I don’t know, Frank, I’m sure; I’ll see. I’ll go around and talk to
+him to-night. Perhaps a hundred dollars will make him relax the rigor
+of his rules that much.”
+
+Cowperwood smiled grimly.
+
+“I fancy a hundred dollars would make Jaspers relax a whole lot of
+rules,” he replied, and he got up to go.
+
+Steger arose also. “I’ll see both these people, and then I’ll call
+around at your house. You’ll be in, will you, after dinner?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+They slipped on their overcoats and went out into the cold February
+day, Cowperwood back to his Third Street office, Steger to see Shannon
+and Jaspers.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLIX
+
+
+The business of arranging Cowperwood’s sentence for Monday was soon
+disposed of through Shannon, who had no personal objection to any
+reasonable delay.
+
+Steger next visited the county jail, close on to five o’clock, when it
+was already dark. Sheriff Jaspers came lolling out from his private
+library, where he had been engaged upon the work of cleaning his pipe.
+
+“How are you, Mr. Steger?” he observed, smiling blandly. “How are you?
+Glad to see you. Won’t you sit down? I suppose you’re round here again
+on that Cowperwood matter. I just received word from the district
+attorney that he had lost his case.”
+
+“That’s it, Sheriff,” replied Steger, ingratiatingly. “He asked me to
+step around and see what you wanted him to do in the matter. Judge
+Payderson has just fixed the sentence time for Monday morning at ten
+o’clock. I don’t suppose you’ll be much put out if he doesn’t show up
+here before Monday at eight o’clock, will you, or Sunday night, anyhow?
+He’s perfectly reliable, as you know.” Steger was sounding Jaspers out,
+politely trying to make the time of Cowperwood’s arrival a trivial
+matter in order to avoid paying the hundred dollars, if possible. But
+Jaspers was not to be so easily disposed of. His fat face lengthened
+considerably. How could Steger ask him such a favor and not even
+suggest the slightest form of remuneration?
+
+“It’s ag’in’ the law, Mr. Steger, as you know,” he began, cautiously
+and complainingly. “I’d like to accommodate him, everything else being
+equal, but since that Albertson case three years ago we’ve had to run
+this office much more careful, and—”
+
+“Oh, I know, Sheriff,” interrupted Steger, blandly, “but this isn’t an
+ordinary case in any way, as you can see for yourself. Mr. Cowperwood
+is a very important man, and he has a great many things to attend to.
+Now if it were only a mere matter of seventy-five or a hundred dollars
+to satisfy some court clerk with, or to pay a fine, it would be easy
+enough, but—” He paused and looked wisely away, and Mr. Jaspers’s face
+began to relax at once. The law against which it was ordinarily so hard
+to offend was not now so important. Steger saw that it was needless to
+introduce any additional arguments.
+
+“It’s a very ticklish business, this, Mr. Steger,” put in the sheriff,
+yieldingly, and yet with a slight whimper in his voice. “If anything
+were to happen, it would cost me my place all right. I don’t like to do
+it under any circumstances, and I wouldn’t, only I happen to know both
+Mr. Cowperwood and Mr. Stener, and I like ’em both. I don’ think they
+got their rights in this matter, either. I don’t mind making an
+exception in this case if Mr. Cowperwood don’t go about too publicly. I
+wouldn’t want any of the men in the district attorney’s office to know
+this. I don’t suppose he’ll mind if I keep a deputy somewhere near all
+the time for looks’ sake. I have to, you know, really, under the law.
+He won’t bother him any. Just keep on guard like.” Jaspers looked at
+Mr. Steger very flatly and wisely—almost placatingly under the
+circumstances—and Steger nodded.
+
+“Quite right, Sheriff, quite right. You’re quite right,” and he drew
+out his purse while the sheriff led the way very cautiously back into
+his library.
+
+“I’d like to show you the line of law-books I’m fixing up for myself in
+here, Mr. Steger,” he observed, genially, but meanwhile closing his
+fingers gently on the small roll of ten-dollar bills Steger was handing
+him. “We have occasional use for books of that kind here, as you see. I
+thought it a good sort of thing to have them around.” He waved one arm
+comprehensively at the line of State reports, revised statutes, prison
+regulations, etc., the while he put the money in his pocket and Steger
+pretended to look.
+
+“A good idea, I think, Sheriff. Very good, indeed. So you think if Mr.
+Cowperwood gets around here very early Monday morning, say eight or
+eight-thirty, that it will be all right?”
+
+“I think so,” replied the sheriff, curiously nervous, but agreeable,
+anxious to please. “I don’t think that anything will come up that will
+make me want him earlier. If it does I’ll let you know, and you can
+produce him. I don’t think so, though, Mr. Steger; I think everything
+will be all right.” They were once more in the main hall now. “Glad to
+have seen you again, Mr. Steger—very glad,” he added. “Call again some
+day.”
+
+Waving the sheriff a pleasant farewell, he hurried on his way to
+Cowperwood’s house.
+
+You would not have thought, seeing Cowperwood mount the front steps of
+his handsome residence in his neat gray suit and well-cut overcoat on
+his return from his office that evening, that he was thinking that this
+might be his last night here. His air and walk indicated no weakening
+of spirit. He entered the hall, where an early lamp was aglow, and
+encountered “Wash” Sims, an old negro factotum, who was just coming up
+from the basement, carrying a bucket of coal for one of the fireplaces.
+
+“Mahty cold out, dis evenin’, Mistah Coppahwood,” said Wash, to whom
+anything less than sixty degrees was very cold. His one regret was that
+Philadelphia was not located in North Carolina, from whence he came.
+
+“’Tis sharp, Wash,” replied Cowperwood, absentmindedly. He was thinking
+for the moment of the house and how it had looked, as he came toward it
+west along Girard Avenue—what the neighbors were thinking of him, too,
+observing him from time to time out of their windows. It was clear and
+cold. The lamps in the reception-hall and sitting-room had been lit,
+for he had permitted no air of funereal gloom to settle down over this
+place since his troubles had begun. In the far west of the street a
+last tingling gleam of lavender and violet was showing over the cold
+white snow of the roadway. The house of gray-green stone, with its
+lighted windows, and cream-colored lace curtains, had looked especially
+attractive. He had thought for the moment of the pride he had taken in
+putting all this here, decorating and ornamenting it, and whether,
+ever, he could secure it for himself again. “Where is your mistress?”
+he added to Wash, when he bethought himself.
+
+“In the sitting-room, Mr. Coppahwood, ah think.”
+
+Cowperwood ascended the stairs, thinking curiously that Wash would soon
+be out of a job now, unless Mrs. Cowperwood, out of all the wreck of
+other things, chose to retain him, which was not likely. He entered the
+sitting-room, and there sat his wife by the oblong center-table, sewing
+a hook and eye on one of Lillian, second’s, petticoats. She looked up,
+at his step, with the peculiarly uncertain smile she used these
+days—indication of her pain, fear, suspicion—and inquired, “Well, what
+is new with you, Frank?” Her smile was something like a hat or belt or
+ornament which one puts on or off at will.
+
+“Nothing in particular,” he replied, in his offhand way, “except that I
+understand I have lost that appeal of mine. Steger is coming here in a
+little while to let me know. I had a note from him, and I fancy it’s
+about that.”
+
+He did not care to say squarely that he had lost. He knew that she was
+sufficiently distressed as it was, and he did not care to be too abrupt
+just now.
+
+“You don’t say!” replied Lillian, with surprise and fright in her
+voice, and getting up.
+
+She had been so used to a world where prisons were scarcely thought of,
+where things went on smoothly from day to day without any noticeable
+intrusion of such distressing things as courts, jails, and the like,
+that these last few months had driven her nearly mad. Cowperwood had so
+definitely insisted on her keeping in the background—he had told her so
+very little that she was all at sea anyhow in regard to the whole
+procedure. Nearly all that she had had in the way of intelligence had
+been from his father and mother and Anna, and from a close and almost
+secret scrutiny of the newspapers.
+
+At the time he had gone to the county jail she did not even know
+anything about it until his father had come back from the court-room
+and the jail and had broken the news to her. It had been a terrific
+blow to her. Now to have this thing suddenly broken to her in this
+offhand way, even though she had been expecting and dreading it hourly,
+was too much.
+
+She was still a decidedly charming-looking woman as she stood holding
+her daughter’s garment in her hand, even if she was forty years old to
+Cowperwood’s thirty-five. She was robed in one of the creations of
+their late prosperity, a cream-colored gown of rich silk, with dark
+brown trimmings—a fetching combination for her. Her eyes were a little
+hollow, and reddish about the rims, but otherwise she showed no sign of
+her keen mental distress. There was considerable evidence of the former
+tranquil sweetness that had so fascinated him ten years before.
+
+“Isn’t that terrible?” she said, weakly, her hands trembling in a
+nervous way. “Isn’t it dreadful? Isn’t there anything more you can do,
+truly? You won’t really have to go to prison, will you?” He objected to
+her distress and her nervous fears. He preferred a stronger, more
+self-reliant type of woman, but still she was his wife, and in his day
+he had loved her much.
+
+“It looks that way, Lillian,” he said, with the first note of real
+sympathy he had used in a long while, for he felt sorry for her now. At
+the same time he was afraid to go any further along that line, for fear
+it might give her a false sense as to his present attitude toward her
+which was one essentially of indifference. But she was not so dull but
+what she could see that the consideration in his voice had been brought
+about by his defeat, which meant hers also. She choked a little—and
+even so was touched. The bare suggestion of sympathy brought back the
+old days so definitely gone forever. If only they could be brought
+back!
+
+“I don’t want you to feel distressed about me, though,” he went on,
+before she could say anything to him. “I’m not through with my
+fighting. I’ll get out of this. I have to go to prison, it seems, in
+order to get things straightened out properly. What I would like you to
+do is to keep up a cheerful appearance in front of the rest of the
+family—father and mother particularly. They need to be cheered up.” He
+thought once of taking her hand, then decided not. She noted mentally
+his hesitation, the great difference between his attitude now and that
+of ten or twelve years before. It did not hurt her now as much as she
+once would have thought. She looked at him, scarcely knowing what to
+say. There was really not so much to say.
+
+“Will you have to go soon, if you do have to go?” she ventured,
+wearily.
+
+“I can’t tell yet. Possibly to-night. Possibly Friday. Possibly not
+until Monday. I’m waiting to hear from Steger. I expect him here any
+minute.”
+
+To prison! To prison! Her Frank Cowperwood, her husband—the substance
+of their home here—and all their soul destruction going to prison. And
+even now she scarcely grasped why! She stood there wondering what she
+could do.
+
+“Is there anything I can get for you?” she asked, starting forward as
+if out of a dream. “Do you want me to do anything? Don’t you think
+perhaps you had better leave Philadelphia, Frank? You needn’t go to
+prison unless you want to.”
+
+She was a little beside herself, for the first time in her life shocked
+out of a deadly calm.
+
+He paused and looked at her for a moment in his direct, examining way,
+his hard commercial business judgment restored on the instant.
+
+“That would be a confession of guilt, Lillian, and I’m not guilty,” he
+replied, almost coldly. “I haven’t done anything that warrants my
+running away or going to prison, either. I’m merely going there to save
+time at present. I can’t be litigating this thing forever. I’ll get
+out—be pardoned out or sued out in a reasonable length of time. Just
+now it’s better to go, I think. I wouldn’t think of running away from
+Philadelphia. Two of five judges found for me in the decision. That’s
+pretty fair evidence that the State has no case against me.”
+
+His wife saw she had made a mistake. It clarified her judgment on the
+instant. “I didn’t mean in that way, Frank,” she replied,
+apologetically. “You know I didn’t. Of course I know you’re not guilty.
+Why should I think you were, of all people?”
+
+She paused, expecting some retort, some further argument—a kind word
+maybe. A trace of the older, baffling love, but he had quietly turned
+to his desk and was thinking of other things.
+
+At this point the anomaly of her own state came over her again. It was
+all so sad and so hopeless. And what was she to do in the future? And
+what was he likely to do? She paused half trembling and yet decided,
+because of her peculiarly nonresisting nature—why trespass on his time?
+Why bother? No good would really come of it. He really did not care for
+her any more—that was it. Nothing could make him, nothing could bring
+them together again, not even this tragedy. He was interested in
+another woman—Aileen—and so her foolish thoughts and explanations, her
+fear, sorrow, distress, were not important to him. He could take her
+agonized wish for his freedom as a comment on his probable guilt, a
+doubt of his innocence, a criticism of him! She turned away for a
+minute, and he started to leave the room.
+
+“I’ll be back again in a few moments,” he volunteered. “Are the
+children here?”
+
+“Yes, they’re up in the play-room,” she answered, sadly, utterly
+nonplussed and distraught.
+
+“Oh, Frank!” she had it on her lips to cry, but before she could utter
+it he had bustled down the steps and was gone. She turned back to the
+table, her left hand to her mouth, her eyes in a queer, hazy,
+melancholy mist. Could it be, she thought, that life could really come
+to this—that love could so utterly, so thoroughly die? Ten years
+before—but, oh, why go back to that? Obviously it could, and thoughts
+concerning that would not help now. Twice now in her life her affairs
+had seemed to go to pieces—once when her first husband had died, and
+now when her second had failed her, had fallen in love with another and
+was going to be sent off to prison. What was it about her that caused
+such things? Was there anything wrong with her? What was she going to
+do? Where go? She had no idea, of course, for how long a term of years
+he would be sent away. It might be one year or it might be five years,
+as the papers had said. Good heavens! The children could almost come to
+forget him in five years. She put her other hand to her mouth, also,
+and then to her forehead, where there was a dull ache. She tried to
+think further than this, but somehow, just now, there was no further
+thought. Suddenly quite outside of her own volition, with no thought
+that she was going to do such a thing, her bosom began to heave, her
+throat contracted in four or five short, sharp, aching spasms, her eyes
+burned, and she shook in a vigorous, anguished, desperate, almost one
+might have said dry-eyed, cry, so hot and few were the tears. She could
+not stop for the moment, just stood there and shook, and then after a
+while a dull ache succeeded, and she was quite as she had been before.
+
+“Why cry?” she suddenly asked herself, fiercely—for her. “Why break
+down in this stormy, useless way? Would it help?”
+
+But, in spite of her speculative, philosophic observations to herself,
+she still felt the echo, the distant rumble, as it were, of the storm
+in her own soul. “Why cry? Why not cry?” She might have said—but
+wouldn’t, and in spite of herself and all her logic, she knew that this
+tempest which had so recently raged over her was now merely circling
+around her soul’s horizon and would return to break again.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter L
+
+
+The arrival of Steger with the information that no move of any kind
+would be made by the sheriff until Monday morning, when Cowperwood
+could present himself, eased matters. This gave him time to think—to
+adjust home details at his leisure. He broke the news to his father and
+mother in a consoling way and talked with his brothers and father about
+getting matters immediately adjusted in connection with the smaller
+houses to which they were now shortly to be compelled to move. There
+was much conferring among the different members of this collapsing
+organization in regard to the minor details; and what with his
+conferences with Steger, his seeing personally Davison, Leigh, Avery
+Stone, of Jay Cooke & Co., George Waterman (his old-time employer Henry
+was dead), ex-State Treasurer Van Nostrand, who had gone out with the
+last State administration, and others, he was very busy. Now that he
+was really going into prison, he wanted his financial friends to get
+together and see if they could get him out by appealing to the
+Governor. The division of opinion among the judges of the State Supreme
+Court was his excuse and strong point. He wanted Steger to follow this
+up, and he spared no pains in trying to see all and sundry who might be
+of use to him—Edward Tighe, of Tighe & Co., who was still in business
+in Third Street; Newton Targool; Arthur Rivers; Joseph Zimmerman, the
+dry-goods prince, now a millionaire; Judge Kitchen; Terrence Relihan,
+the former representative of the money element at Harrisburg; and many
+others.
+
+Cowperwood wanted Relihan to approach the newspapers and see if he
+could not readjust their attitude so as to work to get him out, and he
+wanted Walter Leigh to head the movement of getting up a signed
+petition which should contain all the important names of moneyed people
+and others, asking the Governor to release him. Leigh agreed to this
+heartily, as did Relihan, and many others.
+
+And, afterwards there was really nothing else to do, unless it was to
+see Aileen once more, and this, in the midst of his other complications
+and obligations, seemed all but impossible at times—and yet he did
+achieve that, too—so eager was he to be soothed and comforted by the
+ignorant and yet all embracing volume of her love. Her eyes these days!
+The eager, burning quest of him and his happiness that blazed in them.
+To think that he should be tortured so—her Frank! Oh, she knew—whatever
+he said, and however bravely and jauntily he talked. To think that her
+love for him should have been the principal cause of his being sent to
+jail, as she now believed. And the cruelty of her father! And the
+smallness of his enemies—that fool Stener, for instance, whose pictures
+she had seen in the papers. Actually, whenever in the presence of her
+Frank, she fairly seethed in a chemic agony for him—her strong,
+handsome lover—the strongest, bravest, wisest, kindest, handsomest man
+in the world. Oh, didn’t she know! And Cowperwood, looking in her eyes
+and realizing this reasonless, if so comforting fever for him, smiled
+and was touched. Such love! That of a dog for a master; that of a
+mother for a child. And how had he come to evoke it? He could not say,
+but it was beautiful.
+
+And so, now, in these last trying hours, he wished to see her much—and
+did—meeting her at least four times in the month in which he had been
+free, between his conviction and the final dismissal of his appeal. He
+had one last opportunity of seeing her—and she him—just before his
+entrance into prison this last time—on the Saturday before the Monday
+of his sentence. He had not come in contact with her since the decision
+of the Supreme Court had been rendered, but he had had a letter from
+her sent to a private mail-box, and had made an appointment for
+Saturday at a small hotel in Camden, which, being across the river, was
+safer, in his judgment, than anything in Philadelphia. He was a little
+uncertain as to how she would take the possibility of not seeing him
+soon again after Monday, and how she would act generally once he was
+where she could not confer with him as often as she chose. And in
+consequence, he was anxious to talk to her. But on this occasion, as he
+anticipated, and even feared, so sorry for her was he, she was not less
+emphatic in her protestations than she had ever been; in fact, much
+more so. When she saw him approaching in the distance, she went forward
+to meet him in that direct, forceful way which only she could attempt
+with him, a sort of mannish impetuosity which he both enjoyed and
+admired, and slipping her arms around his neck, said: “Honey, you
+needn’t tell me. I saw it in the papers the other morning. Don’t you
+mind, honey. I love you. I’ll wait for you. I’ll be with you yet, if it
+takes a dozen years of waiting. It doesn’t make any difference to me if
+it takes a hundred, only I’m so sorry for you, sweetheart. I’ll be with
+you every day through this, darling, loving you with all my might.”
+
+She caressed him while he looked at her in that quiet way which
+betokened at once his self-poise and yet his interest and satisfaction
+in her. He couldn’t help loving Aileen, he thought who could? She was
+so passionate, vibrant, desireful. He couldn’t help admiring her
+tremendously, now more than ever, because literally, in spite of all
+his intellectual strength, he really could not rule her. She went at
+him, even when he stood off in a calm, critical way, as if he were her
+special property, her toy. She would talk to him always, and
+particularly when she was excited, as if he were just a baby, her pet;
+and sometimes he felt as though she would really overcome him mentally,
+make him subservient to her, she was so individual, so sure of her
+importance as a woman.
+
+Now on this occasion she went babbling on as if he were broken-hearted,
+in need of her greatest care and tenderness, although he really wasn’t
+at all; and for the moment she actually made him feel as though he was.
+
+“It isn’t as bad as that, Aileen,” he ventured to say, eventually; and
+with a softness and tenderness almost unusual for him, even where she
+was concerned, but she went on forcefully, paying no heed to him.
+
+“Oh, yes, it is, too, honey. I know. Oh, my poor Frank! But I’ll see
+you. I know how to manage, whatever happens. How often do they let
+visitors come out to see the prisoners there?”
+
+“Only once in three months, pet, so they say, but I think we can fix
+that after I get there; only do you think you had better try to come
+right away, Aileen? You know what the feeling now is. Hadn’t you better
+wait a while? Aren’t you in danger of stirring up your father? He might
+cause a lot of trouble out there if he were so minded.”
+
+“Only once in three months!” she exclaimed, with rising emphasis, as he
+began this explanation. “Oh, Frank, no! Surely not! Once in three
+months! Oh, I can’t stand that! I won’t! I’ll go and see the warden
+myself. He’ll let me see you. I’m sure he will, if I talk to him.”
+
+She fairly gasped in her excitement, not willing to pause in her
+tirade, but Cowperwood interposed with her, “You’re not thinking what
+you’re saying, Aileen. You’re not thinking. Remember your father!
+Remember your family! Your father may know the warden out there. You
+don’t want it to get all over town that you’re running out there to see
+me, do you? Your father might cause you trouble. Besides you don’t know
+the small party politicians as I do. They gossip like a lot of old
+women. You’ll have to be very careful what you do and how you do it. I
+don’t want to lose you. I want to see you. But you’ll have to mind what
+you’re doing. Don’t try to see me at once. I want you to, but I want to
+find out how the land lies, and I want you to find out too. You won’t
+lose me. I’ll be there, well enough.”
+
+He paused as he thought of the long tier of iron cells which must be
+there, one of which would be his—for how long?—and of Aileen seeing him
+through the door of it or in it. At the same time he was thinking, in
+spite of all his other calculations, how charming she was looking
+to-day. How young she kept, and how forceful! While he was nearing his
+full maturity she was a comparatively young girl, and as beautiful as
+ever. She was wearing a black-and-white-striped silk in the curious
+bustle style of the times, and a set of sealskin furs, including a
+little sealskin cap set jauntily on top her red-gold hair.
+
+“I know, I know,” replied Aileen, firmly. “But think of three months!
+Honey, I can’t! I won’t! It’s nonsense. Three months! I know that my
+father wouldn’t have to wait any three months if he wanted to see
+anybody out there, nor anybody else that he wanted to ask favors for.
+And I won’t, either. I’ll find some way.”
+
+Cowperwood had to smile. You could not defeat Aileen so easily.
+
+“But you’re not your father, honey; and you don’t want him to know.”
+
+“I know I don’t, but they don’t need to know who I am. I can go heavily
+veiled. I don’t think that the warden knows my father. He may. Anyhow,
+he doesn’t know me; and he wouldn’t tell on me if he did if I talked to
+him.”
+
+Her confidence in her charms, her personality, her earthly privileges
+was quite anarchistic. Cowperwood shook his head.
+
+“Honey, you’re about the best and the worst there is when it comes to a
+woman,” he observed, affectionately, pulling her head down to kiss her,
+“but you’ll have to listen to me just the same. I have a lawyer,
+Steger—you know him. He’s going to take up this matter with the warden
+out there—is doing it today. He may be able to fix things, and he may
+not. I’ll know to-morrow or Sunday, and I’ll write you. But don’t go
+and do anything rash until you hear. I’m sure I can cut that visiting
+limit in half, and perhaps down to once a month or once in two weeks
+even. They only allow me to write one letter in three months”—Aileen
+exploded again—“and I’m sure I can have that made different—some; but
+don’t write me until you hear, or at least don’t sign any name or put
+any address in. They open all mail and read it. If you see me or write
+me you’ll have to be cautious, and you’re not the most cautious person
+in the world. Now be good, will you?”
+
+They talked much more—of his family, his court appearance Monday,
+whether he would get out soon to attend any of the suits still pending,
+or be pardoned. Aileen still believed in his future. She had read the
+opinions of the dissenting judges in his favor, and that of the three
+agreed judges against him. She was sure his day was not over in
+Philadelphia, and that he would some time reestablish himself and then
+take her with him somewhere else. She was sorry for Mrs. Cowperwood,
+but she was convinced that she was not suited to him—that Frank needed
+some one more like herself, some one with youth and beauty and
+force—her, no less. She clung to him now in ecstatic embraces until it
+was time to go. So far as a plan of procedure could have been adjusted
+in a situation so incapable of accurate adjustment, it had been done.
+She was desperately downcast at the last moment, as was he, over their
+parting; but she pulled herself together with her usual force and faced
+the dark future with a steady eye.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LI
+
+
+Monday came and with it his final departure. All that could be done had
+been done. Cowperwood said his farewells to his mother and father, his
+brothers and sister. He had a rather distant but sensible and
+matter-of-fact talk with his wife. He made no special point of saying
+good-by to his son or his daughter; when he came in on Thursday,
+Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, after he had learned that he was
+to depart Monday, it was with the thought of talking to them a little
+in an especially affectionate way. He realized that his general moral
+or unmoral attitude was perhaps working them a temporary injustice.
+Still he was not sure. Most people did fairly well with their lives,
+whether coddled or deprived of opportunity. These children would
+probably do as well as most children, whatever happened—and then,
+anyhow, he had no intention of forsaking them financially, if he could
+help it. He did not want to separate his wife from her children, nor
+them from her. She should keep them. He wanted them to be comfortable
+with her. He would like to see them, wherever they were with her,
+occasionally. Only he wanted his own personal freedom, in so far as she
+and they were concerned, to go off and set up a new world and a new
+home with Aileen. So now on these last days, and particularly this last
+Sunday night, he was rather noticeably considerate of his boy and girl,
+without being too openly indicative of his approaching separation from
+them.
+
+“Frank,” he said to his notably lackadaisical son on this occasion,
+“aren’t you going to straighten up and be a big, strong, healthy
+fellow? You don’t play enough. You ought to get in with a gang of boys
+and be a leader. Why don’t you fit yourself up a gymnasium somewhere
+and see how strong you can get?”
+
+They were in the senior Cowperwood’s sitting-room, where they had all
+rather consciously gathered on this occasion.
+
+Lillian, second, who was on the other side of the big library table
+from her father, paused to survey him and her brother with interest.
+Both had been carefully guarded against any real knowledge of their
+father’s affairs or his present predicament. He was going away on a
+journey for about a month or so they understood. Lillian was reading in
+a Chatterbox book which had been given her the previous Christmas.
+
+“He won’t do anything,” she volunteered, looking up from her reading in
+a peculiarly critical way for her. “Why, he won’t ever run races with
+me when I want him to.”
+
+“Aw, who wants to run races with you, anyhow?” returned Frank, junior,
+sourly. “You couldn’t run if I did want to run with you.”
+
+“Couldn’t I?” she replied. “I could beat you, all right.”
+
+“Lillian!” pleaded her mother, with a warning sound in her voice.
+
+Cowperwood smiled, and laid his hand affectionately on his son’s head.
+“You’ll be all right, Frank,” he volunteered, pinching his ear lightly.
+“Don’t worry—just make an effort.”
+
+The boy did not respond as warmly as he hoped. Later in the evening
+Mrs. Cowperwood noticed that her husband squeezed his daughter’s slim
+little waist and pulled her curly hair gently. For the moment she was
+jealous of her daughter.
+
+“Going to be the best kind of a girl while I’m away?” he said to her,
+privately.
+
+“Yes, papa,” she replied, brightly.
+
+“That’s right,” he returned, and leaned over and kissed her mouth
+tenderly. “Button Eyes,” he said.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood sighed after he had gone. “Everything for the children,
+nothing for me,” she thought, though the children had not got so vastly
+much either in the past.
+
+Cowperwood’s attitude toward his mother in this final hour was about as
+tender and sympathetic as any he could maintain in this world. He
+understood quite clearly the ramifications of her interests, and how
+she was suffering for him and all the others concerned. He had not
+forgotten her sympathetic care of him in his youth; and if he could
+have done anything to have spared her this unhappy breakdown of her
+fortunes in her old age, he would have done so. There was no use crying
+over spilled milk. It was impossible at times for him not to feel
+intensely in moments of success or failure; but the proper thing to do
+was to bear up, not to show it, to talk little and go your way with an
+air not so much of resignation as of self-sufficiency, to whatever was
+awaiting you. That was his attitude on this morning, and that was what
+he expected from those around him—almost compelled, in fact, by his own
+attitude.
+
+“Well, mother,” he said, genially, at the last moment—he would not let
+her nor his wife nor his sister come to court, maintaining that it
+would make not the least difference to him and would only harrow their
+own feelings uselessly—“I’m going now. Don’t worry. Keep up your
+spirits.”
+
+He slipped his arm around his mother’s waist, and she gave him a long,
+unrestrained, despairing embrace and kiss.
+
+“Go on, Frank,” she said, choking, when she let him go. “God bless you.
+I’ll pray for you.” He paid no further attention to her. He didn’t
+dare.
+
+“Good-by, Lillian,” he said to his wife, pleasantly, kindly. “I’ll be
+back in a few days, I think. I’ll be coming out to attend some of these
+court proceedings.”
+
+To his sister he said: “Good-by, Anna. Don’t let the others get too
+down-hearted.”
+
+“I’ll see you three afterward,” he said to his father and brothers; and
+so, dressed in the very best fashion of the time, he hurried down into
+the reception-hall, where Steger was waiting, and was off. His family,
+hearing the door close on him, suffered a poignant sense of desolation.
+They stood there for a moment, his mother crying, his father looking as
+though he had lost his last friend but making a great effort to seem
+self-contained and equal to his troubles, Anna telling Lillian not to
+mind, and the latter staring dumbly into the future, not knowing what
+to think. Surely a brilliant sun had set on their local scene, and in a
+very pathetic way.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LII
+
+
+When Cowperwood reached the jail, Jaspers was there, glad to see him
+but principally relieved to feel that nothing had happened to mar his
+own reputation as a sheriff. Because of the urgency of court matters
+generally, it was decided to depart for the courtroom at nine o’clock.
+Eddie Zanders was once more delegated to see that Cowperwood was
+brought safely before Judge Payderson and afterward taken to the
+penitentiary. All of the papers in the case were put in his care to be
+delivered to the warden.
+
+“I suppose you know,” confided Sheriff Jaspers to Steger, “that Stener
+is here. He ain’t got no money now, but I gave him a private room just
+the same. I didn’t want to put a man like him in no cell.” Sheriff
+Jaspers sympathized with Stener.
+
+“That’s right. I’m glad to hear that,” replied Steger, smiling to
+himself.
+
+“I didn’t suppose from what I’ve heard that Mr. Cowperwood would want
+to meet Stener here, so I’ve kept ’em apart. George just left a minute
+ago with another deputy.”
+
+“That’s good. That’s the way it ought to be,” replied Steger. He was
+glad for Cowperwood’s sake that the sheriff had so much tact. Evidently
+George and the sheriff were getting along in a very friendly way, for
+all the former’s bitter troubles and lack of means.
+
+The Cowperwood party walked, the distance not being great, and as they
+did so they talked of rather simple things to avoid the more serious.
+
+“Things aren’t going to be so bad,” Edward said to his father. “Steger
+says the Governor is sure to pardon Stener in a year or less, and if he
+does he’s bound to let Frank out too.”
+
+Cowperwood, the elder, had heard this over and over, but he was never
+tired of hearing it. It was like some simple croon with which babies
+are hushed to sleep. The snow on the ground, which was enduring
+remarkably well for this time of year, the fineness of the day, which
+had started out to be clear and bright, the hope that the courtroom
+might not be full, all held the attention of the father and his two
+sons. Cowperwood, senior, even commented on some sparrows fighting over
+a piece of bread, marveling how well they did in winter, solely to ease
+his mind. Cowperwood, walking on ahead with Steger and Zanders, talked
+of approaching court proceedings in connection with his business and
+what ought to be done.
+
+When they reached the court the same little pen in which Cowperwood had
+awaited the verdict of his jury several months before was waiting to
+receive him.
+
+Cowperwood, senior, and his other sons sought places in the courtroom
+proper. Eddie Zanders remained with his charge. Stener and a deputy by
+the name of Wilkerson were in the room; but he and Cowperwood pretended
+now not to see each other. Frank had no objection to talking to his
+former associate, but he could see that Stener was diffident and
+ashamed. So he let the situation pass without look or word of any kind.
+After some three-quarters of an hour of dreary waiting the door leading
+into the courtroom proper opened and a bailiff stepped in.
+
+“All prisoners up for sentence,” he called.
+
+There were six, all told, including Cowperwood and Stener. Two of them
+were confederate housebreakers who had been caught red-handed at their
+midnight task.
+
+Another prisoner was no more and no less than a plain horse-thief, a
+young man of twenty-six, who had been convicted by a jury of stealing a
+grocer’s horse and selling it. The last man was a negro, a tall,
+shambling, illiterate, nebulous-minded black, who had walked off with
+an apparently discarded section of lead pipe which he had found in a
+lumber-yard. His idea was to sell or trade it for a drink. He really
+did not belong in this court at all; but, having been caught by an
+undersized American watchman charged with the care of the property, and
+having at first refused to plead guilty, not quite understanding what
+was to be done with him, he had been perforce bound over to this court
+for trial. Afterward he had changed his mind and admitted his guilt, so
+he now had to come before Judge Payderson for sentence or dismissal.
+The lower court before which he had originally been brought had lost
+jurisdiction by binding him over to to higher court for trial. Eddie
+Zanders, in his self-appointed position as guide and mentor to
+Cowperwood, had confided nearly all of this data to him as he stood
+waiting.
+
+The courtroom was crowded. It was very humiliating to Cowperwood to
+have to file in this way along the side aisle with these others,
+followed by Stener, well dressed but sickly looking and disconsolate.
+
+The negro, Charles Ackerman, was the first on the list.
+
+“How is it this man comes before me?” asked Payderson, peevishly, when
+he noted the value of the property Ackerman was supposed to have
+stolen.
+
+“Your honor,” the assistant district attorney explained, promptly,
+“this man was before a lower court and refused, because he was drunk,
+or something, to plead guilty. The lower court, because the complainant
+would not forego the charge, was compelled to bind him over to this
+court for trial. Since then he has changed his mind and has admitted
+his guilt to the district attorney. He would not be brought before you
+except we have no alternative. He has to be brought here now in order
+to clear the calendar.”
+
+Judge Payderson stared quizzically at the negro, who, obviously not
+very much disturbed by this examination, was leaning comfortably on the
+gate or bar before which the average criminal stood erect and
+terrified. He had been before police-court magistrates before on one
+charge and another—drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and the like—but
+his whole attitude was one of shambling, lackadaisical, amusing
+innocence.
+
+“Well, Ackerman,” inquired his honor, severely, “did you or did you not
+steal this piece of lead pipe as charged here—four dollars and eighty
+cents’ worth?”
+
+“Yassah, I did,” he began. “I tell you how it was, jedge. I was
+a-comin’ along past dat lumber-yard one Saturday afternoon, and I
+hadn’t been wuckin’, an’ I saw dat piece o’ pipe thoo de fence, lyin’
+inside, and I jes’ reached thoo with a piece o’ boad I found dey and
+pulled it over to me an’ tuck it. An’ aftahwahd dis Mistah Watchman
+man”—he waved his hand oratorically toward the witness-chair, where, in
+case the judge might wish to ask him some questions, the complainant
+had taken his stand—“come around tuh where I live an’ accused me of
+done takin’ it.”
+
+“But you did take it, didn’t you?”
+
+“Yassah, I done tuck it.”
+
+“What did you do with it?”
+
+“I traded it foh twenty-five cents.”
+
+“You mean you sold it,” corrected his honor.
+
+“Yassah, I done sold it.”
+
+“Well, don’t you know it’s wrong to do anything like that? Didn’t you
+know when you reached through that fence and pulled that pipe over to
+you that you were stealing? Didn’t you?”
+
+“Yassah, I knowed it was wrong,” replied Ackerman, sheepishly. “I didn’
+think ’twuz stealin’ like zackly, but I done knowed it was wrong. I
+done knowed I oughtn’ take it, I guess.”
+
+“Of course you did. Of course you did. That’s just it. You knew you
+were stealing, and still you took it. Has the man to whom this negro
+sold the lead pipe been apprehended yet?” the judge inquired sharply of
+the district attorney. “He should be, for he’s more guilty than this
+negro, a receiver of stolen goods.”
+
+“Yes, sir,” replied the assistant. “His case is before Judge Yawger.”
+
+“Quite right. It should be,” replied Payderson, severely. “This matter
+of receiving stolen property is one of the worst offenses, in my
+judgment.”
+
+He then turned his attention to Ackerman again. “Now, look here,
+Ackerman,” he exclaimed, irritated at having to bother with such a
+pretty case, “I want to say something to you, and I want you to pay
+strict attention to me. Straighten up, there! Don’t lean on that gate!
+You are in the presence of the law now.” Ackerman had sprawled himself
+comfortably down on his elbows as he would have if he had been leaning
+over a back-fence gate talking to some one, but he immediately drew
+himself straight, still grinning foolishly and apologetically, when he
+heard this. “You are not so dull but that you can understand what I am
+going to say to you. The offense you have committed—stealing a piece of
+lead pipe—is a crime. Do you hear me? A criminal offense—one that I
+could punish you very severely for. I could send you to the
+penitentiary for one year if I chose—the law says I may—one year at
+hard labor for stealing a piece of lead pipe. Now, if you have any
+sense you will pay strict attention to what I am going to tell you. I
+am not going to send you to the penitentiary right now. I’m going to
+wait a little while. I am going to sentence you to one year in the
+penitentiary—one year. Do you understand?” Ackerman blanched a little
+and licked his lips nervously. “And then I am going to suspend that
+sentence—hold it over your head, so that if you are ever caught taking
+anything else you will be punished for this offense and the next one
+also at one and the same time. Do you understand that? Do you know what
+I mean? Tell me. Do you?”
+
+“Yessah! I does, sir,” replied the negro. “You’se gwine to let me go
+now—tha’s it.”
+
+The audience grinned, and his honor made a wry face to prevent his own
+grim grin.
+
+“I’m going to let you go only so long as you don’t steal anything
+else,” he thundered. “The moment you steal anything else, back you come
+to this court, and then you go to the penitentiary for a year and
+whatever more time you deserve. Do you understand that? Now, I want you
+to walk straight out of this court and behave yourself. Don’t ever
+steal anything. Get something to do! Don’t steal, do you hear? Don’t
+touch anything that doesn’t belong to you! Don’t come back here! If you
+do, I’ll send you to the penitentiary, sure.”
+
+“Yassah! No, sah, I won’t,” replied Ackerman, nervously. “I won’t take
+nothin’ more that don’t belong tuh me.”
+
+He shuffled away, after a moment, urged along by the guiding hand of a
+bailiff, and was put safely outside the court, amid a mixture of smiles
+and laughter over his simplicity and Payderson’s undue severity of
+manner. But the next case was called and soon engrossed the interest of
+the audience.
+
+It was that of the two housebreakers whom Cowperwood had been and was
+still studying with much curiosity. In all his life before he had never
+witnessed a sentencing scene of any kind. He had never been in police
+or criminal courts of any kind—rarely in any of the civil ones. He was
+glad to see the negro go, and gave Payderson credit for having some
+sense and sympathy—more than he had expected.
+
+He wondered now whether by any chance Aileen was here. He had objected
+to her coming, but she might have done so. She was, as a matter of
+fact, in the extreme rear, pocketed in a crowd near the door, heavily
+veiled, but present. She had not been able to resist the desire to know
+quickly and surely her beloved’s fate—to be near him in his hour of
+real suffering, as she thought. She was greatly angered at seeing him
+brought in with a line of ordinary criminals and made to wait in this,
+to her, shameful public manner, but she could not help admiring all the
+more the dignity and superiority of his presence even here. He was not
+even pale, as she saw, just the same firm, calm soul she had always
+known him to be. If he could only see her now; if he would only look so
+she could lift her veil and smile! He didn’t, though; he wouldn’t. He
+didn’t want to see her here. But she would tell him all about it when
+she saw him again just the same.
+
+The two burglars were quickly disposed of by the judge, with a sentence
+of one year each, and they were led away, uncertain, and apparently not
+knowing what to think of their crime or their future.
+
+When it came to Cowperwood’s turn to be called, his honor himself
+stiffened and straightened up, for this was a different type of man and
+could not be handled in the usual manner. He knew exactly what he was
+going to say. When one of Mollenhauer’s agents, a close friend of
+Butler’s, had suggested that five years for both Cowperwood and Stener
+would be about right, he knew exactly what to do. “Frank Algernon
+Cowperwood,” called the clerk.
+
+Cowperwood stepped briskly forward, sorry for himself, ashamed of his
+position in a way, but showing it neither in look nor manner. Payderson
+eyed him as he had the others.
+
+“Name?” asked the bailiff, for the benefit of the court stenographer.
+
+“Frank Algernon Cowperwood.”
+
+“Residence?”
+
+“1937 Girard Avenue.”
+
+“Occupation?”
+
+“Banker and broker.”
+
+Steger stood close beside him, very dignified, very forceful, ready to
+make a final statement for the benefit of the court and the public when
+the time should come. Aileen, from her position in the crowd near the
+door, was for the first time in her life biting her fingers nervously
+and there were great beads of perspiration on her brow. Cowperwood’s
+father was tense with excitement and his two brothers looked quickly
+away, doing their best to hide their fear and sorrow.
+
+“Ever convicted before?”
+
+“Never,” replied Steger for Cowperwood, quietly.
+
+“Frank Algernon Cowperwood,” called the clerk, in his nasal, singsong
+way, coming forward, “have you anything to say why judgment should not
+now be pronounced upon you? If so, speak.”
+
+Cowperwood started to say no, but Steger put up his hand.
+
+“If the court pleases, my client, Mr. Cowperwood, the prisoner at the
+bar, is neither guilty in his own estimation, nor in that of two-fifths
+of the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court—the court of last resort in
+this State,” he exclaimed, loudly and clearly, so that all might hear.
+
+One of the interested listeners and spectators at this point was Edward
+Malia Butler, who had just stepped in from another courtroom where he
+had been talking to a judge. An obsequious court attendant had warned
+him that Cowperwood was about to be sentenced. He had really come here
+this morning in order not to miss this sentence, but he cloaked his
+motive under the guise of another errand. He did not know that Aileen
+was there, nor did he see her.
+
+“As he himself testified at the time of his trial,” went on Steger,
+“and as the evidence clearly showed, he was never more than an agent
+for the gentleman whose offense was subsequently adjudicated by this
+court; and as an agent he still maintains, and two-fifths of the State
+Supreme Court agree with him, that he was strictly within his rights
+and privileges in not having deposited the sixty thousand dollars’
+worth of city loan certificates at the time, and in the manner which
+the people, acting through the district attorney, complained that he
+should have. My client is a man of rare financial ability. By the
+various letters which have been submitted to your honor in his behalf,
+you will see that he commands the respect and the sympathy of a large
+majority of the most forceful and eminent men in his particular world.
+He is a man of distinguished social standing and of notable
+achievements. Only the most unheralded and the unkindest thrust of
+fortune has brought him here before you today—a fire and its consequent
+panic which involved a financial property of the most thorough and
+stable character. In spite of the verdict of the jury and the decision
+of three-fifths of the State Supreme Court, I maintain that my client
+is not an embezzler, that he has not committed larceny, that he should
+never have been convicted, and that he should not now be punished for
+something of which he is not guilty.
+
+“I trust that your honor will not misunderstand me or my motives when I
+point out in this situation that what I have said is true. I do not
+wish to cast any reflection on the integrity of the court, nor of any
+court, nor of any of the processes of law. But I do condemn and deplore
+the untoward chain of events which has built up a seeming situation,
+not easily understood by the lay mind, and which has brought my
+distinguished client within the purview of the law. I think it is but
+fair that this should be finally and publicly stated here and now. I
+ask that your honor be lenient, and that if you cannot conscientiously
+dismiss this charge you will at least see that the facts, as I have
+indicated them, are given due weight in the measure of the punishment
+inflicted.”
+
+Steger stepped back and Judge Payderson nodded, as much as to say he
+had heard all the distinguished lawyer had to say, and would give it
+such consideration as it deserved—no more. Then he turned to
+Cowperwood, and, summoning all his judicial dignity to his aid, he
+began:
+
+“Frank Algernon Cowperwood, you have been convicted by a jury of your
+own selection of the offense of larceny. The motion for a new trial,
+made in your behalf by your learned counsel, has been carefully
+considered and overruled, the majority of the court being entirely
+satisfied with the propriety of the conviction, both upon the law and
+the evidence. Your offense was one of more than usual gravity, the more
+so that the large amount of money which you obtained belonged to the
+city. And it was aggravated by the fact that you had in addition
+thereto unlawfully used and converted to your own use several hundred
+thousand dollars of the loan and money of the city. For such an offense
+the maximum punishment affixed by the law is singularly merciful.
+Nevertheless, the facts in connection with your hitherto distinguished
+position, the circumstances under which your failure was brought about,
+and the appeals of your numerous friends and financial associates, will
+be given due consideration by this court. It is not unmindful of any
+important fact in your career.” Payderson paused as if in doubt, though
+he knew very well how he was about to proceed. He knew what his
+superiors expected of him.
+
+“If your case points no other moral,” he went on, after a moment,
+toying with the briefs, “it will at least teach the lesson much needed
+at the present time, that the treasury of the city is not to be invaded
+and plundered with impunity under the thin disguise of a business
+transaction, and that there is still a power in the law to vindicate
+itself and to protect the public.
+
+“The sentence of the court,” he added, solemnly, the while Cowperwood
+gazed unmoved, “is, therefore, that you pay a fine of five thousand
+dollars to the commonwealth for the use of the county, that you pay the
+costs of prosecution, and that you undergo imprisonment in the State
+Penitentiary for the Eastern District by separate or solitary
+confinement at labor for a period of four years and three months, and
+that you stand committed until this sentence is complied with.”
+
+Cowperwood’s father, on hearing this, bowed his head to hide his tears.
+Aileen bit her lower lip and clenched her hands to keep down her rage
+and disappointment and tears. Four years and three months! That would
+make a terrible gap in his life and hers. Still, she could wait. It was
+better than eight or ten years, as she had feared it might be. Perhaps
+now, once this was really over and he was in prison, the Governor would
+pardon him.
+
+The judge now moved to pick up the papers in connection with Stener’s
+case, satisfied that he had given the financiers no chance to say he
+had not given due heed to their plea in Cowperwood’s behalf and yet
+certain that the politicians would be pleased that he had so nearly
+given Cowperwood the maximum while appearing to have heeded the pleas
+for mercy. Cowperwood saw through the trick at once, but it did not
+disturb him. It struck him as rather weak and contemptible. A bailiff
+came forward and started to hurry him away.
+
+“Allow the prisoner to remain for a moment,” called the judge.
+
+The name, of George W. Stener had been called by the clerk and
+Cowperwood did not quite understand why he was being detained, but he
+soon learned. It was that he might hear the opinion of the court in
+connection with his copartner in crime. The latter’s record was taken.
+Roger O’Mara, the Irish political lawyer who had been his counsel all
+through his troubles, stood near him, but had nothing to say beyond
+asking the judge to consider Stener’s previously honorable career.
+
+“George W. Stener,” said his honor, while the audience, including
+Cowperwood, listened attentively. “The motion for a new trial as well
+as an arrest of judgment in your case having been overruled, it remains
+for the court to impose such sentence as the nature of your offense
+requires. I do not desire to add to the pain of your position by any
+extended remarks of my own; but I cannot let the occasion pass without
+expressing my emphatic condemnation of your offense. The misapplication
+of public money has become the great crime of the age. If not promptly
+and firmly checked, it will ultimately destroy our institutions. When a
+republic becomes honeycombed with corruption its vitality is gone. It
+must crumble upon the first pressure.
+
+“In my opinion, the public is much to blame for your offense and others
+of a similar character. Heretofore, official fraud has been regarded
+with too much indifference. What we need is a higher and purer
+political morality—a state of public opinion which would make the
+improper use of public money a thing to be execrated. It was the lack
+of this which made your offense possible. Beyond that I see nothing of
+extenuation in your case.” Judge Payderson paused for emphasis. He was
+coming to his finest flight, and he wanted it to sink in.
+
+“The people had confided to you the care of their money,” he went on,
+solemnly. “It was a high, a sacred trust. You should have guarded the
+door of the treasury even as the cherubim protected the Garden of Eden,
+and should have turned the flaming sword of impeccable honesty against
+every one who approached it improperly. Your position as the
+representative of a great community warranted that.
+
+“In view of all the facts in your case the court can do no less than
+impose a major penalty. The seventy-fourth section of the Criminal
+Procedure Act provides that no convict shall be sentenced by the court
+of this commonwealth to either of the penitentiaries thereof, for any
+term which shall expire between the fifteenth of November and the
+fifteenth day of February of any year, and this provision requires me
+to abate three months from the maximum of time which I would affix in
+your case—namely, five years. The sentence of the court is, therefore,
+that you pay a fine of five thousand dollars to the commonwealth for
+the use of the county”—Payderson knew well enough that Stener could
+never pay that sum—“and that you undergo imprisonment in the State
+Penitentiary for the Eastern District, by separate and solitary
+confinement at labor, for the period of four years and nine months, and
+that you stand committed until this sentence is complied with.” He laid
+down the briefs and rubbed his chin reflectively while both Cowperwood
+and Stener were hurried out. Butler was the first to leave after the
+sentence—quite satisfied. Seeing that all was over so far as she was
+concerned, Aileen stole quickly out; and after her, in a few moments,
+Cowperwood’s father and brothers. They were to await him outside and go
+with him to the penitentiary. The remaining members of the family were
+at home eagerly awaiting intelligence of the morning’s work, and Joseph
+Cowperwood was at once despatched to tell them.
+
+The day had now become cloudy, lowery, and it looked as if there might
+be snow. Eddie Zanders, who had been given all the papers in the case,
+announced that there was no need to return to the county jail. In
+consequence the five of them—Zanders, Steger, Cowperwood, his father,
+and Edward—got into a street-car which ran to within a few blocks of
+the prison. Within half an hour they were at the gates of the Eastern
+Penitentiary.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LIII
+
+
+The Eastern District Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, standing at
+Fairmount Avenue and Twenty-first Street in Philadelphia, where
+Cowperwood was now to serve his sentence of four years and three
+months, was a large, gray-stone structure, solemn and momentous in its
+mien, not at all unlike the palace of Sforzas at Milan, although not so
+distinguished. It stretched its gray length for several blocks along
+four different streets, and looked as lonely and forbidding as a prison
+should. The wall which inclosed its great area extending over ten acres
+and gave it so much of its solemn dignity was thirty-five feet high and
+some seven feet thick. The prison proper, which was not visible from
+the outside, consisted of seven arms or corridors, ranged octopus-like
+around a central room or court, and occupying in their sprawling length
+about two-thirds of the yard inclosed within the walls, so that there
+was but little space for the charm of lawn or sward. The corridors,
+forty-two feet wide from outer wall to outer wall, were one hundred and
+eighty feet in length, and in four instances two stories high, and
+extended in their long reach in every direction. There were no windows
+in the corridors, only narrow slits of skylights, three and one-half
+feet long by perhaps eight inches wide, let in the roof; and the
+ground-floor cells were accompanied in some instances by a small yard
+ten by sixteen—the same size as the cells proper—which was surrounded
+by a high brick wall in every instance. The cells and floors and roofs
+were made of stone, and the corridors, which were only ten feet wide
+between the cells, and in the case of the single-story portion only
+fifteen feet high, were paved with stone. If you stood in the central
+room, or rotunda, and looked down the long stretches which departed
+from you in every direction, you had a sense of narrowness and
+confinement not compatible with their length. The iron doors, with
+their outer accompaniment of solid wooden ones, the latter used at
+times to shut the prisoner from all sight and sound, were grim and
+unpleasing to behold. The halls were light enough, being whitewashed
+frequently and set with the narrow skylights, which were closed with
+frosted glass in winter; but they were, as are all such matter-of-fact
+arrangements for incarceration, bare—wearisome to look upon. Life
+enough there was in all conscience, seeing that there were four hundred
+prisoners here at that time, and that nearly every cell was occupied;
+but it was a life of which no one individual was essentially aware as a
+spectacle. He was of it; but he was not. Some of the prisoners, after
+long service, were used as “trusties” or “runners,” as they were
+locally called; but not many. There was a bakery, a machine-shop, a
+carpenter-shop, a store-room, a flour-mill, and a series of gardens, or
+truck patches; but the manipulation of these did not require the
+services of a large number.
+
+The prison proper dated from 1822, and it had grown, wing by wing,
+until its present considerable size had been reached. Its population
+consisted of individuals of all degrees of intelligence and crime, from
+murderers to minor practitioners of larceny. It had what was known as
+the “Pennsylvania System” of regulation for its inmates, which was
+nothing more nor less than solitary confinement for all concerned—a
+life of absolute silence and separate labor in separate cells.
+
+Barring his comparatively recent experience in the county jail, which
+after all was far from typical, Cowperwood had never been in a prison
+in his life. Once, when a boy, in one of his perambulations through
+several of the surrounding towns, he had passed a village “lock-up,” as
+the town prisons were then called—a small, square, gray building with
+long iron-barred windows, and he had seen, at one of these rather
+depressing apertures on the second floor, a none too prepossessing
+drunkard or town ne’er-do-well who looked down on him with bleary eyes,
+unkempt hair, and a sodden, waxy, pallid face, and called—for it was
+summer and the jail window was open:
+
+“Hey, sonny, get me a plug of tobacco, will you?”
+
+Cowperwood, who had looked up, shocked and disturbed by the man’s
+disheveled appearance, had called back, quite without stopping to
+think:
+
+“Naw, I can’t.”
+
+“Look out you don’t get locked up yourself sometime, you little runt,”
+the man had replied, savagely, only half recovered from his debauch of
+the day before.
+
+He had not thought of this particular scene in years, but now suddenly
+it came back to him. Here he was on his way to be locked up in this
+dull, somber prison, and it was snowing, and he was being cut out of
+human affairs as much as it was possible for him to be cut out.
+
+No friends were permitted to accompany him beyond the outer gate—not
+even Steger for the time being, though he might visit him later in the
+day. This was an inviolable rule. Zanders being known to the
+gate-keeper, and bearing his commitment paper, was admitted at once.
+The others turned solemnly away. They bade a gloomy if affectionate
+farewell to Cowperwood, who, on his part, attempted to give it all an
+air of inconsequence—as, in part and even here, it had for him.
+
+“Well, good-by for the present,” he said, shaking hands. “I’ll be all
+right and I’ll get out soon. Wait and see. Tell Lillian not to worry.”
+
+He stepped inside, and the gate clanked solemnly behind him. Zanders
+led the way through a dark, somber hall, wide and high-ceiled, to a
+farther gate, where a second gateman, trifling with a large key,
+unlocked a barred door at his bidding. Once inside the prison yard,
+Zanders turned to the left into a small office, presenting his prisoner
+before a small, chest-high desk, where stood a prison officer in
+uniform of blue. The latter, the receiving overseer of the prison—a
+thin, practical, executive-looking person with narrow gray eyes and
+light hair, took the paper which the sheriff’s deputy handed him and
+read it. This was his authority for receiving Cowperwood. In his turn
+he handed Zanders a slip, showing that he had so received the prisoner;
+and then Zanders left, receiving gratefully the tip which Cowperwood
+pressed in his hand.
+
+“Well, good-by, Mr. Cowperwood,” he said, with a peculiar twist of his
+detective-like head. “I’m sorry. I hope you won’t find it so bad here.”
+
+He wanted to impress the receiving overseer with his familiarity with
+this distinguished prisoner, and Cowperwood, true to his policy of
+make-believe, shook hands with him cordially.
+
+“I’m much obliged to you for your courtesy, Mr. Zanders,” he said, then
+turned to his new master with the air of a man who is determined to
+make a good impression. He was now in the hands of petty officials, he
+knew, who could modify or increase his comfort at will. He wanted to
+impress this man with his utter willingness to comply and obey—his
+sense of respect for his authority—without in any way demeaning
+himself. He was depressed but efficient, even here in the clutch of
+that eventual machine of the law, the State penitentiary, which he had
+been struggling so hard to evade.
+
+The receiving overseer, Roger Kendall, though thin and clerical, was a
+rather capable man, as prison officials go—shrewd, not particularly
+well educated, not over-intelligent naturally, not over-industrious,
+but sufficiently energetic to hold his position. He knew something
+about convicts—considerable—for he had been dealing with them for
+nearly twenty-six years. His attitude toward them was cold, cynical,
+critical.
+
+He did not permit any of them to come into personal contact with him,
+but he saw to it that underlings in his presence carried out the
+requirements of the law.
+
+When Cowperwood entered, dressed in his very good clothing—a dark
+gray-blue twill suit of pure wool, a light, well-made gray overcoat, a
+black derby hat of the latest shape, his shoes new and of good leather,
+his tie of the best silk, heavy and conservatively colored, his hair
+and mustache showing the attention of an intelligent barber, and his
+hands well manicured—the receiving overseer saw at once that he was in
+the presence of some one of superior intelligence and force, such a man
+as the fortune of his trade rarely brought into his net.
+
+Cowperwood stood in the middle of the room without apparently looking
+at any one or anything, though he saw all. “Convict number 3633,”
+Kendall called to a clerk, handing him at the same time a yellow slip
+of paper on which was written Cowperwood’s full name and his record
+number, counting from the beginning of the penitentiary itself.
+
+The underling, a convict, took it and entered it in a book, reserving
+the slip at the same time for the penitentiary “runner” or “trusty,”
+who would eventually take Cowperwood to the “manners” gallery.
+
+“You will have to take off your clothes and take a bath,” said Kendall
+to Cowperwood, eyeing him curiously. “I don’t suppose you need one, but
+it’s the rule.”
+
+“Thank you,” replied Cowperwood, pleased that his personality was
+counting for something even here. “Whatever the rules are, I want to
+obey.”
+
+When he started to take off his coat, however, Kendall put up his hand
+delayingly and tapped a bell. There now issued from an adjoining room
+an assistant, a prison servitor, a weird-looking specimen of the genus
+“trusty.” He was a small, dark, lopsided individual, one leg being
+slightly shorter, and therefore one shoulder lower, than the other. He
+was hollow-chested, squint-eyed, and rather shambling, but spry enough
+withal. He was dressed in a thin, poorly made, baggy suit of striped
+jeans, the prison stripes of the place, showing a soft roll-collar
+shirt underneath, and wearing a large, wide-striped cap, peculiarly
+offensive in its size and shape to Cowperwood. He could not help
+thinking how uncanny the man’s squint eyes looked under its straight
+outstanding visor. The trusty had a silly, sycophantic manner of
+raising one hand in salute. He was a professional “second-story man,”
+“up” for ten years, but by dint of good behavior he had attained to the
+honor of working about this office without the degrading hood customary
+for prisoners to wear over the cap. For this he was properly grateful.
+He now considered his superior with nervous dog-like eyes, and looked
+at Cowperwood with a certain cunning appreciation of his lot and a show
+of initial mistrust.
+
+One prisoner is as good as another to the average convict; as a matter
+of fact, it is their only consolation in their degradation that all who
+come here are no better than they. The world may have misused them; but
+they misuse their confreres in their thoughts. The “holier than thou”
+attitude, intentional or otherwise, is quite the last and most deadly
+offense within prison walls. This particular “trusty” could no more
+understand Cowperwood than could a fly the motions of a fly-wheel; but
+with the cocky superiority of the underling of the world he did not
+hesitate to think that he could. A crook was a crook to him—Cowperwood
+no less than the shabbiest pickpocket. His one feeling was that he
+would like to demean him, to pull him down to his own level.
+
+“You will have to take everything you have out of your pockets,”
+Kendall now informed Cowperwood. Ordinarily he would have said, “Search
+the prisoner.”
+
+Cowperwood stepped forward and laid out a purse with twenty-five
+dollars in it, a pen-knife, a lead-pencil, a small note-book, and a
+little ivory elephant which Aileen had given him once, “for luck,” and
+which he treasured solely because she gave it to him. Kendall looked at
+the latter curiously. “Now you can go on,” he said to the “trusty,”
+referring to the undressing and bathing process which was to follow.
+
+“This way,” said the latter, addressing Cowperwood, and preceding him
+into an adjoining room, where three closets held three old-fashioned,
+iron-bodied, wooden-top bath-tubs, with their attendant shelves for
+rough crash towels, yellow soap, and the like, and hooks for clothes.
+
+“Get in there,” said the trusty, whose name was Thomas Kuby, pointing
+to one of the tubs.
+
+Cowperwood realized that this was the beginning of petty official
+supervision; but he deemed it wise to appear friendly even here.
+
+“I see,” he said. “I will.”
+
+“That’s right,” replied the attendant, somewhat placated. “What did you
+bring?”
+
+Cowperwood looked at him quizzically. He did not understand. The prison
+attendant realized that this man did not know the lingo of the place.
+“What did you bring?” he repeated. “How many years did you get?”
+
+“Oh!” exclaimed Cowperwood, comprehendingly. “I understand. Four and
+three months.”
+
+He decided to humor the man. It would probably be better so.
+
+“What for?” inquired Kuby, familiarly.
+
+Cowperwood’s blood chilled slightly. “Larceny,” he said.
+
+“Yuh got off easy,” commented Kuby. “I’m up for ten. A rube judge did
+that to me.”
+
+Kuby had never heard of Cowperwood’s crime. He would not have
+understood its subtleties if he had. Cowperwood did not want to talk to
+this man; he did not know how. He wished he would go away; but that was
+not likely. He wanted to be put in his cell and let alone.
+
+“That’s too bad,” he answered; and the convict realized clearly that
+this man was really not one of them, or he would not have said anything
+like that. Kuby went to the two hydrants opening into the bath-tub and
+turned them on. Cowperwood had been undressing the while, and now stood
+naked, but not ashamed, in front of this eighth-rate intelligence.
+
+“Don’t forget to wash your head, too,” said Kuby, and went away.
+
+Cowperwood stood there while the water ran, meditating on his fate. It
+was strange how life had dealt with him of late—so severely. Unlike
+most men in his position, he was not suffering from a consciousness of
+evil. He did not think he was evil. As he saw it, he was merely
+unfortunate. To think that he should be actually in this great, silent
+penitentiary, a convict, waiting here beside this cheap iron bathtub,
+not very sweet or hygienic to contemplate, with this crackbrained
+criminal to watch over him!
+
+He stepped into the tub and washed himself briskly with the biting
+yellow soap, drying himself on one of the rough, only partially
+bleached towels. He looked for his underwear, but there was none. At
+this point the attendant looked in again. “Out here,” he said,
+inconsiderately.
+
+Cowperwood followed, naked. He was led through the receiving overseer’s
+office into a room, where were scales, implements of measurement, a
+record-book, etc. The attendant who stood guard at the door now came
+over, and the clerk who sat in a corner automatically took down a
+record-blank. Kendall surveyed Cowperwood’s decidedly graceful figure,
+already inclining to a slight thickening around the waist, and approved
+of it as superior to that of most who came here. His skin, as he
+particularly noted, was especially white.
+
+“Step on the scale,” said the attendant, brusquely.
+
+Cowperwood did so, The former adjusted the weights and scanned the
+record carefully.
+
+“Weight, one hundred and seventy-five,” he called. “Now step over
+here.”
+
+He indicated a spot in the side wall where was fastened in a thin
+slat—which ran from the floor to about seven and one half feet above,
+perpendicularly—a small movable wooden indicator, which, when a man was
+standing under it, could be pressed down on his head. At the side of
+the slat were the total inches of height, laid off in halves, quarters,
+eighths, and so on, and to the right a length measurement for the arm.
+Cowperwood understood what was wanted and stepped under the indicator,
+standing quite straight.
+
+“Feet level, back to the wall,” urged the attendant. “So. Height, five
+feet nine and ten-sixteenths,” he called. The clerk in the corner noted
+it. He now produced a tape-measure and began measuring Cowperwood’s
+arms, legs, chest, waist, hips, etc. He called out the color of his
+eyes, his hair, his mustache, and, looking into his mouth, exclaimed,
+“Teeth, all sound.”
+
+After Cowperwood had once more given his address, age, profession,
+whether he knew any trade, etc.—which he did not—he was allowed to
+return to the bathroom, and put on the clothing which the prison
+provided for him—first the rough, prickly underwear, then the cheap
+soft roll-collar, white-cotton shirt, then the thick bluish-gray cotton
+socks of a quality such as he had never worn in his life, and over
+these a pair of indescribable rough-leather clogs, which felt to his
+feet as though they were made of wood or iron—oily and heavy. He then
+drew on the shapeless, baggy trousers with their telltale stripes, and
+over his arms and chest the loose-cut shapeless coat and waistcoat. He
+felt and knew of course that he looked very strange, wretched. And as
+he stepped out into the overseer’s room again he experienced a peculiar
+sense of depression, a gone feeling which before this had not assailed
+him and which now he did his best to conceal. This, then, was what
+society did to the criminal, he thought to himself. It took him and
+tore away from his body and his life the habiliments of his proper
+state and left him these. He felt sad and grim, and, try as he would—he
+could not help showing it for a moment. It was always his business and
+his intention to conceal his real feelings, but now it was not quite
+possible. He felt degraded, impossible, in these clothes, and he knew
+that he looked it. Nevertheless, he did his best to pull himself
+together and look unconcerned, willing, obedient, considerate of those
+above him. After all, he said to himself, it was all a play of sorts, a
+dream even, if one chose to view it so, a miasma even, from which, in
+the course of time and with a little luck one might emerge safely
+enough. He hoped so. It could not last. He was only acting a strange,
+unfamiliar part on the stage, this stage of life that he knew so well.
+
+Kendall did not waste any time looking at him, however. He merely said
+to his assistant, “See if you can find a cap for him,” and the latter,
+going to a closet containing numbered shelves, took down a cap—a
+high-crowned, straight-visored, shabby, striped affair which Cowperwood
+was asked to try on. It fitted well enough, slipping down close over
+his ears, and he thought that now his indignities must be about
+complete. What could be added? There could be no more of these
+disconcerting accoutrements. But he was mistaken. “Now, Kuby, you take
+him to Mr. Chapin,” said Kendall.
+
+Kuby understood. He went back into the wash-room and produced what
+Cowperwood had heard of but never before seen—a blue-and-white-striped
+cotton bag about half the length of an ordinary pillow-case and half
+again as wide, which Kuby now unfolded and shook out as he came toward
+him. It was a custom. The use of this hood, dating from the earliest
+days of the prison, was intended to prevent a sense of location and
+direction and thereby obviate any attempt to escape. Thereafter during
+all his stay he was not supposed to walk with or talk to or see another
+prisoner—not even to converse with his superiors, unless addressed. It
+was a grim theory, and yet one definitely enforced here, although as he
+was to learn later even this could be modified here.
+
+“You’ll have to put this on,” Kuby said, and opened it in such a way
+that it could be put over Cowperwood’s head.
+
+Cowperwood understood. He had heard of it in some way, in times past.
+He was a little shocked—looked at it first with a touch of real
+surprise, but a moment after lifted his hands and helped pull it down.
+
+“Never mind,” cautioned the guard, “put your hands down. I’ll get it
+over.”
+
+Cowperwood dropped his arms. When it was fully on, it came to about his
+chest, giving him little means of seeing anything. He felt very
+strange, very humiliated, very downcast. This simple thing of a
+blue-and-white striped bag over his head almost cost him his sense of
+self-possession. Why could not they have spared him this last
+indignity, he thought?
+
+“This way,” said his attendant, and he was led out to where he could
+not say.
+
+“If you hold it out in front you can see to walk,” said his guide; and
+Cowperwood pulled it out, thus being able to discern his feet and a
+portion of the floor below. He was thus conducted—seeing nothing in his
+transit—down a short walk, then through a long corridor, then through a
+room of uniformed guards, and finally up a narrow flight of iron steps,
+leading to the overseer’s office on the second floor of one of the
+two-tier blocks. There, he heard the voice of Kuby saying: “Mr. Chapin,
+here’s another prisoner for you from Mr. Kendall.”
+
+“I’ll be there in a minute,” came a peculiarly pleasant voice from the
+distance. Presently a big, heavy hand closed about his arm, and he was
+conducted still further.
+
+“You hain’t got far to go now,” the voice said, “and then I’ll take
+that bag off,” and Cowperwood felt for some reason a sense of sympathy,
+perhaps—as though he would choke. The further steps were not many.
+
+A cell door was reached and unlocked by the inserting of a great iron
+key. It was swung open, and the same big hand guided him through. A
+moment later the bag was pulled easily from his head, and he saw that
+he was in a narrow, whitewashed cell, rather dim, windowless, but
+lighted from the top by a small skylight of frosted glass three and one
+half feet long by four inches wide. For a night light there was a
+tin-bodied lamp swinging from a hook near the middle of one of the side
+walls. A rough iron cot, furnished with a straw mattress and two pairs
+of dark blue, probably unwashed blankets, stood in one corner. There
+was a hydrant and small sink in another. A small shelf occupied the
+wall opposite the bed. A plain wooden chair with a homely round back
+stood at the foot of the bed, and a fairly serviceable broom was
+standing in one corner. There was an iron stool or pot for excreta,
+giving, as he could see, into a large drain-pipe which ran along the
+inside wall, and which was obviously flushed by buckets of water being
+poured into it. Rats and other vermin infested this, and it gave off an
+unpleasant odor which filled the cell. The floor was of stone.
+Cowperwood’s clear-seeing eyes took it all in at a glance. He noted the
+hard cell door, which was barred and cross-barred with great round rods
+of steel, and fastened with a thick, highly polished lock. He saw also
+that beyond this was a heavy wooden door, which could shut him in even
+more completely than the iron one. There was no chance for any clear,
+purifying sunlight here. Cleanliness depended entirely on whitewash,
+soap and water and sweeping, which in turn depended on the prisoners
+themselves.
+
+He also took in Chapin, the homely, good-natured, cell overseer whom he
+now saw for the first time—a large, heavy, lumbering man, rather dusty
+and misshapen-looking, whose uniform did not fit him well, and whose
+manner of standing made him look as though he would much prefer to sit
+down. He was obviously bulky, but not strong, and his kindly face was
+covered with a short growth of grayish-brown whiskers. His hair was cut
+badly and stuck out in odd strings or wisps from underneath his big
+cap. Nevertheless, Cowperwood was not at all unfavorably
+impressed—quite the contrary—and he felt at once that this man might be
+more considerate of him than the others had been. He hoped so, anyhow.
+He did not know that he was in the presence of the overseer of the
+“manners squad,” who would have him in charge for two weeks only,
+instructing him in the rules of the prison, and that he was only one of
+twenty-six, all told, who were in Chapin’s care.
+
+That worthy, by way of easy introduction, now went over to the bed and
+seated himself on it. He pointed to the hard wooden chair, which
+Cowperwood drew out and sat on.
+
+“Well, now you’re here, hain’t yuh?” he asked, and answered himself
+quite genially, for he was an unlettered man, generously disposed, of
+long experience with criminals, and inclined to deal kindly with kindly
+temperament and a form of religious belief—Quakerism—had inclined him
+to be merciful, and yet his official duties, as Cowperwood later found
+out, seemed to have led him to the conclusion that most criminals were
+innately bad. Like Kendall, he regarded them as weaklings and
+ne’er-do-wells with evil streaks in them, and in the main he was not
+mistaken. Yet he could not help being what he was, a fatherly, kindly
+old man, having faith in those shibboleths of the weak and
+inexperienced mentally—human justice and human decency.
+
+“Yes, I’m here, Mr. Chapin,” Cowperwood replied, simply, remembering
+his name from the attendant, and flattering the keeper by the use of
+it.
+
+To old Chapin the situation was more or less puzzling. This was the
+famous Frank A. Cowperwood whom he had read about, the noted banker and
+treasury-looter. He and his co-partner in crime, Stener, were destined
+to serve, as he had read, comparatively long terms here. Five hundred
+thousand dollars was a large sum of money in those days, much more than
+five million would have been forty years later. He was awed by the
+thought of what had become of it—how Cowperwood managed to do all the
+things the papers had said he had done. He had a little formula of
+questions which he usually went through with each new prisoner—asking
+him if he was sorry now for the crime he had committed, if he meant to
+do better with a new chance, if his father and mother were alive, etc.;
+and by the manner in which they answered these questions—simply,
+regretfully, defiantly, or otherwise—he judged whether they were being
+adequately punished or not. Yet he could not talk to Cowperwood as he
+now saw or as he would to the average second-story burglar,
+store-looter, pickpocket, and plain cheap thief and swindler. And yet
+he scarcely knew how else to talk.
+
+“Well, now,” he went on, “I don’t suppose you ever thought you’d get to
+a place like this, did you, Mr. Cowperwood?”
+
+“I never did,” replied Frank, simply. “I wouldn’t have believed it a
+few months ago, Mr. Chapin. I don’t think I deserve to be here now,
+though of course there is no use of my telling you that.”
+
+He saw that old Chapin wanted to moralize a little, and he was only too
+glad to fall in with his mood. He would soon be alone with no one to
+talk to perhaps, and if a sympathetic understanding could be reached
+with this man now, so much the better. Any port in a storm; any straw
+to a drowning man.
+
+“Well, no doubt all of us makes mistakes,” continued Mr. Chapin,
+superiorly, with an amusing faith in his own value as a moral guide and
+reformer. “We can’t just always tell how the plans we think so fine are
+coming out, can we? You’re here now, an’ I suppose you’re sorry certain
+things didn’t come out just as you thought; but if you had a chance I
+don’t suppose you’d try to do just as you did before, now would yuh?”
+
+“No, Mr. Chapin, I wouldn’t, exactly,” said Cowperwood, truly enough,
+“though I believed I was right in everything I did. I don’t think legal
+justice has really been done me.”
+
+“Well, that’s the way,” continued Chapin, meditatively, scratching his
+grizzled head and looking genially about. “Sometimes, as I allers says
+to some of these here young fellers that comes in here, we don’t know
+as much as we thinks we does. We forget that others are just as smart
+as we are, and that there are allers people that are watchin’ us all
+the time. These here courts and jails and detectives—they’re here all
+the time, and they get us. I gad”—Chapin’s moral version of “by
+God”—“they do, if we don’t behave.”
+
+“Yes,” Cowperwood replied, “that’s true enough, Mr. Chapin.”
+
+“Well,” continued the old man after a time, after he had made a few
+more solemn, owl-like, and yet well-intentioned remarks, “now here’s
+your bed, and there’s your chair, and there’s your wash-stand, and
+there’s your water-closet. Now keep ’em all clean and use ’em right.”
+(You would have thought he was making Cowperwood a present of a
+fortune.) “You’re the one’s got to make up your bed every mornin’ and
+keep your floor swept and your toilet flushed and your cell clean.
+There hain’t anybody here’ll do that for yuh. You want to do all them
+things the first thing in the mornin’ when you get up, and afterward
+you’ll get sumpin’ to eat, about six-thirty. You’re supposed to get up
+at five-thirty.”
+
+“Yes, Mr. Chapin,” Cowperwood said, politely. “You can depend on me to
+do all those things promptly.”
+
+“There hain’t so much more,” added Chapin. “You’re supposed to wash
+yourself all over once a week an’ I’ll give you a clean towel for that.
+Next you gotta wash this floor up every Friday mornin’.” Cowperwood
+winced at that. “You kin have hot water for that if you want it. I’ll
+have one of the runners bring it to you. An’ as for your friends and
+relations”—he got up and shook himself like a big Newfoundland dog.
+“You gotta wife, hain’t you?”
+
+“Yes,” replied Cowperwood.
+
+“Well, the rules here are that your wife or your friends kin come to
+see you once in three months, and your lawyer—you gotta lawyer hain’t
+yuh?”
+
+“Yes, sir,” replied Cowperwood, amused.
+
+“Well, he kin come every week or so if he likes—every day, I
+guess—there hain’t no rules about lawyers. But you kin only write one
+letter once in three months yourself, an’ if you want anything like
+tobaccer or the like o’ that, from the store-room, you gotta sign an
+order for it, if you got any money with the warden, an’ then I can git
+it for you.”
+
+The old man was really above taking small tips in the shape of money.
+He was a hold-over from a much more severe and honest regime, but
+subsequent presents or constant flattery were not amiss in making him
+kindly and generous. Cowperwood read him accurately.
+
+“Very well, Mr. Chapin; I understand,” he said, getting up as the old
+man did.
+
+“Then when you have been here two weeks,” added Chapin, rather
+ruminatively (he had forgot to state this to Cowperwood before), “the
+warden ’ll come and git yuh and give yuh yer regular cell summers
+down-stairs. Yuh kin make up yer mind by that time what y’u’d like tuh
+do, what y’u’d like to work at. If you behave yourself proper, more’n
+like they’ll give yuh a cell with a yard. Yuh never can tell.”
+
+He went out, locking the door with a solemn click; and Cowperwood stood
+there, a little more depressed than he had been, because of this latest
+intelligence. Only two weeks, and then he would be transferred from
+this kindly old man’s care to another’s, whom he did not know and with
+whom he might not fare so well.
+
+“If ever you want me for anything—if ye’re sick or sumpin’ like that,”
+Chapin now returned to say, after he had walked a few paces away, “we
+have a signal here of our own. Just hang your towel out through these
+here bars. I’ll see it, and I’ll stop and find out what yuh want, when
+I’m passin’.”
+
+Cowperwood, whose spirits had sunk, revived for the moment.
+
+“Yes, sir,” he replied; “thank you, Mr. Chapin.”
+
+The old man walked away, and Cowperwood heard his steps dying down the
+cement-paved hall. He stood and listened, his ears being greeted
+occasionally by a distant cough, a faint scraping of some one’s feet,
+the hum or whir of a machine, or the iron scratch of a key in a lock.
+None of the noises was loud. Rather they were all faint and far away.
+He went over and looked at the bed, which was not very clean and
+without linen, and anything but wide or soft, and felt it curiously. So
+here was where he was to sleep from now on—he who so craved and
+appreciated luxury and refinement. If Aileen or some of his rich
+friends should see him here. Worse, he was sickened by the thought of
+possible vermin. How could he tell? How would he do? The one chair was
+abominable. The skylight was weak. He tried to think of himself as
+becoming accustomed to the situation, but he re-discovered the offal
+pot in one corner, and that discouraged him. It was possible that rats
+might come up here—it looked that way. No pictures, no books, no scene,
+no person, no space to walk—just the four bare walls and silence, which
+he would be shut into at night by the thick door. What a horrible fate!
+
+He sat down and contemplated his situation. So here he was at last in
+the Eastern Penitentiary, and doomed, according to the judgment of the
+politicians (Butler among others), to remain here four long years and
+longer. Stener, it suddenly occurred to him, was probably being put
+through the same process he had just gone through. Poor old Stener!
+What a fool he had made of himself. But because of his foolishness he
+deserved all he was now getting. But the difference between himself and
+Stener was that they would let Stener out. It was possible that already
+they were easing his punishment in some way that he, Cowperwood, did
+not know. He put his hand to his chin, thinking—his business, his
+house, his friends, his family, Aileen. He felt for his watch, but
+remembered that they had taken that. There was no way of telling the
+time. Neither had he any notebook, pen, or pencil with which to amuse
+or interest himself. Besides he had had nothing to eat since morning.
+Still, that mattered little. What did matter was that he was shut up
+here away from the world, quite alone, quite lonely, without knowing
+what time it was, and that he could not attend to any of the things he
+ought to be attending to—his business affairs, his future. True, Steger
+would probably come to see him after a while. That would help a little.
+But even so—think of his position, his prospects up to the day of the
+fire and his state now. He sat looking at his shoes; his suit. God! He
+got up and walked to and fro, to and fro, but his own steps and
+movements sounded so loud. He walked to the cell door and looked out
+through the thick bars, but there was nothing to see—nothing save a
+portion of two cell doors opposite, something like his own. He came
+back and sat in his single chair, meditating, but, getting weary of
+that finally, stretched himself on the dirty prison bed to try it. It
+was not uncomfortable entirely. He got up after a while, however, and
+sat, then walked, then sat. What a narrow place to walk, he thought.
+This was horrible—something like a living tomb. And to think he should
+be here now, day after day and day after day, until—until what? Until
+the Governor pardoned him or his time was up, or his fortune eaten
+away—or—
+
+So he cogitated while the hours slipped by. It was nearly five o’clock
+before Steger was able to return, and then only for a little while. He
+had been arranging for Cowperwood’s appearance on the following
+Thursday, Friday, and Monday in his several court proceedings. When he
+was gone, however, and the night fell and Cowperwood had to trim his
+little, shabby oil-lamp and to drink the strong tea and eat the rough,
+poor bread made of bran and white flour, which was shoved to him
+through the small aperture in the door by the trencher trusty, who was
+accompanied by the overseer to see that it was done properly, he really
+felt very badly. And after that the center wooden door of his cell was
+presently closed and locked by a trusty who slammed it rudely and said
+no word. Nine o’clock would be sounded somewhere by a great bell, he
+understood, when his smoky oil-lamp would have to be put out promptly
+and he would have to undress and go to bed. There were punishments, no
+doubt, for infractions of these rules—reduced rations, the
+strait-jacket, perhaps stripes—he scarcely knew what. He felt
+disconsolate, grim, weary. He had put up such a long, unsatisfactory
+fight. After washing his heavy stone cup and tin plate at the hydrant,
+he took off the sickening uniform and shoes and even the drawers of the
+scratching underwear, and stretched himself wearily on the bed. The
+place was not any too warm, and he tried to make himself comfortable
+between the blankets—but it was of little use. His soul was cold.
+
+“This will never do,” he said to himself. “This will never do. I’m not
+sure whether I can stand much of this or not.” Still he turned his face
+to the wall, and after several hours sleep eventually came.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LIV
+
+
+Those who by any pleasing courtesy of fortune, accident of birth,
+inheritance, or the wisdom of parents or friends, have succeeded in
+avoiding making that anathema of the prosperous and comfortable, “a
+mess of their lives,” will scarcely understand the mood of Cowperwood,
+sitting rather gloomily in his cell these first days, wondering what,
+in spite of his great ingenuity, was to become of him. The strongest
+have their hours of depression. There are times when life to those
+endowed with the greatest intelligence—perhaps mostly to those—takes on
+a somber hue. They see so many phases of its dreary subtleties. It is
+only when the soul of man has been built up into some strange
+self-confidence, some curious faith in its own powers, based, no doubt,
+on the actual presence of these same powers subtly involved in the
+body, that it fronts life unflinchingly. It would be too much to say
+that Cowperwood’s mind was of the first order. It was subtle enough in
+all conscience—and involved, as is common with the executively great,
+with a strong sense of personal advancement. It was a powerful mind,
+turning, like a vast searchlight, a glittering ray into many a dark
+corner; but it was not sufficiently disinterested to search the
+ultimate dark. He realized, in a way, what the great astronomers,
+sociologists, philosophers, chemists, physicists, and physiologists
+were meditating; but he could not be sure in his own mind that,
+whatever it was, it was important for him. No doubt life held many
+strange secrets. Perhaps it was essential that somebody should
+investigate them. However that might be, the call of his own soul was
+in another direction. His business was to make money—to organize
+something which would make him much money, or, better yet, save the
+organization he had begun.
+
+But this, as he now looked upon it, was almost impossible. It had been
+too disarranged and complicated by unfortunate circumstances. He might,
+as Steger pointed out to him, string out these bankruptcy proceedings
+for years, tiring out one creditor and another, but in the meantime the
+properties involved were being seriously damaged. Interest charges on
+his unsatisfied loans were making heavy inroads; court costs were
+mounting up; and, to cap it all, he had discovered with Steger that
+there were a number of creditors—those who had sold out to Butler, and
+incidentally to Mollenhauer—who would never accept anything except the
+full value of their claims. His one hope now was to save what he could
+by compromise a little later, and to build up some sort of profitable
+business through Stephen Wingate. The latter was coming in a day or
+two, as soon as Steger had made some working arrangement for him with
+Warden Michael Desmas who came the second day to have a look at the new
+prisoner.
+
+Desmas was a large man physically—Irish by birth, a politician by
+training—who had been one thing and another in Philadelphia from a
+policeman in his early days and a corporal in the Civil War to a ward
+captain under Mollenhauer. He was a canny man, tall, raw-boned,
+singularly muscular-looking, who for all his fifty-seven years looked
+as though he could give a splendid account of himself in a physical
+contest. His hands were large and bony, his face more square than
+either round or long, and his forehead high. He had a vigorous growth
+of short-clipped, iron-gray hair, and a bristly iron-gray mustache,
+very short, keen, intelligent blue-gray eyes; a florid complexion; and
+even-edged, savage-looking teeth, which showed the least bit in a
+slightly wolfish way when he smiled. However, he was not as cruel a
+person as he looked to be; temperamental, to a certain extent hard, and
+on occasions savage, but with kindly hours also. His greatest weakness
+was that he was not quite mentally able to recognize that there were
+mental and social differences between prisoners, and that now and then
+one was apt to appear here who, with or without political influences,
+was eminently worthy of special consideration. What he could recognize
+was the differences pointed out to him by the politicians in special
+cases, such as that of Stener—not Cowperwood. However, seeing that the
+prison was a public institution apt to be visited at any time by
+lawyers, detectives, doctors, preachers, propagandists, and the public
+generally, and that certain rules and regulations had to be enforced
+(if for no other reason than to keep a moral and administrative control
+over his own help), it was necessary to maintain—and that even in the
+face of the politician—a certain amount of discipline, system, and
+order, and it was not possible to be too liberal with any one. There
+were, however, exceptional cases—men of wealth and refinement, victims
+of those occasional uprisings which so shocked the political leaders
+generally—who had to be looked after in a friendly way.
+
+Desmas was quite aware, of course, of the history of Cowperwood and
+Stener. The politicians had already given him warning that Stener,
+because of his past services to the community, was to be treated with
+special consideration. Not so much was said about Cowperwood, although
+they did admit that his lot was rather hard. Perhaps he might do a
+little something for him but at his own risk.
+
+“Butler is down on him,” Strobik said to Desmas, on one occasion. “It’s
+that girl of his that’s at the bottom of it all. If you listened to
+Butler you’d feed him on bread and water, but he isn’t a bad fellow. As
+a matter of fact, if George had had any sense Cowperwood wouldn’t be
+where he is to-day. But the big fellows wouldn’t let Stener alone. They
+wouldn’t let him give Cowperwood any money.”
+
+Although Strobik had been one of those who, under pressure from
+Mollenhauer, had advised Stener not to let Cowperwood have any more
+money, yet here he was pointing out the folly of the victim’s course.
+The thought of the inconsistency involved did not trouble him in the
+least.
+
+Desmas decided, therefore, that if Cowperwood were persona non grata to
+the “Big Three,” it might be necessary to be indifferent to him, or at
+least slow in extending him any special favors. For Stener a good
+chair, clean linen, special cutlery and dishes, the daily papers,
+privileges in the matter of mail, the visits of friends, and the like.
+For Cowperwood—well, he would have to look at Cowperwood and see what
+he thought. At the same time, Steger’s intercessions were not without
+their effect on Desmas. So the morning after Cowperwood’s entrance the
+warden received a letter from Terrence Relihan, the Harrisburg
+potentate, indicating that any kindness shown to Mr. Cowperwood would
+be duly appreciated by him. Upon the receipt of this letter Desmas went
+up and looked through Cowperwood’s iron door. On the way he had a brief
+talk with Chapin, who told him what a nice man he thought Cowperwood
+was.
+
+Desmas had never seen Cowperwood before, but in spite of the shabby
+uniform, the clog shoes, the cheap shirt, and the wretched cell, he was
+impressed. Instead of the weak, anaemic body and the shifty eyes of the
+average prisoner, he saw a man whose face and form blazed energy and
+power, and whose vigorous erectness no wretched clothes or conditions
+could demean. He lifted his head when Desmas appeared, glad that any
+form should have appeared at his door, and looked at him with large,
+clear, examining eyes—those eyes that in the past had inspired so much
+confidence and surety in all those who had known him. Desmas was
+stirred. Compared with Stener, whom he knew in the past and whom he had
+met on his entry, this man was a force. Say what you will, one vigorous
+man inherently respects another. And Desmas was vigorous physically. He
+eyed Cowperwood and Cowperwood eyed him. Instinctively Desmas liked
+him. He was like one tiger looking at another.
+
+Instinctively Cowperwood knew that he was the warden. “This is Mr.
+Desmas, isn’t it?” he asked, courteously and pleasantly.
+
+“Yes, sir, I’m the man,” replied Desmas interestedly. “These rooms are
+not as comfortable as they might be, are they?” The warden’s even teeth
+showed in a friendly, yet wolfish, way.
+
+“They certainly are not, Mr. Desmas,” replied Cowperwood, standing very
+erect and soldier-like. “I didn’t imagine I was coming to a hotel,
+however.” He smiled.
+
+“There isn’t anything special I can do for you, is there, Mr.
+Cowperwood?” began Desmas curiously, for he was moved by a thought that
+at some time or other a man such as this might be of service to him.
+“I’ve been talking to your lawyer.” Cowperwood was intensely gratified
+by the Mr. So that was the way the wind was blowing. Well, then, within
+reason, things might not prove so bad here. He would see. He would
+sound this man out.
+
+“I don’t want to be asking anything, Warden, which you cannot
+reasonably give,” he now returned politely. “But there are a few
+things, of course, that I would change if I could. I wish I might have
+sheets for my bed, and I could afford better underwear if you would let
+me wear it. This that I have on annoys me a great deal.”
+
+“They’re not the best wool, that’s true enough,” replied Desmas,
+solemnly. “They’re made for the State out here in Pennsylvania
+somewhere. I suppose there’s no objection to your wearing your own
+underwear if you want to. I’ll see about that. And the sheets, too. We
+might let you use them if you have them. We’ll have to go a little slow
+about this. There are a lot of people that take a special interest in
+showing the warden how to tend to his business.”
+
+“I can readily understand that, Warden,” went on Cowperwood briskly,
+“and I’m certainly very much obliged to you. You may be sure that
+anything you do for me here will be appreciated, and not misused, and
+that I have friends on the outside who can reciprocate for me in the
+course of time.” He talked slowly and emphatically, looking Desmas
+directly in the eye all of the time. Desmas was very much impressed.
+
+“That’s all right,” he said, now that he had gone so far as to be
+friendly. “I can’t promise much. Prison rules are prison rules. But
+there are some things that can be done, because it’s the rule to do
+them for other men when they behave themselves. You can have a better
+chair than that, if you want it, and something to read too. If you’re
+in business yet, I wouldn’t want to do anything to stop that. We can’t
+have people running in and out of here every fifteen minutes, and you
+can’t turn a cell into a business office—that’s not possible. It would
+break up the order of the place. Still, there’s no reason why you
+shouldn’t see some of your friends now and then. As for your mail—well,
+that will have to be opened in the ordinary way for the time being,
+anyhow. I’ll have to see about that. I can’t promise too much. You’ll
+have to wait until you come out of this block and down-stairs. Some of
+the cells have a yard there; if there are any empty—” The warden cocked
+his eye wisely, and Cowperwood saw that his tot was not to be as bad as
+he had anticipated—though bad enough. The warden spoke to him about the
+different trades he might follow, and asked him to think about the one
+he would prefer. “You want to have something to keep your hands busy,
+whatever else you want. You’ll find you’ll need that. Everybody here
+wants to work after a time. I notice that.”
+
+Cowperwood understood and thanked Desmas profusely. The horror of
+idleness in silence and in a cell scarcely large enough to turn around
+in comfortably had already begun to creep over him, and the thought of
+being able to see Wingate and Steger frequently, and to have his mail
+reach him, after a time, untampered with, was a great relief. He was to
+have his own underwear, silk and wool—thank God!—and perhaps they would
+let him take off these shoes after a while. With these modifications
+and a trade, and perhaps the little yard which Desmas had referred to,
+his life would be, if not ideal, at least tolerable. The prison was
+still a prison, but it looked as though it might not be so much of a
+terror to him as obviously it must be to many.
+
+During the two weeks in which Cowperwood was in the “manners squad,” in
+care of Chapin, he learned nearly as much as he ever learned of the
+general nature of prison life; for this was not an ordinary
+penitentiary in the sense that the prison yard, the prison squad, the
+prison lock-step, the prison dining-room, and prison associated labor
+make the ordinary penitentiary. There was, for him and for most of
+those confined there, no general prison life whatsoever. The large
+majority were supposed to work silently in their cells at the
+particular tasks assigned them, and not to know anything of the
+remainder of the life which went on around them, the rule of this
+prison being solitary confinement, and few being permitted to work at
+the limited number of outside menial tasks provided. Indeed, as he
+sensed and as old Chapin soon informed him, not more than seventy-five
+of the four hundred prisoners confined here were so employed, and not
+all of these regularly—cooking, gardening in season, milling, and
+general cleaning being the only avenues of escape from solitude. Even
+those who so worked were strictly forbidden to talk, and although they
+did not have to wear the objectionable hood when actually employed,
+they were supposed to wear it in going to and from their work.
+Cowperwood saw them occasionally tramping by his cell door, and it
+struck him as strange, uncanny, grim. He wished sincerely at times
+since old Chapin was so genial and talkative that he were to be under
+him permanently; but it was not to be.
+
+His two weeks soon passed—drearily enough in all conscience but they
+passed, interlaced with his few commonplace tasks of bed-making,
+floor-sweeping, dressing, eating, undressing, rising at five-thirty,
+and retiring at nine, washing his several dishes after each meal, etc.
+He thought he would never get used to the food. Breakfast, as has been
+said, was at six-thirty, and consisted of coarse black bread made of
+bran and some white flour, and served with black coffee. Dinner was at
+eleven-thirty, and consisted of bean or vegetable soup, with some
+coarse meat in it, and the same bread. Supper was at six, of tea and
+bread, very strong tea and the same bread—no butter, no milk, no sugar.
+Cowperwood did not smoke, so the small allowance of tobacco which was
+permitted was without value to him. Steger called in every day for two
+or three weeks, and after the second day, Stephen Wingate, as his new
+business associate, was permitted to see him also—once every day, if he
+wished, Desmas stated, though the latter felt he was stretching a point
+in permitting this so soon. Both of these visits rarely occupied more
+than an hour, or an hour and a half, and after that the day was long.
+He was taken out on several days on a court order, between nine and
+five, to testify in the bankruptcy proceedings against him, which
+caused the time in the beginning to pass quickly.
+
+It was curious, once he was in prison, safely shut from the world for a
+period of years apparently, how quickly all thought of assisting him
+departed from the minds of those who had been most friendly. He was
+done, so most of them thought. The only thing they could do now would
+be to use their influence to get him out some time; how soon, they
+could not guess. Beyond that there was nothing. He would really never
+be of any great importance to any one any more, or so they thought. It
+was very sad, very tragic, but he was gone—his place knew him not.
+
+“A bright young man, that,” observed President Davison of the Girard
+National, on reading of Cowperwood’s sentence and incarceration. “Too
+bad! Too bad! He made a great mistake.”
+
+Only his parents, Aileen, and his wife—the latter with mingled feelings
+of resentment and sorrow—really missed him. Aileen, because of her
+great passion for him, was suffering most of all. Four years and three
+months; she thought. If he did not get out before then she would be
+nearing twenty-nine and he would be nearing forty. Would he want her
+then? Would she be so attractive? And would nearly five years change
+his point of view? He would have to wear a convict suit all that time,
+and be known as a convict forever after. It was hard to think about,
+but only made her more than ever determined to cling to him, whatever
+happened, and to help him all she could.
+
+Indeed the day after his incarceration she drove out and looked at the
+grim, gray walls of the penitentiary. Knowing nothing absolutely of the
+vast and complicated processes of law and penal servitude, it seemed
+especially terrible to her. What might not they be doing to her Frank?
+Was he suffering much? Was he thinking of her as she was of him? Oh,
+the pity of it all! The pity! The pity of herself—her great love for
+him! She drove home, determined to see him; but as he had originally
+told her that visiting days were only once in three months, and that he
+would have to write her when the next one was, or when she could come,
+or when he could see her on the outside, she scarcely knew what to do.
+Secrecy was the thing.
+
+The next day, however, she wrote him just the same, describing the
+drive she had taken on the stormy afternoon before—the terror of the
+thought that he was behind those grim gray walls—and declaring her
+determination to see him soon. And this letter, under the new
+arrangement, he received at once. He wrote her in reply, giving the
+letter to Wingate to mail. It ran:
+
+My sweet girl:—I fancy you are a little downhearted to think I cannot
+be with you any more soon, but you mustn’t be. I suppose you read all
+about the sentence in the paper. I came out here the same
+morning—nearly noon. If I had time, dearest, I’d write you a long
+letter describing the situation so as to ease your mind; but I haven’t.
+It’s against the rules, and I am really doing this secretly. I’m here,
+though, safe enough, and wish I were out, of course. Sweetest, you must
+be careful how you try to see me at first. You can’t do me much service
+outside of cheering me up, and you may do yourself great harm. Besides,
+I think I have done you far more harm than I can ever make up to you
+and that you had best give me up, although I know you do not think so,
+and I would be sad, if you did. I am to be in the Court of Special
+Pleas, Sixth and Chestnut, on Friday at two o’clock; but you cannot see
+me there. I’ll be out in charge of my counsel. You must be careful.
+Perhaps you’ll think better, and not come here.
+
+
+This last touch was one of pure gloom, the first Cowperwood had ever
+introduced into their relationship but conditions had changed him.
+Hitherto he had been in the position of the superior being, the one who
+was being sought—although Aileen was and had been well worth
+seeking—and he had thought that he might escape unscathed, and so grow
+in dignity and power until she might not possibly be worthy of him any
+longer. He had had that thought. But here, in stripes, it was a
+different matter. Aileen’s position, reduced in value as it was by her
+long, ardent relationship with him, was now, nevertheless, superior to
+his—apparently so. For after all, was she not Edward Butler’s daughter,
+and might she, after she had been away from him a while, wish to become
+a convict’s bride. She ought not to want to, and she might not want to,
+for all he knew; she might change her mind. She ought not to wait for
+him. Her life was not yet ruined. The public did not know, so he
+thought—not generally anyhow—that she had been his mistress. She might
+marry. Why not, and so pass out of his life forever. And would not that
+be sad for him? And yet did he not owe it to her, to a sense of fair
+play in himself to ask her to give him up, or at least think over the
+wisdom of doing so?
+
+He did her the justice to believe that she would not want to give him
+up; and in his position, however harmful it might be to her, it was an
+advantage, a connecting link with the finest period of his past life,
+to have her continue to love him. He could not, however, scribbling
+this note in his cell in Wingate’s presence, and giving it to him to
+mail (Overseer Chapin was kindly keeping a respectful distance, though
+he was supposed to be present), refrain from adding, at the last
+moment, this little touch of doubt which, when she read it, struck
+Aileen to the heart. She read it as gloom on his part—as great
+depression. Perhaps, after all, the penitentiary and so soon, was
+really breaking his spirit, and he had held up so courageously so long.
+Because of this, now she was madly eager to get to him, to console him,
+even though it was difficult, perilous. She must, she said.
+
+In regard to visits from the various members of his family—his mother
+and father, his brother, his wife, and his sister—Cowperwood made it
+plain to them on one of the days on which he was out attending a
+bankruptcy hearing, that even providing it could be arranged he did not
+think they should come oftener than once in three months, unless he
+wrote them or sent word by Steger. The truth was that he really did not
+care to see much of any of them at present. He was sick of the whole
+social scheme of things. In fact he wanted to be rid of the turmoil he
+had been in, seeing it had proved so useless. He had used nearly
+fifteen thousand dollars thus far in defending himself—court costs,
+family maintenance, Steger, etc.; but he did not mind that. He expected
+to make some little money working through Wingate. His family were not
+utterly without funds, sufficient to live on in a small way. He had
+advised them to remove into houses more in keeping with their reduced
+circumstances, which they had done—his mother and father and brothers
+and sister to a three-story brick house of about the caliber of the old
+Buttonwood Street house, and his wife to a smaller, less expensive
+two-story one on North Twenty-first Street, near the penitentiary, a
+portion of the money saved out of the thirty-five thousand dollars
+extracted from Stener under false pretenses aiding to sustain it. Of
+course all this was a terrible descent from the Girard Avenue mansion
+for the elder Cowperwood; for here was none of the furniture which
+characterized the other somewhat gorgeous domicile—merely store-bought,
+ready-made furniture, and neat but cheap hangings and fixtures
+generally. The assignees, to whom all Cowperwood’s personal property
+belonged, and to whom Cowperwood, the elder, had surrendered all his
+holdings, would not permit anything of importance to be removed. It had
+all to be sold for the benefit of creditors. A few very small things,
+but only a few, had been kept, as everything had been inventoried some
+time before. One of the things which old Cowperwood wanted was his own
+desk which Frank had had designed for him; but as it was valued at five
+hundred dollars and could not be relinquished by the sheriff except on
+payment of that sum, or by auction, and as Henry Cowperwood had no such
+sum to spare, he had to let the desk go. There were many things they
+all wanted, and Anna Adelaide had literally purloined a few though she
+did not admit the fact to her parents until long afterward.
+
+There came a day when the two houses in Girard Avenue were the scene of
+a sheriffs sale, during which the general public, without let or
+hindrance, was permitted to tramp through the rooms and examine the
+pictures, statuary, and objects of art generally, which were auctioned
+off to the highest bidder. Considerable fame had attached to
+Cowperwood’s activities in this field, owing in the first place to the
+real merit of what he had brought together, and in the next place to
+the enthusiastic comment of such men as Wilton Ellsworth, Fletcher
+Norton, Gordon Strake—architects and art dealers whose judgment and
+taste were considered important in Philadelphia. All of the lovely
+things by which he had set great store—small bronzes, representative of
+the best period of the Italian Renaissance; bits of Venetian glass
+which he had collected with great care—a full curio case; statues by
+Powers, Hosmer, and Thorwaldsen—things which would be smiled at thirty
+years later, but which were of high value then; all of his pictures by
+representative American painters from Gilbert to Eastman Johnson,
+together with a few specimens of the current French and English
+schools, went for a song. Art judgment in Philadelphia at this time was
+not exceedingly high; and some of the pictures, for lack of
+appreciative understanding, were disposed of at much too low a figure.
+Strake, Norton, and Ellsworth were all present and bought liberally.
+Senator Simpson, Mollenhauer, and Strobik came to see what they could
+see. The small-fry politicians were there, en masse. But Simpson, calm
+judge of good art, secured practically the best of all that was
+offered. To him went the curio case of Venetian glass; one pair of tall
+blue-and-white Mohammedan cylindrical vases; fourteen examples of
+Chinese jade, including several artists’ water-dishes and a pierced
+window-screen of the faintest tinge of green. To Mollenhauer went the
+furniture and decorations of the entry-hall and reception-room of Henry
+Cowperwood’s house, and to Edward Strobik two of Cowperwood’s
+bird’s-eye maple bedroom suites for the most modest of prices. Adam
+Davis was present and secured the secretaire of buhl which the elder
+Cowperwood prized so highly. To Fletcher Norton went the four Greek
+vases—a kylix, a water-jar, and two amphorae—which he had sold to
+Cowperwood and which he valued highly. Various objects of art,
+including a Sevres dinner set, a Gobelin tapestry, Barye bronzes and
+pictures by Detaille, Fortuny, and George Inness, went to Walter Leigh,
+Arthur Rivers, Joseph Zimmerman, Judge Kitchen, Harper Steger, Terrence
+Relihan, Trenor Drake, Mr. and Mrs. Simeon Jones, W. C. Davison, Frewen
+Kasson, Fletcher Norton, and Judge Rafalsky.
+
+Within four days after the sale began the two houses were bare of their
+contents. Even the objects in the house at 931 North Tenth Street had
+been withdrawn from storage where they had been placed at the time it
+was deemed advisable to close this institution, and placed on sale with
+the other objects in the two homes. It was at this time that the senior
+Cowperwoods first learned of something which seemed to indicate a
+mystery which had existed in connection with their son and his wife. No
+one of all the Cowperwoods was present during all this gloomy
+distribution; and Aileen, reading of the disposition of all the wares,
+and knowing their value to Cowperwood, to say nothing of their charm
+for her, was greatly depressed; yet she was not long despondent, for
+she was convinced that Cowperwood would some day regain his liberty and
+attain a position of even greater significance in the financial world.
+She could not have said why but she was sure of it.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LV
+
+
+In the meanwhile Cowperwood had been transferred to a new overseer and
+a new cell in Block 3 on the ground door, which was like all the others
+in size, ten by sixteen, but to which was attached the small yard
+previously mentioned. Warden Desmas came up two days before he was
+transferred, and had another short conversation with him through his
+cell door.
+
+“You’ll be transferred on Monday,” he said, in his reserved, slow way.
+“They’ll give you a yard, though it won’t be much good to you—we only
+allow a half-hour a day in it. I’ve told the overseer about your
+business arrangements. He’ll treat you right in that matter. Just be
+careful not to take up too much time that way, and things will work
+out. I’ve decided to let you learn caning chairs. That’ll be the best
+for you. It’s easy, and it’ll occupy your mind.”
+
+The warden and some allied politicians made a good thing out of this
+prison industry. It was really not hard labor—the tasks set were simple
+and not oppressive, but all of the products were promptly sold, and the
+profits pocketed. It was good, therefore, to see all the prisoners
+working, and it did them good. Cowperwood was glad of the chance to do
+something, for he really did not care so much for books, and his
+connection with Wingate and his old affairs were not sufficient to
+employ his mind in a satisfactory way. At the same time, he could not
+help thinking, if he seemed strange to himself, now, how much stranger
+he would seem then, behind these narrow bars working at so commonplace
+a task as caning chairs. Nevertheless, he now thanked Desmas for this,
+as well as for the sheets and the toilet articles which had just been
+brought in.
+
+“That’s all right,” replied the latter, pleasantly and softly, by now
+much intrigued by Cowperwood. “I know that there are men and men here,
+the same as anywhere. If a man knows how to use these things and wants
+to be clean, I wouldn’t be one to put anything in his way.”
+
+The new overseer with whom Cowperwood had to deal was a very different
+person from Elias Chapin. His name was Walter Bonhag, and he was not
+more than thirty-seven years of age—a big, flabby sort of person with a
+crafty mind, whose principal object in life was to see that this prison
+situation as he found it should furnish him a better income than his
+normal salary provided. A close study of Bonhag would have seemed to
+indicate that he was a stool-pigeon of Desmas, but this was really not
+true except in a limited way. Because Bonhag was shrewd and
+sycophantic, quick to see a point in his or anybody else’s favor,
+Desmas instinctively realized that he was the kind of man who could be
+trusted to be lenient on order or suggestion. That is, if Desmas had
+the least interest in a prisoner he need scarcely say so much to
+Bonhag; he might merely suggest that this man was used to a different
+kind of life, or that, because of some past experience, it might go
+hard with him if he were handled roughly; and Bonhag would strain
+himself to be pleasant. The trouble was that to a shrewd man of any
+refinement his attentions were objectionable, being obviously offered
+for a purpose, and to a poor or ignorant man they were brutal and
+contemptuous. He had built up an extra income for himself inside the
+prison by selling the prisoners extra allowances of things which he
+secretly brought into the prison. It was strictly against the rules, in
+theory at least, to bring in anything which was not sold in the
+store-room—tobacco, writing paper, pens, ink, whisky, cigars, or
+delicacies of any kind. On the other hand, and excellently well for
+him, it was true that tobacco of an inferior grade was provided, as
+well as wretched pens, ink and paper, so that no self-respecting man,
+if he could help it, would endure them. Whisky was not allowed at all,
+and delicacies were abhorred as indicating rank favoritism;
+nevertheless, they were brought in. If a prisoner had the money and was
+willing to see that Bonhag secured something for his trouble, almost
+anything would be forthcoming. Also the privilege of being sent into
+the general yard as a “trusty,” or being allowed to stay in the little
+private yard which some cells possessed, longer than the half-hour
+ordinarily permitted, was sold.
+
+One of the things curiously enough at this time, which worked in
+Cowperwood’s favor, was the fact that Bonhag was friendly with the
+overseer who had Stener in charge, and Stener, because of his political
+friends, was being liberally treated, and Bonhag knew of this. He was
+not a careful reader of newspapers, nor had he any intellectual grasp
+of important events; but he knew by now that both Stener and Cowperwood
+were, or had been, individuals of great importance in the community;
+also that Cowperwood had been the more important of the two. Better
+yet, as Bonhag now heard, Cowperwood still had money. Some prisoner,
+who was permitted to read the paper, told him so. And so, entirely
+aside from Warden Desmas’s recommendation, which was given in a very
+quiet, noncommittal way, Bonhag was interested to see what he could do
+for Cowperwood for a price.
+
+The day Cowperwood was installed in his new cell, Bonhag lolled up to
+the door, which was open, and said, in a semi-patronizing way, “Got all
+your things over yet?” It was his business to lock the door once
+Cowperwood was inside it.
+
+“Yes, sir,” replied Cowperwood, who had been shrewd enough to get the
+new overseer’s name from Chapin; “this is Mr. Bonhag, I presume?”
+
+“That’s me,” replied Bonhag, not a little flattered by the recognition,
+but still purely interested by the practical side of this encounter. He
+was anxious to study Cowperwood, to see what type of man he was.
+
+“You’ll find it a little different down here from up there,” observed
+Bonhag. “It ain’t so stuffy. These doors out in the yards make a
+difference.”
+
+“Oh, yes,” said Cowperwood, observantly and shrewdly, “that is the yard
+Mr. Desmas spoke of.”
+
+At the mention of the magic name, if Bonhag had been a horse, his ears
+would have been seen to lift. For, of course, if Cowperwood was so
+friendly with Desmas that the latter had described to him the type of
+cell he was to have beforehand, it behooved Bonhag to be especially
+careful.
+
+“Yes, that’s it, but it ain’t much,” he observed. “They only allow a
+half-hour a day in it. Still it would be all right if a person could
+stay out there longer.”
+
+This was his first hint at graft, favoritism; and Cowperwood distinctly
+caught the sound of it in his voice.
+
+“That’s too bad,” he said. “I don’t suppose good conduct helps a person
+to get more.” He waited to hear a reply, but instead Bonhag continued
+with: “I’d better teach you your new trade now. You’ve got to learn to
+cane chairs, so the warden says. If you want, we can begin right away.”
+But without waiting for Cowperwood to acquiesce, he went off, returning
+after a time with three unvarnished frames of chairs and a bundle of
+cane strips or withes, which he deposited on the floor. Having so
+done—and with a flourish—he now continued: “Now I’ll show you if you’ll
+watch me,” and he began showing Cowperwood how the strips were to be
+laced through the apertures on either side, cut, and fastened with
+little hickory pegs. This done, he brought a forcing awl, a small
+hammer, a box of pegs, and a pair of clippers. After several brief
+demonstrations with different strips, as to how the geometric forms
+were designed, he allowed Cowperwood to take the matter in hand,
+watching over his shoulder. The financier, quick at anything, manual or
+mental, went at it in his customary energetic fashion, and in five
+minutes demonstrated to Bonhag that, barring skill and speed, which
+could only come with practice, he could do it as well as another.
+“You’ll make out all right,” said Bonhag. “You’re supposed to do ten of
+those a day. We won’t count the next few days, though, until you get
+your hand in. After that I’ll come around and see how you’re getting
+along. You understand about the towel on the door, don’t you?” he
+inquired.
+
+“Yes, Mr. Chapin explained that to me,” replied Cowperwood. “I think I
+know what most of the rules are now. I’ll try not to break any of
+them.”
+
+The days which followed brought a number of modifications of his prison
+lot, but not sufficient by any means to make it acceptable to him.
+Bonhag, during the first few days in which he trained Cowperwood in the
+art of caning chairs, managed to make it perfectly clear that there
+were a number of things he would be willing to do for him. One of the
+things that moved him to this, was that already he had been impressed
+by the fact that Stener’s friends were coming to see him in larger
+numbers than Cowperwood’s, sending him an occasional basket of fruit,
+which he gave to the overseers, and that his wife and children had been
+already permitted to visit him outside the regular visiting-day. This
+was a cause for jealousy on Bonhag’s part. His fellow-overseer was
+lording it over him—telling him, as it were, of the high jinks in Block
+4. Bonhag really wanted Cowperwood to spruce up and show what he could
+do, socially or otherwise.
+
+And so now he began with: “I see you have your lawyer and your partner
+here every day. There ain’t anybody else you’d like to have visit you,
+is there? Of course, it’s against the rules to have your wife or sister
+or anybody like that, except on visiting days—” And here he paused and
+rolled a large and informing eye on Cowperwood—such an eye as was
+supposed to convey dark and mysterious things. “But all the rules ain’t
+kept around here by a long shot.”
+
+Cowperwood was not the man to lose a chance of this kind. He smiled a
+little—enough to relieve himself, and to convey to Bonhag that he was
+gratified by the information, but vocally he observed: “I’ll tell you
+how it is, Mr. Bonhag. I believe you understand my position better than
+most men would, and that I can talk to you. There are people who would
+like to come here, but I have been afraid to let them come. I did not
+know that it could be arranged. If it could be, I would be very
+grateful. You and I are practical men—I know that if any favors are
+extended some of those who help to bring them about must be looked
+after. If you can do anything to make it a little more comfortable for
+me here I will show you that I appreciate it. I haven’t any money on my
+person, but I can always get it, and I will see that you are properly
+looked after.”
+
+Bonhag’s short, thick ears tingled. This was the kind of talk he liked
+to hear. “I can fix anything like that, Mr. Cowperwood,” he replied,
+servilely. “You leave it to me. If there’s any one you want to see at
+any time, just let me know. Of course I have to be very careful, and so
+do you, but that’s all right, too. If you want to stay out in that yard
+a little longer in the mornings or get out there afternoons or
+evenings, from now on, why, go ahead. It’s all right. I’ll just leave
+the door open. If the warden or anybody else should be around, I’ll
+just scratch on your door with my key, and you come in and shut it. If
+there’s anything you want from the outside I can get it for you—jelly
+or eggs or butter or any little thing like that. You might like to fix
+up your meals a little that way.”
+
+“I’m certainly most grateful, Mr. Bonhag,” returned Cowperwood in his
+grandest manner, and with a desire to smile, but he kept a straight
+face.
+
+“In regard to that other matter,” went on Bonhag, referring to the
+matter of extra visitors, “I can fix that any time you want to. I know
+the men out at the gate. If you want anybody to come here, just write
+’em a note and give it to me, and tell ’em to ask for me when they
+come. That’ll get ’em in all right. When they get here you can talk to
+’em in your cell. See! Only when I tap they have to come out. You want
+to remember that. So just you let me know.”
+
+Cowperwood was exceedingly grateful. He said so in direct, choice
+language. It occurred to him at once that this was Aileen’s
+opportunity, and that he could now notify her to come. If she veiled
+herself sufficiently she would probably be safe enough. He decided to
+write her, and when Wingate came he gave him a letter to mail.
+
+Two days later, at three o’clock in the afternoon—the time appointed by
+him—Aileen came to see him. She was dressed in gray broadcloth with
+white-velvet trimmings and cut-steel buttons which glistened like
+silver, and wore, as additional ornaments, as well as a protection
+against the cold, a cap, stole, and muff of snow-white ermine. Over
+this rather striking costume she had slipped a long dark circular
+cloak, which she meant to lay off immediately upon her arrival. She had
+made a very careful toilet as to her shoes, gloves, hair, and the gold
+ornaments which she wore. Her face was concealed by a thick green veil,
+as Cowperwood had suggested; and she arrived at an hour when, as near
+as he had been able to prearrange, he would be alone. Wingate usually
+came at four, after business, and Steger in the morning, when he came
+at all. She was very nervous over this strange adventure, leaving the
+street-car in which she had chosen to travel some distance away and
+walking up a side street. The cold weather and the gray walls under a
+gray sky gave her a sense of defeat, but she had worked very hard to
+look nice in order to cheer her lover up. She knew how readily he
+responded to the influence of her beauty when properly displayed.
+
+Cowperwood, in view of her coming, had made his cell as acceptable as
+possible. It was clean, because he had swept it himself and made his
+own bed; and besides he had shaved and combed his hair, and otherwise
+put himself to rights. The caned chairs on which he was working had
+been put in the corner at the end of the bed. His few dishes were
+washed and hung up, and his clogs brushed with a brush which he now
+kept for the purpose. Never before, he thought to himself, with a
+peculiar feeling of artistic degradation, had Aileen seen him like
+this. She had always admired his good taste in clothes, and the way he
+carried himself in them; and now she was to see him in garments which
+no dignity of body could make presentable. Only a stoic sense of his
+own soul-dignity aided him here. After all, as he now thought, he was
+Frank A. Cowperwood, and that was something, whatever he wore. And
+Aileen knew it. Again, he might be free and rich some day, and he knew
+that she believed that. Best of all, his looks under these or any other
+circumstances, as he knew, would make no difference to Aileen. She
+would only love him the more. It was her ardent sympathy that he was
+afraid of. He was so glad that Bonhag had suggested that she might
+enter the cell, for it would be a grim procedure talking to her through
+a barred door.
+
+When Aileen arrived she asked for Mr. Bonhag, and was permitted to go
+to the central rotunda, where he was sent for. When he came she
+murmured: “I wish to see Mr. Cowperwood, if you please”; and he
+exclaimed, “Oh, yes, just come with me.” As he came across the rotunda
+floor from his corridor he was struck by the evident youth of Aileen,
+even though he could not see her face. This now was something in
+accordance with what he had expected of Cowperwood. A man who could
+steal five hundred thousand dollars and set a whole city by the ears
+must have wonderful adventures of all kinds, and Aileen looked like a
+true adventure. He led her to the little room where he kept his desk
+and detained visitors, and then bustled down to Cowperwood’s cell,
+where the financier was working on one of his chairs and scratching on
+the door with his key, called: “There’s a young lady here to see you.
+Do you want to let her come inside?”
+
+“Thank you, yes,” replied Cowperwood; and Bonhag hurried away,
+unintentionally forgetting, in his boorish incivility, to unlock the
+cell door, so that he had to open it in Aileen’s presence. The long
+corridor, with its thick doors, mathematically spaced gratings and
+gray-stone pavement, caused Aileen to feel faint at heart. A prison,
+iron cells! And he was in one of them. It chilled her usually
+courageous spirit. What a terrible place for her Frank to be! What a
+horrible thing to have put him here! Judges, juries, courts, laws,
+jails seemed like so many foaming ogres ranged about the world, glaring
+down upon her and her love-affair. The clank of the key in the lock,
+and the heavy outward swinging of the door, completed her sense of the
+untoward. And then she saw Cowperwood.
+
+Because of the price he was to receive, Bonhag, after admitting her,
+strolled discreetly away. Aileen looked at Cowperwood from behind her
+veil, afraid to speak until she was sure Bonhag had gone. And
+Cowperwood, who was retaining his self-possession by an effort,
+signaled her but with difficulty after a moment or two. “It’s all
+right,” he said. “He’s gone away.” She lifted her veil, removed her
+cloak, and took in, without seeming to, the stuffy, narrow thickness of
+the room, his wretched shoes, the cheap, misshapen suit, the iron door
+behind him leading out into the little yard attached to his cell.
+Against such a background, with his partially caned chairs visible at
+the end of the bed, he seemed unnatural, weird even. Her Frank! And in
+this condition. She trembled and it was useless for her to try to
+speak. She could only put her arms around him and stroke his head,
+murmuring: “My poor boy—my darling. Is this what they have done to you?
+Oh, my poor darling.” She held his head while Cowperwood, anxious to
+retain his composure, winced and trembled, too. Her love was so full—so
+genuine. It was so soothing at the same time that it was unmanning, as
+now he could see, making of him a child again. And for the first time
+in his life, some inexplicable trick of chemistry—that chemistry of the
+body, of blind forces which so readily supersedes reason at times—he
+lost his self-control. The depth of Aileen’s feelings, the cooing sound
+of her voice, the velvety tenderness of her hands, that beauty that had
+drawn him all the time—more radiant here perhaps within these hard
+walls, and in the face of his physical misery, than it had ever been
+before—completely unmanned him. He did not understand how it could; he
+tried to defy the moods, but he could not. When she held his head close
+and caressed it, of a sudden, in spite of himself, his breast felt
+thick and stuffy, and his throat hurt him. He felt, for him, an
+astonishingly strange feeling, a desire to cry, which he did his best
+to overcome; it shocked him so. There then combined and conspired to
+defeat him a strange, rich picture of the great world he had so
+recently lost, of the lovely, magnificent world which he hoped some day
+to regain. He felt more poignantly at this moment than ever he had
+before the degradation of the clog shoes, the cotton shirt, the striped
+suit, the reputation of a convict, permanent and not to be laid aside.
+He drew himself quickly away from her, turned his back, clinched his
+hands, drew his muscles taut; but it was too late. He was crying, and
+he could not stop.
+
+“Oh, damn it!” he exclaimed, half angrily, half self-commiseratingly,
+in combined rage and shame. “Why should I cry? What the devil’s the
+matter with me, anyhow?”
+
+Aileen saw it. She fairly flung herself in front of him, seized his
+head with one hand, his shabby waist with the other, and held him tight
+in a grip that he could not have readily released.
+
+“Oh, honey, honey, honey!” she exclaimed, pityingly feverishly. “I love
+you, I adore you. They could cut my body into bits if it would do you
+any good. To think that they should make you cry! Oh, my sweet, my
+sweet, my darling boy!”
+
+She pulled his still shaking body tighter, and with her free hand
+caressed his head. She kissed his eyes, his hair, his cheeks. He pulled
+himself loose again after a moment, exclaiming, “What the devil’s got
+into me?” but she drew him back.
+
+“Never mind, honey darling, don’t you be ashamed to cry. Cry here on my
+shoulder. Cry here with me. My baby—my honey pet!”
+
+He quieted down after a few moments, cautioning her against Bonhag, and
+regaining his former composure, which he was so ashamed to have lost.
+
+“You’re a great girl, pet,” he said, with a tender and yet apologetic
+smile. “You’re all right—all that I need—a great help to me; but don’t
+worry any longer about me, dear. I’m all right. It isn’t as bad as you
+think. How are you?”
+
+Aileen on her part was not to be soothed so easily. His many woes,
+including his wretched position here, outraged her sense of justice and
+decency. To think her fine, wonderful Frank should be compelled to come
+to this—to cry. She stroked his head, tenderly, while wild, deadly,
+unreasoning opposition to life and chance and untoward opposition
+surged in her brain. Her father—damn him! Her family—pooh! What did she
+care? Her Frank—her Frank. How little all else mattered where he was
+concerned. Never, never, never would she desert him—never—come what
+might. And now she clung to him in silence while she fought in her
+brain an awful battle with life and law and fate and circumstance.
+Law—nonsense! People—they were brutes, devils, enemies, hounds! She was
+delighted, eager, crazy to make a sacrifice of herself. She would go
+anywhere for or with her Frank now. She would do anything for him. Her
+family was nothing—life nothing, nothing, nothing. She would do
+anything he wished, nothing more, nothing less; anything she could do
+to save him, to make his life happier, but nothing for any one else.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LVI
+
+
+The days passed. Once the understanding with Bonhag was reached,
+Cowperwood’s wife, mother and sister were allowed to appear on
+occasions. His wife and the children were now settled in the little
+home for which he was paying, and his financial obligations to her were
+satisfied by Wingate, who paid her one hundred and twenty five dollars
+a month for him. He realized that he owed her more, but he was sailing
+rather close to the wind financially, these days. The final collapse of
+his old interests had come in March, when he had been legally declared
+a bankrupt, and all his properties forfeited to satisfy the claims
+against him. The city’s claim of five hundred thousand dollars would
+have eaten up more than could have been realized at the time, had not a
+pro rata payment of thirty cents on the dollar been declared. Even then
+the city never received its due, for by some hocus-pocus it was
+declared to have forfeited its rights. Its claims had not been made at
+the proper time in the proper way. This left larger portions of real
+money for the others.
+
+Fortunately by now Cowperwood had begun to see that by a little
+experimenting his business relations with Wingate were likely to prove
+profitable. The broker had made it clear that he intended to be
+perfectly straight with him. He had employed Cowperwood’s two brothers,
+at very moderate salaries—one to take care of the books and look after
+the office, and the other to act on ’change with him, for their seats
+in that organization had never been sold. And also, by considerable
+effort, he had succeeded in securing Cowperwood, Sr., a place as a
+clerk in a bank. For the latter, since the day of his resignation from
+the Third National had been in a deep, sad quandary as to what further
+to do with his life. His son’s disgrace! The horror of his trial and
+incarceration. Since the day of Frank’s indictment and more so, since
+his sentence and commitment to the Eastern Penitentiary, he was as one
+who walked in a dream. That trial! That charge against Frank! His own
+son, a convict in stripes—and after he and Frank had walked so proudly
+in the front rank of the successful and respected here. Like so many
+others in his hour of distress, he had taken to reading the Bible,
+looking into its pages for something of that mind consolation that
+always, from youth up, although rather casually in these latter years,
+he had imagined was to be found there. The Psalms, Isaiah, the Book of
+Job, Ecclesiastes. And for the most part, because of the fraying nature
+of his present ills, not finding it.
+
+But day after day secreting himself in his room—a little hall-bedroom
+office in his newest home, where to his wife, he pretended that he had
+some commercial matters wherewith he was still concerned—and once
+inside, the door locked, sitting and brooding on all that had befallen
+him—his losses; his good name. Or, after months of this, and because of
+the new position secured for him by Wingate—a bookkeeping job in one of
+the outlying banks—slipping away early in the morning, and returning
+late at night, his mind a gloomy epitome of all that had been or yet
+might be.
+
+To see him bustling off from his new but very much reduced home at half
+after seven in the morning in order to reach the small bank, which was
+some distance away and not accessible by street-car line, was one of
+those pathetic sights which the fortunes of trade so frequently offer.
+He carried his lunch in a small box because it was inconvenient to
+return home in the time allotted for this purpose, and because his new
+salary did not permit the extravagance of a purchased one. It was his
+one ambition now to eke out a respectable but unseen existence until he
+should die, which he hoped would not be long. He was a pathetic figure
+with his thin legs and body, his gray hair, and his snow-white
+side-whiskers. He was very lean and angular, and, when confronted by a
+difficult problem, a little uncertain or vague in his mind. An old
+habit which had grown on him in the years of his prosperity of putting
+his hand to his mouth and of opening his eyes in an assumption of
+surprise, which had no basis in fact, now grew upon him. He really
+degenerated, although he did not know it, into a mere automaton. Life
+strews its shores with such interesting and pathetic wrecks.
+
+One of the things that caused Cowperwood no little thought at this
+time, and especially in view of his present extreme indifference to
+her, was how he would bring up this matter of his indifference to his
+wife and his desire to end their relationship. Yet apart from the
+brutality of the plain truth, he saw no way. As he could plainly see,
+she was now persisting in her pretense of devotion, uncolored,
+apparently, by any suspicion of what had happened. Yet since his trial
+and conviction, she had been hearing from one source and another that
+he was still intimate with Aileen, and it was only her thought of his
+concurrent woes, and the fact that he might possibly be spared to a
+successful financial life, that now deterred her from speaking. He was
+shut up in a cell, she said to herself, and she was really very sorry
+for him, but she did not love him as she once had. He was really too
+deserving of reproach for his general unseemly conduct, and no doubt
+this was what was intended, as well as being enforced, by the Governing
+Power of the world.
+
+One can imagine how much such an attitude as this would appeal to
+Cowperwood, once he had detected it. By a dozen little signs, in spite
+of the fact that she brought him delicacies, and commiserated on his
+fate, he could see that she felt not only sad, but reproachful, and if
+there was one thing that Cowperwood objected to at all times it was the
+moral as well as the funereal air. Contrasted with the cheerful
+combative hopefulness and enthusiasm of Aileen, the wearied uncertainty
+of Mrs. Cowperwood was, to say the least, a little tame. Aileen, after
+her first burst of rage over his fate, which really did not develop any
+tears on her part, was apparently convinced that he would get out and
+be very successful again. She talked success and his future all the
+time because she believed in it. Instinctively she seemed to realize
+that prison walls could not make a prison for him. Indeed, on the first
+day she left she handed Bonhag ten dollars, and after thanking him in
+her attractive voice—without showing her face, however—for his obvious
+kindness to her, bespoke his further favor for Cowperwood—“a very great
+man,” as she described him, which sealed that ambitious materialist’s
+fate completely. There was nothing the overseer would not do for the
+young lady in the dark cloak. She might have stayed in Cowperwood’s
+cell for a week if the visiting-hours of the penitentiary had not made
+it impossible.
+
+The day that Cowperwood decided to discuss with his wife the weariness
+of his present married state and his desire to be free of it was some
+four months after he had entered the prison. By that time he had become
+inured to his convict life. The silence of his cell and the menial
+tasks he was compelled to perform, which had at first been so
+distressing, banal, maddening, in their pointless iteration, had now
+become merely commonplace—dull, but not painful. Furthermore he had
+learned many of the little resources of the solitary convict, such as
+that of using his lamp to warm up some delicacy which he had saved from
+a previous meal or from some basket which had been sent him by his wife
+or Aileen. He had partially gotten rid of the sickening odor of his
+cell by persuading Bonhag to bring him small packages of lime; which he
+used with great freedom. Also he succeeded in defeating some of the
+more venturesome rats with traps; and with Bonhag’s permission, after
+his cell door had been properly locked at night, and sealed with the
+outer wooden door, he would take his chair, if it were not too cold,
+out into the little back yard of his cell and look at the sky, where,
+when the nights were clear, the stars were to be seen. He had never
+taken any interest in astronomy as a scientific study, but now the
+Pleiades, the belt of Orion, the Big Dipper and the North Star, to
+which one of its lines pointed, caught his attention, almost his fancy.
+He wondered why the stars of the belt of Orion came to assume the
+peculiar mathematical relation to each other which they held, as far as
+distance and arrangement were concerned, and whether that could
+possibly have any intellectual significance. The nebulous
+conglomeration of the suns in Pleiades suggested a soundless depth of
+space, and he thought of the earth floating like a little ball in
+immeasurable reaches of ether. His own life appeared very trivial in
+view of these things, and he found himself asking whether it was all
+really of any significance or importance. He shook these moods off with
+ease, however, for the man was possessed of a sense of grandeur,
+largely in relation to himself and his affairs; and his temperament was
+essentially material and vital. Something kept telling him that
+whatever his present state he must yet grow to be a significant
+personage, one whose fame would be heralded the world over—who must
+try, try, try. It was not given all men to see far or to do
+brilliantly; but to him it was given, and he must be what he was cut
+out to be. There was no more escaping the greatness that was inherent
+in him than there was for so many others the littleness that was in
+them.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood came in that afternoon quite solemnly, bearing several
+changes of linen, a pair of sheets, some potted meat and a pie. She was
+not exactly doleful, but Cowperwood thought that she was tending toward
+it, largely because of her brooding over his relationship to Aileen,
+which he knew that she knew. Something in her manner decided him to
+speak before she left; and after asking her how the children were, and
+listening to her inquiries in regard to the things that he needed, he
+said to her, sitting on his single chair while she sat on his bed:
+
+“Lillian, there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk with you about
+for some time. I should have done it before, but it’s better late than
+never. I know that you know that there is something between Aileen
+Butler and me, and we might as well have it open and aboveboard. It’s
+true I am very fond of her and she is very devoted to me, and if ever I
+get out of here I want to arrange it so that I can marry her. That
+means that you will have to give me a divorce, if you will; and I want
+to talk to you about that now. This can’t be so very much of a surprise
+to you, because you must have seen this long while that our
+relationship hasn’t been all that it might have been, and under the
+circumstances this can’t prove such a very great hardship to you—I am
+sure.” He paused, waiting, for Mrs. Cowperwood at first said nothing.
+
+Her thought, when he first broached this, was that she ought to make
+some demonstration of astonishment or wrath: but when she looked into
+his steady, examining eyes, so free from the illusion of or interest in
+demonstrations of any kind, she realized how useless it would be. He
+was so utterly matter-of-fact in what seemed to her quite private and
+secret affairs—very shameless. She had never been able to understand
+quite how he could take the subtleties of life as he did, anyhow.
+Certain things which she always fancied should be hushed up he spoke of
+with the greatest nonchalance. Her ears tingled sometimes at his
+frankness in disposing of a social situation; but she thought this must
+be characteristic of notable men, and so there was nothing to be said
+about it. Certain men did as they pleased; society did not seem to be
+able to deal with them in any way. Perhaps God would, later—she was not
+sure. Anyhow, bad as he was, direct as he was, forceful as he was, he
+was far more interesting than most of the more conservative types in
+whom the social virtues of polite speech and modest thoughts were
+seemingly predominate.
+
+“I know,” she said, rather peacefully, although with a touch of anger
+and resentment in her voice. “I’ve known all about it all this time. I
+expected you would say something like this to me some day. It’s a nice
+reward for all my devotion to you; but it’s just like you, Frank. When
+you are set on something, nothing can stop you. It wasn’t enough that
+you were getting along so nicely and had two children whom you ought to
+love, but you had to take up with this Butler creature until her name
+and yours are a by-word throughout the city. I know that she comes to
+this prison. I saw her out here one day as I was coming in, and I
+suppose every one else knows it by now. She has no sense of decency and
+she does not care—the wretched, vain thing—but I would have thought
+that you would be ashamed, Frank, to go on the way that you have, when
+you still have me and the children and your father and mother and when
+you are certain to have such a hard fight to get yourself on your feet,
+as it is. If she had any sense of decency she would not have anything
+to do with you—the shameless thing.”
+
+Cowperwood looked at his wife with unflinching eyes. He read in her
+remarks just what his observation had long since confirmed—that she was
+sympathetically out of touch with him. She was no longer so attractive
+physically, and intellectually she was not Aileen’s equal. Also that
+contact with those women who had deigned to grace his home in his
+greatest hour of prosperity had proved to him conclusively she was
+lacking in certain social graces. Aileen was by no means so vastly
+better, still she was young and amenable and adaptable, and could still
+be improved. Opportunity as he now chose to think, might make Aileen,
+whereas for Lillian—or at least, as he now saw it—it could do nothing.
+
+“I’ll tell you how it is, Lillian,” he said; “I’m not sure that you are
+going to get what I mean exactly, but you and I are not at all well
+suited to each other any more.”
+
+“You didn’t seem to think that three or four years ago,” interrupted
+his wife, bitterly.
+
+“I married you when I was twenty-one,” went on Cowperwood, quite
+brutally, not paying any attention to her interruption, “and I was
+really too young to know what I was doing. I was a mere boy. It doesn’t
+make so much difference about that. I am not using that as an excuse.
+The point that I am trying to make is this—that right or wrong,
+important or not important, I have changed my mind since. I don’t love
+you any more, and I don’t feel that I want to keep up a relationship,
+however it may look to the public, that is not satisfactory to me. You
+have one point of view about life, and I have another. You think your
+point of view is the right one, and there are thousands of people who
+will agree with you; but I don’t think so. We have never quarreled
+about these things, because I didn’t think it was important to quarrel
+about them. I don’t see under the circumstances that I am doing you any
+great injustice when I ask you to let me go. I don’t intend to desert
+you or the children—you will get a good living-income from me as long
+as I have the money to give it to you—but I want my personal freedom
+when I come out of here, if ever I do, and I want you to let me have
+it. The money that you had and a great deal more, once I am out of
+here, you will get back when I am on my feet again. But not if you
+oppose me—only if you help me. I want, and intend to help you
+always—but in my way.”
+
+He smoothed the leg of his prison trousers in a thoughtful way, and
+plucked at the sleeve of his coat. Just now he looked very much like a
+highly intelligent workman as he sat here, rather than like the
+important personage that he was. Mrs. Cowperwood was very resentful.
+
+“That’s a nice way to talk to me, and a nice way to treat me!” she
+exclaimed dramatically, rising and walking the short space—some two
+steps—that lay between the wall and the bed. “I might have known that
+you were too young to know your own mind when you married me. Money, of
+course, that’s all you think of and your own gratification. I don’t
+believe you have any sense of justice in you. I don’t believe you ever
+had. You only think of yourself, Frank. I never saw such a man as you.
+You have treated me like a dog all through this affair; and all the
+while you have been running with that little snip of an Irish thing,
+and telling her all about your affairs, I suppose. You let me go on
+believing that you cared for me up to the last moment, and then you
+suddenly step up and tell me that you want a divorce. I’ll not do it.
+I’ll not give you a divorce, and you needn’t think it.”
+
+Cowperwood listened in silence. His position, in so far as this marital
+tangle was concerned, as he saw, was very advantageous. He was a
+convict, constrained by the exigencies of his position to be out of
+personal contact with his wife for a long period of time to come, which
+should naturally tend to school her to do without him. When he came
+out, it would be very easy for her to get a divorce from a convict,
+particularly if she could allege misconduct with another woman, which
+he would not deny. At the same time, he hoped to keep Aileen’s name out
+of it. Mrs. Cowperwood, if she would, could give any false name if he
+made no contest. Besides, she was not a very strong person,
+intellectually speaking. He could bend her to his will. There was no
+need of saying much more now; the ice had been broken, the situation
+had been put before her, and time should do the rest.
+
+“Don’t be dramatic, Lillian,” he commented, indifferently. “I’m not
+such a loss to you if you have enough to live on. I don’t think I want
+to live in Philadelphia if ever I come out of here. My idea now is to
+go west, and I think I want to go alone. I sha’n’t get married right
+away again even if you do give me a divorce. I don’t care to take
+anybody along. It would be better for the children if you would stay
+here and divorce me. The public would think better of them and you.”
+
+“I’ll not do it,” declared Mrs. Cowperwood, emphatically. “I’ll never
+do it, never; so there! You can say what you choose. You owe it to me
+to stick by me and the children after all I’ve done for you, and I’ll
+not do it. You needn’t ask me any more; I’ll not do it.”
+
+“Very well,” replied Cowperwood, quietly, getting up. “We needn’t talk
+about it any more now. Your time is nearly up, anyhow.” (Twenty minutes
+was supposed to be the regular allotment for visitors.) “Perhaps you’ll
+change your mind sometime.”
+
+She gathered up her muff and the shawl-strap in which she had carried
+her gifts, and turned to go. It had been her custom to kiss Cowperwood
+in a make-believe way up to this time, but now she was too angry to
+make this pretense. And yet she was sorry, too—sorry for herself and,
+she thought, for him.
+
+“Frank,” she declared, dramatically, at the last moment, “I never saw
+such a man as you. I don’t believe you have any heart. You’re not
+worthy of a good wife. You’re worthy of just such a woman as you’re
+getting. The idea!” Suddenly tears came to her eyes, and she flounced
+scornfully and yet sorrowfully out.
+
+Cowperwood stood there. At least there would be no more useless kissing
+between them, he congratulated himself. It was hard in a way, but
+purely from an emotional point of view. He was not doing her any
+essential injustice, he reasoned—not an economic one—which was the
+important thing. She was angry to-day, but she would get over it, and
+in time might come to see his point of view. Who could tell? At any
+rate he had made it plain to her what he intended to do and that was
+something as he saw it. He reminded one of nothing so much, as he stood
+there, as of a young chicken picking its way out of the shell of an old
+estate. Although he was in a cell of a penitentiary, with nearly four
+years more to serve, yet obviously he felt, within himself, that the
+whole world was still before him. He could go west if he could not
+reestablish himself in Philadelphia; but he must stay here long enough
+to win the approval of those who had known him formerly—to obtain, as
+it were, a letter of credit which he could carry to other parts.
+
+“Hard words break no bones,” he said to himself, as his wife went out.
+“A man’s never done till he’s done. I’ll show some of these people
+yet.” Of Bonhag, who came to close the cell door, he asked whether it
+was going to rain, it looked so dark in the hall.
+
+“It’s sure to before night,” replied Bonhag, who was always wondering
+over Cowperwood’s tangled affairs as he heard them retailed here and
+there.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LVII
+
+
+The time that Cowperwood spent in the Eastern Penitentiary of
+Pennsylvania was exactly thirteen months from the day of his entry to
+his discharge. The influences which brought about this result were
+partly of his willing, and partly not. For one thing, some six months
+after his incarceration, Edward Malia Butler died, expired sitting in
+his chair in his private office at his home. The conduct of Aileen had
+been a great strain on him. From the time Cowperwood had been
+sentenced, and more particularly after the time he had cried on
+Aileen’s shoulder in prison, she had turned on her father in an almost
+brutal way. Her attitude, unnatural for a child, was quite explicable
+as that of a tortured sweetheart. Cowperwood had told her that he
+thought Butler was using his influence to withhold a pardon for him,
+even though one were granted to Stener, whose life in prison he had
+been following with considerable interest; and this had enraged her
+beyond measure. She lost no chance of being practically insulting to
+her father, ignoring him on every occasion, refusing as often as
+possible to eat at the same table, and when she did, sitting next her
+mother in the place of Norah, with whom she managed to exchange. She
+refused to sing or play any more when he was present, and persistently
+ignored the large number of young political aspirants who came to the
+house, and whose presence in a way had been encouraged for her benefit.
+Old Butler realized, of course, what it was all about. He said nothing.
+He could not placate her.
+
+Her mother and brothers did not understand it at all at first. (Mrs.
+Butler never understood.) But not long after Cowperwood’s incarceration
+Callum and Owen became aware of what the trouble was. Once, when Owen
+was coming away from a reception at one of the houses where his growing
+financial importance made him welcome, he heard one of two men whom he
+knew casually, say to the other, as they stood at the door adjusting
+their coats, “You saw where this fellow Cowperwood got four years,
+didn’t you?”
+
+“Yes,” replied the other. “A clever devil that—wasn’t he? I knew that
+girl he was in with, too—you know who I mean. Miss Butler—wasn’t that
+her name?”
+
+Owen was not sure that he had heard right. He did not get the
+connection until the other guest, opening the door and stepping out,
+remarked: “Well, old Butler got even, apparently. They say he sent him
+up.”
+
+Owen’s brow clouded. A hard, contentious look came into his eyes. He
+had much of his father’s force. What in the devil were they talking
+about? What Miss Butler did they have in mind? Could this be Aileen or
+Norah, and how could Cowperwood come to be in with either of them? It
+could not possibly be Norah, he reflected; she was very much infatuated
+with a young man whom he knew, and was going to marry him. Aileen had
+been most friendly with the Cowperwoods, and had often spoken well of
+the financier. Could it be she? He could not believe it. He thought
+once of overtaking the two acquaintances and demanding to know what
+they meant, but when he came out on the step they were already some
+distance down the street and in the opposite direction from that in
+which he wished to go. He decided to ask his father about this.
+
+On demand, old Butler confessed at once, but insisted that his son keep
+silent about it.
+
+“I wish I’d have known,” said Owen, grimly. “I’d have shot the dirty
+dog.”
+
+“Aisy, aisy,” said Butler. “Yer own life’s worth more than his, and
+ye’d only be draggin’ the rest of yer family in the dirt with him. He’s
+had somethin’ to pay him for his dirty trick, and he’ll have more. Just
+ye say nothin’ to no one. Wait. He’ll be wantin’ to get out in a year
+or two. Say nothin’ to her aither. Talkin’ won’t help there. She’ll
+come to her sinses when he’s been away long enough, I’m thinkin’.” Owen
+had tried to be civil to his sister after that, but since he was a
+stickler for social perfection and advancement, and so eager to get up
+in the world himself, he could not understand how she could possibly
+have done any such thing. He resented bitterly the stumbling-block she
+had put in his path. Now, among other things, his enemies would have
+this to throw in his face if they wanted to—and they would want to,
+trust life for that.
+
+Callum reached his knowledge of the matter in quite another manner, but
+at about the same time. He was a member of an athletic club which had
+an attractive building in the city, and a fine country club, where he
+went occasionally to enjoy the swimming-pool and the Turkish bath
+connected with it. One of his friends approached him there in the
+billiard-room one evening and said, “Say, Butler, you know I’m a good
+friend of yours, don’t you?”
+
+“Why, certainly, I know it,” replied Callum. “What’s the matter?”
+
+“Well, you know,” said the young individual, whose name was Richard
+Pethick, looking at Callum with a look of almost strained affection, “I
+wouldn’t come to you with any story that I thought would hurt your
+feelings or that you oughtn’t to know about, but I do think you ought
+to know about this.” He pulled at a high white collar which was choking
+his neck.
+
+“I know you wouldn’t, Pethick,” replied Callum; very much interested.
+“What is it? What’s the point?”
+
+“Well, I don’t like to say anything,” replied Pethick, “but that fellow
+Hibbs is saying things around here about your sister.”
+
+“What’s that?” exclaimed Callum, straightening up in the most dynamic
+way and bethinking him of the approved social procedure in all such
+cases. He should be very angry. He should demand and exact proper
+satisfaction in some form or other—by blows very likely if his honor
+had been in any way impugned. “What is it he says about my sister? What
+right has he to mention her name here, anyhow? He doesn’t know her.”
+
+Pethick affected to be greatly concerned lest he cause trouble between
+Callum and Hibbs. He protested that he did not want to, when, in
+reality, he was dying to tell. At last he came out with, “Why, he’s
+circulated the yarn that your sister had something to do with this man
+Cowperwood, who was tried here recently, and that that’s why he’s just
+gone to prison.”
+
+“What’s that?” exclaimed Callum, losing the make-believe of the
+unimportant, and taking on the serious mien of some one who feels
+desperately. “He says that, does he? Where is he? I want to see if
+he’ll say that to me.”
+
+Some of the stern fighting ability of his father showed in his slender,
+rather refined young face.
+
+“Now, Callum,” insisted Pethick, realizing the genuine storm he had
+raised, and being a little fearful of the result, “do be careful what
+you say. You mustn’t have a row in here. You know it’s against the
+rules. Besides he may be drunk. It’s just some foolish talk he’s heard,
+I’m sure. Now, for goodness’ sake, don’t get so excited.” Pethick,
+having evoked the storm, was not a little nervous as to its results in
+his own case. He, too, as well as Callum, himself as the tale-bearer,
+might now be involved.
+
+But Callum by now was not so easily restrained. His face was quite
+pale, and he was moving toward the old English grill-room, where Hibbs
+happened to be, consuming a brandy-and-soda with a friend of about his
+own age. Callum entered and called him.
+
+“Oh, Hibbs!” he said.
+
+Hibbs, hearing his voice and seeing him in the door, arose and came
+over. He was an interesting youth of the collegiate type, educated at
+Princeton. He had heard the rumor concerning Aileen from various
+sources—other members of the club, for one—and had ventured to repeat
+it in Pethick’s presence.
+
+“What’s that you were just saying about my sister?” asked Callum,
+grimly, looking Hibbs in the eye.
+
+“Why—I—” hesitated Hibbs, who sensed trouble and was eager to avoid it.
+He was not exceptionally brave and looked it. His hair was
+straw-colored, his eyes blue, and his cheeks pink. “Why—nothing in
+particular. Who said I was talking about her?” He looked at Pethick,
+whom he knew to be the tale-bearer, and the latter exclaimed,
+excitedly:
+
+“Now don’t you try to deny it, Hibbs. You know I heard you?”
+
+“Well, what did I say?” asked Hibbs, defiantly.
+
+“Well, what did you say?” interrupted Callum, grimly, transferring the
+conversation to himself. “That’s just what I want to know.”
+
+“Why,” stammered Hibbs, nervously, “I don’t think I’ve said anything
+that anybody else hasn’t said. I just repeated that some one said that
+your sister had been very friendly with Mr. Cowperwood. I didn’t say
+any more than I have heard other people say around here.”
+
+“Oh, you didn’t, did you?” exclaimed Callum, withdrawing his hand from
+his pocket and slapping Hibbs in the face. He repeated the blow with
+his left hand, fiercely. “Perhaps that’ll teach you to keep my sister’s
+name out of your mouth, you pup!”
+
+Hibbs’s arms flew up. He was not without pugilistic training, and he
+struck back vigorously, striking Callum once in the chest and once in
+the neck. In an instant the two rooms of this suite were in an uproar.
+Tables and chairs were overturned by the energy of men attempting to
+get to the scene of action. The two combatants were quickly separated;
+sides were taken by the friends of each, excited explanations attempted
+and defied. Callum was examining the knuckles of his left hand, which
+were cut from the blow he had delivered. He maintained a gentlemanly
+calm. Hibbs, very much flustered and excited, insisted that he had been
+most unreasonably used. The idea of attacking him here. And, anyhow, as
+he maintained now, Pethick had been both eavesdropping and lying about
+him. Incidentally, the latter was protesting to others that he had done
+the only thing which an honorable friend could do. It was a nine days’
+wonder in the club, and was only kept out of the newspapers by the most
+strenuous efforts on the part of the friends of both parties. Callum
+was so outraged on discovering that there was some foundation for the
+rumor at the club in a general rumor which prevailed that he tendered
+his resignation, and never went there again.
+
+“I wish to heaven you hadn’t struck that fellow,” counseled Owen, when
+the incident was related to him. “It will only make more talk. She
+ought to leave this place; but she won’t. She’s struck on that fellow
+yet, and we can’t tell Norah and mother. We will never hear the last of
+this, you and I—believe me.”
+
+“Damn it, she ought to be made to go,” exclaimed Callum.
+
+“Well, she won’t,” replied Owen. “Father has tried making her, and she
+won’t go. Just let things stand. He’s in the penitentiary now, and
+that’s probably the end of him. The public seem to think that father
+put him there, and that’s something. Maybe we can persuade her to go
+after a while. I wish to God we had never had sight of that fellow. If
+ever he comes out, I’ve a good notion to kill him.”
+
+“Oh, I wouldn’t do anything like that,” replied Callum. “It’s useless.
+It would only stir things up afresh. He’s done for, anyhow.”
+
+They planned to urge Norah to marry as soon as possible. And as for
+their feelings toward Aileen, it was a very chilly atmosphere which
+Mrs. Butler contemplated from now on, much to her confusion, grief, and
+astonishment.
+
+In this divided world it was that Butler eventually found himself, all
+at sea as to what to think or what to do. He had brooded so long now,
+for months, and as yet had found no solution. And finally, in a form of
+religious despair, sitting at his desk, in his business chair, he had
+collapsed—a weary and disconsolate man of seventy. A lesion of the left
+ventricle was the immediate physical cause, although brooding over
+Aileen was in part the mental one. His death could not have been laid
+to his grief over Aileen exactly, for he was a very large
+man—apoplectic and with sclerotic veins and arteries. For a great many
+years now he had taken very little exercise, and his digestion had been
+considerably impaired thereby. He was past seventy, and his time had
+been reached. They found him there the next morning, his hands folded
+in his lap, his head on his bosom, quite cold.
+
+He was buried with honors out of St. Timothy’s Church, the funeral
+attended by a large body of politicians and city officials, who
+discussed secretly among themselves whether his grief over his daughter
+had anything to do with his end. All his good deeds were remembered, of
+course, and Mollenhauer and Simpson sent great floral emblems in
+remembrance. They were very sorry that he was gone, for they had been a
+cordial three. But gone he was, and that ended their interest in the
+matter. He left all of his property to his wife in one of the shortest
+wills ever recorded locally.
+
+“I give and bequeath to my beloved wife, Norah, all my property of
+whatsoever kind to be disposed of as she may see fit.”
+
+There was no misconstruing this. A private paper drawn secretly for her
+sometime before by Butler, explained how the property should be
+disposed of by her at her death. It was Butler’s real will masquerading
+as hers, and she would not have changed it for worlds; but he wanted
+her left in undisturbed possession of everything until she should die.
+Aileen’s originally assigned portion had never been changed. According
+to her father’s will, which no power under the sun could have made Mrs.
+Butler alter, she was left $250,000 to be paid at Mrs. Butler’s death.
+Neither this fact nor any of the others contained in the paper were
+communicated by Mrs. Butler, who retained it to be left as her will.
+Aileen often wondered, but never sought to know, what had been left
+her. Nothing she fancied—but felt that she could not help this.
+
+Butler’s death led at once to a great change in the temper of the home.
+After the funeral the family settled down to a seemingly peaceful
+continuance of the old life; but it was a matter of seeming merely. The
+situation stood with Callum and Owen manifesting a certain degree of
+contempt for Aileen, which she, understanding, reciprocated. She was
+very haughty. Owen had plans of forcing her to leave after Butler’s
+death, but he finally asked himself what was the use. Mrs. Butler, who
+did not want to leave the old home, was very fond of Aileen, so therein
+lay a reason for letting her remain. Besides, any move to force her out
+would have entailed an explanation to her mother, which was not deemed
+advisable. Owen himself was interested in Caroline Mollenhauer, whom he
+hoped some day to marry—as much for her prospective wealth as for any
+other reason, though he was quite fond of her. In the January following
+Butler’s death, which occurred in August, Norah was married very
+quietly, and the following spring Callum embarked on a similar venture.
+
+In the meanwhile, with Butler’s death, the control of the political
+situation had shifted considerably. A certain Tom Collins, formerly one
+of Butler’s henchmen, but latterly a power in the First, Second, Third,
+and Fourth Wards, where he had numerous saloons and control of other
+forms of vice, appeared as a claimant for political recognition.
+Mollenhauer and Simpson had to consult him, as he could make very
+uncertain the disposition of some hundred and fifteen thousand votes, a
+large number of which were fraudulent, but which fact did not modify
+their deadly character on occasion. Butler’s sons disappeared as
+possible political factors, and were compelled to confine themselves to
+the street-railway and contracting business. The pardon of Cowperwood
+and Stener, which Butler would have opposed, because by keeping Stener
+in he kept Cowperwood in, became a much easier matter. The scandal of
+the treasury defalcation was gradually dying down; the newspapers had
+ceased to refer to it in any way. Through Steger and Wingate, a large
+petition signed by all important financiers and brokers had been sent
+to the Governor pointing out that Cowperwood’s trial and conviction had
+been most unfair, and asking that he be pardoned. There was no need of
+any such effort, so far as Stener was concerned; whenever the time
+seemed ripe the politicians were quite ready to say to the Governor
+that he ought to let him go. It was only because Butler had opposed
+Cowperwood’s release that they had hesitated. It was really not
+possible to let out the one and ignore the other; and this petition,
+coupled with Butler’s death, cleared the way very nicely.
+
+Nevertheless, nothing was done until the March following Butler’s
+death, when both Stener and Cowperwood had been incarcerated thirteen
+months—a length of time which seemed quite sufficient to appease the
+anger of the public at large. In this period Stener had undergone a
+considerable change physically and mentally. In spite of the fact that
+a number of the minor aldermen, who had profited in various ways by his
+largess, called to see him occasionally, and that he had been given, as
+it were, almost the liberty of the place, and that his family had not
+been allowed to suffer, nevertheless he realized that his political and
+social days were over. Somebody might now occasionally send him a
+basket of fruit and assure him that he would not be compelled to suffer
+much longer; but when he did get out, he knew that he had nothing to
+depend on save his experience as an insurance agent and real-estate
+dealer. That had been precarious enough in the days when he was trying
+to get some small political foothold. How would it be when he was known
+only as the man who had looted the treasury of five hundred thousand
+dollars and been sent to the penitentiary for five years? Who would
+lend him the money wherewith to get a little start, even so much as
+four or five thousand dollars? The people who were calling to pay their
+respects now and then, and to assure him that he had been badly
+treated? Never. All of them could honestly claim that they had not so
+much to spare. If he had good security to offer—yes; but if he had good
+security he would not need to go to them at all. The man who would have
+actually helped him if he had only known was Frank A. Cowperwood.
+Stener could have confessed his mistake, as Cowperwood saw it, and
+Cowperwood would have given him the money gladly, without any thought
+of return. But by his poor understanding of human nature, Stener
+considered that Cowperwood must be an enemy of his, and he would not
+have had either the courage or the business judgment to approach him.
+
+During his incarceration Cowperwood had been slowly accumulating a
+little money through Wingate. He had paid Steger considerable sums from
+time to time, until that worthy finally decided that it would not be
+fair to take any more.
+
+“If ever you get on your feet, Frank,” he said, “you can remember me if
+you want to, but I don’t think you’ll want to. It’s been nothing but
+lose, lose, lose for you through me. I’ll undertake this matter of
+getting that appeal to the Governor without any charge on my part.
+Anything I can do for you from now on is free gratis for nothing.”
+
+“Oh, don’t talk nonsense, Harper,” replied Cowperwood. “I don’t know of
+anybody that could have done better with my case. Certainly there isn’t
+anybody that I would have trusted as much. I don’t like lawyers you
+know.”
+
+“Yes—well,” said Steger, “they’ve got nothing on financiers, so we’ll
+call it even.” And they shook hands.
+
+So when it was finally decided to pardon Stener, which was in the early
+part of March, 1873—Cowperwood’s pardon was necessarily but gingerly
+included. A delegation, consisting of Strobik, Harmon, and Winpenny,
+representing, as it was intended to appear, the unanimous wishes of the
+council and the city administration, and speaking for Mollenhauer and
+Simpson, who had given their consent, visited the Governor at
+Harrisburg and made the necessary formal representations which were
+intended to impress the public. At the same time, through the agency of
+Steger, Davison, and Walter Leigh, the appeal in behalf of Cowperwood
+was made. The Governor, who had had instructions beforehand from
+sources quite superior to this committee, was very solemn about the
+whole procedure. He would take the matter under advisement. He would
+look into the history of the crimes and the records of the two men. He
+could make no promises—he would see. But in ten days, after allowing
+the petitions to gather considerable dust in one of his pigeonholes and
+doing absolutely nothing toward investigating anything, he issued two
+separate pardons in writing. One, as a matter of courtesy, he gave into
+the hands of Messrs. Strobik, Harmon, and Winpenny, to bear personally
+to Mr. Stener, as they desired that he should. The other, on Steger’s
+request, he gave to him. The two committees which had called to receive
+them then departed; and the afternoon of that same day saw Strobik,
+Harmon, and Winpenny arrive in one group, and Steger, Wingate, and
+Walter Leigh in another, at the prison gate, but at different hours.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LVIII
+
+
+This matter of the pardon of Cowperwood, the exact time of it, was kept
+a secret from him, though the fact that he was to be pardoned soon, or
+that he had a very excellent chance of being, had not been
+denied—rather had been made much of from time to time. Wingate had kept
+him accurately informed as to the progress being made, as had Steger;
+but when it was actually ascertained, from the Governor’s private
+secretary, that a certain day would see the pardon handed over to them,
+Steger, Wingate, and Walter Leigh had agreed between themselves that
+they would say nothing, taking Cowperwood by surprise. They even went
+so far—that is, Steger and Wingate did—as to indicate to Cowperwood
+that there was some hitch to the proceedings and that he might not now
+get out so soon. Cowperwood was somewhat depressed, but properly
+stoical; he assured himself that he could wait, and that he would be
+all right sometime. He was rather surprised therefore, one Friday
+afternoon, to see Wingate, Steger, and Leigh appear at his cell door,
+accompanied by Warden Desmas.
+
+The warden was quite pleased to think that Cowperwood should finally be
+going out—he admired him so much—and decided to come along to the cell,
+to see how he would take his liberation. On the way Desmas commented on
+the fact that he had always been a model prisoner. “He kept a little
+garden out there in that yard of his,” he confided to Walter Leigh. “He
+had violets and pansies and geraniums out there, and they did very
+well, too.”
+
+Leigh smiled. It was like Cowperwood to be industrious and tasteful,
+even in prison. Such a man could not be conquered. “A very remarkable
+man, that,” he remarked to Desmas.
+
+“Very,” replied the warden. “You can tell that by looking at him.”
+
+The four looked in through the barred door where he was working,
+without being observed, having come up quite silently.
+
+“Hard at it, Frank?” asked Steger.
+
+Cowperwood glanced over his shoulder and got up. He had been thinking,
+as always these days, of what he would do when he did get out.
+
+“What is this,” he asked—“a political delegation?” He suspected
+something on the instant. All four smiled cheeringly, and Bonhag
+unlocked the door for the warden.
+
+“Nothing very much, Frank,” replied Stager, gleefully, “only you’re a
+free man. You can gather up your traps and come right along, if you
+wish.”
+
+Cowperwood surveyed his friends with a level gaze. He had not expected
+this so soon after what had been told him. He was not one to be very
+much interested in the practical joke or the surprise, but this pleased
+him—the sudden realization that he was free. Still, he had anticipated
+it so long that the charm of it had been discounted to a certain
+extent. He had been unhappy here, and he had not. The shame and
+humiliation of it, to begin with, had been much. Latterly, as he had
+become inured to it all, the sense of narrowness and humiliation had
+worn off. Only the consciousness of incarceration and delay irked him.
+Barring his intense desire for certain things—success and vindication,
+principally—he found that he could live in his narrow cell and be
+fairly comfortable. He had long since become used to the limy smell
+(used to defeat a more sickening one), and to the numerous rats which
+he quite regularly trapped. He had learned to take an interest in
+chair-caning, having become so proficient that he could seat twenty in
+a day if he chose, and in working in the little garden in spring,
+summer, and fall. Every evening he had studied the sky from his narrow
+yard, which resulted curiously in the gift in later years of a great
+reflecting telescope to a famous university. He had not looked upon
+himself as an ordinary prisoner, by any means—had not felt himself to
+be sufficiently punished if a real crime had been involved. From Bonhag
+he had learned the history of many criminals here incarcerated, from
+murderers up and down, and many had been pointed out to him from time
+to time. He had been escorted into the general yard by Bonhag, had seen
+the general food of the place being prepared, had heard of Stener’s
+modified life here, and so forth. It had finally struck him that it was
+not so bad, only that the delay to an individual like himself was
+wasteful. He could do so much now if he were out and did not have to
+fight court proceedings. Courts and jails! He shook his head when he
+thought of the waste involved in them.
+
+“That’s all right,” he said, looking around him in an uncertain way.
+“I’m ready.”
+
+He stepped out into the hall, with scarcely a farewell glance, and to
+Bonhag, who was grieving greatly over the loss of so profitable a
+customer, he said: “I wish you would see that some of these things are
+sent over to my house, Walter. You’re welcome to the chair, that clock,
+this mirror, those pictures—all of these things in fact, except my
+linen, razors, and so forth.”
+
+The last little act of beneficence soothed Bonhag’s lacerated soul a
+little. They went out into the receiving overseer’s office, where
+Cowperwood laid aside his prison suit and the soft shirt with a
+considerable sense of relief. The clog shoes had long since been
+replaced by a better pair of his own. He put on the derby hat and gray
+overcoat he had worn the year before, on entering, and expressed
+himself as ready. At the entrance of the prison he turned and looked
+back—one last glance—at the iron door leading into the garden.
+
+“You don’t regret leaving that, do you, Frank?” asked Steger,
+curiously.
+
+“I do not,” replied Cowperwood. “It wasn’t that I was thinking of. It
+was just the appearance of it, that’s all.”
+
+In another minute they were at the outer gate, where Cowperwood shook
+the warden finally by the hand. Then entering a carriage outside the
+large, impressive, Gothic entrance, the gates were locked behind them
+and they were driven away.
+
+“Well, there’s an end of that, Frank,” observed Steger, gayly; “that
+will never bother you any more.”
+
+“Yes,” replied Cowperwood. “It’s worse to see it coming than going.”
+
+“It seems to me we ought to celebrate this occasion in some way,”
+observed Walter Leigh. “It won’t do just to take Frank home. Why don’t
+we all go down to Green’s? That’s a good idea.”
+
+“I’d rather not, if you don’t mind,” replied Cowperwood, feelingly.
+“I’ll get together with you all, later. Just now I’d like to go home
+and change these clothes.”
+
+He was thinking of Aileen and his children and his mother and father
+and of his whole future. Life was going to broaden out for him
+considerably from now on, he was sure of it. He had learned so much
+about taking care of himself in those thirteen months. He was going to
+see Aileen, and find how she felt about things in general, and then he
+was going to resume some such duties as he had had in his own concern,
+with Wingate & Co. He was going to secure a seat on ’change again,
+through his friends; and, to escape the effect of the prejudice of
+those who might not care to do business with an ex-convict, he was
+going to act as general outside man, and floor man on ’charge, for
+Wingate & Co. His practical control of that could not be publicly
+proved. Now for some important development in the market—some slump or
+something. He would show the world whether he was a failure or not.
+
+They let him down in front of his wife’s little cottage, and he entered
+briskly in the gathering gloom.
+
+On September 18, 1873, at twelve-fifteen of a brilliant autumn day, in
+the city of Philadelphia, one of the most startling financial tragedies
+that the world has ever seen had its commencement. The banking house of
+Jay Cooke & Co., the foremost financial organization of America, doing
+business at Number 114 South Third Street in Philadelphia, and with
+branches in New York, Washington, and London, closed its doors. Those
+who know anything about the financial crises of the United States know
+well the significance of the panic which followed. It is spoken of in
+all histories as the panic of 1873, and the widespread ruin and
+disaster which followed was practically unprecedented in American
+history.
+
+At this time Cowperwood, once more a broker—ostensibly a broker’s
+agent—was doing business in South Third Street, and representing
+Wingate & Co. on ’change. During the six months which had elapsed since
+he had emerged from the Eastern Penitentiary he had been quietly
+resuming financial, if not social, relations with those who had known
+him before.
+
+Furthermore, Wingate & Co. were prospering, and had been for some time,
+a fact which redounded to his credit with those who knew. Ostensibly he
+lived with his wife in a small house on North Twenty-first Street. In
+reality he occupied a bachelor apartment on North Fifteenth Street, to
+which Aileen occasionally repaired. The difference between himself and
+his wife had now become a matter of common knowledge in the family,
+and, although there were some faint efforts made to smooth the matter
+over, no good resulted. The difficulties of the past two years had so
+inured his parents to expect the untoward and exceptional that,
+astonishing as this was, it did not shock them so much as it would have
+years before. They were too much frightened by life to quarrel with its
+weird developments. They could only hope and pray for the best.
+
+The Butler family, on the other hand, what there was of it, had become
+indifferent to Aileen’s conduct. She was ignored by her brothers and
+Norah, who now knew all; and her mother was so taken up with religious
+devotions and brooding contemplation of her loss that she was not as
+active in her observation of Aileen’s life as she might have been.
+Besides, Cowperwood and his mistress were more circumspect in their
+conduct than they had ever been before. Their movements were more
+carefully guarded, though the result was the same. Cowperwood was
+thinking of the West—of reaching some slight local standing here in
+Philadelphia, and then, with perhaps one hundred thousand dollars in
+capital, removing to the boundless prairies of which he had heard so
+much—Chicago, Fargo, Duluth, Sioux City, places then heralded in
+Philadelphia and the East as coming centers of great life—and taking
+Aileen with him. Although the problem of marriage with her was
+insoluble unless Mrs. Cowperwood should formally agree to give him up—a
+possibility which was not manifest at this time, neither he nor Aileen
+were deterred by that thought. They were going to build a future
+together—or so they thought, marriage or no marriage. The only thing
+which Cowperwood could see to do was to take Aileen away with him, and
+to trust to time and absence to modify his wife’s point of view.
+
+This particular panic, which was destined to mark a notable change in
+Cowperwood’s career, was one of those peculiar things which spring
+naturally out of the optimism of the American people and the
+irrepressible progress of the country. It was the result, to be
+accurate, of the prestige and ambition of Jay Cooke, whose early
+training and subsequent success had all been acquired in Philadelphia,
+and who had since become the foremost financial figure of his day. It
+would be useless to attempt to trace here the rise of this man to
+distinction; it need only be said that by suggestions which he made and
+methods which he devised the Union government, in its darkest hours,
+was able to raise the money wherewith to continue the struggle against
+the South. After the Civil War this man, who had built up a tremendous
+banking business in Philadelphia, with great branches in New York and
+Washington, was at a loss for some time for some significant thing to
+do, some constructive work which would be worthy of his genius. The war
+was over; the only thing which remained was the finances of peace, and
+the greatest things in American financial enterprise were those related
+to the construction of transcontinental railway lines. The Union
+Pacific, authorized in 1860, was already building; the Northern Pacific
+and the Southern Pacific were already dreams in various pioneer minds.
+The great thing was to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific by steel,
+to bind up the territorially perfected and newly solidified Union, or
+to enter upon some vast project of mining, of which gold and silver
+were the most important. Actually railway-building was the most
+significant of all, and railroad stocks were far and away the most
+valuable and important on every exchange in America. Here in
+Philadelphia, New York Central, Rock Island, Wabash, Central Pacific,
+St. Paul, Hannibal & St. Joseph, Union Pacific, and Ohio & Mississippi
+were freely traded in. There were men who were getting rich and famous
+out of handling these things; and such towering figures as Cornelius
+Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Daniel Drew, James Fish, and others in the East,
+and Fair, Crocker, W. R. Hearst, and Collis P. Huntington, in the West,
+were already raising their heads like vast mountains in connection with
+these enterprises. Among those who dreamed most ardently on this score
+was Jay Cooke, who without the wolfish cunning of a Gould or the
+practical knowledge of a Vanderbilt, was ambitious to thread the
+northern reaches of America with a band of steel which should be a
+permanent memorial to his name.
+
+The project which fascinated him most was one that related to the
+development of the territory then lying almost unexplored between the
+extreme western shore of Lake Superior, where Duluth now stands, and
+that portion of the Pacific Ocean into which the Columbia River
+empties—the extreme northern one-third of the United States. Here, if a
+railroad were built, would spring up great cities and prosperous towns.
+There were, it was suspected, mines of various metals in the region of
+the Rockies which this railroad would traverse, and untold wealth to be
+reaped from the fertile corn and wheat lands. Products brought only so
+far east as Duluth could then be shipped to the Atlantic, via the Great
+Lakes and the Erie Canal, at a greatly reduced cost. It was a vision of
+empire, not unlike the Panama Canal project of the same period, and one
+that bade fair apparently to be as useful to humanity. It had aroused
+the interest and enthusiasm of Cooke. Because of the fact that the
+government had made a grant of vast areas of land on either side of the
+proposed track to the corporation that should seriously undertake it
+and complete it within a reasonable number of years, and because of the
+opportunity it gave him of remaining a distinguished public figure, he
+had eventually shouldered the project. It was open to many objections
+and criticisms; but the genius which had been sufficient to finance the
+Civil War was considered sufficient to finance the Northern Pacific
+Railroad. Cooke undertook it with the idea of being able to put the
+merits of the proposition before the people direct—not through the
+agency of any great financial corporation—and of selling to the
+butcher, the baker, and the candlestick-maker the stock or shares that
+he wished to dispose of.
+
+It was a brilliant chance. His genius had worked out the sale of great
+government loans during the Civil War to the people direct in this
+fashion. Why not Northern Pacific certificates? For several years he
+conducted a pyrotechnic campaign, surveying the territory in question,
+organizing great railway-construction corps, building hundreds of miles
+of track under most trying conditions, and selling great blocks of his
+stock, on which interest of a certain percentage was guaranteed. If it
+had not been that he knew little of railroad-building, personally, and
+that the project was so vast that it could not well be encompassed by
+one man, even so great a man it might have proved successful, as under
+subsequent management it did. However, hard times, the war between
+France and Germany, which tied up European capital for the time being
+and made it indifferent to American projects, envy, calumny, a certain
+percentage of mismanagement, all conspired to wreck it. On September
+18, 1873, at twelve-fifteen noon, Jay Cooke & Co. failed for
+approximately eight million dollars and the Northern Pacific for all
+that had been invested in it—some fifty million dollars more.
+
+One can imagine what the result was—the most important financier and
+the most distinguished railway enterprise collapsing at one and the
+same time. “A financial thunderclap in a clear sky,” said the
+Philadelphia Press. “No one could have been more surprised,” said the
+Philadelphia Inquirer, “if snow had fallen amid the sunshine of a
+summer noon.” The public, which by Cooke’s previous tremendous success
+had been lulled into believing him invincible, could not understand it.
+It was beyond belief. Jay Cooke fail? Impossible, or anything connected
+with him. Nevertheless, he had failed; and the New York Stock Exchange,
+after witnessing a number of crashes immediately afterward, closed for
+eight days. The Lake Shore Railroad failed to pay a call-loan of one
+million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and the Union Trust
+Company, allied to the Vanderbilt interests, closed its doors after
+withstanding a prolonged run. The National Trust Company of New York
+had eight hundred thousand dollars of government securities in its
+vaults, but not a dollar could be borrowed upon them; and it suspended.
+Suspicion was universal, rumor affected every one.
+
+In Philadelphia, when the news reached the stock exchange, it came
+first in the form of a brief despatch addressed to the stock board from
+the New York Stock Exchange—“Rumor on street of failure of Jay Cooke &
+Co. Answer.” It was not believed, and so not replied to. Nothing was
+thought of it. The world of brokers paid scarcely any attention to it.
+Cowperwood, who had followed the fortunes of Jay Cooke & Co. with
+considerable suspicion of its president’s brilliant theory of vending
+his wares direct to the people—was perhaps the only one who had
+suspicions. He had once written a brilliant criticism to some inquirer,
+in which he had said that no enterprise of such magnitude as the
+Northern Pacific had ever before been entirely dependent upon one
+house, or rather upon one man, and that he did not like it. “I am not
+sure that the lands through which the road runs are so unparalleled in
+climate, soil, timber, minerals, etc., as Mr. Cooke and his friends
+would have us believe. Neither do I think that the road can at present,
+or for many years to come, earn the interest which its great issues of
+stock call for. There is great danger and risk there.” So when the
+notice was posted, he looked at it, wondering what the effect would be
+if by any chance Jay Cooke & Co. should fail.
+
+He was not long in wonder. A second despatch posted on ’change read:
+“New York, September 18th. Jay Cooke & Co. have suspended.”
+
+Cowperwood could not believe it. He was beside himself with the thought
+of a great opportunity. In company with every other broker, he hurried
+into Third Street and up to Number 114, where the famous old banking
+house was located, in order to be sure. Despite his natural dignity and
+reserve, he did not hesitate to run. If this were true, a great hour
+had struck. There would be wide-spread panic and disaster. There would
+be a terrific slump in prices of all stocks. He must be in the thick of
+it. Wingate must be on hand, and his two brothers. He must tell them
+how to sell and when and what to buy. His great hour had come!
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LIX
+
+
+The banking house of Jay Cooke & Co., in spite of its tremendous
+significance as a banking and promoting concern, was a most
+unpretentious affair, four stories and a half in height of gray stone
+and red brick. It had never been deemed a handsome or comfortable
+banking house. Cowperwood had been there often. Wharf-rats as long as
+the forearm of a man crept up the culverted channels of Dock Street to
+run through the apartments at will. Scores of clerks worked under
+gas-jets, where light and air were not any too abundant, keeping track
+of the firm’s vast accounts. It was next door to the Girard National
+Bank, where Cowperwood’s friend Davison still flourished, and where the
+principal financial business of the street converged. As Cowperwood ran
+he met his brother Edward, who was coming to the stock exchange with
+some word for him from Wingate.
+
+“Run and get Wingate and Joe,” he said. “There’s something big on this
+afternoon. Jay Cooke has failed.”
+
+Edward waited for no other word, but hurried off as directed.
+
+Cowperwood reached Cooke & Co. among the earliest. To his utter
+astonishment, the solid brown-oak doors, with which he was familiar,
+were shut, and a notice posted on them, which he quickly read, ran:
+
+_September_ 18, 1873.
+To the Public—We regret to be obliged to announce that, owing to
+unexpected demands on us, our firm has been obliged to suspend payment.
+In a few days we will be able to present a statement to our creditors.
+Until which time we must ask their patient consideration. We believe
+our assets to be largely in excess of our liabilities.
+
+
+Jay Cooke & Co.
+
+
+A magnificent gleam of triumph sprang into Cowperwood’s eye. In company
+with many others he turned and ran back toward the exchange, while a
+reporter, who had come for information knocked at the massive doors of
+the banking house, and was told by a porter, who peered out of a
+diamond-shaped aperture, that Jay Cooke had gone home for the day and
+was not to be seen.
+
+“Now,” thought Cowperwood, to whom this panic spelled opportunity, not
+ruin, “I’ll get my innings. I’ll go short of this—of everything.”
+
+Before, when the panic following the Chicago fire had occurred, he had
+been long—had been compelled to stay long of many things in order to
+protect himself. To-day he had nothing to speak of—perhaps a paltry
+seventy-five thousand dollars which he had managed to scrape together.
+Thank God! he had only the reputation of Wingate’s old house to lose,
+if he lost, which was nothing. With it as a trading agency behind
+him—with it as an excuse for his presence, his right to buy and sell—he
+had everything to gain. Where many men were thinking of ruin, he was
+thinking of success. He would have Wingate and his two brothers under
+him to execute his orders exactly. He could pick up a fourth and a
+fifth man if necessary. He would give them orders to
+sell—everything—ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty points off, if necessary,
+in order to trap the unwary, depress the market, frighten the fearsome
+who would think he was too daring; and then he would buy, buy, buy,
+below these figures as much as possible, in order to cover his sales
+and reap a profit.
+
+His instinct told him how widespread and enduring this panic would be.
+The Northern Pacific was a hundred-million-dollar venture. It involved
+the savings of hundreds of thousands of people—small bankers,
+tradesmen, preachers, lawyers, doctors, widows, institutions all over
+the land, and all resting on the faith and security of Jay Cooke. Once,
+not unlike the Chicago fire map, Cowperwood had seen a grand prospectus
+and map of the location of the Northern Pacific land-grant which Cooke
+had controlled, showing a vast stretch or belt of territory extending
+from Duluth—“The Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas,” as Proctor Knott,
+speaking in the House of Representatives, had sarcastically called
+it—through the Rockies and the headwaters of the Missouri to the
+Pacific Ocean. He had seen how Cooke had ostensibly managed to get
+control of this government grant, containing millions upon millions of
+acres and extending fourteen hundred miles in length; but it was only a
+vision of empire. There might be silver and gold and copper mines
+there. The land was usable—would some day be usable. But what of it
+now? It would do to fire the imaginations of fools with—nothing more.
+It was inaccessible, and would remain so for years to come. No doubt
+thousands had subscribed to build this road; but, too, thousands would
+now fail if it had failed. Now the crash had come. The grief and the
+rage of the public would be intense. For days and days and weeks and
+months, normal confidence and courage would be gone. This was his hour.
+This was his great moment. Like a wolf prowling under glittering,
+bitter stars in the night, he was looking down into the humble folds of
+simple men and seeing what their ignorance and their unsophistication
+would cost them.
+
+He hurried back to the exchange, the very same room in which only two
+years before he had fought his losing fight, and, finding that his
+partner and his brother had not yet come, began to sell everything in
+sight. Pandemonium had broken loose. Boys and men were fairly tearing
+in from all sections with orders from panic-struck brokers to sell,
+sell, sell, and later with orders to buy; the various trading-posts
+were reeling, swirling masses of brokers and their agents. Outside in
+the street in front of Jay Cooke & Co., Clark & Co., the Girard
+National Bank, and other institutions, immense crowds were beginning to
+form. They were hurrying here to learn the trouble, to withdraw their
+deposits, to protect their interests generally. A policeman arrested a
+boy for calling out the failure of Jay Cooke & Co., but nevertheless
+the news of the great disaster was spreading like wild-fire.
+
+Among these panic-struck men Cowperwood was perfectly calm, deadly
+cold, the same Cowperwood who had pegged solemnly at his ten chairs
+each day in prison, who had baited his traps for rats, and worked in
+the little garden allotted him in utter silence and loneliness. Now he
+was vigorous and energetic. He had been just sufficiently about this
+exchange floor once more to have made his personality impressive and
+distinguished. He forced his way into the center of swirling crowds of
+men already shouting themselves hoarse, offering whatever was being
+offered in quantities which were astonishing, and at prices which
+allured the few who were anxious to make money out of the tumbling
+prices to buy. New York Central had been standing at 104 7/8 when the
+failure was announced; Rhode Island at 108 7/8; Western Union at 92
+1/2; Wabash at 70 1/4; Panama at 117 3/8; Central Pacific at 99 5/8;
+St. Paul at 51; Hannibal & St. Joseph at 48; Northwestern at 63; Union
+Pacific at 26 3/4; Ohio and Mississippi at 38 3/4. Cowperwood’s house
+had scarcely any of the stocks on hand. They were not carrying them for
+any customers, and yet he sold, sold, sold, to whoever would take, at
+prices which he felt sure would inspire them.
+
+“Five thousand of New York Central at ninety-nine, ninety-eight,
+ninety-seven, ninety-six, ninety-five, ninety-four, ninety-three,
+ninety-two, ninety-one, ninety, eighty-nine,” you might have heard him
+call; and when his sales were not sufficiently brisk he would turn to
+something else—Rock Island, Panama, Central Pacific, Western Union,
+Northwestern, Union Pacific. He saw his brother and Wingate hurrying
+in, and stopped in his work long enough to instruct them. “Sell
+everything you can,” he cautioned them quietly, “at fifteen points off
+if you have to—no lower than that now—and buy all you can below it. Ed,
+you see if you cannot buy up some local street-railways at fifteen off.
+Joe, you stay near me and buy when I tell you.”
+
+The secretary of the board appeared on his little platform.
+
+“E. W. Clark & Company,” he announced, at one-thirty, “have just closed
+their doors.”
+
+“Tighe & Company,” he called at one-forty-five, “announce that they are
+compelled to suspend.”
+
+“The First National Bank of Philadelphia,” he called, at two o’clock,
+“begs to state that it cannot at present meet its obligations.”
+
+After each announcement, always, as in the past, when the gong had
+compelled silence, the crowd broke into an ominous “Aw, aw, aw.”
+
+“Tighe & Company,” thought Cowperwood, for a single second, when he
+heard it. “There’s an end of him.” And then he returned to his task.
+
+When the time for closing came, his coat torn, his collar twisted
+loose, his necktie ripped, his hat lost, he emerged sane, quiet,
+steady-mannered.
+
+“Well, Ed,” he inquired, meeting his brother, “how’d you make out?” The
+latter was equally torn, scratched, exhausted.
+
+“Christ,” he replied, tugging at his sleeves, “I never saw such a place
+as this. They almost tore my clothes off.”
+
+“Buy any local street-railways?”
+
+“About five thousand shares.”
+
+“We’d better go down to Green’s,” Frank observed, referring to the
+lobby of the principal hotel. “We’re not through yet. There’ll be more
+trading there.”
+
+He led the way to find Wingate and his brother Joe, and together they
+were off, figuring up some of the larger phases of their purchases and
+sales as they went.
+
+And, as he predicted, the excitement did not end with the coming of the
+night. The crowd lingered in front of Jay Cooke & Co.’s on Third Street
+and in front of other institutions, waiting apparently for some
+development which would be favorable to them. For the initiated the
+center of debate and agitation was Green’s Hotel, where on the evening
+of the eighteenth the lobby and corridors were crowded with bankers,
+brokers, and speculators. The stock exchange had practically adjourned
+to that hotel en masse. What of the morrow? Who would be the next to
+fail? From whence would money be forthcoming? These were the topics
+from each mind and upon each tongue. From New York was coming
+momentarily more news of disaster. Over there banks and trust companies
+were falling like trees in a hurricane. Cowperwood in his
+perambulations, seeing what he could see and hearing what he could
+hear, reaching understandings which were against the rules of the
+exchange, but which were nevertheless in accord with what every other
+person was doing, saw about him men known to him as agents of
+Mollenhauer and Simpson, and congratulated himself that he would have
+something to collect from them before the week was over. He might not
+own a street-railway, but he would have the means to. He learned from
+hearsay, and information which had been received from New York and
+elsewhere, that things were as bad as they could be, and that there was
+no hope for those who expected a speedy return of normal conditions. No
+thought of retiring for the night entered until the last man was gone.
+It was then practically morning.
+
+The next day was Friday, and suggested many ominous things. Would it be
+another Black Friday? Cowperwood was at his office before the street
+was fairly awake. He figured out his program for the day to a nicety,
+feeling strangely different from the way he had felt two years before
+when the conditions were not dissimilar. Yesterday, in spite of the
+sudden onslaught, he had made one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
+and he expected to make as much, if not more, to-day. There was no
+telling what he could make, he thought, if he could only keep his small
+organization in perfect trim and get his assistants to follow his
+orders exactly. Ruin for others began early with the suspension of Fisk
+& Hatch, Jay Cooke’s faithful lieutenants during the Civil War. They
+had calls upon them for one million five hundred thousand dollars in
+the first fifteen minutes after opening the doors, and at once closed
+them again, the failure being ascribed to Collis P. Huntington’s
+Central Pacific Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio. There was a
+long-continued run on the Fidelity Trust Company. News of these facts,
+and of failures in New York posted on ’change, strengthened the cause
+Cowperwood was so much interested in; for he was selling as high as he
+could and buying as low as he could on a constantly sinking scale. By
+twelve o’clock he figured with his assistants that he had cleared one
+hundred thousand dollars; and by three o’clock he had two hundred
+thousand dollars more. That afternoon between three and seven he spent
+adjusting his trades, and between seven and one in the morning, without
+anything to eat, in gathering as much additional information as he
+could and laying his plans for the future. Saturday morning came, and
+he repeated his performance of the day before, following it up with
+adjustments on Sunday and heavy trading on Monday. By Monday afternoon
+at three o’clock he figured that, all losses and uncertainties to one
+side, he was once more a millionaire, and that now his future lay clear
+and straight before him.
+
+As he sat at his desk late that afternoon in his office looking out
+into Third Street, where a hurrying of brokers, messengers, and anxious
+depositors still maintained, he had the feeling that so far as
+Philadelphia and the life here was concerned, his day and its day with
+him was over. He did not care anything about the brokerage business
+here any more or anywhere. Failures such as this, and disasters such as
+the Chicago fire, that had overtaken him two years before, had cured
+him of all love of the stock exchange and all feeling for Philadelphia.
+He had been very unhappy here in spite of all his previous happiness;
+and his experience as a convict had made, him, he could see quite
+plainly, unacceptable to the element with whom he had once hoped to
+associate. There was nothing else to do, now that he had reestablished
+himself as a Philadelphia business man and been pardoned for an offense
+which he hoped to make people believe he had never committed, but to
+leave Philadelphia to seek a new world.
+
+“If I get out of this safely,” he said to himself, “this is the end. I
+am going West, and going into some other line of business.” He thought
+of street-railways, land speculation, some great manufacturing project
+of some kind, even mining, on a legitimate basis.
+
+“I have had my lesson,” he said to himself, finally getting up and
+preparing to leave. “I am as rich as I was, and only a little older.
+They caught me once, but they will not catch me again.” He talked to
+Wingate about following up the campaign on the lines in which he had
+started, and he himself intended to follow it up with great energy; but
+all the while his mind was running with this one rich thought: “I am a
+millionaire. I am a free man. I am only thirty-six, and my future is
+all before me.”
+
+It was with this thought that he went to visit Aileen, and to plan for
+the future.
+
+It was only three months later that a train, speeding through the
+mountains of Pennsylvania and over the plains of Ohio and Indiana, bore
+to Chicago and the West the young financial aspirant who, in spite of
+youth and wealth and a notable vigor of body, was a solemn,
+conservative speculator as to what his future might be. The West, as he
+had carefully calculated before leaving, held much. He had studied the
+receipts of the New York Clearing House recently and the disposition of
+bank-balances and the shipment of gold, and had seen that vast
+quantities of the latter metal were going to Chicago. He understood
+finance accurately. The meaning of gold shipments was clear. Where
+money was going trade was—a thriving, developing life. He wished to see
+clearly for himself what this world had to offer.
+
+Two years later, following the meteoric appearance of a young
+speculator in Duluth, and after Chicago had seen the tentative opening
+of a grain and commission company labeled Frank A. Cowperwood & Co.,
+which ostensibly dealt in the great wheat crops of the West, a quiet
+divorce was granted Mrs. Frank A. Cowperwood in Philadelphia, because
+apparently she wished it. Time had not seemingly dealt badly with her.
+Her financial affairs, once so bad, were now apparently all
+straightened out, and she occupied in West Philadelphia, near one of
+her sisters, a new and interesting home which was fitted with all the
+comforts of an excellent middle-class residence. She was now quite
+religious once more. The two children, Frank and Lillian, were in
+private schools, returning evenings to their mother. “Wash” Sims was
+once more the negro general factotum. Frequent visitors on Sundays were
+Mr. and Mrs. Henry Worthington Cowperwood, no longer distressed
+financially, but subdued and wearied, the wind completely gone from
+their once much-favored sails. Cowperwood, senior, had sufficient money
+wherewith to sustain himself, and that without slaving as a petty
+clerk, but his social joy in life was gone. He was old, disappointed,
+sad. He could feel that with his quondam honor and financial glory, he
+was the same—and he was not. His courage and his dreams were gone, and
+he awaited death.
+
+Here, too, came Anna Adelaide Cowperwood on occasion, a clerk in the
+city water office, who speculated much as to the strange vicissitudes
+of life. She had great interest in her brother, who seemed destined by
+fate to play a conspicuous part in the world; but she could not
+understand him. Seeing that all those who were near to him in any way
+seemed to rise or fall with his prosperity, she did not understand how
+justice and morals were arranged in this world. There seemed to be
+certain general principles—or people assumed there were—but apparently
+there were exceptions. Assuredly her brother abided by no known rule,
+and yet he seemed to be doing fairly well once more. What did this
+mean? Mrs. Cowperwood, his former wife, condemned his actions, and yet
+accepted of his prosperity as her due. What were the ethics of that?
+
+Cowperwood’s every action was known to Aileen Butler, his present
+whereabouts and prospects. Not long after his wife’s divorce, and after
+many trips to and from this new world in which he was now living, these
+two left Philadelphia together one afternoon in the winter. Aileen
+explained to her mother, who was willing to go and live with Norah,
+that she had fallen in love with the former banker and wished to marry
+him. The old lady, gathering only a garbled version of it at first,
+consented.
+
+Thus ended forever for Aileen this long-continued relationship with
+this older world. Chicago was before her—a much more distinguished
+career, Frank told her, than ever they could have had in Philadelphia.
+
+“Isn’t it nice to be finally going?” she commented.
+
+“It is advantageous, anyhow,” he said.
+
+
+
+
+Concerning Mycteroperca Bonaci
+
+
+There is a certain fish, the scientific name of which is Mycteroperca
+Bonaci, its common name Black Grouper, which is of considerable value
+as an afterthought in this connection, and which deserves to be better
+known. It is a healthy creature, growing quite regularly to a weight of
+two hundred and fifty pounds, and lives a comfortable, lengthy
+existence because of its very remarkable ability to adapt itself to
+conditions. That very subtle thing which we call the creative power,
+and which we endow with the spirit of the beatitudes, is supposed to
+build this mortal life in such fashion that only honesty and virtue
+shall prevail. Witness, then, the significant manner in which it has
+fashioned the black grouper. One might go far afield and gather less
+forceful indictments—the horrific spider spinning his trap for the
+unthinking fly; the lovely Drosera (Sundew) using its crimson calyx for
+a smothering-pit in which to seal and devour the victim of its beauty;
+the rainbow-colored jellyfish that spreads its prismed tentacles like
+streamers of great beauty, only to sting and torture all that falls
+within their radiant folds. Man himself is busy digging the pit and
+fashioning the snare, but he will not believe it. His feet are in the
+trap of circumstance; his eyes are on an illusion.
+
+Mycteroperca moving in its dark world of green waters is as fine an
+illustration of the constructive genius of nature, which is not
+beatific, as any which the mind of man may discover. Its great
+superiority lies in an almost unbelievable power of simulation, which
+relates solely to the pigmentation of its skin. In electrical mechanics
+we pride ourselves on our ability to make over one brilliant scene into
+another in the twinkling of an eye, and flash before the gaze of an
+onlooker picture after picture, which appear and disappear as we look.
+The directive control of Mycteroperca over its appearance is much more
+significant. You cannot look at it long without feeling that you are
+witnessing something spectral and unnatural, so brilliant is its power
+to deceive. From being black it can become instantly white; from being
+an earth-colored brown it can fade into a delightful water-colored
+green. Its markings change as the clouds of the sky. One marvels at the
+variety and subtlety of its power.
+
+Lying at the bottom of a bay, it can simulate the mud by which it is
+surrounded. Hidden in the folds of glorious leaves, it is of the same
+markings. Lurking in a flaw of light, it is like the light itself
+shining dimly in water. Its power to elude or strike unseen is of the
+greatest.
+
+What would you say was the intention of the overruling, intelligent,
+constructive force which gives to Mycteroperca this ability? To fit it
+to be truthful? To permit it to present an unvarying appearance which
+all honest life-seeking fish may know? Or would you say that subtlety,
+chicanery, trickery, were here at work? An implement of illusion one
+might readily suspect it to be, a living lie, a creature whose business
+it is to appear what it is not, to simulate that with which it has
+nothing in common, to get its living by great subtlety, the power of
+its enemies to forefend against which is little. The indictment is
+fair.
+
+Would you say, in the face of this, that a beatific, beneficent
+creative, overruling power never wills that which is either tricky or
+deceptive? Or would you say that this material seeming in which we
+dwell is itself an illusion? If not, whence then the Ten Commandments
+and the illusion of justice? Why were the Beatitudes dreamed of and how
+do they avail?
+
+
+
+
+The Magic Crystal
+
+
+If you had been a mystic or a soothsayer or a member of that mysterious
+world which divines by incantations, dreams, the mystic bowl, or the
+crystal sphere, you might have looked into their mysterious depths at
+this time and foreseen a world of happenings which concerned these two,
+who were now apparently so fortunately placed. In the fumes of the
+witches’ pot, or the depths of the radiant crystal, might have been
+revealed cities, cities, cities; a world of mansions, carriages,
+jewels, beauty; a vast metropolis outraged by the power of one man; a
+great state seething with indignation over a force it could not
+control; vast halls of priceless pictures; a palace unrivaled for its
+magnificence; a whole world reading with wonder, at times, of a given
+name. And sorrow, sorrow, sorrow.
+
+The three witches that hailed Macbeth upon the blasted heath might in
+turn have called to Cowperwood, “Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood, master
+of a great railway system! Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood, builder of a
+priceless mansion! Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood, patron of arts and
+possessor of endless riches! You shall be famed hereafter.” But like
+the Weird Sisters, they would have lied, for in the glory was also the
+ashes of Dead Sea fruit—an understanding that could neither be inflamed
+by desire nor satisfied by luxury; a heart that was long since wearied
+by experience; a soul that was as bereft of illusion as a windless
+moon. And to Aileen, as to Macduff, they might have spoken a more
+pathetic promise, one that concerned hope and failure. To have and not
+to have! All the seeming, and yet the sorrow of not having! Brilliant
+society that shone in a mirage, yet locked its doors; love that eluded
+as a will-o’-the-wisp and died in the dark. “Hail to you, Frank
+Cowperwood, master and no master, prince of a world of dreams whose
+reality was disillusion!” So might the witches have called, the bowl
+have danced with figures, the fumes with vision, and it would have been
+true. What wise man might not read from such a beginning, such an end?
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Financier, by Theodore Dreiser
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FINANCIER ***
+
+***** This file should be named 1840-0.txt or 1840-0.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/4/1840/
+
+Produced by Kirk Pearson and David Widger
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
+be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
+law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
+so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
+States without permission and without paying copyright
+royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
+of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
+and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
+specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
+eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
+for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
+performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
+away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
+not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
+trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
+
+START: FULL LICENSE
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
+Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
+www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+
+1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
+destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
+possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
+Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
+by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
+person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
+1.E.8.
+
+1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
+paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
+agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
+Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
+of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
+works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
+States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
+United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
+claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
+displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
+all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
+that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
+free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
+works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
+Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
+comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
+same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
+you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
+in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
+check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
+agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
+distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
+other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
+representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
+country outside the United States.
+
+1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
+immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
+prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
+on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
+performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
+
+  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
+  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
+  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
+  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
+  United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
+  are located before using this ebook.
+
+1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
+derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
+contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
+copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
+the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
+redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
+either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
+obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
+trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
+additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
+will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
+posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
+beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
+any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
+to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
+other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
+version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
+(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
+to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
+of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
+Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
+full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+provided that
+
+* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
+  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
+  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
+  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
+  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
+  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
+  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
+  Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
+  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
+  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
+  works.
+
+* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
+  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
+  receipt of the work.
+
+* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
+are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
+from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
+Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
+Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
+contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
+or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
+other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
+cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
+with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
+with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
+lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
+or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
+opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
+the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
+without further opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
+OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
+damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
+violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
+agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
+limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
+unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
+remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
+accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
+production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
+including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
+the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
+or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
+additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
+Defect you cause.
+
+Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
+computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
+exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
+from people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
+generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
+Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
+www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
+U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
+mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
+volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
+locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
+Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
+date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
+official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+
+    Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+    Chief Executive and Director
+    gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
+DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
+state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
+donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
+freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
+distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
+volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
+the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
+necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
+edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
+facility: www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
diff --git a/1840-0.zip b/1840-0.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..98c3470
--- /dev/null
+++ b/1840-0.zip
diff --git a/1840-h.zip b/1840-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3898ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/1840-h.zip
diff --git a/1840-h/1840-h.htm b/1840-h/1840-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aded3dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/1840-h/1840-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,24485 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
+<title>The Financier, by Theodore Dreiser</title>
+
+<style type="text/css">
+
+body { margin-left: 20%;
+       margin-right: 20%;
+       text-align: justify }
+
+h1, h2{text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight:
+normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;}
+
+h1 {font-size: 300%;
+    margin-top: 0.6em;
+    margin-bottom: 0.6em;
+    letter-spacing: 0.12em;
+    word-spacing: 0.2em;
+    text-indent: 0em;}
+h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;}
+
+hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;}
+
+div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;}
+
+p {text-indent: 1em;
+   margin-top: 0.25em;
+   margin-bottom: 0.25em; }
+
+.p2 {margin-top: 2em;}
+
+p.letter {text-indent: 0%;
+          margin-left: 5%;
+          margin-right: 5%;
+          margin-top: 1em;
+          margin-bottom: 1em; }
+
+p.center  {text-align: center;
+           text-indent: 0em;
+           margin-top: 1em;
+           margin-bottom: 1em; }
+
+p.right {text-align: right;
+         margin-right: 10%;
+         margin-top: 1em;
+         margin-bottom: 1em; }
+
+div.fig { display:block;
+          margin:0 auto;
+          text-align:center; }
+
+a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none}
+a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none}
+a:hover {color:red}
+
+</style>
+
+</head>
+
+<body>
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Financier, by Theodore Dreiser
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Financier
+
+Author: Theodore Dreiser
+
+Release Date: February 25, 2006 [EBook #1840]
+Last Updated: December 1, 2019
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FINANCIER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Kirk Pearson and David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<h1>The Financier</h1>
+
+<h2>by Theodore Dreiser</h2>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2>Contents</h2>
+
+<table summary="">
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap01">Chapter I</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap02">Chapter II</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap03">Chapter III</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap04">Chapter IV</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap05">Chapter V</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap06">Chapter VI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap07">Chapter VII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap08">Chapter VIII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap09">Chapter IX</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap10">Chapter X</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap11">Chapter XI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap12">Chapter XII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap13">Chapter XIII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap14">Chapter XIV</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap15">Chapter XV</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap16">Chapter XVI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap17">Chapter XVII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap18">Chapter XVIII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap19">Chapter XIX</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap20">Chapter XX</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap21">Chapter XXI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap22">Chapter XXII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap23">Chapter XXIII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap24">Chapter XXIV</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap25">Chapter XXV</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap26">Chapter XXVI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap27">Chapter XXVII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap28">Chapter XXVIII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap29">Chapter XXIX</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap30">Chapter XXX</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap31">Chapter XXXI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap32">Chapter XXXII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap33">Chapter XXXIII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap34">Chapter XXXIV</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap35">Chapter XXXV</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap36">Chapter XXXVI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap37">Chapter XXXVII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap38">Chapter XXXVIII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap39">Chapter XXXIX</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap40">Chapter XL</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap41">Chapter XLI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap42">Chapter XLII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap43">Chapter XLIII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap44">Chapter XLIV</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap45">Chapter XLV</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap46">Chapter XLVI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap47">Chapter XLVII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap48">Chapter XLVIII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap49">Chapter XLIX</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap50">Chapter L</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap51">Chapter LI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap52">Chapter LII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap53">Chapter LIII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap54">Chapter LIV</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap55">Chapter LV</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap56">Chapter LVI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap57">Chapter LVII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap58">Chapter LVIII</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap59">Chapter LIX</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap60">Concerning Mycteroperca Bonaci</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap61">The Magic Crystal</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap01"></a>Chapter I</h2>
+
+<p>
+The Philadelphia into which Frank Algernon Cowperwood was born was a city of
+two hundred and fifty thousand and more. It was set with handsome parks,
+notable buildings, and crowded with historic memories. Many of the things that
+we and he knew later were not then in existence&mdash;the telegraph, telephone,
+express company, ocean steamer, city delivery of mails. There were no
+postage-stamps or registered letters. The street car had not arrived. In its
+place were hosts of omnibuses, and for longer travel the slowly developing
+railroad system still largely connected by canals.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s father was a bank clerk at the time of Frank&rsquo;s birth,
+but ten years later, when the boy was already beginning to turn a very
+sensible, vigorous eye on the world, Mr. Henry Worthington Cowperwood, because
+of the death of the bank&rsquo;s president and the consequent moving ahead of
+the other officers, fell heir to the place vacated by the promoted teller, at
+the, to him, munificent salary of thirty-five hundred dollars a year. At once
+he decided, as he told his wife joyously, to remove his family from 21
+Buttonwood Street to 124 New Market Street, a much better neighborhood, where
+there was a nice brick house of three stories in height as opposed to their
+present two-storied domicile. There was the probability that some day they
+would come into something even better, but for the present this was sufficient.
+He was exceedingly grateful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Henry Worthington Cowperwood was a man who believed only what he saw and was
+content to be what he was&mdash;a banker, or a prospective one. He was at this
+time a significant figure&mdash;tall, lean, inquisitorial, clerkly&mdash;with
+nice, smooth, closely-cropped side whiskers coming to almost the lower lobes of
+his ears. His upper lip was smooth and curiously long, and he had a long,
+straight nose and a chin that tended to be pointed. His eyebrows were bushy,
+emphasizing vague, grayish-green eyes, and his hair was short and smooth and
+nicely parted. He wore a frock-coat always&mdash;it was quite the thing in
+financial circles in those days&mdash;and a high hat. And he kept his hands and
+nails immaculately clean. His manner might have been called severe, though
+really it was more cultivated than austere.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Being ambitious to get ahead socially and financially, he was very careful of
+whom or with whom he talked. He was as much afraid of expressing a rabid or
+unpopular political or social opinion as he was of being seen with an evil
+character, though he had really no opinion of great political significance to
+express. He was neither anti- nor pro-slavery, though the air was stormy with
+abolition sentiment and its opposition. He believed sincerely that vast
+fortunes were to be made out of railroads if one only had the capital and that
+curious thing, a magnetic personality&mdash;the ability to win the confidence
+of others. He was sure that Andrew Jackson was all wrong in his opposition to
+Nicholas Biddle and the United States Bank, one of the great issues of the day;
+and he was worried, as he might well be, by the perfect storm of wildcat money
+which was floating about and which was constantly coming to his
+bank&mdash;discounted, of course, and handed out again to anxious borrowers at
+a profit. His bank was the Third National of Philadelphia, located in that
+center of all Philadelphia and indeed, at that time, of practically all
+national finance&mdash;Third Street&mdash;and its owners conducted a brokerage
+business as a side line. There was a perfect plague of State banks, great and
+small, in those days, issuing notes practically without regulation upon
+insecure and unknown assets and failing and suspending with astonishing
+rapidity; and a knowledge of all these was an important requirement of Mr.
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s position. As a result, he had become the soul of caution.
+Unfortunately, for him, he lacked in a great measure the two things that are
+necessary for distinction in any field&mdash;magnetism and vision. He was not
+destined to be a great financier, though he was marked out to be a moderately
+successful one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Cowperwood was of a religious temperament&mdash;a small woman, with
+light-brown hair and clear, brown eyes, who had been very attractive in her
+day, but had become rather prim and matter-of-fact and inclined to take very
+seriously the maternal care of her three sons and one daughter. The former,
+captained by Frank, the eldest, were a source of considerable annoyance to her,
+for they were forever making expeditions to different parts of the city,
+getting in with bad boys, probably, and seeing and hearing things they should
+neither see nor hear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Frank Cowperwood, even at ten, was a natural-born leader. At the day school he
+attended, and later at the Central High School, he was looked upon as one whose
+common sense could unquestionably be trusted in all cases. He was a sturdy
+youth, courageous and defiant. From the very start of his life, he wanted to
+know about economics and politics. He cared nothing for books. He was a clean,
+stalky, shapely boy, with a bright, clean-cut, incisive face; large, clear,
+gray eyes; a wide forehead; short, bristly, dark-brown hair. He had an
+incisive, quick-motioned, self-sufficient manner, and was forever asking
+questions with a keen desire for an intelligent reply. He never had an ache or
+pain, ate his food with gusto, and ruled his brothers with a rod of iron.
+&ldquo;Come on, Joe!&rdquo; &ldquo;Hurry, Ed!&rdquo; These commands were issued
+in no rough but always a sure way, and Joe and Ed came. They looked up to Frank
+from the first as a master, and what he had to say was listened to eagerly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was forever pondering, pondering&mdash;one fact astonishing him quite as
+much as another&mdash;for he could not figure out how this thing he had come
+into&mdash;this life&mdash;was organized. How did all these people get into the
+world? What were they doing here? Who started things, anyhow? His mother told
+him the story of Adam and Eve, but he didn&rsquo;t believe it. There was a
+fish-market not so very far from his home, and there, on his way to see his
+father at the bank, or conducting his brothers on after-school expeditions, he
+liked to look at a certain tank in front of one store where were kept odd
+specimens of sea-life brought in by the Delaware Bay fishermen. He saw once
+there a sea-horse&mdash;just a queer little sea-animal that looked somewhat
+like a horse&mdash;and another time he saw an electric eel which Benjamin
+Franklin&rsquo;s discovery had explained. One day he saw a squid and a lobster
+put in the tank, and in connection with them was witness to a tragedy which
+stayed with him all his life and cleared things up considerably intellectually.
+The lobster, it appeared from the talk of the idle bystanders, was offered no
+food, as the squid was considered his rightful prey. He lay at the bottom of
+the clear glass tank on the yellow sand, apparently seeing nothing&mdash;you
+could not tell in which way his beady, black buttons of eyes were
+looking&mdash;but apparently they were never off the body of the squid. The
+latter, pale and waxy in texture, looking very much like pork fat or jade,
+moved about in torpedo fashion; but his movements were apparently never out of
+the eyes of his enemy, for by degrees small portions of his body began to
+disappear, snapped off by the relentless claws of his pursuer. The lobster
+would leap like a catapult to where the squid was apparently idly dreaming, and
+the squid, very alert, would dart away, shooting out at the same time a cloud
+of ink, behind which it would disappear. It was not always completely
+successful, however. Small portions of its body or its tail were frequently
+left in the claws of the monster below. Fascinated by the drama, young
+Cowperwood came daily to watch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One morning he stood in front of the tank, his nose almost pressed to the
+glass. Only a portion of the squid remained, and his ink-bag was emptier than
+ever. In the corner of the tank sat the lobster, poised apparently for action.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The boy stayed as long as he could, the bitter struggle fascinating him. Now,
+maybe, or in an hour or a day, the squid might die, slain by the lobster, and
+the lobster would eat him. He looked again at the greenish-copperish engine of
+destruction in the corner and wondered when this would be. To-night, maybe. He
+would come back to-night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He returned that night, and lo! the expected had happened. There was a little
+crowd around the tank. The lobster was in the corner. Before him was the squid
+cut in two and partially devoured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He got him at last,&rdquo; observed one bystander. &ldquo;I was standing
+right here an hour ago, and up he leaped and grabbed him. The squid was too
+tired. He wasn&rsquo;t quick enough. He did back up, but that lobster he
+calculated on his doing that. He&rsquo;s been figuring on his movements for a
+long time now. He got him to-day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Frank only stared. Too bad he had missed this. The least touch of sorrow for
+the squid came to him as he stared at it slain. Then he gazed at the victor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way it has to be, I guess,&rdquo; he commented to
+himself. &ldquo;That squid wasn&rsquo;t quick enough.&rdquo; He figured it out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The squid couldn&rsquo;t kill the lobster&mdash;he had no weapon. The
+lobster could kill the squid&mdash;he was heavily armed. There was nothing for
+the squid to feed on; the lobster had the squid as prey. What was the result to
+be? What else could it be? He didn&rsquo;t have a chance,&rdquo; he concluded
+finally, as he trotted on homeward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The incident made a great impression on him. It answered in a rough way that
+riddle which had been annoying him so much in the past: &ldquo;How is life
+organized?&rdquo; Things lived on each other&mdash;that was it. Lobsters lived
+on squids and other things. What lived on lobsters? Men, of course! Sure, that
+was it! And what lived on men? he asked himself. Was it other men? Wild animals
+lived on men. And there were Indians and cannibals. And some men were killed by
+storms and accidents. He wasn&rsquo;t so sure about men living on men; but men
+did kill each other. How about wars and street fights and mobs? He had seen a
+mob once. It attacked the Public Ledger building as he was coming home from
+school. His father had explained why. It was about the slaves. That was it!
+Sure, men lived on men. Look at the slaves. They were men. That&rsquo;s what
+all this excitement was about these days. Men killing other men&mdash;negroes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went on home quite pleased with himself at his solution.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mother!&rdquo; he exclaimed, as he entered the house, &ldquo;he finally
+got him!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Got who? What got what?&rdquo; she inquired in amazement. &ldquo;Go wash
+your hands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, that lobster got that squid I was telling you and pa about the
+other day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that&rsquo;s too bad. What makes you take any interest in such
+things? Run, wash your hands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, you don&rsquo;t often see anything like that. I never did.&rdquo;
+He went out in the back yard, where there was a hydrant and a post with a
+little table on it, and on that a shining tin-pan and a bucket of water. Here
+he washed his face and hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Say, papa,&rdquo; he said to his father, later, &ldquo;you know that
+squid?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, he&rsquo;s dead. The lobster got him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His father continued reading. &ldquo;Well, that&rsquo;s too bad,&rdquo; he
+said, indifferently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But for days and weeks Frank thought of this and of the life he was tossed
+into, for he was already pondering on what he should be in this world, and how
+he should get along. From seeing his father count money, he was sure that he
+would like banking; and Third Street, where his father&rsquo;s office was,
+seemed to him the cleanest, most fascinating street in the world.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap02"></a>Chapter II</h2>
+
+<p>
+The growth of young Frank Algernon Cowperwood was through years of what might
+be called a comfortable and happy family existence. Buttonwood Street, where he
+spent the first ten years of his life, was a lovely place for a boy to live. It
+contained mostly small two and three-story red brick houses, with small white
+marble steps leading up to the front door, and thin, white marble trimmings
+outlining the front door and windows. There were trees in the
+street&mdash;plenty of them. The road pavement was of big, round cobblestones,
+made bright and clean by the rains; and the sidewalks were of red brick, and
+always damp and cool. In the rear was a yard, with trees and grass and
+sometimes flowers, for the lots were almost always one hundred feet deep, and
+the house-fronts, crowding close to the pavement in front, left a comfortable
+space in the rear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Cowperwoods, father and mother, were not so lean and narrow that they could
+not enter into the natural tendency to be happy and joyous with their children;
+and so this family, which increased at the rate of a child every two or three
+years after Frank&rsquo;s birth until there were four children, was quite an
+interesting affair when he was ten and they were ready to move into the New
+Market Street home. Henry Worthington Cowperwood&rsquo;s connections were
+increased as his position grew more responsible, and gradually he was becoming
+quite a personage. He already knew a number of the more prosperous merchants
+who dealt with his bank, and because as a clerk his duties necessitated his
+calling at other banking-houses, he had come to be familiar with and favorably
+known in the Bank of the United States, the Drexels, the Edwards, and others.
+The brokers knew him as representing a very sound organization, and while he
+was not considered brilliant mentally, he was known as a most reliable and
+trustworthy individual.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this progress of his father young Cowperwood definitely shared. He was quite
+often allowed to come to the bank on Saturdays, when he would watch with great
+interest the deft exchange of bills at the brokerage end of the business. He
+wanted to know where all the types of money came from, why discounts were
+demanded and received, what the men did with all the money they received. His
+father, pleased at his interest, was glad to explain so that even at this early
+age&mdash;from ten to fifteen&mdash;the boy gained a wide knowledge of the
+condition of the country financially&mdash;what a State bank was and what a
+national one; what brokers did; what stocks were, and why they fluctuated in
+value. He began to see clearly what was meant by money as a medium of exchange,
+and how all values were calculated according to one primary value, that of
+gold. He was a financier by instinct, and all the knowledge that pertained to
+that great art was as natural to him as the emotions and subtleties of life are
+to a poet. This medium of exchange, gold, interested him intensely. When his
+father explained to him how it was mined, he dreamed that he owned a gold mine
+and waked to wish that he did. He was likewise curious about stocks and bonds
+and he learned that some stocks and bonds were not worth the paper they were
+written on, and that others were worth much more than their face value
+indicated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There, my son,&rdquo; said his father to him one day, &ldquo;you
+won&rsquo;t often see a bundle of those around this neighborhood.&rdquo; He
+referred to a series of shares in the British East India Company, deposited as
+collateral at two-thirds of their face value for a loan of one hundred thousand
+dollars. A Philadelphia magnate had hypothecated them for the use of the ready
+cash. Young Cowperwood looked at them curiously. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t look
+like much, do they?&rdquo; he commented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They are worth just four times their face value,&rdquo; said his father,
+archly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Frank reexamined them. &ldquo;The British East India Company,&rdquo; he read.
+&ldquo;Ten pounds&mdash;that&rsquo;s pretty near fifty dollars.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Forty-eight, thirty-five,&rdquo; commented his father, dryly.
+&ldquo;Well, if we had a bundle of those we wouldn&rsquo;t need to work very
+hard. You&rsquo;ll notice there are scarcely any pin-marks on them. They
+aren&rsquo;t sent around very much. I don&rsquo;t suppose these have ever been
+used as collateral before.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Cowperwood gave them back after a time, but not without a keen sense of
+the vast ramifications of finance. What was the East India Company? What did it
+do? His father told him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At home also he listened to considerable talk of financial investment and
+adventure. He heard, for one thing, of a curious character by the name of
+Steemberger, a great beef speculator from Virginia, who was attracted to
+Philadelphia in those days by the hope of large and easy credits. Steemberger,
+so his father said, was close to Nicholas Biddle, Lardner, and others of the
+United States Bank, or at least friendly with them, and seemed to be able to
+obtain from that organization nearly all that he asked for. His operations in
+the purchase of cattle in Virginia, Ohio, and other States were vast,
+amounting, in fact, to an entire monopoly of the business of supplying beef to
+Eastern cities. He was a big man, enormous, with a face, his father said,
+something like that of a pig; and he wore a high beaver hat and a long
+frock-coat which hung loosely about his big chest and stomach. He had managed
+to force the price of beef up to thirty cents a pound, causing all the
+retailers and consumers to rebel, and this was what made him so conspicuous. He
+used to come to the brokerage end of the elder Cowperwood&rsquo;s bank, with as
+much as one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand dollars, in twelve
+months&mdash;post-notes of the United States Bank in denominations of one
+thousand, five thousand, and ten thousand dollars. These he would cash at from
+ten to twelve per cent. under their face value, having previously given the
+United States Bank his own note at four months for the entire amount. He would
+take his pay from the Third National brokerage counter in packages of Virginia,
+Ohio, and western Pennsylvania bank-notes at par, because he made his
+disbursements principally in those States. The Third National would in the
+first place realize a profit of from four to five per cent. on the original
+transaction; and as it took the Western bank-notes at a discount, it also made
+a profit on those.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was another man his father talked about&mdash;one Francis J. Grund, a
+famous newspaper correspondent and lobbyist at Washington, who possessed the
+faculty of unearthing secrets of every kind, especially those relating to
+financial legislation. The secrets of the President and the Cabinet, as well as
+of the Senate and the House of Representatives, seemed to be open to him. Grund
+had been about, years before, purchasing through one or two brokers large
+amounts of the various kinds of Texas debt certificates and bonds. The Republic
+of Texas, in its struggle for independence from Mexico, had issued bonds and
+certificates in great variety, amounting in value to ten or fifteen million
+dollars. Later, in connection with the scheme to make Texas a State of the
+Union, a bill was passed providing a contribution on the part of the United
+States of five million dollars, to be applied to the extinguishment of this old
+debt. Grund knew of this, and also of the fact that some of this debt, owing to
+the peculiar conditions of issue, was to be paid in full, while other portions
+were to be scaled down, and there was to be a false or pre-arranged failure to
+pass the bill at one session in order to frighten off the outsiders who might
+have heard and begun to buy the old certificates for profit. He acquainted the
+Third National Bank with this fact, and of course the information came to
+Cowperwood as teller. He told his wife about it, and so his son, in this
+roundabout way, heard it, and his clear, big eyes glistened. He wondered why
+his father did not take advantage of the situation and buy some Texas
+certificates for himself. Grund, so his father said, and possibly three or four
+others, had made over a hundred thousand dollars apiece. It wasn&rsquo;t
+exactly legitimate, he seemed to think, and yet it was, too. Why
+shouldn&rsquo;t such inside information be rewarded? Somehow, Frank realized
+that his father was too honest, too cautious, but when he grew up, he told
+himself, he was going to be a broker, or a financier, or a banker, and do some
+of these things.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just at this time there came to the Cowperwoods an uncle who had not previously
+appeared in the life of the family. He was a brother of Mrs.
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s&mdash;Seneca Davis by name&mdash;solid, unctuous, five feet
+ten in height, with a big, round body, a round, smooth head rather bald, a
+clear, ruddy complexion, blue eyes, and what little hair he had of a sandy hue.
+He was exceedingly well dressed according to standards prevailing in those
+days, indulging in flowered waistcoats, long, light-colored frock-coats, and
+the invariable (for a fairly prosperous man) high hat. Frank was fascinated by
+him at once. He had been a planter in Cuba and still owned a big ranch there
+and could tell him tales of Cuban life&mdash;rebellions, ambuscades,
+hand-to-hand fighting with machetes on his own plantation, and things of that
+sort. He brought with him a collection of Indian curies, to say nothing of an
+independent fortune and several slaves&mdash;one, named Manuel, a tall,
+raw-boned black, was his constant attendant, a bodyservant, as it were. He
+shipped raw sugar from his plantation in boat-loads to the Southwark wharves in
+Philadelphia. Frank liked him because he took life in a hearty, jovial way,
+rather rough and offhand for this somewhat quiet and reserved household.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, Nancy Arabella,&rdquo; he said to Mrs Cowperwood on arriving one
+Sunday afternoon, and throwing the household into joyous astonishment at his
+unexpected and unheralded appearance, &ldquo;you haven&rsquo;t grown an inch! I
+thought when you married old brother Hy here that you were going to fatten up
+like your brother. But look at you! I swear to Heaven you don&rsquo;t weigh
+five pounds.&rdquo; And he jounced her up and down by the waist, much to the
+perturbation of the children, who had never before seen their mother so
+familiarly handled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Henry Cowperwood was exceedingly interested in and pleased at the arrival of
+this rather prosperous relative; for twelve years before, when he was married,
+Seneca Davis had not taken much notice of him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look at these little putty-faced Philadelphians,&rdquo; he continued,
+&ldquo;They ought to come down to my ranch in Cuba and get tanned up. That
+would take away this waxy look.&rdquo; And he pinched the cheek of Anna
+Adelaide, now five years old. &ldquo;I tell you, Henry, you have a rather nice
+place here.&rdquo; And he looked at the main room of the rather conventional
+three-story house with a critical eye.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Measuring twenty by twenty-four and finished in imitation cherry, with a set of
+new Sheraton parlor furniture it presented a quaintly harmonious aspect. Since
+Henry had become teller the family had acquired a piano&mdash;a decided luxury
+in those days&mdash;brought from Europe; and it was intended that Anna
+Adelaide, when she was old enough, should learn to play. There were a few
+uncommon ornaments in the room&mdash;a gas chandelier for one thing, a glass
+bowl with goldfish in it, some rare and highly polished shells, and a marble
+Cupid bearing a basket of flowers. It was summer time, the windows were open,
+and the trees outside, with their widely extended green branches, were
+pleasantly visible shading the brick sidewalk. Uncle Seneca strolled out into
+the back yard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, this is pleasant enough,&rdquo; he observed, noting a large elm
+and seeing that the yard was partially paved with brick and enclosed within
+brick walls, up the sides of which vines were climbing. &ldquo;Where&rsquo;s
+your hammock? Don&rsquo;t you string a hammock here in summer? Down on my
+veranda at San Pedro I have six or seven.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We hadn&rsquo;t thought of putting one up because of the neighbors, but
+it would be nice,&rdquo; agreed Mrs. Cowperwood. &ldquo;Henry will have to get
+one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have two or three in my trunks over at the hotel. My niggers make
+&rsquo;em down there. I&rsquo;ll send Manuel over with them in the
+morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He plucked at the vines, tweaked Edward&rsquo;s ear, told Joseph, the second
+boy, he would bring him an Indian tomahawk, and went back into the house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is the lad that interests me,&rdquo; he said, after a time, laying
+a hand on the shoulder of Frank. &ldquo;What did you name him in full,
+Henry?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frank Algernon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, you might have named him after me. There&rsquo;s something to this
+boy. How would you like to come down to Cuba and be a planter, my boy?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not so sure that I&rsquo;d like to,&rdquo; replied the eldest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that&rsquo;s straight-spoken. What have you against it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing, except that I don&rsquo;t know anything about it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you know?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The boy smiled wisely. &ldquo;Not very much, I guess.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, what are you interested in?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Money!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aha! What&rsquo;s bred in the bone, eh? Get something of that from your
+father, eh? Well, that&rsquo;s a good trait. And spoken like a man, too!
+We&rsquo;ll hear more about that later. Nancy, you&rsquo;re breeding a
+financier here, I think. He talks like one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at Frank carefully now. There was real force in that sturdy young
+body&mdash;no doubt of it. Those large, clear gray eyes were full of
+intelligence. They indicated much and revealed nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A smart boy!&rdquo; he said to Henry, his brother-in-law. &ldquo;I like
+his get-up. You have a bright family.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Henry Cowperwood smiled dryly. This man, if he liked Frank, might do much for
+the boy. He might eventually leave him some of his fortune. He was wealthy and
+single.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Uncle Seneca became a frequent visitor to the house&mdash;he and his negro
+body-guard, Manuel, who spoke both English and Spanish, much to the
+astonishment of the children; and he took an increasing interest in Frank.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When that boy gets old enough to find out what he wants to do, I think
+I&rsquo;ll help him to do it,&rdquo; he observed to his sister one day; and she
+told him she was very grateful. He talked to Frank about his studies, and found
+that he cared little for books or most of the study he was compelled to pursue.
+Grammar was an abomination. Literature silly. Latin was of no use.
+History&mdash;well, it was fairly interesting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I like bookkeeping and arithmetic,&rdquo; he observed. &ldquo;I want to
+get out and get to work, though. That&rsquo;s what I want to do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re pretty young, my son,&rdquo; observed his uncle.
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re only how old now? Fourteen?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thirteen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, you can&rsquo;t leave school much before sixteen. You&rsquo;ll do
+better if you stay until seventeen or eighteen. It can&rsquo;t do you any harm.
+You won&rsquo;t be a boy again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to be a boy. I want to get to work.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t go too fast, son. You&rsquo;ll be a man soon enough. You
+want to be a banker, do you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, when the time comes, if everything is all right and you&rsquo;ve
+behaved yourself and you still want to, I&rsquo;ll help you get a start in
+business. If I were you and were going to be a banker, I&rsquo;d first spend a
+year or so in some good grain and commission house. There&rsquo;s good training
+to be had there. You&rsquo;ll learn a lot that you ought to know. And,
+meantime, keep your health and learn all you can. Wherever I am, you let me
+know, and I&rsquo;ll write and find out how you&rsquo;ve been conducting
+yourself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He gave the boy a ten-dollar gold piece with which to start a bank-account.
+And, not strange to say, he liked the whole Cowperwood household much better
+for this dynamic, self-sufficient, sterling youth who was an integral part of
+it.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap03"></a>Chapter III</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was in his thirteenth year that young Cowperwood entered into his first
+business venture. Walking along Front Street one day, a street of importing and
+wholesale establishments, he saw an auctioneer&rsquo;s flag hanging out before
+a wholesale grocery and from the interior came the auctioneer&rsquo;s voice:
+&ldquo;What am I bid for this exceptional lot of Java coffee, twenty-two bags
+all told, which is now selling in the market for seven dollars and thirty-two
+cents a bag wholesale? What am I bid? What am I bid? The whole lot must go as
+one. What am I bid?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Eighteen dollars,&rdquo; suggested a trader standing near the door, more
+to start the bidding than anything else. Frank paused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Twenty-two!&rdquo; called another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thirty!&rdquo; a third. &ldquo;Thirty-five!&rdquo; a fourth, and so up
+to seventy-five, less than half of what it was worth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m bid seventy-five! I&rsquo;m bid seventy-five!&rdquo; called
+the auctioneer, loudly. &ldquo;Any other offers? Going once at seventy-five; am
+I offered eighty? Going twice at seventy-five, and&rdquo;&mdash;he paused, one
+hand raised dramatically. Then he brought it down with a slap in the palm of
+the other&mdash;&ldquo;sold to Mr. Silas Gregory for seventy-five. Make a note
+of that, Jerry,&rdquo; he called to his red-haired, freckle-faced clerk beside
+him. Then he turned to another lot of grocery staples&mdash;this time starch,
+eleven barrels of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Cowperwood was making a rapid calculation. If, as the auctioneer said,
+coffee was worth seven dollars and thirty-two cents a bag in the open market,
+and this buyer was getting this coffee for seventy-five dollars, he was making
+then and there eighty-six dollars and four cents, to say nothing of what his
+profit would be if he sold it at retail. As he recalled, his mother was paying
+twenty-eight cents a pound. He drew nearer, his books tucked under his arm, and
+watched these operations closely. The starch, as he soon heard, was valued at
+ten dollars a barrel, and it only brought six. Some kegs of vinegar were
+knocked down at one-third their value, and so on. He began to wish he could
+bid; but he had no money, just a little pocket change. The auctioneer noticed
+him standing almost directly under his nose, and was impressed with the
+stolidity&mdash;solidity&mdash;of the boy&rsquo;s expression.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am going to offer you now a fine lot of Castile soap&mdash;seven
+cases, no less&mdash;which, as you know, if you know anything about soap, is
+now selling at fourteen cents a bar. This soap is worth anywhere at this moment
+eleven dollars and seventy-five cents a case. What am I bid? What am I bid?
+What am I bid?&rdquo; He was talking fast in the usual style of auctioneers,
+with much unnecessary emphasis; but Cowperwood was not unduly impressed. He was
+already rapidly calculating for himself. Seven cases at eleven dollars and
+seventy-five cents would be worth just eighty-two dollars and twenty-five
+cents; and if it went at half&mdash;if it went at half&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Twelve dollars,&rdquo; commented one bidder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Fifteen,&rdquo; bid another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Twenty,&rdquo; called a third.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Twenty-five,&rdquo; a fourth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then it came to dollar raises, for Castile soap was not such a vital commodity.
+&ldquo;Twenty-six.&rdquo; &ldquo;Twenty-seven.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Twenty-eight.&rdquo; &ldquo;Twenty-nine.&rdquo; There was a pause.
+&ldquo;Thirty,&rdquo; observed young Cowperwood, decisively.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The auctioneer, a short lean faced, spare man with bushy hair and an incisive
+eye, looked at him curiously and almost incredulously but without pausing. He
+had, somehow, in spite of himself, been impressed by the boy&rsquo;s peculiar
+eye; and now he felt, without knowing why, that the offer was probably
+legitimate enough, and that the boy had the money. He might be the son of a
+grocer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m bid thirty! I&rsquo;m bid thirty! I&rsquo;m bid thirty for
+this fine lot of Castile soap. It&rsquo;s a fine lot. It&rsquo;s worth fourteen
+cents a bar. Will any one bid thirty-one? Will any one bid thirty-one? Will any
+one bid thirty-one?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thirty-one,&rdquo; said a voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thirty-two,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood. The same process was repeated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m bid thirty-two! I&rsquo;m bid thirty-two! I&rsquo;m bid
+thirty-two! Will anybody bid thirty-three? It&rsquo;s fine soap. Seven cases of
+fine Castile soap. Will anybody bid thirty-three?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Cowperwood&rsquo;s mind was working. He had no money with him; but his
+father was teller of the Third National Bank, and he could quote him as
+reference. He could sell all of his soap to the family grocer, surely; or, if
+not, to other grocers. Other people were anxious to get this soap at this
+price. Why not he?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The auctioneer paused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thirty-two once! Am I bid thirty-three? Thirty-two twice! Am I bid
+thirty-three? Thirty-two three times! Seven fine cases of soap. Am I bid
+anything more? Once, twice! Three times! Am I bid anything
+more?&rdquo;&mdash;his hand was up again&mdash;&ldquo;and sold to
+Mr.&mdash;?&rdquo; He leaned over and looked curiously into the face of his
+young bidder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frank Cowperwood, son of the teller of the Third National Bank,&rdquo;
+replied the boy, decisively.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, yes,&rdquo; said the man, fixed by his glance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will you wait while I run up to the bank and get the money?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes. Don&rsquo;t be gone long. If you&rsquo;re not here in an hour
+I&rsquo;ll sell it again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Cowperwood made no reply. He hurried out and ran fast; first, to his
+mother&rsquo;s grocer, whose store was within a block of his home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thirty feet from the door he slowed up, put on a nonchalant air, and strolling
+in, looked about for Castile soap. There it was, the same kind, displayed in a
+box and looking just as his soap looked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How much is this a bar, Mr. Dalrymple?&rdquo; he inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sixteen cents,&rdquo; replied that worthy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If I could sell you seven boxes for sixty-two dollars just like this,
+would you take them?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The same soap?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Dalrymple calculated a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I think I would,&rdquo; he replied, cautiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would you pay me to-day?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d give you my note for it. Where is the soap?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was perplexed and somewhat astonished by this unexpected proposition on the
+part of his neighbor&rsquo;s son. He knew Mr. Cowperwood well&mdash;and Frank
+also.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will you take it if I bring it to you to-day?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I will,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;Are you going into the soap
+business?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No. But I know where I can get some of that soap cheap.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He hurried out again and ran to his father&rsquo;s bank. It was after banking
+hours; but he knew how to get in, and he knew that his father would be glad to
+see him make thirty dollars. He only wanted to borrow the money for a day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the trouble, Frank?&rdquo; asked his father, looking up
+from his desk when he appeared, breathless and red faced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I want you to loan me thirty-two dollars! Will you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, yes, I might. What do you want to do with it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I want to buy some soap&mdash;seven boxes of Castile soap. I know where
+I can get it and sell it. Mr. Dalrymple will take it. He&rsquo;s already
+offered me sixty-two for it. I can get it for thirty-two. Will you let me have
+the money? I&rsquo;ve got to run back and pay the auctioneer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His father smiled. This was the most business-like attitude he had seen his son
+manifest. He was so keen, so alert for a boy of thirteen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, Frank,&rdquo; he said, going over to a drawer where some bills
+were, &ldquo;are you going to become a financier already? You&rsquo;re sure
+you&rsquo;re not going to lose on this? You know what you&rsquo;re doing, do
+you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You let me have the money, father, will you?&rdquo; he pleaded.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll show you in a little bit. Just let me have it. You can trust
+me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was like a young hound on the scent of game. His father could not resist his
+appeal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, certainly, Frank,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll trust
+you.&rdquo; And he counted out six five-dollar certificates of the Third
+National&rsquo;s own issue and two ones. &ldquo;There you are.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Frank ran out of the building with a briefly spoken thanks and returned to the
+auction room as fast as his legs would carry him. When he came in, sugar was
+being auctioned. He made his way to the auctioneer&rsquo;s clerk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I want to pay for that soap,&rdquo; he suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes. Will you give me a receipt?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yep.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you deliver this?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No. No delivery. You have to take it away in twenty-four hours.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That difficulty did not trouble him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All right,&rdquo; he said, and pocketed his paper testimony of purchase.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The auctioneer watched him as he went out. In half an hour he was back with a
+drayman&mdash;an idle levee-wharf hanger-on who was waiting for a job.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Frank had bargained with him to deliver the soap for sixty cents. In still
+another half-hour he was before the door of the astonished Mr. Dalrymple whom
+he had come out and look at the boxes before attempting to remove them. His
+plan was to have them carried on to his own home if the operation for any
+reason failed to go through. Though it was his first great venture, he was cool
+as glass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Mr. Dalrymple, scratching his gray head reflectively.
+&ldquo;Yes, that&rsquo;s the same soap. I&rsquo;ll take it. I&rsquo;ll be as
+good as my word. Where&rsquo;d you get it, Frank?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At Bixom&rsquo;s auction up here,&rdquo; he replied, frankly and
+blandly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Dalrymple had the drayman bring in the soap; and after some
+formality&mdash;because the agent in this case was a boy&mdash;made out his
+note at thirty days and gave it to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Frank thanked him and pocketed the note. He decided to go back to his
+father&rsquo;s bank and discount it, as he had seen others doing, thereby
+paying his father back and getting his own profit in ready money. It
+couldn&rsquo;t be done ordinarily on any day after business hours; but his
+father would make an exception in his case.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He hurried back, whistling; and his father glanced up smiling when he came in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Frank, how&rsquo;d you make out?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s a note at thirty days,&rdquo; he said, producing the paper
+Dalrymple had given him. &ldquo;Do you want to discount that for me? You can
+take your thirty-two out of that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His father examined it closely. &ldquo;Sixty-two dollars!&rdquo; he observed.
+&ldquo;Mr. Dalrymple! That&rsquo;s good paper! Yes, I can. It will cost you ten
+per cent.,&rdquo; he added, jestingly. &ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t you just hold it,
+though? I&rsquo;ll let you have the thirty-two dollars until the end of the
+month.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, no,&rdquo; said his son, &ldquo;you discount it and take your money.
+I may want mine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His father smiled at his business-like air. &ldquo;All right,&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll fix it to-morrow. Tell me just how you did this.&rdquo; And
+his son told him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At seven o&rsquo;clock that evening Frank&rsquo;s mother heard about it, and in
+due time Uncle Seneca.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;d I tell you, Cowperwood?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;He has
+stuff in him, that youngster. Look out for him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Cowperwood looked at her boy curiously at dinner. Was this the son she had
+nursed at her bosom not so very long before? Surely he was developing rapidly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Frank, I hope you can do that often,&rdquo; she said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hope so, too, ma,&rdquo; was his rather noncommittal reply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Auction sales were not to be discovered every day, however, and his home grocer
+was only open to one such transaction in a reasonable period of time, but from
+the very first young Cowperwood knew how to make money. He took subscriptions
+for a boys&rsquo; paper; handled the agency for the sale of a new kind of
+ice-skate, and once organized a band of neighborhood youths into a union for
+the purpose of purchasing their summer straw hats at wholesale. It was not his
+idea that he could get rich by saving. From the first he had the notion that
+liberal spending was better, and that somehow he would get along.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was in this year, or a little earlier, that he began to take an interest in
+girls. He had from the first a keen eye for the beautiful among them; and,
+being good-looking and magnetic himself, it was not difficult for him to
+attract the sympathetic interest of those in whom he was interested. A
+twelve-year old girl, Patience Barlow, who lived further up the street, was the
+first to attract his attention or be attracted by him. Black hair and snapping
+black eyes were her portion, with pretty pigtails down her back, and dainty
+feet and ankles to match a dainty figure. She was a Quakeress, the daughter of
+Quaker parents, wearing a demure little bonnet. Her disposition, however, was
+vivacious, and she liked this self-reliant, self-sufficient, straight-spoken
+boy. One day, after an exchange of glances from time to time, he said, with a
+smile and the courage that was innate in him: &ldquo;You live up my way,
+don&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she replied, a little flustered&mdash;this last manifested
+in a nervous swinging of her school-bag&mdash;&ldquo;I live at number
+one-forty-one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know the house,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen you go in
+there. You go to the same school my sister does, don&rsquo;t you? Aren&rsquo;t
+you Patience Barlow?&rdquo; He had heard some of the boys speak her name.
+&ldquo;Yes. How do you know?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, I&rsquo;ve heard,&rdquo; he smiled. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen you. Do
+you like licorice?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He fished in his coat and pulled out some fresh sticks that were sold at the
+time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you,&rdquo; she said, sweetly, taking one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t very good. I&rsquo;ve been carrying it a long time. I had
+some taffy the other day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, it&rsquo;s all right,&rdquo; she replied, chewing the end of hers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you know my sister, Anna Cowperwood?&rdquo; he recurred, by
+way of self-introduction. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s in a lower grade than you are, but
+I thought maybe you might have seen her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think I know who she is. I&rsquo;ve seen her coming home from
+school.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I live right over there,&rdquo; he confided, pointing to his own home as
+he drew near to it, as if she didn&rsquo;t know. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll see you
+around here now, I guess.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you know Ruth Merriam?&rdquo; she asked, when he was about ready to
+turn off into the cobblestone road to reach his own door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, why?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She&rsquo;s giving a party next Tuesday,&rdquo; she volunteered,
+seemingly pointlessly, but only seemingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where does she live?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There in twenty-eight.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to go,&rdquo; he affirmed, warmly, as he swung away from
+her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Maybe she&rsquo;ll ask you,&rdquo; she called back, growing more
+courageous as the distance between them widened. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll ask
+her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thanks,&rdquo; he smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And she began to run gayly onward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked after her with a smiling face. She was very pretty. He felt a keen
+desire to kiss her, and what might transpire at Ruth Merriam&rsquo;s party rose
+vividly before his eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was just one of the early love affairs, or puppy loves, that held his mind
+from time to time in the mixture of after events. Patience Barlow was kissed by
+him in secret ways many times before he found another girl. She and others of
+the street ran out to play in the snow of a winter&rsquo;s night, or lingered
+after dusk before her own door when the days grew dark early. It was so easy to
+catch and kiss her then, and to talk to her foolishly at parties. Then came
+Dora Fitler, when he was sixteen years old and she was fourteen; and Marjorie
+Stafford, when he was seventeen and she was fifteen. Dora Fitter was a
+brunette, and Marjorie Stafford was as fair as the morning, with bright-red
+cheeks, bluish-gray eyes, and flaxen hair, and as plump as a partridge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was at seventeen that he decided to leave school. He had not graduated. He
+had only finished the third year in high school; but he had had enough. Ever
+since his thirteenth year his mind had been on finance; that is, in the form in
+which he saw it manifested in Third Street. There had been odd things which he
+had been able to do to earn a little money now and then. His Uncle Seneca had
+allowed him to act as assistant weigher at the sugar-docks in Southwark, where
+three-hundred-pound bags were weighed into the government bonded warehouses
+under the eyes of United States inspectors. In certain emergencies he was
+called to assist his father, and was paid for it. He even made an arrangement
+with Mr. Dalrymple to assist him on Saturdays; but when his father became
+cashier of his bank, receiving an income of four thousand dollars a year,
+shortly after Frank had reached his fifteenth year, it was self-evident that
+Frank could no longer continue in such lowly employment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just at this time his Uncle Seneca, again back in Philadelphia and stouter and
+more domineering than ever, said to him one day:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, Frank, if you&rsquo;re ready for it, I think I know where
+there&rsquo;s a good opening for you. There won&rsquo;t be any salary in it for
+the first year, but if you mind your p&rsquo;s and q&rsquo;s, they&rsquo;ll
+probably give you something as a gift at the end of that time. Do you know of
+Henry Waterman &amp; Company down in Second Street?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen their place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, they tell me they might make a place for you as a bookkeeper.
+They&rsquo;re brokers in a way&mdash;grain and commission men. You say you want
+to get in that line. When school&rsquo;s out, you go down and see Mr.
+Waterman&mdash;tell him I sent you, and he&rsquo;ll make a place for you, I
+think. Let me know how you come out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Uncle Seneca was married now, having, because of his wealth, attracted the
+attention of a poor but ambitious Philadelphia society matron; and because of
+this the general connections of the Cowperwoods were considered vastly
+improved. Henry Cowperwood was planning to move with his family rather far out
+on North Front Street, which commanded at that time a beautiful view of the
+river and was witnessing the construction of some charming dwellings. His four
+thousand dollars a year in these pre-Civil-War times was considerable. He was
+making what he considered judicious and conservative investments and because of
+his cautious, conservative, clock-like conduct it was thought he might
+reasonably expect some day to be vice-president and possibly president, of his
+bank.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This offer of Uncle Seneca to get him in with Waterman &amp; Company seemed to
+Frank just the thing to start him off right. So he reported to that
+organization at 74 South Second Street one day in June, and was cordially
+received by Mr. Henry Waterman, Sr. There was, he soon learned, a Henry
+Waterman, Jr., a young man of twenty-five, and a George Waterman, a brother,
+aged fifty, who was the confidential inside man. Henry Waterman, Sr., a man of
+fifty-five years of age, was the general head of the organization, inside and
+out&mdash;traveling about the nearby territory to see customers when that was
+necessary, coming into final counsel in cases where his brother could not
+adjust matters, suggesting and advising new ventures which his associates and
+hirelings carried out. He was, to look at, a phlegmatic type of
+man&mdash;short, stout, wrinkled about the eyes, rather protuberant as to
+stomach, red-necked, red-faced, the least bit popeyed, but shrewd, kindly,
+good-natured, and witty. He had, because of his naturally common-sense ideas
+and rather pleasing disposition built up a sound and successful business here.
+He was getting strong in years and would gladly have welcomed the hearty
+cooperation of his son, if the latter had been entirely suited to the business.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was not, however. Not as democratic, as quick-witted, or as pleased with the
+work in hand as was his father, the business actually offended him. And if the
+trade had been left to his care, it would have rapidly disappeared. His father
+foresaw this, was grieved, and was hoping some young man would eventually
+appear who would be interested in the business, handle it in the same spirit in
+which it had been handled, and who would not crowd his son out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then came young Cowperwood, spoken of to him by Seneca Davis. He looked him
+over critically. Yes, this boy might do, he thought. There was something easy
+and sufficient about him. He did not appear to be in the least flustered or
+disturbed. He knew how to keep books, he said, though he knew nothing of the
+details of the grain and commission business. It was interesting to him. He
+would like to try it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I like that fellow,&rdquo; Henry Waterman confided to his brother the
+moment Frank had gone with instructions to report the following morning.
+&ldquo;There&rsquo;s something to him. He&rsquo;s the cleanest, briskest, most
+alive thing that&rsquo;s walked in here in many a day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said George, a much leaner and slightly taller man, with
+dark, blurry, reflective eyes and a thin, largely vanished growth of
+brownish-black hair which contrasted strangely with the egg-shaped whiteness of
+his bald head. &ldquo;Yes, he&rsquo;s a nice young man. It&rsquo;s a wonder his
+father don&rsquo;t take him in his bank.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, he may not be able to,&rdquo; said his brother. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s
+only the cashier there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s right.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;ll give him a trial. I bet anything he makes good.
+He&rsquo;s a likely-looking youth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Henry got up and walked out into the main entrance looking into Second Street.
+The cool cobble pavements, shaded from the eastern sun by the wall of buildings
+on the east&mdash;of which his was a part&mdash;the noisy trucks and drays, the
+busy crowds hurrying to and fro, pleased him. He looked at the buildings over
+the way&mdash;all three and four stories, and largely of gray stone and crowded
+with life&mdash;and thanked his stars that he had originally located in so
+prosperous a neighborhood. If he had only brought more property at the time he
+bought this!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish that Cowperwood boy would turn out to be the kind of man I
+want,&rdquo; he observed to himself, meditatively. &ldquo;He could save me a
+lot of running these days.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Curiously, after only three or four minutes of conversation with the boy, he
+sensed this marked quality of efficiency. Something told him he would do well.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap04"></a>Chapter IV</h2>
+
+<p>
+The appearance of Frank Cowperwood at this time was, to say the least,
+prepossessing and satisfactory. Nature had destined him to be about five feet
+ten inches tall. His head was large, shapely, notably commercial in aspect,
+thickly covered with crisp, dark-brown hair and fixed on a pair of square
+shoulders and a stocky body. Already his eyes had the look that subtle years of
+thought bring. They were inscrutable. You could tell nothing by his eyes. He
+walked with a light, confident, springy step. Life had given him no severe
+shocks nor rude awakenings. He had not been compelled to suffer illness or pain
+or deprivation of any kind. He saw people richer than himself, but he hoped to
+be rich. His family was respected, his father well placed. He owed no man
+anything. Once he had let a small note of his become overdue at the bank, but
+his father raised such a row that he never forgot it. &ldquo;I would rather
+crawl on my hands and knees than let my paper go to protest,&rdquo; the old
+gentleman observed; and this fixed in his mind what scarcely needed to be so
+sharply emphasized&mdash;the significance of credit. No paper of his ever went
+to protest or became overdue after that through any negligence of his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He turned out to be the most efficient clerk that the house of Waterman &amp;
+Co. had ever known. They put him on the books at first as assistant bookkeeper,
+vice Mr. Thomas Trixler, dismissed, and in two weeks George said: &ldquo;Why
+don&rsquo;t we make Cowperwood head bookkeeper? He knows more in a minute than
+that fellow Sampson will ever know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All right, make the transfer, George, but don&rsquo;t fuss so. He
+won&rsquo;t be a bookkeeper long, though. I want to see if he can&rsquo;t
+handle some of these transfers for me after a bit.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The books of Messrs. Waterman &amp; Co., though fairly complicated, were
+child&rsquo;s play to Frank. He went through them with an ease and rapidity
+which surprised his erstwhile superior, Mr. Sampson.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, that fellow,&rdquo; Sampson told another clerk on the first day he
+had seen Cowperwood work, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s too brisk. He&rsquo;s going to make
+a bad break. I know that kind. Wait a little bit until we get one of those rush
+credit and transfer days.&rdquo; But the bad break Mr. Sampson anticipated did
+not materialize. In less than a week Cowperwood knew the financial condition of
+the Messrs. Waterman as well as they did&mdash;better&mdash;to a dollar. He
+knew how their accounts were distributed; from what section they drew the most
+business; who sent poor produce and good&mdash;the varying prices for a year
+told that. To satisfy himself he ran back over certain accounts in the ledger,
+verifying his suspicions. Bookkeeping did not interest him except as a record,
+a demonstration of a firm&rsquo;s life. He knew he would not do this long.
+Something else would happen; but he saw instantly what the grain and commission
+business was&mdash;every detail of it. He saw where, for want of greater
+activity in offering the goods consigned&mdash;quicker communication with
+shippers and buyers, a better working agreement with surrounding commission
+men&mdash;this house, or, rather, its customers, for it had nothing, endured
+severe losses. A man would ship a tow-boat or a car-load of fruit or vegetables
+against a supposedly rising or stable market; but if ten other men did the same
+thing at the same time, or other commission men were flooded with fruit or
+vegetables, and there was no way of disposing of them within a reasonable time,
+the price had to fall. Every day was bringing its special consignments. It
+instantly occurred to him that he would be of much more use to the house as an
+outside man disposing of heavy shipments, but he hesitated to say anything so
+soon. More than likely, things would adjust themselves shortly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Watermans, Henry and George, were greatly pleased with the way he handled
+their accounts. There was a sense of security in his very presence. He soon
+began to call Brother George&rsquo;s attention to the condition of certain
+accounts, making suggestions as to their possible liquidation or
+discontinuance, which pleased that individual greatly. He saw a way of
+lightening his own labors through the intelligence of this youth; while at the
+same time developing a sense of pleasant companionship with him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Brother Henry was for trying him on the outside. It was not always possible to
+fill the orders with the stock on hand, and somebody had to go into the street
+or the Exchange to buy and usually he did this. One morning, when way-bills
+indicated a probable glut of flour and a shortage of grain&mdash;Frank saw it
+first&mdash;the elder Waterman called him into his office and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frank, I wish you would see what you can do with this condition that
+confronts us on the street. By to-morrow we&rsquo;re going to be overcrowded
+with flour. We can&rsquo;t be paying storage charges, and our orders
+won&rsquo;t eat it up. We&rsquo;re short on grain. Maybe you could trade out
+the flour to some of those brokers and get me enough grain to fill these
+orders.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to try,&rdquo; said his employee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He knew from his books where the various commission-houses were. He knew what
+the local merchants&rsquo; exchange, and the various commission-merchants who
+dealt in these things, had to offer. This was the thing he liked to
+do&mdash;adjust a trade difficulty of this nature. It was pleasant to be out in
+the air again, to be going from door to door. He objected to desk work and pen
+work and poring over books. As he said in later years, his brain was his
+office. He hurried to the principal commission-merchants, learning what the
+state of the flour market was, and offering his surplus at the very rate he
+would have expected to get for it if there had been no prospective glut. Did
+they want to buy for immediate delivery (forty-eight hours being immediate) six
+hundred barrels of prime flour? He would offer it at nine dollars straight, in
+the barrel. They did not. He offered it in fractions, and some agreed to take
+one portion, and some another. In about an hour he was all secure on this save
+one lot of two hundred barrels, which he decided to offer in one lump to a
+famous operator named Genderman with whom his firm did no business. The latter,
+a big man with curly gray hair, a gnarled and yet pudgy face, and little eyes
+that peeked out shrewdly through fat eyelids, looked at Cowperwood curiously
+when he came in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s your name, young man?&rdquo; he asked, leaning back in his
+wooden chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cowperwood.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So you work for Waterman &amp; Company? You want to make a record, no
+doubt. That&rsquo;s why you came to me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood merely smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;ll take your flour. I need it. Bill it to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood hurried out. He went direct to a firm of brokers in Walnut Street,
+with whom his firm dealt, and had them bid in the grain he needed at prevailing
+rates. Then he returned to the office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Henry Waterman, when he reported, &ldquo;you did that
+quick. Sold old Genderman two hundred barrels direct, did you? That&rsquo;s
+doing pretty well. He isn&rsquo;t on our books, is he?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, sir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought not. Well, if you can do that sort of work on the street you
+won&rsquo;t be on the books long.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thereafter, in the course of time, Frank became a familiar figure in the
+commission district and on &rsquo;change (the Produce Exchange), striking
+balances for his employer, picking up odd lots of things they needed,
+soliciting new customers, breaking gluts by disposing of odd lots in unexpected
+quarters. Indeed the Watermans were astonished at his facility in this respect.
+He had an uncanny faculty for getting appreciative hearings, making friends,
+being introduced into new realms. New life began to flow through the old
+channels of the Waterman company. Their customers were better satisfied. George
+was for sending him out into the rural districts to drum up trade, and this was
+eventually done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Near Christmas-time Henry said to George: &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have to make
+Cowperwood a liberal present. He hasn&rsquo;t any salary. How would five
+hundred dollars do?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s pretty much, seeing the way times are, but I guess
+he&rsquo;s worth it. He&rsquo;s certainly done everything we&rsquo;ve expected,
+and more. He&rsquo;s cut out for this business.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What does he say about it? Do you ever hear him say whether he&rsquo;s
+satisfied?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, he likes it pretty much, I guess. You see him as much as I
+do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;ll make it five hundred. That fellow wouldn&rsquo;t make
+a bad partner in this business some day. He has the real knack for it. You see
+that he gets the five hundred dollars with a word from both of us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So the night before Christmas, as Cowperwood was looking over some way-bills
+and certificates of consignment preparatory to leaving all in order for the
+intervening holiday, George Waterman came to his desk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hard at it,&rdquo; he said, standing under the flaring gaslight and
+looking at his brisk employee with great satisfaction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was early evening, and the snow was making a speckled pattern through the
+windows in front.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just a few points before I wind up,&rdquo; smiled Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My brother and I have been especially pleased with the way you have
+handled the work here during the past six months. We wanted to make some
+acknowledgment, and we thought about five hundred dollars would be right.
+Beginning January first we&rsquo;ll give you a regular salary of thirty dollars
+a week.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m certainly much obliged to you,&rdquo; said Frank. &ldquo;I
+didn&rsquo;t expect that much. It&rsquo;s a good deal. I&rsquo;ve learned
+considerable here that I&rsquo;m glad to know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, don&rsquo;t mention it. We know you&rsquo;ve earned it. You can stay
+with us as long as you like. We&rsquo;re glad to have you with us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood smiled his hearty, genial smile. He was feeling very comfortable
+under this evidence of approval. He looked bright and cheery in his well-made
+clothes of English tweed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the way home that evening he speculated as to the nature of this business.
+He knew he wasn&rsquo;t going to stay there long, even in spite of this gift
+and promise of salary. They were grateful, of course; but why shouldn&rsquo;t
+they be? He was efficient, he knew that; under him things moved smoothly. It
+never occurred to him that he belonged in the realm of clerkdom. Those people
+were the kind of beings who ought to work for him, and who would. There was
+nothing savage in his attitude, no rage against fate, no dark fear of failure.
+These two men he worked for were already nothing more than characters in his
+eyes&mdash;their business significated itself. He could see their weaknesses
+and their shortcomings as a much older man might have viewed a boy&rsquo;s.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After dinner that evening, before leaving to call on his girl, Marjorie
+Stafford, he told his father of the gift of five hundred dollars and the
+promised salary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s splendid,&rdquo; said the older man. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re
+doing better than I thought. I suppose you&rsquo;ll stay there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I won&rsquo;t. I think I&rsquo;ll quit sometime next year.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, it isn&rsquo;t exactly what I want to do. It&rsquo;s all right,
+but I&rsquo;d rather try my hand at brokerage, I think. That appeals to
+me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you think you are doing them an injustice not to tell
+them?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not at all. They need me.&rdquo; All the while surveying himself in a
+mirror, straightening his tie and adjusting his coat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you told your mother?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No. I&rsquo;m going to do it now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went out into the dining-room, where his mother was, and slipping his arms
+around her little body, said: &ldquo;What do you think, Mammy?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, what?&rdquo; she asked, looking affectionately into his eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I got five hundred dollars to-night, and I get thirty a week next year.
+What do you want for Christmas?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t say! Isn&rsquo;t that nice! Isn&rsquo;t that fine! They
+must like you. You&rsquo;re getting to be quite a man, aren&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you want for Christmas?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing. I don&rsquo;t want anything. I have my children.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He smiled. &ldquo;All right. Then nothing it is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But she knew he would buy her something.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went out, pausing at the door to grab playfully at his sister&rsquo;s waist,
+and saying that he&rsquo;d be back about midnight, hurried to Marjorie&rsquo;s
+house, because he had promised to take her to a show.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Anything you want for Christmas this year, Margy?&rdquo; he asked, after
+kissing her in the dimly-lighted hall. &ldquo;I got five hundred
+to-night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was an innocent little thing, only fifteen, no guile, no shrewdness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, you needn&rsquo;t get me anything.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Needn&rsquo;t I?&rdquo; he asked, squeezing her waist and kissing her
+mouth again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was fine to be getting on this way in the world and having such a good time.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap05"></a>Chapter V</h2>
+
+<p>
+The following October, having passed his eighteenth year by nearly six months,
+and feeling sure that he would never want anything to do with the grain and
+commission business as conducted by the Waterman Company, Cowperwood decided to
+sever his relations with them and enter the employ of Tighe &amp; Company,
+bankers and brokers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s meeting with Tighe &amp; Company had come about in the
+ordinary pursuance of his duties as outside man for Waterman &amp; Company.
+From the first Mr. Tighe took a keen interest in this subtle young emissary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How&rsquo;s business with you people?&rdquo; he would ask, genially; or,
+&ldquo;Find that you&rsquo;re getting many I.O.U.&rsquo;s these days?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Because of the unsettled condition of the country, the over-inflation of
+securities, the slavery agitation, and so forth, there were prospects of hard
+times. And Tighe&mdash;he could not have told you why&mdash;was convinced that
+this young man was worth talking to in regard to all this. He was not really
+old enough to know, and yet he did know.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, things are going pretty well with us, thank you, Mr. Tighe,&rdquo;
+Cowperwood would answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I tell you,&rdquo; he said to Cowperwood one morning, &ldquo;this
+slavery agitation, if it doesn&rsquo;t stop, is going to cause trouble.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A negro slave belonging to a visitor from Cuba had just been abducted and set
+free, because the laws of Pennsylvania made freedom the right of any negro
+brought into the state, even though in transit only to another portion of the
+country, and there was great excitement because of it. Several persons had been
+arrested, and the newspapers were discussing it roundly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the South is going to stand for this thing.
+It&rsquo;s making trouble in our business, and it must be doing the same thing
+for others. We&rsquo;ll have secession here, sure as fate, one of these
+days.&rdquo; He talked with the vaguest suggestion of a brogue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s coming, I think,&rdquo; said Cowperwood, quietly. &ldquo;It
+can&rsquo;t be healed, in my judgment. The negro isn&rsquo;t worth all this
+excitement, but they&rsquo;ll go on agitating for him&mdash;emotional people
+always do this. They haven&rsquo;t anything else to do. It&rsquo;s hurting our
+Southern trade.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought so. That&rsquo;s what people tell me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He turned to a new customer as young Cowperwood went out, but again the boy
+struck him as being inexpressibly sound and deep-thinking on financial matters.
+&ldquo;If that young fellow wanted a place, I&rsquo;d give it to him,&rdquo; he
+thought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finally, one day he said to him: &ldquo;How would you like to try your hand at
+being a floor man for me in &rsquo;change? I need a young man here. One of my
+clerks is leaving.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like it,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, smiling and looking
+intensely gratified. &ldquo;I had thought of speaking to you myself some
+time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, if you&rsquo;re ready and can make the change, the place is open.
+Come any time you like.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have to give a reasonable notice at the other place,&rdquo;
+Cowperwood said, quietly. &ldquo;Would you mind waiting a week or two?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not at all. It isn&rsquo;t as important as that. Come as soon as you can
+straighten things out. I don&rsquo;t want to inconvenience your
+employers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was only two weeks later that Frank took his departure from Waterman &amp;
+Company, interested and yet in no way flustered by his new prospects. And great
+was the grief of Mr. George Waterman. As for Mr. Henry Waterman, he was
+actually irritated by this defection.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, I thought,&rdquo; he exclaimed, vigorously, when informed by
+Cowperwood of his decision, &ldquo;that you liked the business. Is it a matter
+of salary?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, not at all, Mr. Waterman. It&rsquo;s just that I want to get into
+the straight-out brokerage business.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that certainly is too bad. I&rsquo;m sorry. I don&rsquo;t want to
+urge you against your own best interests. You know what you are doing. But
+George and I had about agreed to offer you an interest in this thing after a
+bit. Now you&rsquo;re picking up and leaving. Why, damn it, man, there&rsquo;s
+good money in this business.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know it,&rdquo; smiled Cowperwood, &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t like it. I
+have other plans in view. I&rsquo;ll never be a grain and commission
+man.&rdquo; Mr. Henry Waterman could scarcely understand why obvious success in
+this field did not interest him. He feared the effect of his departure on the
+business.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And once the change was made Cowperwood was convinced that this new work was
+more suited to him in every way&mdash;as easy and more profitable, of course.
+In the first place, the firm of Tighe &amp; Co., unlike that of Waterman &amp;
+Co., was located in a handsome green-gray stone building at 66 South Third
+Street, in what was then, and for a number of years afterward, the heart of the
+financial district. Great institutions of national and international import and
+repute were near at hand&mdash;Drexel &amp; Co., Edward Clark &amp; Co., the
+Third National Bank, the First National Bank, the Stock Exchange, and similar
+institutions. Almost a score of smaller banks and brokerage firms were also in
+the vicinity. Edward Tighe, the head and brains of this concern, was a Boston
+Irishman, the son of an immigrant who had flourished and done well in that
+conservative city. He had come to Philadelphia to interest himself in the
+speculative life there. &ldquo;Sure, it&rsquo;s a right good place for those of
+us who are awake,&rdquo; he told his friends, with a slight Irish accent, and
+he considered himself very much awake. He was a medium-tall man, not very
+stout, slightly and prematurely gray, and with a manner which was as lively and
+good-natured as it was combative and self-reliant. His upper lip was ornamented
+by a short, gray mustache.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;May heaven preserve me,&rdquo; he said, not long after he came there,
+&ldquo;these Pennsylvanians never pay for anything they can issue bonds
+for.&rdquo; It was the period when Pennsylvania&rsquo;s credit, and for that
+matter Philadelphia&rsquo;s, was very bad in spite of its great wealth.
+&ldquo;If there&rsquo;s ever a war there&rsquo;ll be battalions of
+Pennsylvanians marching around offering notes for their meals. If I could just
+live long enough I could get rich buyin&rsquo; up Pennsylvania notes and bonds.
+I think they&rsquo;ll pay some time; but, my God, they&rsquo;re mortal slow!
+I&rsquo;ll be dead before the State government will ever catch up on the
+interest they owe me now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was true. The condition of the finances of the state and city was most
+reprehensible. Both State and city were rich enough; but there were so many
+schemes for looting the treasury in both instances that when any new work had
+to be undertaken bonds were necessarily issued to raise the money. These bonds,
+or warrants, as they were called, pledged interest at six per cent.; but when
+the interest fell due, instead of paying it, the city or State treasurer, as
+the case might be, stamped the same with the date of presentation, and the
+warrant then bore interest for not only its original face value, but the amount
+then due in interest. In other words, it was being slowly compounded. But this
+did not help the man who wanted to raise money, for as security they could not
+be hypothecated for more than seventy per cent. of their market value, and they
+were not selling at par, but at ninety. A man might buy or accept them in
+foreclosure, but he had a long wait. Also, in the final payment of most of them
+favoritism ruled, for it was only when the treasurer knew that certain warrants
+were in the hands of &ldquo;a friend&rdquo; that he would advertise that such
+and such warrants&mdash;those particular ones that he knew about&mdash;would be
+paid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What was more, the money system of the United States was only then beginning
+slowly to emerge from something approximating chaos to something more nearly
+approaching order. The United States Bank, of which Nicholas Biddle was the
+progenitor, had gone completely in 1841, and the United States Treasury with
+its subtreasury system had come in 1846; but still there were many, many
+wildcat banks, sufficient in number to make the average exchange-counter broker
+a walking encyclopedia of solvent and insolvent institutions. Still, things
+were slowly improving, for the telegraph had facilitated stock-market
+quotations, not only between New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, but between a
+local broker&rsquo;s office in Philadelphia and his stock exchange. In other
+words, the short private wire had been introduced. Communication was quicker
+and freer, and daily grew better.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Railroads had been built to the South, East, North, and West. There was as yet
+no stock-ticker and no telephone, and the clearing-house had only recently been
+thought of in New York, and had not yet been introduced in Philadelphia.
+Instead of a clearing-house service, messengers ran daily between banks and
+brokerage firms, balancing accounts on pass-books, exchanging bills, and, once
+a week, transferring the gold coin, which was the only thing that could be
+accepted for balances due, since there was no stable national currency.
+&ldquo;On &rsquo;change,&rdquo; when the gong struck announcing the close of
+the day&rsquo;s business, a company of young men, known as &ldquo;settlement
+clerks,&rdquo; after a system borrowed from London, gathered in the center of
+the room and compared or gathered the various trades of the day in a ring, thus
+eliminating all those sales and resales between certain firms which naturally
+canceled each other. They carried long account books, and called out the
+transactions&mdash;&ldquo;Delaware and Maryland sold to Beaumont and
+Company,&rdquo; &ldquo;Delware and Maryland sold to Tighe and Company,&rdquo;
+and so on. This simplified the bookkeeping of the various firms, and made for
+quicker and more stirring commercial transactions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seats &ldquo;on &rsquo;change&rdquo; sold for two thousand dollars each. The
+members of the exchange had just passed rules limiting the trading to the hours
+between ten and three (before this they had been any time between morning and
+midnight), and had fixed the rates at which brokers could do business, in the
+face of cut-throat schemes which had previously held. Severe penalties were
+fixed for those who failed to obey. In other words, things were shaping up for
+a great &rsquo;change business, and Edward Tighe felt, with other brokers, that
+there was a great future ahead.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap06"></a>Chapter VI</h2>
+
+<p>
+The Cowperwood family was by this time established in its new and larger and
+more tastefully furnished house on North Front Street, facing the river. The
+house was four stories tall and stood twenty-five feet on the street front,
+without a yard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here the family began to entertain in a small way, and there came to see them,
+now and then, representatives of the various interests that Henry Cowperwood
+had encountered in his upward climb to the position of cashier. It was not a
+very distinguished company, but it included a number of people who were about
+as successful as himself&mdash;heads of small businesses who traded at his
+bank, dealers in dry-goods, leather, groceries (wholesale), and grain. The
+children had come to have intimacies of their own. Now and then, because of
+church connections, Mrs. Cowperwood ventured to have an afternoon tea or
+reception, at which even Cowperwood attempted the gallant in so far as to stand
+about in a genially foolish way and greet those whom his wife had invited. And
+so long as he could maintain his gravity very solemnly and greet people without
+being required to say much, it was not too painful for him. Singing was
+indulged in at times, a little dancing on occasion, and there was considerably
+more &ldquo;company to dinner,&rdquo; informally, than there had been
+previously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And here it was, during the first year of the new life in this house, that
+Frank met a certain Mrs. Semple, who interested him greatly. Her husband had a
+pretentious shoe store on Chestnut Street, near Third, and was planning to open
+a second one farther out on the same street.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The occasion of the meeting was an evening call on the part of the Semples, Mr.
+Semple being desirous of talking with Henry Cowperwood concerning a new
+transportation feature which was then entering the world&mdash;namely,
+street-cars. A tentative line, incorporated by the North Pennsylvania Railway
+Company, had been put into operation on a mile and a half of tracks extending
+from Willow Street along Front to Germantown Road, and thence by various
+streets to what was then known as the Cohocksink Depot; and it was thought that
+in time this mode of locomotion might drive out the hundreds of omnibuses which
+now crowded and made impassable the downtown streets. Young Cowperwood had been
+greatly interested from the start. Railway transportation, as a whole,
+interested him, anyway, but this particular phase was most fascinating. It was
+already creating widespread discussion, and he, with others, had gone to see
+it. A strange but interesting new type of car, fourteen feet long, seven feet
+wide, and nearly the same height, running on small iron car-wheels, was giving
+great satisfaction as being quieter and easier-riding than omnibuses; and
+Alfred Semple was privately considering investing in another proposed line
+which, if it could secure a franchise from the legislature, was to run on Fifth
+and Sixth streets.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, Senior, saw a great future for this thing; but he did not see as
+yet how the capital was to be raised for it. Frank believed that Tighe &amp;
+Co. should attempt to become the selling agents of this new stock of the Fifth
+and Sixth Street Company in the event it succeeded in getting a franchise. He
+understood that a company was already formed, that a large amount of stock was
+to be issued against the prospective franchise, and that these shares were to
+be sold at five dollars, as against an ultimate par value of one hundred. He
+wished he had sufficient money to take a large block of them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile, Lillian Semple caught and held his interest. Just what it was about
+her that attracted him at this age it would be hard to say, for she was really
+not suited to him emotionally, intellectually, or otherwise. He was not without
+experience with women or girls, and still held a tentative relationship with
+Marjorie Stafford; but Lillian Semple, in spite of the fact that she was
+married and that he could have legitimate interest in her, seemed not wiser and
+saner, but more worth while. She was twenty-four as opposed to Frank&rsquo;s
+nineteen, but still young enough in her thoughts and looks to appear of his own
+age. She was slightly taller than he&mdash;though he was now his full height
+(five feet ten and one-half inches)&mdash;and, despite her height, shapely,
+artistic in form and feature, and with a certain unconscious placidity of soul,
+which came more from lack of understanding than from force of character. Her
+hair was the color of a dried English walnut, rich and plentiful, and her
+complexion waxen&mdash;cream wax&mdash;-with lips of faint pink, and eyes that
+varied from gray to blue and from gray to brown, according to the light in
+which you saw them. Her hands were thin and shapely, her nose straight, her
+face artistically narrow. She was not brilliant, not active, but rather
+peaceful and statuesque without knowing it. Cowperwood was carried away by her
+appearance. Her beauty measured up to his present sense of the artistic. She
+was lovely, he thought&mdash;gracious, dignified. If he could have his choice
+of a wife, this was the kind of a girl he would like to have.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As yet, Cowperwood&rsquo;s judgment of women was temperamental rather than
+intellectual. Engrossed as he was by his desire for wealth, prestige,
+dominance, he was confused, if not chastened by considerations relating to
+position, presentability and the like. None the less, the homely woman meant
+nothing to him. And the passionate woman meant much. He heard family
+discussions of this and that sacrificial soul among women, as well as among
+men&mdash;women who toiled and slaved for their husbands or children, or both,
+who gave way to relatives or friends in crises or crucial moments, because it
+was right and kind to do so&mdash;but somehow these stories did not appeal to
+him. He preferred to think of people&mdash;even women&mdash;as honestly,
+frankly self-interested. He could not have told you why. People seemed foolish,
+or at the best very unfortunate not to know what to do in all circumstances and
+how to protect themselves. There was great talk concerning morality, much
+praise of virtue and decency, and much lifting of hands in righteous horror at
+people who broke or were even rumored to have broken the Seventh Commandment.
+He did not take this talk seriously. Already he had broken it secretly many
+times. Other young men did. Yet again, he was a little sick of the women of the
+streets and the bagnio. There were too many coarse, evil features in connection
+with such contacts. For a little while, the false tinsel-glitter of the house
+of ill repute appealed to him, for there was a certain force to its
+luxury&mdash;rich, as a rule, with red-plush furniture, showy red hangings,
+some coarse but showily-framed pictures, and, above all, the strong-bodied or
+sensuously lymphatic women who dwelt there, to (as his mother phrased it) prey
+on men. The strength of their bodies, the lust of their souls, the fact that
+they could, with a show of affection or good-nature, receive man after man,
+astonished and later disgusted him. After all, they were not smart. There was
+no vivacity of thought there. All that they could do, in the main, he fancied,
+was this one thing. He pictured to himself the dreariness of the mornings
+after, the stale dregs of things when only sleep and thought of gain could aid
+in the least; and more than once, even at his age, he shook his head. He wanted
+contact which was more intimate, subtle, individual, personal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So came Lillian Semple, who was nothing more to him than the shadow of an
+ideal. Yet she cleared up certain of his ideas in regard to women. She was not
+physically as vigorous or brutal as those other women whom he had encountered
+in the lupanars, thus far&mdash;raw, unashamed contraveners of accepted
+theories and notions&mdash;and for that very reason he liked her. And his
+thoughts continued to dwell on her, notwithstanding the hectic days which now
+passed like flashes of light in his new business venture. For this stock
+exchange world in which he now found himself, primitive as it would seem
+to-day, was most fascinating to Cowperwood. The room that he went to in Third
+Street, at Dock, where the brokers or their agents and clerks gathered one
+hundred and fifty strong, was nothing to speak of artistically&mdash;a square
+chamber sixty by sixty, reaching from the second floor to the roof of a
+four-story building; but it was striking to him. The windows were high and
+narrow; a large-faced clock faced the west entrance of the room where you came
+in from the stairs; a collection of telegraph instruments, with their
+accompanying desks and chairs, occupied the northeast corner. On the floor, in
+the early days of the exchange, were rows of chairs where the brokers sat while
+various lots of stocks were offered to them. Later in the history of the
+exchange the chairs were removed and at different points posts or floor-signs
+indicating where certain stocks were traded in were introduced. Around these
+the men who were interested gathered to do their trading. From a hall on the
+third floor a door gave entrance to a visitor&rsquo;s gallery, small and poorly
+furnished; and on the west wall a large blackboard carried current quotations
+in stocks as telegraphed from New York and Boston. A wicket-like fence in the
+center of the room surrounded the desk and chair of the official recorder; and
+a very small gallery opening from the third floor on the west gave place for
+the secretary of the board, when he had any special announcement to make. There
+was a room off the southwest corner, where reports and annual compendiums of
+chairs were removed and at different signs indicating where certain stocks of
+various kinds were kept and were available for the use of members.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Cowperwood would not have been admitted at all, as either a broker or
+broker&rsquo;s agent or assistant, except that Tighe, feeling that he needed
+him and believing that he would be very useful, bought him a seat on
+&rsquo;change&mdash;charging the two thousand dollars it cost as a debt and
+then ostensibly taking him into partnership. It was against the rules of the
+exchange to sham a partnership in this way in order to put a man on the floor,
+but brokers did it. These men who were known to be minor partners and floor
+assistants were derisively called &ldquo;eighth chasers&rdquo; and
+&ldquo;two-dollar brokers,&rdquo; because they were always seeking small orders
+and were willing to buy or sell for anybody on their commission, accounting, of
+course, to their firms for their work. Cowperwood, regardless of his intrinsic
+merits, was originally counted one of their number, and he was put under the
+direction of Mr. Arthur Rivers, the regular floor man of Tighe &amp; Company.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rivers was an exceedingly forceful man of thirty-five, well-dressed,
+well-formed, with a hard, smooth, evenly chiseled face, which was ornamented by
+a short, black mustache and fine, black, clearly penciled eyebrows. His hair
+came to an odd point at the middle of his forehead, where he divided it, and
+his chin was faintly and attractively cleft. He had a soft voice, a quiet,
+conservative manner, and both in and out of this brokerage and trading world
+was controlled by good form. Cowperwood wondered at first why Rivers should
+work for Tighe&mdash;he appeared almost as able&mdash;but afterward learned
+that he was in the company. Tighe was the organizer and general hand-shaker,
+Rivers the floor and outside man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was useless, as Frank soon found, to try to figure out exactly why stocks
+rose and fell. Some general reasons there were, of course, as he was told by
+Tighe, but they could not always be depended on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sure, anything can make or break a market&rdquo;&mdash;Tighe explained
+in his delicate brogue&mdash;&ldquo;from the failure of a bank to the rumor
+that your second cousin&rsquo;s grandmother has a cold. It&rsquo;s a most
+unusual world, Cowperwood. No man can explain it. I&rsquo;ve seen breaks in
+stocks that you could never explain at all&mdash;no one could. It
+wouldn&rsquo;t be possible to find out why they broke. I&rsquo;ve seen rises
+the same way. My God, the rumors of the stock exchange! They beat the devil. If
+they&rsquo;re going down in ordinary times some one is unloading, or
+they&rsquo;re rigging the market. If they&rsquo;re going up&mdash;God knows
+times must be good or somebody must be buying&mdash;that&rsquo;s sure. Beyond
+that&mdash;well, ask Rivers to show you the ropes. Don&rsquo;t you ever lose
+for me, though. That&rsquo;s the cardinal sin in this office.&rdquo; He grinned
+maliciously, even if kindly, at that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood understood&mdash;none better. This subtle world appealed to him. It
+answered to his temperament.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were rumors, rumors, rumors&mdash;of great railway and street-car
+undertakings, land developments, government revision of the tariff, war between
+France and Turkey, famine in Russia or Ireland, and so on. The first Atlantic
+cable had not been laid as yet, and news of any kind from abroad was slow and
+meager. Still there were great financial figures in the held, men who, like
+Cyrus Field, or William H. Vanderbilt, or F. X. Drexel, were doing marvelous
+things, and their activities and the rumors concerning them counted for much.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Frank soon picked up all of the technicalities of the situation. A
+&ldquo;bull,&rdquo; he learned, was one who bought in anticipation of a higher
+price to come; and if he was &ldquo;loaded up&rdquo; with a &ldquo;line&rdquo;
+of stocks he was said to be &ldquo;long.&rdquo; He sold to
+&ldquo;realize&rdquo; his profit, or if his margins were exhausted he was
+&ldquo;wiped out.&rdquo; A &ldquo;bear&rdquo; was one who sold stocks which
+most frequently he did not have, in anticipation of a lower price, at which he
+could buy and satisfy his previous sales. He was &ldquo;short&rdquo; when he
+had sold what he did not own, and he &ldquo;covered&rdquo; when he bought to
+satisfy his sales and to realize his profits or to protect himself against
+further loss in case prices advanced instead of declining. He was in a
+&ldquo;corner&rdquo; when he found that he could not buy in order to make good
+the stock he had borrowed for delivery and the return of which had been
+demanded. He was then obliged to settle practically at a price fixed by those
+to whom he and other &ldquo;shorts&rdquo; had sold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He smiled at first at the air of great secrecy and wisdom on the part of the
+younger men. They were so heartily and foolishly suspicious. The older men, as
+a rule, were inscrutable. They pretended indifference, uncertainty. They were
+like certain fish after a certain kind of bait, however. Snap! and the
+opportunity was gone. Somebody else had picked up what you wanted. All had
+their little note-books. All had their peculiar squint of eye or position or
+motion which meant &ldquo;Done! I take you!&rdquo; Sometimes they seemed
+scarcely to confirm their sales or purchases&mdash;they knew each other so
+well&mdash;but they did. If the market was for any reason active, the brokers
+and their agents were apt to be more numerous than if it were dull and the
+trading indifferent. A gong sounded the call to trading at ten o&rsquo;clock,
+and if there was a noticeable rise or decline in a stock or a group of stocks,
+you were apt to witness quite a spirited scene. Fifty to a hundred men would
+shout, gesticulate, shove here and there in an apparently aimless manner;
+endeavoring to take advantage of the stock offered or called for.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Five-eighths for five hundred P. and W.,&rdquo; some one would
+call&mdash;Rivers or Cowperwood, or any other broker.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Five hundred at three-fourths,&rdquo; would come the reply from some one
+else, who either had an order to sell the stock at that price or who was
+willing to sell it short, hoping to pick up enough of the stock at a lower
+figure later to fill his order and make a little something besides. If the
+supply of stock at that figure was large Rivers would probably continue to bid
+five-eighths. If, on the other hand, he noticed an increasing demand, he would
+probably pay three-fourths for it. If the professional traders believed Rivers
+had a large buying order, they would probably try to buy the stock before he
+could at three-fourths, believing they could sell it out to him at a slightly
+higher price. The professional traders were, of course, keen students of
+psychology; and their success depended on their ability to guess whether or not
+a broker representing a big manipulator, like Tighe, had an order large enough
+to affect the market sufficiently to give them an opportunity to &ldquo;get in
+and out,&rdquo; as they termed it, at a profit before he had completed the
+execution of his order. They were like hawks watching for an opportunity to
+snatch their prey from under the very claws of their opponents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Four, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and sometimes the whole
+company would attempt to take advantage of the given rise of a given stock by
+either selling or offering to buy, in which case the activity and the noise
+would become deafening. Given groups might be trading in different things; but
+the large majority of them would abandon what they were doing in order to take
+advantage of a speciality. The eagerness of certain young brokers or clerks to
+discover all that was going on, and to take advantage of any given rise or
+fall, made for quick physical action, darting to and fro, the excited elevation
+of explanatory fingers. Distorted faces were shoved over shoulders or under
+arms. The most ridiculous grimaces were purposely or unconsciously indulged in.
+At times there were situations in which some individual was fairly smothered
+with arms, faces, shoulders, crowded toward him when he manifested any
+intention of either buying or selling at a profitable rate. At first it seemed
+quite a wonderful thing to young Cowperwood&mdash;the very physical face of
+it&mdash;for he liked human presence and activity; but a little later the sense
+of the thing as a picture or a dramatic situation, of which he was a part
+faded, and he came down to a clearer sense of the intricacies of the problem
+before him. Buying and selling stocks, as he soon learned, was an art, a
+subtlety, almost a psychic emotion. Suspicion, intuition, feeling&mdash;these
+were the things to be &ldquo;long&rdquo; on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet in time he also asked himself, who was it who made the real money&mdash;the
+stock-brokers? Not at all. Some of them were making money, but they were, as he
+quickly saw, like a lot of gulls or stormy petrels, hanging on the lee of the
+wind, hungry and anxious to snap up any unwary fish. Back of them were other
+men, men with shrewd ideas, subtle resources. Men of immense means whose
+enterprise and holdings these stocks represented, the men who schemed out and
+built the railroads, opened the mines, organized trading enterprises, and built
+up immense manufactories. They might use brokers or other agents to buy and
+sell on &rsquo;change; but this buying and selling must be, and always was,
+incidental to the actual fact&mdash;the mine, the railroad, the wheat crop, the
+flour mill, and so on. Anything less than straight-out sales to realize quickly
+on assets, or buying to hold as an investment, was gambling pure and simple,
+and these men were gamblers. He was nothing more than a gambler&rsquo;s agent.
+It was not troubling him any just at this moment, but it was not at all a
+mystery now, what he was. As in the case of Waterman &amp; Company, he sized up
+these men shrewdly, judging some to be weak, some foolish, some clever, some
+slow, but in the main all small-minded or deficient because they were agents,
+tools, or gamblers. A man, a real man, must never be an agent, a tool, or a
+gambler&mdash;acting for himself or for others&mdash;he must employ such. A
+real man&mdash;a financier&mdash;was never a tool. He used tools. He created.
+He led.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Clearly, very clearly, at nineteen, twenty, and twenty-one years of age, he saw
+all this, but he was not quite ready yet to do anything about it. He was
+certain, however, that his day would come.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap07"></a>Chapter VII</h2>
+
+<p>
+In the meantime, his interest in Mrs. Semple had been secretly and strangely
+growing. When he received an invitation to call at the Semple home, he accepted
+with a great deal of pleasure. Their house was located not so very far from his
+own, on North Front Street, in the neighborhood of what is now known as No.
+956. It had, in summer, quite a wealth of green leaves and vines. The little
+side porch which ornamented its south wall commanded a charming view of the
+river, and all the windows and doors were topped with lunettes of small-paned
+glass. The interior of the house was not as pleasing as he would have had it.
+Artistic impressiveness, as to the furniture at least, was wanting, although it
+was new and good. The pictures were&mdash;well, simply pictures. There were no
+books to speak of&mdash;the Bible, a few current novels, some of the more
+significant histories, and a collection of antiquated odds and ends in the
+shape of books inherited from relatives. The china was good&mdash;of a delicate
+pattern. The carpets and wall-paper were too high in key. So it went. Still,
+the personality of Lillian Semple was worth something, for she was really
+pleasing to look upon, making a picture wherever she stood or sat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were no children&mdash;a dispensation of sex conditions which had nothing
+to do with her, for she longed to have them. She was without any notable
+experience in social life, except such as had come to the Wiggin family, of
+which she was a member&mdash;relatives and a few neighborhood friends visiting.
+Lillian Wiggin, that was her maiden name&mdash;had two brothers and one sister,
+all living in Philadelphia and all married at this time. They thought she had
+done very well in her marriage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It could not be said that she had wildly loved Mr. Semple at any time. Although
+she had cheerfully married him, he was not the kind of man who could arouse a
+notable passion in any woman. He was practical, methodic, orderly. His shoe
+store was a good one&mdash;well-stocked with styles reflecting the current
+tastes and a model of cleanliness and what one might term pleasing brightness.
+He loved to talk, when he talked at all, of shoe manufacturing, the development
+of lasts and styles. The ready-made shoe&mdash;machine-made to a certain
+extent&mdash;was just coming into its own slowly, and outside of these,
+supplies of which he kept, he employed bench-making shoemakers, satisfying his
+customers with personal measurements and making the shoes to order.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Semple read a little&mdash;not much. She had a habit of sitting and
+apparently brooding reflectively at times, but it was not based on any deep
+thought. She had that curious beauty of body, though, that made her somewhat
+like a figure on an antique vase, or out of a Greek chorus. It was in this
+light, unquestionably, that Cowperwood saw her, for from the beginning he could
+not keep his eyes off her. In a way, she was aware of this but she did not
+attach any significance to it. Thoroughly conventional, satisfied now that her
+life was bound permanently with that of her husband, she had settled down to a
+staid and quiet existence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At first, when Frank called, she did not have much to say. She was gracious,
+but the burden of conversation fell on her husband. Cowperwood watched the
+varying expression of her face from time to time, and if she had been at all
+psychic she must have felt something. Fortunately she was not. Semple talked to
+him pleasantly, because in the first place Frank was becoming financially
+significant, was suave and ingratiating, and in the next place he was anxious
+to get richer and somehow Frank represented progress to him in that line. One
+spring evening they sat on the porch and talked&mdash;nothing very
+important&mdash;slavery, street-cars, the panic&mdash;it was on then, that of
+1857&mdash;the development of the West. Mr. Semple wanted to know all about the
+stock exchange. In return Frank asked about the shoe business, though he really
+did not care. All the while, inoffensively, he watched Mrs. Semple. Her manner,
+he thought, was soothing, attractive, delightful. She served tea and cake for
+them. They went inside after a time to avoid the mosquitoes. She played the
+piano. At ten o&rsquo;clock he left.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thereafter, for a year or so, Cowperwood bought his shoes of Mr. Semple.
+Occasionally also he stopped in the Chestnut Street store to exchange the time
+of the day. Semple asked his opinion as to the advisability of buying some
+shares in the Fifth and Sixth Street line, which, having secured a franchise,
+was creating great excitement. Cowperwood gave him his best judgment. It was
+sure to be profitable. He himself had purchased one hundred shares at five
+dollars a share, and urged Semple to do so. But he was not interested in him
+personally. He liked Mrs. Semple, though he did not see her very often.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About a year later, Mr. Semple died. It was an untimely death, one of those
+fortuitous and in a way insignificant episodes which are, nevertheless,
+dramatic in a dull way to those most concerned. He was seized with a cold in
+the chest late in the fall&mdash;one of those seizures ordinarily attributed to
+wet feet or to going out on a damp day without an overcoat&mdash;and had
+insisted on going to business when Mrs. Semple urged him to stay at home and
+recuperate. He was in his way a very determined person, not obstreperously so,
+but quietly and under the surface. Business was a great urge. He saw himself
+soon to be worth about fifty thousand dollars. Then this cold&mdash;nine more
+days of pneumonia&mdash;and he was dead. The shoe store was closed for a few
+days; the house was full of sympathetic friends and church people. There was a
+funeral, with burial service in the Callowhill Presbyterian Church, to which
+they belonged, and then he was buried. Mrs. Semple cried bitterly. The shock of
+death affected her greatly and left her for a time in a depressed state. A
+brother of hers, David Wiggin, undertook for the time being to run the shoe
+business for her. There was no will, but in the final adjustment, which
+included the sale of the shoe business, there being no desire on
+anybody&rsquo;s part to contest her right to all the property, she received
+over eighteen thousand dollars. She continued to reside in the Front Street
+house, and was considered a charming and interesting widow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Throughout this procedure young Cowperwood, only twenty years of age, was
+quietly manifest. He called during the illness. He attended the funeral. He
+helped her brother, David Wiggin, dispose of the shoe business. He called once
+or twice after the funeral, then stayed away for a considerable time. In five
+months he reappeared, and thereafter he was a caller at stated
+intervals&mdash;periods of a week or ten days.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again, it would be hard to say what he saw in Semple. Her prettiness, wax-like
+in its quality, fascinated him; her indifference aroused perhaps his combative
+soul. He could not have explained why, but he wanted her in an urgent,
+passionate way. He could not think of her reasonably, and he did not talk of
+her much to any one. His family knew that he went to see her, but there had
+grown up in the Cowperwood family a deep respect for the mental force of Frank.
+He was genial, cheerful, gay at most times, without being talkative, and he was
+decidedly successful. Everybody knew he was making money now. His salary was
+fifty dollars a week, and he was certain soon to get more. Some lots of his in
+West Philadelphia, bought three years before, had increased notably in value.
+His street-car holdings, augmented by still additional lots of fifty and one
+hundred and one hundred and fifty shares in new lines incorporated, were slowly
+rising, in spite of hard times, from the initiative five dollars in each case
+to ten, fifteen, and twenty-five dollars a share&mdash;all destined to go to
+par. He was liked in the financial district and he was sure that he had a
+successful future. Because of his analysis of the brokerage situation he had
+come to the conclusion that he did not want to be a stock gambler. Instead, he
+was considering the matter of engaging in bill-brokering, a business which he
+had observed to be very profitable and which involved no risk as long as one
+had capital. Through his work and his father&rsquo;s connections he had met
+many people&mdash;merchants, bankers, traders. He could get their business, or
+a part of it, he knew. People in Drexel &amp; Co. and Clark &amp; Co. were
+friendly to him. Jay Cooke, a rising banking personality, was a personal friend
+of his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile he called on Mrs. Semple, and the more he called the better he liked
+her. There was no exchange of brilliant ideas between them; but he had a way of
+being comforting and social when he wished. He advised her about her business
+affairs in so intelligent a way that even her relatives approved of it. She
+came to like him, because he was so considerate, quiet, reassuring, and so
+ready to explain over and over until everything was quite plain to her. She
+could see that he was looking on her affairs quite as if they were his own,
+trying to make them safe and secure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re so very kind, Frank,&rdquo; she said to him, one night.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m awfully grateful. I don&rsquo;t know what I would have done if
+it hadn&rsquo;t been for you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at his handsome face, which was turned to hers, with child-like
+simplicity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not at all. Not at all. I want to do it. I wouldn&rsquo;t have been
+happy if I couldn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His eyes had a peculiar, subtle ray in them&mdash;not a gleam. She felt warm
+toward him, sympathetic, quite satisfied that she could lean on him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I am very grateful just the same. You&rsquo;ve been so good. Come
+out Sunday again, if you want to, or any evening. I&rsquo;ll be home.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was while he was calling on her in this way that his Uncle Seneca died in
+Cuba and left him fifteen thousand dollars. This money made him worth nearly
+twenty-five thousand dollars in his own right, and he knew exactly what to do
+with it. A panic had come since Mr. Semple had died, which had illustrated to
+him very clearly what an uncertain thing the brokerage business was. There was
+really a severe business depression. Money was so scarce that it could fairly
+be said not to exist at all. Capital, frightened by uncertain trade and money
+conditions, everywhere, retired to its hiding-places in banks, vaults,
+tea-kettles, and stockings. The country seemed to be going to the dogs. War
+with the South or secession was vaguely looming up in the distance. The temper
+of the whole nation was nervous. People dumped their holdings on the market in
+order to get money. Tighe discharged three of his clerks. He cut down his
+expenses in every possible way, and used up all his private savings to protect
+his private holdings. He mortgaged his house, his land
+holdings&mdash;everything; and in many instances young Cowperwood was his
+intermediary, carrying blocks of shares to different banks to get what he could
+on them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;See if your father&rsquo;s bank won&rsquo;t loan me fifteen thousand on
+these,&rdquo; he said to Frank, one day, producing a bundle of Philadelphia
+&amp; Wilmington shares. Frank had heard his father speak of them in times past
+as excellent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They ought to be good,&rdquo; the elder Cowperwood said, dubiously, when
+shown the package of securities. &ldquo;At any other time they would be. But
+money is so tight. We find it awfully hard these days to meet our own
+obligations. I&rsquo;ll talk to Mr. Kugel.&rdquo; Mr. Kugel was the president.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a long conversation&mdash;a long wait. His father came back to say it
+was doubtful whether they could make the loan. Eight per cent., then being
+secured for money, was a small rate of interest, considering its need. For ten
+per cent. Mr. Kugel might make a call-loan. Frank went back to his employer,
+whose commercial choler rose at the report.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For Heaven&rsquo;s sake, is there no money at all in the town?&rdquo; he
+demanded, contentiously. &ldquo;Why, the interest they want is ruinous! I
+can&rsquo;t stand that. Well, take &rsquo;em back and bring me the money. Good
+God, this&rsquo;ll never do at all, at all!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Frank went back. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll pay ten per cent.,&rdquo; he said, quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tighe was credited with a deposit of fifteen thousand dollars, with privilege
+to draw against it at once. He made out a check for the total fifteen thousand
+at once to the Girard National Bank to cover a shrinkage there. So it went.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During all these days young Cowperwood was following these financial
+complications with interest. He was not disturbed by the cause of slavery, or
+the talk of secession, or the general progress or decline of the country,
+except in so far as it affected his immediate interests. He longed to become a
+stable financier; but, now that he saw the inside of the brokerage business, he
+was not so sure that he wanted to stay in it. Gambling in stocks, according to
+conditions produced by this panic, seemed very hazardous. A number of brokers
+failed. He saw them rush in to Tighe with anguished faces and ask that certain
+trades be canceled. Their very homes were in danger, they said. They would be
+wiped out, their wives and children put out on the street.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This panic, incidentally, only made Frank more certain as to what he really
+wanted to do&mdash;now that he had this free money, he would go into business
+for himself. Even Tighe&rsquo;s offer of a minor partnership failed to tempt
+him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think you have a nice business,&rdquo; he explained, in refusing,
+&ldquo;but I want to get in the note-brokerage business for myself. I
+don&rsquo;t trust this stock game. I&rsquo;d rather have a little business of
+my own than all the floor work in this world.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But you&rsquo;re pretty young, Frank,&rdquo; argued his employer.
+&ldquo;You have lots of time to work for yourself.&rdquo; In the end he parted
+friends with both Tighe and Rivers. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a smart young
+fellow,&rdquo; observed Tighe, ruefully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll make his mark,&rdquo; rejoined Rivers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the
+shrewdest boy of his age I ever saw.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap08"></a>Chapter VIII</h2>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s world at this time was of roseate hue. He was in love and
+had money of his own to start his new business venture. He could take his
+street-car stocks, which were steadily increasing in value, and raise seventy
+per cent. of their market value. He could put a mortgage on his lots and get
+money there, if necessary. He had established financial relations with the
+Girard National Bank&mdash;President Davison there having taken a fancy to
+him&mdash;and he proposed to borrow from that institution some day. All he
+wanted was suitable investments&mdash;things in which he could realize surely,
+quickly. He saw fine prospective profits in the street-car lines, which were
+rapidly developing into local ramifications.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He purchased a horse and buggy about this time&mdash;the most
+attractive-looking animal and vehicle he could find&mdash;the combination cost
+him five hundred dollars&mdash;and invited Mrs. Semple to drive with him. She
+refused at first, but later consented. He had told her of his success, his
+prospects, his windfall of fifteen thousand dollars, his intention of going
+into the note-brokerage business. She knew his father was likely to succeed to
+the position of vice-president in the Third National Bank, and she liked the
+Cowperwoods. Now she began to realize that there was something more than mere
+friendship here. This erstwhile boy was a man, and he was calling on her. It
+was almost ridiculous in the face of things&mdash;her seniority, her widowhood,
+her placid, retiring disposition&mdash;but the sheer, quiet, determined force
+of this young man made it plain that he was not to be balked by her sense of
+convention.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood did not delude himself with any noble theories of conduct in regard
+to her. She was beautiful, with a mental and physical lure for him that was
+irresistible, and that was all he desired to know. No other woman was holding
+him like that. It never occurred to him that he could not or should not like
+other women at the same time. There was a great deal of palaver about the
+sanctity of the home. It rolled off his mental sphere like water off the
+feathers of a duck. He was not eager for her money, though he was well aware of
+it. He felt that he could use it to her advantage. He wanted her physically. He
+felt a keen, primitive interest in the children they would have. He wanted to
+find out if he could make her love him vigorously and could rout out the memory
+of her former life. Strange ambition. Strange perversion, one might almost say.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In spite of her fears and her uncertainty, Lillian Semple accepted his
+attentions and interest because, equally in spite of herself, she was drawn to
+him. One night, when she was going to bed, she stopped in front of her dressing
+table and looked at her face and her bare neck and arms. They were very pretty.
+A subtle something came over her as she surveyed her long, peculiarly shaded
+hair. She thought of young Cowperwood, and then was chilled and shamed by the
+vision of the late Mr. Semple and the force and quality of public opinion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you come to see me so often?&rdquo; she asked him when he called
+the following evening.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, don&rsquo;t you know?&rdquo; he replied, looking at her in an
+interpretive way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sure you don&rsquo;t?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I know you liked Mr. Semple, and I always thought you liked me as
+his wife. He&rsquo;s gone, though, now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you&rsquo;re here,&rdquo; he replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I&rsquo;m here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes. I like you. I like to be with you. Don&rsquo;t you like me that
+way?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, I&rsquo;ve never thought of it. You&rsquo;re so much younger.
+I&rsquo;m five years older than you are.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In years,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;certainly. That&rsquo;s nothing.
+I&rsquo;m fifteen years older than you are in other ways. I know more about
+life in some ways than you can ever hope to learn&mdash;don&rsquo;t you think
+so?&rdquo; he added, softly, persuasively.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that&rsquo;s true. But I know a lot of things you don&rsquo;t
+know.&rdquo; She laughed softly, showing her pretty teeth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was evening. They were on the side porch. The river was before them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, but that&rsquo;s only because you&rsquo;re a woman. A man
+can&rsquo;t hope to get a woman&rsquo;s point of view exactly. But I&rsquo;m
+talking about practical affairs of this world. You&rsquo;re not as old that way
+as I am.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, what of it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing. You asked why I came to see you. That&rsquo;s why.
+Partly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He relapsed into silence and stared at the water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at him. His handsome body, slowly broadening, was nearly full grown.
+His face, because of its full, clear, big, inscrutable eyes, had an expression
+which was almost babyish. She could not have guessed the depths it veiled. His
+cheeks were pink, his hands not large, but sinewy and strong. Her pale,
+uncertain, lymphatic body extracted a form of dynamic energy from him even at
+this range.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you ought to come to see me so often. People
+won&rsquo;t think well of it.&rdquo; She ventured to take a distant, matronly
+air&mdash;the air she had originally held toward him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;People,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t worry about people. People
+think what you want them to think. I wish you wouldn&rsquo;t take that distant
+air toward me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because I like you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But you mustn&rsquo;t like me. It&rsquo;s wrong. I can&rsquo;t ever
+marry you. You&rsquo;re too young. I&rsquo;m too old.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t say that!&rdquo; he said, imperiously. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s
+nothing to it. I want you to marry me. You know I do. Now, when will it
+be?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, how silly! I never heard of such a thing!&rdquo; she exclaimed.
+&ldquo;It will never be, Frank. It can&rsquo;t be!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why can&rsquo;t it?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because&mdash;well, because I&rsquo;m older. People would think it
+strange. I&rsquo;m not long enough free.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, long enough nothing!&rdquo; he exclaimed, irritably.
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the one thing I have against you&mdash;you are so worried
+about what people think. They don&rsquo;t make your life. They certainly
+don&rsquo;t make mine. Think of yourself first. You have your own life to make.
+Are you going to let what other people think stand in the way of what you want
+to do?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t want to,&rdquo; she smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He arose and came over to her, looking into her eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well?&rdquo; she asked, nervously, quizzically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He merely looked at her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well?&rdquo; she queried, more flustered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stooped down to take her arms, but she got up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now you must not come near me,&rdquo; she pleaded, determinedly.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll go in the house, and I&rsquo;ll not let you come any more.
+It&rsquo;s terrible! You&rsquo;re silly! You mustn&rsquo;t interest yourself in
+me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She did show a good deal of determination, and he desisted. But for the time
+being only. He called again and again. Then one night, when they had gone
+inside because of the mosquitoes, and when she had insisted that he must stop
+coming to see her, that his attentions were noticeable to others, and that she
+would be disgraced, he caught her, under desperate protest, in his arms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, see here!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;I told you! It&rsquo;s
+silly! You mustn&rsquo;t kiss me! How dare you! Oh! oh! oh!&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She broke away and ran up the near-by stairway to her room. Cowperwood followed
+her swiftly. As she pushed the door to he forced it open and recaptured her. He
+lifted her bodily from her feet and held her crosswise, lying in his arms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, how could you!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;I will never speak to
+you any more. I will never let you come here any more if you don&rsquo;t put me
+down this minute. Put me down!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll put you down, sweet,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take
+you down,&rdquo; at the same time pulling her face to him and kissing her. He
+was very much aroused, excited.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While she was twisting and protesting, he carried her down the stairs again
+into the living-room, and seated himself in the great armchair, still holding
+her tight in his arms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; she sighed, falling limp on his shoulder when he refused to
+let her go. Then, because of the set determination of his face, some intense
+pull in him, she smiled. &ldquo;How would I ever explain if I did marry
+you?&rdquo; she asked, weakly. &ldquo;Your father! Your mother!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t need to explain. I&rsquo;ll do that. And you
+needn&rsquo;t worry about my family. They won&rsquo;t care.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But mine,&rdquo; she recoiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry about yours. I&rsquo;m not marrying your family.
+I&rsquo;m marrying you. We have independent means.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She relapsed into additional protests; but he kissed her the more. There was a
+deadly persuasion to his caresses. Mr. Semple had never displayed any such
+fire. He aroused a force of feeling in her which had not previously been there.
+She was afraid of it and ashamed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will you marry me in a month?&rdquo; he asked, cheerfully, when she
+paused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know I won&rsquo;t!&rdquo; she exclaimed, nervously. &ldquo;The
+idea! Why do you ask?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What difference does it make? We&rsquo;re going to get married
+eventually.&rdquo; He was thinking how attractive he could make her look in
+other surroundings. Neither she nor his family knew how to live.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, not in a month. Wait a little while. I will marry you after a
+while&mdash;after you see whether you want me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He caught her tight. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll show you,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Please stop. You hurt me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How about it? Two months?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Three?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, maybe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No maybe in that case. We marry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But you&rsquo;re only a boy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry about me. You&rsquo;ll find out how much of a boy I
+am.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He seemed of a sudden to open up a new world to her, and she realized that she
+had never really lived before. This man represented something bigger and
+stronger than ever her husband had dreamed of. In his young way he was
+terrible, irresistible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, in three months then,&rdquo; she whispered, while he rocked her
+cozily in his arms.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap09"></a>Chapter IX</h2>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood started in the note brokerage business with a small office at No. 64
+South Third Street, where he very soon had the pleasure of discovering that his
+former excellent business connections remembered him. He would go to one house,
+where he suspected ready money might be desirable, and offer to negotiate their
+notes or any paper they might issue bearing six per cent. interest for a
+commission and then he would sell the paper for a small commission to some one
+who would welcome a secure investment. Sometimes his father, sometimes other
+people, helped him with suggestions as to when and how. Between the two ends he
+might make four and five per cent. on the total transaction. In the first year
+he cleared six thousand dollars over and above all expenses. That wasn&rsquo;t
+much, but he was augmenting it in another way which he believed would bring
+great profit in the future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before the first street-car line, which was a shambling affair, had been laid
+on Front Street, the streets of Philadelphia had been crowded with hundreds of
+springless omnibuses rattling over rough, hard, cobblestones. Now, thanks to
+the idea of John Stephenson, in New York, the double rail track idea had come,
+and besides the line on Fifth and Sixth Streets (the cars running out one
+street and back on another) which had paid splendidly from the start, there
+were many other lines proposed or under way. The city was as eager to see
+street-cars replace omnibuses as it was to see railroads replace canals. There
+was opposition, of course. There always is in such cases. The cry of probable
+monopoly was raised. Disgruntled and defeated omnibus owners and drivers
+groaned aloud.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood had implicit faith in the future of the street railway. In support
+of this belief he risked all he could spare on new issues of stock shares in
+new companies. He wanted to be on the inside wherever possible, always, though
+this was a little difficult in the matter of the street-railways, he having
+been so young when they started and not having yet arranged his financial
+connections to make them count for much. The Fifth and Sixth Street line, which
+had been but recently started, was paying six hundred dollars a day. A project
+for a West Philadelphia line (Walnut and Chestnut) was on foot, as were lines
+to occupy Second and Third Streets, Race and Vine, Spruce and Pine, Green and
+Coates, Tenth and Eleventh, and so forth. They were engineered and backed by
+some powerful capitalists who had influence with the State legislature and
+could, in spite of great public protest, obtain franchises. Charges of
+corruption were in the air. It was argued that the streets were valuable, and
+that the companies should pay a road tax of a thousand dollars a mile. Somehow,
+however, these splendid grants were gotten through, and the public, hearing of
+the Fifth and Sixth Street line profits, was eager to invest. Cowperwood was
+one of these, and when the Second and Third Street line was engineered, he
+invested in that and in the Walnut and Chestnut Street line also. He began to
+have vague dreams of controlling a line himself some day, but as yet he did not
+see exactly how it was to be done, since his business was far from being a
+bonanza.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the midst of this early work he married Mrs. Semple. There was no vast to-do
+about it, as he did not want any and his bride-to-be was nervous, fearsome of
+public opinion. His family did not entirely approve. She was too old, his
+mother and father thought, and then Frank, with his prospects, could have done
+much better. His sister Anna fancied that Mrs. Semple was designing, which was,
+of course, not true. His brothers, Joseph and Edward, were interested, but not
+certain as to what they actually thought, since Mrs. Semple was good-looking
+and had some money.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a warm October day when he and Lillian went to the altar, in the First
+Presbyterian Church of Callowhill Street. His bride, Frank was satisfied,
+looked exquisite in a trailing gown of cream lace&mdash;a creation that had
+cost months of labor. His parents, Mrs. Seneca Davis, the Wiggin family,
+brothers and sisters, and some friends were present. He was a little opposed to
+this idea, but Lillian wanted it. He stood up straight and correct in black
+broadcloth for the wedding ceremony&mdash;because she wished it, but later
+changed to a smart business suit for traveling. He had arranged his affairs for
+a two weeks&rsquo; trip to New York and Boston. They took an afternoon train
+for New York, which required five hours to reach. When they were finally alone
+in the Astor House, New York, after hours of make-believe and public pretense
+of indifference, he gathered her in his arms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, it&rsquo;s delicious,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;to have you all to
+myself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She met his eagerness with that smiling, tantalizing passivity which he had so
+much admired but which this time was tinged strongly with a communicated
+desire. He thought he should never have enough of her, her beautiful face, her
+lovely arms, her smooth, lymphatic body. They were like two children, billing
+and cooing, driving, dining, seeing the sights. He was curious to visit the
+financial sections of both cities. New York and Boston appealed to him as
+commercially solid. He wondered, as he observed the former, whether he should
+ever leave Philadelphia. He was going to be very happy there now, he thought,
+with Lillian and possibly a brood of young Cowperwoods. He was going to work
+hard and make money. With his means and hers now at his command, he might
+become, very readily, notably wealthy.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap10"></a>Chapter X</h2>
+
+<p>
+The home atmosphere which they established when they returned from their
+honeymoon was a great improvement in taste over that which had characterized
+the earlier life of Mrs. Cowperwood as Mrs. Semple. They had decided to occupy
+her house, on North Front Street, for a while at least. Cowperwood, aggressive
+in his current artistic mood, had objected at once after they were engaged to
+the spirit of the furniture and decorations, or lack of them, and had suggested
+that he be allowed to have it brought more in keeping with his idea of what was
+appropriate. During the years in which he had been growing into manhood he had
+come instinctively into sound notions of what was artistic and refined. He had
+seen so many homes that were more distinguished and harmonious than his own.
+One could not walk or drive about Philadelphia without seeing and being
+impressed with the general tendency toward a more cultivated and selective
+social life. Many excellent and expensive houses were being erected. The front
+lawn, with some attempt at floral gardening, was achieving local popularity. In
+the homes of the Tighes, the Leighs, Arthur Rivers, and others, he had noticed
+art objects of some distinction&mdash;bronzes, marbles, hangings, pictures,
+clocks, rugs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed to him now that his comparatively commonplace house could be made
+into something charming and for comparatively little money. The dining-room for
+instance which, through two plain windows set in a hat side wall back of the
+veranda, looked south over a stretch of grass and several trees and bushes to a
+dividing fence where the Semple property ended and a neighbor&rsquo;s began,
+could be made so much more attractive. That fence&mdash;sharp-pointed, gray
+palings&mdash;could be torn away and a hedge put in its place. The wall which
+divided the dining-room from the parlor could be knocked through and a hanging
+of some pleasing character put in its place. A bay-window could be built to
+replace the two present oblong windows&mdash;a bay which would come down to the
+floor and open out on the lawn via swiveled, diamond-shaped, lead-paned frames.
+All this shabby, nondescript furniture, collected from heaven knows
+where&mdash;partly inherited from the Semples and the Wiggins and partly
+bought&mdash;could be thrown out or sold and something better and more
+harmonious introduced. He knew a young man by the name of Ellsworth, an
+architect newly graduated from a local school, with whom he had struck up an
+interesting friendship&mdash;one of those inexplicable inclinations of
+temperament. Wilton Ellsworth was an artist in spirit, quiet, meditative,
+refined. From discussing the quality of a certain building on Chestnut Street
+which was then being erected, and which Ellsworth pronounced atrocious, they
+had fallen to discussing art in general, or the lack of it, in America. And it
+occurred to him that Ellsworth was the man to carry out his decorative views to
+a nicety. When he suggested the young man to Lillian, she placidly agreed with
+him and also with his own ideas of how the house could be revised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So while they were gone on their honeymoon Ellsworth began the revision on an
+estimated cost of three thousand dollars, including the furniture. It was not
+completed for nearly three weeks after their return; but when finished made a
+comparatively new house. The dining-room bay hung low over the grass, as Frank
+wished, and the windows were diamond-paned and leaded, swiveled on brass rods.
+The parlor and dining-room were separated by sliding doors; but the intention
+was to hang in this opening a silk hanging depicting a wedding scene in
+Normandy. Old English oak was used in the dining-room, an American imitation of
+Chippendale and Sheraton for the sitting-room and the bedrooms. There were a
+few simple water-colors hung here and there, some bronzes of Hosmer and Powers,
+a marble venus by Potter, a now forgotten sculptor, and other objects of
+art&mdash;nothing of any distinction. Pleasing, appropriately colored rugs
+covered the floor. Mrs. Cowperwood was shocked by the nudity of the Venus which
+conveyed an atmosphere of European freedom not common to America; but she said
+nothing. It was all harmonious and soothing, and she did not feel herself
+capable to judge. Frank knew about these things so much better than she did.
+Then with a maid and a man of all work installed, a program of entertaining was
+begun on a small scale.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Those who recall the early years of their married life can best realize the
+subtle changes which this new condition brought to Frank, for, like all who
+accept the hymeneal yoke, he was influenced to a certain extent by the things
+with which he surrounded himself. Primarily, from certain traits of his
+character, one would have imagined him called to be a citizen of eminent
+respectability and worth. He appeared to be an ideal home man. He delighted to
+return to his wife in the evenings, leaving the crowded downtown section where
+traffic clamored and men hurried. Here he could feel that he was well-stationed
+and physically happy in life. The thought of the dinner-table with candles upon
+it (his idea); the thought of Lillian in a trailing gown of pale-blue or green
+silk&mdash;he liked her in those colors; the thought of a large fireplace
+flaming with solid lengths of cord-wood, and Lillian snuggling in his arms,
+gripped his immature imagination. As has been said before, he cared nothing for
+books, but life, pictures, trees, physical contact&mdash;these, in spite of his
+shrewd and already gripping financial calculations, held him. To live richly,
+joyously, fully&mdash;his whole nature craved that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And Mrs. Cowperwood, in spite of the difference in their years, appeared to be
+a fit mate for him at this time. She was once awakened, and for the time being,
+clinging, responsive, dreamy. His mood and hers was for a baby, and in a little
+while that happy expectation was whispered to him by her. She had half fancied
+that her previous barrenness was due to herself, and was rather surprised and
+delighted at the proof that it was not so. It opened new possibilities&mdash;a
+seemingly glorious future of which she was not afraid. He liked it, the idea of
+self-duplication. It was almost acquisitive, this thought. For days and weeks
+and months and years, at least the first four or five, he took a keen
+satisfaction in coming home evenings, strolling about the yard, driving with
+his wife, having friends in to dinner, talking over with her in an explanatory
+way the things he intended to do. She did not understand his financial
+abstrusities, and he did not trouble to make them clear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But love, her pretty body, her lips, her quiet manner&mdash;the lure of all
+these combined, and his two children, when they came&mdash;two in four
+years&mdash;held him. He would dandle Frank, Jr., who was the first to arrive,
+on his knee, looking at his chubby feet, his kindling eyes, his almost formless
+yet bud-like mouth, and wonder at the process by which children came into the
+world. There was so much to think of in this connection&mdash;the spermatozoic
+beginning, the strange period of gestation in women, the danger of disease and
+delivery. He had gone through a real period of strain when Frank, Jr., was
+born, for Mrs. Cowperwood was frightened. He feared for the beauty of her
+body&mdash;troubled over the danger of losing her; and he actually endured his
+first worry when he stood outside the door the day the child came. Not
+much&mdash;he was too self-sufficient, too resourceful; and yet he worried,
+conjuring up thoughts of death and the end of their present state. Then word
+came, after certain piercing, harrowing cries, that all was well, and he was
+permitted to look at the new arrival. The experience broadened his conception
+of things, made him more solid in his judgment of life. That old conviction of
+tragedy underlying the surface of things, like wood under its veneer, was
+emphasized. Little Frank, and later Lillian, blue-eyed and golden-haired,
+touched his imagination for a while. There was a good deal to this home idea,
+after all. That was the way life was organized, and properly so&mdash;its
+cornerstone was the home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It would be impossible to indicate fully how subtle were the material changes
+which these years involved&mdash;changes so gradual that they were, like the
+lap of soft waters, unnoticeable. Considerable&mdash;a great deal, considering
+how little he had to begin with&mdash;wealth was added in the next five years.
+He came, in his financial world, to know fairly intimately, as commercial
+relationships go, some of the subtlest characters of the steadily enlarging
+financial world. In his days at Tighe&rsquo;s and on the exchange, many curious
+figures had been pointed out to him&mdash;State and city officials of one grade
+and another who were &ldquo;making something out of politics,&rdquo; and some
+national figures who came from Washington to Philadelphia at times to see
+Drexel &amp; Co., Clark &amp; Co., and even Tighe &amp; Co. These men, as he
+learned, had tips or advance news of legislative or economic changes which were
+sure to affect certain stocks or trade opportunities. A young clerk had once
+pulled his sleeve at Tighe&rsquo;s.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;See that man going in to see Tighe?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s Murtagh, the city treasurer. Say, he don&rsquo;t do
+anything but play a fine game. All that money to invest, and he don&rsquo;t
+have to account for anything except the principal. The interest goes to
+him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood understood. All these city and State officials speculated. They had
+a habit of depositing city and State funds with certain bankers and brokers as
+authorized agents or designated State depositories. The banks paid no
+interest&mdash;save to the officials personally. They loaned it to certain
+brokers on the officials&rsquo; secret order, and the latter invested it in
+&ldquo;sure winners.&rdquo; The bankers got the free use of the money a part of
+the time, the brokers another part: the officials made money, and the brokers
+received a fat commission. There was a political ring in Philadelphia in which
+the mayor, certain members of the council, the treasurer, the chief of police,
+the commissioner of public works, and others shared. It was a case generally of
+&ldquo;You scratch my back and I&rsquo;ll scratch yours.&rdquo; Cowperwood
+thought it rather shabby work at first, but many men were rapidly getting rich
+and no one seemed to care. The newspapers were always talking about civic
+patriotism and pride but never a word about these things. And the men who did
+them were powerful and respected.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were many houses, a constantly widening circle, that found him a very
+trustworthy agent in disposing of note issues or note payment. He seemed to
+know so quickly where to go to get the money. From the first he made it a
+principle to keep twenty thousand dollars in cash on hand in order to be able
+to take up a proposition instantly and without discussion. So, often he was
+able to say, &ldquo;Why, certainly, I can do that,&rdquo; when otherwise, on
+the face of things, he would not have been able to do so. He was asked if he
+would not handle certain stock transactions on &rsquo;change. He had no seat,
+and he intended not to take any at first; but now he changed his mind, and
+bought one, not only in Philadelphia, but in New York also. A certain Joseph
+Zimmerman, a dry-goods man for whom he had handled various note issues,
+suggested that he undertake operating in street-railway shares for him, and
+this was the beginning of his return to the floor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the meanwhile his family life was changing&mdash;growing, one might have
+said, finer and more secure. Mrs. Cowperwood had, for instance, been compelled
+from time to time to make a subtle readjustment of her personal relationship
+with people, as he had with his. When Mr. Semple was alive she had been
+socially connected with tradesmen principally&mdash;retailers and small
+wholesalers&mdash;a very few. Some of the women of her own church, the First
+Presbyterian, were friendly with her. There had been church teas and sociables
+which she and Mr. Semple attended, and dull visits to his relatives and hers.
+The Cowperwoods, the Watermans, and a few families of that caliber, had been
+the notable exceptions. Now all this was changed. Young Cowperwood did not care
+very much for her relatives, and the Semples had been alienated by her second,
+and to them outrageous, marriage. His own family was closely interested by ties
+of affection and mutual prosperity, but, better than this, he was drawing to
+himself some really significant personalities. He brought home with him,
+socially&mdash;not to talk business, for he disliked that idea&mdash;bankers,
+investors, customers and prospective customers. Out on the Schuylkill, the
+Wissahickon, and elsewhere, were popular dining places where one could drive on
+Sunday. He and Mrs. Cowperwood frequently drove out to Mrs. Seneca
+Davis&rsquo;s, to Judge Kitchen&rsquo;s, to the home of Andrew Sharpless, a
+lawyer whom he knew, to the home of Harper Steger, his own lawyer, and others.
+Cowperwood had the gift of geniality. None of these men or women suspected the
+depth of his nature&mdash;he was thinking, thinking, thinking, but enjoyed life
+as he went.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of his earliest and most genuine leanings was toward paintings. He admired
+nature, but somehow, without knowing why, he fancied one could best grasp it
+through the personality of some interpreter, just as we gain our ideas of law
+and politics through individuals. Mrs. Cowperwood cared not a whit one way or
+another, but she accompanied him to exhibitions, thinking all the while that
+Frank was a little peculiar. He tried, because he loved her, to interest her in
+these things intelligently, but while she pretended slightly, she could not
+really see or care, and it was very plain that she could not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The children took up a great deal of her time. However, Cowperwood was not
+troubled about this. It struck him as delightful and exceedingly worth while
+that she should be so devoted. At the same time, her lethargic manner, vague
+smile and her sometimes seeming indifference, which sprang largely from a sense
+of absolute security, attracted him also. She was so different from him! She
+took her second marriage quite as she had taken her first&mdash;a solemn fact
+which contained no possibility of mental alteration. As for himself, however,
+he was bustling about in a world which, financially at least, seemed all
+alteration&mdash;there were so many sudden and almost unheard-of changes. He
+began to look at her at times, with a speculative eye&mdash;not very
+critically, for he liked her&mdash;but with an attempt to weigh her
+personality. He had known her five years and more now. What did he know about
+her? The vigor of youth&mdash;those first years&mdash;had made up for so many
+things, but now that he had her safely...
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There came in this period the slow approach, and finally the declaration, of
+war between the North and the South, attended with so much excitement that
+almost all current minds were notably colored by it. It was terrific. Then came
+meetings, public and stirring, and riots; the incident of John Brown&rsquo;s
+body; the arrival of Lincoln, the great commoner, on his way from Springfield,
+Illinois, to Washington via Philadelphia, to take the oath of office; the
+battle of Bull Run; the battle of Vicksburg; the battle of Gettysburg, and so
+on. Cowperwood was only twenty-five at the time, a cool, determined youth, who
+thought the slave agitation might be well founded in human rights&mdash;no
+doubt was&mdash;but exceedingly dangerous to trade. He hoped the North would
+win; but it might go hard with him personally and other financiers. He did not
+care to fight. That seemed silly for the individual man to do. Others
+might&mdash;there were many poor, thin-minded, half-baked creatures who would
+put themselves up to be shot; but they were only fit to be commanded or shot
+down. As for him, his life was sacred to himself and his family and his
+personal interests. He recalled seeing, one day, in one of the quiet side
+streets, as the working-men were coming home from their work, a small enlisting
+squad of soldiers in blue marching enthusiastically along, the Union flag
+flying, the drummers drumming, the fifes blowing, the idea being, of course, to
+so impress the hitherto indifferent or wavering citizen, to exalt him to such a
+pitch, that he would lose his sense of proportion, of self-interest, and,
+forgetting all&mdash;wife, parents, home, and children&mdash;and seeing only
+the great need of the country, fall in behind and enlist. He saw one workingman
+swinging his pail, and evidently not contemplating any such denouement to his
+day&rsquo;s work, pause, listen as the squad approached, hesitate as it drew
+close, and as it passed, with a peculiar look of uncertainty or wonder in his
+eyes, fall in behind and march solemnly away to the enlisting quarters. What
+was it that had caught this man, Frank asked himself. How was he overcome so
+easily? He had not intended to go. His face was streaked with the grease and
+dirt of his work&mdash;he looked like a foundry man or machinist, say
+twenty-five years of age. Frank watched the little squad disappear at the end
+of the street round the corner under the trees.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This current war-spirit was strange. The people seemed to him to want to hear
+nothing but the sound of the drum and fife, to see nothing but troops, of which
+there were thousands now passing through on their way to the front, carrying
+cold steel in the shape of guns at their shoulders, to hear of war and the
+rumors of war. It was a thrilling sentiment, no doubt, great but unprofitable.
+It meant self-sacrifice, and he could not see that. If he went he might be
+shot, and what would his noble emotion amount to then? He would rather make
+money, regulate current political, social and financial affairs. The poor fool
+who fell in behind the enlisting squad&mdash;no, not fool, he would not call
+him that&mdash;the poor overwrought working-man&mdash;well, Heaven pity him!
+Heaven pity all of them! They really did not know what they were doing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One day he saw Lincoln&mdash;a tall, shambling man, long, bony, gawky, but
+tremendously impressive. It was a raw, slushy morning of a late February day,
+and the great war President was just through with his solemn pronunciamento in
+regard to the bonds that might have been strained but must not be broken. As he
+issued from the doorway of Independence Hall, that famous birthplace of
+liberty, his face was set in a sad, meditative calm. Cowperwood looked at him
+fixedly as he issued from the doorway surrounded by chiefs of staff, local
+dignitaries, detectives, and the curious, sympathetic faces of the public. As
+he studied the strangely rough-hewn countenance a sense of the great worth and
+dignity of the man came over him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A real man, that,&rdquo; he thought; &ldquo;a wonderful
+temperament.&rdquo; His every gesture came upon him with great force. He
+watched him enter his carriage, thinking &ldquo;So that is the railsplitter,
+the country lawyer. Well, fate has picked a great man for this crisis.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For days the face of Lincoln haunted him, and very often during the war his
+mind reverted to that singular figure. It seemed to him unquestionable that
+fortuitously he had been permitted to look upon one of the world&rsquo;s really
+great men. War and statesmanship were not for him; but he knew how important
+those things were&mdash;at times.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap11"></a>Chapter XI</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was while the war was on, and after it was perfectly plain that it was not
+to be of a few days&rsquo; duration, that Cowperwood&rsquo;s first great
+financial opportunity came to him. There was a strong demand for money at the
+time on the part of the nation, the State, and the city. In July, 1861,
+Congress had authorized a loan of fifty million dollars, to be secured by
+twenty-year bonds with interest not to exceed seven per cent., and the State
+authorized a loan of three millions on much the same security, the first being
+handled by financiers of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, the second by
+Philadelphia financiers alone. Cowperwood had no hand in this. He was not big
+enough. He read in the papers of gatherings of men whom he knew personally or
+by reputation, &ldquo;to consider the best way to aid the nation or the
+State&rdquo;; but he was not included. And yet his soul yearned to be of them.
+He noticed how often a rich man&rsquo;s word sufficed&mdash;no money, no
+certificates, no collateral, no anything&mdash;just his word. If Drexel &amp;
+Co., or Jay Cooke &amp; Co., or Gould &amp; Fiske were rumored to be behind
+anything, how secure it was! Jay Cooke, a young man in Philadelphia, had made a
+great strike taking this State loan in company with Drexel &amp; Co., and
+selling it at par. The general opinion was that it ought to be and could only
+be sold at ninety. Cooke did not believe this. He believed that State pride and
+State patriotism would warrant offering the loan to small banks and private
+citizens, and that they would subscribe it fully and more. Events justified
+Cooke magnificently, and his public reputation was assured. Cowperwood wished
+he could make some such strike; but he was too practical to worry over anything
+save the facts and conditions that were before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His chance came about six months later, when it was found that the State would
+have to have much more money. Its quota of troops would have to be equipped and
+paid. There were measures of defense to be taken, the treasury to be
+replenished. A call for a loan of twenty-three million dollars was finally
+authorized by the legislature and issued. There was great talk in the street as
+to who was to handle it&mdash;Drexel &amp; Co. and Jay Cooke &amp; Co., of
+course.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood pondered over this. If he could handle a fraction of this great loan
+now&mdash;he could not possibly handle the whole of it, for he had not the
+necessary connections&mdash;he could add considerably to his reputation as a
+broker while making a tidy sum. How much could he handle? That was the
+question. Who would take portions of it? His father&rsquo;s bank? Probably.
+Waterman &amp; Co.? A little. Judge Kitchen? A small fraction. The Mills-David
+Company? Yes. He thought of different individuals and concerns who, for one
+reason and another&mdash;personal friendship, good-nature, gratitude for past
+favors, and so on&mdash;would take a percentage of the seven-percent. bonds
+through him. He totaled up his possibilities, and discovered that in all
+likelihood, with a little preliminary missionary work, he could dispose of one
+million dollars if personal influence, through local political figures, could
+bring this much of the loan his way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One man in particular had grown strong in his estimation as having some subtle
+political connection not visible on the surface, and this was Edward Malia
+Butler. Butler was a contractor, undertaking the construction of sewers,
+water-mains, foundations for buildings, street-paving, and the like. In the
+early days, long before Cowperwood had known him, he had been a
+garbage-contractor on his own account. The city at that time had no extended
+street-cleaning service, particularly in its outlying sections and some of the
+older, poorer regions. Edward Butler, then a poor young Irishman, had begun by
+collecting and hauling away the garbage free of charge, and feeding it to his
+pigs and cattle. Later he discovered that some people were willing to pay a
+small charge for this service. Then a local political character, a councilman
+friend of his&mdash;they were both Catholics&mdash;saw a new point in the whole
+thing. Butler could be made official garbage-collector. The council could vote
+an annual appropriation for this service. Butler could employ more wagons than
+he did now&mdash;dozens of them, scores. Not only that, but no other
+garbage-collector would be allowed. There were others, but the official
+contract awarded him would also, officially, be the end of the life of any and
+every disturbing rival. A certain amount of the profitable proceeds would have
+to be set aside to assuage the feelings of those who were not contractors.
+Funds would have to be loaned at election time to certain individuals and
+organizations&mdash;but no matter. The amount would be small. So Butler and
+Patrick Gavin Comiskey, the councilman (the latter silently) entered into
+business relations. Butler gave up driving a wagon himself. He hired a young
+man, a smart Irish boy of his neighborhood, Jimmy Sheehan, to be his assistant,
+superintendent, stableman, bookkeeper, and what not. Since he soon began to
+make between four and five thousand a year, where before he made two thousand,
+he moved into a brick house in an outlying section of the south side, and sent
+his children to school. Mrs. Butler gave up making soap and feeding pigs. And
+since then times had been exceedingly good with Edward Butler.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He could neither read nor write at first; but now he knew how, of course. He
+had learned from association with Mr. Comiskey that there were other forms of
+contracting&mdash;sewers, water-mains, gas-mains, street-paving, and the like.
+Who better than Edward Butler to do it? He knew the councilmen, many of them.
+Het met them in the back rooms of saloons, on Sundays and Saturdays at
+political picnics, at election councils and conferences, for as a beneficiary
+of the city&rsquo;s largess he was expected to contribute not only money, but
+advice. Curiously he had developed a strange political wisdom. He knew a
+successful man or a coming man when he saw one. So many of his bookkeepers,
+superintendents, time-keepers had graduated into councilmen and state
+legislators. His nominees&mdash;suggested to political conferences&mdash;were
+so often known to make good. First he came to have influence in his
+councilman&rsquo;s ward, then in his legislative district, then in the city
+councils of his party&mdash;Whig, of course&mdash;and then he was supposed to
+have an organization.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mysterious forces worked for him in council. He was awarded significant
+contracts, and he always bid. The garbage business was now a thing of the past.
+His eldest boy, Owen, was a member of the State legislature and a partner in
+his business affairs. His second son, Callum, was a clerk in the city water
+department and an assistant to his father also. Aileen, his eldest daughter,
+fifteen years of age, was still in St. Agatha&rsquo;s, a convent school in
+Germantown. Norah, his second daughter and youngest child, thirteen years old,
+was in attendance at a local private school conducted by a Catholic sisterhood.
+The Butler family had moved away from South Philadelphia into Girard Avenue,
+near the twelve hundreds, where a new and rather interesting social life was
+beginning. They were not of it, but Edward Butler, contractor, now fifty-five
+years of age, worth, say, five hundred thousand dollars, had many political and
+financial friends. No longer a &ldquo;rough neck,&rdquo; but a solid,
+reddish-faced man, slightly tanned, with broad shoulders and a solid chest,
+gray eyes, gray hair, a typically Irish face made wise and calm and
+undecipherable by much experience. His big hands and feet indicated a day when
+he had not worn the best English cloth suits and tanned leather, but his
+presence was not in any way offensive&mdash;rather the other way about. Though
+still possessed of a brogue, he was soft-spoken, winning, and persuasive.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had been one of the first to become interested in the development of the
+street-car system and had come to the conclusion, as had Cowperwood and many
+others, that it was going to be a great thing. The money returns on the stocks
+or shares he had been induced to buy had been ample evidence of that, He had
+dealt through one broker and another, having failed to get in on the original
+corporate organizations. He wanted to pick up such stock as he could in one
+organization and another, for he believed they all had a future, and most of
+all he wanted to get control of a line or two. In connection with this idea he
+was looking for some reliable young man, honest and capable, who would work
+under his direction and do what he said. Then he learned of Cowperwood, and one
+day sent for him and asked him to call at his house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood responded quickly, for he knew of Butler, his rise, his connections,
+his force. He called at the house as directed, one cold, crisp February
+morning. He remembered the appearance of the street afterward&mdash;broad,
+brick-paved sidewalks, macadamized roadway, powdered over with a light snow and
+set with young, leafless, scrubby trees and lamp-posts. Butler&rsquo;s house
+was not new&mdash;he had bought and repaired it&mdash;but it was not an
+unsatisfactory specimen of the architecture of the time. It was fifty feet
+wide, four stories tall, of graystone and with four wide, white stone steps
+leading up to the door. The window arches, framed in white, had U-shaped
+keystones. There were curtains of lace and a glimpse of red plush through the
+windows, which gleamed warm against the cold and snow outside. A trim Irish
+maid came to the door and he gave her his card and was invited into the house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is Mr. Butler home?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure, sir. I&rsquo;ll find out. He may have gone
+out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a little while he was asked to come upstairs, where he found Butler in a
+somewhat commercial-looking room. It had a desk, an office chair, some leather
+furnishings, and a bookcase, but no completeness or symmetry as either an
+office or a living room. There were several pictures on the wall&mdash;an
+impossible oil painting, for one thing, dark and gloomy; a canal and barge
+scene in pink and nile green for another; some daguerreotypes of relatives and
+friends which were not half bad. Cowperwood noticed one of two girls, one with
+reddish-gold hair, another with what appeared to be silky brown. The beautiful
+silver effect of the daguerreotype had been tinted. They were pretty girls,
+healthy, smiling, Celtic, their heads close together, their eyes looking
+straight out at you. He admired them casually, and fancied they must be
+Butler&rsquo;s daughters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Cowperwood?&rdquo; inquired Butler, uttering the name fully with a
+peculiar accent on the vowels. (He was a slow-moving man, solemn and
+deliberate.) Cowperwood noticed that his body was hale and strong like seasoned
+hickory, tanned by wind and rain. The flesh of his cheeks was pulled taut and
+there was nothing soft or flabby about him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m that man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have a little matter of stocks to talk over with you&rdquo;
+(&ldquo;matter&rdquo; almost sounded like &ldquo;mather&rdquo;), &ldquo;and I
+thought you&rsquo;d better come here rather than that I should come down to
+your office. We can be more private-like, and, besides, I&rsquo;m not as young
+as I used to be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He allowed a semi-twinkle to rest in his eye as he looked his visitor over.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I hope I can be of service to you,&rdquo; he said, genially.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I happen to be interested just at present in pickin&rsquo; up certain
+street-railway stocks on &rsquo;change. I&rsquo;ll tell you about them later.
+Won&rsquo;t you have somethin&rsquo; to drink? It&rsquo;s a cold
+morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, thanks; I never drink.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never? That&rsquo;s a hard word when it comes to whisky. Well, no
+matter. It&rsquo;s a good rule. My boys don&rsquo;t touch anything, and
+I&rsquo;m glad of it. As I say, I&rsquo;m interested in pickin&rsquo; up a few
+stocks on &rsquo;change; but, to tell you the truth, I&rsquo;m more interested
+in findin&rsquo; some clever young felly like yourself through whom I can work.
+One thing leads to another, you know, in this world.&rdquo; And he looked at
+his visitor non-committally, and yet with a genial show of interest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite so,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, with a friendly gleam in return.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; Butler meditated, half to himself, half to Cowperwood,
+&ldquo;there are a number of things that a bright young man could do for me in
+the street if he were so minded. I have two bright boys of my own, but I
+don&rsquo;t want them to become stock-gamblers, and I don&rsquo;t know that
+they would or could if I wanted them to. But this isn&rsquo;t a matter of
+stock-gambling. I&rsquo;m pretty busy as it is, and, as I said awhile ago,
+I&rsquo;m getting along. I&rsquo;m not as light on my toes as I once was. But
+if I had the right sort of a young man&mdash;I&rsquo;ve been looking into your
+record, by the way, never fear&mdash;he might handle a number of little
+things&mdash;investments and loans&mdash;which might bring us each a little
+somethin&rsquo;. Sometimes the young men around town ask advice of me in one
+way and another&mdash;they have a little somethin&rsquo; to invest, and
+so&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused and looked tantalizingly out of the window, knowing full well
+Cowperwood was greatly interested, and that this talk of political influence
+and connections could only whet his appetite. Butler wanted him to see clearly
+that fidelity was the point in this case&mdash;fidelity, tact, subtlety, and
+concealment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, if you have been looking into my record,&rdquo; observed
+Cowperwood, with his own elusive smile, leaving the thought suspended.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler felt the force of the temperament and the argument. He liked the young
+man&rsquo;s poise and balance. A number of people had spoken of Cowperwood to
+him. (It was now Cowperwood &amp; Co. The company was fiction purely.) He asked
+him something about the street; how the market was running; what he knew about
+street-railways. Finally he outlined his plan of buying all he could of the
+stock of two given lines&mdash;the Ninth and Tenth and the Fifteenth and
+Sixteenth&mdash;without attracting any attention, if possible. It was to be
+done slowly, part on &rsquo;change, part from individual holders. He did not
+tell him that there was a certain amount of legislative pressure he hoped to
+bring to bear to get him franchises for extensions in the regions beyond where
+the lines now ended, in order that when the time came for them to extend their
+facilities they would have to see him or his sons, who might be large minority
+stockholders in these very concerns. It was a far-sighted plan, and meant that
+the lines would eventually drop into his or his sons&rsquo; basket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be delighted to work with you, Mr. Butler, in any way that
+you may suggest,&rdquo; observed Cowperwood. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say that I
+have so much of a business as yet&mdash;merely prospects. But my connections
+are good. I am now a member of the New York and Philadelphia exchanges. Those
+who have dealt with me seem to like the results I get.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know a little something about your work already,&rdquo; reiterated
+Butler, wisely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well, then; whenever you have a commission you can call at my
+office, or write, or I will call here. I will give you my secret operating
+code, so that anything you say will be strictly confidential.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;ll not say anything more now. In a few days I&rsquo;ll
+have somethin&rsquo; for you. When I do, you can draw on my bank for what you
+need, up to a certain amount.&rdquo; He got up and looked out into the street,
+and Cowperwood also arose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a fine day now, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It surely is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;ll get to know each other better, I&rsquo;m sure.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He held out his hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hope so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood went out, Butler accompanying him to the door. As he did so a young
+girl bounded in from the street, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, wearing a scarlet cape
+with the peaked hood thrown over her red-gold hair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, daddy, I almost knocked you down.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She gave her father, and incidentally Cowperwood, a gleaming, radiant,
+inclusive smile. Her teeth were bright and small, and her lips bud-red.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re home early. I thought you were going to stay all
+day?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I was, but I changed my mind.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She passed on in, swinging her arms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, well&mdash;&rdquo; Butler continued, when she had gone. &ldquo;Then
+well leave it for a day or two. Good day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, warm with this enhancing of his financial prospects, went down the
+steps; but incidentally he spared a passing thought for the gay spirit of youth
+that had manifested itself in this red-cheeked maiden. What a bright, healthy,
+bounding girl! Her voice had the subtle, vigorous ring of fifteen or sixteen.
+She was all vitality. What a fine catch for some young fellow some day, and her
+father would make him rich, no doubt, or help to.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap12"></a>Chapter XII</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was to Edward Malia Butler that Cowperwood turned now, some nineteen months
+later when he was thinking of the influence that might bring him an award of a
+portion of the State issue of bonds. Butler could probably be interested to
+take some of them himself, or could help him place some. He had come to like
+Cowperwood very much and was now being carried on the latter&rsquo;s books as a
+prospective purchaser of large blocks of stocks. And Cowperwood liked this
+great solid Irishman. He liked his history. He had met Mrs. Butler, a rather
+fat and phlegmatic Irish woman with a world of hard sense who cared nothing at
+all for show and who still liked to go into the kitchen and superintend the
+cooking. He had met Owen and Callum Butler, the boys, and Aileen and Norah, the
+girls. Aileen was the one who had bounded up the steps the first day he had
+called at the Butler house several seasons before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a cozy grate-fire burning in Butler&rsquo;s improvised private office
+when Cowperwood called. Spring was coming on, but the evenings were cool. The
+older man invited Cowperwood to make himself comfortable in one of the large
+leather chairs before the fire and then proceeded to listen to his recital of
+what he hoped to accomplish.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, now, that isn&rsquo;t so easy,&rdquo; he commented at the end.
+&ldquo;You ought to know more about that than I do. I&rsquo;m not a financier,
+as you well know.&rdquo; And he grinned apologetically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of influence,&rdquo; went on Cowperwood. &ldquo;And
+favoritism. That I know. Drexel &amp; Company and Cooke &amp; Company have
+connections at Harrisburg. They have men of their own looking after their
+interests. The attorney-general and the State treasurer are hand in glove with
+them. Even if I put in a bid, and can demonstrate that I can handle the loan,
+it won&rsquo;t help me to get it. Other people have done that. I have to have
+friends&mdash;influence. You know how it is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Them things,&rdquo; Butler said, &ldquo;is easy enough if you know the
+right parties to approach. Now there&rsquo;s Jimmy Oliver&mdash;he ought to
+know something about that.&rdquo; Jimmy Oliver was the whilom district attorney
+serving at this time, and incidentally free adviser to Mr. Butler in many ways.
+He was also, accidentally, a warm personal friend of the State treasurer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How much of the loan do you want?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Five million.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Five million!&rdquo; Butler sat up. &ldquo;Man, what are you talking
+about? That&rsquo;s a good deal of money. Where are you going to sell all
+that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I want to bid for five million,&rdquo; assuaged Cowperwood, softly.
+&ldquo;I only want one million but I want the prestige of putting in a bona
+fide bid for five million. It will do me good on the street.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler sank back somewhat relieved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Five million! Prestige! You want one million. Well, now, that&rsquo;s
+different. That&rsquo;s not such a bad idea. We ought to be able to get
+that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He rubbed his chin some more and stared into the fire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And Cowperwood felt confident when he left the house that evening that Butler
+would not fail him but would set the wheels working. Therefore, he was not
+surprised, and knew exactly what it meant, when a few days later he was
+introduced to City Treasurer Julian Bode, who promised to introduce him to
+State Treasurer Van Nostrand and to see that his claims to consideration were
+put before the people. &ldquo;Of course, you know,&rdquo; he said to
+Cowperwood, in the presence of Butler, for it was at the latter&rsquo;s home
+that the conference took place, &ldquo;this banking crowd is very powerful. You
+know who they are. They don&rsquo;t want any interference in this bond issue
+business. I was talking to Terrence Relihan, who represents them up
+there&rdquo;&mdash;meaning Harrisburg, the State capital&mdash;&ldquo;and he
+says they won&rsquo;t stand for it at all. You may have trouble right here in
+Philadelphia after you get it&mdash;they&rsquo;re pretty powerful, you know.
+Are you sure just where you can place it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I&rsquo;m sure,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, the best thing in my judgment is not to say anything at all. Just
+put in your bid. Van Nostrand, with the governor&rsquo;s approval, will make
+the award. We can fix the governor, I think. After you get it they may talk to
+you personally, but that&rsquo;s your business.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood smiled his inscrutable smile. There were so many ins and outs to
+this financial life. It was an endless network of underground holes, along
+which all sorts of influences were moving. A little wit, a little nimbleness, a
+little luck-time and opportunity&mdash;these sometimes availed. Here he was,
+through his ambition to get on, and nothing else, coming into contact with the
+State treasurer and the governor. They were going to consider his case
+personally, because he demanded that it be considered&mdash;nothing more.
+Others more influential than himself had quite as much right to a share, but
+they didn&rsquo;t take it. Nerve, ideas, aggressiveness, how these counted when
+one had luck!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went away thinking how surprised Drexel &amp; Co. and Cooke &amp; Co. would
+be to see him appearing in the field as a competitor. In his home, in a little
+room on the second floor next his bedroom, which he had fixed up as an office
+with a desk, a safe, and a leather chair, he consulted his resources. There
+were so many things to think of. He went over again the list of people whom he
+had seen and whom he could count on to subscribe, and in so far as that was
+concerned&mdash;the award of one million dollars&mdash;he was safe. He figured
+to make two per cent. on the total transaction, or twenty thousand dollars. If
+he did he was going to buy a house out on Girard Avenue beyond the
+Butlers&rsquo;, or, better yet, buy a piece of ground and erect one; mortgaging
+house and property so to do. His father was prospering nicely. He might want to
+build a house next to him, and they could live side by side. His own business,
+aside from this deal, would yield him ten thousand dollars this year. His
+street-car investments, aggregating fifty thousand, were paying six per cent.
+His wife&rsquo;s property, represented by this house, some government bonds,
+and some real estate in West Philadelphia amounted to forty thousand more.
+Between them they were rich; but he expected to be much richer. All he needed
+now was to keep cool. If he succeeded in this bond-issue matter, he could do it
+again and on a larger scale. There would be more issues. He turned out the
+light after a while and went into his wife&rsquo;s boudoir, where she was
+sleeping. The nurse and the children were in a room beyond.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Lillian,&rdquo; he observed, when she awoke and turned over toward
+him, &ldquo;I think I have that bond matter that I was telling you about
+arranged at last. I think I&rsquo;ll get a million of it, anyhow. That&rsquo;ll
+mean twenty thousand. If I do we&rsquo;ll build out on Girard Avenue.
+That&rsquo;s going to be the street. The college is making that
+neighborhood.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;ll be fine, won&rsquo;t it, Frank!&rdquo; she observed, and
+rubbed his arm as he sat on the side of the bed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her remark was vaguely speculative.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have to show the Butlers some attention from now on.
+He&rsquo;s been very nice to me and he&rsquo;s going to be useful&mdash;I can
+see that. He asked me to bring you over some time. We must go. Be nice to his
+wife. He can do a lot for me if he wants to. He has two daughters, too.
+We&rsquo;ll have to have them over here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have them to dinner sometime,&rdquo; she agreed cheerfully
+and helpfully, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;ll stop and take Mrs. Butler driving if
+she&rsquo;ll go, or she can take me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She had already learned that the Butlers were rather showy&mdash;the younger
+generation&mdash;that they were sensitive as to their lineage, and that money
+in their estimation was supposed to make up for any deficiency in any other
+respect. &ldquo;Butler himself is a very presentable man,&rdquo; Cowperwood had
+once remarked to her, &ldquo;but Mrs. Butler&mdash;well, she&rsquo;s all right,
+but she&rsquo;s a little commonplace. She&rsquo;s a fine woman, though, I
+think, good-natured and good-hearted.&rdquo; He cautioned her not to overlook
+Aileen and Norah, because the Butlers, mother and father, were very proud of
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Cowperwood at this time was thirty-two years old; Cowperwood twenty-seven.
+The birth and care of two children had made some difference in her looks. She
+was no longer as softly pleasing, more angular. Her face was hollow-cheeked,
+like so many of Rossetti&rsquo;s and Burne-Jones&rsquo;s women. Her health was
+really not as good as it had been&mdash;the care of two children and a late
+undiagnosed tendency toward gastritis having reduced her. In short she was a
+little run down nervously and suffered from fits of depression. Cowperwood had
+noticed this. He tried to be gentle and considerate, but he was too much of a
+utilitarian and practical-minded observer not to realize that he was likely to
+have a sickly wife on his hands later. Sympathy and affection were great
+things, but desire and charm must endure or one was compelled to be sadly
+conscious of their loss. So often now he saw young girls who were quite in his
+mood, and who were exceedingly robust and joyous. It was fine, advisable,
+practical, to adhere to the virtues as laid down in the current social lexicon,
+but if you had a sickly wife&mdash;And anyhow, was a man entitled to only one
+wife? Must he never look at another woman? Supposing he found some one? He
+pondered those things between hours of labor, and concluded that it did not
+make so much difference. If a man could, and not be exposed, it was all right.
+He had to be careful, though. Tonight, as he sat on the side of his
+wife&rsquo;s bed, he was thinking somewhat of this, for he had seen Aileen
+Butler again, playing and singing at her piano as he passed the parlor door.
+She was like a bright bird radiating health and enthusiasm&mdash;a reminder of
+youth in general.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a strange world,&rdquo; he thought; but his thoughts were his
+own, and he didn&rsquo;t propose to tell any one about them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bond issue, when it came, was a curious compromise; for, although it netted
+him his twenty thousand dollars and more and served to introduce him to the
+financial notice of Philadelphia and the State of Pennsylvania, it did not
+permit him to manipulate the subscriptions as he had planned. The State
+treasurer was seen by him at the office of a local lawyer of great repute,
+where he worked when in the city. He was gracious to Cowperwood, because he had
+to be. He explained to him just how things were regulated at Harrisburg. The
+big financiers were looked to for campaign funds. They were represented by
+henchmen in the State assembly and senate. The governor and the treasurer were
+foot-free; but there were other influences&mdash;prestige, friendship, social
+power, political ambitions, etc. The big men might constitute a close
+corporation, which in itself was unfair; but, after all, they were the
+legitimate sponsors for big money loans of this kind. The State had to keep on
+good terms with them, especially in times like these. Seeing that Mr.
+Cowperwood was so well able to dispose of the million he expected to get, it
+would be perfectly all right to award it to him; but Van Nostrand had a
+counter-proposition to make. Would Cowperwood, if the financial crowd now
+handling the matter so desired, turn over his award to them for a
+consideration&mdash;a sum equal to what he expected to make&mdash;in the event
+the award was made to him? Certain financiers desired this. It was dangerous to
+oppose them. They were perfectly willing he should put in a bid for five
+million and get the prestige of that; to have him awarded one million and get
+the prestige of that was well enough also, but they desired to handle the
+twenty-three million dollars in an unbroken lot. It looked better. He need not
+be advertised as having withdrawn. They would be content to have him achieve
+the glory of having done what he started out to do. Just the same the example
+was bad. Others might wish to imitate him. If it were known in the street
+privately that he had been coerced, for a consideration, into giving up, others
+would be deterred from imitating him in the future. Besides, if he refused,
+they could cause him trouble. His loans might be called. Various banks might
+not be so friendly in the future. His constituents might be warned against him
+in one way or another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood saw the point. He acquiesced. It was something to have brought so
+many high and mighties to their knees. So they knew of him! They were quite
+well aware of him! Well and good. He would take the award and twenty thousand
+or thereabouts and withdraw. The State treasurer was delighted. It solved a
+ticklish proposition for him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad to have seen you,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad
+we&rsquo;ve met. I&rsquo;ll drop in and talk with you some time when I&rsquo;m
+down this way. We&rsquo;ll have lunch together.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The State treasurer, for some odd reason, felt that Mr. Cowperwood was a man
+who could make him some money. His eye was so keen; his expression was so
+alert, and yet so subtle. He told the governor and some other of his associates
+about him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So the award was finally made; Cowperwood, after some private negotiations in
+which he met the officers of Drexel &amp; Co., was paid his twenty thousand
+dollars and turned his share of the award over to them. New faces showed up in
+his office now from time to time&mdash;among them that of Van Nostrand and one
+Terrence Relihan, a representative of some other political forces at
+Harrisburg. He was introduced to the governor one day at lunch. His name was
+mentioned in the papers, and his prestige grew rapidly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Immediately he began working on plans with young Ellsworth for his new house.
+He was going to build something exceptional this time, he told Lillian. They
+were going to have to do some entertaining&mdash;entertaining on a larger scale
+than ever. North Front Street was becoming too tame. He put the house up for
+sale, consulted with his father and found that he also was willing to move. The
+son&rsquo;s prosperity had redounded to the credit of the father. The directors
+of the bank were becoming much more friendly to the old man. Next year
+President Kugel was going to retire. Because of his son&rsquo;s noted coup, as
+well as his long service, he was going to be made president. Frank was a large
+borrower from his father&rsquo;s bank. By the same token he was a large
+depositor. His connection with Edward Butler was significant. He sent his
+father&rsquo;s bank certain accounts which it otherwise could not have secured.
+The city treasurer became interested in it, and the State treasurer.
+Cowperwood, Sr., stood to earn twenty thousand a year as president, and he owed
+much of it to his son. The two families were now on the best of terms. Anna,
+now twenty-one, and Edward and Joseph frequently spent the night at
+Frank&rsquo;s house. Lillian called almost daily at his mother&rsquo;s. There
+was much interchange of family gossip, and it was thought well to build side by
+side. So Cowperwood, Sr., bought fifty feet of ground next to his son&rsquo;s
+thirty-five, and together they commenced the erection of two charming,
+commodious homes, which were to be connected by a covered passageway, or
+pergola, which could be inclosed with glass in winter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The most popular local stone, a green granite was chosen; but Mr. Ellsworth
+promised to present it in such a way that it would be especially pleasing.
+Cowperwood, Sr., decided that he could afford to spent seventy-five thousand
+dollars&mdash;he was now worth two hundred and fifty thousand; and Frank
+decided that he could risk fifty, seeing that he could raise money on a
+mortgage. He planned at the same time to remove his office farther south on
+Third Street and occupy a building of his own. He knew where an option was to
+be had on a twenty-five-foot building, which, though old, could be given a new
+brownstone front and made very significant. He saw in his mind&rsquo;s eye a
+handsome building, fitted with an immense plate-glass window; inside his
+hardwood fixtures visible; and over the door, or to one side of it, set in
+bronze letters, Cowperwood &amp; Co. Vaguely but surely he began to see looming
+before him, like a fleecy tinted cloud on the horizon, his future fortune. He
+was to be rich, very, very rich.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap13"></a>Chapter XIII</h2>
+
+<p>
+During all the time that Cowperwood had been building himself up thus steadily
+the great war of the rebellion had been fought almost to its close. It was now
+October, 1864. The capture of Mobile and the Battle of the Wilderness were
+fresh memories. Grant was now before Petersburg, and the great general of the
+South, Lee, was making that last brilliant and hopeless display of his ability
+as a strategist and a soldier. There had been times&mdash;as, for instance,
+during the long, dreary period in which the country was waiting for Vicksburg
+to fall, for the Army of the Potomac to prove victorious, when Pennsylvania was
+invaded by Lee&mdash;when stocks fell and commercial conditions were very bad
+generally. In times like these Cowperwood&rsquo;s own manipulative ability was
+taxed to the utmost, and he had to watch every hour to see that his fortune was
+not destroyed by some unexpected and destructive piece of news.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His personal attitude toward the war, however, and aside from his patriotic
+feeling that the Union ought to be maintained, was that it was destructive and
+wasteful. He was by no means so wanting in patriotic emotion and sentiment but
+that he could feel that the Union, as it had now come to be, spreading its
+great length from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the snows of Canada to
+the Gulf, was worth while. Since his birth in 1837 he had seen the nation reach
+that physical growth&mdash;barring Alaska&mdash;which it now possesses. Not so
+much earlier than his youth Florida had been added to the Union by purchase
+from Spain; Mexico, after the unjust war of 1848, had ceded Texas and the
+territory to the West. The boundary disputes between England and the United
+States in the far Northwest had been finally adjusted. To a man with great
+social and financial imagination, these facts could not help but be
+significant; and if they did nothing more, they gave him a sense of the
+boundless commercial possibilities which existed potentially in so vast a
+realm. His was not the order of speculative financial enthusiasm which, in the
+type known as the &ldquo;promoter,&rdquo; sees endless possibilities for gain
+in every unexplored rivulet and prairie reach; but the very vastness of the
+country suggested possibilities which he hoped might remain undisturbed. A
+territory covering the length of a whole zone and between two seas, seemed to
+him to possess potentialities which it could not retain if the States of the
+South were lost.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the same time, the freedom of the negro was not a significant point with
+him. He had observed that race from his boyhood with considerable interest, and
+had been struck with virtues and defects which seemed inherent and which
+plainly, to him, conditioned their experiences.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was not at all sure, for instance, that the negroes could be made into
+anything much more significant than they were. At any rate, it was a long
+uphill struggle for them, of which many future generations would not witness
+the conclusion. He had no particular quarrel with the theory that they should
+be free; he saw no particular reason why the South should not protest
+vigorously against the destruction of their property and their system. It was
+too bad that the negroes as slaves should be abused in some instances. He felt
+sure that that ought to be adjusted in some way; but beyond that he could not
+see that there was any great ethical basis for the contentions of their
+sponsors. The vast majority of men and women, as he could see, were not
+essentially above slavery, even when they had all the guarantees of a
+constitution formulated to prevent it. There was mental slavery, the slavery of
+the weak mind and the weak body. He followed the contentions of such men as
+Sumner, Garrison, Phillips, and Beecher, with considerable interest; but at no
+time could he see that the problem was a vital one for him. He did not care to
+be a soldier or an officer of soldiers; he had no gift for polemics; his mind
+was not of the disputatious order&mdash;not even in the realm of finance. He
+was concerned only to see what was of vast advantage to him, and to devote all
+his attention to that. This fratricidal war in the nation could not help him.
+It really delayed, he thought, the true commercial and financial adjustment of
+the country, and he hoped that it would soon end. He was not of those who
+complained bitterly of the excessive war taxes, though he knew them to be
+trying to many. Some of the stories of death and disaster moved him greatly;
+but, alas, they were among the unaccountable fortunes of life, and could not be
+remedied by him. So he had gone his way day by day, watching the coming in and
+the departing of troops, seeing the bands of dirty, disheveled, gaunt, sickly
+men returning from the fields and hospitals; and all he could do was to feel
+sorry. This war was not for him. He had taken no part in it, and he felt sure
+that he could only rejoice in its conclusion&mdash;not as a patriot, but as a
+financier. It was wasteful, pathetic, unfortunate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The months proceeded apace. A local election intervened and there was a new
+city treasurer, a new assessor of taxes, and a new mayor; but Edward Malia
+Butler continued to have apparently the same influence as before. The Butlers
+and the Cowperwoods had become quite friendly. Mrs. Butler rather liked
+Lillian, though they were of different religious beliefs; and they went driving
+or shopping together, the younger woman a little critical and ashamed of the
+elder because of her poor grammar, her Irish accent, her plebeian
+tastes&mdash;as though the Wiggins had not been as plebeian as any. On the
+other hand the old lady, as she was compelled to admit, was good-natured and
+good-hearted. She loved to give, since she had plenty, and sent presents here
+and there to Lillian, the children, and others. &ldquo;Now youse must come over
+and take dinner with us&rdquo;&mdash;the Butlers had arrived at the
+evening-dinner period&mdash;or &ldquo;Youse must come drive with me
+to-morrow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aileen, God bless her, is such a foine girl,&rdquo; or &ldquo;Norah, the
+darlin&rsquo;, is sick the day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Aileen, her airs, her aggressive disposition, her love of attention, her
+vanity, irritated and at times disgusted Mrs. Cowperwood. She was eighteen now,
+with a figure which was subtly provocative. Her manner was boyish, hoydenish at
+times, and although convent-trained, she was inclined to balk at restraint in
+any form. But there was a softness lurking in her blue eyes that was most
+sympathetic and human.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+St. Timothy&rsquo;s and the convent school in Germantown had been the choice of
+her parents for her education&mdash;what they called a good Catholic education.
+She had learned a great deal about the theory and forms of the Catholic ritual,
+but she could not understand them. The church, with its tall, dimly radiant
+windows, its high, white altar, its figure of St. Joseph on one side and the
+Virgin Mary on the other, clothed in golden-starred robes of blue, wearing
+haloes and carrying scepters, had impressed her greatly. The church as a
+whole&mdash;any Catholic church&mdash;was beautiful to look at&mdash;soothing.
+The altar, during high mass, lit with a half-hundred or more candles, and
+dignified and made impressive by the rich, lacy vestments of the priests and
+the acolytes, the impressive needlework and gorgeous colorings of the amice,
+chasuble, cope, stole, and maniple, took her fancy and held her eye. Let us say
+there was always lurking in her a sense of grandeur coupled with a love of
+color and a love of love. From the first she was somewhat sex-conscious. She
+had no desire for accuracy, no desire for precise information. Innate
+sensuousness rarely has. It basks in sunshine, bathes in color, dwells in a
+sense of the impressive and the gorgeous, and rests there. Accuracy is not
+necessary except in the case of aggressive, acquisitive natures, when it
+manifests itself in a desire to seize. True controlling sensuousness cannot be
+manifested in the most active dispositions, nor again in the most accurate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is need of defining these statements in so far as they apply to Aileen.
+It would scarcely be fair to describe her nature as being definitely sensual at
+this time. It was too rudimentary. Any harvest is of long growth. The
+confessional, dim on Friday and Saturday evenings, when the church was lighted
+by but a few lamps, and the priest&rsquo;s warnings, penances, and
+ecclesiastical forgiveness whispered through the narrow lattice, moved her as
+something subtly pleasing. She was not afraid of her sins. Hell, so definitely
+set forth, did not frighten her. Really, it had not laid hold on her
+conscience. The old women and old men hobbling into church, bowed in prayer,
+murmuring over their beads, were objects of curious interest like the
+wood-carvings in the peculiar array of wood-reliefs emphasizing the Stations of
+the Cross. She herself had liked to confess, particularly when she was fourteen
+and fifteen, and to listen to the priest&rsquo;s voice as he admonished her
+with, &ldquo;Now, my dear child.&rdquo; A particularly old priest, a French
+father, who came to hear their confessions at school, interested her as being
+kind and sweet. His forgiveness and blessing seemed sincere&mdash;better than
+her prayers, which she went through perfunctorily. And then there was a young
+priest at St. Timothy&rsquo;s, Father David, hale and rosy, with a curl of
+black hair over his forehead, and an almost jaunty way of wearing his priestly
+hat, who came down the aisle Sundays sprinkling holy water with a definite,
+distinguished sweep of the hand, who took her fancy. He heard confessions and
+now and then she liked to whisper her strange thoughts to him while she
+actually speculated on what he might privately be thinking. She could not, if
+she tried, associate him with any divine authority. He was too young, too
+human. There was something a little malicious, teasing, in the way she
+delighted to tell him about herself, and then walk demurely, repentantly out.
+At St. Agatha&rsquo;s she had been rather a difficult person to deal with. She
+was, as the good sisters of the school had readily perceived, too full of life,
+too active, to be easily controlled. &ldquo;That Miss Butler,&rdquo; once
+observed Sister Constantia, the Mother Superior, to Sister Sempronia,
+Aileen&rsquo;s immediate mentor, &ldquo;is a very spirited girl, you may have a
+great deal of trouble with her unless you use a good deal of tact. You may have
+to coax her with little gifts. You will get on better.&rdquo; So Sister
+Sempronia had sought to find what Aileen was most interested in, and bribe her
+therewith. Being intensely conscious of her father&rsquo;s competence, and vain
+of her personal superiority, it was not so easy to do. She had wanted to go
+home occasionally, though; she had wanted to be allowed to wear the
+sister&rsquo;s rosary of large beads with its pendent cross of ebony and its
+silver Christ, and this was held up as a great privilege. For keeping quiet in
+class, walking softly, and speaking softly&mdash;as much as it was in her to
+do&mdash;for not stealing into other girl&rsquo;s rooms after lights were out,
+and for abandoning crushes on this and that sympathetic sister, these awards
+and others, such as walking out in the grounds on Saturday afternoons, being
+allowed to have all the flowers she wanted, some extra dresses, jewels, etc.,
+were offered. She liked music and the idea of painting, though she had no
+talent in that direction; and books, novels, interested her, but she could not
+get them. The rest&mdash;grammar, spelling, sewing, church and general
+history&mdash;she loathed. Deportment&mdash;well, there was something in that.
+She had liked the rather exaggerated curtsies they taught her, and she had
+often reflected on how she would use them when she reached home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When she came out into life the little social distinctions which have been
+indicated began to impress themselves on her, and she wished sincerely that her
+father would build a better home&mdash;a mansion&mdash;such as those she saw
+elsewhere, and launch her properly in society. Failing in that, she could think
+of nothing save clothes, jewels, riding-horses, carriages, and the appropriate
+changes of costume which were allowed her for these. Her family could not
+entertain in any distinguished way where they were, and so already, at
+eighteen, she was beginning to feel the sting of a blighted ambition. She was
+eager for life. How was she to get it?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her room was a study in the foibles of an eager and ambitious mind. It was full
+of clothes, beautiful things for all occasions&mdash;jewelry&mdash;which she
+had small opportunity to wear&mdash;shoes, stockings, lingerie, laces. In a
+crude way she had made a study of perfumes and cosmetics, though she needed the
+latter not at all, and these were present in abundance. She was not very
+orderly, and she loved lavishness of display; and her curtains, hangings, table
+ornaments, and pictures inclined to gorgeousness, which did not go well with
+the rest of the house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen always reminded Cowperwood of a high-stepping horse without a
+check-rein. He met her at various times, shopping with her mother, out driving
+with her father, and he was always interested and amused at the affected, bored
+tone she assumed before him&mdash;the &ldquo;Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Life is so
+tiresome, don&rsquo;t you know,&rdquo; when, as a matter of fact, every moment
+of it was of thrilling interest to her. Cowperwood took her mental measurement
+exactly. A girl with a high sense of life in her, romantic, full of the thought
+of love and its possibilities. As he looked at her he had the sense of seeing
+the best that nature can do when she attempts to produce physical perfection.
+The thought came to him that some lucky young dog would marry her pretty soon
+and carry her away; but whoever secured her would have to hold her by affection
+and subtle flattery and attention if he held her at all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The little snip&rdquo;&mdash;she was not at all&mdash;&ldquo;she thinks
+the sun rises and sets in her father&rsquo;s pocket,&rdquo; Lillian observed
+one day to her husband. &ldquo;To hear her talk, you&rsquo;d think they were
+descended from Irish kings. Her pretended interest in art and music amuses
+me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, don&rsquo;t be too hard on her,&rdquo; coaxed Cowperwood
+diplomatically. He already liked Aileen very much. &ldquo;She plays very well,
+and she has a good voice.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I know; but she has no real refinement. How could she have? Look at
+her father and mother.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see anything so very much the matter with her,&rdquo;
+insisted Cowperwood. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s bright and good-looking. Of course,
+she&rsquo;s only a girl, and a little vain, but she&rsquo;ll come out of that.
+She isn&rsquo;t without sense and force, at that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen, as he knew, was most friendly to him. She liked him. She made a point
+of playing the piano and singing for him in his home, and she sang only when he
+was there. There was something about his steady, even gait, his stocky body and
+handsome head, which attracted her. In spite of her vanity and egotism, she
+felt a little overawed before him at times&mdash;keyed up. She seemed to grow
+gayer and more brilliant in his presence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The most futile thing in this world is any attempt, perhaps, at exact
+definition of character. All individuals are a bundle of
+contradictions&mdash;none more so than the most capable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the case of Aileen Butler it would be quite impossible to give an exact
+definition. Intelligence, of a raw, crude order she had certainly&mdash;also a
+native force, tamed somewhat by the doctrines and conventions of current
+society, still showed clear at times in an elemental and not entirely
+unattractive way. At this time she was only eighteen years of
+age&mdash;decidedly attractive from the point of view of a man of Frank
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s temperament. She supplied something he had not previously
+known or consciously craved. Vitality and vivacity. No other woman or girl whom
+he had ever known had possessed so much innate force as she. Her red-gold
+hair&mdash;not so red as decidedly golden with a suggestion of red in
+it&mdash;looped itself in heavy folds about her forehead and sagged at the base
+of her neck. She had a beautiful nose, not sensitive, but straight-cut with
+small nostril openings, and eyes that were big and yet noticeably sensuous.
+They were, to him, a pleasing shade of blue-gray-blue, and her toilet, due to
+her temperament, of course, suggested almost undue luxury, the bangles,
+anklets, ear-rings, and breast-plates of the odalisque, and yet, of course,
+they were not there. She confessed to him years afterward that she would have
+loved to have stained her nails and painted the palms of her hands with
+madder-red. Healthy and vigorous, she was chronically interested in
+men&mdash;what they would think of her&mdash;and how she compared with other
+women.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fact that she could ride in a carriage, live in a fine home on Girard
+Avenue, visit such homes as those of the Cowperwoods and others, was of great
+weight; and yet, even at this age, she realized that life was more than these
+things. Many did not have them and lived.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But these facts of wealth and advantage gripped her; and when she sat at the
+piano and played or rode in her carriage or walked or stood before her mirror,
+she was conscious of her figure, her charms, what they meant to men, how women
+envied her. Sometimes she looked at poor, hollow-chested or homely-faced girls
+and felt sorry for them; at other times she flared into inexplicable opposition
+to some handsome girl or woman who dared to brazen her socially or physically.
+There were such girls of the better families who, in Chestnut Street, in the
+expensive shops, or on the drive, on horseback or in carriages, tossed their
+heads and indicated as well as human motions can that they were better-bred and
+knew it. When this happened each stared defiantly at the other. She wanted ever
+so much to get up in the world, and yet namby-pamby men of better social
+station than herself did not attract her at all. She wanted a man. Now and then
+there was one &ldquo;something like,&rdquo; but not entirely, who appealed to
+her, but most of them were politicians or legislators, acquaintances of her
+father, and socially nothing at all&mdash;and so they wearied and disappointed
+her. Her father did not know the truly elite. But Mr. Cowperwood&mdash;he
+seemed so refined, so forceful, and so reserved. She often looked at Mrs.
+Cowperwood and thought how fortunate she was.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap14"></a>Chapter XIV</h2>
+
+<p>
+The development of Cowperwood as Cowperwood &amp; Co. following his arresting
+bond venture, finally brought him into relationship with one man who was to
+play an important part in his life, morally, financially, and in other ways.
+This was George W. Stener, the new city treasurer-elect, who, to begin with,
+was a puppet in the hands of other men, but who, also in spite of this fact,
+became a personage of considerable importance, for the simple reason that he
+was weak. Stener had been engaged in the real estate and insurance business in
+a small way before he was made city treasurer. He was one of those men, of whom
+there are so many thousands in every large community, with no breadth of
+vision, no real subtlety, no craft, no great skill in anything. You would never
+hear a new idea emanating from Stener. He never had one in his life. On the
+other hand, he was not a bad fellow. He had a stodgy, dusty, commonplace look
+to him which was more a matter of mind than of body. His eye was of vague
+gray-blue; his hair a dusty light-brown and thin. His mouth&mdash;there was
+nothing impressive there. He was quite tall, nearly six feet, with moderately
+broad shoulders, but his figure was anything but shapely. He seemed to stoop a
+little, his stomach was the least bit protuberant, and he talked
+commonplaces&mdash;the small change of newspaper and street and business
+gossip. People liked him in his own neighborhood. He was thought to be honest
+and kindly; and he was, as far as he knew. His wife and four children were as
+average and insignificant as the wives and children of such men usually are.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just the same, and in spite of, or perhaps, politically speaking, because of
+all this, George W. Stener was brought into temporary public notice by certain
+political methods which had existed in Philadelphia practically unmodified for
+the previous half hundred years. First, because he was of the same political
+faith as the dominant local political party, he had become known to the local
+councilman and ward-leader of his ward as a faithful soul&mdash;one useful in
+the matter of drumming up votes. And next&mdash;although absolutely without
+value as a speaker, for he had no ideas&mdash;you could send him from door to
+door, asking the grocer and the blacksmith and the butcher how he felt about
+things and he would make friends, and in the long run predict fairly accurately
+the probable vote. Furthermore, you could dole him out a few platitudes and he
+would repeat them. The Republican party, which was the new-born party then, but
+dominant in Philadelphia, needed your vote; it was necessary to keep the
+rascally Democrats out&mdash;he could scarcely have said why. They had been for
+slavery. They were for free trade. It never once occurred to him that these
+things had nothing to do with the local executive and financial administration
+of Philadelphia. Supposing they didn&rsquo;t? What of it?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In Philadelphia at this time a certain United States Senator, one Mark Simpson,
+together with Edward Malia Butler and Henry A. Mollenhauer, a rich coal dealer
+and investor, were supposed to, and did, control jointly the political destiny
+of the city. They had representatives, benchmen, spies, tools&mdash;a great
+company. Among them was this same Stener&mdash;a minute cog in the silent
+machinery of their affairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In scarcely any other city save this, where the inhabitants were of a deadly
+average in so far as being commonplace was concerned, could such a man as
+Stener have been elected city treasurer. The rank and file did not, except in
+rare instances, make up their political program. An inside ring had this matter
+in charge. Certain positions were allotted to such and such men or to such and
+such factions of the party for such and such services rendered&mdash;but who
+does not know politics?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In due course of time, therefore, George W. Stener had become persona grata to
+Edward Strobik, a quondam councilman who afterward became ward leader and still
+later president of council, and who, in private life was a stone-dealer and
+owner of a brickyard. Strobik was a benchman of Henry A. Mollenhauer, the
+hardest and coldest of all three of the political leaders. The latter had
+things to get from council, and Strobik was his tool. He had Stener elected;
+and because he was faithful in voting as he was told the latter was later made
+an assistant superintendent of the highways department.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here he came under the eyes of Edward Malia Butler, and was slightly useful to
+him. Then the central political committee, with Butler in charge, decided that
+some nice, docile man who would at the same time be absolutely faithful was
+needed for city treasurer, and Stener was put on the ticket. He knew little of
+finance, but was an excellent bookkeeper; and, anyhow, was not corporation
+counsel Regan, another political tool of this great triumvirate, there to
+advise him at all times? He was. It was a very simple matter. Being put on the
+ticket was equivalent to being elected, and so, after a few weeks of
+exceedingly trying platform experiences, in which he had stammered through
+platitudinous declarations that the city needed to be honestly administered, he
+was inducted into office; and there you were.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now it wouldn&rsquo;t have made so much difference what George W.
+Stener&rsquo;s executive and financial qualifications for the position were,
+but at this time the city of Philadelphia was still hobbling along under
+perhaps as evil a financial system, or lack of it, as any city ever
+endured&mdash;the assessor and the treasurer being allowed to collect and hold
+moneys belonging to the city, outside of the city&rsquo;s private vaults, and
+that without any demand on the part of anybody that the same be invested by
+them at interest for the city&rsquo;s benefit. Rather, all they were expected
+to do, apparently, was to restore the principal and that which was with them
+when they entered or left office. It was not understood or publicly demanded
+that the moneys so collected, or drawn from any source, be maintained intact in
+the vaults of the city treasury. They could be loaned out, deposited in banks
+or used to further private interests of any one, so long as the principal was
+returned, and no one was the wiser. Of course, this theory of finance was not
+publicly sanctioned, but it was known politically and journalistically, and in
+high finance. How were you to stop it?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, in approaching Edward Malia Butler, had been unconsciously let in
+on this atmosphere of erratic and unsatisfactory speculation without really
+knowing it. When he had left the office of Tighe &amp; Co., seven years before,
+it was with the idea that henceforth and forever he would have nothing to do
+with the stock-brokerage proposition; but now behold him back in it again, with
+more vim than he had ever displayed, for now he was working for himself, the
+firm of Cowperwood &amp; Co., and he was eager to satisfy the world of new and
+powerful individuals who by degrees were drifting to him. All had a little
+money. All had tips, and they wanted him to carry certain lines of stock on
+margin for them, because he was known to other political men, and because he
+was safe. And this was true. He was not, or at least up to this time had not
+been, a speculator or a gambler on his own account. In fact he often soothed
+himself with the thought that in all these years he had never gambled for
+himself, but had always acted strictly for others instead. But now here was
+George W. Stener with a proposition which was not quite the same thing as
+stock-gambling, and yet it was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During a long period of years preceding the Civil War, and through it, let it
+here be explained and remembered, the city of Philadelphia had been in the
+habit, as a corporation, when there were no available funds in the treasury, of
+issuing what were known as city warrants, which were nothing more than notes or
+I.O.U.&rsquo;s bearing six per cent. interest, and payable sometimes in thirty
+days, sometimes in three, sometimes in six months&mdash;all depending on the
+amount and how soon the city treasurer thought there would be sufficient money
+in the treasury to take them up and cancel them. Small tradesmen and large
+contractors were frequently paid in this way; the small tradesman who sold
+supplies to the city institutions, for instance, being compelled to discount
+his notes at the bank, if he needed ready money, usually for ninety cents on
+the dollar, while the large contractor could afford to hold his and wait. It
+can readily be seen that this might well work to the disadvantage of the small
+dealer and merchant, and yet prove quite a fine thing for a large contractor or
+note-broker, for the city was sure to pay the warrants at some time, and six
+per cent. interest was a fat rate, considering the absolute security. A banker
+or broker who gathered up these things from small tradesmen at ninety cents on
+the dollar made a fine thing of it all around if he could wait.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Originally, in all probability, there was no intention on the part of the city
+treasurer to do any one an injustice, and it is likely that there really were
+no funds to pay with at the time. However that may have been, there was later
+no excuse for issuing the warrants, seeing that the city might easily have been
+managed much more economically. But these warrants, as can readily be imagined,
+had come to be a fine source of profit for note-brokers, bankers, political
+financiers, and inside political manipulators generally and so they remained a
+part of the city&rsquo;s fiscal policy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was just one drawback to all this. In order to get the full advantage of
+this condition the large banker holding them must be an &ldquo;inside
+banker,&rdquo; one close to the political forces of the city, for if he was not
+and needed money and he carried his warrants to the city treasurer, he would
+find that he could not get cash for them. But if he transferred them to some
+banker or note-broker who was close to the political force of the city, it was
+quite another matter. The treasury would find means to pay. Or, if so desired
+by the note-broker or banker&mdash;the right one&mdash;notes which were
+intended to be met in three months, and should have been settled at that time,
+were extended to run on years and years, drawing interest at six per cent. even
+when the city had ample funds to meet them. Yet this meant, of course, an
+illegal interest drain on the city, but that was all right also. &ldquo;No
+funds&rdquo; could cover that. The general public did not know. It could not
+find out. The newspapers were not at all vigilant, being pro-political. There
+were no persistent, enthusiastic reformers who obtained any political credence.
+During the war, warrants outstanding in this manner arose in amount to much
+over two million dollars, all drawing six per cent. interest, but then, of
+course, it began to get a little scandalous. Besides, at least some of the
+investors began to want their money back.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In order, therefore, to clear up this outstanding indebtedness and make
+everything shipshape again, it was decided that the city must issue a loan, say
+for two million dollars&mdash;no need to be exact about the amount. And this
+loan must take the shape of interest-bearing certificates of a par value of one
+hundred dollars, redeemable in six, twelve, or eighteen months, as the case may
+be. These certificates of loan were then ostensibly to be sold in the open
+market, a sinking-fund set aside for their redemption, and the money so
+obtained used to take up the long-outstanding warrants which were now such a
+subject of public comment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is obvious that this was merely a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. There
+was no real clearing up of the outstanding debt. It was the intention of the
+schemers to make it possible for the financial politicians on the inside to
+reap the same old harvest by allowing the certificates to be sold to the right
+parties for ninety or less, setting up the claim that there was no market for
+them, the credit of the city being bad. To a certain extent this was true. The
+war was just over. Money was high. Investors could get more than six per cent.
+elsewhere unless the loan was sold at ninety. But there were a few watchful
+politicians not in the administration, and some newspapers and non-political
+financiers who, because of the high strain of patriotism existing at the time,
+insisted that the loan should be sold at par. Therefore a clause to that effect
+had to be inserted in the enabling ordinance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This, as one might readily see, destroyed the politicians&rsquo; little scheme
+to get this loan at ninety. Nevertheless since they desired that the money tied
+up in the old warrants and now not redeemable because of lack of funds should
+be paid them, the only way this could be done would be to have some broker who
+knew the subtleties of the stock market handle this new city loan on
+&rsquo;change in such a way that it would be made to seem worth one hundred and
+to be sold to outsiders at that figure. Afterward, if, as it was certain to do,
+it fell below that, the politicians could buy as much of it as they pleased,
+and eventually have the city redeem it at par.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+George W. Stener, entering as city treasurer at this time, and bringing no
+special financial intelligence to the proposition, was really troubled. Henry
+A. Mollenhauer, one of the men who had gathered up a large amount of the old
+city warrants, and who now wanted his money, in order to invest it in bonanza
+offers in the West, called on Stener, and also on the mayor. He with Simpson
+and Butler made up the Big Three.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think something ought to be done about these warrants that are
+outstanding,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;I am carrying a large amount of them,
+and there are others. We have helped the city a long time by saying nothing;
+but now I think that something ought to be done. Mr. Butler and Mr. Simpson
+feel the same way. Couldn&rsquo;t these new loan certificates be listed on the
+stock exchange and the money raised that way? Some clever broker could bring
+them to par.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stener was greatly flattered by the visit from Mollenhauer. Rarely did he
+trouble to put in a personal appearance, and then only for the weight and
+effect his presence would have. He called on the mayor and the president of
+council, much as he called on Stener, with a lofty, distant, inscrutable air.
+They were as office-boys to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In order to understand exactly the motive for Mollenhauer&rsquo;s interest in
+Stener, and the significance of this visit and Stener&rsquo;s subsequent action
+in regard to it, it will be necessary to scan the political horizon for some
+little distance back. Although George W. Stener was in a way a political
+henchman and appointee of Mollenhauer&rsquo;s, the latter was only vaguely
+acquainted with him. He had seen him before; knew of him; had agreed that his
+name should be put on the local slate largely because he had been assured by
+those who were closest to him and who did his bidding that Stener was
+&ldquo;all right,&rdquo; that he would do as he was told, that he would cause
+no one any trouble, etc. In fact, during several previous administrations,
+Mollenhauer had maintained a subsurface connection with the treasury, but never
+so close a one as could easily be traced. He was too conspicuous a man
+politically and financially for that. But he was not above a plan, in which
+Simpson if not Butler shared, of using political and commercial stool-pigeons
+to bleed the city treasury as much as possible without creating a scandal. In
+fact, for some years previous to this, various agents had already been
+employed&mdash;Edward Strobik, president of council, Asa Conklin, the then
+incumbent of the mayor&rsquo;s chair, Thomas Wycroft, alderman, Jacob Harmon,
+alderman, and others&mdash;to organize dummy companies under various names,
+whose business it was to deal in those things which the city
+needed&mdash;lumber, stone, steel, iron, cement&mdash;a long list&mdash;and of
+course, always at a fat profit to those ultimately behind the dummy companies,
+so organized. It saved the city the trouble of looking far and wide for honest
+and reasonable dealers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Since the action of at least three of these dummies will have something to do
+with the development of Cowperwood&rsquo;s story, they may be briefly
+described. Edward Strobik, the chief of them, and the one most useful to
+Mollenhauer, in a minor way, was a very spry person of about thirty-five at
+this time&mdash;lean and somewhat forceful, with black hair, black eyes, and an
+inordinately large black mustache. He was dapper, inclined to noticeable
+clothing&mdash;a pair of striped trousers, a white vest, a black cutaway coat
+and a high silk hat. His markedly ornamental shoes were always polished to
+perfection, and his immaculate appearance gave him the nickname of &ldquo;The
+Dude&rdquo; among some. Nevertheless he was quite able on a small scale, and
+was well liked by many.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His two closest associates, Messrs. Thomas Wycroft and Jacob Harmon, were
+rather less attractive and less brilliant. Jacob Harmon was a thick wit
+socially, but no fool financially. He was big and rather doleful to look upon,
+with sandy brown hair and brown eyes, but fairly intelligent, and absolutely
+willing to approve anything which was not too broad in its crookedness and
+which would afford him sufficient protection to keep him out of the clutches of
+the law. He was really not so cunning as dull and anxious to get along.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thomas Wycroft, the last of this useful but minor triumvirate, was a tall, lean
+man, candle-waxy, hollow-eyed, gaunt of face, pathetic to look at physically,
+but shrewd. He was an iron-molder by trade and had gotten into politics much as
+Stener had&mdash;because he was useful; and he had managed to make some
+money&mdash;via this triumvirate of which Strobik was the ringleader, and which
+was engaged in various peculiar businesses which will now be indicated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The companies which these several henchmen had organized under previous
+administrations, and for Mollenhauer, dealt in meat, building material,
+lamp-posts, highway supplies, anything you will, which the city departments or
+its institutions needed. A city contract once awarded was irrevocable, but
+certain councilmen had to be fixed in advance and it took money to do that. The
+company so organized need not actually slaughter any cattle or mold lamp-posts.
+All it had to do was to organize to do that, obtain a charter, secure a
+contract for supplying such material to the city from the city council (which
+Strobik, Harmon, and Wycroft would attend to), and then sublet this to some
+actual beef-slaughterer or iron-founder, who would supply the material and
+allow them to pocket their profit which in turn was divided or paid for to
+Mollenhauer and Simpson in the form of political donations to clubs or
+organizations. It was so easy and in a way so legitimate. The particular
+beef-slaughterer or iron-founder thus favored could not hope of his own ability
+thus to obtain a contract. Stener, or whoever was in charge of the city
+treasury at the time, for his services in loaning money at a low rate of
+interest to be used as surety for the proper performance of contract, and to
+aid in some instances the beef-killer or iron-founder to carry out his end, was
+to be allowed not only the one or two per cent. which he might pocket (other
+treasurers had), but a fair proportion of the profits. A complacent,
+confidential chief clerk who was all right would be recommended to him. It did
+not concern Stener that Strobik, Harmon, and Wycroft, acting for Mollenhauer,
+were incidentally planning to use a little of the money loaned for purposes
+quite outside those indicated. It was his business to loan it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However, to be going on. Some time before he was even nominated, Stener had
+learned from Strobik, who, by the way, was one of his sureties as treasurer
+(which suretyship was against the law, as were those of Councilmen Wycroft and
+Harmon, the law of Pennsylvania stipulating that one political servant might
+not become surety for another), that those who had brought about this
+nomination and election would by no means ask him to do anything which was not
+perfectly legal, but that he must be complacent and not stand in the way of big
+municipal perquisites nor bite the hands that fed him. It was also made
+perfectly plain to him, that once he was well in office a little money for
+himself was to be made. As has been indicated, he had always been a poor man.
+He had seen all those who had dabbled in politics to any extent about him
+heretofore do very well financially indeed, while he pegged along as an
+insurance and real-estate agent. He had worked hard as a small political
+henchman. Other politicians were building themselves nice homes in newer
+portions of the city. They were going off to New York or Harrisburg or
+Washington on jaunting parties. They were seen in happy converse at road-houses
+or country hotels in season with their wives or their women favorites, and he
+was not, as yet, of this happy throng. Naturally now that he was promised
+something, he was interested and compliant. What might he not get?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When it came to this visit from Mollenhauer, with its suggestion in regard to
+bringing city loan to par, although it bore no obvious relation to
+Mollenhauer&rsquo;s subsurface connection with Stener, through Strobik and the
+others, Stener did definitely recognize his own political
+subservience&mdash;his master&rsquo;s stentorian voice&mdash;and immediately
+thereafter hurried to Strobik for information.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just what would you do about this?&rdquo; he asked of Strobik, who knew
+of Mollenhauer&rsquo;s visit before Stener told him, and was waiting for Stener
+to speak to him. &ldquo;Mr. Mollenhauer talks about having this new loan listed
+on &rsquo;change and brought to par so that it will sell for one
+hundred.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Neither Strobik, Harmon, nor Wycroft knew how the certificates of city loan,
+which were worth only ninety on the open market, were to be made to sell for
+one hundred on &rsquo;change, but Mollenhauer&rsquo;s secretary, one Abner
+Sengstack, had suggested to Strobik that, since Butler was dealing with young
+Cowperwood and Mollenhauer did not care particularly for his private broker in
+this instance, it might be as well to try Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So it was that Cowperwood was called to Stener&rsquo;s office. And once there,
+and not as yet recognizing either the hand of Mollenhauer or Simpson in this,
+merely looked at the peculiarly shambling, heavy-cheeked, middle-class man
+before him without either interest or sympathy, realizing at once that he had a
+financial baby to deal with. If he could act as adviser to this man&mdash;be
+his sole counsel for four years!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you do, Mr. Stener?&rdquo; he said in his soft, ingratiating
+voice, as the latter held out his hand. &ldquo;I am glad to meet you. I have
+heard of you before, of course.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stener was long in explaining to Cowperwood just what his difficulty was. He
+went at it in a clumsy fashion, stumbling through the difficulties of the
+situation he was suffered to meet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The main thing, as I see it, is to make these certificates sell at par.
+I can issue them in any sized lots you like, and as often as you like. I want
+to get enough now to clear away two hundred thousand dollars&rsquo; worth of
+the outstanding warrants, and as much more as I can get later.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood felt like a physician feeling a patient&rsquo;s pulse&mdash;a
+patient who is really not sick at all but the reassurance of whom means a fat
+fee. The abstrusities of the stock exchange were as his A B C&rsquo;s to him.
+He knew if he could have this loan put in his hands&mdash;all of it, if he
+could have the fact kept dark that he was acting for the city, and that if
+Stener would allow him to buy as a &ldquo;bull&rdquo; for the sinking-fund
+while selling judiciously for a rise, he could do wonders even with a big
+issue. He had to have all of it, though, in order that he might have agents
+under him. Looming up in his mind was a scheme whereby he could make a lot of
+the unwary speculators about &rsquo;change go short of this stock or loan under
+the impression, of course, that it was scattered freely in various
+persons&rsquo; hands, and that they could buy as much of it as they wanted.
+Then they would wake to find that they could not get it; that he had it all.
+Only he would not risk his secret that far. Not he, oh, no. But he would drive
+the city loan to par and then sell. And what a fat thing for himself among
+others in so doing. Wisely enough he sensed that there was politics in all
+this&mdash;shrewder and bigger men above and behind Stener. But what of that?
+And how slyly and shrewdly they were sending Stener to him. It might be that
+his name was becoming very potent in their political world here. And what might
+that not mean!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I tell you what I&rsquo;d like to do, Mr. Stener,&rdquo; he said, after
+he had listened to his explanation and asked how much of the city loan he would
+like to sell during the coming year. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be glad to undertake it.
+But I&rsquo;d like to have a day or two in which to think it over.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, certainly, certainly, Mr. Cowperwood,&rdquo; replied Stener,
+genially. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all right. Take your time. If you know how it can
+be done, just show me when you&rsquo;re ready. By the way, what do you
+charge?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, the stock exchange has a regular scale of charges which we brokers
+are compelled to observe. It&rsquo;s one-fourth of one per cent. on the par
+value of bonds and loans. Of course, I may hav to add a lot of fictitious
+selling&mdash;I&rsquo;ll explain that to you later&mdash;but I won&rsquo;t
+charge you anything for that so long as it is a secret between us. I&rsquo;ll
+give you the best service I can, Mr. Stener. You can depend on that. Let me
+have a day or two to think it over, though.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He shook hands with Stener, and they parted. Cowperwood was satisfied that he
+was on the verge of a significant combination, and Stener that he had found
+someone on whom he could lean.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap15"></a>Chapter XV</h2>
+
+<p>
+The plan Cowperwood developed after a few days&rsquo; meditation will be plain
+enough to any one who knows anything of commercial and financial manipulation,
+but a dark secret to those who do not. In the first place, the city treasurer
+was to use his (Cowperwood&rsquo;s) office as a bank of deposit. He was to turn
+over to him, actually, or set over to his credit on the city&rsquo;s books,
+subject to his order, certain amounts of city loans&mdash;two hundred thousand
+dollars at first, since that was the amount it was desired to raise
+quickly&mdash;and he would then go into the market and see what could be done
+to have it brought to par. The city treasurer was to ask leave of the stock
+exchange at once to have it listed as a security. Cowperwood would then use his
+influence to have this application acted upon quickly. Stener was then to
+dispose of all city loan certificates through him, and him only. He was to
+allow him to buy for the sinking-fund, supposedly, such amounts as he might
+have to buy in order to keep the price up to par. To do this, once a
+considerable number of the loan certificates had been unloaded on the public,
+it might be necessary to buy back a great deal. However, these would be sold
+again. The law concerning selling only at par would have to be abrogated to
+this extent&mdash;i.e., that the wash sales and preliminary sales would have to
+be considered no sales until par was reached.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a subtle advantage here, as Cowperwood pointed out to Stener. In the
+first place, since the certificates were going ultimately to reach par anyway,
+there was no objection to Stener or any one else buying low at the opening
+price and holding for a rise. Cowperwood would be glad to carry him on his
+books for any amount, and he would settle at the end of each month. He would
+not be asked to buy the certificates outright. He could be carried on the books
+for a certain reasonable margin, say ten points. The money was as good as made
+for Stener now. In the next place, in buying for the sinking-fund it would be
+possible to buy these certificates very cheap, for, having the new and reserve
+issue entirely in his hands, Cowperwood could throw such amounts as he wished
+into the market at such times as he wished to buy, and consequently depress the
+market. Then he could buy, and, later, up would go the price. Having the issues
+totally in his hands to boost or depress the market as he wished, there was no
+reason why the city should not ultimately get par for all its issues, and at
+the same time considerable money be made out of the manufactured fluctuations.
+He, Cowperwood, would be glad to make most of his profit that way. The city
+should allow him his normal percentage on all his actual sales of certificates
+for the city at par (he would have to have that in order to keep straight with
+the stock exchange); but beyond that, and for all the other necessary
+manipulative sales, of which there would be many, he would depend on his
+knowledge of the stock market to reimburse him. And if Stener wanted to
+speculate with him&mdash;well.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dark as this transaction may seem to the uninitiated, it will appear quite
+clear to those who know. Manipulative tricks have always been worked in
+connection with stocks of which one man or one set of men has had complete
+control. It was no different from what subsequently was done with Erie,
+Standard Oil, Copper, Sugar, Wheat, and what not. Cowperwood was one of the
+first and one of the youngest to see how it could be done. When he first talked
+to Stener he was twenty-eight years of age. When he last did business with him
+he was thirty-four.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+The houses and the bank-front of Cowperwood &amp; Co. had been proceeding
+apace. The latter was early Florentine in its decorations with windows which
+grew narrower as they approached the roof, and a door of wrought iron set
+between delicately carved posts, and a straight lintel of brownstone. It was
+low in height and distinguished in appearance. In the center panel had been
+hammered a hand, delicately wrought, thin and artistic, holding aloft a flaming
+brand. Ellsworth informed him that this had formerly been a
+money-changer&rsquo;s sign used in old Venice, the significance of which had
+long been forgotten.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The interior was finished in highly-polished hardwood, stained in imitation of
+the gray lichens which infest trees. Large sheets of clear, beveled glass were
+used, some oval, some oblong, some square, and some circular, following a given
+theory of eye movement. The fixtures for the gas-jets were modeled after the
+early Roman flame-brackets, and the office safe was made an ornament, raised on
+a marble platform at the back of the office and lacquered a silver-gray, with
+Cowperwood &amp; Co. lettered on it in gold. One had a sense of reserve and
+taste pervading the place, and yet it was also inestimably prosperous, solid
+and assuring. Cowperwood, when he viewed it at its completion, complimented
+Ellsworth cheerily. &ldquo;I like this. It is really beautiful. It will be a
+pleasure to work here. If those houses are going to be anything like this, they
+will be perfect.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wait till you see them. I think you will be pleased, Mr. Cowperwood. I
+am taking especial pains with yours because it is smaller. It is really easier
+to treat your father&rsquo;s. But yours&mdash;&rdquo; He went off into a
+description of the entrance-hall, reception-room and parlor, which he was
+arranging and decorating in such a way as to give an effect of size and dignity
+not really conformable to the actual space.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And when the houses were finished, they were effective and
+arresting&mdash;quite different from the conventional residences of the street.
+They were separated by a space of twenty feet, laid out as greensward. The
+architect had borrowed somewhat from the Tudor school, yet not so elaborated as
+later became the style in many of the residences in Philadelphia and elsewhere.
+The most striking features were rather deep-recessed doorways under wide, low,
+slightly floriated arches, and three projecting windows of rich form, one on
+the second floor of Frank&rsquo;s house, two on the facade of his
+father&rsquo;s. There were six gables showing on the front of the two houses,
+two on Frank&rsquo;s and four on his father&rsquo;s. In the front of each house
+on the ground floor was a recessed window unconnected with the recessed
+doorways, formed by setting the inner external wall back from the outer face of
+the building. This window looked out through an arched opening to the street,
+and was protected by a dwarf parapet or balustrade. It was possible to set
+potted vines and flowers there, which was later done, giving a pleasant sense
+of greenery from the street, and to place a few chairs there, which were
+reached via heavily barred French casements.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the ground floor of each house was placed a conservatory of flowers, facing
+each other, and in the yard, which was jointly used, a pool of white marble
+eight feet in diameter, with a marble Cupid upon which jets of water played.
+The yard which was enclosed by a high but pierced wall of green-gray brick,
+especially burnt for the purpose the same color as the granite of the house,
+and surmounted by a white marble coping which was sown to grass and had a
+lovely, smooth, velvety appearance. The two houses, as originally planned, were
+connected by a low, green-columned pergola which could be enclosed in glass in
+winter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rooms, which were now slowly being decorated and furnished in period styles
+were very significant in that they enlarged and strengthened Frank
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s idea of the world of art in general. It was an enlightening
+and agreeable experience&mdash;one which made for artistic and intellectual
+growth&mdash;to hear Ellsworth explain at length the styles and types of
+architecture and furniture, the nature of woods and ornaments employed, the
+qualities and peculiarities of hangings, draperies, furniture panels, and door
+coverings. Ellsworth was a student of decoration as well as of architecture,
+and interested in the artistic taste of the American people, which he fancied
+would some day have a splendid outcome. He was wearied to death of the
+prevalent Romanesque composite combinations of country and suburban villa. The
+time was ripe for something new. He scarcely knew what it would be; but this
+that he had designed for Cowperwood and his father was at least different, as
+he said, while at the same time being reserved, simple, and pleasing. It was in
+marked contrast to the rest of the architecture of the street.
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s dining-room, reception-room, conservatory, and
+butler&rsquo;s pantry he had put on the first floor, together with the general
+entry-hall, staircase, and coat-room under the stairs. For the second floor he
+had reserved the library, general living-room, parlor, and a small office for
+Cowperwood, together with a boudoir for Lillian, connected with a dressing-room
+and bath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the third floor, neatly divided and accommodated with baths and
+dressing-rooms, were the nursery, the servants&rsquo; quarters, and several
+guest-chambers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ellsworth showed Cowperwood books of designs containing furniture, hangings,
+etageres, cabinets, pedestals, and some exquisite piano forms. He discussed
+woods with him&mdash;rosewood, mahogany, walnut, English oak, bird&rsquo;s-eye
+maple, and the manufactured effects such as ormolu, marquetry, and Boule, or
+buhl. He explained the latter&mdash;how difficult it was to produce, how
+unsuitable it was in some respects for this climate, the brass and
+tortoise-shell inlay coming to swell with the heat or damp, and so bulging or
+breaking. He told of the difficulties and disadvantages of certain finishes,
+but finally recommended ormolu furniture for the reception room, medallion
+tapestry for the parlor, French renaissance for the dining-room and library,
+and bird&rsquo;s-eye maple (dyed blue in one instance, and left its natural
+color in another) and a rather lightly constructed and daintily carved walnut
+for the other rooms. The hangings, wall-paper, and floor coverings were to
+harmonize&mdash;not match&mdash;and the piano and music-cabinet for the parlor,
+as well as the etagere, cabinets, and pedestals for the reception-rooms, were
+to be of buhl or marquetry, if Frank cared to stand the expense.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ellsworth advised a triangular piano&mdash;the square shapes were so
+inexpressibly wearisome to the initiated. Cowperwood listened fascinated. He
+foresaw a home which would be chaste, soothing, and delightful to look upon. If
+he hung pictures, gilt frames were to be the setting, large and deep; and if he
+wished a picture-gallery, the library could be converted into that, and the
+general living-room, which lay between the library and the parlor on the
+second-floor, could be turned into a combination library and living-room. This
+was eventually done; but not until his taste for pictures had considerably
+advanced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was now that he began to take a keen interest in objects of art, pictures,
+bronzes, little carvings and figurines, for his cabinets, pedestals, tables,
+and etageres. Philadelphia did not offer much that was distinguished in this
+realm&mdash;certainly not in the open market. There were many private houses
+which were enriched by travel; but his connection with the best families was as
+yet small. There were then two famous American sculptors, Powers and Hosmer, of
+whose work he had examples; but Ellsworth told him that they were not the last
+word in sculpture and that he should look into the merits of the ancients. He
+finally secured a head of David, by Thorwaldsen, which delighted him, and some
+landscapes by Hunt, Sully, and Hart, which seemed somewhat in the spirit of his
+new world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The effect of a house of this character on its owner is unmistakable. We think
+we are individual, separate, above houses and material objects generally; but
+there is a subtle connection which makes them reflect us quite as much as we
+reflect them. They lend dignity, subtlety, force, each to the other, and what
+beauty, or lack of it, there is, is shot back and forth from one to the other
+as a shuttle in a loom, weaving, weaving. Cut the thread, separate a man from
+that which is rightfully his own, characteristic of him, and you have a
+peculiar figure, half success, half failure, much as a spider without its web,
+which will never be its whole self again until all its dignities and emoluments
+are restored.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sight of his new house going up made Cowperwood feel of more weight in the
+world, and the possession of his suddenly achieved connection with the city
+treasurer was as though a wide door had been thrown open to the Elysian fields
+of opportunity. He rode about the city those days behind a team of spirited
+bays, whose glossy hides and metaled harness bespoke the watchful care of
+hostler and coachman. Ellsworth was building an attractive stable in the little
+side street back of the houses, for the joint use of both families. He told
+Mrs. Cowperwood that he intended to buy her a victoria&mdash;as the low, open,
+four-wheeled coach was then known&mdash;as soon as they were well settled in
+their new home, and that they were to go out more. There was some talk about
+the value of entertaining&mdash;that he would have to reach out socially for
+certain individuals who were not now known to him. Together with Anna, his
+sister, and his two brothers, Joseph and Edward, they could use the two houses
+jointly. There was no reason why Anna should not make a splendid match. Joe and
+Ed might marry well, since they were not destined to set the world on fire in
+commerce. At least it would not hurt them to try.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you think you will like that?&rdquo; he asked his wife,
+referring to his plans for entertaining.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She smiled wanly. &ldquo;I suppose so,&rdquo; she said.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap16"></a>Chapter XVI</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was not long after the arrangement between Treasurer Stener and Cowperwood
+had been made that the machinery for the carrying out of that
+political-financial relationship was put in motion. The sum of two hundred and
+ten thousand dollars in six per cent. interest-bearing certificates, payable in
+ten years, was set over to the credit of Cowperwood &amp; Co. on the books of
+the city, subject to his order. Then, with proper listing, he began to offer it
+in small amounts at more than ninety, at the same time creating the impression
+that it was going to be a prosperous investment. The certificates gradually
+rose and were unloaded in rising amounts until one hundred was reached, when
+all the two hundred thousand dollars&rsquo; worth&mdash;two thousand
+certificates in all&mdash;was fed out in small lots. Stener was satisfied. Two
+hundred shares had been carried for him and sold at one hundred, which netted
+him two thousand dollars. It was illegitimate gain, unethical; but his
+conscience was not very much troubled by that. He had none, truly. He saw
+visions of a halcyon future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is difficult to make perfectly clear what a subtle and significant power
+this suddenly placed in the hands of Cowperwood. Consider that he was only
+twenty-eight&mdash;nearing twenty-nine. Imagine yourself by nature versed in
+the arts of finance, capable of playing with sums of money in the forms of
+stocks, certificates, bonds, and cash, as the ordinary man plays with checkers
+or chess. Or, better yet, imagine yourself one of those subtle masters of the
+mysteries of the higher forms of chess&mdash;the type of mind so well
+illustrated by the famous and historic chess-players, who could sit with their
+backs to a group of rivals playing fourteen men at once, calling out all the
+moves in turn, remembering all the positions of all the men on all the boards,
+and winning. This, of course, would be an overstatement of the subtlety of
+Cowperwood at this time, and yet it would not be wholly out of bounds. He knew
+instinctively what could be done with a given sum of money&mdash;how as cash it
+could be deposited in one place, and yet as credit and the basis of moving
+checks, used in not one but many other places at the same time. When properly
+watched and followed this manipulation gave him the constructive and purchasing
+power of ten and a dozen times as much as his original sum might have
+represented. He knew instinctively the principles of &ldquo;pyramiding&rdquo;
+and &ldquo;kiting.&rdquo; He could see exactly not only how he could raise and
+lower the value of these certificates of loan, day after day and year after
+year&mdash;if he were so fortunate as to retain his hold on the city
+treasurer&mdash;but also how this would give him a credit with the banks
+hitherto beyond his wildest dreams. His father&rsquo;s bank was one of the
+first to profit by this and to extend him loans. The various local politicians
+and bosses&mdash;Mollenhauer, Butler, Simpson, and others&mdash;seeing the
+success of his efforts in this direction, speculated in city loan. He became
+known to Mollenhauer and Simpson, by reputation, if not personally, as the man
+who was carrying this city loan proposition to a successful issue. Stener was
+supposed to have done a clever thing in finding him. The stock exchange
+stipulated that all trades were to be compared the same day and settled before
+the close of the next; but this working arrangement with the new city treasurer
+gave Cowperwood much more latitude, and now he had always until the first of
+the month, or practically thirty days at times, in which to render an
+accounting for all deals connected with the loan issue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And, moreover, this was really not an accounting in the sense of removing
+anything from his hands. Since the issue was to be so large, the sum at his
+disposal would always be large, and so-called transfers and balancing at the
+end of the month would be a mere matter of bookkeeping. He could use these city
+loan certificates deposited with him for manipulative purposes, deposit them at
+any bank as collateral for a loan, quite as if they were his own, thus raising
+seventy per cent. of their actual value in cash, and he did not hesitate to do
+so. He could take this cash, which need not be accounted for until the end of
+the month, and cover other stock transactions, on which he could borrow again.
+There was no limit to the resources of which he now found himself possessed,
+except the resources of his own energy, ingenuity, and the limits of time in
+which he had to work. The politicians did not realize what a bonanza he was
+making of it all for himself, because they were as yet unaware of the subtlety
+of his mind. When Stener told him, after talking the matter over with the
+mayor, Strobik, and others that he would formally, during the course of the
+year, set over on the city&rsquo;s books all of the two millions in city loan,
+Cowperwood was silent&mdash;but with delight. Two millions! His to play with!
+He had been called in as a financial adviser, and he had given his advice and
+it had been taken! Well. He was not a man who inherently was troubled with
+conscientious scruples. At the same time he still believed himself financially
+honest. He was no sharper or shrewder than any other financier&mdash;certainly
+no sharper than any other would be if he could.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It should be noted here that this proposition of Stener&rsquo;s in regard to
+city money had no connection with the attitude of the principal leaders in
+local politics in regard to street-railway control, which was a new and
+intriguing phase of the city&rsquo;s financial life. Many of the leading
+financiers and financier-politicians were interested in that. For instance,
+Messrs. Mollenhauer, Butler, and Simpson were interested in street-railways
+separately on their own account. There was no understanding between them on
+this score. If they had thought at all on the matter they would have decided
+that they did not want any outsider to interfere. As a matter of fact the
+street-railway business in Philadelphia was not sufficiently developed at this
+time to suggest to any one the grand scheme of union which came later. Yet in
+connection with this new arrangement between Stener and Cowperwood, it was
+Strobik who now came forward to Stener with an idea of his own. All were
+certain to make money through Cowperwood&mdash;he and Stener, especially. What
+was amiss, therefore, with himself and Stener and with Cowperwood as
+their&mdash;or rather Stener&rsquo;s secret representative, since Strobik did
+not dare to appear in the matter&mdash;buying now sufficient street-railway
+shares in some one line to control it, and then, if he, Strobik, could, by
+efforts of his own, get the city council to set aside certain streets for its
+extension, why, there you were&mdash;they would own it. Only, later, he
+proposed to shake Stener out if he could. But this preliminary work had to be
+done by some one, and it might as well be Stener. At the same time, as he saw,
+this work had to be done very carefully, because naturally his superiors were
+watchful, and if they found him dabbling in affairs of this kind to his own
+advantage, they might make it impossible for him to continue politically in a
+position where he could help himself just the same. Any outside organization
+such as a street-railway company already in existence had a right to appeal to
+the city council for privileges which would naturally further its and the
+city&rsquo;s growth, and, other things being equal, these could not be refused.
+It would not do for him to appear, however, both as a shareholder and president
+of the council. But with Cowperwood acting privately for Stener it would be
+another thing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The interesting thing about this proposition as finally presented by Stener for
+Strobik to Cowperwood, was that it raised, without appearing to do so, the
+whole question of Cowperwood&rsquo;s attitude toward the city administration.
+Although he was dealing privately for Edward Butler as an agent, and with this
+same plan in mind, and although he had never met either Mollenhauer or Simpson,
+he nevertheless felt that in so far as the manipulation of the city loan was
+concerned he was acting for them. On the other hand, in this matter of the
+private street-railway purchase which Stener now brought to him, he realized
+from the very beginning, by Stener&rsquo;s attitude, that there was something
+untoward in it, that Stener felt he was doing something which he ought not to
+do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cowperwood,&rdquo; he said to him the first morning he ever broached
+this matter&mdash;it was in Stener&rsquo;s office, at the old city hall at
+Sixth and Chestnut, and Stener, in view of his oncoming prosperity, was feeling
+very good indeed&mdash;&ldquo;isn&rsquo;t there some street-railway property
+around town here that a man could buy in on and get control of if he had
+sufficient money?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood knew that there were such properties. His very alert mind had long
+since sensed the general opportunities here. The omnibuses were slowly
+disappearing. The best routes were already preempted. Still, there were other
+streets, and the city was growing. The incoming population would make great
+business in the future. One could afford to pay almost any price for the short
+lines already built if one could wait and extend the lines into larger and
+better areas later. And already he had conceived in his own mind the theory of
+the &ldquo;endless chain,&rdquo; or &ldquo;argeeable formula,&rdquo; as it was
+later termed, of buying a certain property on a long-time payment and issuing
+stocks or bonds sufficient not only to pay your seller, but to reimburse you
+for your trouble, to say nothing of giving you a margin wherewith to invest in
+other things&mdash;allied properties, for instance, against which more bonds
+could be issued, and so on, ad infinitum. It became an old story later, but it
+was new at that time, and he kept the thought closely to himself. None the less
+he was glad to have Stener speak of this, since street-railways were his hobby,
+and he was convinced that he would be a great master of them if he ever had an
+opportunity to control them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, yes, George,&rdquo; he said, noncommittally, &ldquo;there are two
+or three that offer a good chance if a man had money enough. I notice blocks of
+stock being offered on &rsquo;change now and then by one person and another. It
+would be good policy to pick these things up as they&rsquo;re offered, and then
+to see later if some of the other stockholders won&rsquo;t want to sell out.
+Green and Coates, now, looks like a good proposition to me. If I had three or
+four hundred thousand dollars that I thought I could put into that by degrees I
+would follow it up. It only takes about thirty per cent. of the stock of any
+railroad to control it. Most of the shares are scattered around so far and wide
+that they never vote, and I think two or three hundred thousand dollars would
+control that road.&rdquo; He mentioned one other line that might be secured in
+the same way in the course of time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stener meditated. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a good deal of money,&rdquo; he said,
+thoughtfully. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll talk to you about that some more later.&rdquo;
+And he was off to see Strobik none the less.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood knew that Stener did not have any two or three hundred thousand
+dollars to invest in anything. There was only one way that he could get
+it&mdash;and that was to borrow it out of the city treasury and forego the
+interest. But he would not do that on his own initiative. Some one else must be
+behind him and who else other than Mollenhauer, or Simpson, or possibly even
+Butler, though he doubted that, unless the triumvirate were secretly working
+together. But what of it? The larger politicians were always using the
+treasury, and he was thinking now, only, of his own attitude in regard to the
+use of this money. No harm could come to him, if Stener&rsquo;s ventures were
+successful; and there was no reason why they should not be. Even if they were
+not he would be merely acting as an agent. In addition, he saw how in the
+manipulation of this money for Stener he could probably eventually control
+certain lines for himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was one line being laid out to within a few blocks of his new
+home&mdash;the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line it was called&mdash;which
+interested him greatly. He rode on it occasionally when he was delayed or did
+not wish to trouble about a vehicle. It ran through two thriving streets of
+red-brick houses, and was destined to have a great future once the city grew
+large enough. As yet it was really not long enough. If he could get that, for
+instance, and combine it with Butler&rsquo;s lines, once they were
+secured&mdash;or Mollenhauer&rsquo;s, or Simpson&rsquo;s, the legislature could
+be induced to give them additional franchises. He even dreamed of a combination
+between Butler, Mollenhauer, Simpson, and himself. Between them, politically,
+they could get anything. But Butler was not a philanthropist. He would have to
+be approached with a very sizable bird in hand. The combination must be
+obviously advisable. Besides, he was dealing for Butler in street-railway
+stocks, and if this particular line were such a good thing Butler might wonder
+why it had not been brought to him in the first place. It would be better,
+Frank thought, to wait until he actually had it as his own, in which case it
+would be a different matter. Then he could talk as a capitalist. He began to
+dream of a city-wide street-railway system controlled by a few men, or
+preferably himself alone.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap17"></a>Chapter XVII</h2>
+
+<p>
+The days that had been passing brought Frank Cowperwood and Aileen Butler
+somewhat closer together in spirit. Because of the pressure of his growing
+affairs he had not paid so much attention to her as he might have, but he had
+seen her often this past year. She was now nineteen and had grown into some
+subtle thoughts of her own. For one thing, she was beginning to see the
+difference between good taste and bad taste in houses and furnishings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Papa, why do we stay in this old barn?&rdquo; she asked her father one
+evening at dinner, when the usual family group was seated at the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the matter with this house, I&rsquo;d like to know?&rdquo;
+demanded Butler, who was drawn up close to the table, his napkin tucked
+comfortably under his chin, for he insisted on this when company was not
+present. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see anything the matter with this house. Your
+mother and I manage to live in it well enough.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, it&rsquo;s terrible, papa. You know it,&rdquo; supplemented Norah,
+who was seventeen and quite as bright as her sister, though a little less
+experienced. &ldquo;Everybody says so. Look at all the nice houses that are
+being built everywhere about here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Everybody! Everybody! Who is &lsquo;everybody,&rsquo; I&rsquo;d like to
+know?&rdquo; demanded Butler, with the faintest touch of choler and much humor.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m somebody, and I like it. Those that don&rsquo;t like it
+don&rsquo;t have to live in it. Who are they? What&rsquo;s the matter with it,
+I&rsquo;d like to know?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The question in just this form had been up a number of times before, and had
+been handled in just this manner, or passed over entirely with a healthy Irish
+grin. To-night, however, it was destined for a little more extended thought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know it&rsquo;s bad, papa,&rdquo; corrected Aileen, firmly.
+&ldquo;Now what&rsquo;s the use getting mad about it? It&rsquo;s old and cheap
+and dingy. The furniture is all worn out. That old piano in there ought to be
+given away. I won&rsquo;t play on it any more. The Cowperwoods&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Old is it!&rdquo; exclaimed Butler, his accent sharpening somewhat with
+his self-induced rage. He almost pronounced it &ldquo;owled.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Dingy, hi! Where do you get that? At your convent, I suppose. And where
+is it worn? Show me where it&rsquo;s worn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was coming to her reference to Cowperwood, but he hadn&rsquo;t reached that
+when Mrs. Butler interfered. She was a stout, broad-faced woman,
+smiling-mouthed most of the time, with blurry, gray Irish eyes, and a touch of
+red in her hair, now modified by grayness. Her cheek, below the mouth, on the
+left side, was sharply accented by a large wen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Children! children!&rdquo; (Mr. Butler, for all his commercial and
+political responsibility, was as much a child to her as any.) &ldquo;Youse
+mustn&rsquo;t quarrel now. Come now. Give your father the tomatoes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was an Irish maid serving at table; but plates were passed from one to
+the other just the same. A heavily ornamented chandelier, holding sixteen
+imitation candles in white porcelain, hung low over the table and was brightly
+lighted, another offense to Aileen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mama, how often have I told you not to say &lsquo;youse&rsquo;?&rdquo;
+pleaded Norah, very much disheartened by her mother&rsquo;s grammatical errors.
+&ldquo;You know you said you wouldn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And who&rsquo;s to tell your mother what she should say?&rdquo; called
+Butler, more incensed than ever at this sudden and unwarranted rebellion and
+assault. &ldquo;Your mother talked before ever you was born, I&rsquo;d have you
+know. If it weren&rsquo;t for her workin&rsquo; and slavin&rsquo; you
+wouldn&rsquo;t have any fine manners to be paradin&rsquo; before her. I&rsquo;d
+have you know that. She&rsquo;s a better woman nor any you&rsquo;ll be
+runnin&rsquo; with this day, you little baggage, you!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mama, do you hear what he&rsquo;s calling me?&rdquo; complained Norah,
+hugging close to her mother&rsquo;s arm and pretending fear and
+dissatisfaction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Eddie! Eddie!&rdquo; cautioned Mrs. Butler, pleading with her husband.
+&ldquo;You know he don&rsquo;t mean that, Norah, dear. Don&rsquo;t you know he
+don&rsquo;t?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was stroking her baby&rsquo;s head. The reference to her grammar had not
+touched her at all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler was sorry that he had called his youngest a baggage; but these
+children&mdash;God bless his soul&mdash;were a great annoyance. Why, in the
+name of all the saints, wasn&rsquo;t this house good enough for them?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t you people quit fussing at the table?&rdquo; observed
+Callum, a likely youth, with black hair laid smoothly over his forehead in a
+long, distinguished layer reaching from his left to close to his right ear, and
+his upper lip carrying a short, crisp mustache. His nose was short and
+retrousse, and his ears were rather prominent; but he was bright and
+attractive. He and Owen both realized that the house was old and poorly
+arranged; but their father and mother liked it, and business sense and family
+peace dictated silence on this score.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I think it&rsquo;s mean to have to live in this old place when
+people not one-fourth as good as we are are living in better ones. The
+Cowperwoods&mdash;why, even the Cowperwoods&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, the Cowperwoods! What about the Cowperwoods?&rdquo; demanded
+Butler, turning squarely to Aileen&mdash;she was sitting beside him&mdash;-his
+big, red face glowing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, even they have a better house than we have, and he&rsquo;s merely
+an agent of yours.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Cowperwoods! The Cowperwoods! I&rsquo;ll not have any talk about the
+Cowperwoods. I&rsquo;m not takin&rsquo; my rules from the Cowperwoods. Suppose
+they have a fine house, what of it? My house is my house. I want to live here.
+I&rsquo;ve lived here too long to be pickin&rsquo; up and movin&rsquo; away. If
+you don&rsquo;t like it you know what else you can do. Move if you want to.
+I&rsquo;ll not move.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was Butler&rsquo;s habit when he became involved in these family quarrels,
+which were as shallow as puddles, to wave his hands rather antagonistically
+under his wife&rsquo;s or his children&rsquo;s noses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, well, I will get out one of these days,&rdquo; Aileen replied.
+&ldquo;Thank heaven I won&rsquo;t have to live here forever.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There flashed across her mind the beautiful reception-room, library, parlor,
+and boudoirs of the Cowperwoods, which were now being arranged and about which
+Anna Cowperwood talked to her so much&mdash;their dainty, lovely triangular
+grand piano in gold and painted pink and blue. Why couldn&rsquo;t they have
+things like that? Her father was unquestionably a dozen times as wealthy. But
+no, her father, whom she loved dearly, was of the old school. He was just what
+people charged him with being, a rough Irish contractor. He might be rich. She
+flared up at the injustice of things&mdash;why couldn&rsquo;t he have been rich
+and refined, too? Then they could have&mdash;but, oh, what was the use of
+complaining? They would never get anywhere with her father and mother in
+charge. She would just have to wait. Marriage was the answer&mdash;the right
+marriage. But whom was she to marry?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You surely are not going to go on fighting about that now,&rdquo;
+pleaded Mrs. Butler, as strong and patient as fate itself. She knew where
+Aileen&rsquo;s trouble lay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But we might have a decent house,&rdquo; insisted Aileen. &ldquo;Or this
+one done over,&rdquo; whispered Norah to her mother.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hush now! In good time,&rdquo; replied Mrs. Butler to Norah.
+&ldquo;Wait. We&rsquo;ll fix it all up some day, sure. You run to your lessons
+now. You&rsquo;ve had enough.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Norah arose and left. Aileen subsided. Her father was simply stubborn and
+impossible. And yet he was sweet, too. She pouted in order to compel him to
+apologize.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come now,&rdquo; he said, after they had left the table, and conscious
+of the fact that his daughter was dissatisfied with him. He must do something
+to placate her. &ldquo;Play me somethin&rsquo; on the piano, somethin&rsquo;
+nice.&rdquo; He preferred showy, clattery things which exhibited her skill and
+muscular ability and left him wondering how she did it. That was what education
+was for&mdash;to enable her to play these very difficult things quickly and
+forcefully. &ldquo;And you can have a new piano any time you like. Go and see
+about it. This looks pretty good to me, but if you don&rsquo;t want it, all
+right.&rdquo; Aileen squeezed his arm. What was the use of arguing with her
+father? What good would a lone piano do, when the whole house and the whole
+family atmosphere were at fault? But she played Schumann, Schubert, Offenbach,
+Chopin, and the old gentleman strolled to and fro and mused, smiling. There was
+real feeling and a thoughtful interpretation given to some of these things, for
+Aileen was not without sentiment, though she was so strong, vigorous, and
+withal so defiant; but it was all lost on him. He looked on her, his bright,
+healthy, enticingly beautiful daughter, and wondered what was going to become
+of her. Some rich man was going to many her&mdash;some fine, rich young man
+with good business instincts&mdash;and he, her father, would leave her a lot of
+money.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a reception and a dance to be given to celebrate the opening of the
+two Cowperwood homes&mdash;the reception to be held in Frank Cowperwood&rsquo;s
+residence, and the dance later at his father&rsquo;s. The Henry Cowperwood
+domicile was much more pretentious, the reception-room, parlor, music-room, and
+conservatory being in this case all on the ground floor and much larger.
+Ellsworth had arranged it so that those rooms, on occasion, could be thrown
+into one, leaving excellent space for promenade, auditorium,
+dancing&mdash;anything, in fact, that a large company might require. It had
+been the intention all along of the two men to use these houses jointly. There
+was, to begin with, a combination use of the various servants, the butler,
+gardener, laundress, and maids. Frank Cowperwood employed a governess for his
+children. The butler was really not a butler in the best sense. He was Henry
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s private servitor. But he could carve and preside, and he
+could be used in either house as occasion warranted. There was also a hostler
+and a coachman for the joint stable. When two carriages were required at once,
+both drove. It made a very agreeable and satisfactory working arrangement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The preparation of this reception had been quite a matter of importance, for it
+was necessary for financial reasons to make it as extensive as possible, and
+for social reasons as exclusive. It was therefore decided that the afternoon
+reception at Frank&rsquo;s house, with its natural overflow into Henry
+W.&rsquo;s, was to be for all&mdash;the Tighes, Steners, Butlers, Mollenhauers,
+as well as the more select groups to which, for instance, belonged Arthur
+Rivers, Mrs. Seneca Davis, Mr. and Mrs. Trenor Drake, and some of the younger
+Drexels and Clarks, whom Frank had met. It was not likely that the latter would
+condescend, but cards had to be sent. Later in the evening a less democratic
+group if possible was to be entertained, albeit it would have to be extended to
+include the friends of Anna, Mrs. Cowperwood, Edward, and Joseph, and any list
+which Frank might personally have in mind. This was to be the list. The best
+that could be persuaded, commanded, or influenced of the young and socially
+elect were to be invited here.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was not possible, however, not to invite the Butlers, parents and children,
+particularly the children, for both afternoon and evening, since Cowperwood was
+personally attracted to Aileen and despite the fact that the presence of the
+parents would be most unsatisfactory. Even Aileen as he knew was a little
+unsatisfactory to Anna and Mrs. Frank Cowperwood; and these two, when they were
+together supervising the list of invitations, often talked about it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She&rsquo;s so hoidenish,&rdquo; observed Anna, to her sister-in-law,
+when they came to the name of Aileen. &ldquo;She thinks she knows so much, and
+she isn&rsquo;t a bit refined. Her father! Well, if I had her father I
+wouldn&rsquo;t talk so smart.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Cowperwood, who was before her secretaire in her new boudoir, lifted her
+eyebrows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know, Anna, I sometimes wish that Frank&rsquo;s business did not
+compel me to have anything to do with them. Mrs. Butler is such a bore. She
+means well enough, but she doesn&rsquo;t know anything. And Aileen is too
+rough. She&rsquo;s too forward, I think. She comes over here and plays upon the
+piano, particularly when Frank&rsquo;s here. I wouldn&rsquo;t mind so much for
+myself, but I know it must annoy him. All her pieces are so noisy. She never
+plays anything really delicate and refined.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like the way she dresses,&rdquo; observed Anna,
+sympathetically. &ldquo;She gets herself up too conspicuously. Now, the other
+day I saw her out driving, and oh, dear! you should have seen her! She had on a
+crimson Zouave jacket heavily braided with black about the edges, and a turban
+with a huge crimson feather, and crimson ribbons reaching nearly to her waist.
+Imagine that kind of a hat to drive in. And her hands! You should have seen the
+way she held her hands&mdash;oh&mdash;just so&mdash;self-consciously. They were
+curved just so&rdquo;&mdash;and she showed how. &ldquo;She had on yellow
+gauntlets, and she held the reins in one hand and the whip in the other. She
+drives just like mad when she drives, anyhow, and William, the footman, was up
+behind her. You should just have seen her. Oh, dear! oh, dear! she does think
+she is so much!&rdquo; And Anna giggled, half in reproach, half in amusement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I suppose we&rsquo;ll have to invite her; I don&rsquo;t see how we can
+get out of it. I know just how she&rsquo;ll do, though. She&rsquo;ll walk about
+and pose and hold her nose up.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Really, I don&rsquo;t see how she can,&rdquo; commented Anna.
+&ldquo;Now, I like Norah. She&rsquo;s much nicer. She doesn&rsquo;t think
+she&rsquo;s so much.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I like Norah, too,&rdquo; added Mrs. Cowperwood. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s
+really very sweet, and to me she&rsquo;s prettier.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, indeed, I think so, too.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was curious, though, that it was Aileen who commanded nearly all their
+attention and fixed their minds on her so-called idiosyncrasies. All they said
+was in its peculiar way true; but in addition the girl was really beautiful and
+much above the average intelligence and force. She was running deep with
+ambition, and she was all the more conspicuous, and in a way irritating to
+some, because she reflected in her own consciousness her social defects,
+against which she was inwardly fighting. She resented the fact that people
+could justly consider her parents ineligible, and for that reason her also. She
+was intrinsically as worth while as any one. Cowperwood, so able, and rapidly
+becoming so distinguished, seemed to realize it. The days that had been passing
+had brought them somewhat closer together in spirit. He was nice to her and
+liked to talk to her. Whenever he was at her home now, or she was at his and he
+was present, he managed somehow to say a word. He would come over quite near
+and look at her in a warm friendly fashion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Aileen&rdquo;&mdash;she could see his genial eyes&mdash;&ldquo;how
+is it with you? How are your father and mother? Been out driving? That&rsquo;s
+fine. I saw you to-day. You looked beautiful.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Mr. Cowperwood!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You did. You looked stunning. A black riding-habit becomes you. I can
+tell your gold hair a long way off.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, now, you mustn&rsquo;t say that to me. You&rsquo;ll make me vain. My
+mother and father tell me I&rsquo;m too vain as it is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never mind your mother and father. I say you looked stunning, and you
+did. You always do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She gave a little gasp of delight. The color mounted to her cheeks and temples.
+Mr. Cowperwood knew of course. He was so informed and intensely forceful. And
+already he was so much admired by so many, her own father and mother included,
+and by Mr. Mollenhauer and Mr. Simpson, so she heard. And his own home and
+office were so beautiful. Besides, his quiet intensity matched her restless
+force.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen and her sister were accordingly invited to the reception but the Butlers
+mere and pere were given to understand, in as tactful a manner as possible,
+that the dance afterward was principally for young people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The reception brought a throng of people. There were many, very many,
+introductions. There were tactful descriptions of little effects Mr. Ellsworth
+had achieved under rather trying circumstances; walks under the pergola;
+viewings of both homes in detail. Many of the guests were old friends. They
+gathered in the libraries and dining-rooms and talked. There was much jesting,
+some slappings of shoulders, some good story-telling, and so the afternoon
+waned into evening, and they went away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen had created an impression in a street costume of dark blue silk with
+velvet pelisse to match, and trimmed with elaborate pleatings and shirrings of
+the same materials. A toque of blue velvet, with high crown and one large
+dark-red imitation orchid, had given her a jaunty, dashing air. Beneath the
+toque her red-gold hair was arranged in an enormous chignon, with one long curl
+escaping over her collar. She was not exactly as daring as she seemed, but she
+loved to give that impression.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You look wonderful,&rdquo; Cowperwood said as she passed him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll look different to-night,&rdquo; was her answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She had swung herself with a slight, swaggering stride into the dining-room and
+disappeared. Norah and her mother stayed to chat with Mrs. Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, it&rsquo;s lovely now, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo; breathed Mrs.
+Butler. &ldquo;Sure you&rsquo;ll be happy here. Sure you will. When Eddie fixed
+the house we&rsquo;re in now, says I: &lsquo;Eddie, it&rsquo;s almost too fine
+for us altogether&mdash;surely it is,&rsquo; and he says, says &rsquo;e,
+&lsquo;Norah, nothin&rsquo; this side o&rsquo; heavin or beyond is too good for
+ye&rsquo;&mdash;and he kissed me. Now what d&rsquo;ye think of that fer a big,
+hulkin&rsquo; gossoon?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s perfectly lovely, I think, Mrs. Butler,&rdquo; commented Mrs.
+Cowperwood, a little bit nervous because of others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mama does love to talk so. Come on, mama. Let&rsquo;s look at the
+dining-room.&rdquo; It was Norah talking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, may ye always be happy in it. I wish ye that. I&rsquo;ve always
+been happy in mine. May ye always be happy.&rdquo; And she waddled
+good-naturedly along.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Cowperwood family dined hastily alone between seven and eight. At nine the
+evening guests began to arrive, and now the throng was of a different
+complexion&mdash;girls in mauve and cream-white and salmon-pink and
+silver-gray, laying aside lace shawls and loose dolmans, and the men in smooth
+black helping them. Outside in the cold, the carriage doors were slamming, and
+new guests were arriving constantly. Mrs. Cowperwood stood with her husband and
+Anna in the main entrance to the reception room, while Joseph and Edward
+Cowperwood and Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Cowperwood lingered in the background.
+Lillian looked charming in a train gown of old rose, with a low, square neck
+showing a delicate chemisette of fine lace. Her face and figure were still
+notable, though her face was not as smoothly sweet as it had been years before
+when Cowperwood had first met her. Anna Cowperwood was not pretty, though she
+could not be said to be homely. She was small and dark, with a turned-up nose,
+snapping black eyes, a pert, inquisitive, intelligent, and alas, somewhat
+critical, air. She had considerable tact in the matter of dressing. Black, in
+spite of her darkness, with shining beads of sequins on it, helped her
+complexion greatly, as did a red rose in her hair. She had smooth, white
+well-rounded arms and shoulders. Bright eyes, a pert manner, clever
+remarks&mdash;these assisted to create an illusion of charm, though, as she
+often said, it was of little use. &ldquo;Men want the dolly things.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the evening inpour of young men and women came Aileen and Norah, the former
+throwing off a thin net veil of black lace and a dolman of black silk, which
+her brother Owen took from her. Norah was with Callum, a straight, erect,
+smiling young Irishman, who looked as though he might carve a notable career
+for himself. She wore a short, girlish dress that came to a little below her
+shoe-tops, a pale-figured lavender and white silk, with a fluffy hoop-skirt of
+dainty laced-edged ruffles, against which tiny bows of lavender stood out in
+odd places. There was a great sash of lavender about her waist, and in her hair
+a rosette of the same color. She looked exceedingly winsome&mdash;eager and
+bright-eyed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But behind her was her sister in ravishing black satin, scaled as a fish with
+glistening crimsoned-silver sequins, her round, smooth arms bare to the
+shoulders, her corsage cut as low in the front and back as her daring, in
+relation to her sense of the proprieties, permitted. She was naturally of
+exquisite figure, erect, full-breasted, with somewhat more than gently swelling
+hips, which, nevertheless, melted into lovely, harmonious lines; and this
+low-cut corsage, receding back and front into a deep V, above a short,
+gracefully draped overskirt of black tulle and silver tissue, set her off to
+perfection. Her full, smooth, roundly modeled neck was enhanced in its
+cream-pink whiteness by an inch-wide necklet of black jet cut in many faceted
+black squares. Her complexion, naturally high in tone because of the pink of
+health, was enhanced by the tiniest speck of black court-plaster laid upon her
+cheekbone; and her hair, heightened in its reddish-gold by her dress, was
+fluffed loosely and adroitly about her eyes. The main mass of this treasure was
+done in two loose braids caught up in a black spangled net at the back of her
+neck; and her eyebrows had been emphasized by a pencil into something almost as
+significant as her hair. She was, for the occasion, a little too emphatic,
+perhaps, and yet more because of her burning vitality than of her costume. Art
+for her should have meant subduing her physical and spiritual significance.
+Life for her meant emphasizing them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lillian!&rdquo; Anna nudged her sister-in-law. She was grieved to think
+that Aileen was wearing black and looked so much better than either of them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I see,&rdquo; Lillian replied, in a subdued tone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So you&rsquo;re back again.&rdquo; She was addressing Aileen.
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s chilly out, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mind. Don&rsquo;t the rooms look lovely?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was gazing at the softly lighted chambers and the throng before her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Norah began to babble to Anna. &ldquo;You know, I just thought I never would
+get this old thing on.&rdquo; She was speaking of her dress. &ldquo;Aileen
+wouldn&rsquo;t help me&mdash;the mean thing!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen had swept on to Cowperwood and his mother, who was near him. She had
+removed from her arm the black satin ribbon which held her train and kicked the
+skirts loose and free. Her eyes gleamed almost pleadingly for all her hauteur,
+like a spirited collie&rsquo;s, and her even teeth showed beautifully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood understood her precisely, as he did any fine, spirited animal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t tell you how nice you look,&rdquo; he whispered to her,
+familiarly, as though there was an old understanding between them.
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re like fire and song.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He did not know why he said this. He was not especially poetic. He had not
+formulated the phrase beforehand. Since his first glimpse of her in the hall,
+his feelings and ideas had been leaping and plunging like spirited horses. This
+girl made him set his teeth and narrow his eyes. Involuntarily he squared his
+jaw, looking more defiant, forceful, efficient, as she drew near.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Aileen and her sister were almost instantly surrounded by young men seeking
+to be introduced and to write their names on dance-cards, and for the time
+being she was lost to view.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap18"></a>Chapter XVIII</h2>
+
+<p>
+The seeds of change&mdash;subtle, metaphysical&mdash;are rooted deeply. From
+the first mention of the dance by Mrs. Cowperwood and Anna, Aileen had been
+conscious of a desire toward a more effective presentation of herself than as
+yet, for all her father&rsquo;s money, she had been able to achieve. The
+company which she was to encounter, as she well knew, was to be so much more
+impressive, distinguished than anything she had heretofore known socially.
+Then, too, Cowperwood appeared as something more definite in her mind than he
+had been before, and to save herself she could not get him out of her
+consciousness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A vision of him had come to her but an hour before as she was dressing. In a
+way she had dressed for him. She was never forgetful of the times he had looked
+at her in an interested way. He had commented on her hands once. To-day he had
+said that she looked &ldquo;stunning,&rdquo; and she had thought how easy it
+would be to impress him to-night&mdash;to show him how truly beautiful she was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She had stood before her mirror between eight and nine&mdash;it was
+nine-fifteen before she was really ready&mdash;and pondered over what she
+should wear. There were two tall pier-glasses in her wardrobe&mdash;an unduly
+large piece of furniture&mdash;and one in her closet door. She stood before the
+latter, looking at her bare arms and shoulders, her shapely figure, thinking of
+the fact that her left shoulder had a dimple, and that she had selected garnet
+garters decorated with heart-shaped silver buckles. The corset could not be
+made quite tight enough at first, and she chided her maid, Kathleen Kelly. She
+studied how to arrange her hair, and there was much ado about that before it
+was finally adjusted. She penciled her eyebrows and plucked at the hair about
+her forehead to make it loose and shadowy. She cut black court-plaster with her
+nail-shears and tried different-sized pieces in different places. Finally, she
+found one size and one place that suited her. She turned her head from side to
+side, looking at the combined effect of her hair, her penciled brows, her
+dimpled shoulder, and the black beauty-spot. If some one man could see her as
+she was now, some time! Which man? That thought scurried back like a frightened
+rat into its hole. She was, for all her strength, afraid of the thought of the
+one&mdash;the very deadly&mdash;the man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And then she came to the matter of a train-gown. Kathleen laid out five, for
+Aileen had come into the joy and honor of these things recently, and she had,
+with the permission of her mother and father, indulged herself to the full. She
+studied a golden-yellow silk, with cream-lace shoulder-straps, and some gussets
+of garnet beads in the train that shimmered delightfully, but set it aside. She
+considered favorably a black-and-white striped silk of odd gray effect, and,
+though she was sorely tempted to wear it, finally let it go. There was a maroon
+dress, with basque and overskirt over white silk; a rich cream-colored satin;
+and then this black sequined gown, which she finally chose. She tried on the
+cream-colored satin first, however, being in much doubt about it; but her
+penciled eyes and beauty-spot did not seem to harmonize with it. Then she put
+on the black silk with its glistening crimsoned-silver sequins, and, lo, it
+touched her. She liked its coquettish drapery of tulle and silver about the
+hips. The &ldquo;overskirt,&rdquo; which was at that time just coming into
+fashion, though avoided by the more conservative, had been adopted by Aileen
+with enthusiasm. She thrilled a little at the rustle of this black dress, and
+thrust her chin and nose forward to make it set right. Then after having
+Kathleen tighten her corsets a little more, she gathered the train over her arm
+by its train-band and looked again. Something was wanting. Oh, yes, her neck!
+What to wear&mdash;red coral? It did not look right. A string of pearls? That
+would not do either. There was a necklace made of small cameos set in silver
+which her mother had purchased, and another of diamonds which belonged to her
+mother, but they were not right. Finally, her jet necklet, which she did not
+value very highly, came into her mind, and, oh, how lovely it looked! How soft
+and smooth and glistening her chin looked above it. She caressed her neck
+affectionately, called for her black lace mantilla, her long, black silk dolman
+lined with red, and she was ready.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ball-room, as she entered, was lovely enough. The young men and young women
+she saw there were interesting, and she was not wanting for admirers. The most
+aggressive of these youths&mdash;the most forceful&mdash;recognized in this
+maiden a fillip to life, a sting to existence. She was as a honey-jar
+surrounded by too hungry flies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But it occurred to her, as her dance-list was filling up, that there was not
+much left for Mr. Cowperwood, if he should care to dance with her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood was meditating, as he received the last of the guests, on the
+subtlety of this matter of the sex arrangement of life. Two sexes. He was not
+at all sure that there was any law governing them. By comparison now with
+Aileen Butler, his wife looked rather dull, quite too old, and when he was ten
+years older she would look very much older.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, yes, Ellsworth had made quite an attractive arrangement out of these
+two houses&mdash;better than we ever thought he could do.&rdquo; He was talking
+to Henry Hale Sanderson, a young banker. &ldquo;He had the advantage of
+combining two into one, and I think he&rsquo;s done more with my little one,
+considering the limitations of space, than he has with this big one.
+Father&rsquo;s has the advantage of size. I tell the old gentleman he&rsquo;s
+simply built a lean-to for me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His father and a number of his cronies were over in the dining-room of his
+grand home, glad to get away from the crowd. He would have to stay, and,
+besides, he wanted to. Had he better dance with Aileen? His wife cared little
+for dancing, but he would have to dance with her at least once. There was Mrs.
+Seneca Davis smiling at him, and Aileen. By George, how wonderful! What a girl!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I suppose your dance-list is full to overflowing. Let me see.&rdquo; He
+was standing before her and she was holding out the little blue-bordered,
+gold-monogrammed booklet. An orchestra was playing in the music room. The dance
+would begin shortly. There were delicately constructed, gold-tinted chairs
+about the walls and behind palms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked down into her eyes&mdash;those excited, life-loving, eager eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re quite full up. Let me see. Nine, ten, eleven. Well, that
+will be enough. I don&rsquo;t suppose I shall want to dance very much.
+It&rsquo;s nice to be popular.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure about number three. I think that&rsquo;s a mistake.
+You might have that if you wish.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was falsifying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter so much about him, does it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His cheeks flushed a little as he said this.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her own flamed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;ll see where you are when it&rsquo;s called. You&rsquo;re
+darling. I&rsquo;m afraid of you.&rdquo; He shot a level, interpretive glance
+into her eyes, then left. Aileen&rsquo;s bosom heaved. It was hard to breathe
+sometimes in this warm air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While he was dancing first with Mrs. Cowperwood and later with Mrs. Seneca
+Davis, and still later with Mrs. Martyn Walker, Cowperwood had occasion to look
+at Aileen often, and each time that he did so there swept over him a sense of
+great vigor there, of beautiful if raw, dynamic energy that to him was
+irresistible and especially so to-night. She was so young. She was beautiful,
+this girl, and in spite of his wife&rsquo;s repeated derogatory comments he
+felt that she was nearer to his clear, aggressive, unblinking attitude than any
+one whom he had yet seen in the form of woman. She was unsophisticated, in a
+way, that was plain, and yet in another way it would take so little to make her
+understand so much. Largeness was the sense he had of her&mdash;not physically,
+though she was nearly as tall as himself&mdash;but emotionally. She seemed so
+intensely alive. She passed close to him a number of times, her eyes wide and
+smiling, her lips parted, her teeth agleam, and he felt a stirring of sympathy
+and companionship for her which he had not previously experienced. She was
+lovely, all of her&mdash;delightful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m wondering if that dance is open now,&rdquo; he said to her as
+he drew near toward the beginning of the third set. She was seated with her
+latest admirer in a far corner of the general living-room, a clear floor now
+waxed to perfection. A few palms here and there made embrasured parapets of
+green. &ldquo;I hope you&rsquo;ll excuse me,&rdquo; he added, deferentially, to
+her companion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely,&rdquo; the latter replied, rising.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, indeed,&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;And you&rsquo;d better stay here
+with me. It&rsquo;s going to begin soon. You won&rsquo;t mind?&rdquo; she
+added, giving her companion a radiant smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not at all. I&rsquo;ve had a lovely waltz.&rdquo; He strolled off.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood sat down. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s young Ledoux, isn&rsquo;t it? I
+thought so. I saw you dancing. You like it, don&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m crazy about it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I can&rsquo;t say that myself. It&rsquo;s fascinating, though.
+Your partner makes such a difference. Mrs. Cowperwood doesn&rsquo;t like it as
+much as I do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His mention of Lillian made Aileen think of her in a faintly derogative way for
+a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think you dance very well. I watched you, too.&rdquo; She questioned
+afterwards whether she should have said this. It sounded most forward
+now&mdash;almost brazen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, did you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was a little keyed up because of her&mdash;slightly cloudy in his
+thoughts&mdash;because she was generating a problem in his life, or would if he
+let her, and so his talk was a little tame. He was thinking of something to
+say&mdash;some words which would bring them a little nearer together. But for
+the moment he could not. Truth to tell, he wanted to say a great deal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that was nice of you,&rdquo; he added, after a moment. &ldquo;What
+made you do it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He turned with a mock air of inquiry. The music was beginning again. The
+dancers were rising. He arose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had not intended to give this particular remark a serious turn; but, now
+that she was so near him, he looked into her eyes steadily but with a soft
+appeal and said, &ldquo;Yes, why?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They had come out from behind the palms. He had put his hand to her waist. His
+right arm held her left extended arm to arm, palm to palm. Her right hand was
+on his shoulder, and she was close to him, looking into his eyes. As they began
+the gay undulations of the waltz she looked away and then down without
+answering. Her movements were as light and airy as those of a butterfly. He
+felt a sudden lightness himself, communicated as by an invisible current. He
+wanted to match the suppleness of her body with his own, and did. Her arms, the
+flash and glint of the crimson sequins against the smooth, black silk of her
+closely fitting dress, her neck, her glowing, radiant hair, all combined to
+provoke a slight intellectual intoxication. She was so vigorously young, so, to
+him, truly beautiful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But you didn&rsquo;t answer,&rdquo; he continued.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t this lovely music?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He pressed her fingers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She lifted shy eyes to him now, for, in spite of her gay, aggressive force, she
+was afraid of him. His personality was obviously so dominating. Now that he was
+so close to her, dancing, she conceived of him as something quite wonderful,
+and yet she experienced a nervous reaction&mdash;a momentary desire to run
+away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well, if you won&rsquo;t tell me,&rdquo; he smiled, mockingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He thought she wanted him to talk to her so, to tease her with suggestions of
+this concealed feeling of his&mdash;this strong liking. He wondered what could
+come of any such understanding as this, anyhow?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, I just wanted to see how you danced,&rdquo; she said, tamely, the
+force of her original feeling having been weakened by a thought of what she was
+doing. He noted the change and smiled. It was lovely to be dancing with her. He
+had not thought mere dancing could hold such charm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You like me?&rdquo; he said, suddenly, as the music drew to its close.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She thrilled from head to toe at the question. A piece of ice dropped down her
+back could not have startled her more. It was apparently tactless, and yet it
+was anything but tactless. She looked up quickly, directly, but his strong eyes
+were too much for her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, yes,&rdquo; she answered, as the music stopped, trying to keep an
+even tone to her voice. She was glad they were walking toward a chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I like you so much,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that I have been wondering if
+you really like me.&rdquo; There was an appeal in his voice, soft and gentle.
+His manner was almost sad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, yes,&rdquo; she replied, instantly, returning to her earlier mood
+toward him. &ldquo;You know I do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I need some one like you to like me,&rdquo; he continued, in the same
+vein. &ldquo;I need some one like you to talk to. I didn&rsquo;t think so
+before&mdash;but now I do. You are beautiful&mdash;wonderful.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We mustn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I mustn&rsquo;t. I don&rsquo;t
+know what I&rsquo;m doing.&rdquo; She looked at a young man strolling toward
+her, and asked: &ldquo;I have to explain to him. He&rsquo;s the one I had this
+dance with.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood understood. He walked away. He was quite warm and tense
+now&mdash;almost nervous. It was quite clear to him that he had done or was
+contemplating perhaps a very treacherous thing. Under the current code of
+society he had no right to do it. It was against the rules, as they were
+understood by everybody. Her father, for instance&mdash;his father&mdash;every
+one in this particular walk of life. However, much breaking of the rules under
+the surface of things there might be, the rules were still there. As he had
+heard one young man remark once at school, when some story had been told of a
+boy leading a girl astray and to a disastrous end, &ldquo;That isn&rsquo;t the
+way at all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Still, now that he had said this, strong thoughts of her were in his mind. And
+despite his involved social and financial position, which he now recalled, it
+was interesting to him to see how deliberately and even calculatingly&mdash;and
+worse, enthusiastically&mdash;he was pumping the bellows that tended only to
+heighten the flames of his desire for this girl; to feed a fire that might
+ultimately consume him&mdash;and how deliberately and resourcefully!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen toyed aimlessly with her fan as a black-haired, thin-faced young law
+student talked to her, and seeing Norah in the distance she asked to be allowed
+to run over to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Aileen,&rdquo; called Norah, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been looking for you
+everywhere. Where have you been?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dancing, of course. Where do you suppose I&rsquo;ve been? Didn&rsquo;t
+you see me on the floor?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I didn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; complained Norah, as though it were most
+essential that she should. &ldquo;How late are you going to stay?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Until it&rsquo;s over, I suppose. I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Owen says he&rsquo;s going at twelve.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that doesn&rsquo;t matter. Some one will take me home. Are you
+having a good time?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Fine. Oh, let me tell you. I stepped on a lady&rsquo;s dress over there,
+last dance. She was terribly angry. She gave me such a look.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, never mind, honey. She won&rsquo;t hurt you. Where are you going
+now?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen always maintained a most guardian-like attitude toward her sister.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I want to find Callum. He has to dance with me next time. I know what
+he&rsquo;s trying to do. He&rsquo;s trying to get away from me. But he
+won&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen smiled. Norah looked very sweet. And she was so bright. What would she
+think of her if she knew? She turned back, and her fourth partner sought her.
+She began talking gayly, for she felt that she had to make a show of composure;
+but all the while there was ringing in her ears that definite question of his,
+&ldquo;You like me, don&rsquo;t you?&rdquo; and her later uncertain but not
+less truthful answer, &ldquo;Yes, of course I do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap19"></a>Chapter XIX</h2>
+
+<p>
+The growth of a passion is a very peculiar thing. In highly organized
+intellectual and artistic types it is so often apt to begin with keen
+appreciation of certain qualities, modified by many, many mental reservations.
+The egoist, the intellectual, gives but little of himself and asks much.
+Nevertheless, the lover of life, male or female, finding himself or herself in
+sympathetic accord with such a nature, is apt to gain much.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood was innately and primarily an egoist and intellectual, though
+blended strongly therewith, was a humane and democratic spirit. We think of
+egoism and intellectualism as closely confined to the arts. Finance is an art.
+And it presents the operations of the subtlest of the intellectuals and of the
+egoists. Cowperwood was a financier. Instead of dwelling on the works of
+nature, its beauty and subtlety, to his material disadvantage, he found a happy
+mean, owing to the swiftness of his intellectual operations, whereby he could,
+intellectually and emotionally, rejoice in the beauty of life without
+interfering with his perpetual material and financial calculations. And when it
+came to women and morals, which involved so much relating to beauty, happiness,
+a sense of distinction and variety in living, he was but now beginning to
+suspect for himself at least that apart from maintaining organized society in
+its present form there was no basis for this one-life, one-love idea. How had
+it come about that so many people agreed on this single point, that it was good
+and necessary to marry one woman and cleave to her until death? He did not
+know. It was not for him to bother about the subtleties of evolution, which
+even then was being noised abroad, or to ferret out the curiosities of history
+in connection with this matter. He had no time. Suffice it that the vagaries of
+temperament and conditions with which he came into immediate contact proved to
+him that there was great dissatisfaction with that idea. People did not cleave
+to each other until death; and in thousands of cases where they did, they did
+not want to. Quickness of mind, subtlety of idea, fortuitousness of
+opportunity, made it possible for some people to right their matrimonial and
+social infelicities; whereas for others, because of dullness of wit, thickness
+of comprehension, poverty, and lack of charm, there was no escape from the
+slough of their despond. They were compelled by some devilish accident of birth
+or lack of force or resourcefulness to stew in their own juice of wretchedness,
+or to shuffle off this mortal coil&mdash;which under other circumstances had
+such glittering possibilities&mdash;via the rope, the knife, the bullet, or the
+cup of poison.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I would die, too,&rdquo; he thought to himself, one day, reading of a
+man who, confined by disease and poverty, had lived for twelve years alone in a
+back bedroom attended by an old and probably decrepit housekeeper. A
+darning-needle forced into his heart had ended his earthly woes. &ldquo;To the
+devil with such a life! Why twelve years? Why not at the end of the second or
+third?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again, it was so very evident, in so many ways, that force was the
+answer&mdash;great mental and physical force. Why, these giants of commerce and
+money could do as they pleased in this life, and did. He had already had ample
+local evidence of it in more than one direction. Worse&mdash;the little
+guardians of so-called law and morality, the newspapers, the preachers, the
+police, and the public moralists generally, so loud in their denunciation of
+evil in humble places, were cowards all when it came to corruption in high
+ones. They did not dare to utter a feeble squeak until some giant had
+accidentally fallen and they could do so without danger to themselves. Then, O
+Heavens, the palaver! What beatings of tom-toms! What mouthings of pharisaical
+moralities&mdash;platitudes! Run now, good people, for you may see clearly how
+evil is dealt with in high places! It made him smile. Such hypocrisy! Such
+cant! Still, so the world was organized, and it was not for him to set it
+right. Let it wag as it would. The thing for him to do was to get rich and hold
+his own&mdash;to build up a seeming of virtue and dignity which would pass
+muster for the genuine thing. Force would do that. Quickness of wit. And he had
+these. &ldquo;I satisfy myself,&rdquo; was his motto; and it might well have
+been emblazoned upon any coat of arms which he could have contrived to set
+forth his claim to intellectual and social nobility.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But this matter of Aileen was up for consideration and solution at this present
+moment, and because of his forceful, determined character he was presently not
+at all disturbed by the problem it presented. It was a problem, like some of
+those knotty financial complications which presented themselves daily; but it
+was not insoluble. What did he want to do? He couldn&rsquo;t leave his wife and
+fly with Aileen, that was certain. He had too many connections. He had too many
+social, and thinking of his children and parents, emotional as well as
+financial ties to bind him. Besides, he was not at all sure that he wanted to.
+He did not intend to leave his growing interests, and at the same time he did
+not intend to give up Aileen immediately. The unheralded manifestation of
+interest on her part was too attractive. Mrs. Cowperwood was no longer what she
+should be physically and mentally, and that in itself to him was sufficient to
+justify his present interest in this girl. Why fear anything, if only he could
+figure out a way to achieve it without harm to himself? At the same time he
+thought it might never be possible for him to figure out any practical or
+protective program for either himself or Aileen, and that made him silent and
+reflective. For by now he was intensely drawn to her, as he could
+feel&mdash;something chemic and hence dynamic was uppermost in him now and
+clamoring for expression.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the same time, in contemplating his wife in connection with all this, he had
+many qualms, some emotional, some financial. While she had yielded to his
+youthful enthusiasm for her after her husband&rsquo;s death, he had only since
+learned that she was a natural conservator of public morals&mdash;the cold
+purity of the snowdrift in so far as the world might see, combined at times
+with the murky mood of the wanton. And yet, as he had also learned, she was
+ashamed of the passion that at times swept and dominated her. This irritated
+Cowperwood, as it would always irritate any strong, acquisitive, direct-seeing
+temperament. While he had no desire to acquaint the whole world with his
+feelings, why should there be concealment between them, or at least mental
+evasion of a fact which physically she subscribed to? Why do one thing and
+think another? To be sure, she was devoted to him in her quiet way, not
+passionately (as he looked back he could not say that she had ever been that),
+but intellectually. Duty, as she understood it, played a great part in this.
+She was dutiful. And then what people thought, what the time-spirit
+demanded&mdash;these were the great things. Aileen, on the contrary, was
+probably not dutiful, and it was obvious that she had no temperamental
+connection with current convention. No doubt she had been as well instructed as
+many another girl, but look at her. She was not obeying her instructions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the next three months this relationship took on a more flagrant form.
+Aileen, knowing full well what her parents would think, how unspeakable in the
+mind of the current world were the thoughts she was thinking, persisted,
+nevertheless, in so thinking and longing. Cowperwood, now that she had gone
+thus far and compromised herself in intention, if not in deed, took on a
+peculiar charm for her. It was not his body&mdash;great passion is never that,
+exactly. The flavor of his spirit was what attracted and compelled, like the
+glow of a flame to a moth. There was a light of romance in his eyes, which,
+however governed and controlled&mdash;was directive and almost all-powerful to
+her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he touched her hand at parting, it was as though she had received an
+electric shock, and she recalled that it was very difficult for her to look
+directly into his eyes. Something akin to a destructive force seemed to issue
+from them at times. Other people, men particularly, found it difficult to face
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s glazed stare. It was as though there were another pair of
+eyes behind those they saw, watching through thin, obscuring curtains. You
+could not tell what he was thinking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And during the next few months she found herself coming closer and closer to
+Cowperwood. At his home one evening, seated at the piano, no one else being
+present at the moment, he leaned over and kissed her. There was a cold, snowy
+street visible through the interstices of the hangings of the windows, and
+gas-lamps flickering outside. He had come in early, and hearing Aileen, he came
+to where she was seated at the piano. She was wearing a rough, gray wool cloth
+dress, ornately banded with fringed Oriental embroidery in blue and
+burnt-orange, and her beauty was further enhanced by a gray hat planned to
+match her dress, with a plume of shaded orange and blue. On her fingers were
+four or five rings, far too many&mdash;an opal, an emerald, a ruby, and a
+diamond&mdash;flashing visibly as she played.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She knew it was he, without turning. He came beside her, and she looked up
+smiling, the reverie evoked by Schubert partly vanishing&mdash;or melting into
+another mood. Suddenly he bent over and pressed his lips firmly to hers. His
+mustache thrilled her with its silky touch. She stopped playing and tried to
+catch her breath, for, strong as she was, it affected her breathing. Her heart
+was beating like a triphammer. She did not say, &ldquo;Oh,&rdquo; or,
+&ldquo;You mustn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; but rose and walked over to a window, where
+she lifted a curtain, pretending to look out. She felt as though she might
+faint, so intensely happy was she.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood followed her quickly. Slipping his arms about her waist, he looked
+at her flushed cheeks, her clear, moist eyes and red mouth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You love me?&rdquo; he whispered, stern and compelling because of his
+desire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes! Yes! You know I do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He crushed her face to his, and she put up her hands and stroked his hair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A thrilling sense of possession, mastery, happiness and understanding, love of
+her and of her body, suddenly overwhelmed him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I love you,&rdquo; he said, as though he were surprised to hear himself
+say it. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think I did, but I do. You&rsquo;re beautiful.
+I&rsquo;m wild about you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I love you&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t help it. I know
+I shouldn&rsquo;t, but&mdash;oh&mdash;&rdquo; Her hands closed tight over his
+ears and temples. She put her lips to his and dreamed into his eyes. Then she
+stepped away quickly, looking out into the street, and he walked back into the
+living-room. They were quite alone. He was debating whether he should risk
+anything further when Norah, having been in to see Anna next door, appeared and
+not long afterward Mrs. Cowperwood. Then Aileen and Norah left.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap20"></a>Chapter XX</h2>
+
+<p>
+This definite and final understanding having been reached, it was but natural
+that this liaison should proceed to a closer and closer relationship. Despite
+her religious upbringing, Aileen was decidedly a victim of her temperament.
+Current religious feeling and belief could not control her. For the past nine
+or ten years there had been slowly forming in her mind a notion of what her
+lover should be like. He should be strong, handsome, direct, successful, with
+clear eyes, a ruddy glow of health, and a certain native understanding and
+sympathy&mdash;a love of life which matched her own. Many young men had
+approached her. Perhaps the nearest realization of her ideal was Father David,
+of St. Timothy&rsquo;s, and he was, of course, a priest and sworn to celibacy.
+No word had ever passed between them but he had been as conscious of her as she
+of him. Then came Frank Cowperwood, and by degrees, because of his presence and
+contact, he had been slowly built up in her mind as the ideal person. She was
+drawn as planets are drawn to their sun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is a question as to what would have happened if antagonistic forces could
+have been introduced just at this time. Emotions and liaisons of this character
+can, of course, occasionally be broken up and destroyed. The characters of the
+individuals can be modified or changed to a certain extent, but the force must
+be quite sufficient. Fear is a great deterrent&mdash;fear of material loss
+where there is no spiritual dread&mdash;but wealth and position so often tend
+to destroy this dread. It is so easy to scheme with means. Aileen had no
+spiritual dread whatever. Cowperwood was without spiritual or religious
+feeling. He looked at this girl, and his one thought was how could he so
+deceive the world that he could enjoy her love and leave his present state
+undisturbed. Love her he did surely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Business necessitated his calling at the Butlers&rsquo; quite frequently, and
+on each occasion he saw Aileen. She managed to slip forward and squeeze his
+hand the first time he came&mdash;to steal a quick, vivid kiss; and another
+time, as he was going out, she suddenly appeared from behind the curtains
+hanging at the parlor door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Honey!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The voice was soft and coaxing. He turned, giving her a warning nod in the
+direction of her father&rsquo;s room upstairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She stood there, holding out one hand, and he stepped forward for a second.
+Instantly her arms were about his neck, as he slipped his about her waist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I long to see you so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I, too. I&rsquo;ll fix some way. I&rsquo;m thinking.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He released her arms, and went out, and she ran to the window and looked out
+after him. He was walking west on the street, for his house was only a few
+blocks away, and she looked at the breadth of his shoulders, the balance of his
+form. He stepped so briskly, so incisively. Ah, this was a man! He was her
+Frank. She thought of him in that light already. Then she sat down at the piano
+and played pensively until dinner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And it was so easy for the resourceful mind of Frank Cowperwood, wealthy as he
+was, to suggest ways and means. In his younger gallivantings about places of
+ill repute, and his subsequent occasional variations from the straight and
+narrow path, he had learned much of the curious resources of immorality. Being
+a city of five hundred thousand and more at this time, Philadelphia had its
+nondescript hotels, where one might go, cautiously and fairly protected from
+observation; and there were houses of a conservative, residential character,
+where appointments might be made, for a consideration. And as for safeguards
+against the production of new life&mdash;they were not mysteries to him any
+longer. He knew all about them. Care was the point of caution. He had to be
+cautious, for he was so rapidly coming to be an influential and a distinguished
+man. Aileen, of course, was not conscious, except in a vague way, of the drift
+of her passion; the ultimate destiny to which this affection might lead was not
+clear to her. Her craving was for love&mdash;to be fondled and
+caressed&mdash;and she really did not think so much further. Further thoughts
+along this line were like rats that showed their heads out of dark holes in
+shadowy corners and scuttled back at the least sound. And, anyhow, all that was
+to be connected with Cowperwood would be beautiful. She really did not think
+that he loved her yet as he should; but he would. She did not know that she
+wanted to interfere with the claims of his wife. She did not think she did. But
+it would not hurt Mrs. Cowperwood if Frank loved her&mdash;Aileen&mdash;also.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How shall we explain these subtleties of temperament and desire? Life has to
+deal with them at every turn. They will not down, and the large, placid
+movements of nature outside of man&rsquo;s little organisms would indicate that
+she is not greatly concerned. We see much punishment in the form of jails,
+diseases, failures, and wrecks; but we also see that the old tendency is not
+visibly lessened. Is there no law outside of the subtle will and power of the
+individual to achieve? If not, it is surely high time that we knew it&mdash;one
+and all. We might then agree to do as we do; but there would be no silly
+illusion as to divine regulation. Vox populi, vox Dei.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So there were other meetings, lovely hours which they soon began to spend the
+moment her passion waxed warm enough to assure compliance, without great fear
+and without thought of the deadly risk involved. From odd moments in his own
+home, stolen when there was no one about to see, they advanced to clandestine
+meetings beyond the confines of the city. Cowperwood was not one who was
+temperamentally inclined to lose his head and neglect his business. As a matter
+of fact, the more he thought of this rather unexpected affectional development,
+the more certain he was that he must not let it interfere with his business
+time and judgment. His office required his full attention from nine until
+three, anyhow. He could give it until five-thirty with profit; but he could
+take several afternoons off, from three-thirty until five-thirty or six, and no
+one would be the wiser. It was customary for Aileen to drive alone almost every
+afternoon a spirited pair of bays, or to ride a mount, bought by her father for
+her from a noted horse-dealer in Baltimore. Since Cowperwood also drove and
+rode, it was not difficult to arrange meeting-places far out on the Wissahickon
+or the Schuylkill road. There were many spots in the newly laid-out park, which
+were as free from interruption as the depths of a forest. It was always
+possible that they might encounter some one; but it was also always possible to
+make a rather plausible explanation, or none at all, since even in case of such
+an encounter nothing, ordinarily, would be suspected.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So, for the time being there was love-making, the usual billing and cooing of
+lovers in a simple and much less than final fashion; and the lovely horseback
+rides together under the green trees of the approaching spring were idyllic.
+Cowperwood awakened to a sense of joy in life such as he fancied, in the blush
+of this new desire, he had never experienced before. Lillian had been lovely in
+those early days in which he had first called on her in North Front Street, and
+he had fancied himself unspeakably happy at that time; but that was nearly ten
+years since, and he had forgotten. Since then he had had no great passion, no
+notable liaison; and then, all at once, in the midst of his new, great business
+prosperity, Aileen. Her young body and soul, her passionate illusions. He could
+see always, for all her daring, that she knew so little of the calculating,
+brutal world with which he was connected. Her father had given her all the toys
+she wanted without stint; her mother and brothers had coddled her, particularly
+her mother. Her young sister thought she was adorable. No one imagined for one
+moment that Aileen would ever do anything wrong. She was too sensible, after
+all, too eager to get up in the world. Why should she, when her life lay open
+and happy before her&mdash;a delightful love-match, some day soon, with some
+very eligible and satisfactory lover?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When you marry, Aileen,&rdquo; her mother used to say to her,
+&ldquo;we&rsquo;ll have a grand time here. Sure we&rsquo;ll do the house over
+then, if we don&rsquo;t do it before. Eddie will have to fix it up, or
+I&rsquo;ll do it meself. Never fear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes&mdash;well, I&rsquo;d rather you&rsquo;d fix it now,&rdquo; was her
+reply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler himself used to strike her jovially on the shoulder in a rough, loving
+way, and ask, &ldquo;Well, have you found him yet?&rdquo; or &ldquo;Is he
+hanging around the outside watchin&rsquo; for ye?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If she said, &ldquo;No,&rdquo; he would reply: &ldquo;Well, he will be, never
+fear&mdash;worse luck. I&rsquo;ll hate to see ye go, girlie! You can stay here
+as long as ye want to, and ye want to remember that you can always come
+back.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen paid very little attention to this bantering. She loved her father, but
+it was all such a matter of course. It was the commonplace of her existence,
+and not so very significant, though delightful enough.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But how eagerly she yielded herself to Cowperwood under the spring trees these
+days! She had no sense of that ultimate yielding that was coming, for now he
+merely caressed and talked to her. He was a little doubtful about himself. His
+growing liberties for himself seemed natural enough, but in a sense of fairness
+to her he began to talk to her about what their love might involve. Would she?
+Did she understand? This phase of it puzzled and frightened Aileen a little at
+first. She stood before him one afternoon in her black riding-habit and high
+silk riding-hat perched jauntily on her red-gold hair; and striking her
+riding-skirt with her short whip, pondering doubtfully as she listened. He had
+asked her whether she knew what she was doing? Whither they were drifting? If
+she loved him truly enough? The two horses were tethered in a thicket a score
+of yards away from the main road and from the bank of a tumbling stream, which
+they had approached. She was trying to discover if she could see them. It was
+pretense. There was no interest in her glance. She was thinking of him and the
+smartness of his habit, and the exquisiteness of this moment. He had such a
+charming calico pony. The leaves were just enough developed to make a
+diaphanous lacework of green. It was like looking through a green-spangled
+arras to peer into the woods beyond or behind. The gray stones were already
+faintly messy where the water rippled and sparkled, and early birds were
+calling&mdash;robins and blackbirds and wrens.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Baby mine,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;do you understand all about this? Do
+you know exactly what you&rsquo;re doing when you come with me this way?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think I do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She struck her boot and looked at the ground, and then up through the trees at
+the blue sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look at me, honey.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But look at me, sweet. I want to ask you something.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t make me, Frank, please. I can&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh yes, you can look at me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She backed away as he took her hands, but came forward again, easily enough.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now look in my eyes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;See here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t. Don&rsquo;t ask me. I&rsquo;ll answer you, but
+don&rsquo;t make me look at you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His hand stole to her cheek and fondled it. He petted her shoulder, and she
+leaned her head against him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sweet, you&rsquo;re so beautiful,&rdquo; he said finally, &ldquo;I
+can&rsquo;t give you up. I know what I ought to do. You know, too, I suppose;
+but I can&rsquo;t. I must have you. If this should end in exposure, it would be
+quite bad for you and me. Do you understand?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know your brothers very well; but from looking at them I
+judge they&rsquo;re pretty determined people. They think a great deal of
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed, they do.&rdquo; Her vanity prinked slightly at this.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They would probably want to kill me, and very promptly, for just this
+much. What do you think they would want to do if&mdash;well, if anything should
+happen, some time?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He waited, watching her pretty face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But nothing need happen. We needn&rsquo;t go any further.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aileen!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t look at you. You needn&rsquo;t ask. I can&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aileen! Do you mean that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know. Don&rsquo;t ask me, Frank.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know it can&rsquo;t stop this way, don&rsquo;t you? You know it.
+This isn&rsquo;t the end. Now, if&mdash;&rdquo; He explained the whole theory
+of illicit meetings, calmly, dispassionately. &ldquo;You are perfectly safe,
+except for one thing, chance exposure. It might just so happen; and then, of
+course, there would be a great deal to settle for. Mrs. Cowperwood would never
+give me a divorce; she has no reason to. If I should clean up in the way I hope
+to&mdash;if I should make a million&mdash;I wouldn&rsquo;t mind knocking off
+now. I don&rsquo;t expect to work all my days. I have always planned to knock
+off at thirty-five. I&rsquo;ll have enough by that time. Then I want to travel.
+It will only be a few more years now. If you were free&mdash;if your father and
+mother were dead&rdquo;&mdash;curiously she did not wince at this practical
+reference&mdash;&ldquo;it would be a different matter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused. She still gazed thoughtfully at the water below, her mind running
+out to a yacht on the sea with him, a palace somewhere&mdash;just they two. Her
+eyes, half closed, saw this happy world; and, listening to him, she was
+fascinated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hanged if I see the way out of this, exactly. But I love you!&rdquo; He
+caught her to him. &ldquo;I love you&mdash;love you!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, yes,&rdquo; she replied intensely, &ldquo;I want you to. I&rsquo;m
+not afraid.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve taken a house in North Tenth Street,&rdquo; he said finally,
+as they walked over to the horses and mounted them. &ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t
+furnished yet; but it will be soon. I know a woman who will take charge.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who is she?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;An interesting widow of nearly fifty. Very intelligent&mdash;she is
+attractive, and knows a good deal of life. I found her through an
+advertisement. You might call on her some afternoon when things are arranged,
+and look the place over. You needn&rsquo;t meet her except in a casual way.
+Will you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She rode on, thinking, making no reply. He was so direct and practical in his
+calculations.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will you? It will be all right. You might know her. She isn&rsquo;t
+objectionable in any way. Will you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let me know when it is ready,&rdquo; was all she said finally.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap21"></a>Chapter XXI</h2>
+
+<p>
+The vagaries of passion! Subtleties! Risks! What sacrifices are not laid
+willfully upon its altar! In a little while this more than average residence to
+which Cowperwood had referred was prepared solely to effect a satisfactory
+method of concealment. The house was governed by a seemingly recently-bereaved
+widow, and it was possible for Aileen to call without seeming strangely out of
+place. In such surroundings, and under such circumstances, it was not difficult
+to persuade her to give herself wholly to her lover, governed as she was by her
+wild and unreasoning affection and passion. In a way, there was a saving
+element of love, for truly, above all others, she wanted this man. She had no
+thought or feeling toward any other. All her mind ran toward visions of the
+future, when, somehow, she and he might be together for all time. Mrs.
+Cowperwood might die, or he might run away with her at thirty-five when he had
+a million. Some adjustment would be made, somehow. Nature had given her this
+man. She relied on him implicitly. When he told her that he would take care of
+her so that nothing evil should befall, she believed him fully. Such sins are
+the commonplaces of the confessional.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is a curious fact that by some subtlety of logic in the Christian world, it
+has come to be believed that there can be no love outside the conventional
+process of courtship and marriage. One life, one love, is the Christian idea,
+and into this sluice or mold it has been endeavoring to compress the whole
+world. Pagan thought held no such belief. A writing of divorce for trivial
+causes was the theory of the elders; and in the primeval world nature
+apparently holds no scheme for the unity of two beyond the temporary care of
+the young. That the modern home is the most beautiful of schemes, when based
+upon mutual sympathy and understanding between two, need not be questioned. And
+yet this fact should not necessarily carry with it a condemnation of all love
+not so fortunate as to find so happy a denouement. Life cannot be put into any
+mold, and the attempt might as well be abandoned at once. Those so fortunate as
+to find harmonious companionship for life should congratulate themselves and
+strive to be worthy of it. Those not so blessed, though they be written down as
+pariahs, have yet some justification. And, besides, whether we will or not,
+theory or no theory, the basic facts of chemistry and physics remain. Like is
+drawn to like. Changes in temperament bring changes in relationship. Dogma may
+bind some minds; fear, others. But there are always those in whom the chemistry
+and physics of life are large, and in whom neither dogma nor fear is operative.
+Society lifts its hands in horror; but from age to age the Helens, the
+Messalinas, the Du Barrys, the Pompadours, the Maintenons, and the Nell Gwyns
+flourish and point a freer basis of relationship than we have yet been able to
+square with our lives.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These two felt unutterably bound to each other. Cowperwood, once he came to
+understand her, fancied that he had found the one person with whom he could
+live happily the rest of his life. She was so young, so confident, so hopeful,
+so undismayed. All these months since they had first begun to reach out to each
+other he had been hourly contrasting her with his wife. As a matter of fact,
+his dissatisfaction, though it may be said to have been faint up to this time,
+was now surely tending to become real enough. Still, his children were pleasing
+to him; his home beautiful. Lillian, phlegmatic and now thin, was still not
+homely. All these years he had found her satisfactory enough; but now his
+dissatisfaction with her began to increase. She was not like Aileen&mdash;not
+young, not vivid, not as unschooled in the commonplaces of life. And while
+ordinarily, he was not one who was inclined to be querulous, still now on
+occasion, he could be. He began by asking questions concerning his wife&rsquo;s
+appearance&mdash;irritating little whys which are so trivial and yet so
+exasperating and discouraging to a woman. Why didn&rsquo;t she get a mauve hat
+nearer the shade of her dress? Why didn&rsquo;t she go out more? Exercise would
+do her good. Why didn&rsquo;t she do this, and why didn&rsquo;t she do that? He
+scarcely noticed that he was doing this; but she did, and she felt the
+undertone&mdash;the real significance&mdash;and took umbrage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, why&mdash;why?&rdquo; she retorted, one day, curtly. &ldquo;Why do
+you ask so many questions? You don&rsquo;t care so much for me any more;
+that&rsquo;s why. I can tell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He leaned back startled by the thrust. It had not been based on any evidence of
+anything save his recent remarks; but he was not absolutely sure. He was just
+the least bit sorry that he had irritated her, and he said so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, it&rsquo;s all right,&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care.
+But I notice that you don&rsquo;t pay as much attention to me as you used to.
+It&rsquo;s your business now, first, last, and all the time. You can&rsquo;t
+get your mind off of that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He breathed a sigh of relief. She didn&rsquo;t suspect, then.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But after a little time, as he grew more and more in sympathy with Aileen, he
+was not so disturbed as to whether his wife might suspect or not. He began to
+think on occasion, as his mind followed the various ramifications of the
+situation, that it would be better if she did. She was really not of the
+contentious fighting sort. He now decided because of various calculations in
+regard to her character that she might not offer as much resistance to some
+ultimate rearrangement, as he had originally imagined. She might even divorce
+him. Desire, dreams, even in him were evoking calculations not as sound as
+those which ordinarily generated in his brain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No, as he now said to himself, the rub was not nearly so much in his own home,
+as it was in the Butler family. His relations with Edward Malia Butler had
+become very intimate. He was now advising with him constantly in regard to the
+handling of his securities, which were numerous. Butler held stocks in such
+things as the Pennsylvania Coal Company, the Delaware and Hudson Canal, the
+Morris and Essex Canal, the Reading Railroad. As the old gentleman&rsquo;s mind
+had broadened to the significance of the local street-railway problem in
+Philadelphia, he had decided to close out his other securities at such
+advantageous terms as he could, and reinvest the money in local lines. He knew
+that Mollenhauer and Simpson were doing this, and they were excellent judges of
+the significance of local affairs. Like Cowperwood, he had the idea that if he
+controlled sufficient of the local situation in this field, he could at last
+effect a joint relationship with Mollenhauer and Simpson. Political
+legislation, advantageous to the combined lines, could then be so easily
+secured. Franchises and necessary extensions to existing franchises could be
+added. This conversion of his outstanding stock in other fields, and the
+picking up of odd lots in the local street-railway, was the business of
+Cowperwood. Butler, through his sons, Owen and Callum, was also busy planning a
+new line and obtaining a franchise, sacrificing, of course, great blocks of
+stock and actual cash to others, in order to obtain sufficient influence to
+have the necessary legislation passed. Yet it was no easy matter, seeing that
+others knew what the general advantages of the situation were, and because of
+this Cowperwood, who saw the great source of profit here, was able, betimes, to
+serve himself&mdash;buying blocks, a part of which only went to Butler,
+Mollenhauer or others. In short he was not as eager to serve Butler, or any one
+else, as he was to serve himself if he could.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this connection, the scheme which George W. Stener had brought forward,
+representing actually in the background Strobik, Wycroft, and Harmon, was an
+opening wedge for himself. Stener&rsquo;s plan was to loan him money out of the
+city treasury at two per cent., or, if he would waive all commissions, for
+nothing (an agent for self-protective purposes was absolutely necessary), and
+with it take over the North Pennsylvania Company&rsquo;s line on Front Street,
+which, because of the shortness of its length, one mile and a half, and the
+brevity of the duration of its franchise, was neither doing very well nor being
+rated very high. Cowperwood in return for his manipulative skill was to have a
+fair proportion of the stock&mdash;twenty per cent. Strobik and Wycroft knew
+the parties from whom the bulk of the stock could be secured if engineered
+properly. Their plan was then, with this borrowed treasury money, to extend its
+franchise and then the line itself, and then later again, by issuing a great
+block of stock and hypothecating it with a favored bank, be able to return the
+principal to the city treasury and pocket their profits from the line as
+earned. There was no trouble in this, in so far as Cowperwood was concerned,
+except that it divided the stock very badly among these various individuals,
+and left him but a comparatively small share&mdash;for his thought and pains.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Cowperwood was an opportunist. And by this time his financial morality had
+become special and local in its character. He did not think it was wise for any
+one to steal anything from anybody where the act of taking or profiting was
+directly and plainly considered stealing. That was
+unwise&mdash;dangerous&mdash;hence wrong. There were so many situations wherein
+what one might do in the way of taking or profiting was open to discussion and
+doubt. Morality varied, in his mind at least, with conditions, if not climates.
+Here, in Philadelphia, the tradition (politically, mind you&mdash;not
+generally) was that the city treasurer might use the money of the city without
+interest so long as he returned the principal intact. The city treasury and the
+city treasurer were like a honey-laden hive and a queen bee around which the
+drones&mdash;the politicians&mdash;swarmed in the hope of profit. The one
+disagreeable thing in connection with this transaction with Stener was that
+neither Butler, Mollenhauer nor Simpson, who were the actual superiors of
+Stener and Strobik, knew anything about it. Stener and those behind him were,
+through him, acting for themselves. If the larger powers heard of this, it
+might alienate them. He had to think of this. Still, if he refused to make
+advantageous deals with Stener or any other man influential in local affairs,
+he was cutting off his nose to spite his face, for other bankers and brokers
+would, and gladly. And besides it was not at all certain that Butler,
+Mollenhauer, and Simpson would ever hear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this connection, there was another line, which he rode on occasionally, the
+Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line, which he felt was a much more
+interesting thing for him to think about, if he could raise the money. It had
+been originally capitalized for five hundred thousand dollars; but there had
+been a series of bonds to the value of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
+added for improvements, and the company was finding great difficulty in meeting
+the interest. The bulk of the stock was scattered about among small investors,
+and it would require all of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to collect
+it and have himself elected president or chairman of the board of directors.
+Once in, however, he could vote this stock as he pleased, hypothecating it
+meanwhile at his father&rsquo;s bank for as much as he could get, and issuing
+more stocks with which to bribe legislators in the matter of extending the
+line, and in taking up other opportunities to either add to it by purchase or
+supplement it by working agreements. The word &ldquo;bribe&rdquo; is used here
+in this matter-of-fact American way, because bribery was what was in every
+one&rsquo;s mind in connection with the State legislature. Terrence
+Relihan&mdash;the small, dark-faced Irishman, a dandy in dress and
+manners&mdash;who represented the financial interests at Harrisburg, and who
+had come to Cowperwood after the five million bond deal had been printed, had
+told him that nothing could be done at the capital without money, or its
+equivalent, negotiable securities. Each significant legislator, if he yielded
+his vote or his influence, must be looked after. If he, Cowperwood, had any
+scheme which he wanted handled at any time, Relihan had intimated to him that
+he would be glad to talk with him. Cowperwood had figured on this Seventeenth
+and Nineteenth Street line scheme more than once, but he had never felt quite
+sure that he was willing to undertake it. His obligations in other directions
+were so large. But the lure was there, and he pondered and pondered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stener&rsquo;s scheme of loaning him money wherewith to manipulate the North
+Pennsylvania line deal put this Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street dream in a
+more favorable light. As it was he was constantly watching the certificates of
+loan issue, for the city treasury,&mdash;buying large quantities when the
+market was falling to protect it and selling heavily, though cautiously, when
+he saw it rising and to do this he had to have a great deal of free money to
+permit him to do it. He was constantly fearful of some break in the market
+which would affect the value of all his securities and result in the calling of
+his loans. There was no storm in sight. He did not see that anything could
+happen in reason; but he did not want to spread himself out too thin. As he saw
+it now, therefore if he took one hundred and fifty thousand dollars of this
+city money and went after this Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street matter it
+would not mean that he was spreading himself out too thin, for because of this
+new proposition could he not call on Stener for more as a loan in connection
+with these other ventures? But if anything should happen&mdash;well&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frank,&rdquo; said Stener, strolling into his office one afternoon after
+four o&rsquo;clock when the main rush of the day&rsquo;s work was
+over&mdash;the relationship between Cowperwood and Stener had long since
+reached the &ldquo;Frank&rdquo; and &ldquo;George&rdquo;
+period&mdash;&ldquo;Strobik thinks he has that North Pennsylvania deal arranged
+so that we can take it up if we want to. The principal stockholder, we find, is
+a man by the name of Coltan&mdash;not Ike Colton, but Ferdinand. How&rsquo;s
+that for a name?&rdquo; Stener beamed fatly and genially.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Things had changed considerably for him since the days when he had been
+fortuitously and almost indifferently made city treasurer. His method of
+dressing had so much improved since he had been inducted into office, and his
+manner expressed so much more good feeling, confidence, aplomb, that he would
+not have recognized himself if he had been permitted to see himself as had
+those who had known him before. An old, nervous shifting of the eyes had almost
+ceased, and a feeling of restfulness, which had previously been restlessness,
+and had sprung from a sense of necessity, had taken its place. His large feet
+were incased in good, square-toed, soft-leather shoes; his stocky chest and fat
+legs were made somewhat agreeable to the eye by a well-cut suit of
+brownish-gray cloth; and his neck was now surrounded by a low, wing-point white
+collar and brown-silk tie. His ample chest, which spread out a little lower in
+around and constantly enlarging stomach, was ornamented by a heavy-link gold
+chain, and his white cuffs had large gold cuff-buttons set with rubies of a
+very notable size. He was rosy and decidedly well fed. In fact, he was doing
+very well indeed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had moved his family from a shabby two-story frame house in South Ninth
+Street to a very comfortable brick one three stories in height, and three times
+as large, on Spring Garden Street. His wife had a few acquaintances&mdash;the
+wives of other politicians. His children were attending the high school, a
+thing he had hardly hoped for in earlier days. He was now the owner of fourteen
+or fifteen pieces of cheap real estate in different portions of the city, which
+might eventually become very valuable, and he was a silent partner in the South
+Philadelphia Foundry Company and the American Beef and Pork Company, two
+corporations on paper whose principal business was subletting contracts secured
+from the city to the humble butchers and foundrymen who would carry out orders
+as given and not talk too much or ask questions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that is an odd name,&rdquo; said Cowperwood, blandly. &ldquo;So he
+has it? I never thought that road would pay, as it was laid out. It&rsquo;s too
+short. It ought to run about three miles farther out into the Kensington
+section.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re right,&rdquo; said Stener, dully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did Strobik say what Colton wants for his shares?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sixty-eight, I think.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The current market rate. He doesn&rsquo;t want much, does he? Well,
+George, at that rate it will take about&rdquo;&mdash;he calculated quickly on
+the basis of the number of shares Cotton was holding&mdash;&ldquo;one hundred
+and twenty thousand to get him out alone. That isn&rsquo;t all. There&rsquo;s
+Judge Kitchen and Joseph Zimmerman and Senator Donovan&rdquo;&mdash;he was
+referring to the State senator of that name. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll be paying a
+pretty fair price for that stud when you get it. It will cost considerable more
+to extend the line. It&rsquo;s too much, I think.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood was thinking how easy it would be to combine this line with his
+dreamed-of Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line, and after a time and with
+this in view he added:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Say, George, why do you work all your schemes through Strobik and Harmon
+and Wycroft? Couldn&rsquo;t you and I manage some of these things for ourselves
+alone instead of for three or four? It seems to me that plan would be much more
+profitable to you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It would, it would!&rdquo; exclaimed Stener, his round eyes fixed on
+Cowperwood in a rather helpless, appealing way. He liked Cowperwood and had
+always been hoping that mentally as well as financially he could get close to
+him. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve thought of that. But these fellows have had more
+experience in these matters than I have had, Frank. They&rsquo;ve been longer
+at the game. I don&rsquo;t know as much about these things as they do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood smiled in his soul, though his face remained passive.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry about them, George,&rdquo; he continued genially and
+confidentially. &ldquo;You and I together can know and do as much as they ever
+could and more. I&rsquo;m telling you. Take this railroad deal you&rsquo;re in
+on now, George; you and I could manipulate that just as well and better than it
+can be done with Wycroft, Strobik, and Harmon in on it. They&rsquo;re not
+adding anything to the wisdom of the situation. They&rsquo;re not putting up
+any money. You&rsquo;re doing that. All they&rsquo;re doing is agreeing to see
+it through the legislature and the council, and as far as the legislature is
+concerned, they can&rsquo;t do any more with that than any one else
+could&mdash;than I could, for instance. It&rsquo;s all a question of arranging
+things with Relihan, anyhow, putting up a certain amount of money for him to
+work with. Here in town there are other people who can reach the council just
+as well as Strobik.&rdquo; He was thinking (once he controlled a road of his
+own) of conferring with Butler and getting him to use his influence. It would
+serve to quiet Strobik and his friends. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not asking you to
+change your plans on this North Pennsylvania deal. You couldn&rsquo;t do that
+very well. But there are other things. In the future why not let&rsquo;s see if
+you and I can&rsquo;t work some one thing together? You&rsquo;ll be much better
+off, and so will I. We&rsquo;ve done pretty well on the city-loan proposition
+so far, haven&rsquo;t we?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The truth was, they had done exceedingly well. Aside from what the higher
+powers had made, Stener&rsquo;s new house, his lots, his bank-account, his good
+clothes, and his changed and comfortable sense of life were largely due to
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s successful manipulation of these city-loan certificates.
+Already there had been four issues of two hundred thousand dollars each.
+Cowperwood had bought and sold nearly three million dollars&rsquo; worth of
+these certificates, acting one time as a &ldquo;bull&rdquo; and another as a
+&ldquo;bear.&rdquo; Stener was now worth all of one hundred and fifty thousand
+dollars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a line that I know of here in the city which could be made
+into a splendidly paying property,&rdquo; continued Cowperwood, meditatively,
+&ldquo;if the right things could be done with it. Just like this North
+Pennsylvania line, it isn&rsquo;t long enough. The territory it serves
+isn&rsquo;t big enough. It ought to be extended; but if you and I could get it,
+it might eventually be worked with this North Pennsylvania Company or some
+other as one company. That would save officers and offices and a lot of things.
+There is always money to be made out of a larger purchasing power.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused and looked out the window of his handsome little hardwood office,
+speculating upon the future. The window gave nowhere save into a back yard
+behind another office building which had formerly been a residence. Some grass
+grew feebly there. The red wall and old-fashioned brick fence which divided it
+from the next lot reminded him somehow of his old home in New Market Street, to
+which his Uncle Seneca used to come as a Cuban trader followed by his black
+Portuguese servitor. He could see him now as he sat here looking at the yard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; asked Stener, ambitiously, taking the bait, &ldquo;why
+don&rsquo;t we get hold of that&mdash;you and me? I suppose I could fix it so
+far as the money is concerned. How much would it take?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood smiled inwardly again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know exactly,&rdquo; he said, after a time. &ldquo;I want
+to look into it more carefully. The one trouble is that I&rsquo;m carrying a
+good deal of the city&rsquo;s money as it is. You see, I have that two hundred
+thousand dollars against your city-loan deals. And this new scheme will take
+two or three hundred thousand more. If that were out of the way&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was thinking of one of the inexplicable stock panics&mdash;those strange
+American depressions which had so much to do with the temperament of the
+people, and so little to do with the basic conditions of the country. &ldquo;If
+this North Pennsylvania deal were through and done with&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He rubbed his chin and pulled at his handsome silky mustache.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t ask me any more about it, George,&rdquo; he said, finally,
+as he saw that the latter was beginning to think as to which line it might be.
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t say anything at all about it. I want to get my facts exactly
+right, and then I&rsquo;ll talk to you. I think you and I can do this thing a
+little later, when we get the North Pennsylvania scheme under way. I&rsquo;m so
+rushed just now I&rsquo;m not sure that I want to undertake it at once; but you
+keep quiet and we&rsquo;ll see.&rdquo; He turned toward his desk, and Stener
+got up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll make any sized deposit with you that you wish, the moment you
+think you&rsquo;re ready to act, Frank,&rdquo; exclaimed Stener, and with the
+thought that Cowperwood was not nearly as anxious to do this as he should be,
+since he could always rely on him (Stener) when there was anything really
+profitable in the offing. Why should not the able and wonderful Cowperwood be
+allowed to make the two of them rich? &ldquo;Just notify Stires, and
+he&rsquo;ll send you a check. Strobik thought we ought to act pretty
+soon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tend to it, George,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, confidently.
+&ldquo;It will come out all right. Leave it to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stener kicked his stout legs to straighten his trousers, and extended his hand.
+He strolled out in the street thinking of this new scheme. Certainly, if he
+could get in with Cowperwood right he would be a rich man, for Cowperwood was
+so successful and so cautious. His new house, this beautiful banking office,
+his growing fame, and his subtle connections with Butler and others put Stener
+in considerable awe of him. Another line! They would control it and the North
+Pennsylvania! Why, if this went on, he might become a magnate&mdash;he really
+might&mdash;he, George W. Stener, once a cheap real-estate and insurance agent.
+He strolled up the street thinking, but with no more idea of the importance of
+his civic duties and the nature of the social ethics against which he was
+offending than if they had never existed.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap22"></a>Chapter XXII</h2>
+
+<p>
+The services which Cowperwood performed during the ensuing year and a half for
+Stener, Strobik, Butler, State Treasurer Van Nostrand, State Senator Relihan,
+representative of &ldquo;the interests,&rdquo; so-called, at Harrisburg, and
+various banks which were friendly to these gentlemen, were numerous and
+confidential. For Stener, Strobik, Wycroft, Harmon and himself he executed the
+North Pennsylvania deal, by which he became a holder of a fifth of the
+controlling stock. Together he and Stener joined to purchase the Seventeenth
+and Nineteenth Street line and in the concurrent gambling in stocks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By the summer of 1871, when Cowperwood was nearly thirty-four years of age, he
+had a banking business estimated at nearly two million dollars, personal
+holdings aggregating nearly half a million, and prospects which other things
+being equal looked to wealth which might rival that of any American. The city,
+through its treasurer&mdash;still Mr. Stener&mdash;was a depositor with him to
+the extent of nearly five hundred thousand dollars. The State, through its
+State treasurer, Van Nostrand, carried two hundred thousand dollars on his
+books. Bode was speculating in street-railway stocks to the extent of fifty
+thousand dollars. Relihan to the same amount. A small army of politicians and
+political hangers-on were on his books for various sums. And for Edward Malia
+Butler he occasionally carried as high as one hundred thousand dollars in
+margins. His own loans at the banks, varying from day to day on variously
+hypothecated securities, were as high as seven and eight hundred thousand
+dollars. Like a spider in a spangled net, every thread of which he knew, had
+laid, had tested, he had surrounded and entangled himself in a splendid,
+glittering network of connections, and he was watching all the details.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His one pet idea, the thing he put more faith in than anything else, was his
+street-railway manipulations, and particularly his actual control of the
+Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line. Through an advance to him, on deposit,
+made in his bank by Stener at a time when the stock of the Seventeenth and
+Nineteenth Street line was at a low ebb, he had managed to pick up fifty-one
+per cent. of the stock for himself and Stener, by virtue of which he was able
+to do as he pleased with the road. To accomplish this, however, he had resorted
+to some very &ldquo;peculiar&rdquo; methods, as they afterward came to be
+termed in financial circles, to get this stock at his own valuation. Through
+agents he caused suits for damages to be brought against the company for
+non-payment of interest due. A little stock in the hands of a hireling, a
+request made to a court of record to examine the books of the company in order
+to determine whether a receivership were not advisable, a simultaneous attack
+in the stock market, selling at three, five, seven, and ten points off, brought
+the frightened stockholders into the market with their holdings. The banks
+considered the line a poor risk, and called their loans in connection with it.
+His father&rsquo;s bank had made one loan to one of the principal stockholders,
+and that was promptly called, of course. Then, through an agent, the several
+heaviest shareholders were approached and an offer was made to help them out.
+The stocks would be taken off their hands at forty. They had not really been
+able to discover the source of all their woes; and they imagined that the road
+was in bad condition, which it was not. Better let it go. The money was
+immediately forthcoming, and Cowperwood and Stener jointly controlled fifty-one
+per cent. But, as in the case of the North Pennsylvania line, Cowperwood had
+been quietly buying all of the small minority holdings, so that he had in
+reality fifty-one per cent. of the stock, and Stener twenty-five per cent.
+more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This intoxicated him, for immediately he saw the opportunity of fulfilling his
+long-contemplated dream&mdash;that of reorganizing the company in conjunction
+with the North Pennsylvania line, issuing three shares where one had been
+before and after unloading all but a control on the general public, using the
+money secured to buy into other lines which were to be boomed and sold in the
+same way. In short, he was one of those early, daring manipulators who later
+were to seize upon other and ever larger phases of American natural development
+for their own aggrandizement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In connection with this first consolidation, his plan was to spread rumors of
+the coming consolidation of the two lines, to appeal to the legislature for
+privileges of extension, to get up an arresting prospectus and later annual
+reports, and to boom the stock on the stock exchange as much as his swelling
+resources would permit. The trouble is that when you are trying to make a
+market for a stock&mdash;to unload a large issue such as his was (over five
+hundred thousand dollars&rsquo; worth)&mdash;while retaining five hundred
+thousand for yourself, it requires large capital to handle it. The owner in
+these cases is compelled not only to go on the market and do much fictitious
+buying, thus creating a fictitious demand, but once this fictitious demand has
+deceived the public and he has been able to unload a considerable quantity of
+his wares, he is, unless he rids himself of all his stock, compelled to stand
+behind it. If, for instance, he sold five thousand shares, as was done in this
+instance, and retained five thousand, he must see that the public price of the
+outstanding five thousand shares did not fall below a certain point, because
+the value of his private shares would fall with it. And if, as is almost always
+the case, the private shares had been hypothecated with banks and trust
+companies for money wherewith to conduct other enterprises, the falling of
+their value in the open market merely meant that the banks would call for large
+margins to protect their loans or call their loans entirely. This meant that
+his work was a failure, and he might readily fail. He was already conducting
+one such difficult campaign in connection with this city-loan deal, the price
+of which varied from day to day, and which he was only too anxious to have
+vary, for in the main he profited by these changes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But this second burden, interesting enough as it was, meant that he had to be
+doubly watchful. Once the stock was sold at a high price, the money borrowed
+from the city treasurer could be returned; his own holdings created out of
+foresight, by capitalizing the future, by writing the shrewd prospectuses and
+reports, would be worth their face value, or little less. He would have money
+to invest in other lines. He might obtain the financial direction of the whole,
+in which case he would be worth millions. One shrewd thing he did, which
+indicated the foresight and subtlety of the man, was to make a separate
+organization or company of any extension or addition which he made to his line.
+Thus, if he had two or three miles of track on a street, and he wanted to
+extend it two or three miles farther on the same street, instead of including
+this extension in the existing corporation, he would make a second corporation
+to control the additional two or three miles of right of way. This corporation
+he would capitalize at so much, and issue stocks and bonds for its
+construction, equipment, and manipulation. Having done this he would then take
+the sub-corporation over into the parent concern, issuing more stocks and bonds
+of the parent company wherewith to do it, and, of course, selling these bonds
+to the public. Even his brothers who worked for him did not know the various
+ramifications of his numerous deals, and executed his orders blindly. Sometimes
+Joseph said to Edward, in a puzzled way, &ldquo;Well, Frank knows what he is
+about, I guess.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the other hand, he was most careful to see that every current obligation was
+instantly met, and even anticipated, for he wanted to make a great show of
+regularity. Nothing was so precious as reputation and standing. His
+forethought, caution, and promptness pleased the bankers. They thought he was
+one of the sanest, shrewdest men they had ever met.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However, by the spring and summer of 1871, Cowperwood had actually, without
+being in any conceivable danger from any source, spread himself out very thin.
+Because of his great success he had grown more liberal&mdash;easier&mdash;in
+his financial ventures. By degrees, and largely because of his own confidence
+in himself, he had induced his father to enter upon his street-car
+speculations, to use the resources of the Third National to carry a part of his
+loans and to furnish capital at such times as quick resources were necessary.
+In the beginning the old gentleman had been a little nervous and skeptical, but
+as time had worn on and nothing but profit eventuated, he grew bolder and more
+confident.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frank,&rdquo; he would say, looking up over his spectacles,
+&ldquo;aren&rsquo;t you afraid you&rsquo;re going a little too fast in these
+matters? You&rsquo;re carrying a lot of loans these days.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No more than I ever did, father, considering my resources. You
+can&rsquo;t turn large deals without large loans. You know that as well as I
+do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I know, but&mdash;now that Green and Coates&mdash;aren&rsquo;t you
+going pretty strong there?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not at all. I know the inside conditions there. The stock is bound to go
+up eventually. I&rsquo;ll bull it up. I&rsquo;ll combine it with my other
+lines, if necessary.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood stared at his boy. Never was there such a defiant, daring
+manipulator.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You needn&rsquo;t worry about me, father. If you are going to do that,
+call my loans. Other banks will loan on my stocks. I&rsquo;d like to see your
+bank have the interest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So Cowperwood, Sr., was convinced. There was no gainsaying this argument. His
+bank was loaning Frank heavily, but not more so than any other. And as for the
+great blocks of stocks he was carrying in his son&rsquo;s companies, he was to
+be told when to get out should that prove necessary. Frank&rsquo;s brothers
+were being aided in the same way to make money on the side, and their interests
+were also now bound up indissolubly with his own.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With his growing financial opportunities, however, Cowperwood had also grown
+very liberal in what might be termed his standard of living. Certain young art
+dealers in Philadelphia, learning of his artistic inclinations and his growing
+wealth, had followed him up with suggestions as to furniture, tapestries, rugs,
+objects of art, and paintings&mdash;at first the American and later the foreign
+masters exclusively. His own and his father&rsquo;s house had not been
+furnished fully in these matters, and there was that other house in North Tenth
+Street, which he desired to make beautiful. Aileen had always objected to the
+condition of her own home. Love of distinguished surroundings was a basic
+longing with her, though she had not the gift of interpreting her longings. But
+this place where they were secretly meeting must be beautiful. She was as keen
+for that as he was. So it became a veritable treasure-trove, more distinguished
+in furnishings than some of the rooms of his own home. He began to gather here
+some rare examples of altar cloths, rugs, and tapestries of the Middle Ages. He
+bought furniture after the Georgian theory&mdash;a combination of Chippendale,
+Sheraton, and Heppelwhite modified by the Italian Renaissance and the French
+Louis. He learned of handsome examples of porcelain, statuary, Greek vase
+forms, lovely collections of Japanese ivories and netsukes. Fletcher Gray, a
+partner in Cable &amp; Gray, a local firm of importers of art objects, called
+on him in connection with a tapestry of the fourteenth century weaving. Gray
+was an enthusiast and almost instantly he conveyed some of his suppressed and
+yet fiery love of the beautiful to Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are fifty periods of one shade of blue porcelain alone, Mr.
+Cowperwood,&rdquo; Gray informed him. &ldquo;There are at least seven distinct
+schools or periods of rugs&mdash;Persian, Armenian, Arabian, Flemish, Modern
+Polish, Hungarian, and so on. If you ever went into that, it would be a
+distinguished thing to get a complete&mdash;I mean a
+representative&mdash;collection of some one period, or of all these periods.
+They are beautiful. I have seen some of them, others I&rsquo;ve read
+about.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll make a convert of me yet, Fletcher,&rdquo; replied
+Cowperwood. &ldquo;You or art will be the ruin of me. I&rsquo;m inclined that
+way temperamentally as it is, I think, and between you and Ellsworth and Gordon
+Strake&rdquo;&mdash;another young man intensely interested in
+painting&mdash;&ldquo;you&rsquo;ll complete my downfall. Strake has a splendid
+idea. He wants me to begin right now&mdash;I&rsquo;m using that word
+&lsquo;right&rsquo; in the sense of &lsquo;properly,&rsquo;&rdquo; he
+commented&mdash;&ldquo;and get what examples I can of just the few rare things
+in each school or period of art which would properly illustrate each. He tells
+me the great pictures are going to increase in value, and what I could get for
+a few hundred thousand now will be worth millions later. He doesn&rsquo;t want
+me to bother with American art.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He&rsquo;s right,&rdquo; exclaimed Gray, &ldquo;although it isn&rsquo;t
+good business for me to praise another art man. It would take a great deal of
+money, though.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not so very much. At least, not all at once. It would be a matter of
+years, of course. Strake thinks that some excellent examples of different
+periods could be picked up now and later replaced if anything better in the
+same held showed up.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His mind, in spite of his outward placidity, was tinged with a great seeking.
+Wealth, in the beginning, had seemed the only goal, to which had been added the
+beauty of women. And now art, for art&rsquo;s sake&mdash;the first faint
+radiance of a rosy dawn&mdash;had begun to shine in upon him, and to the beauty
+of womanhood he was beginning to see how necessary it was to add the beauty of
+life&mdash;the beauty of material background&mdash;how, in fact, the only
+background for great beauty was great art. This girl, this Aileen Butler, her
+raw youth and radiance, was nevertheless creating in him a sense of the
+distinguished and a need for it which had never existed in him before to the
+same degree. It is impossible to define these subtleties of reaction,
+temperament on temperament, for no one knows to what degree we are marked by
+the things which attract us. A love affair such as this had proved to be was
+little less or more than a drop of coloring added to a glass of clear water, or
+a foreign chemical agent introduced into a delicate chemical formula.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In short, for all her crudeness, Aileen Butler was a definite force personally.
+Her nature, in a way, a protest against the clumsy conditions by which she
+found herself surrounded, was almost irrationally ambitious. To think that for
+so long, having been born into the Butler family, she had been the subject, as
+well as the victim of such commonplace and inartistic illusions and conditions,
+whereas now, owing to her contact with, and mental subordination to Cowperwood,
+she was learning so many wonderful phases of social, as well as financial,
+refinement of which previously she had guessed nothing. The wonder, for
+instance, of a future social career as the wife of such a man as Frank
+Cowperwood. The beauty and resourcefulness of his mind, which, after hours of
+intimate contact with her, he was pleased to reveal, and which, so definite
+were his comments and instructions, she could not fail to sense. The wonder of
+his financial and artistic and future social dreams. And, oh, oh, she was his,
+and he was hers. She was actually beside herself at times with the glory, as
+well as the delight of all this.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the same time, her father&rsquo;s local reputation as a quondam garbage
+contractor (&ldquo;slop-collector&rdquo; was the unfeeling comment of the
+vulgarian cognoscenti); her own unavailing efforts to right a condition of
+material vulgarity or artistic anarchy in her own home; the hopelessness of
+ever being admitted to those distinguished portals which she recognized afar
+off as the last sanctum sanctorum of established respectability and social
+distinction, had bred in her, even at this early age, a feeling of deadly
+opposition to her home conditions as they stood. Such a house compared to
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s! Her dear, but ignorant, father! And this great man, her
+lover, had now condescended to love her&mdash;see in her his future wife. Oh,
+God, that it might not fail! Through the Cowperwoods at first she had hoped to
+meet a few people, young men and women&mdash;and particularly men&mdash;who
+were above the station in which she found herself, and to whom her beauty and
+prospective fortune would commend her; but this had not been the case. The
+Cowperwoods themselves, in spite of Frank Cowperwood&rsquo;s artistic
+proclivities and growing wealth, had not penetrated the inner circle as yet. In
+fact, aside from the subtle, preliminary consideration which they were
+receiving, they were a long way off.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+None the less, and instinctively in Cowperwood Aileen recognized a way
+out&mdash;a door&mdash;and by the same token a subtle, impending artistic
+future of great magnificence. This man would rise beyond anything he now
+dreamed of&mdash;she felt it. There was in him, in some nebulous,
+unrecognizable form, a great artistic reality which was finer than anything she
+could plan for herself. She wanted luxury, magnificence, social station. Well,
+if she could get this man they would come to her. There were, apparently,
+insuperable barriers in the way; but hers was no weakling nature, and neither
+was his. They ran together temperamentally from the first like two leopards.
+Her own thoughts&mdash;crude, half formulated, half spoken&mdash;nevertheless
+matched his to a degree in the equality of their force and their raw
+directness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think papa knows how to do,&rdquo; she said to him, one
+day. &ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t his fault. He can&rsquo;t help it. He knows that he
+can&rsquo;t. And he knows that I know it. For years I wanted him to move out of
+that old house there. He knows that he ought to. But even that wouldn&rsquo;t
+do much good.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She paused, looking at him with a straight, clear, vigorous glance. He liked
+the medallion sharpness of her features&mdash;their smooth, Greek modeling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never mind, pet,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;We will arrange all these
+things later. I don&rsquo;t see my way out of this just now; but I think the
+best thing to do is to confess to Lillian some day, and see if some other plan
+can&rsquo;t be arranged. I want to fix it so the children won&rsquo;t suffer. I
+can provide for them amply, and I wouldn&rsquo;t be at all surprised if Lillian
+would be willing to let me go. She certainly wouldn&rsquo;t want any
+publicity.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was counting practically, and man-fashion, on her love for her children.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen looked at him with clear, questioning, uncertain eyes. She was not
+wholly without sympathy, but in a way this situation did not appeal to her as
+needing much. Mrs. Cowperwood was not friendly in her mood toward her. It was
+not based on anything save a difference in their point of view. Mrs. Cowperwood
+could never understand how a girl could carry her head so high and &ldquo;put
+on such airs,&rdquo; and Aileen could not understand how any one could be so
+lymphatic and lackadaisical as Lillian Cowperwood. Life was made for riding,
+driving, dancing, going. It was made for airs and banter and persiflage and
+coquetry. To see this woman, the wife of a young, forceful man like Cowperwood,
+acting, even though she were five years older and the mother of two children,
+as though life on its romantic and enthusiastic pleasurable side were all over
+was too much for her. Of course Lillian was unsuited to Frank; of course he
+needed a young woman like herself, and fate would surely give him to her. Then
+what a delicious life they would lead!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Frank,&rdquo; she exclaimed to him, over and over, &ldquo;if we
+could only manage it. Do you think we can?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do I think we can? Certainly I do. It&rsquo;s only a matter of time. I
+think if I were to put the matter to her clearly, she wouldn&rsquo;t expect me
+to stay. You look out how you conduct your affairs. If your father or your
+brother should ever suspect me, there&rsquo;d be an explosion in this town, if
+nothing worse. They&rsquo;d fight me in all my money deals, if they
+didn&rsquo;t kill me. Are you thinking carefully of what you are doing?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All the time. If anything happens I&rsquo;ll deny everything. They
+can&rsquo;t prove it, if I deny it. I&rsquo;ll come to you in the long run,
+just the same.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They were in the Tenth Street house at the time. She stroked his cheeks with
+the loving fingers of the wildly enamored woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll do anything for you, sweetheart,&rdquo; she declared.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d die for you if I had to. I love you so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, pet, no danger. You won&rsquo;t have to do anything like that. But
+be careful.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap23"></a>Chapter XXIII</h2>
+
+<p>
+Then, after several years of this secret relationship, in which the ties of
+sympathy and understanding grew stronger instead of weaker, came the storm. It
+burst unexpectedly and out of a clear sky, and bore no relation to the
+intention or volition of any individual. It was nothing more than a fire, a
+distant one&mdash;the great Chicago fire, October 7th, 1871, which burned that
+city&mdash;its vast commercial section&mdash;to the ground, and instantly and
+incidentally produced a financial panic, vicious though of short duration in
+various other cities in America. The fire began on Saturday and continued
+apparently unabated until the following Wednesday. It destroyed the banks, the
+commercial houses, the shipping conveniences, and vast stretches of property.
+The heaviest loss fell naturally upon the insurance companies, which instantly,
+in many cases&mdash;the majority&mdash;closed their doors. This threw the loss
+back on the manufacturers and wholesalers in other cities who had had dealings
+with Chicago as well as the merchants of that city. Again, very grievous losses
+were borne by the host of eastern capitalists which had for years past partly
+owned, or held heavy mortgages on, the magnificent buildings for business
+purposes and residences in which Chicago was already rivaling every city on the
+continent. Transportation was disturbed, and the keen scent of Wall Street, and
+Third Street in Philadelphia, and State Street in Boston, instantly perceived
+in the early reports the gravity of the situation. Nothing could be done on
+Saturday or Sunday after the exchange closed, for the opening reports came too
+late. On Monday, however, the facts were pouring in thick and fast; and the
+owners of railroad securities, government securities, street-car securities,
+and, indeed, all other forms of stocks and bonds, began to throw them on the
+market in order to raise cash. The banks naturally were calling their loans,
+and the result was a stock stampede which equaled the Black Friday of Wall
+Street of two years before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood and his father were out of town at the time the fire began. They had
+gone with several friends&mdash;bankers&mdash;to look at a proposed route of
+extension of a local steam-railroad, on which a loan was desired. In buggies
+they had driven over a good portion of the route, and were returning to
+Philadelphia late Sunday evening when the cries of newsboys hawking an
+&ldquo;extra&rdquo; reached their ears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ho! Extra! Extra! All about the big Chicago fire!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ho! Extra! Extra! Chicago burning down! Extra! Extra!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cries were long-drawn-out, ominous, pathetic. In the dusk of the dreary
+Sunday afternoon, when the city had apparently retired to Sabbath meditation
+and prayer, with that tinge of the dying year in the foliage and in the air,
+one caught a sense of something grim and gloomy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hey, boy,&rdquo; called Cowperwood, listening, seeing a shabbily clothed
+misfit of a boy with a bundle of papers under his arm turning a corner.
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s that? Chicago burning!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at his father and the other men in a significant way as he reached
+for the paper, and then, glancing at the headlines, realized the worst.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+ALL CHICAGO BURNING
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+FIRE RAGES UNCHECKED IN COMMERCIAL SECTION SINCE YESTERDAY EVENING. BANKS,
+COMMERCIAL HOUSES, PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN RUINS. DIRECT TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
+SUSPENDED SINCE THREE O&rsquo;CLOCK TO-DAY. NO END TO PROGRESS OF DISASTER IN
+SIGHT.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That looks rather serious,&rdquo; he said, calmly, to his companions, a
+cold, commanding force coming into his eyes and voice. To his father he said a
+little later, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s panic, unless the majority of the banks and
+brokerage firms stand together.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was thinking quickly, brilliantly, resourcefully of his own outstanding
+obligations. His father&rsquo;s bank was carrying one hundred thousand
+dollars&rsquo; worth of his street-railway securities at sixty, and fifty
+thousand dollars&rsquo; worth of city loan at seventy. His father had &ldquo;up
+with him&rdquo; over forty thousand dollars in cash covering market
+manipulations in these stocks. The banking house of Drexel &amp; Co. was on his
+books as a creditor for one hundred thousand, and that loan would be called
+unless they were especially merciful, which was not likely. Jay Cooke &amp; Co.
+were his creditors for another one hundred and fifty thousand. They would want
+their money. At four smaller banks and three brokerage companies he was debtor
+for sums ranging from fifty thousand dollars down. The city treasurer was
+involved with him to the extent of nearly five hundred thousand dollars, and
+exposure of that would create a scandal; the State treasurer for two hundred
+thousand. There were small accounts, hundreds of them, ranging from one hundred
+dollars up to five and ten thousand. A panic would mean not only a withdrawal
+of deposits and a calling of loans, but a heavy depression of securities. How
+could he realize on his securities?&mdash;that was the question&mdash;how
+without selling so many points off that his fortune would be swept away and he
+would be ruined?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He figured briskly the while he waved adieu to his friends, who hurried away,
+struck with their own predicament.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You had better go on out to the house, father, and I&rsquo;ll send some
+telegrams.&rdquo; (The telephone had not yet been invented.) &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll
+be right out and we&rsquo;ll go into this thing together. It looks like black
+weather to me. Don&rsquo;t say anything to any one until after we have had our
+talk; then we can decide what to do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, Sr., was already plucking at his side-whiskers in a confused and
+troubled way. He was cogitating as to what might happen to him in case his son
+failed, for he was deeply involved with him. He was a little gray in his
+complexion now, frightened, for he had already strained many points in his
+affairs to accommodate his son. If Frank should not be able promptly on the
+morrow to meet the call which the bank might have to make for one hundred and
+fifty thousand dollars, the onus and scandal of the situation would be on him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the other hand, his son was meditating on the tangled relation in which he
+now found himself in connection with the city treasurer and the fact that it
+was not possible for him to support the market alone. Those who should have
+been in a position to help him were now as bad off as himself. There were many
+unfavorable points in the whole situation. Drexel &amp; Co. had been booming
+railway stocks&mdash;loaning heavily on them. Jay Cooke &amp; Co. had been
+backing Northern Pacific&mdash;were practically doing their best to build that
+immense transcontinental system alone. Naturally, they were long on that and
+hence in a ticklish position. At the first word they would throw over their
+surest securities&mdash;government bonds, and the like&mdash;in order to
+protect their more speculative holdings. The bears would see the point. They
+would hammer and hammer, selling short all along the line. But he did not dare
+to do that. He would be breaking his own back quickly, and what he needed was
+time. If he could only get time&mdash;three days, a week, ten days&mdash;this
+storm would surely blow over.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The thing that was troubling him most was the matter of the half-million
+invested with him by Stener. A fall election was drawing near. Stener, although
+he had served two terms, was slated for reelection. A scandal in connection
+with the city treasury would be a very bad thing. It would end Stener&rsquo;s
+career as an official&mdash;would very likely send him to the penitentiary. It
+might wreck the Republican party&rsquo;s chances to win. It would certainly
+involve himself as having much to do with it. If that happened, he would have
+the politicians to reckon with. For, if he were hard pressed, as he would be,
+and failed, the fact that he had been trying to invade the city street-railway
+preserves which they held sacred to themselves, with borrowed city money, and
+that this borrowing was liable to cost them the city election, would all come
+out. They would not view all that with a kindly eye. It would be useless to
+say, as he could, that he had borrowed the money at two per cent. (most of it,
+to save himself, had been covered by a protective clause of that kind), or that
+he had merely acted as an agent for Stener. That might go down with the
+unsophisticated of the outer world, but it would never be swallowed by the
+politicians. They knew better than that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was another phase to this situation, however, that encouraged him, and
+that was his knowledge of how city politics were going in general. It was
+useless for any politician, however loftly, to take a high and mighty tone in a
+crisis like this. All of them, great and small, were profiting in one way and
+another through city privileges. Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson, he knew,
+made money out of contracts&mdash;legal enough, though they might be looked
+upon as rank favoritism&mdash;and also out of vast sums of money collected in
+the shape of taxes&mdash;land taxes, water taxes, etc.&mdash;which were
+deposited in the various banks designated by these men and others as legal
+depositories for city money. The banks supposedly carried the city&rsquo;s
+money in their vaults as a favor, without paying interest of any kind, and then
+reinvested it&mdash;for whom? Cowperwood had no complaint to make, for he was
+being well treated, but these men could scarcely expect to monopolize all the
+city&rsquo;s benefits. He did not know either Mollenhauer or Simpson
+personally&mdash;but he knew they as well as Butler had made money out of his
+own manipulation of city loan. Also, Butler was most friendly to him. It was
+not unreasonable for him to think, in a crisis like this, that if worst came to
+worst, he could make a clean breast of it to Butler and receive aid. In case he
+could not get through secretly with Stener&rsquo;s help, Cowperwood made up his
+mind that he would do this.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His first move, he decided, would be to go at once to Stener&rsquo;s house and
+demand the loan of an additional three or four hundred thousand dollars. Stener
+had always been very tractable, and in this instance would see how important it
+was that his shortage of half a million should not be made public. Then he must
+get as much more as possible. But where to get it? Presidents of banks and
+trust companies, large stock jobbers, and the like, would have to be seen. Then
+there was a loan of one hundred thousand dollars he was carrying for Butler.
+The old contractor might be induced to leave that. He hurried to his home,
+secured his runabout, and drove rapidly to Stener&rsquo;s.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As it turned out, however, much to his distress and confusion, Stener was out
+of town&mdash;down on the Chesapeake with several friends shooting ducks and
+fishing, and was not expected back for several days. He was in the marshes back
+of some small town. Cowperwood sent an urgent wire to the nearest point and
+then, to make assurance doubly sure, to several other points in the same
+neighborhood, asking him to return immediately. He was not at all sure,
+however, that Stener would return in time and was greatly nonplussed and
+uncertain for the moment as to what his next step would be. Aid must be
+forthcoming from somewhere and at once.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Suddenly a helpful thought occurred to him. Butler and Mollenhauer and Simpson
+were long on local street-railways. They must combine to support the situation
+and protect their interests. They could see the big bankers, Drexel &amp; Co.
+and Cooke &amp; Co., and others and urge them to sustain the market. They could
+strengthen things generally by organizing a buying ring, and under cover of
+their support, if they would, he might sell enough to let him out, and even
+permit him to go short and make something&mdash;a whole lot. It was a brilliant
+thought, worthy of a greater situation, and its only weakness was that it was
+not absolutely certain of fulfillment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He decided to go to Butler at once, the only disturbing thought being that he
+would now be compelled to reveal his own and Stener&rsquo;s affairs. So
+reentering his runabout he drove swiftly to the Butler home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he arrived there the famous contractor was at dinner. He had not heard the
+calling of the extras, and of course, did not understand as yet the
+significance of the fire. The servant&rsquo;s announcement of Cowperwood
+brought him smiling to the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Won&rsquo;t you come in and join us? We&rsquo;re just havin&rsquo; a
+light supper. Have a cup of coffee or tea, now&mdash;do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood. &ldquo;Not to-night, I&rsquo;m
+in too much of a hurry. I want to see you for just a few moments, and then
+I&rsquo;ll be off again. I won&rsquo;t keep you very long.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, if that&rsquo;s the case, I&rsquo;ll come right out.&rdquo; And
+Butler returned to the dining-room to put down his napkin. Aileen, who was also
+dining, had heard Cowperwood&rsquo;s voice, and was on the qui vive to see him.
+She wondered what it was that brought him at this time of night to see her
+father. She could not leave the table at once, but hoped to before he went.
+Cowperwood was thinking of her, even in the face of this impending storm, as he
+was of his wife, and many other things. If his affairs came down in a heap it
+would go hard with those attached to him. In this first clouding of disaster,
+he could not tell how things would eventuate. He meditated on this desperately,
+but he was not panic-stricken. His naturally even-molded face was set in fine,
+classic lines; his eyes were as hard as chilled steel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, now,&rdquo; exclaimed Butler, returning, his countenance
+manifesting a decidedly comfortable relationship with the world as at present
+constituted. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s up with you to-night? Nawthin&rsquo; wrong, I
+hope. It&rsquo;s been too fine a day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing very serious, I hope myself,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood,
+&ldquo;But I want to talk with you a few minutes, anyhow. Don&rsquo;t you think
+we had better go up to your room?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I was just going to say that,&rdquo; replied Butler&mdash;&ldquo;the
+cigars are up there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They started from the reception-room to the stairs, Butler preceding and as the
+contractor mounted, Aileen came out from the dining-room in a frou-frou of
+silk. Her splendid hair was drawn up from the base of the neck and the line of
+the forehead into some quaint convolutions which constituted a reddish-gold
+crown. Her complexion was glowing, and her bare arms and shoulders shone white
+against the dark red of her evening gown. She realized there was something
+wrong.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Mr. Cowperwood, how do you do?&rdquo; she exclaimed, coming forward
+and holding out her hand as her father went on upstairs. She was delaying him
+deliberately in order to have a word with him and this bold acting was for the
+benefit of the others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the trouble, honey?&rdquo; she whispered, as soon as her
+father was out of hearing. &ldquo;You look worried.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing much, I hope, sweet,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Chicago is burning
+up and there&rsquo;s going to be trouble to-morrow. I have to talk to your
+father.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She had time only for a sympathetic, distressed &ldquo;Oh,&rdquo; before he
+withdrew his hand and followed Butler upstairs. She squeezed his arm, and went
+through the reception-room to the parlor. She sat down, thinking, for never
+before had she seen Cowperwood&rsquo;s face wearing such an expression of
+stern, disturbed calculation. It was placid, like fine, white wax, and quite as
+cold; and those deep, vague, inscrutable eyes! So Chicago was burning. What
+would happen to him? Was he very much involved? He had never told her in detail
+of his affairs. She would not have understood fully any more than would have
+Mrs. Cowperwood. But she was worried, nevertheless, because it was her Frank,
+and because she was bound to him by what to her seemed indissoluble ties.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Literature, outside of the masters, has given us but one idea of the mistress,
+the subtle, calculating siren who delights to prey on the souls of men. The
+journalism and the moral pamphleteering of the time seem to foster it with
+almost partisan zeal. It would seem that a censorship of life had been
+established by divinity, and the care of its execution given into the hands of
+the utterly conservative. Yet there is that other form of liaison which has
+nothing to do with conscious calculation. In the vast majority of cases it is
+without design or guile. The average woman, controlled by her affections and
+deeply in love, is no more capable than a child of anything save sacrificial
+thought&mdash;the desire to give; and so long as this state endures, she can
+only do this. She may change&mdash;Hell hath no fury, etc.&mdash;but the
+sacrificial, yielding, solicitous attitude is more often the outstanding
+characteristic of the mistress; and it is this very attitude in
+contradistinction to the grasping legality of established matrimony that has
+caused so many wounds in the defenses of the latter. The temperament of man,
+either male or female, cannot help falling down before and worshiping this
+nonseeking, sacrificial note. It approaches vast distinction in life. It
+appears to be related to that last word in art, that largeness of spirit which
+is the first characteristic of the great picture, the great building, the great
+sculpture, the great decoration&mdash;namely, a giving, freely and without
+stint, of itself, of beauty. Hence the significance of this particular mood in
+Aileen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All the subtleties of the present combination were troubling Cowperwood as he
+followed Butler into the room upstairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sit down, sit down. You won&rsquo;t take a little somethin&rsquo;? You
+never do. I remember now. Well, have a cigar, anyhow. Now, what&rsquo;s this
+that&rsquo;s troublin&rsquo; you to-night?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Voices could be heard faintly in the distance, far off toward the thicker
+residential sections.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Extra! Extra! All about the big Chicago fire! Chicago burning
+down!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just that,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, hearkening to them. &ldquo;Have
+you heard the news?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No. What&rsquo;s that they&rsquo;re calling?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big fire out in Chicago.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh,&rdquo; replied Butler, still not gathering the significance of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s burning down the business section there, Mr. Butler,&rdquo;
+went on Cowperwood ominously, &ldquo;and I fancy it&rsquo;s going to disturb
+financial conditions here to-morrow. That is what I have come to see you about.
+How are your investments? Pretty well drawn in?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler suddenly gathered from Cowperwood&rsquo;s expression that there was
+something very wrong. He put up his large hand as he leaned back in his big
+leather chair, and covered his mouth and chin with it. Over those big knuckles,
+and bigger nose, thick and cartilaginous, his large, shaggy-eyebrowed eyes
+gleamed. His gray, bristly hair stood up stiffly in a short, even growth all
+over his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So that&rsquo;s it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re expectin&rsquo;
+trouble to-morrow. How are your own affairs?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in pretty good shape, I think, all told, if the money element
+of this town doesn&rsquo;t lose its head and go wild. There has to be a lot of
+common sense exercised to-morrow, or to-night, even. You know we are facing a
+real panic. Mr. Butler, you may as well know that. It may not last long, but
+while it does it will be bad. Stocks are going to drop to-morrow ten or fifteen
+points on the opening. The banks are going to call their loans unless some
+arrangement can be made to prevent them. No one man can do that. It will have
+to be a combination of men. You and Mr. Simpson and Mr. Mollenhauer might do
+it&mdash;that is, you could if you could persuade the big banking people to
+combine to back the market. There is going to be a raid on local
+street-railways&mdash;all of them. Unless they are sustained the bottom is
+going to drop out. I have always known that you were long on those. I thought
+you and Mr. Mollenhauer and some of the others might want to act. If you
+don&rsquo;t I might as well confess that it is going to go rather hard with me.
+I am not strong enough to face this thing alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was meditating on how he should tell the whole truth in regard to Stener.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, now, that&rsquo;s pretty bad,&rdquo; said Butler, calmly and
+meditatively. He was thinking of his own affairs. A panic was not good for him
+either, but he was not in a desperate state. He could not fail. He might lose
+some money, but not a vast amount&mdash;before he could adjust things. Still he
+did not care to lose any money.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How is it you&rsquo;re so bad off?&rdquo; he asked, curiously. He was
+wondering how the fact that the bottom was going to drop out of local
+street-railways would affect Cowperwood so seriously. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not
+carryin&rsquo; any of them things, are you?&rdquo; he added.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was now a question of lying or telling the truth, and Cowperwood was
+literally afraid to risk lying in this dilemma. If he did not gain
+Butler&rsquo;s comprehending support he might fail, and if he failed the truth
+would come out, anyhow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I might as well make a clean breast of this, Mr. Butler,&rdquo; he said,
+throwing himself on the old man&rsquo;s sympathies and looking at him with that
+brisk assurance which Butler so greatly admired. He felt as proud of Cowperwood
+at times as he did of his own sons. He felt that he had helped to put him where
+he was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The fact is that I have been buying street-railway stocks, but not for
+myself exactly. I am going to do something now which I think I ought not to do,
+but I cannot help myself. If I don&rsquo;t do it, it will injure you and a lot
+of people whom I do not wish to injure. I know you are naturally interested in
+the outcome of the fall election. The truth is I have been carrying a lot of
+stocks for Mr. Stener and some of his friends. I do not know that all the money
+has come from the city treasury, but I think that most of it has. I know what
+that means to Mr. Stener and the Republican party and your interests in case I
+fail. I don&rsquo;t think Mr. Stener started this of his own accord in the
+first place&mdash;I think I am as much to blame as anybody&mdash;but it grew
+out of other things. As you know, I handled that matter of city loan for him
+and then some of his friends wanted me to invest in street-railways for them. I
+have been doing that ever since. Personally I have borrowed considerable money
+from Mr. Stener at two per cent. In fact, originally the transactions were
+covered in that way. Now I don&rsquo;t want to shift the blame on any one. It
+comes back to me and I am willing to let it stay there, except that if I fail
+Mr. Stener will be blamed and that will reflect on the administration.
+Naturally, I don&rsquo;t want to fail. There is no excuse for my doing so.
+Aside from this panic I have never been in a better position in my life. But I
+cannot weather this storm without assistance, and I want to know if you
+won&rsquo;t help me. If I pull through I will give you my word that I will see
+that the money which has been taken from the treasury is put back there. Mr.
+Stener is out of town or I would have brought him here with me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood was lying out of the whole cloth in regard to bringing Stener with
+him, and he had no intention of putting the money back in the city treasury
+except by degrees and in such manner as suited his convenience; but what he had
+said sounded well and created a great seeming of fairness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How much money is it Stener has invested with you?&rdquo; asked Butler.
+He was a little confused by this curious development. It put Cowperwood and
+Stener in an odd light.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;About five hundred thousand dollars,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man straightened up. &ldquo;Is it as much as that?&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just about&mdash;a little more or a little less; I&rsquo;m not sure
+which.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old contractor listened solemnly to all Cowperwood had to say on this
+score, thinking of the effect on the Republican party and his own contracting
+interests. He liked Cowperwood, but this was a rough thing the latter was
+telling him&mdash;rough, and a great deal to ask. He was a slow-thinking and a
+slow-moving man, but he did well enough when he did think. He had considerable
+money invested in Philadelphia street-railway stocks&mdash;perhaps as much as
+eight hundred thousand dollars. Mollenhauer had perhaps as much more. Whether
+Senator Simpson had much or little he could not tell. Cowperwood had told him
+in the past that he thought the Senator had a good deal. Most of their
+holdings, as in the case of Cowperwood&rsquo;s, were hypothecated at the
+various banks for loans and these loans invested in other ways. It was not
+advisable or comfortable to have these loans called, though the condition of no
+one of the triumvirate was anything like as bad as that of Cowperwood. They
+could see themselves through without much trouble, though not without probable
+loss unless they took hurried action to protect themselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He would not have thought so much of it if Cowperwood had told him that Stener
+was involved, say, to the extent of seventy-five or a hundred thousand dollars.
+That might be adjusted. But five hundred thousand dollars!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a lot of money,&rdquo; said Butler, thinking of the amazing
+audacity of Stener, but failing at the moment to identify it with the astute
+machinations of Cowperwood. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something to think about.
+There&rsquo;s no time to lose if there&rsquo;s going to be a panic in the
+morning. How much good will it do ye if we do support the market?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A great deal,&rdquo; returned Cowperwood, &ldquo;although of course I
+have to raise money in other ways. I have that one hundred thousand dollars of
+yours on deposit. Is it likely that you&rsquo;ll want that right away?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It may be,&rdquo; said Butler.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just as likely that I&rsquo;ll need it so badly that I
+can&rsquo;t give it up without seriously injuring myself,&rdquo; added
+Cowperwood. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s just one of a lot of things. If you and Senator
+Simpson and Mr. Mollenhauer were to get together&mdash;you&rsquo;re the largest
+holders of street-railway stocks&mdash;and were to see Mr. Drexel and Mr.
+Cooke, you could fix things so that matters would be considerably easier. I
+will be all right if my loans are not called, and my loans will not be called
+if the market does not slump too heavily. If it does, all my securities are
+depreciated, and I can&rsquo;t hold out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Old Butler got up. &ldquo;This is serious business,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I
+wish you&rsquo;d never gone in with Stener in that way. It don&rsquo;t look
+quite right and it can&rsquo;t be made to. It&rsquo;s bad, bad business,&rdquo;
+he added dourly. &ldquo;Still, I&rsquo;ll do what I can. I can&rsquo;t promise
+much, but I&rsquo;ve always liked ye and I&rsquo;ll not be turning on ye now
+unless I have to. But I&rsquo;m sorry&mdash;very. And I&rsquo;m not the only
+one that has a hand in things in this town.&rdquo; At the same time he was
+thinking it was right decent of Cowperwood to forewarn him this way in regard
+to his own affairs and the city election, even though he was saving his own
+neck by so doing. He meant to do what he could.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t suppose you could keep this matter of Stener and the city
+treasury quiet for a day or two until I see how I come out?&rdquo; suggested
+Cowperwood warily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t promise that,&rdquo; replied Butler. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll
+have to do the best I can. I won&rsquo;t lave it go any further than I can
+help&mdash;you can depend on that.&rdquo; He was thinking how the effect of
+Stener&rsquo;s crime could be overcome if Cowperwood failed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Owen!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stepped to the door, and, opening it, called down over the banister.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, father.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have Dan hitch up the light buggy and bring it around to the door. And
+you get your hat and coat. I want you to go along with me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, father.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He came back.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sure that&rsquo;s a nice little storm in a teapot, now, isn&rsquo;t it?
+Chicago begins to burn, and I have to worry here in Philadelphia. Well,
+well&mdash;&rdquo; Cowperwood was up now and moving to the door. &ldquo;And
+where are you going?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Back to the house. I have several people coming there to see me. But
+I&rsquo;ll come back here later, if I may.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, yes,&rdquo; replied Butler. &ldquo;To be sure I&rsquo;ll be here by
+midnight, anyhow. Well, good night. I&rsquo;ll see you later, then, I suppose.
+I&rsquo;ll tell you what I find out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went back in his room for something, and Cowperwood descended the stair
+alone. From the hangings of the reception-room entryway Aileen signaled him to
+draw near.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hope it&rsquo;s nothing serious, honey?&rdquo; she sympathized,
+looking into his solemn eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was not time for love, and he felt it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; he said, almost coldly, &ldquo;I think not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frank, don&rsquo;t let this thing make you forget me for long, please.
+You won&rsquo;t, will you? I love you so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, no, I won&rsquo;t!&rdquo; he replied earnestly, quickly and yet
+absently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t! Don&rsquo;t you know I won&rsquo;t?&rdquo; He had started
+to kiss her, but a noise disturbed him. &ldquo;Sh!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He walked to the door, and she followed him with eager, sympathetic eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What if anything should happen to her Frank? What if anything could? What would
+she do? That was what was troubling her. What would, what could she do to help
+him? He looked so pale&mdash;strained.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap24"></a>Chapter XXIV</h2>
+
+<p>
+The condition of the Republican party at this time in Philadelphia, its
+relationship to George W. Stener, Edward Malia Butler, Henry A. Mollenhauer,
+Senator Mark Simpson, and others, will have to be briefly indicated here, in
+order to foreshadow Cowperwood&rsquo;s actual situation. Butler, as we have
+seen, was normally interested in and friendly to Cowperwood. Stener was
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s tool. Mollenhauer and Senator Simpson were strong rivals of
+Butler for the control of city affairs. Simpson represented the Republican
+control of the State legislature, which could dictate to the city if necessary,
+making new election laws, revising the city charter, starting political
+investigations, and the like. He had many influential newspapers, corporations,
+banks, at his beck and call. Mollenhauer represented the Germans, some
+Americans, and some large stable corporations&mdash;a very solid and
+respectable man. All three were strong, able, and dangerous politically. The
+two latter counted on Butler&rsquo;s influence, particularly with the Irish,
+and a certain number of ward leaders and Catholic politicians and laymen, who
+were as loyal to him as though he were a part of the church itself.
+Butler&rsquo;s return to these followers was protection, influence, aid, and
+good-will generally. The city&rsquo;s return to him, via Mollenhauer and
+Simpson, was in the shape of contracts&mdash;fat ones&mdash;street-paving,
+bridges, viaducts, sewers. And in order for him to get these contracts the
+affairs of the Republican party, of which he was a beneficiary as well as a
+leader, must be kept reasonably straight. At the same time it was no more a
+part of his need to keep the affairs of the party straight than it was of
+either Mollenhauer&rsquo;s or Simpson&rsquo;s, and Stener was not his
+appointee. The latter was more directly responsible to Mollenhauer than to any
+one else.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Butler stepped into the buggy with his son he was thinking about this, and
+it was puzzling him greatly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cowperwood&rsquo;s just been here,&rdquo; he said to Owen, who had been
+rapidly coming into a sound financial understanding of late, and was already a
+shrewder man politically and socially than his father, though he had not the
+latter&rsquo;s magnetism. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been tellin&rsquo; me that
+he&rsquo;s in a rather tight place. You hear that?&rdquo; he continued, as some
+voice in the distance was calling &ldquo;Extra! Extra!&rdquo;
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s Chicago burnin&rsquo;, and there&rsquo;s goin&rsquo; to be
+trouble on the stock exchange to-morrow. We have a lot of our street-railway
+stocks around at the different banks. If we don&rsquo;t look sharp
+they&rsquo;ll be callin&rsquo; our loans. We have to &rsquo;tend to that the
+first thing in the mornin&rsquo;. Cowperwood has a hundred thousand of mine
+with him that he wants me to let stay there, and he has some money that belongs
+to Stener, he tells me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stener?&rdquo; asked Owen, curiously. &ldquo;Has he been dabbling in
+stocks?&rdquo; Owen had heard some rumors concerning Stener and others only
+very recently, which he had not credited nor yet communicated to his father.
+&ldquo;How much money of his has Cowperwood?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler meditated. &ldquo;Quite a bit, I&rsquo;m afraid,&rdquo; he finally said.
+&ldquo;As a matter of fact, it&rsquo;s a great deal&mdash;about five hundred
+thousand dollars. If that should become known, it would be makin&rsquo; a good
+deal of noise, I&rsquo;m thinkin&rsquo;.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Whew!&rdquo; exclaimed Owen in astonishment. &ldquo;Five hundred
+thousand dollars! Good Lord, father! Do you mean to say Stener has got away
+with five hundred thousand dollars? Why, I wouldn&rsquo;t think he was clever
+enough to do that. Five hundred thousand dollars! It will make a nice row if
+that comes out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aisy, now! Aisy, now!&rdquo; replied Butler, doing his best to keep all
+phases of the situation in mind. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t tell exactly what the
+circumstances were yet. He mayn&rsquo;t have meant to take so much. It may all
+come out all right yet. The money&rsquo;s invested. Cowperwood hasn&rsquo;t
+failed yet. It may be put back. The thing to be settled on now is whether
+anything can be done to save him. If he&rsquo;s tellin&rsquo; me the
+truth&mdash;and I never knew him to lie&mdash;he can get out of this if
+street-railway stocks don&rsquo;t break too heavy in the mornin&rsquo;.
+I&rsquo;m going over to see Henry Mollenhauer and Mark Simpson. They&rsquo;re
+in on this. Cowperwood wanted me to see if I couldn&rsquo;t get them to get the
+bankers together and have them stand by the market. He thought we might protect
+our loans by comin&rsquo; on and buyin&rsquo; and holdin&rsquo; up the
+price.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Owen was running swiftly in his mind over Cowperwood&rsquo;s affairs&mdash;as
+much as he knew of them. He felt keenly that the banker ought to be shaken out.
+This dilemma was his fault, not Stener&rsquo;s&mdash;he felt. It was strange to
+him that his father did not see it and resent it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You see what it is, father,&rdquo; he said, dramatically, after a time.
+&ldquo;Cowperwood&rsquo;s been using this money of Stener&rsquo;s to pick up
+stocks, and he&rsquo;s in a hole. If it hadn&rsquo;t been for this fire
+he&rsquo;d have got away with it; but now he wants you and Simpson and
+Mollenhauer and the others to pull him out. He&rsquo;s a nice fellow, and I
+like him fairly well; but you&rsquo;re a fool if you do as he wants you to. He
+has more than belongs to him already. I heard the other day that he has the
+Front Street line, and almost all of Green and Coates; and that he and Stener
+own the Seventeenth and Nineteenth; but I didn&rsquo;t believe it. I&rsquo;ve
+been intending to ask you about it. I think Cowperwood has a majority for
+himself stowed away somewhere in every instance. Stener is just a pawn. He
+moves him around where he pleases.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Owen&rsquo;s eyes gleamed avariciously, opposingly. Cowperwood ought to be
+punished, sold out, driven out of the street-railway business in which Owen was
+anxious to rise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now you know,&rdquo; observed Butler, thickly and solemnly, &ldquo;I
+always thought that young felly was clever, but I hardly thought he was as
+clever as all that. So that&rsquo;s his game. You&rsquo;re pretty shrewd
+yourself, aren&rsquo;t you? Well, we can fix that, if we think well of it. But
+there&rsquo;s more than that to all this. You don&rsquo;t want to forget the
+Republican party. Our success goes with the success of that, you
+know&rdquo;&mdash;and he paused and looked at his son. &ldquo;If Cowperwood
+should fail and that money couldn&rsquo;t be put back&mdash;&rdquo; He broke
+off abstractedly. &ldquo;The thing that&rsquo;s troublin&rsquo; me is this
+matter of Stener and the city treasury. If somethin&rsquo; ain&rsquo;t done
+about that, it may go hard with the party this fall, and with some of our
+contracts. You don&rsquo;t want to forget that an election is comin&rsquo;
+along in November. I&rsquo;m wonderin&rsquo; if I ought to call in that one
+hundred thousand dollars. It&rsquo;s goin&rsquo; to take considerable money to
+meet my loans in the mornin&rsquo;.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is a curious matter of psychology, but it was only now that the real
+difficulties of the situation were beginning to dawn on Butler. In the presence
+of Cowperwood he was so influenced by that young man&rsquo;s personality and
+his magnetic presentation of his need and his own liking for him that he had
+not stopped to consider all the phases of his own relationship to the
+situation. Out here in the cool night air, talking to Owen, who was ambitious
+on his own account and anything but sentimentally considerate of Cowperwood, he
+was beginning to sober down and see things in their true light. He had to admit
+that Cowperwood had seriously compromised the city treasury and the Republican
+party, and incidentally Butler&rsquo;s own private interests. Nevertheless, he
+liked Cowperwood. He was in no way prepared to desert him. He was now going to
+see Mollenhauer and Simpson as much to save Cowperwood really as the party and
+his own affairs. And yet a scandal. He did not like that&mdash;resented it.
+This young scalawag! To think he should be so sly. None the less he still liked
+him, even here and now, and was feeling that he ought to do something to help
+the young man, if anything could help him. He might even leave his
+hundred-thousand-dollar loan with him until the last hour, as Cowperwood had
+requested, if the others were friendly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, father,&rdquo; said Owen, after a time, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see
+why you need to worry any more than Mollenhauer or Simpson. If you three want
+to help him out, you can; but for the life of me I don&rsquo;t see why you
+should. I know this thing will have a bad effect on the election, if it comes
+out before then; but it could be hushed up until then, couldn&rsquo;t it?
+Anyhow, your street-railway holdings are more important than this election, and
+if you can see your way clear to getting the street-railway lines in your hands
+you won&rsquo;t need to worry about any elections. My advice to you is to call
+that one-hundred-thousand-dollar loan of yours in the morning, and meet the
+drop in your stocks that way. It may make Cowperwood fail, but that won&rsquo;t
+hurt you any. You can go into the market and buy his stocks. I wouldn&rsquo;t
+be surprised if he would run to you and ask you to take them. You ought to get
+Mollenhauer and Simpson to scare Stener so that he won&rsquo;t loan Cowperwood
+any more money. If you don&rsquo;t, Cowperwood will run there and get more.
+Stener&rsquo;s in too far now. If Cowperwood won&rsquo;t sell out, well and
+good; the chances are he will bust, anyhow, and then you can pick up as much on
+the market as any one else. I think he&rsquo;ll sell. You can&rsquo;t afford to
+worry about Stener&rsquo;s five hundred thousand dollars. No one told him to
+loan it. Let him look out for himself. It may hurt the party, but you can look
+after that later. You and Mollenhauer can fix the newspapers so they
+won&rsquo;t talk about it till after election.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aisy! Aisy!&rdquo; was all the old contractor would say. He was thinking
+hard.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap25"></a>Chapter XXV</h2>
+
+<p>
+The residence of Henry A. Mollenhauer was, at that time, in a section of the
+city which was almost as new as that in which Butler was living. It was on
+South Broad Street, near a handsome library building which had been recently
+erected. It was a spacious house of the type usually affected by men of new
+wealth in those days&mdash;a structure four stories in height of yellow brick
+and white stone built after no school which one could readily identify, but not
+unattractive in its architectural composition. A broad flight of steps leading
+to a wide veranda gave into a decidedly ornate door, which was set on either
+side by narrow windows and ornamented to the right and left with pale-blue
+jardinieres of considerable charm of outline. The interior, divided into twenty
+rooms, was paneled and parqueted in the most expensive manner for homes of that
+day. There was a great reception-hall, a large parlor or drawing-room, a
+dining-room at least thirty feet square paneled in oak; and on the second floor
+were a music-room devoted to the talents of Mollenhauer&rsquo;s three ambitious
+daughters, a library and private office for himself, a boudoir and bath for his
+wife, and a conservatory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mollenhauer was, and felt himself to be, a very important man. His financial
+and political judgment was exceedingly keen. Although he was a German, or
+rather an American of German parentage, he was a man of a rather impressive
+American presence. He was tall and heavy and shrewd and cold. His large chest
+and wide shoulders supported a head of distinguished proportions, both round
+and long when seen from different angles. The frontal bone descended in a
+protruding curve over the nose, and projected solemnly over the eyes, which
+burned with a shrewd, inquiring gaze. And the nose and mouth and chin below, as
+well as his smooth, hard cheeks, confirmed the impression that he knew very
+well what he wished in this world, and was very able without regard to let or
+hindrance to get it. It was a big face, impressive, well modeled. He was an
+excellent friend of Edward Malia Butler&rsquo;s, as such friendships go, and
+his regard for Mark Simpson was as sincere as that of one tiger for another. He
+respected ability; he was willing to play fair when fair was the game. When it
+was not, the reach of his cunning was not easily measured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Edward Butler and his son arrived on this Sunday evening, this
+distinguished representative of one-third of the city&rsquo;s interests was not
+expecting them. He was in his library reading and listening to one of his
+daughters playing the piano. His wife and his other two daughters had gone to
+church. He was of a domestic turn of mind. Still, Sunday evening being an
+excellent one for conference purposes generally in the world of politics, he
+was not without the thought that some one or other of his distinguished
+confreres might call, and when the combination footman and butler announced the
+presence of Butler and his son, he was well pleased.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So there you are,&rdquo; he remarked to Butler, genially, extending his
+hand. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m certainly glad to see you. And Owen! How are you, Owen?
+What will you gentlemen have to drink, and what will you smoke? I know
+you&rsquo;ll have something. John&rdquo;&mdash;to the
+servitor&mdash;-&ldquo;see if you can find something for these gentlemen. I
+have just been listening to Caroline play; but I think you&rsquo;ve frightened
+her off for the time being.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He moved a chair into position for Butler, and indicated to Owen another on the
+other side of the table. In a moment his servant had returned with a silver
+tray of elaborate design, carrying whiskies and wines of various dates and
+cigars in profusion. Owen was the new type of young financier who neither
+smoked nor drank. His father temperately did both.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a comfortable place you have here,&rdquo; said Butler,
+without any indication of the important mission that had brought him. &ldquo;I
+don&rsquo;t wonder you stay at home Sunday evenings. What&rsquo;s new in the
+city?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing much, so far as I can see,&rdquo; replied Mollenhauer,
+pacifically. &ldquo;Things seem to be running smooth enough. You don&rsquo;t
+know anything that we ought to worry about, do you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, yes,&rdquo; said Butler, draining off the remainder of a brandy
+and soda that had been prepared for him. &ldquo;One thing. You haven&rsquo;t
+seen an avenin&rsquo; paper, have you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I haven&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said Mollenhauer, straightening up.
+&ldquo;Is there one out? What&rsquo;s the trouble anyhow?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing&mdash;except Chicago&rsquo;s burning, and it looks as though
+we&rsquo;d have a little money-storm here in the morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t say! I didn&rsquo;t hear that. There&rsquo;s a paper
+out, is there? Well, well&mdash;is it much of a fire?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The city is burning down, so they say,&rdquo; put in Owen, who was
+watching the face of the distinguished politician with considerable interest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that is news. I must send out and get a paper. John!&rdquo; he
+called. His man-servant appeared. &ldquo;See if you can get me a paper
+somewhere.&rdquo; The servant disappeared. &ldquo;What makes you think that
+would have anything to do with us?&rdquo; observed Mollenhauer, returning to
+Butler.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, there&rsquo;s one thing that goes with that that I didn&rsquo;t
+know till a little while ago and that is that our man Stener is apt to be short
+in his accounts, unless things come out better than some people seem to
+think,&rdquo; suggested Butler, calmly. &ldquo;That might not look so well
+before election, would it?&rdquo; His shrewd gray Irish eyes looked into
+Mollenhauer&rsquo;s, who returned his gaze.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where did you get that?&rdquo; queried Mr. Mollenhauer icily. &ldquo;He
+hasn&rsquo;t deliberately taken much money, has he? How much has he
+taken&mdash;do you know?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite a bit,&rdquo; replied Butler, quietly. &ldquo;Nearly five hundred
+thousand, so I understand. Only I wouldn&rsquo;t say that it has been taken as
+yet. It&rsquo;s in danger of being lost.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Five hundred thousand!&rdquo; exclaimed Mollenhauer in amazement, and
+yet preserving his usual calm. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t tell me! How long has
+this been going on? What has he been doing with the money?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He&rsquo;s loaned a good deal&mdash;about five hundred thousand dollars
+to this young Cowperwood in Third Street, that&rsquo;s been handlin&rsquo; city
+loan. They&rsquo;ve been investin&rsquo; it for themselves in one thing and
+another&mdash;mostly in buyin&rsquo; up street-railways.&rdquo; (At the mention
+of street-railways Mollenhauer&rsquo;s impassive countenance underwent a barely
+perceptible change.) &ldquo;This fire, accordin&rsquo; to Cowperwood, is
+certain to produce a panic in the mornin&rsquo;, and unless he gets
+considerable help he doesn&rsquo;t see how he&rsquo;s to hold out. If he
+doesn&rsquo;t hold out, there&rsquo;ll be five hundred thousand dollars
+missin&rsquo; from the city treasury which can&rsquo;t be put back.
+Stener&rsquo;s out of town and Cowperwood&rsquo;s come to me to see what can be
+done about it. As a matter of fact, he&rsquo;s done a little business for me in
+times past, and he thought maybe I could help him now&mdash;that is, that I
+might get you and the Senator to see the big bankers with me and help support
+the market in the mornin&rsquo;. If we don&rsquo;t he&rsquo;s goin&rsquo; to
+fail, and he thought the scandal would hurt us in the election. He
+doesn&rsquo;t appear to me to be workin&rsquo; any game&mdash;just anxious to
+save himself and do the square thing by me&mdash;by us, if he can.&rdquo;
+Butler paused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mollenhauer, sly and secretive himself, was apparently not at all moved by this
+unexpected development. At the same time, never having thought of Stener as
+having any particular executive or financial ability, he was a little stirred
+and curious. So his treasurer was using money without his knowing it, and now
+stood in danger of being prosecuted! Cowperwood he knew of only indirectly, as
+one who had been engaged to handle city loan. He had profited by his
+manipulation of city loan. Evidently the banker had made a fool of Stener, and
+had used the money for street-railway shares! He and Stener must have quite
+some private holdings then. That did interest Mollenhauer greatly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Five hundred thousand dollars!&rdquo; he repeated, when Butler had
+finished. &ldquo;That is quite a little money. If merely supporting the market
+would save Cowperwood we might do that, although if it&rsquo;s a severe panic I
+do not see how anything we can do will be of very much assistance to him. If
+he&rsquo;s in a very tight place and a severe slump is coming, it will take a
+great deal more than our merely supporting the market to save him. I&rsquo;ve
+been through that before. You don&rsquo;t know what his liabilities are?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not,&rdquo; said Butler.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t ask for money, you say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He wants me to l&rsquo;ave a hundred thousand he has of mine until he
+sees whether he can get through or not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stener is really out of town, I suppose?&rdquo; Mollenhauer was innately
+suspicious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So Cowperwood says. We can send and find out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mollenhauer was thinking of the various aspects of the case. Supporting the
+market would be all very well if that would save Cowperwood, and the Republican
+party and his treasurer. At the same time Stener could then be compelled to
+restore the five hundred thousand dollars to the city treasury, and release his
+holdings to some one&mdash;preferably to him&mdash;Mollenhauer. But here was
+Butler also to be considered in this matter. What might he not want? He
+consulted with Butler and learned that Cowperwood had agreed to return the five
+hundred thousand in case he could get it together. The various street-car
+holdings were not asked after. But what assurance had any one that Cowperwood
+could be so saved? And could, or would get the money together? And if he were
+saved would he give the money back to Stener? If he required actual money, who
+would loan it to him in a time like this&mdash;in case a sharp panic was
+imminent? What security could he give? On the other hand, under pressure from
+the right parties he might be made to surrender all his street-railway holdings
+for a song&mdash;his and Stener&rsquo;s. If he (Mollenhauer) could get them he
+would not particularly care whether the election was lost this fall or not,
+although he felt satisfied, as had Owen, that it would not be lost. It could be
+bought, as usual. The defalcation&mdash;if Cowperwood&rsquo;s failure made
+Stener&rsquo;s loan into one&mdash;could be concealed long enough, Mollenhauer
+thought, to win. Personally as it came to him now he would prefer to frighten
+Stener into refusing Cowperwood additional aid, and then raid the
+latter&rsquo;s street-railway stock in combination with everybody else&rsquo;s,
+for that matter&mdash;Simpson&rsquo;s and Butler&rsquo;s included. One of the
+big sources of future wealth in Philadelphia lay in these lines. For the
+present, however, he had to pretend an interest in saving the party at the
+polls.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t speak for the Senator, that&rsquo;s sure,&rdquo; pursued
+Mollenhauer, reflectively. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what he may think. As for
+myself, I am perfectly willing to do what I can to keep up the price of stocks,
+if that will do any good. I would do so naturally in order to protect my loans.
+The thing that we ought to be thinking about, in my judgment, is how to prevent
+exposure, in case Mr. Cowperwood does fail, until after election. We have no
+assurance, of course, that however much we support the market we will be able
+to sustain it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We have not,&rdquo; replied Butler, solemnly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Owen thought he could see Cowperwood&rsquo;s approaching doom quite plainly. At
+that moment the door-bell rang. A maid, in the absence of the footman, brought
+in the name of Senator Simpson.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just the man,&rdquo; said Mollenhauer. &ldquo;Show him up. You can see
+what he thinks.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps I had better leave you alone now,&rdquo; suggested Owen to his
+father. &ldquo;Perhaps I can find Miss Caroline, and she will sing for me.
+I&rsquo;ll wait for you, father,&rdquo; he added.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mollenhauer cast him an ingratiating smile, and as he stepped out Senator
+Simpson walked in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A more interesting type of his kind than Senator Mark Simpson never flourished
+in the State of Pennsylvania, which has been productive of interesting types.
+Contrasted with either of the two men who now greeted him warmly and shook his
+hand, he was physically unimpressive. He was small&mdash;five feet nine inches,
+to Mollenhauer&rsquo;s six feet and Butler&rsquo;s five feet eleven inches and
+a half, and then his face was smooth, with a receding jaw. In the other two
+this feature was prominent. Nor were his eyes as frank as those of Butler, nor
+as defiant as those of Mollenhauer; but for subtlety they were unmatched by
+either&mdash;deep, strange, receding, cavernous eyes which contemplated you as
+might those of a cat looking out of a dark hole, and suggesting all the
+artfulness that has ever distinguished the feline family. He had a strange mop
+of black hair sweeping down over a fine, low, white forehead, and a skin as
+pale and bluish as poor health might make it; but there was, nevertheless,
+resident here a strange, resistant, capable force that ruled men&mdash;the
+subtlety with which he knew how to feed cupidity with hope and gain and the
+ruthlessness with which he repaid those who said him nay. He was a still man,
+as such a man might well have been&mdash;feeble and fish-like in his handshake,
+wan and slightly lackadaisical in his smile, but speaking always with eyes that
+answered for every defect.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Av&rsquo;nin&rsquo;, Mark, I&rsquo;m glad to see you,&rdquo; was
+Butler&rsquo;s greeting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How are you, Edward?&rdquo; came the quiet reply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Senator, you&rsquo;re not looking any the worse for wear. Can I
+pour you something?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing to-night, Henry,&rdquo; replied Simpson. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t
+long to stay. I just stopped by on my way home. My wife&rsquo;s over here at
+the Cavanaghs&rsquo;, and I have to stop by to fetch her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, it&rsquo;s a good thing you dropped in, Senator, just when you
+did,&rdquo; began Mollenhauer, seating himself after his guest. &ldquo;Butler
+here has been telling me of a little political problem that has arisen since I
+last saw you. I suppose you&rsquo;ve heard that Chicago is burning?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes; Cavanagh was just telling me. It looks to be quite serious. I think
+the market will drop heavily in the morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised myself,&rdquo; put in Mollenhauer,
+laconically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s the paper now,&rdquo; said Butler, as John, the servant,
+came in from the street bearing the paper in his hand. Mollenhauer took it and
+spread it out before them. It was among the earliest of the
+&ldquo;extras&rdquo; that were issued in this country, and contained a rather
+impressive spread of type announcing that the conflagration in the lake city
+was growing hourly worse since its inception the day before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that is certainly dreadful,&rdquo; said Simpson. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m
+very sorry for Chicago. I have many friends there. I shall hope to hear that it
+is not so bad as it seems.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man had a rather grandiloquent manner which he never abandoned under any
+circumstances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The matter that Butler was telling me about,&rdquo; continued
+Mollenhauer, &ldquo;has something to do with this in a way. You know the habit
+our city treasurers have of loaning out their money at two per cent.?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes?&rdquo; said Simpson, inquiringly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Mr. Stener, it seems, has been loaning out a good deal of the
+city&rsquo;s money to this young Cowperwood, in Third Street, who has been
+handling city loans.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t say!&rdquo; said Simpson, putting on an air of surprise.
+&ldquo;Not much, I hope?&rdquo; The Senator, like Butler and Mollenhauer, was
+profiting greatly by cheap loans from the same source to various designated
+city depositories.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, it seems that Stener has loaned him as much as five hundred
+thousand dollars, and if by any chance Cowperwood shouldn&rsquo;t be able to
+weather this storm, Stener is apt to be short that amount, and that
+wouldn&rsquo;t look so good as a voting proposition to the people in November,
+do you think? Cowperwood owes Mr. Butler here one hundred thousand dollars, and
+because of that he came to see him to-night. He wanted Butler to see if
+something couldn&rsquo;t be done through us to tide him over. If
+not&rdquo;&mdash;he waved one hand suggestively&mdash;&ldquo;well, he might
+fail.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Simpson fingered his strange, wide mouth with his delicate hand. &ldquo;What
+have they been doing with the five hundred thousand dollars?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, the boys must make a little somethin&rsquo; on the side,&rdquo; said
+Butler, cheerfully. &ldquo;I think they&rsquo;ve been buyin&rsquo; up
+street-railways, for one thing.&rdquo; He stuck his thumbs in the armholes of
+his vest. Both Mollenhauer and Simpson smiled wan smiles.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite so,&rdquo; said Mollenhauer. Senator Simpson merely looked the
+deep things that he thought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He, too, was thinking how useless it was for any one to approach a group of
+politicians with a proposition like this, particularly in a crisis such as bid
+fair to occur. He reflected that if he and Butler and Mollenhauer could get
+together and promise Cowperwood protection in return for the surrender of his
+street-railway holdings it would be a very different matter. It would be very
+easy in this case to carry the city treasury loan along in silence and even
+issue more money to support it; but it was not sure, in the first place, that
+Cowperwood could be made to surrender his stocks, and in the second place that
+either Butler or Mollenhauer would enter into any such deal with him, Simpson.
+Butler had evidently come here to say a good word for Cowperwood. Mollenhauer
+and himself were silent rivals. Although they worked together politically it
+was toward essentially different financial ends. They were allied in no one
+particular financial proposition, any more than Mollenhauer and Butler were.
+And besides, in all probability Cowperwood was no fool. He was not equally
+guilty with Stener; the latter had loaned him money. The Senator reflected on
+whether he should broach some such subtle solution of the situation as had
+occurred to him to his colleagues, but he decided not. Really Mollenhauer was
+too treacherous a man to work with on a thing of this kind. It was a splendid
+chance but dangerous. He had better go it alone. For the present they should
+demand of Stener that he get Cowperwood to return the five hundred thousand
+dollars if he could. If not, Stener could be sacrificed for the benefit of the
+party, if need be. Cowperwood&rsquo;s stocks, with this tip as to his
+condition, would, Simpson reflected, offer a good opportunity for a little
+stock-exchange work on the part of his own brokers. They could spread rumors as
+to Cowperwood&rsquo;s condition and then offer to take his shares off his
+hands&mdash;for a song, of course. It was an evil moment that led Cowperwood to
+Butler.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, now,&rdquo; said the Senator, after a prolonged silence, &ldquo;I
+might sympathize with Mr. Cowperwood in his situation, and I certainly
+don&rsquo;t blame him for buying up street-railways if he can; but I really
+don&rsquo;t see what can be done for him very well in this crisis. I
+don&rsquo;t know about you, gentlemen, but I am rather certain that I am not in
+a position to pick other people&rsquo;s chestnuts out of the fire if I wanted
+to, just now. It all depends on whether we feel that the danger to the party is
+sufficient to warrant our going down into our pockets and assisting him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the mention of real money to be loaned Mollenhauer pulled a long face.
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t see that I will be able to do very much for Mr.
+Cowperwood,&rdquo; he sighed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Begad,&rdquo; said Buler, with a keen sense of humor, &ldquo;it looks to
+me as if I&rsquo;d better be gettin&rsquo; in my one hundred thousand dollars.
+That&rsquo;s the first business of the early mornin&rsquo;.&rdquo; Neither
+Simpson nor Mollenhauer condescended on this occasion to smile even the wan
+smile they had smiled before. They merely looked wise and solemn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But this matter of the city treasury, now,&rdquo; said Senator Simpson,
+after the atmosphere had been allowed to settle a little, &ldquo;is something
+to which we shall have to devote a little thought. If Mr. Cowperwood should
+fail, and the treasury lose that much money, it would embarrass us no little.
+What lines are they,&rdquo; he added, as an afterthought, &ldquo;that this man
+has been particularly interested in?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; replied Butler, who did not care to
+say what Owen had told him on the drive over.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see,&rdquo; said Mollenhauer, &ldquo;unless we can make
+Stener get the money back before this man Cowperwood fails, how we can save
+ourselves from considerable annoyance later; but if we did anything which would
+look as though we were going to compel restitution, he would probably shut up
+shop anyhow. So there&rsquo;s no remedy in that direction. And it
+wouldn&rsquo;t be very kind to our friend Edward here to do it until we hear
+how he comes out on his affair.&rdquo; He was referring to Butler&rsquo;s loan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly not,&rdquo; said Senator Simpson, with true political sagacity
+and feeling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have that one hundred thousand dollars in the
+mornin&rsquo;,&rdquo; said Butler, &ldquo;and never fear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think,&rdquo; said Simpson, &ldquo;if anything comes of this matter
+that we will have to do our best to hush it up until after the election. The
+newspapers can just as well keep silent on that score as not. There&rsquo;s one
+thing I would suggest&rdquo;&mdash;and he was now thinking of the
+street-railway properties which Cowperwood had so judiciously
+collected&mdash;&ldquo;and that is that the city treasurer be cautioned against
+advancing any more money in a situation of this kind. He might readily be
+compromised into advancing much more. I suppose a word from you, Henry, would
+prevent that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes; I can do that,&rdquo; said Mollenhauer, solemnly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My judgement would be,&rdquo; said Butler, in a rather obscure manner,
+thinking of Cowperwood&rsquo;s mistake in appealing to these noble protectors
+of the public, &ldquo;that it&rsquo;s best to let sleepin&rsquo; dogs run be
+thimselves.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus ended Frank Cowperwood&rsquo;s dreams of what Butler and his political
+associates might do for him in his hour of distress.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The energies of Cowperwood after leaving Butler were devoted to the task of
+seeing others who might be of some assistance to him. He had left word with
+Mrs. Stener that if any message came from her husband he was to be notified at
+once. He hunted up Walter Leigh, of Drexel &amp; Co., Avery Stone of Jay Cooke
+&amp; Co., and President Davison of the Girard National Bank. He wanted to see
+what they thought of the situation and to negotiate a loan with President
+Davison covering all his real and personal property.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t tell you, Frank,&rdquo; Walter Leigh insisted, &ldquo;I
+don&rsquo;t know how things will be running by to-morrow noon. I&rsquo;m glad
+to know how you stand. I&rsquo;m glad you&rsquo;re doing what you&rsquo;re
+doing&mdash;getting all your affairs in shape. It will help a lot. I&rsquo;ll
+favor you all I possibly can. But if the chief decides on a certain group of
+loans to be called, they&rsquo;ll have to be called, that&rsquo;s all.
+I&rsquo;ll do my best to make things look better. If the whole of Chicago is
+wiped out, the insurance companies&mdash;some of them, anyhow&mdash;are sure to
+go, and then look out. I suppose you&rsquo;ll call in all your loans?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not any more than I have to.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that&rsquo;s just the way it is here&mdash;or will be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The two men shook hands. They liked each other. Leigh was of the city&rsquo;s
+fashionable coterie, a society man to the manner born, but with a wealth of
+common sense and a great deal of worldly experience.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you, Frank,&rdquo; he observed at parting,
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always thought you were carrying too much street-railway.
+It&rsquo;s great stuff if you can get away with it, but it&rsquo;s just in a
+pinch like this that you&rsquo;re apt to get hurt. You&rsquo;ve been making
+money pretty fast out of that and city loans.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked directly into his long-time friend&rsquo;s eyes, and they smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was the same with Avery Stone, President Davison, and others. They had all
+already heard rumors of disaster when he arrived. They were not sure what the
+morrow would bring forth. It looked very unpromising.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood decided to stop and see Butler again for he felt certain his
+interview with Mollenhauer and Simpson was now over. Butler, who had been
+meditating what he should say to Cowperwood, was not unfriendly in his manner.
+&ldquo;So you&rsquo;re back,&rdquo; he said, when Cowperwood appeared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Mr. Butler.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;m not sure that I&rsquo;ve been able to do anything for
+you. I&rsquo;m afraid not,&rdquo; Butler said, cautiously. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a
+hard job you set me. Mollenhauer seems to think that he&rsquo;ll support the
+market, on his own account. I think he will. Simpson has interests which he has
+to protect. I&rsquo;m going to buy for myself, of course.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused to reflect.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t get them to call a conference with any of the big
+moneyed men as yet,&rdquo; he added, warily. &ldquo;They&rsquo;d rather wait
+and see what happens in the mornin&rsquo;. Still, I wouldn&rsquo;t be
+down-hearted if I were you. If things turn out very bad they may change their
+minds. I had to tell them about Stener. It&rsquo;s pretty bad, but
+they&rsquo;re hopin&rsquo; you&rsquo;ll come through and straighten that out. I
+hope so. About my own loan&mdash;well, I&rsquo;ll see how things are in the
+mornin&rsquo;. If I raisonably can I&rsquo;ll lave it with you. You&rsquo;d
+better see me again about it. I wouldn&rsquo;t try to get any more money out of
+Stener if I were you. It&rsquo;s pretty bad as it is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood saw at once that he was to get no aid from the politicians. The one
+thing that disturbed him was this reference to Stener. Had they already
+communicated with him&mdash;warned him? If so, his own coming to Butler had
+been a bad move; and yet from the point of view of his possible failure on the
+morrow it had been advisable. At least now the politicians knew where he stood.
+If he got in a very tight corner he would come to Butler again&mdash;the
+politicians could assist him or not, as they chose. If they did not help him
+and he failed, and the election were lost, it was their own fault. Anyhow, if
+he could see Stener first the latter would not be such a fool as to stand in
+his own light in a crisis like this.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Things look rather dark to-night, Mr. Butler,&rdquo; he said, smartly,
+&ldquo;but I still think I&rsquo;ll come through. I hope so, anyhow. I&rsquo;m
+sorry to have put you to so much trouble. I wish, of course, that you gentlemen
+could see your way clear to assist me, but if you can&rsquo;t, you can&rsquo;t.
+I have a number of things that I can do. I hope that you will leave your loan
+as long as you can.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went briskly out, and Butler meditated. &ldquo;A clever young chap
+that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s too bad. But he may come out all right
+at that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood hurried to his own home only to find his father awake and brooding.
+To him he talked with that strong vein of sympathy and understanding which is
+usually characteristic of those drawn by ties of flesh and blood. He liked his
+father. He sympathized with his painstaking effort to get up in the world. He
+could not forget that as a boy he had had the loving sympathy and interest of
+his father. The loan which he had from the Third National, on somewhat weak
+Union Street Railway shares he could probably replace if stocks did not drop
+too tremendously. He must replace this at all costs. But his father&rsquo;s
+investments in street-railways, which had risen with his own ventures, and
+which now involved an additional two hundred thousand&mdash;how could he
+protect those? The shares were hypothecated and the money was used for other
+things. Additional collateral would have to be furnished the several banks
+carrying them. It was nothing except loans, loans, loans, and the need of
+protecting them. If he could only get an additional deposit of two or three
+hundred thousand dollars from Stener. But that, in the face of possible
+financial difficulties, was rank criminality. All depended on the morrow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Monday, the ninth, dawned gray and cheerless. He was up with the first ray of
+light, shaved and dressed, and went over, under the gray-green pergola, to his
+father&rsquo;s house. He was up, also, and stirring about, for he had not been
+able to sleep. His gray eyebrows and gray hair looked rather shaggy and
+disheveled, and his side-whiskers anything but decorative. The old
+gentleman&rsquo;s eyes were tired, and his face was gray. Cowperwood could see
+that he was worrying. He looked up from a small, ornate escritoire of buhl,
+which Ellsworth had found somewhere, and where he was quietly tabulating a list
+of his resources and liabilities. Cowperwood winced. He hated to see his father
+worried, but he could not help it. He had hoped sincerely, when they built
+their houses together, that the days of worry for his father had gone forever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Counting up?&rdquo; he asked, familiarly, with a smile. He wanted to
+hearten the old gentleman as much as possible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I was just running over my affairs again to see where I stood in
+case&mdash;&rdquo; He looked quizzically at his son, and Frank smiled again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t worry, father. I told you how I fixed it so that Butler
+and that crowd will support the market. I have Rivers and Targool and Harry
+Eltinge on &rsquo;change helping me sell out, and they are the best men there.
+They&rsquo;ll handle the situation carefully. I couldn&rsquo;t trust Ed or Joe
+in this case, for the moment they began to sell everybody would know what was
+going on with me. This way my men will seem like bears hammering the market,
+but not hammering too hard. I ought to be able to unload enough at ten points
+off to raise five hundred thousand. The market may not go lower than that. You
+can&rsquo;t tell. It isn&rsquo;t going to sink indefinitely. If I just knew
+what the big insurance companies were going to do! The morning paper
+hasn&rsquo;t come yet, has it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was going to pull a bell, but remembered that the servants would scarcely be
+up as yet. He went to the front door himself. There were the Press and the
+Public Ledger lying damp from the presses. He picked them up and glanced at the
+front pages. His countenance fell. On one, the Press, was spread a great black
+map of Chicago, a most funereal-looking thing, the black portion indicating the
+burned section. He had never seen a map of Chicago before in just this clear,
+definite way. That white portion was Lake Michigan, and there was the Chicago
+River dividing the city into three almost equal portions&mdash;the north side,
+the west side, the south side. He saw at once that the city was curiously
+arranged, somewhat like Philadelphia, and that the business section was
+probably an area of two or three miles square, set at the juncture of the three
+sides, and lying south of the main stem of the river, where it flowed into the
+lake after the southwest and northwest branches had united to form it. This was
+a significant central area; but, according to this map, it was all burned out.
+&ldquo;Chicago in Ashes&rdquo; ran a great side-heading set in heavily leaded
+black type. It went on to detail the sufferings of the homeless, the number of
+the dead, the number of those whose fortunes had been destroyed. Then it
+descanted upon the probable effect in the East. Insurance companies and
+manufacturers might not be able to meet the great strain of all this.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Damn!&rdquo; said Cowperwood gloomily. &ldquo;I wish I were out of this
+stock-jobbing business. I wish I had never gotten into it.&rdquo; He returned
+to his drawing-room and scanned both accounts most carefully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, though it was still early, he and his father drove to his office. There
+were already messages awaiting him, a dozen or more, to cancel or sell. While
+he was standing there a messenger-boy brought him three more. One was from
+Stener and said that he would be back by twelve o&rsquo;clock, the very
+earliest he could make it. Cowperwood was relieved and yet distressed. He would
+need large sums of money to meet various loans before three. Every hour was
+precious. He must arrange to meet Stener at the station and talk to him before
+any one else should see him. Clearly this was going to be a hard, dreary,
+strenuous day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Third Street, by the time he reached there, was stirring with other bankers and
+brokers called forth by the exigencies of the occasion. There was a suspicious
+hurrying of feet&mdash;that intensity which makes all the difference in the
+world between a hundred people placid and a hundred people disturbed. At the
+exchange, the atmosphere was feverish. At the sound of the gong, the staccato
+uproar began. Its metallic vibrations were still in the air when the two
+hundred men who composed this local organization at its utmost stress of
+calculation, threw themselves upon each other in a gibbering struggle to
+dispose of or seize bargains of the hour. The interests were so varied that it
+was impossible to say at which pole it was best to sell or buy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Targool and Rivers had been delegated to stay at the center of things, Joseph
+and Edward to hover around on the outside and to pick up such opportunities of
+selling as might offer a reasonable return on the stock. The
+&ldquo;bears&rdquo; were determined to jam things down, and it all depended on
+how well the agents of Mollenhauer, Simpson, Butler, and others supported
+things in the street-railway world whether those stocks retained any strength
+or not. The last thing Butler had said the night before was that they would do
+the best they could. They would buy up to a certain point. Whether they would
+support the market indefinitely he would not say. He could not vouch for
+Mollenhauer and Simpson. Nor did he know the condition of their affairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While the excitement was at its highest Cowperwood came in. As he stood in the
+door looking to catch the eye of Rivers, the &rsquo;change gong sounded, and
+trading stopped. All the brokers and traders faced about to the little balcony,
+where the secretary of the &rsquo;change made his announcements; and there he
+stood, the door open behind him, a small, dark, clerkly man of thirty-eight or
+forty, whose spare figure and pale face bespoke the methodic mind that knows no
+venturous thought. In his right hand he held a slip of white paper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The American Fire Insurance Company of Boston announces its inability to
+meet its obligations.&rdquo; The gong sounded again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Immediately the storm broke anew, more voluble than before, because, if after
+one hour of investigation on this Monday morning one insurance company had gone
+down, what would four or five hours or a day or two bring forth? It meant that
+men who had been burned out in Chicago would not be able to resume business. It
+meant that all loans connected with this concern had been, or would be called
+now. And the cries of frightened &ldquo;bulls&rdquo; offering thousand and five
+thousand lot holdings in Northern Pacific, Illinois Central, Reading, Lake
+Shore, Wabash; in all the local streetcar lines; and in Cowperwood&rsquo;s city
+loans at constantly falling prices was sufficient to take the heart out of all
+concerned. He hurried to Arthur Rivers&rsquo;s side in the lull; but there was
+little he could say.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It looks as though the Mollenhauer and Simpson crowds aren&rsquo;t doing
+much for the market,&rdquo; he observed, gravely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve had advices from New York,&rdquo; explained Rivers
+solemnly. &ldquo;It can&rsquo;t be supported very well. There are three
+insurance companies over there on the verge of quitting, I understand. I expect
+to see them posted any minute.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They stepped apart from the pandemonium, to discuss ways and means. Under his
+agreement with Stener, Cowperwood could buy up to one hundred thousand dollars
+of city loan, above the customary wash sales, or market manipulation, by which
+they were making money. This was in case the market had to be genuinely
+supported. He decided to buy sixty thousand dollars worth now, and use this to
+sustain his loans elsewhere. Stener would pay him for this instantly, giving
+him more ready cash. It might help him in one way and another; and, anyhow, it
+might tend to strengthen the other securities long enough at least to allow him
+to realize a little something now at better than ruinous rates. If only he had
+the means &ldquo;to go short&rdquo; on this market! If only doing so did not
+really mean ruin to his present position. It was characteristic of the man that
+even in this crisis he should be seeing how the very thing that of necessity,
+because of his present obligations, might ruin him, might also, under slightly
+different conditions, yield him a great harvest. He could not take advantage of
+it, however. He could not be on both sides of this market. It was either
+&ldquo;bear&rdquo; or &ldquo;bull,&rdquo; and of necessity he was
+&ldquo;bull.&rdquo; It was strange but true. His subtlety could not avail him
+here. He was about to turn and hurry to see a certain banker who might loan him
+something on his house, when the gong struck again. Once more trading ceased.
+Arthur Rivers, from his position at the State securities post, where city loan
+was sold, and where he had started to buy for Cowperwood, looked significantly
+at him. Newton Targool hurried to Cowperwood&rsquo;s side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re up against it,&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t
+try to sell against this market. It&rsquo;s no use. They&rsquo;re cutting the
+ground from under you. The bottom&rsquo;s out. Things are bound to turn in a
+few days. Can&rsquo;t you hold out? Here&rsquo;s more trouble.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He raised his eyes to the announcer&rsquo;s balcony.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Eastern and Western Fire Insurance Company of New York announces
+that it cannot meet its obligations.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A low sound something like &ldquo;Haw!&rdquo; broke forth. The
+announcer&rsquo;s gavel struck for order.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Erie Fire Insurance Company of Rochester announces that it cannot
+meet its obligations.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again that &ldquo;H-a-a-a-w!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more the gavel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The American Trust Company of New York has suspended payment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;H-a-a-a-w!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The storm was on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you think?&rdquo; asked Targool. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t brave
+this storm. Can&rsquo;t you quit selling and hold out for a few days? Why not
+sell short?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They ought to close this thing up,&rdquo; Cowperwood said, shortly.
+&ldquo;It would be a splendid way out. Then nothing could be done.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He hurried to consult with those who, finding themselves in a similar
+predicament with himself, might use their influence to bring it about. It was a
+sharp trick to play on those who, now finding the market favorable to their
+designs in its falling condition, were harvesting a fortune. But what was that
+to him? Business was business. There was no use selling at ruinous figures, and
+he gave his lieutenants orders to stop. Unless the bankers favored him heavily,
+or the stock exchange was closed, or Stener could be induced to deposit an
+additional three hundred thousand with him at once, he was ruined. He hurried
+down the street to various bankers and brokers suggesting that they do
+this&mdash;close the exchange. At a few minutes before twelve o&rsquo;clock he
+drove rapidly to the station to meet Stener; but to his great disappointment
+the latter did not arrive. It looked as though he had missed his train.
+Cowperwood sensed something, some trick; and decided to go to the city hall and
+also to Stener&rsquo;s house. Perhaps he had returned and was trying to avoid
+him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not finding him at his office, he drove direct to his house. Here he was not
+surprised to meet Stener just coming out, looking very pale and distraught. At
+the sight of Cowperwood he actually blanched.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, hello, Frank,&rdquo; he exclaimed, sheepishly, &ldquo;where do you
+come from?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s up, George?&rdquo; asked Cowperwood. &ldquo;I thought you
+were coming into Broad Street.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So I was,&rdquo; returned Stener, foolishly, &ldquo;but I thought I
+would get off at West Philadelphia and change my clothes. I&rsquo;ve a lot of
+things to &rsquo;tend to yet this afternoon. I was coming in to see you.&rdquo;
+After Cowperwood&rsquo;s urgent telegram this was silly, but the young banker
+let it pass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Jump in, George,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have something very important
+to talk to you about. I told you in my telegram about the likelihood of a
+panic. It&rsquo;s on. There isn&rsquo;t a moment to lose. Stocks are way down,
+and most of my loans are being called. I want to know if you won&rsquo;t let me
+have three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for a few days at four or five
+per cent. I&rsquo;ll pay it all back to you. I need it very badly. If I
+don&rsquo;t get it I&rsquo;m likely to fail. You know what that means, George.
+It will tie up every dollar I have. Those street-car holdings of yours will be
+tied up with me. I won&rsquo;t be able to let you realize on them, and that
+will put those loans of mine from the treasury in bad shape. You won&rsquo;t be
+able to put the money back, and you know what that means. We&rsquo;re in this
+thing together. I want to see you through safely, but I can&rsquo;t do it
+without your help. I had to go to Butler last night to see about a loan of his,
+and I&rsquo;m doing my best to get money from other sources. But I can&rsquo;t
+see my way through on this, I&rsquo;m afraid, unless you&rsquo;re willing to
+help me.&rdquo; Cowperwood paused. He wanted to put the whole case clearly and
+succinctly to him before he had a chance to refuse&mdash;to make him realize it
+as his own predicament.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As a matter of fact, what Cowperwood had keenly suspected was literally true.
+Stener had been reached. The moment Butler and Simpson had left him the night
+before, Mollenhauer had sent for his very able secretary, Abner Sengstack, and
+despatched him to learn the truth about Stener&rsquo;s whereabouts. Sengstack
+had then sent a long wire to Strobik, who was with Stener, urging him to
+caution the latter against Cowperwood. The state of the treasury was known.
+Stener and Strobik were to be met by Sengstack at Wilmington (this to forefend
+against the possibility of Cowperwood&rsquo;s reaching Stener first)&mdash;and
+the whole state of affairs made perfectly plain. No more money was to be used
+under penalty of prosecution. If Stener wanted to see any one he must see
+Mollenhauer. Sengstack, having received a telegram from Strobik informing him
+of their proposed arrival at noon the next day, had proceeded to Wilmington to
+meet them. The result was that Stener did not come direct into the business
+heart of the city, but instead got off at West Philadelphia, proposing to go
+first to his house to change his clothes and then to see Mollenhauer before
+meeting Cowperwood. He was very badly frightened and wanted time to think.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t do it, Frank,&rdquo; he pleaded, piteously.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in pretty bad in this matter. Mollenhauer&rsquo;s secretary
+met the train out at Wilmington just now to warn me against this situation, and
+Strobik is against it. They know how much money I&rsquo;ve got outstanding. You
+or somebody has told them. I can&rsquo;t go against Mollenhauer. I owe
+everything I&rsquo;ve got to him, in a way. He got me this place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Listen, George. Whatever you do at this time, don&rsquo;t let this
+political loyalty stuff cloud your judgment. You&rsquo;re in a very serious
+position and so am I. If you don&rsquo;t act for yourself with me now no one is
+going to act for you&mdash;now or later&mdash;no one. And later will be too
+late. I proved that last night when I went to Butler to get help for the two of
+us. They all know about this business of our street-railway holdings and they
+want to shake us out and that&rsquo;s the big and little of it&mdash;nothing
+more and nothing less. It&rsquo;s a case of dog eat dog in this game and this
+particular situation and it&rsquo;s up to us to save ourselves against
+everybody or go down together, and that&rsquo;s just what I&rsquo;m here to
+tell you. Mollenhauer doesn&rsquo;t care any more for you to-day than he does
+for that lamp-post. It isn&rsquo;t that money you&rsquo;ve paid out to me
+that&rsquo;s worrying him, but who&rsquo;s getting something for it and what.
+Well they know that you and I are getting street-railways, don&rsquo;t you see,
+and they don&rsquo;t want us to have them. Once they get those out of our hands
+they won&rsquo;t waste another day on you or me. Can&rsquo;t you see that? Once
+we&rsquo;ve lost all we&rsquo;ve invested, you&rsquo;re down and so am
+I&mdash;and no one is going to turn a hand for you or me politically or in any
+other way. I want you to understand that, George, because it&rsquo;s true. And
+before you say you won&rsquo;t or you will do anything because Mollenhauer says
+so, you want to think over what I have to tell you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was in front of Stener now, looking him directly in the eye and by the
+kinetic force of his mental way attempting to make Stener take the one step
+that might save him&mdash;Cowperwood&mdash;however little in the long run it
+might do for Stener. And, more interesting still, he did not care. Stener, as
+he saw him now, was a pawn in whosoever&rsquo;s hands he happened to be at the
+time, and despite Mr. Mollenhauer and Mr. Simpson and Mr. Butler he proposed to
+attempt to keep him in his own hands if possible. And so he stood there looking
+at him as might a snake at a bird determined to galvanize him into selfish
+self-interest if possible. But Stener was so frightened that at the moment it
+looked as though there was little to be done with him. His face was a
+grayish-blue: his eyelids and eye rings puffy and his hands and lips moist.
+God, what a hole he was in now!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Say that&rsquo;s all right, Frank,&rdquo; he exclaimed desperately.
+&ldquo;I know what you say is true. But look at me and my position, if I do
+give you this money. What can&rsquo;t they do to me, and won&rsquo;t. If you
+only look at it from my point of view. If only you hadn&rsquo;t gone to Butler
+before you saw me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As though I could see you, George, when you were off duck shooting and
+when I was wiring everywhere I knew to try to get in touch with you. How could
+I? The situation had to be met. Besides, I thought Butler was more friendly to
+me than he proved. But there&rsquo;s no use being angry with me now, George,
+for going to Butler as I did, and anyhow you can&rsquo;t afford to be now.
+We&rsquo;re in this thing together. It&rsquo;s a case of sink or swim for just
+us two&mdash;not any one else&mdash;just us&mdash;don&rsquo;t you get that?
+Butler couldn&rsquo;t or wouldn&rsquo;t do what I wanted him to do&mdash;get
+Mollenhauer and Simpson to support the market. Instead of that they are
+hammering it. They have a game of their own. It&rsquo;s to shake us
+out&mdash;can&rsquo;t you see that? Take everything that you and I have
+gathered. It is up to you and me, George, to save ourselves, and that&rsquo;s
+what I&rsquo;m here for now. If you don&rsquo;t let me have three hundred and
+fifty thousand dollars&mdash;three hundred thousand, anyhow&mdash;you and I are
+ruined. It will be worse for you, George, than for me, for I&rsquo;m not
+involved in this thing in any way&mdash;not legally, anyhow. But that&rsquo;s
+not what I&rsquo;m thinking of. What I want to do is to save us both&mdash;put
+us on easy street for the rest of our lives, whatever they say or do, and
+it&rsquo;s in your power, with my help, to do that for both of us. Can&rsquo;t
+you see that? I want to save my business so then I can help you to save your
+name and money.&rdquo; He paused, hoping this had convinced Stener, but the
+latter was still shaking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But what can I do, Frank?&rdquo; he pleaded, weakly. &ldquo;I
+can&rsquo;t go against Mollenhauer. They can prosecute me if I do that. They
+can do it, anyhow. I can&rsquo;t do that. I&rsquo;m not strong enough. If they
+didn&rsquo;t know, if you hadn&rsquo;t told them, it might be different, but
+this way&mdash;&rdquo; He shook his head sadly, his gray eyes filled with a
+pale distress.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;George,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, who realized now that only the
+sternest arguments would have any effect here, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t talk about
+what I did. What I did I had to do. You&rsquo;re in danger of losing your head
+and your nerve and making a serious mistake here, and I don&rsquo;t want to see
+you make it. I have five hundred thousand of the city&rsquo;s money invested
+for you&mdash;partly for me, and partly for you, but more for you than for
+me&rdquo;&mdash;which, by the way, was not true&mdash;&ldquo;and here you are
+hesitating in an hour like this as to whether you will protect your interest or
+not. I can&rsquo;t understand it. This is a crisis, George. Stocks are tumbling
+on every side&mdash;everybody&rsquo;s stocks. You&rsquo;re not alone in
+this&mdash;neither am I. This is a panic, brought on by a fire, and you
+can&rsquo;t expect to come out of a panic alive unless you do something to
+protect yourself. You say you owe your place to Mollenhauer and that
+you&rsquo;re afraid of what he&rsquo;ll do. If you look at your own situation
+and mine, you&rsquo;ll see that it doesn&rsquo;t make much difference what he
+does, so long as I don&rsquo;t fail. If I fail, where are you? Who&rsquo;s
+going to save you from prosecution? Will Mollenhauer or any one else come
+forward and put five hundred thousand dollars in the treasury for you? He will
+not. If Mollenhauer and the others have your interests at heart, why
+aren&rsquo;t they helping me on &rsquo;change today? I&rsquo;ll tell you why.
+They want your street-railway holdings and mine, and they don&rsquo;t care
+whether you go to jail afterward or not. Now if you&rsquo;re wise you will
+listen to me. I&rsquo;ve been loyal to you, haven&rsquo;t I? You&rsquo;ve made
+money through me&mdash;lots of it. If you&rsquo;re wise, George, you&rsquo;ll
+go to your office and write me your check for three hundred thousand dollars,
+anyhow, before you do a single other thing. Don&rsquo;t see anybody and
+don&rsquo;t do anything till you&rsquo;ve done that. You can&rsquo;t be hung
+any more for a sheep than you can for a lamb. No one can prevent you from
+giving me that check. You&rsquo;re the city treasurer. Once I have that I can
+see my way out of this, and I&rsquo;ll pay it all back to you next week or the
+week after&mdash;this panic is sure to end in that time. With that put back in
+the treasury we can see them about the five hundred thousand a little later. In
+three months, or less, I can fix it so that you can put that back. As a matter
+of fact, I can do it in fifteen days once I am on my feet again. Time is all I
+want. You won&rsquo;t have lost your holdings and nobody will cause you any
+trouble if you put the money back. They don&rsquo;t care to risk a scandal any
+more than you do. Now what&rsquo;ll you do, George? Mollenhauer can&rsquo;t
+stop you from doing this any more than I can make you. Your life is in your own
+hands. What will you do?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stener stood there ridiculously meditating when, as a matter of fact, his very
+financial blood was oozing away. Yet he was afraid to act. He was afraid of
+Mollenhauer, afraid of Cowperwood, afraid of life and of himself. The thought
+of panic, loss, was not so much a definite thing connected with his own
+property, his money, as it was with his social and political standing in the
+community. Few people have the sense of financial individuality strongly
+developed. They do not know what it means to be a controller of wealth, to have
+that which releases the sources of social action&mdash;its medium of exchange.
+They want money, but not for money&rsquo;s sake. They want it for what it will
+buy in the way of simple comforts, whereas the financier wants it for what it
+will control&mdash;for what it will represent in the way of dignity, force,
+power. Cowperwood wanted money in that way; Stener not. That was why he had
+been so ready to let Cowperwood act for him; and now, when he should have seen
+more clearly than ever the significance of what Cowperwood was proposing, he
+was frightened and his reason obscured by such things as Mollenhauer&rsquo;s
+probable opposition and rage, Cowperwood&rsquo;s possible failure, his own
+inability to face a real crisis. Cowperwood&rsquo;s innate financial ability
+did not reassure Stener in this hour. The banker was too young, too new.
+Mollenhauer was older, richer. So was Simpson; so was Butler. These men, with
+their wealth, represented the big forces, the big standards in his world. And
+besides, did not Cowperwood himself confess that he was in great
+danger&mdash;that he was in a corner. That was the worst possible confession to
+make to Stener&mdash;although under the circumstances it was the only one that
+could be made&mdash;for he had no courage to face danger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So it was that now, Stener stood by Cowperwood meditating&mdash;pale, flaccid;
+unable to see the main line of his interests quickly, unable to follow it
+definitely, surely, vigorously&mdash;while they drove to his office. Cowperwood
+entered it with him for the sake of continuing his plea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, George,&rdquo; he said earnestly, &ldquo;I wish you&rsquo;d tell
+me. Time&rsquo;s short. We haven&rsquo;t a moment to lose. Give me the money,
+won&rsquo;t you, and I&rsquo;ll get out of this quick. We haven&rsquo;t a
+moment, I tell you. Don&rsquo;t let those people frighten you off.
+They&rsquo;re playing their own little game; you play yours.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t, Frank,&rdquo; said Stener, finally, very weakly, his
+sense of his own financial future, overcome for the time being by the thought
+of Mollenhauer&rsquo;s hard, controlling face. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have to think.
+I can&rsquo;t do it right now. Strobik just left me before I saw you,
+and&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good God, George,&rdquo; exclaimed Cowperwood, scornfully,
+&ldquo;don&rsquo;t talk about Strobik! What&rsquo;s he got to do with it? Think
+of yourself. Think of where you will be. It&rsquo;s your future&mdash;not
+Strobik&rsquo;s&mdash;that you have to think of.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know, Frank,&rdquo; persisted Stener, weakly; &ldquo;but, really, I
+don&rsquo;t see how I can. Honestly I don&rsquo;t. You say yourself
+you&rsquo;re not sure whether you can come out of things all right, and three
+hundred thousand more is three hundred thousand more. I can&rsquo;t, Frank. I
+really can&rsquo;t. It wouldn&rsquo;t be right. Besides, I want to talk to
+Mollenhauer first, anyhow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good God, how you talk!&rdquo; exploded Cowperwood, angrily, looking at
+him with ill-concealed contempt. &ldquo;Go ahead! See Mollenhauer! Let him tell
+you how to cut your own throat for his benefit. It won&rsquo;t be right to loan
+me three hundred thousand dollars more, but it will be right to let the five
+hundred thousand dollars you have loaned stand unprotected and lose it.
+That&rsquo;s right, isn&rsquo;t it? That&rsquo;s just what you propose to
+do&mdash;lose it, and everything else besides. I want to tell you what it is,
+George&mdash;you&rsquo;ve lost your mind. You&rsquo;ve let a single message
+from Mollenhauer frighten you to death, and because of that you&rsquo;re going
+to risk your fortune, your reputation, your standing&mdash;everything. Do you
+really realize what this means if I fail? You will be a convict, I tell you,
+George. You will go to prison. This fellow Mollenhauer, who is so quick to tell
+you what not to do now, will be the last man to turn a hand for you once
+you&rsquo;re down. Why, look at me&mdash;I&rsquo;ve helped you, haven&rsquo;t
+I? Haven&rsquo;t I handled your affairs satisfactorily for you up to now? What
+in Heaven&rsquo;s name has got into you? What have you to be afraid of?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stener was just about to make another weak rejoinder when the door from the
+outer office opened, and Albert Stires, Stener&rsquo;s chief clerk, entered.
+Stener was too flustered to really pay any attention to Stires for the moment;
+but Cowperwood took matters in his own hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is it, Albert?&rdquo; he asked, familiarly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Sengstack from Mr. Mollenhauer to see Mr. Stener.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the sound of this dreadful name Stener wilted like a leaf. Cowperwood saw
+it. He realized that his last hope of getting the three hundred thousand
+dollars was now probably gone. Still he did not propose to give up as yet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, George,&rdquo; he said, after Albert had gone out with
+instructions that Stener would see Sengstack in a moment. &ldquo;I see how it
+is. This man has got you mesmerized. You can&rsquo;t act for yourself
+now&mdash;you&rsquo;re too frightened. I&rsquo;ll let it rest for the present;
+I&rsquo;ll come back. But for Heaven&rsquo;s sake pull yourself together. Think
+what it means. I&rsquo;m telling you exactly what&rsquo;s going to happen if
+you don&rsquo;t. You&rsquo;ll be independently rich if you do. You&rsquo;ll be
+a convict if you don&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And deciding he would make one more effort in the street before seeing Butler
+again, he walked out briskly, jumped into his light spring runabout waiting
+outside&mdash;a handsome little yellow-glazed vehicle, with a yellow leather
+cushion seat, drawn by a young, high-stepping bay mare&mdash;and sent her
+scudding from door to door, throwing down the lines indifferently and bounding
+up the steps of banks and into office doors.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But all without avail. All were interested, considerate; but things were very
+uncertain. The Girard National Bank refused an hour&rsquo;s grace, and he had
+to send a large bundle of his most valuable securities to cover his stock
+shrinkage there. Word came from his father at two that as president of the
+Third National he would have to call for his one hundred and fifty thousand
+dollars due there. The directors were suspicious of his stocks. He at once
+wrote a check against fifty thousand dollars of his deposits in that bank, took
+twenty-five thousand of his available office funds, called a loan of fifty
+thousand against Tighe &amp; Co., and sold sixty thousand Green &amp; Coates, a
+line he had been tentatively dabbling in, for one-third their value&mdash;and,
+combining the general results, sent them all to the Third National. His father
+was immensely relieved from one point of view, but sadly depressed from
+another. He hurried out at the noon-hour to see what his own holdings would
+bring. He was compromising himself in a way by doing it, but his parental
+heart, as well as is own financial interests, were involved. By mortgaging his
+house and securing loans on his furniture, carriages, lots, and stocks, he
+managed to raise one hundred thousand in cash, and deposited it in his own bank
+to Frank&rsquo;s credit; but it was a very light anchor to windward in this
+swirling storm, at that. Frank had been counting on getting all of his loans
+extended three or four days at least. Reviewing his situation at two
+o&rsquo;clock of this Monday afternoon, he said to himself thoughtfully but
+grimly: &ldquo;Well, Stener has to loan me three hundred
+thousand&mdash;that&rsquo;s all there is to it. And I&rsquo;ll have to see
+Butler now, or he&rsquo;ll be calling his loan before three.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He hurried out, and was off to Butler&rsquo;s house, driving like mad.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap26"></a>Chapter XXVI</h2>
+
+<p>
+Things had changed greatly since last Cowperwood had talked with Butler.
+Although most friendly at the time the proposition was made that he should
+combine with Mollenhauer and Simpson to sustain the market, alas, now on this
+Monday morning at nine o&rsquo;clock, an additional complication had been added
+to the already tangled situation which had changed Butler&rsquo;s attitude
+completely. As he was leaving his home to enter his runabout, at nine
+o&rsquo;clock in the morning of this same day in which Cowperwood was seeking
+Stener&rsquo;s aid, the postman, coming up, had handed Butler four letters, all
+of which he paused for a moment to glance at. One was from a sub-contractor by
+the name of O&rsquo;Higgins, the second was from Father Michel, his confessor,
+of St. Timothy&rsquo;s, thanking him for a contribution to the parish poor
+fund; a third was from Drexel &amp; Co. relating to a deposit, and the fourth
+was an anonymous communication, on cheap stationery from some one who was
+apparently not very literate&mdash;a woman most likely&mdash;written in a
+scrawling hand, which read:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+DEAR SIR&mdash;This is to warn you that your daughter Aileen is running around
+with a man that she shouldn&rsquo;t, Frank A. Cowperwood, the banker. If you
+don&rsquo;t believe it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street. Then you can
+see for yourself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was neither signature nor mark of any kind to indicate from whence it
+might have come. Butler got the impression strongly that it might have been
+written by some one living in the vicinity of the number indicated. His
+intuitions were keen at times. As a matter of fact, it was written by a girl, a
+member of St. Timothy&rsquo;s Church, who did live in the vicinity of the house
+indicated, and who knew Aileen by sight and was jealous of her airs and her
+position. She was a thin, anemic, dissatisfied creature who had the type of
+brain which can reconcile the gratification of personal spite with a comforting
+sense of having fulfilled a moral duty. Her home was some five doors north of
+the unregistered Cowperwood domicile on the opposite side of the street, and by
+degrees, in the course of time, she made out, or imagined that she had, the
+significance of this institution, piecing fact to fancy and fusing all with
+that keen intuition which is so closely related to fact. The result was
+eventually this letter which now spread clear and grim before Butler&rsquo;s
+eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Irish are a philosophic as well as a practical race. Their first and
+strongest impulse is to make the best of a bad situation&mdash;to put a better
+face on evil than it normally wears. On first reading these lines the
+intelligence they conveyed sent a peculiar chill over Butler&rsquo;s sturdy
+frame. His jaw instinctively closed, and his gray eyes narrowed. Could this be
+true? If it were not, would the author of the letter say so practically,
+&ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t believe it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth
+Street&rdquo;? Wasn&rsquo;t that in itself proof positive&mdash;the hard,
+matter-of-fact realism of it? And this was the man who had come to him the
+night before seeking aid&mdash;whom he had done so much to assist. There forced
+itself into his naturally slow-moving but rather accurate mind a sense of the
+distinction and charm of his daughter&mdash;a considerably sharper picture than
+he had ever had before, and at the same time a keener understanding of the
+personality of Frank Algernon Cowperwood. How was it he had failed to detect
+the real subtlety of this man? How was it he had never seen any sign of it, if
+there had been anything between Cowperwood and Aileen?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Parents are frequently inclined, because of a time-flattered sense of security,
+to take their children for granted. Nothing ever has happened, so nothing ever
+will happen. They see their children every day, and through the eyes of
+affection; and despite their natural charm and their own strong parental love,
+the children are apt to become not only commonplaces, but ineffably secure
+against evil. Mary is naturally a good girl&mdash;a little wild, but what harm
+can befall her? John is a straight-forward, steady-going boy&mdash;how could he
+get into trouble? The astonishment of most parents at the sudden accidental
+revelation of evil in connection with any of their children is almost
+invariably pathetic. &ldquo;My John! My Mary! Impossible!&rdquo; But it is
+possible. Very possible. Decidedly likely. Some, through lack of experience or
+understanding, or both, grow hard and bitter on the instant. They feel
+themselves astonishingly abased in the face of notable tenderness and
+sacrifice. Others collapse before the grave manifestation of the insecurity and
+uncertainty of life&mdash;the mystic chemistry of our being. Still others,
+taught roughly by life, or endowed with understanding or intuition, or both,
+see in this the latest manifestation of that incomprehensible chemistry which
+we call <i>life</i> and personality, and, knowing that it is quite vain to hope
+to gainsay it, save by greater subtlety, put the best face they can upon the
+matter and call a truce until they can think. We all know that life is
+unsolvable&mdash;we who think. The remainder imagine a vain thing, and are full
+of sound and fury signifying nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So Edward Butler, being a man of much wit and hard, grim experience, stood
+there on his doorstep holding in his big, rough hand his thin slip of cheap
+paper which contained such a terrific indictment of his daughter. There came to
+him now a picture of her as she was when she was a very little girl&mdash;she
+was his first baby girl&mdash;and how keenly he had felt about her all these
+years. She had been a beautiful child&mdash;her red-gold hair had been pillowed
+on his breast many a time, and his hard, rough fingers had stroked her soft
+cheeks, lo, these thousands of times. Aileen, his lovely, dashing daughter of
+twenty-three! He was lost in dark, strange, unhappy speculations, without any
+present ability to think or say or do the right thing. He did not know what the
+right thing was, he finally confessed to himself. Aileen! Aileen! His Aileen!
+If her mother knew this it would break her heart. She mustn&rsquo;t! She
+mustn&rsquo;t! And yet mustn&rsquo;t she?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The heart of a father! The world wanders into many strange by-paths of
+affection. The love of a mother for her children is dominant, leonine, selfish,
+and unselfish. It is concentric. The love of a husband for his wife, or of a
+lover for his sweetheart, is a sweet bond of agreement and exchange trade in a
+lovely contest. The love of a father for his son or daughter, where it is love
+at all, is a broad, generous, sad, contemplative giving without thought of
+return, a hail and farewell to a troubled traveler whom he would do much to
+guard, a balanced judgment of weakness and strength, with pity for failure and
+pride in achievement. It is a lovely, generous, philosophic blossom which
+rarely asks too much, and seeks only to give wisely and plentifully.
+&ldquo;That my boy may succeed! That my daughter may be happy!&rdquo; Who has
+not heard and dwelt upon these twin fervors of fatherly wisdom and tenderness?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Butler drove downtown his huge, slow-moving, in some respects chaotic mind
+turned over as rapidly as he could all of the possibilities in connection with
+this unexpected, sad, and disturbing revelation. Why had Cowperwood not been
+satisfied with his wife? Why should he enter into his (Butler&rsquo;s) home, of
+all places, to establish a clandestine relationship of this character? Was
+Aileen in any way to blame? She was not without mental resources of her own.
+She must have known what she was doing. She was a good Catholic, or, at least,
+had been raised so. All these years she had been going regularly to confession
+and communion. True, of late Butler had noticed that she did not care so much
+about going to church, would sometimes make excuses and stay at home on
+Sundays; but she had gone, as a rule. And now, now&mdash;his thoughts would
+come to the end of a blind alley, and then he would start back, as it were,
+mentally, to the center of things, and begin all over again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went up the stairs to his own office slowly. He went in and sat down, and
+thought and thought. Ten o&rsquo;clock came, and eleven. His son bothered him
+with an occasional matter of interest, but, finding him moody, finally
+abandoned him to his own speculations. It was twelve, and then one, and he was
+still sitting there thinking, when the presence of Cowperwood was announced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, on finding Butler not at home, and not encountering Aileen, had
+hurried up to the office of the Edward Butler Contracting Company, which was
+also the center of some of Butler&rsquo;s street-railway interests. The floor
+space controlled by the company was divided into the usual official
+compartments, with sections for the bookkeepers, the road-managers, the
+treasurer, and so on. Owen Butler, and his father had small but attractively
+furnished offices in the rear, where they transacted all the important business
+of the company.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During this drive, curiously, by reason of one of those strange psychologic
+intuitions which so often precede a human difficulty of one sort or another, he
+had been thinking of Aileen. He was thinking of the peculiarity of his
+relationship with her, and of the fact that now he was running to her father
+for assistance. As he mounted the stairs he had a peculiar sense of the
+untoward; but he could not, in his view of life, give it countenance. One
+glance at Butler showed him that something had gone amiss. He was not so
+friendly; his glance was dark, and there was a certain sternness to his
+countenance which had never previously been manifested there in
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s memory. He perceived at once that here was something
+different from a mere intention to refuse him aid and call his loan. What was
+it? Aileen? It must be that. Somebody had suggested something. They had been
+seen together. Well, even so, nothing could be proved. Butler would obtain no
+sign from him. But his loan&mdash;that was to be called, surely. And as for an
+additional loan, he could see now, before a word had been said, that that
+thought was useless.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I came to see you about that loan of yours, Mr. Butler,&rdquo; he
+observed, briskly, with an old-time, jaunty air. You could not have told from
+his manner or his face that he had observed anything out of the ordinary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler, who was alone in the room&mdash;Owen having gone into an adjoining
+room&mdash;merely stared at him from under his shaggy brows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have to have that money,&rdquo; he said, brusquely, darkly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An old-time Irish rage suddenly welled up in his bosom as he contemplated this
+jaunty, sophisticated undoer of his daughter&rsquo;s virtue. He fairly glared
+at him as he thought of him and her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I judged from the way things were going this morning that you might want
+it,&rdquo; Cowperwood replied, quietly, without sign of tremor. &ldquo;The
+bottom&rsquo;s out, I see.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The bottom&rsquo;s out, and it&rsquo;ll not be put back soon, I&rsquo;m
+thinkin&rsquo;. I&rsquo;ll have to have what&rsquo;s belongin&rsquo; to me
+to-day. I haven&rsquo;t any time to spare.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, who saw clearly how treacherous
+the situation was. The old man was in a dour mood. His presence was an
+irritation to him, for some reason&mdash;a deadly provocation. Cowperwood felt
+clearly that it must be Aileen, that he must know or suspect something.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He must pretend business hurry and end this. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry. I thought
+I might get an extension; but that&rsquo;s all right. I can get the money,
+though. I&rsquo;ll send it right over.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He turned and walked quickly to the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler got up. He had thought to manage this differently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had thought to denounce or even assault this man. He was about to make some
+insinuating remark which would compel an answer, some direct charge; but
+Cowperwood was out and away as jaunty as ever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man was flustered, enraged, disappointed. He opened the small office
+door which led into the adjoining room, and called, &ldquo;Owen!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, father.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Send over to Cowperwood&rsquo;s office and get that money.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You decided to call it, eh?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Owen was puzzled by the old man&rsquo;s angry mood. He wondered what it all
+meant, but thought he and Cowperwood might have had a few words. He went out to
+his desk to write a note and call a clerk. Butler went to the window and stared
+out. He was angry, bitter, brutal in his vein.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The dirty dog!&rdquo; he suddenly exclaimed to himself, in a low voice.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take every dollar he&rsquo;s got before I&rsquo;m through
+with him. I&rsquo;ll send him to jail, I will. I&rsquo;ll break him, I will.
+Wait!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He clinched his big fists and his teeth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll fix him. I&rsquo;ll show him. The dog! The damned
+scoundrel!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Never in his life before had he been so bitter, so cruel, so relentless in his
+mood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He walked his office floor thinking what he could do. Question
+Aileen&mdash;that was what he would do. If her face, or her lips, told him that
+his suspicion was true, he would deal with Cowperwood later. This city
+treasurer business, now. It was not a crime in so far as Cowperwood was
+concerned; but it might be made to be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So now, telling the clerk to say to Owen that he had gone down the street for a
+few moments, he boarded a street-car and rode out to his home, where he found
+his elder daughter just getting ready to go out. She wore a purple-velvet
+street dress edged with narrow, flat gilt braid, and a striking gold-and-purple
+turban. She had on dainty new boots of bronze kid and long gloves of lavender
+suede. In her ears was one of her latest affectations, a pair of long jet
+earrings. The old Irishman realized on this occasion, when he saw her, perhaps
+more clearly than he ever had in his life, that he had grown a bird of rare
+plumage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where are you going, daughter?&rdquo; he asked, with a rather
+unsuccessful attempt to conceal his fear, distress, and smoldering anger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To the library,&rdquo; she said easily, and yet with a sudden
+realization that all was not right with her father. His face was too heavy and
+gray. He looked tired and gloomy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come up to my office a minute,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I want to see you
+before you go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen heard this with a strange feeling of curiosity and wonder. It was not
+customary for her father to want to see her in his office just when she was
+going out; and his manner indicated, in this instance, that the exceptional
+procedure portended a strange revelation of some kind. Aileen, like every other
+person who offends against a rigid convention of the time, was conscious of and
+sensitive to the possible disastrous results which would follow exposure. She
+had often thought about what her family would think if they knew what she was
+doing; she had never been able to satisfy herself in her mind as to what they
+would do. Her father was a very vigorous man. But she had never known him to be
+cruel or cold in his attitude toward her or any other member of the family, and
+especially not toward her. Always he seemed too fond of her to be completely
+alienated by anything that might happen; yet she could not be sure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler led the way, planting his big feet solemnly on the steps as he went up.
+Aileen followed with a single glance at herself in the tall pier-mirror which
+stood in the hall, realizing at once how charming she looked and how uncertain
+she was feeling about what was to follow. What could her father want? It made
+the color leave her cheeks for the moment, as she thought what he might want.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler strolled into his stuffy room and sat down in the big leather chair,
+disproportioned to everything else in the chamber, but which, nevertheless,
+accompanied his desk. Before him, against the light, was the visitor&rsquo;s
+chair, in which he liked to have those sit whose faces he was anxious to study.
+When Aileen entered he motioned her to it, which was also ominous to her, and
+said, &ldquo;Sit down there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She took the seat, not knowing what to make of his procedure. On the instant
+her promise to Cowperwood to deny everything, whatever happened, came back to
+her. If her father was about to attack her on that score, he would get no
+satisfaction, she thought. She owed it to Frank. Her pretty face strengthened
+and hardened on the instant. Her small, white teeth set themselves in two even
+rows; and her father saw quite plainly that she was consciously bracing herself
+for an attack of some kind. He feared by this that she was guilty, and he was
+all the more distressed, ashamed, outraged, made wholly unhappy. He fumbled in
+the left-hand pocket of his coat and drew forth from among the various papers
+the fatal communication so cheap in its physical texture. His big fingers
+fumbled almost tremulously as he fished the letter-sheet out of the small
+envelope and unfolded it without saying a word. Aileen watched his face and his
+hands, wondering what it could be that he had here. He handed the paper over,
+small in his big fist, and said, &ldquo;Read that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen took it, and for a second was relieved to be able to lower her eyes to
+the paper. Her relief vanished in a second, when she realized how in a moment
+she would have to raise them again and look him in the face.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+DEAR SIR&mdash;This is to warn you that your daughter Aileen is running around
+with a man that she shouldn&rsquo;t, Frank A. Cowperwood, the banker. If you
+don&rsquo;t believe it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street. Then you can
+see for yourself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In spite of herself the color fled from her cheeks instantly, only to come back
+in a hot, defiant wave.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, what a lie!&rdquo; she said, lifting her eyes to her
+father&rsquo;s. &ldquo;To think that any one should write such a thing of me!
+How dare they! I think it&rsquo;s a shame!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Old Butler looked at her narrowly, solemnly. He was not deceived to any extent
+by her bravado. If she were really innocent, he knew she would have jumped to
+her feet in her defiant way. Protest would have been written all over her. As
+it was, she only stared haughtily. He read through her eager defiance to the
+guilty truth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do ye know, daughter, that I haven&rsquo;t had the house
+watched?&rdquo; he said, quizzically. &ldquo;How do ye know that ye
+haven&rsquo;t been seen goin&rsquo; in there?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Only Aileen&rsquo;s solemn promise to her lover could have saved her from this
+subtle thrust. As it was, she paled nervously; but she saw Frank Cowperwood,
+solemn and distinguished, asking her what she would say if she were caught.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lie!&rdquo; she said, catching her breath. &ldquo;I
+wasn&rsquo;t at any house at that number, and no one saw me going in there. How
+can you ask me that, father?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In spite of his mixed feelings of uncertainty and yet unshakable belief that
+his daughter was guilty, he could not help admiring her courage&mdash;she was
+so defiant, as she sat there, so set in her determination to lie and thus
+defend herself. Her beauty helped her in his mood, raised her in his esteem.
+After all, what could you do with a woman of this kind? She was not a
+ten-year-old girl any more, as in a way he sometimes continued to fancy her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ye oughtn&rsquo;t to say that if it isn&rsquo;t true, Aileen,&rdquo; he
+said. &ldquo;Ye oughtn&rsquo;t to lie. It&rsquo;s against your faith. Why would
+anybody write a letter like that if it wasn&rsquo;t so?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s not so,&rdquo; insisted Aileen, pretending anger and
+outraged feeling, &ldquo;and I don&rsquo;t think you have any right to sit
+there and say that to me. I haven&rsquo;t been there, and I&rsquo;m not running
+around with Mr. Cowperwood. Why, I hardly know the man except in a social
+way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler shook his head solemnly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great blow to me, daughter. It&rsquo;s a great blow to
+me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m willing to take your word if ye say so;
+but I can&rsquo;t help thinkin&rsquo; what a sad thing it would be if ye were
+lyin&rsquo; to me. I haven&rsquo;t had the house watched. I only got this this
+mornin&rsquo;. And what&rsquo;s written here may not be so. I hope it
+isn&rsquo;t. But we&rsquo;ll not say any more about that now. If there is
+anythin&rsquo; in it, and ye haven&rsquo;t gone too far yet to save yourself, I
+want ye to think of your mother and your sister and your brothers, and be a
+good girl. Think of the church ye was raised in, and the name we&rsquo;ve got
+to stand up for in the world. Why, if ye were doin&rsquo; anything wrong, and
+the people of Philadelphy got a hold of it, the city, big as it is,
+wouldn&rsquo;t be big enough to hold us. Your brothers have got a reputation to
+make, their work to do here. You and your sister want to get married sometime.
+How could ye expect to look the world in the face and do anythin&rsquo; at all
+if ye are doin&rsquo; what this letter says ye are, and it was told about
+ye?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man&rsquo;s voice was thick with a strange, sad, alien emotion. He did
+not want to believe that his daughter was guilty, even though he knew she was.
+He did not want to face what he considered in his vigorous, religious way to be
+his duty, that of reproaching her sternly. There were some fathers who would
+have turned her out, he fancied. There were others who might possibly kill
+Cowperwood after a subtle investigation. That course was not for him. If
+vengeance he was to have, it must be through politics and finance&mdash;he must
+drive him out. But as for doing anything desperate in connection with Aileen,
+he could not think of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, father,&rdquo; returned Aileen, with considerable histrionic ability
+in her assumption of pettishness, &ldquo;how can you talk like this when you
+know I&rsquo;m not guilty? When I tell you so?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old Irishman saw through her make-believe with profound sadness&mdash;the
+feeling that one of his dearest hopes had been shattered. He had expected so
+much of her socially and matrimonially. Why, any one of a dozen remarkable
+young men might have married her, and she would have had lovely children to
+comfort him in his old age.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;ll not talk any more about it now, daughter,&rdquo; he
+said, wearily. &ldquo;Ye&rsquo;ve been so much to me during all these years
+that I can scarcely belave anythin&rsquo; wrong of ye. I don&rsquo;t want to,
+God knows. Ye&rsquo;re a grown woman, though, now; and if ye are doin&rsquo;
+anythin&rsquo; wrong I don&rsquo;t suppose I could do so much to stop ye. I
+might turn ye out, of course, as many a father would; but I wouldn&rsquo;t like
+to do anythin&rsquo; like that. But if ye are doin&rsquo; anythin&rsquo;
+wrong&rdquo;&mdash;and he put up his hand to stop a proposed protest on the
+part of Aileen&mdash;&ldquo;remember, I&rsquo;m certain to find it out in the
+long run, and Philadelphy won&rsquo;t be big enough to hold me and the man
+that&rsquo;s done this thing to me. I&rsquo;ll get him,&rdquo; he said, getting
+up dramatically. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll get him, and when I do&mdash;&rdquo; He
+turned a livid face to the wall, and Aileen saw clearly that Cowperwood, in
+addition to any other troubles which might beset him, had her father to deal
+with. Was this why Frank had looked so sternly at her the night before?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, your mother would die of a broken heart if she thought there was
+anybody could say the least word against ye,&rdquo; pursued Butler, in a shaken
+voice. &ldquo;This man has a family&mdash;a wife and children, Ye
+oughtn&rsquo;t to want to do anythin&rsquo; to hurt them. They&rsquo;ll have
+trouble enough, if I&rsquo;m not mistaken&mdash;facin&rsquo; what&rsquo;s
+comin&rsquo; to them in the future,&rdquo; and Butler&rsquo;s jaw hardened just
+a little. &ldquo;Ye&rsquo;re a beautiful girl. Ye&rsquo;re young. Ye have
+money. There&rsquo;s dozens of young men&rsquo;d be proud to make ye their
+wife. Whatever ye may be thinkin&rsquo; or doin&rsquo;, don&rsquo;t throw away
+your life. Don&rsquo;t destroy your immortal soul. Don&rsquo;t break my heart
+entirely.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen, not ungenerous&mdash;fool of mingled affection and passion&mdash;could
+now have cried. She pitied her father from her heart; but her allegiance was to
+Cowperwood, her loyalty unshaken. She wanted to say something, to protest much
+more; but she knew that it was useless. Her father knew that she was lying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, there&rsquo;s no use of my saying anything more, father,&rdquo;
+she said, getting up. The light of day was fading in the windows. The
+downstairs door closed with a light slam, indicating that one of the boys had
+come in. Her proposed trip to the library was now without interest to her.
+&ldquo;You won&rsquo;t believe me, anyhow. I tell you, though, that I&rsquo;m
+innocent just the same.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler lifted his big, brown hand to command silence. She saw that this
+shameful relationship, as far as her father was concerned, had been made quite
+clear, and that this trying conference was now at an end. She turned and walked
+shamefacedly out. He waited until he heard her steps fading into faint nothings
+down the hall toward her room. Then he arose. Once more he clinched his big
+fists.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The scoundrel!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The scoundrel! I&rsquo;ll drive
+him out of Philadelphy, if it takes the last dollar I have in the world.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap27"></a>Chapter XXVII</h2>
+
+<p>
+For the first time in his life Cowperwood felt conscious of having been in the
+presence of that interesting social phenomenon&mdash;the outraged sentiment of
+a parent. While he had no absolute knowledge as to why Butler had been so
+enraged, he felt that Aileen was the contributing cause. He himself was a
+father. His boy, Frank, Jr., was to him not so remarkable. But little Lillian,
+with her dainty little slip of a body and bright-aureoled head, had always
+appealed to him. She was going to be a charming woman one day, he thought, and
+he was going to do much to establish her safely. He used to tell her that she
+had &ldquo;eyes like buttons,&rdquo; &ldquo;feet like a pussy-cat,&rdquo; and
+hands that were &ldquo;just five cents&rsquo; worth,&rdquo; they were so
+little. The child admired her father and would often stand by his chair in the
+library or the sitting-room, or his desk in his private office, or by his seat
+at the table, asking him questions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This attitude toward his own daughter made him see clearly how Butler might
+feel toward Aileen. He wondered how he would feel if it were his own little
+Lillian, and still he did not believe he would make much fuss over the matter,
+either with himself or with her, if she were as old as Aileen. Children and
+their lives were more or less above the willing of parents, anyhow, and it
+would be a difficult thing for any parent to control any child, unless the
+child were naturally docile-minded and willing to be controlled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It also made him smile, in a grim way, to see how fate was raining difficulties
+on him. The Chicago fire, Stener&rsquo;s early absence, Butler, Mollenhauer,
+and Simpson&rsquo;s indifference to Stener&rsquo;s fate and his. And now this
+probable revelation in connection with Aileen. He could not be sure as yet, but
+his intuitive instincts told him that it must be something like this.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now he was distressed as to what Aileen would do, say if suddenly she were
+confronted by her father. If he could only get to her! But if he was to meet
+Butler&rsquo;s call for his loan, and the others which would come yet to-day or
+on the morrow, there was not a moment to lose. If he did not pay he must assign
+at once. Butler&rsquo;s rage, Aileen, his own danger, were brushed aside for
+the moment. His mind concentrated wholly on how to save himself financially.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He hurried to visit George Waterman; David Wiggin, his wife&rsquo;s brother,
+who was now fairly well to do; Joseph Zimmerman, the wealthy dry-goods dealer
+who had dealt with him in the past; Judge Kitchen, a private manipulator of
+considerable wealth; Frederick Van Nostrand, the State treasurer, who was
+interested in local street-railway stocks, and others. Of all those to whom he
+appealed one was actually not in a position to do anything for him; another was
+afraid; a third was calculating eagerly to drive a hard bargain; a fourth was
+too deliberate, anxious to have much time. All scented the true value of his
+situation, all wanted time to consider, and he had no time to consider. Judge
+Kitchen did agree to lend him thirty thousand dollars&mdash;a paltry sum.
+Joseph Zimmerman would only risk twenty-five thousand dollars. He could see
+where, all told, he might raise seventy-five thousand dollars by hypothecating
+double the amount in shares; but this was ridiculously insufficient. He had
+figured again, to a dollar, and he must have at least two hundred and fifty
+thousand dollars above all his present holdings, or he must close his doors.
+To-morrow at two o&rsquo;clock he would know. If he didn&rsquo;t he would be
+written down as &ldquo;failed&rdquo; on a score of ledgers in Philadelphia.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What a pretty pass for one to come to whose hopes had so recently run so high!
+There was a loan of one hundred thousand dollars from the Girard National Bank
+which he was particularly anxious to clear off. This bank was the most
+important in the city, and if he retained its good will by meeting this loan
+promptly he might hope for favors in the future whatever happened. Yet, at the
+moment, he did not see how he could do it. He decided, however, after some
+reflection, that he would deliver the stocks which Judge Kitchen, Zimmerman,
+and others had agreed to take and get their checks or cash yet this night. Then
+he would persuade Stener to let him have a check for the sixty thousand
+dollars&rsquo; worth of city loan he had purchased this morning on
+&rsquo;change. Out of it he could take twenty-five thousand dollars to make up
+the balance due the bank, and still have thirty-five thousand for himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The one unfortunate thing about such an arrangement was that by doing it he was
+building up a rather complicated situation in regard to these same
+certificates. Since their purchase in the morning, he had not deposited them in
+the sinking-fund, where they belonged (they had been delivered to his office by
+half past one in the afternoon), but, on the contrary, had immediately
+hypothecated them to cover another loan. It was a risky thing to have done,
+considering that he was in danger of failing and that he was not absolutely
+sure of being able to take them up in time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But, he reasoned, he had a working agreement with the city treasurer (illegal
+of course), which would make such a transaction rather plausible, and almost
+all right, even if he failed, and that was that none of his accounts were
+supposed necessarily to be put straight until the end of the month. If he
+failed, and the certificates were not in the sinking-fund, he could say, as was
+the truth, that he was in the habit of taking his time, and had forgotten. This
+collecting of a check, therefore, for these as yet undeposited certificates
+would be technically, if not legally and morally, plausible. The city would be
+out only an additional sixty thousand dollars&mdash;making five hundred and
+sixty thousand dollars all told, which in view of its probable loss of five
+hundred thousand did not make so much difference. But his caution clashed with
+his need on this occasion, and he decided that he would not call for the check
+unless Stener finally refused to aid him with three hundred thousand more, in
+which case he would claim it as his right. In all likelihood Stener would not
+think to ask whether the certificates were in the sinking-fund or not. If he
+did, he would have to lie&mdash;that was all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He drove rapidly back to his office, and, finding Butler&rsquo;s note, as he
+expected, wrote a check on his father&rsquo;s bank for the one hundred thousand
+dollars which had been placed to his credit by his loving parent, and sent it
+around to Butler&rsquo;s office. There was another note, from Albert Stires,
+Stener&rsquo;s secretary, advising him not to buy or sell any more city
+loan&mdash;that until further notice such transactions would not be honored.
+Cowperwood immediately sensed the source of this warning. Stener had been in
+conference with Butler or Mollenhauer, and had been warned and frightened.
+Nevertheless, he got in his buggy again and drove directly to the city
+treasurer&rsquo;s office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Since Cowperwood&rsquo;s visit Stener had talked still more with Sengstack,
+Strobik, and others, all sent to see that a proper fear of things financial had
+been put in his heart. The result was decidedly one which spelled opposition to
+Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Strobik was considerably disturbed himself. He and Wycroft and Harmon had also
+been using money out of the treasury&mdash;much smaller sums, of course, for
+they had not Cowperwood&rsquo;s financial imagination&mdash;and were disturbed
+as to how they would return what they owed before the storm broke. If
+Cowperwood failed, and Stener was short in his accounts, the whole budget might
+be investigated, and then their loans would be brought to light. The thing to
+do was to return what they owed, and then, at least, no charge of malfeasance
+would lie against them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Go to Mollenhauer,&rdquo; Strobik had advised Stener, shortly after
+Cowperwood had left the latter&rsquo;s office, &ldquo;and tell him the whole
+story. He put you here. He was strong for your nomination. Tell him just where
+you stand and ask him what to do. He&rsquo;ll probably be able to tell you.
+Offer him your holdings to help you out. You have to. You can&rsquo;t help
+yourself. Don&rsquo;t loan Cowperwood another damned dollar, whatever you do.
+He&rsquo;s got you in so deep now you can hardly hope to get out. Ask
+Mollenhauer if he won&rsquo;t help you to get Cowperwood to put that money
+back. He may be able to influence him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was more in this conversation to the same effect, and then Stener hurried
+as fast as his legs could carry him to Mollenhauer&rsquo;s office. He was so
+frightened that he could scarcely breathe, and he was quite ready to throw
+himself on his knees before the big German-American financier and leader. Oh,
+if Mr. Mollenhauer would only help him! If he could just get out of this
+without going to jail!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!&rdquo; he repeated, over and over to
+himself, as he walked. &ldquo;What shall I do?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The attitude of Henry A. Mollenhauer, grim, political boss that he
+was&mdash;trained in a hard school&mdash;was precisely the attitude of every
+such man in all such trying circumstances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was wondering, in view of what Butler had told him, just how much he could
+advantage himself in this situation. If he could, he wanted to get control of
+whatever street-railway stock Stener now had, without in any way compromising
+himself. Stener&rsquo;s shares could easily be transferred on &rsquo;change
+through Mollenhauer&rsquo;s brokers to a dummy, who would eventually transfer
+them to himself (Mollenhauer). Stener must be squeezed thoroughly, though, this
+afternoon, and as for his five hundred thousand dollars&rsquo; indebtedness to
+the treasury, Mollenhauer did not see what could be done about that. If
+Cowperwood could not pay it, the city would have to lose it; but the scandal
+must be hushed up until after election. Stener, unless the various party
+leaders had more generosity than Mollenhauer imagined, would have to suffer
+exposure, arrest, trial, confiscation of his property, and possibly sentence to
+the penitentiary, though this might easily be commuted by the governor, once
+public excitement died down. He did not trouble to think whether Cowperwood was
+criminally involved or not. A hundred to one he was not. Trust a shrewd man
+like that to take care of himself. But if there was any way to shoulder the
+blame on to Cowperwood, and so clear the treasurer and the skirts of the party,
+he would not object to that. He wanted to hear the full story of Stener&rsquo;s
+relations with the broker first. Meanwhile, the thing to do was to seize what
+Stener had to yield.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The troubled city treasurer, on being shown in Mr. Mollenhauer&rsquo;s
+presence, at once sank feebly in a chair and collapsed. He was entirely done
+for mentally. His nerve was gone, his courage exhausted like a breath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Mr. Stener?&rdquo; queried Mr. Mollenhauer, impressively,
+pretending not to know what brought him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I came about this matter of my loans to Mr. Cowperwood.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, what about them?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, he owes me, or the city treasury rather, five hundred thousand
+dollars, and I understand that he is going to fail and that he can&rsquo;t pay
+it back.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who told you that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Sengstack, and since then Mr. Cowperwood has been to see me. He
+tells me he must have more money or he will fail and he wants to borrow three
+hundred thousand dollars more. He says he must have it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So!&rdquo; said Mr. Mollenhauer, impressively, and with an air of
+astonishment which he did not feel. &ldquo;You would not think of doing that,
+of course. You&rsquo;re too badly involved as it is. If he wants to know why,
+refer him to me. Don&rsquo;t advance him another dollar. If you do, and this
+case comes to trial, no court would have any mercy on you. It&rsquo;s going to
+be difficult enough to do anything for you as it is. However, if you
+don&rsquo;t advance him any more&mdash;we will see. It may be possible, I
+can&rsquo;t say, but at any rate, no more money must leave the treasury to
+bolster up this bad business. It&rsquo;s much too difficult as it now
+is.&rdquo; He stared at Stener warningly. And he, shaken and sick, yet because
+of the faint suggestion of mercy involved somewhere in Mollenhauer&rsquo;s
+remarks, now slipped from his chair to his knees and folded his hands in the
+uplifted attitude of a devotee before a sacred image.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Mr. Mollenhauer,&rdquo; he choked, beginning to cry, &ldquo;I
+didn&rsquo;t mean to do anything wrong. Strobik and Wycroft told me it was all
+right. You sent me to Cowperwood in the first place. I only did what I thought
+the others had been doing. Mr. Bode did it, just like I have been doing. He
+dealt with Tighe and Company. I have a wife and four children, Mr. Mollenhauer.
+My youngest boy is only seven years old. Think of them, Mr. Mollenhauer! Think
+of what my arrest will mean to them! I don&rsquo;t want to go to jail. I
+didn&rsquo;t think I was doing anything very wrong&mdash;honestly I
+didn&rsquo;t. I&rsquo;ll give up all I&rsquo;ve got. You can have all my stocks
+and houses and lots&mdash;anything&mdash;if you&rsquo;ll only get me out of
+this. You won&rsquo;t let &rsquo;em send me to jail, will you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His fat, white lips were trembling&mdash;wabbling nervously&mdash;and big hot
+tears were coursing down his previously pale but now flushed cheeks. He
+presented one of those almost unbelievable pictures which are yet so intensely
+human and so true. If only the great financial and political giants would for
+once accurately reveal the details of their lives!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mollenhauer looked at him calmly, meditatively. How often had he seen weaklings
+no more dishonest than himself, but without his courage and subtlety, pleading
+to him in this fashion, not on their knees exactly, but intellectually so! Life
+to him, as to every other man of large practical knowledge and insight, was an
+inexplicable tangle. What were you going to do about the so-called morals and
+precepts of the world? This man Stener fancied that he was dishonest, and that
+he, Mollenhauer, was honest. He was here, self-convicted of sin, pleading to
+him, Mollenhauer, as he would to a righteous, unstained saint. As a matter of
+fact, Mollenhauer knew that he was simply shrewder, more far-seeing, more
+calculating, not less dishonest. Stener was lacking in force and
+brains&mdash;not morals. This lack was his principal crime. There were people
+who believed in some esoteric standard of right&mdash;some ideal of conduct
+absolutely and very far removed from practical life; but he had never seen them
+practice it save to their own financial (not moral&mdash;he would not say that)
+destruction. They were never significant, practical men who clung to these
+fatuous ideals. They were always poor, nondescript, negligible dreamers. He
+could not have made Stener understand all this if he had wanted to, and he
+certainly did not want to. It was too bad about Mrs. Stener and the little
+Steners. No doubt she had worked hard, as had Stener, to get up in the world
+and be something&mdash;just a little more than miserably poor; and now this
+unfortunate complication had to arise to undo them&mdash;this Chicago fire.
+What a curious thing that was! If any one thing more than another made him
+doubt the existence of a kindly, overruling Providence, it was the unheralded
+storms out of clear skies&mdash;financial, social, anything you
+choose&mdash;that so often brought ruin and disaster to so many.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Get Up, Stener,&rdquo; he said, calmly, after a few moments. &ldquo;You
+mustn&rsquo;t give way to your feelings like this. You must not cry. These
+troubles are never unraveled by tears. You must do a little thinking for
+yourself. Perhaps your situation isn&rsquo;t so bad.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he was saying this Stener was putting himself back in his chair, getting out
+his handkerchief, and sobbing hopelessly in it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll do what I can, Stener. I won&rsquo;t promise anything. I
+can&rsquo;t tell you what the result will be. There are many peculiar political
+forces in this city. I may not be able to save you, but I am perfectly willing
+to try. You must put yourself absolutely under my direction. You must not say
+or do anything without first consulting with me. I will send my secretary to
+you from time to time. He will tell you what to do. You must not come to me
+unless I send for you. Do you understand that thoroughly?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Mr. Mollenhauer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, now, dry your eyes. I don&rsquo;t want you to go out of this
+office crying. Go back to your office, and I will send Sengstack to see you. He
+will tell you what to do. Follow him exactly. And whenever I send for you come
+at once.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He got up, large, self-confident, reserved. Stener, buoyed up by the subtle
+reassurance of his remarks, recovered to a degree his equanimity. Mr.
+Mollenhauer, the great, powerful Mr. Mollenhauer was going to help him out of
+his scrape. He might not have to go to jail after all. He left after a few
+moments, his face a little red from weeping, but otherwise free of telltale
+marks, and returned to his office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Three-quarters of an hour later, Sengstack called on him for the second time
+that day&mdash;Abner Sengstack, small, dark-faced, club-footed, a great sole of
+leather three inches thick under his short, withered right leg, his slightly
+Slavic, highly intelligent countenance burning with a pair of keen, piercing,
+inscrutable black eyes. Sengstack was a fit secretary for Mollenhauer. You
+could see at one glance that he would make Stener do exactly what Mollenhauer
+suggested. His business was to induce Stener to part with his street-railway
+holdings at once through Tighe &amp; Co., Butler&rsquo;s brokers, to the
+political sub-agent who would eventually transfer them to Mollenhauer. What
+little Stener received for them might well go into the treasury. Tighe &amp;
+Co. would manage the &ldquo;&rsquo;change&rdquo; subtleties of this without
+giving any one else a chance to bid, while at the same time making it appear an
+open-market transaction. At the same time Sengstack went carefully into the
+state of the treasurer&rsquo;s office for his master&rsquo;s
+benefit&mdash;finding out what it was that Strobik, Wycroft, and Harmon had
+been doing with their loans. Via another source they were ordered to disgorge
+at once or face prosecution. They were a part of Mollenhauer&rsquo;s political
+machine. Then, having cautioned Stener not to set over the remainder of his
+property to any one, and not to listen to any one, most of all to the
+Machiavellian counsel of Cowperwood, Sengstack left.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Needless to say, Mollenhauer was greatly gratified by this turn of affairs.
+Cowperwood was now most likely in a position where he would have to come and
+see him, or if not, a good share of the properties he controlled were already
+in Mollenhauer&rsquo;s possession. If by some hook or crook he could secure the
+remainder, Simpson and Butler might well talk to him about this street-railway
+business. His holdings were now as large as any, if not quite the largest.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap28"></a>Chapter XXVIII</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was in the face of this very altered situation that Cowperwood arrived at
+Stener&rsquo;s office late this Monday afternoon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stener was quite alone, worried and distraught. He was anxious to see
+Cowperwood, and at the same time afraid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;George,&rdquo; began Cowperwood, briskly, on seeing him, &ldquo;I
+haven&rsquo;t much time to spare now, but I&rsquo;ve come, finally, to tell you
+that you&rsquo;ll have to let me have three hundred thousand more if you
+don&rsquo;t want me to fail. Things are looking very bad today. They&rsquo;ve
+caught me in a corner on my loans; but this storm isn&rsquo;t going to last.
+You can see by the very character of it that it can&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was looking at Stener&rsquo;s face, and seeing fear and a pained and yet
+very definite necessity for opposition written there. &ldquo;Chicago is
+burning, but it will be built up again. Business will be all the better for it
+later on. Now, I want you to be reasonable and help me. Don&rsquo;t get
+frightened.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stener stirred uneasily. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t let these politicians scare you to
+death. It will all blow over in a few days, and then we&rsquo;ll be better off
+than ever. Did you see Mollenhauer?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, what did he have to say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He said just what I thought he&rsquo;d say. He won&rsquo;t let me do
+this. I can&rsquo;t, Frank, I tell you!&rdquo; exclaimed Stener, jumping up. He
+was so nervous that he had had a hard time keeping his seat during this short,
+direct conversation. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t! They&rsquo;ve got me in a corner!
+They&rsquo;re after me! They all know what we&rsquo;ve been doing. Oh, say,
+Frank&rdquo;&mdash;he threw up his arms wildly&mdash;&ldquo;you&rsquo;ve got to
+get me out of this. You&rsquo;ve got to let me have that five hundred thousand
+back and get me out of this. If you don&rsquo;t, and you should fail,
+they&rsquo;ll send me to the penitentiary. I&rsquo;ve got a wife and four
+children, Frank. I can&rsquo;t go on in this. It&rsquo;s too big for me. I
+never should have gone in on it in the first place. I never would have if you
+hadn&rsquo;t persuaded me, in a way. I never thought when I began that I would
+ever get in as bad as all this. I can&rsquo;t go on, Frank. I can&rsquo;t!
+I&rsquo;m willing you should have all my stock. Only give me back that five
+hundred thousand, and we&rsquo;ll call it even.&rdquo; His voice rose nervously
+as he talked, and he wiped his wet forehead with his hand and stared at
+Cowperwood pleadingly, foolishly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood stared at him in return for a few moments with a cold, fishy eye. He
+knew a great deal about human nature, and he was ready for and expectant of any
+queer shift in an individual&rsquo;s attitude, particularly in time of panic;
+but this shift of Stener&rsquo;s was quite too much. &ldquo;Whom else have you
+been talking to, George, since I saw you? Whom have you seen? What did
+Sengstack have to say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He says just what Mollenhauer does, that I mustn&rsquo;t loan any more
+money under any circumstances, and he says I ought to get that five hundred
+thousand back as quickly as possible.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you think Mollenhauer wants to help you, do you?&rdquo; inquired
+Cowperwood, finding it hard to efface the contempt which kept forcing itself
+into his voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think he does, yes. I don&rsquo;t know who else will, Frank, if he
+don&rsquo;t. He&rsquo;s one of the big political forces in this town.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Listen to me,&rdquo; began Cowperwood, eyeing him fixedly. Then he
+paused. &ldquo;What did he say you should do about your holdings?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sell them through Tighe &amp; Company and put the money back in the
+treasury, if you won&rsquo;t take them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sell them to whom?&rdquo; asked Cowperwood, thinking of Stener&rsquo;s
+last words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To any one on &rsquo;change who&rsquo;ll take them, I suppose. I
+don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought so,&rdquo; said Cowperwood, comprehendingly. &ldquo;I might
+have known as much. They&rsquo;re working you, George. They&rsquo;re simply
+trying to get your stocks away from you. Mollenhauer is leading you on. He
+knows I can&rsquo;t do what you want&mdash;give you back the five hundred
+thousand dollars. He wants you to throw your stocks on the market so that he
+can pick them up. Depend on it, that&rsquo;s all arranged for already. When you
+do, he&rsquo;s got me in his clutches, or he thinks he has&mdash;he and Butler
+and Simpson. They want to get together on this local street-railway situation,
+and I know it, I feel it. I&rsquo;ve felt it coming all along. Mollenhauer
+hasn&rsquo;t any more intention of helping you than he has of flying. Once
+you&rsquo;ve sold your stocks he&rsquo;s through with you&mdash;mark my word.
+Do you think he&rsquo;ll turn a hand to keep you out of the penitentiary once
+you&rsquo;re out of this street-railway situation? He will not. And if you
+think so, you&rsquo;re a bigger fool than I take you to be, George. Don&rsquo;t
+go crazy. Don&rsquo;t lose your head. Be sensible. Look the situation in the
+face. Let me explain it to you. If you don&rsquo;t help me now&mdash;if you
+don&rsquo;t let me have three hundred thousand dollars by to-morrow noon, at
+the very latest, I&rsquo;m through, and so are you. There is not a thing the
+matter with our situation. Those stocks of ours are as good to-day as they ever
+were. Why, great heavens, man, the railways are there behind them.
+They&rsquo;re paying. The Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line is earning one
+thousand dollars a day right now. What better evidence do you want than that?
+Green &amp; Coates is earning five hundred dollars. You&rsquo;re frightened,
+George. These damned political schemers have scared you. Why, you&rsquo;ve as
+good a right to loan that money as Bode and Murtagh had before you. They did
+it. You&rsquo;ve been doing it for Mollenhauer and the others, only so long as
+you do it for them it&rsquo;s all right. What&rsquo;s a designated city
+depository but a loan?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood was referring to the system under which certain portions of city
+money, like the sinking-fund, were permitted to be kept in certain banks at a
+low rate of interest or no rate&mdash;banks in which Mollenhauer and Butler and
+Simpson were interested. This was their safe graft.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t throw your chances away, George. Don&rsquo;t quit now.
+You&rsquo;ll be worth millions in a few years, and you won&rsquo;t have to turn
+a hand. All you will have to do will be to keep what you have. If you
+don&rsquo;t help me, mark my word, they&rsquo;ll throw you over the moment
+I&rsquo;m out of this, and they&rsquo;ll let you go to the penitentiary.
+Who&rsquo;s going to put up five hundred thousand dollars for you, George?
+Where is Mollenhauer going to get it, or Butler, or anybody, in these times?
+They can&rsquo;t. They don&rsquo;t intend to. When I&rsquo;m through,
+you&rsquo;re through, and you&rsquo;ll be exposed quicker than any one else.
+They can&rsquo;t hurt me, George. I&rsquo;m an agent. I didn&rsquo;t ask you to
+come to me. You came to me in the first place of your own accord. If you
+don&rsquo;t help me, you&rsquo;re through, I tell you, and you&rsquo;re going
+to be sent to the penitentiary as sure as there are jails. Why don&rsquo;t you
+take a stand, George? Why don&rsquo;t you stand your ground? You have your wife
+and children to look after. You can&rsquo;t be any worse off loaning me three
+hundred thousand more than you are right now. What difference does it
+make&mdash;five hundred thousand or eight hundred thousand? It&rsquo;s all one
+and the same thing, if you&rsquo;re going to be tried for it. Besides, if you
+loan me this, there isn&rsquo;t going to be any trial. I&rsquo;m not going to
+fail. This storm will blow over in a week or ten days, and we&rsquo;ll be rich
+again. For Heaven&rsquo;s sake, George, don&rsquo;t go to pieces this way! Be
+sensible! Be reasonable!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused, for Stener&rsquo;s face had become a jelly-like mass of woe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t, Frank,&rdquo; he wailed. &ldquo;I tell you I can&rsquo;t.
+They&rsquo;ll punish me worse than ever if I do that. They&rsquo;ll never let
+up on me. You don&rsquo;t know these people.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In Stener&rsquo;s crumpling weakness Cowperwood read his own fate. What could
+you do with a man like that? How brace him up? You couldn&rsquo;t! And with a
+gesture of infinite understanding, disgust, noble indifference, he threw up his
+hands and started to walk out. At the door he turned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;George,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry. I&rsquo;m sorry for you,
+not for myself. I&rsquo;ll come out of things all right, eventually. I&rsquo;ll
+be rich. But, George, you&rsquo;re making the one great mistake of your life.
+You&rsquo;ll be poor; you&rsquo;ll be a convict, and you&rsquo;ll have only
+yourself to blame. There isn&rsquo;t a thing the matter with this money
+situation except the fire. There isn&rsquo;t a thing wrong with my affairs
+except this slump in stocks&mdash;this panic. You sit there, a fortune in your
+hands, and you allow a lot of schemers, highbinders, who don&rsquo;t know any
+more of your affairs or mine than a rabbit, and who haven&rsquo;t any interest
+in you except to plan what they can get out of you, to frighten you and prevent
+you from doing the one thing that will save your life. Three hundred thousand
+paltry dollars that in three or four weeks from now I can pay back to you four
+and five times over, and for that you will see me go broke and yourself to the
+penitentiary. I can&rsquo;t understand it, George. You&rsquo;re out of your
+mind. You&rsquo;re going to rue this the longest day that you live.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He waited a few moments to see if this, by any twist of chance, would have any
+effect; then, noting that Stener still remained a wilted, helpless mass of
+nothing, he shook his head gloomily and walked out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was the first time in his life that Cowperwood had ever shown the least sign
+of weakening or despair. He had felt all along as though there were nothing to
+the Greek theory of being pursued by the furies. Now, however, there seemed an
+untoward fate which was pursuing him. It looked that way. Still, fate or no
+fate, he did not propose to be daunted. Even in this very beginning of a
+tendency to feel despondent he threw back his head, expanded his chest, and
+walked as briskly as ever.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+In the large room outside Stener&rsquo;s private office he encountered Albert
+Stires, Stener&rsquo;s chief clerk and secretary. He and Albert had exchanged
+many friendly greetings in times past, and all the little minor transactions in
+regard to city loan had been discussed between them, for Albert knew more of
+the intricacies of finance and financial bookkeeping than Stener would ever
+know.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the sight of Stires the thought in regard to the sixty thousand
+dollars&rsquo; worth of city loan certificates, previously referred to, flashed
+suddenly through his mind. He had not deposited them in the sinking-fund, and
+did not intend to for the present&mdash;could not, unless considerable free
+money were to reach him shortly&mdash;for he had used them to satisfy other
+pressing demands, and had no free money to buy them back&mdash;or, in other
+words, release them. And he did not want to just at this moment. Under the law
+governing transactions of this kind with the city treasurer, he was supposed to
+deposit them at once to the credit of the city, and not to draw his pay
+therefor from the city treasurer until he had. To be very exact, the city
+treasurer, under the law, was not supposed to pay him for any transaction of
+this kind until he or his agents presented a voucher from the bank or other
+organization carrying the sinking-fund for the city showing that the
+certificates so purchased had actually been deposited there. As a matter of
+fact, under the custom which had grown up between him and Stener, the law had
+long been ignored in this respect. He could buy certificates of city loan for
+the sinking-fund up to any reasonable amount, hypothecate them where he
+pleased, and draw his pay from the city without presenting a voucher. At the
+end of the month sufficient certificates of city loan could usually be gathered
+from one source and another to make up the deficiency, or the deficiency could
+actually be ignored, as had been done on more than one occasion, for long
+periods of time, while he used money secured by hypothecating the shares for
+speculative purposes. This was actually illegal; but neither Cowperwood nor
+Stener saw it in that light or cared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The trouble with this particular transaction was the note that he had received
+from Stener ordering him to stop both buying and selling, which put his
+relations with the city treasury on a very formal basis. He had bought these
+certificates before receiving this note, but had not deposited them. He was
+going now to collect his check; but perhaps the old, easy system of balancing
+matters at the end of the month might not be said to obtain any longer. Stires
+might ask him to present a voucher of deposit. If so, he could not now get this
+check for sixty thousand dollars, for he did not have the certificates to
+deposit. If not, he might get the money; but, also, it might constitute the
+basis of some subsequent legal action. If he did not eventually deposit the
+certificates before failure, some charge such as that of larceny might be
+brought against him. Still, he said to himself, he might not really fail even
+yet. If any of his banking associates should, for any reason, modify their
+decision in regard to calling his loans, he would not. Would Stener make a row
+about this if he so secured this check? Would the city officials pay any
+attention to him if he did? Could you get any district attorney to take
+cognizance of such a transaction, if Stener did complain? No, not in all
+likelihood; and, anyhow, nothing would come of it. No jury would punish him in
+the face of the understanding existing between him and Stener as agent or
+broker and principal. And, once he had the money, it was a hundred to one
+Stener would think no more about it. It would go in among the various
+unsatisfied liabilities, and nothing more would be thought about it. Like
+lightning the entire situation hashed through his mind. He would risk it. He
+stopped before the chief clerk&rsquo;s desk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Albert,&rdquo; he said, in a low voice, &ldquo;I bought sixty thousand
+dollars&rsquo; worth of city loan for the sinking-fund this morning. Will you
+give my boy a check for it in the morning, or, better yet, will you give it to
+me now? I got your note about no more purchases. I&rsquo;m going back to the
+office. You can just credit the sinking-fund with eight hundred certificates at
+from seventy-five to eighty. I&rsquo;ll send you the itemized list
+later.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly, Mr. Cowperwood, certainly,&rdquo; replied Albert, with
+alacrity. &ldquo;Stocks are getting an awful knock, aren&rsquo;t they? I hope
+you&rsquo;re not very much troubled by it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not very, Albert,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, smiling, the while the
+chief clerk was making out his check. He was wondering if by any chance Stener
+would appear and attempt to interfere with this. It was a legal transaction. He
+had a right to the check provided he deposited the certificates, as was his
+custom, with the trustee of the fund. He waited tensely while Albert wrote, and
+finally, with the check actually in his hand, breathed a sigh of relief. Here,
+at least, was sixty thousand dollars, and to-night&rsquo;s work would enable
+him to cash the seventy-five thousand that had been promised him. To-morrow,
+once more he must see Leigh, Kitchen, Jay Cooke &amp; Co., Edward Clark &amp;
+Co.&mdash;all the long list of people to whom he owed loans and find out what
+could be done. If he could only get time! If he could get just a week!
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap29"></a>Chapter XXIX</h2>
+
+<p>
+But time was not a thing to be had in this emergency. With the seventy-five
+thousand dollars his friends had extended to him, and sixty thousand dollars
+secured from Stires, Cowperwood met the Girard call and placed the balance,
+thirty-five thousand dollars, in a private safe in his own home. He then made a
+final appeal to the bankers and financiers, but they refused to help him. He
+did not, however, commiserate himself in this hour. He looked out of his office
+window into the little court, and sighed. What more could he do? He sent a note
+to his father, asking him to call for lunch. He sent a note to his lawyer,
+Harper Steger, a man of his own age whom he liked very much, and asked him to
+call also. He evolved in his own mind various plans of delay, addresses to
+creditors and the like, but alas! he was going to fail. And the worst of it was
+that this matter of the city treasurer&rsquo;s loans was bound to become a
+public, and more than a public, a political, scandal. And the charge of
+conniving, if not illegally, at least morally, at the misuse of the
+city&rsquo;s money was the one thing that would hurt him most.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How industriously his rivals would advertise this fact! He might get on his
+feet again if he failed; but it would be uphill work. And his father! His
+father would be pulled down with him. It was probable that he would be forced
+out of the presidency of his bank. With these thoughts Cowperwood sat there
+waiting. As he did so Aileen Butler was announced by his office-boy, and at the
+same time Albert Stires.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Show in Miss Butler,&rdquo; he said, getting up. &ldquo;Tell Mr. Stires
+to wait.&rdquo; Aileen came briskly, vigorously in, her beautiful body clothed
+as decoratively as ever. The street suit that she wore was of a light
+golden-brown broadcloth, faceted with small, dark-red buttons. Her head was
+decorated with a brownish-red shake of a type she had learned was becoming to
+her, brimless and with a trailing plume, and her throat was graced by a
+three-strand necklace of gold beads. Her hands were smoothly gloved as usual,
+and her little feet daintily shod. There was a look of girlish distress in her
+eyes, which, however, she was trying hard to conceal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Honey,&rdquo; she exclaimed, on seeing him, her arms
+extended&mdash;&ldquo;what is the trouble? I wanted so much to ask you the
+other night. You&rsquo;re not going to fail, are you? I heard father and Owen
+talking about you last night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What did they say?&rdquo; he inquired, putting his arm around her and
+looking quietly into her nervous eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, you know, I think papa is very angry with you. He suspects. Some one
+sent him an anonymous letter. He tried to get it out of me last night, but he
+didn&rsquo;t succeed. I denied everything. I was in here twice this morning to
+see you, but you were out. I was so afraid that he might see you first, and
+that you might say something.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Me, Aileen?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, no, not exactly. I didn&rsquo;t think that. I don&rsquo;t know
+what I thought. Oh, honey, I&rsquo;ve been so worried. You know, I didn&rsquo;t
+sleep at all. I thought I was stronger than that; but I was so worried about
+you. You know, he put me in a strong light by his desk, where he could see my
+face, and then he showed me the letter. I was so astonished for a moment I
+hardly know what I said or how I looked.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What did you say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, I said: &lsquo;What a shame! It isn&rsquo;t so!&rsquo; But I
+didn&rsquo;t say it right away. My heart was going like a trip-hammer.
+I&rsquo;m afraid he must have been able to tell something from my face. I could
+hardly get my breath.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a shrewd man, your father,&rdquo; he commented. &ldquo;He
+knows something about life. Now you see how difficult these situations are.
+It&rsquo;s a blessing he decided to show you the letter instead of watching the
+house. I suppose he felt too bad to do that. He can&rsquo;t prove anything now.
+But he knows. You can&rsquo;t deceive him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you know he knows?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I saw him yesterday.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did he talk to you about it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No; I saw his face. He simply looked at me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Honey! I&rsquo;m so sorry for him!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know you are. So am I. But it can&rsquo;t be helped now. We should
+have thought of that in the first place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But I love you so. Oh, honey, he will never forgive me. He loves me so.
+He mustn&rsquo;t know. I won&rsquo;t admit anything. But, oh, dear!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She put her hands tightly together on his bosom, and he looked consolingly into
+her eyes. Her eyelids, were trembling, and her lips. She was sorry for her
+father, herself, Cowperwood. Through her he could sense the force of
+Butler&rsquo;s parental affection; the volume and danger of his rage. There
+were so many, many things as he saw it now converging to make a dramatic
+denouement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never mind,&rdquo; he replied; &ldquo;it can&rsquo;t be helped now.
+Where is my strong, determined Aileen? I thought you were going to be so brave?
+Aren&rsquo;t you going to be? I need to have you that way now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you in trouble?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think I am going to fail, dear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, no!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, honey. I&rsquo;m at the end of my rope. I don&rsquo;t see any way
+out just at present. I&rsquo;ve sent for my father and my lawyer. You
+mustn&rsquo;t stay here, sweet. Your father may come in here at any time. We
+must meet somewhere&mdash;to-morrow, say&mdash;to-morrow afternoon. You
+remember Indian Rock, out on the Wissahickon?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Could you be there at four?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look out for who&rsquo;s following. If I&rsquo;m not there by
+four-thirty, don&rsquo;t wait. You know why. It will be because I think some
+one is watching. There won&rsquo;t be, though, if we work it right. And now you
+must run, sweet. We can&rsquo;t use Nine-thirty-one any more. I&rsquo;ll have
+to rent another place somewhere else.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, honey, I&rsquo;m so sorry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aren&rsquo;t you going to be strong and brave? You see, I need you to
+be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was almost, for the first time, a little sad in his mood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, dear, yes,&rdquo; she declared, slipping her arms under his and
+pulling him tight. &ldquo;Oh, yes! You can depend on me. Oh, Frank, I love you
+so! I&rsquo;m so sorry. Oh, I do hope you don&rsquo;t fail! But it
+doesn&rsquo;t make any difference, dear, between you and me, whatever happens,
+does it? We will love each other just the same. I&rsquo;ll do anything for you,
+honey! I&rsquo;ll do anything you say. You can trust me. They
+sha&rsquo;n&rsquo;t know anything from me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at his still, pale face, and a sudden strong determination to fight
+for him welled up in her heart. Her love was unjust, illegal, outlawed; but it
+was love, just the same, and had much of the fiery daring of the outcast from
+justice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I love you! I love you! I love you, Frank!&rdquo; she declared. He
+unloosed her hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Run, sweet. To-morrow at four. Don&rsquo;t fail. And don&rsquo;t talk.
+And don&rsquo;t admit anything, whatever you do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And don&rsquo;t worry about me. I&rsquo;ll be all right.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He barely had time to straighten his tie, to assume a nonchalant attitude by
+the window, when in hurried Stener&rsquo;s chief clerk&mdash;pale, disturbed,
+obviously out of key with himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Cowperwood! You know that check I gave you last night? Mr. Stener
+says it&rsquo;s illegal, that I shouldn&rsquo;t have given it to you, that he
+will hold me responsible. He says I can be arrested for compounding a felony,
+and that he will discharge me and have me sent to prison if I don&rsquo;t get
+it back. Oh, Mr. Cowperwood, I am only a young man! I&rsquo;m just really
+starting out in life. I&rsquo;ve got my wife and little boy to look after. You
+won&rsquo;t let him do that to me? You&rsquo;ll give me that check back,
+won&rsquo;t you? I can&rsquo;t go back to the office without it. He says
+you&rsquo;re going to fail, and that you knew it, and that you haven&rsquo;t
+any right to it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood looked at him curiously. He was surprised at the variety and
+character of these emissaries of disaster. Surely, when troubles chose to
+multiply they had great skill in presenting themselves in rapid order. Stener
+had no right to make any such statement. The transaction was not illegal. The
+man had gone wild. True, he, Cowperwood, had received an order after these
+securities were bought not to buy or sell any more city loan, but that did not
+invalidate previous purchases. Stener was browbeating and frightening his poor
+underling, a better man than himself, in order to get back this
+sixty-thousand-dollar check. What a petty creature he was! How true it was, as
+somebody had remarked, that you could not possibly measure the petty meannesses
+to which a fool could stoop!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You go back to Mr. Stener, Albert, and tell him that it can&rsquo;t be
+done. The certificates of loan were purchased before his order arrived, and the
+records of the exchange will prove it. There is no illegality here. I am
+entitled to that check and could have collected it in any qualified court of
+law. The man has gone out of his head. I haven&rsquo;t failed yet. You are not
+in any danger of any legal proceedings; and if you are, I&rsquo;ll help defend
+you. I can&rsquo;t give you the check back because I haven&rsquo;t it to give;
+and if I had, I wouldn&rsquo;t. That would be allowing a fool to make a fool of
+me. I&rsquo;m sorry, very, but I can&rsquo;t do anything for you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Mr. Cowperwood!&rdquo; Tears were in Stires&rsquo;s eyes.
+&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll discharge me! He&rsquo;ll forfeit my sureties. I&rsquo;ll be
+turned out into the street. I have only a little property of my
+own&mdash;outside of my salary!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He wrung his hands, and Cowperwood shook his head sadly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t as bad as you think, Albert. He won&rsquo;t do what he
+says. He can&rsquo;t. It&rsquo;s unfair and illegal. You can bring suit and
+recover your salary. I&rsquo;ll help you in that as much as I&rsquo;m able. But
+I can&rsquo;t give you back this sixty-thousand-dollar check, because I
+haven&rsquo;t it to give. I couldn&rsquo;t if I wanted to. It isn&rsquo;t here
+any more. I&rsquo;ve paid for the securities I bought with it. The securities
+are not here. They&rsquo;re in the sinking-fund, or will be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused, wishing he had not mentioned that fact. It was a slip of the tongue,
+one of the few he ever made, due to the peculiar pressure of the situation.
+Stires pleaded longer. It was no use, Cowperwood told him. Finally he went
+away, crestfallen, fearsome, broken. There were tears of suffering in his eyes.
+Cowperwood was very sorry. And then his father was announced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The elder Cowperwood brought a haggard face. He and Frank had had a long
+conversation the evening before, lasting until early morning, but it had not
+been productive of much save uncertainty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hello, father!&rdquo; exclaimed Cowperwood, cheerfully, noting his
+father&rsquo;s gloom. He was satisfied that there was scarcely a coal of hope
+to be raked out of these ashes of despair, but there was no use admitting it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well?&rdquo; said his father, lifting his sad eyes in a peculiar way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, it looks like stormy weather, doesn&rsquo;t it? I&rsquo;ve decided
+to call a meeting of my creditors, father, and ask for time. There isn&rsquo;t
+anything else to do. I can&rsquo;t realize enough on anything to make it worth
+while talking about. I thought Stener might change his mind, but he&rsquo;s
+worse rather than better. His head bookkeeper just went out of here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What did he want?&rdquo; asked Henry Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He wanted me to give him back a check for sixty thousand that he paid me
+for some city loan I bought yesterday morning.&rdquo; Frank did not explain to
+his father, however, that he had hypothecated the certificates this check had
+paid for, and used the check itself to raise money enough to pay the Girard
+National Bank and to give himself thirty-five thousand in cash besides.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I declare!&rdquo; replied the old man. &ldquo;You&rsquo;d think
+he&rsquo;d have better sense than that. That&rsquo;s a perfectly legitimate
+transaction. When did you say he notified you not to buy city loan?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yesterday noon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He&rsquo;s out of his mind,&rdquo; Cowperwood, Sr., commented,
+laconically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s Mollenhauer and Simpson and Butler, I know. They want my
+street-railway lines. Well, they won&rsquo;t get them. They&rsquo;ll get them
+through a receivership, and after the panic&rsquo;s all over. Our creditors
+will have first chance at these. If they buy, they&rsquo;ll buy from them. If
+it weren&rsquo;t for that five-hundred-thousand-dollar loan I wouldn&rsquo;t
+think a thing of this. My creditors would sustain me nicely. But the moment
+that gets noised around!... And this election! I hypothecated those city loan
+certificates because I didn&rsquo;t want to get on the wrong side of Davison. I
+expected to take in enough by now to take them up. They ought to be in the
+sinking-fund, really.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old gentleman saw the point at once, and winced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They might cause you trouble, there, Frank.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a technical question,&rdquo; replied his son. &ldquo;I might
+have been intending to take them up. As a matter of fact, I will if I can
+before three. I&rsquo;ve been taking eight and ten days to deposit them in the
+past. In a storm like this I&rsquo;m entitled to move my pawns as best I
+can.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, the father, put his hand over his mouth again. He felt very
+disturbed about this. He saw no way out, however. He was at the end of his own
+resources. He felt the side-whiskers on his left cheek. He looked out of the
+window into the little green court. Possibly it was a technical question, who
+should say. The financial relations of the city treasury with other brokers
+before Frank had been very lax. Every banker knew that. Perhaps precedent would
+or should govern in this case. He could not say. Still, it was
+dangerous&mdash;not straight. If Frank could get them out and deposit them it
+would be so much better.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d take them up if I were you and I could,&rdquo; he added.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will if I can.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How much money have you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, twenty thousand, all told. If I suspend, though, I&rsquo;ll have to
+have a little ready cash.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have eight or ten thousand, or will have by night, I hope.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was thinking of some one who would give him a second mortgage on his house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood looked quietly at him. There was nothing more to be said to his
+father. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to make one more appeal to Stener after you
+leave here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going over there with Harper
+Steger when he comes. If he won&rsquo;t change I&rsquo;ll send out notice to my
+creditors, and notify the secretary of the exchange. I want you to keep a stiff
+upper lip, whatever happens. I know you will, though. I&rsquo;m going into the
+thing head down. If Stener had any sense&mdash;&rdquo; He paused. &ldquo;But
+what&rsquo;s the use talking about a damn fool?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He turned to the window, thinking of how easy it would have been, if Aileen and
+he had not been exposed by this anonymous note, to have arranged all with
+Butler. Rather than injure the party, Butler, in extremis, would have assisted
+him. Now...!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His father got up to go. He was as stiff with despair as though he were
+suffering from cold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he said, wearily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood suffered intensely for him. What a shame! His father! He felt a
+great surge of sorrow sweep over him but a moment later mastered it, and
+settled to his quick, defiant thinking. As the old man went out, Harper Steger
+was brought in. They shook hands, and at once started for Stener&rsquo;s
+office. But Stener had sunk in on himself like an empty gas-bag, and no efforts
+were sufficient to inflate him. They went out, finally, defeated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I tell you, Frank,&rdquo; said Steger, &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t worry. We
+can tie this thing up legally until election and after, and that will give all
+this row a chance to die down. Then you can get your people together and talk
+sense to them. They&rsquo;re not going to give up good properties like this,
+even if Stener does go to jail.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Steger did not know of the sixty thousand dollars&rsquo; worth of hypothecated
+securities as yet. Neither did he know of Aileen Butler and her father&rsquo;s
+boundless rage.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap30"></a>Chapter XXX</h2>
+
+<p>
+There was one development in connection with all of this of which Cowperwood
+was as yet unaware. The same day that brought Edward Butler the anonymous
+communication in regard to his daughter, brought almost a duplicate of it to
+Mrs. Frank Algernon Cowperwood, only in this case the name of Aileen Butler had
+curiously been omitted.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Perhaps you don&rsquo;t know that your husband is running with another woman.
+If you don&rsquo;t believe it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Cowperwood was in the conservatory watering some plants when this letter
+was brought by her maid Monday morning. She was most placid in her thoughts,
+for she did not know what all the conferring of the night before meant. Frank
+was occasionally troubled by financial storms, but they did not see to harm
+him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lay it on the table in the library, Annie. I&rsquo;ll get it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She thought it was some social note.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a little while (such was her deliberate way), she put down her
+sprinkling-pot and went into the library. There it was lying on the green
+leather sheepskin which constituted a part of the ornamentation of the large
+library table. She picked it up, glanced at it curiously because it was on
+cheap paper, and then opened it. Her face paled slightly as she read it; and
+then her hand trembled&mdash;not much. Hers was not a soul that ever loved
+passionately, hence she could not suffer passionately. She was hurt, disgusted,
+enraged for the moment, and frightened; but she was not broken in spirit
+entirely. Thirteen years of life with Frank Cowperwood had taught her a number
+of things. He was selfish, she knew now, self-centered, and not as much charmed
+by her as he had been. The fear she had originally felt as to the effect of her
+preponderance of years had been to some extent justified by the lapse of time.
+Frank did not love her as he had&mdash;he had not for some time; she had felt
+it. What was it?&mdash;she had asked herself at times&mdash;almost, who was it?
+Business was engrossing him so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finance was his master. Did this mean the end of her regime, she queried. Would
+he cast her off? Where would she go? What would she do? She was not helpless,
+of course, for she had money of her own which he was manipulating for her. Who
+was this other woman? Was she young, beautiful, of any social position? Was
+it&mdash;? Suddenly she stopped. Was it? Could it be, by any chance&mdash;her
+mouth opened&mdash;Aileen Butler?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She stood still, staring at this letter, for she could scarcely countenance her
+own thought. She had observed often, in spite of all their caution, how
+friendly Aileen had been to him and he to her. He liked her; he never lost a
+chance to defend her. Lillian had thought of them at times as being curiously
+suited to each other temperamentally. He liked young people. But, of course, he
+was married, and Aileen was infinitely beneath him socially, and he had two
+children and herself. And his social and financial position was so fixed and
+stable that he did not dare trifle with it. Still she paused; for forty years
+and two children, and some slight wrinkles, and the suspicion that we may be no
+longer loved as we once were, is apt to make any woman pause, even in the face
+of the most significant financial position. Where would she go if she left him?
+What would people think? What about the children? Could she prove this liaison?
+Could she entrap him in a compromising situation? Did she want to?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She saw now that she did not love him as some women love their husbands. She
+was not wild about him. In a way she had been taking him for granted all these
+years, had thought that he loved her enough not to be unfaithful to her; at
+least fancied that he was so engrossed with the more serious things of life
+that no petty liaison such as this letter indicated would trouble him or
+interrupt his great career. Apparently this was not true. What should she do?
+What say? How act? Her none too brilliant mind was not of much service in this
+crisis. She did not know very well how either to plan or to fight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The conventional mind is at best a petty piece of machinery. It is oyster-like
+in its functioning, or, perhaps better, clam-like. It has its little siphon of
+thought-processes forced up or down into the mighty ocean of fact and
+circumstance; but it uses so little, pumps so faintly, that the immediate
+contiguity of the vast mass is not disturbed. Nothing of the subtlety of life
+is perceived. No least inkling of its storms or terrors is ever discovered
+except through accident. When some crude, suggestive fact, such as this letter
+proved to be, suddenly manifests itself in the placid flow of events, there is
+great agony or disturbance and clogging of the so-called normal processes. The
+siphon does not work right. It sucks in fear and distress. There is great
+grinding of maladjusted parts&mdash;not unlike sand in a machine&mdash;and
+life, as is so often the case, ceases or goes lamely ever after.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Cowperwood was possessed of a conventional mind. She really knew nothing
+about life. And life could not teach her. Reaction in her from salty
+thought-processes was not possible. She was not alive in the sense that Aileen
+Butler was, and yet she thought that she was very much alive. All illusion. She
+wasn&rsquo;t. She was charming if you loved placidity. If you did not, she was
+not. She was not engaging, brilliant, or forceful. Frank Cowperwood might well
+have asked himself in the beginning why he married her. He did not do so now
+because he did not believe it was wise to question the past as to one&rsquo;s
+failures and errors. It was, according to him, most unwise to regret. He kept
+his face and thoughts to the future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Mrs. Cowperwood was truly distressed in her way, and she went about the
+house thinking, feeling wretchedly. She decided, since the letter asked her to
+see for herself, to wait. She must think how she would watch this house, if at
+all. Frank must not know. If it were Aileen Butler by any chance&mdash;but
+surely not&mdash;she thought she would expose her to her parents. Still, that
+meant exposing herself. She determined to conceal her mood as best she could at
+dinner-time&mdash;but Cowperwood was not able to be there. He was so rushed, so
+closeted with individuals, so closely in conference with his father and others,
+that she scarcely saw him this Monday night, nor the next day, nor for many
+days.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For on Tuesday afternoon at two-thirty he issued a call for a meeting of his
+creditors, and at five-thirty he decided to go into the hands of a receiver.
+And yet, as he stood before his principal creditors&mdash;a group of thirty
+men&mdash;in his office, he did not feel that his life was ruined. He was
+temporarily embarrassed. Certainly things looked very black. The
+city-treasurership deal would make a great fuss. Those hypothecated city loan
+certificates, to the extent of sixty thousand, would make another, if Stener
+chose. Still, he did not feel that he was utterly destroyed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Gentlemen,&rdquo; he said, in closing his address of explanation at the
+meeting, quite as erect, secure, defiant, convincing as he had ever been,
+&ldquo;you see how things are. These securities are worth just as much as they
+ever were. There is nothing the matter with the properties behind them. If you
+will give me fifteen days or twenty, I am satisfied that I can straighten the
+whole matter out. I am almost the only one who can, for I know all about it.
+The market is bound to recover. Business is going to be better than ever.
+It&rsquo;s time I want. Time is the only significant factor in this situation.
+I want to know if you won&rsquo;t give me fifteen or twenty days&mdash;a month,
+if you can. That is all I want.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stepped aside and out of the general room, where the blinds were drawn, into
+his private office, in order to give his creditors an opportunity to confer
+privately in regard to his situation. He had friends in the meeting who were
+for him. He waited one, two, nearly three hours while they talked. Finally
+Walter Leigh, Judge Kitchen, Avery Stone, of Jay Cooke &amp; Co., and several
+others came in. They were a committee appointed to gather further information.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing more can be done to-day, Frank,&rdquo; Walter Leigh informed
+him, quietly. &ldquo;The majority want the privilege of examining the books.
+There is some uncertainty about this entanglement with the city treasurer which
+you say exists. They feel that you&rsquo;d better announce a temporary
+suspension, anyhow; and if they want to let you resume later they can do
+so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry for that, gentlemen,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, the
+least bit depressed. &ldquo;I would rather do anything than suspend for one
+hour, if I could help it, for I know just what it means. You will find assets
+here far exceeding the liabilities if you will take the stocks at their normal
+market value; but that won&rsquo;t help any if I close my doors. The public
+won&rsquo;t believe in me. I ought to keep open.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sorry, Frank, old boy,&rdquo; observed Leigh, pressing his hand
+affectionately. &ldquo;If it were left to me personally, you could have all the
+time you want. There&rsquo;s a crowd of old fogies out there that won&rsquo;t
+listen to reason. They&rsquo;re panic-struck. I guess they&rsquo;re pretty hard
+hit themselves. You can scarcely blame them. You&rsquo;ll come out all right,
+though I wish you didn&rsquo;t have to shut up shop. We can&rsquo;t do anything
+with them, however. Why, damn it, man, I don&rsquo;t see how you can fail,
+really. In ten days these stocks will be all right.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Judge Kitchen commiserated with him also; but what good did that do? He was
+being compelled to suspend. An expert accountant would have to come in and go
+over his books. Butler might spread the news of this city-treasury connection.
+Stener might complain of this last city-loan transaction. A half-dozen of his
+helpful friends stayed with him until four o&rsquo;clock in the morning; but he
+had to suspend just the same. And when he did that, he knew he was seriously
+crippled if not ultimately defeated in his race for wealth and fame.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he was really and finally quite alone in his private bedroom he stared at
+himself in the mirror. His face was pale and tired, he thought, but strong and
+effective. &ldquo;Pshaw!&rdquo; he said to himself, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not
+whipped. I&rsquo;m still young. I&rsquo;ll get out of this in some way yet.
+Certainly I will. I&rsquo;ll find some way out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so, cogitating heavily, wearily, he began to undress. Finally he sank upon
+his bed, and in a little while, strange as it may seem, with all the tangle of
+trouble around him, slept. He could do that&mdash;sleep and gurgle most
+peacefully, the while his father paced the floor in his room, refusing to be
+comforted. All was dark before the older man&mdash;the future hopeless. Before
+the younger man was still hope.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And in her room Lillian Cowperwood turned and tossed in the face of this new
+calamity. For it had suddenly appeared from news from her father and Frank and
+Anna and her mother-in-law that Frank was about to fail, or would, or
+had&mdash;it was almost impossible to say just how it was. Frank was too busy
+to explain. The Chicago fire was to blame. There was no mention as yet of the
+city treasurership. Frank was caught in a trap, and was fighting for his life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this crisis, for the moment, she forgot about the note as to his infidelity,
+or rather ignored it. She was astonished, frightened, dumbfounded, confused.
+Her little, placid, beautiful world was going around in a dizzy ring. The
+charming, ornate ship of their fortune was being blown most ruthlessly here and
+there. She felt it a sort of duty to stay in bed and try to sleep; but her eyes
+were quite wide, and her brain hurt her. Hours before Frank had insisted that
+she should not bother about him, that she could do nothing; and she had left
+him, wondering more than ever what and where was the line of her duty. To stick
+by her husband, convention told her; and so she decided. Yes, religion dictated
+that, also custom. There were the children. They must not be injured. Frank
+must be reclaimed, if possible. He would get over this. But what a blow!
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap31"></a>Chapter XXXI</h2>
+
+<p>
+The suspension of the banking house of Frank A. Cowperwood &amp; Co. created a
+great stir on &rsquo;change and in Philadelphia generally. It was so
+unexpected, and the amount involved was comparatively so large. Actually he
+failed for one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and his assets,
+under the depressed condition of stock values, barely totaled seven hundred and
+fifty thousand dollars. There had been considerable work done on the matter of
+his balance-sheet before it was finally given to the public; but when it was,
+stocks dropped an additional three points generally, and the papers the next
+day devoted notable headlines to it. Cowperwood had no idea of failing
+permanently; he merely wished to suspend temporarily, and later, if possible,
+to persuade his creditors to allow him to resume. There were only two things
+which stood in the way of this: the matter of the five hundred thousand dollars
+borrowed from the city treasury at a ridiculously low rate of interest, which
+showed plainer than words what had been going on, and the other, the matter of
+the sixty-thousand-dollar check. His financial wit had told him there were ways
+to assign his holdings in favor of his largest creditors, which would tend to
+help him later to resume; and he had been swift to act. Indeed, Harper Steger
+had drawn up documents which named Jay Cooke &amp; Co., Edward Clark &amp; Co.,
+Drexel &amp; Co., and others as preferred. He knew that even though
+dissatisfied holders of smaller shares in his company brought suit and
+compelled readjustment or bankruptcy later, the intention shown to prefer some
+of his most influential aids was important. They would like it, and might help
+him later when all this was over. Besides, suits in plenty are an excellent way
+of tiding over a crisis of this kind until stocks and common sense are
+restored, and he was for many suits. Harper Steger smiled once rather grimly,
+even in the whirl of the financial chaos where smiles were few, as they were
+figuring it out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frank,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you&rsquo;re a wonder. You&rsquo;ll have a
+network of suits spread here shortly, which no one can break through.
+They&rsquo;ll all be suing each other.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I only want a little time, that&rsquo;s all,&rdquo; he replied.
+Nevertheless, for the first time in his life he was a little depressed; for now
+this business, to which he had devoted years of active work and thought, was
+ended.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The thing that was troubling him most in all of this was not the five hundred
+thousand dollars which was owing the city treasury, and which he knew would
+stir political and social life to the center once it was generally
+known&mdash;that was a legal or semi-legal transaction, at least&mdash;but
+rather the matter of the sixty thousand dollars&rsquo; worth of unrestored city
+loan certificates which he had not been able to replace in the sinking-fund and
+could not now even though the necessary money should fall from heaven. The fact
+of their absence was a matter of source. He pondered over the situation a good
+deal. The thing to do, he thought, if he went to Mollenhauer or Simpson, or
+both (he had never met either of them, but in view of Butler&rsquo;s desertion
+they were his only recourse), was to say that, although he could not at present
+return the five hundred thousand dollars, if no action were taken against him
+now, which would prevent his resuming his business on a normal scale a little
+later, he would pledge his word that every dollar of the involved five hundred
+thousand dollars would eventually be returned to the treasury. If they refused,
+and injury was done him, he proposed to let them wait until he was &ldquo;good
+and ready,&rdquo; which in all probability would be never. But, really, it was
+not quite clear how action against him was to be prevented&mdash;even by them.
+The money was down on his books as owing the city treasury, and it was down on
+the city treasury&rsquo;s books as owing from him. Besides, there was a local
+organization known as the Citizens&rsquo; Municipal Reform Association which
+occasionally conducted investigations in connection with public affairs. His
+defalcation would be sure to come to the ears of this body and a public
+investigation might well follow. Various private individuals knew of it
+already. His creditors, for instance, who were now examining his books.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This matter of seeing Mollenhauer or Simpson, or both, was important, anyhow,
+he thought; but before doing so he decided to talk it all over with Harper
+Steger. So several days after he had closed his doors, he sent for Steger and
+told him all about the transaction, except that he did not make it clear that
+he had not intended to put the certificates in the sinking-fund unless he
+survived quite comfortably.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harper Steger was a tall, thin, graceful, rather elegant man, of gentle voice
+and perfect manners, who walked always as though he were a cat, and a dog were
+prowling somewhere in the offing. He had a longish, thin face of a type that is
+rather attractive to women. His eyes were blue, his hair brown, with a
+suggestion of sandy red in it. He had a steady, inscrutable gaze which
+sometimes came to you over a thin, delicate hand, which he laid meditatively
+over his mouth. He was cruel to the limit of the word, not aggressively but
+indifferently; for he had no faith in anything. He was not poor. He had not
+even been born poor. He was just innately subtle, with the rather constructive
+thought, which was about the only thing that compelled him to work, that he
+ought to be richer than he was&mdash;more conspicuous. Cowperwood was an
+excellent avenue toward legal prosperity. Besides, he was a fascinating
+customer. Of all his clients, Steger admired Cowperwood most.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let them proceed against you,&rdquo; he said on this occasion, his
+brilliant legal mind taking in all the phases of the situation at once.
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see that there is anything more here than a technical
+charge. If it ever came to anything like that, which I don&rsquo;t think it
+will, the charge would be embezzlement or perhaps larceny as bailee. In this
+instance, you were the bailee. And the only way out of that would be to swear
+that you had received the check with Stener&rsquo;s knowledge and consent. Then
+it would only be a technical charge of irresponsibility on your part, as I see
+it, and I don&rsquo;t believe any jury would convict you on the evidence of how
+this relationship was conducted. Still, it might; you never can tell what a
+jury is going to do. All this would have to come out at a trial, however. The
+whole thing, it seems to me, would depend on which of you two&mdash;yourself or
+Stener&mdash;the jury would be inclined to believe, and on how anxious this
+city crowd is to find a scapegoat for Stener. This coming election is the rub.
+If this panic had come at any other time&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood waved for silence. He knew all about that. &ldquo;It all depends on
+what the politicians decide to do. I&rsquo;m doubtful. The situation is too
+complicated. It can&rsquo;t be hushed up.&rdquo; They were in his private
+office at his house. &ldquo;What will be will be,&rdquo; he added.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What would that mean, Harper, legally, if I were tried on a charge of
+larceny as bailee, as you put it, and convicted? How many years in the
+penitentiary at the outside?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Steger thought a minute, rubbing his chin with his hand. &ldquo;Let me
+see,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that is a serious question, isn&rsquo;t it? The law
+says one to five years at the outside; but the sentences usually average from
+one to three years in embezzlement cases. Of course, in this case&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know all about that,&rdquo; interrupted Cowperwood, irritably.
+&ldquo;My case isn&rsquo;t any different from the others, and you know it.
+Embezzlement is embezzlement if the politicians want to have it so.&rdquo; He
+fell to thinking, and Steger got up and strolled about leisurely. He was
+thinking also.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And would I have to go to jail at any time during the
+proceedings&mdash;before a final adjustment of the case by the higher
+courts?&rdquo; Cowperwood added, directly, grimly, after a time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, there is one point in all legal procedure of the kind,&rdquo;
+replied Steger, cautiously, now rubbing his ear and trying to put the matter as
+delicately as possible. &ldquo;You can avoid jail sentences all through the
+earlier parts of a case like this; but if you are once tried and convicted
+it&rsquo;s pretty hard to do anything&mdash;as a matter of fact, it becomes
+absolutely necessary then to go to jail for a few days, five or so, pending the
+motion for a new trial and the obtaining of a certificate of reasonable doubt.
+It usually takes that long.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young banker sat there staring out of the window, and Steger observed,
+&ldquo;It is a bit complicated, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I should say so,&rdquo; returned Frank, and he added to himself:
+&ldquo;Jail! Five days in prison!&rdquo; That would be a terrific slap, all
+things considered. Five days in jail pending the obtaining of a certificate of
+reasonable doubt, if one could be obtained! He must avoid this! Jail! The
+penitentiary! His commercial reputation would never survive that.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap32"></a>Chapter XXXII</h2>
+
+<p>
+The necessity of a final conference between Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson
+was speedily reached, for this situation was hourly growing more serious.
+Rumors were floating about in Third Street that in addition to having failed
+for so large an amount as to have further unsettled the already panicky
+financial situation induced by the Chicago fire, Cowperwood and Stener, or
+Stener working with Cowperwood, or the other way round, had involved the city
+treasury to the extent of five hundred thousand dollars. And the question was
+how was the matter to be kept quiet until after election, which was still three
+weeks away. Bankers and brokers were communicating odd rumors to each other
+about a check that had been taken from the city treasury after Cowperwood knew
+he was to fail, and without Stener&rsquo;s consent. Also that there was danger
+that it would come to the ears of that very uncomfortable political
+organization known as the Citizens&rsquo; Municipal Reform Association, of
+which a well-known iron-manufacturer of great probity and moral rectitude, one
+Skelton C. Wheat, was president. Wheat had for years been following on the
+trail of the dominant Republican administration in a vain attempt to bring it
+to a sense of some of its political iniquities. He was a serious and austere
+man&mdash;-one of those solemn, self-righteous souls who see life through a
+peculiar veil of duty, and who, undisturbed by notable animal passions of any
+kind, go their way of upholding the theory of the Ten Commandments over the
+order of things as they are.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The committee in question had originally been organized to protest against some
+abuses in the tax department; but since then, from election to election, it had
+been drifting from one subject to another, finding an occasional evidence of
+its worthwhileness in some newspaper comment and the frightened reformation of
+some minor political official who ended, usually, by taking refuge behind the
+skirts of some higher political power&mdash;in the last reaches, Messrs.
+Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson. Just now it was without important fuel or
+ammunition; and this assignment of Cowperwood, with its attendant crime, so far
+as the city treasury was concerned, threatened, as some politicians and bankers
+saw it, to give it just the club it was looking for.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However, the decisive conference took place between Cowperwood and the reigning
+political powers some five days after Cowperwood&rsquo;s failure, at the home
+of Senator Simpson, which was located in Rittenhouse Square&mdash;a region
+central for the older order of wealth in Philadelphia. Simpson was a man of no
+little refinement artistically, of Quaker extraction, and of great
+wealth-breeding judgment which he used largely to satisfy his craving for
+political predominance. He was most liberal where money would bring him a
+powerful or necessary political adherent. He fairly showered
+offices&mdash;commissionerships, trusteeships, judgeships, political
+nominations, and executive positions generally&mdash;on those who did his
+bidding faithfully and without question. Compared with Butler and Mollenhauer
+he was more powerful than either, for he represented the State and the nation.
+When the political authorities who were trying to swing a national election
+were anxious to discover what the State of Pennsylvania would do, so far as the
+Republican party was concerned, it was to Senator Simpson that they appealed.
+In the literal sense of the word, he knew. The Senator had long since graduated
+from State to national politics, and was an interesting figure in the United
+States Senate at Washington, where his voice in all the conservative and
+moneyed councils of the nation was of great weight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The house that he occupied, of Venetian design, and four stories in height,
+bore many architectural marks of distinction, such as the floriated window, the
+door with the semipointed arch, and medallions of colored marble set in the
+walls. The Senator was a great admirer of Venice. He had been there often, as
+he had to Athens and Rome, and had brought back many artistic objects
+representative of the civilizations and refinements of older days. He was fond,
+for one thing, of the stern, sculptured heads of the Roman emperors, and the
+fragments of gods and goddesses which are the best testimony of the artistic
+aspirations of Greece. In the entresol of this house was one of his finest
+treasures&mdash;a carved and floriated base bearing a tapering monolith some
+four feet high, crowned by the head of a peculiarly goatish Pan, by the side of
+which were the problematic remains of a lovely nude nymph&mdash;just the little
+feet broken off at the ankles. The base on which the feet of the nymph and the
+monolith stood was ornamented with carved ox-skulls intertwined with roses. In
+his reception hall were replicas of Caligula, Nero, and other Roman emperors;
+and on his stair-walls reliefs of dancing nymphs in procession, and priests
+bearing offerings of sheep and swine to the sacrificial altars. There was a
+clock in some corner of the house which chimed the quarter, the half, the
+three-quarters, and the hour in strange, euphonious, and pathetic notes. On the
+walls of the rooms were tapestries of Flemish origin, and in the
+reception-hall, the library, the living-room, and the drawing-room, richly
+carved furniture after the standards of the Italian Renaissance. The
+Senator&rsquo;s taste in the matter of paintings was inadequate, and he
+mistrusted it; but such as he had were of distinguished origin and authentic.
+He cared more for his curio-cases filled with smaller imported bronzes,
+Venetian glass, and Chinese jade. He was not a collector of these in any
+notable sense&mdash;merely a lover of a few choice examples. Handsome tiger and
+leopard skin rugs, the fur of a musk-ox for his divan, and tanned and
+brown-stained goat and kid skins for his tables, gave a sense of elegance and
+reserved profusion. In addition the Senator had a dining-room done after the
+Jacobean idea of artistic excellence, and a wine-cellar which the best of the
+local vintners looked after with extreme care. He was a man who loved to
+entertain lavishly; and when his residence was thrown open for a dinner, a
+reception, or a ball, the best of local society was to be found there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The conference was in the Senator&rsquo;s library, and he received his
+colleagues with the genial air of one who has much to gain and little to lose.
+There were whiskies, wines, cigars on the table, and while Mollenhauer and
+Simpson exchanged the commonplaces of the day awaiting the arrival of Butler,
+they lighted cigars and kept their inmost thoughts to themselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It so happened that upon the previous afternoon Butler had learned from Mr.
+David Pettie, the district attorney, of the sixty-thousand-dollar-check
+transaction. At the same time the matter had been brought to
+Mollenhauer&rsquo;s attention by Stener himself. It was Mollenhauer, not Butler
+who saw that by taking advantage of Cowperwood&rsquo;s situation, he might save
+the local party from blame, and at the same time most likely fleece Cowperwood
+out of his street-railway shares without letting Butler or Simpson know
+anything about it. The thing to do was to terrorize him with a private threat
+of prosecution.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler was not long in arriving, and apologized for the delay. Concealing his
+recent grief behind as jaunty an air as possible, he began with:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lively life I&rsquo;m leadin&rsquo;, what with every bank
+in the city wantin&rsquo; to know how their loans are goin&rsquo; to be taken
+care of.&rdquo; He took a cigar and struck a match.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It does look a little threatening,&rdquo; said Senator Simpson, smiling.
+&ldquo;Sit down. I have just been talking with Avery Stone, of Jay Cooke &amp;
+Company, and he tells me that the talk in Third Street about Stener&rsquo;s
+connection with this Cowperwood failure is growing very strong, and that the
+newspapers are bound to take up the matter shortly, unless something is done
+about it. I am sure that the news will also reach Mr. Wheat, of the
+Citizens&rsquo; Reform Association, very shortly. We ought to decide now,
+gentlemen, what we propose to do. One thing, I am sure, is to eliminate Stener
+from the ticket as quietly as possible. This really looks to me as if it might
+become a very serious issue, and we ought to be doing what we can now to offset
+its effect later.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mollenhauer pulled a long breath through his cigar, and blew it out in a
+rolling steel-blue cloud. He studied the tapestry on the opposite wall but said
+nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is one thing sure,&rdquo; continued Senator Simpson, after a time,
+seeing that no one else spoke, &ldquo;and that is, if we do not begin a
+prosecution on our own account within a reasonable time, some one else is apt
+to; and that would put rather a bad face on the matter. My own opinion would be
+that we wait until it is very plain that prosecution is going to be undertaken
+by some one else&mdash;possibly the Municipal Reform Association&mdash;but that
+we stand ready to step in and act in such a way as to make it look as though we
+had been planning to do it all the time. The thing to do is to gain time; and
+so I would suggest that it be made as difficult as possible to get at the
+treasurer&rsquo;s books. An investigation there, if it begins at all&mdash;as I
+think is very likely&mdash;should be very slow in producing the facts.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Senator was not at all for mincing words with his important confreres, when
+it came to vital issues. He preferred, in his grandiloquent way, to call a
+spade a spade.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now that sounds like very good sense to me,&rdquo; said Butler, sinking
+a little lower in his chair for comfort&rsquo;s sake, and concealing his true
+mood in regard to all this. &ldquo;The boys could easily make that
+investigation last three weeks, I should think. They&rsquo;re slow enough with
+everything else, if me memory doesn&rsquo;t fail me.&rdquo; At the same time he
+was cogitating as to how to inject the personality of Cowperwood and his speedy
+prosecution without appearing to be neglecting the general welfare of the local
+party too much.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, that isn&rsquo;t a bad idea,&rdquo; said Mollenhauer, solemnly,
+blowing a ring of smoke, and thinking how to keep Cowperwood&rsquo;s especial
+offense from coming up at this conference and until after he had seen him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We ought to map out our program very carefully,&rdquo; continued Senator
+Simpson, &ldquo;so that if we are compelled to act we can do so very quickly. I
+believe myself that this thing is certain to come to an issue within a week, if
+not sooner, and we have no time to lose. If my advice were followed now, I
+should have the mayor write the treasurer a letter asking for information, and
+the treasurer write the mayor his answer, and also have the mayor, with the
+authority of the common council, suspend the treasurer for the time
+being&mdash;I think we have the authority to do that&mdash;or, at least, take
+over his principal duties but without for the time being, anyhow, making any of
+these transactions public&mdash;until we have to, of course. We ought to be
+ready with these letters to show to the newspapers at once, in case this action
+is forced upon us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I could have those letters prepared, if you gentlemen have no
+objection,&rdquo; put in Mollenhauer, quietly, but quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that strikes me as sinsible,&rdquo; said Butler, easily.
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s about the only thing we can do under the circumstances,
+unless we could find some one else to blame it on, and I have a suggestion to
+make in that direction. Maybe we&rsquo;re not as helpless as we might be, all
+things considered.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a slight gleam of triumph in his eye as he said this, at the same
+time that there was a slight shadow of disappointment in Mollenhauer&rsquo;s.
+So Butler knew, and probably Simpson, too.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just what do you mean?&rdquo; asked the Senator, looking at Butler
+interestedly. He knew nothing of the sixty-thousand-dollar check transaction.
+He had not followed the local treasury dealings very closely, nor had he talked
+to either of his confreres since the original conference between them.
+&ldquo;There haven&rsquo;t been any outside parties mixed up with this, have
+there?&rdquo; His own shrewd, political mind was working.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No-o. I wouldn&rsquo;t call him an outside party, exactly,
+Senator,&rdquo; went on Butler suavely. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s Cowperwood himself
+I&rsquo;m thinkin&rsquo; of. There&rsquo;s somethin&rsquo; that has come up
+since I saw you gentlemen last that makes me think that perhaps that young man
+isn&rsquo;t as innocent as he might be. It looks to me as though he was the
+ringleader in this business, as though he had been leadin&rsquo; Stener on
+against his will. I&rsquo;ve been lookin&rsquo; into the matter on me own
+account, and as far as I can make out this man Stener isn&rsquo;t as much to
+blame as I thought. From all I can learn, Cowperwood&rsquo;s been
+threatenin&rsquo; Stener with one thing and another if he didn&rsquo;t give him
+more money, and only the other day he got a big sum on false pretinses, which
+might make him equally guilty with Stener. There&rsquo;s sixty-thousand dollars
+of city loan certificates that has been paid for that aren&rsquo;t in the
+sinking-fund. And since the reputation of the party&rsquo;s in danger this
+fall, I don&rsquo;t see that we need to have any particular consideration for
+him.&rdquo; He paused, strong in the conviction that he had sent a most
+dangerous arrow flying in the direction of Cowperwood, as indeed he had. Yet at
+this moment, both the Senator and Mollenhauer were not a little surprised,
+seeing at their last meeting he had appeared rather friendly to the young
+banker, and this recent discovery seemed scarcely any occasion for a vicious
+attitude on his part. Mollenhauer in particular was surprised, for he had been
+looking on Butler&rsquo;s friendship for Cowperwood as a possible stumbling
+block.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Um-m, you don&rsquo;t tell me,&rdquo; observed Senator Simpson,
+thoughtfully, stroking his mouth with his pale hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I can confirm that,&rdquo; said Mollenhauer, quietly, seeing his
+own little private plan of browbeating Cowperwood out of his street-railway
+shares going glimmering. &ldquo;I had a talk with Stener the other day about
+this very matter, and he told me that Cowperwood had been trying to force him
+to give him three hundred thousand dollars more, and that when he refused
+Cowperwood managed to get sixty thousand dollars further without his knowledge
+or consent.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How could he do that?&rdquo; asked Senator Simpson, incredulously.
+Mollenhauer explained the transaction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh,&rdquo; said the Senator, when Mollenhauer had finished, &ldquo;that
+indicates a rather sharp person, doesn&rsquo;t it? And the certificates are not
+in the sinking-fund, eh?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They&rsquo;re not,&rdquo; chimed in Butler, with considerable
+enthusiasm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I must say,&rdquo; said Simpson, rather relieved in his manner,
+&ldquo;this looks like a rather good thing than not to me. A scapegoat
+possibly. We need something like this. I see no reason under the circumstances
+for trying to protect Mr. Cowperwood. We might as well try to make a point of
+that, if we have to. The newspapers might just as well talk loud about that as
+anything else. They are bound to talk; and if we give them the right angle, I
+think that the election might well come and go before the matter could be
+reasonably cleared up, even though Mr. Wheat does interfere. I will be glad to
+undertake to see what can be done with the papers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that bein&rsquo; the case,&rdquo; said Butler, &ldquo;I
+don&rsquo;t see that there&rsquo;s so much more we can do now; but I do think
+it will be a mistake if Cowperwood isn&rsquo;t punished with the other one.
+He&rsquo;s equally guilty with Stener, if not more so, and I for one want to
+see him get what he deserves. He belongs in the penitentiary, and that&rsquo;s
+where he&rsquo;ll go if I have my say.&rdquo; Both Mollenhauer and Simpson
+turned a reserved and inquiring eye on their usually genial associate. What
+could be the reason for his sudden determination to have Cowperwood punished?
+Cowperwood, as Mollenhauer and Simpson saw it, and as Butler would ordinarily
+have seen it, was well within his human, if not his strictly legal rights. They
+did not blame him half as much for trying to do what he had done as they blamed
+Stener for letting him do it. But, since Butler felt as he did, and there was
+an actual technical crime here, they were perfectly willing that the party
+should have the advantage of it, even if Cowperwood went to the penitentiary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You may be right,&rdquo; said Senator Simpson, cautiously. &ldquo;You
+might have those letters prepared, Henry; and if we have to bring any action at
+all against anybody before election, it would, perhaps, be advisable to bring
+it against Cowperwood. Include Stener if you have to but not unless you have
+to. I leave it to you two, as I am compelled to start for Pittsburg next
+Friday; but I know you will not overlook any point.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Senator arose. His time was always valuable. Butler was highly gratified by
+what he had accomplished. He had succeeded in putting the triumvirate on record
+against Cowperwood as the first victim, in case of any public disturbance or
+demonstration against the party. All that was now necessary was for that
+disturbance to manifest itself; and, from what he could see of local
+conditions, it was not far off. There was now the matter of Cowperwood&rsquo;s
+disgruntled creditors to look into; and if by buying in these he should succeed
+in preventing the financier from resuming business, he would have him in a very
+precarious condition indeed. It was a sad day for Cowperwood, Butler
+thought&mdash;the day he had first tried to lead Aileen astray&mdash;and the
+time was not far off when he could prove it to him.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap33"></a>Chapter XXXIII</h2>
+
+<p>
+In the meantime Cowperwood, from what he could see and hear, was becoming more
+and more certain that the politicians would try to make a scapegoat of him, and
+that shortly. For one thing, Stires had called only a few days after he closed
+his doors and imparted a significant bit of information. Albert was still
+connected with the city treasury, as was Stener, and engaged with Sengstack and
+another personal appointee of Mollenhauer&rsquo;s in going over the
+treasurer&rsquo;s books and explaining their financial significance. Stires had
+come to Cowperwood primarily to get additional advice in regard to the
+sixty-thousand-dollar check and his personal connection with it. Stener, it
+seemed, was now threatening to have his chief clerk prosecuted, saying that he
+was responsible for the loss of the money and that his bondsmen could be held
+responsible. Cowperwood had merely laughed and assured Stires that there was
+nothing to this.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Albert,&rdquo; he had said, smilingly, &ldquo;I tell you positively,
+there&rsquo;s nothing in it. You&rsquo;re not responsible for delivering that
+check to me. I&rsquo;ll tell you what you do, now. Go and consult my
+lawyer&mdash;Steger. It won&rsquo;t cost you a cent, and he&rsquo;ll tell you
+exactly what to do. Now go on back and don&rsquo;t worry any more about it. I
+am sorry this move of mine has caused you so much trouble, but it&rsquo;s a
+hundred to one you couldn&rsquo;t have kept your place with a new city
+treasurer, anyhow, and if I see any place where you can possibly fit in later,
+I&rsquo;ll let you know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another thing that made Cowperwood pause and consider at this time was a letter
+from Aileen, detailing a conversation which had taken place at the Butler
+dinner table one evening when Butler, the elder, was not at home. She related
+how her brother Owen in effect had stated that they&mdash;the
+politicians&mdash;her father, Mollenhauer, and Simpson, were going to
+&ldquo;get him yet&rdquo; (meaning Cowperwood), for some criminal financial
+manipulation of something&mdash;she could not explain what&mdash;a check or
+something. Aileen was frantic with worry. Could they mean the penitentiary, she
+asked in her letter? Her dear lover! Her beloved Frank! Could anything like
+this really happen to him?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His brow clouded, and he set his teeth with rage when he read her letter. He
+would have to do something about this&mdash;see Mollenhauer or Simpson, or
+both, and make some offer to the city. He could not promise them money for the
+present&mdash;only notes&mdash;but they might take them. Surely they could not
+be intending to make a scapegoat of him over such a trivial and uncertain
+matter as this check transaction! When there was the five hundred thousand
+advanced by Stener, to say nothing of all the past shady transactions of former
+city treasurers! How rotten! How political, but how real and dangerous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Simpson was out of the city for a period of ten days, and Mollenhauer,
+having in mind the suggestion made by Butler in regard to utilizing
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s misdeed for the benefit of the party, had already moved as
+they had planned. The letters were ready and waiting. Indeed, since the
+conference, the smaller politicians, taking their cue from the overlords, had
+been industriously spreading the story of the sixty-thousand-dollar check, and
+insisting that the burden of guilt for the treasury defalcation, if any, lay on
+the banker. The moment Mollenhauer laid eyes on Cowperwood he realized,
+however, that he had a powerful personality to deal with. Cowperwood gave no
+evidence of fright. He merely stated, in his bland way, that he had been in the
+habit of borrowing money from the city treasury at a low rate of interest, and
+that this panic had involved him so that he could not possibly return it at
+present.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have heard rumors, Mr. Mollenhauer,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;to the
+effect that some charge is to be brought against me as a partner with Mr.
+Stener in this matter; but I am hoping that the city will not do that, and I
+thought I might enlist your influence to prevent it. My affairs are not in a
+bad way at all, if I had a little time to arrange matters. I am making all of
+my creditors an offer of fifty cents on the dollar now, and giving notes at
+one, two, and three years; but in this matter of the city treasury loans, if I
+could come to terms, I would be glad to make it a hundred cents&mdash;only I
+would want a little more time. Stocks are bound to recover, as you know, and,
+barring my losses at this time, I will be all right. I realize that the matter
+has gone pretty far already. The newspapers are likely to start talking at any
+time, unless they are stopped by those who can control them.&rdquo; (He looked
+at Mollenhauer in a complimentary way.) &ldquo;But if I could be kept out of
+the general proceedings as much as possible, my standing would not be injured,
+and I would have a better chance of getting on my feet. It would be better for
+the city, for then I could certainly pay it what I owe it.&rdquo; He smiled his
+most winsome and engaging smile. And Mollenhauer seeing him for the first time,
+was not unimpressed. Indeed he looked at this young financial David with an
+interested eye. If he could have seen a way to accept this proposition of
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s, so that the money offered would have been eventually
+payable to him, and if Cowperwood had had any reasonable prospect of getting on
+his feet soon, he would have considered carefully what he had to say. For then
+Cowperwood could have assigned his recovered property to him. As it was, there
+was small likelihood of this situation ever being straightened out. The
+Citizens&rsquo; Municipal Reform Association, from all he could hear, was
+already on the move&mdash;investigating, or about to, and once they had set
+their hands to this, would unquestionably follow it closely to the end.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The trouble with this situation, Mr. Cowperwood,&rdquo; he said,
+affably, &ldquo;is that it has gone so far that it is practically out of my
+hands. I really have very little to do with it. I don&rsquo;t suppose, though,
+really, it is this matter of the five-hundred-thousand-dollar loan that is
+worrying you so much, as it is this other matter of the sixty-thousand-dollar
+check you received the other day. Mr. Stener insists that you secured that
+illegally, and he is very much wrought up about it. The mayor and the other
+city officials know of it now, and they may force some action. I don&rsquo;t
+know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mollenhauer was obviously not frank in his attitude&mdash;a little bit evasive
+in his sly reference to his official tool, the mayor; and Cowperwood saw it. It
+irritated him greatly, but he was tactful enough to be quite suave and
+respectful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I did get a check for sixty thousand dollars, that&rsquo;s true,&rdquo;
+he replied, with apparent frankness, &ldquo;the day before I assigned. It was
+for certificates I had purchased, however, on Mr. Stener&rsquo;s order, and was
+due me. I needed the money, and asked for it. I don&rsquo;t see that there is
+anything illegal in that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not if the transaction was completed in all its details,&rdquo; replied
+Mollenhauer, blandly. &ldquo;As I understand it, the certificates were bought
+for the sinking-fund, and they are not there. How do you explain that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;An oversight, merely,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, innocently, and quite
+as blandly as Mollenhauer. &ldquo;They would have been there if I had not been
+compelled to assign so unexpectedly. It was not possible for me to attend to
+everything in person. It has not been our custom to deposit them at once. Mr.
+Stener will tell you that, if you ask him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t say,&rdquo; replied Mollenhauer. &ldquo;He did not give
+me that impression. However, they are not there, and I believe that that makes
+some difference legally. I have no interest in the matter one way or the other,
+more than that of any other good Republican. I don&rsquo;t see exactly what I
+can do for you. What did you think I could do?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe you can do anything for me, Mr.
+Mollenhauer,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, a little tartly, &ldquo;unless you are
+willing to deal quite frankly with me. I am not a beginner in politics in
+Philadelphia. I know something about the powers in command. I thought that you
+could stop any plan to prosecute me in this matter, and give me time to get on
+my feet again. I am not any more criminally responsible for that sixty thousand
+dollars than I am for the five hundred thousand dollars that I had as loan
+before it&mdash;not as much so. I did not create this panic. I did not set
+Chicago on fire. Mr. Stener and his friends have been reaping some profit out
+of dealing with me. I certainly was entitled to make some effort to save myself
+after all these years of service, and I can&rsquo;t understand why I should not
+receive some courtesy at the hands of the present city administration, after I
+have been so useful to it. I certainly have kept city loan at par; and as for
+Mr. Stener&rsquo;s money, he has never wanted for his interest on that, and
+more than his interest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite so,&rdquo; replied Mollenhauer, looking Cowperwood in the eye
+steadily and estimating the force and accuracy of the man at their real value.
+&ldquo;I understand exactly how it has all come about, Mr. Cowperwood. No doubt
+Mr. Stener owes you a debt of gratitude, as does the remainder of the city
+administration. I&rsquo;m not saying what the city administration ought or
+ought not do. All I know is that you find yourself wittingly or unwittingly in
+a dangerous situation, and that public sentiment in some quarters is already
+very strong against you. I personally have no feeling one way or the other, and
+if it were not for the situation itself, which looks to be out of hand, would
+not be opposed to assisting you in any reasonable way. But how? The Republican
+party is in a very bad position, so far as this election is concerned. In a
+way, however innocently, you have helped to put it there, Mr. Cowperwood. Mr.
+Butler, for some reason to which I am not a party, seems deeply and personally
+incensed. And Mr. Butler is a great power here&mdash;&rdquo; (Cowperwood began
+to wonder whether by any chance Butler had indicated the nature of his social
+offense against himself, but he could not bring himself to believe that. It was
+not probable.) &ldquo;I sympathize with you greatly, Mr. Cowperwood, but what I
+suggest is that you first See Mr. Butler and Mr. Simpson. If they agree to any
+program of aid, I will not be opposed to joining. But apart from that I do not
+know exactly what I can do. I am only one of those who have a slight say in the
+affairs of Philadelphia.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this point, Mollenhauer rather expected Cowperwood to make an offer of his
+own holdings, but he did not. Instead he said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very much
+obliged to you, Mr. Mollenhauer, for the courtesy of this interview. I believe
+you would help me if you could. I shall just have to fight it out the best way
+I can. Good day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And he bowed himself out. He saw clearly how hopeless was his quest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the meanwhile, finding that the rumors were growing in volume and that no
+one appeared to be willing to take steps to straighten the matter out, Mr.
+Skelton C. Wheat, President of the Citizens&rsquo; Municipal Reform
+Association, was, at last and that by no means against his will, compelled to
+call together the committee of ten estimable Philadelphians of which he was
+chairman, in a local committee-hall on Market Street, and lay the matter of the
+Cowperwood failure before it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It strikes me, gentlemen,&rdquo; he announced, &ldquo;that this is an
+occasion when this organization can render a signal service to the city and the
+people of Philadelphia, and prove the significance and the merit of the title
+originally selected for it, by making such a thoroughgoing investigation as
+will bring to light all the facts in this case, and then by standing vigorously
+behind them insist that such nefarious practices as we are informed were
+indulged in in this case shall cease. I know it may prove to be a difficult
+task. The Republican party and its local and State interests are certain to be
+against us. Its leaders are unquestionably most anxious to avoid comment and to
+have their ticket go through undisturbed, and they will not contemplate with
+any equanimity our opening activity in this matter; but if we persevere, great
+good will surely come of it. There is too much dishonesty in public life as it
+is. There is a standard of right in these matters which cannot permanently be
+ignored, and which must eventually be fulfilled. I leave this matter to your
+courteous consideration.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Wheat sat down, and the body before him immediately took the matter which
+he proposed under advisement. It was decided to appoint a subcommittee
+&ldquo;to investigate&rdquo; (to quote the statement eventually given to the
+public) &ldquo;the peculiar rumors now affecting one of the most important and
+distinguished offices of our municipal government,&rdquo; and to report at the
+next meeting, which was set for the following evening at nine o&rsquo;clock.
+The meeting adjourned, and the following night at nine reassembled, four
+individuals of very shrewd financial judgment having meantime been about the
+task assigned them. They drew up a very elaborate statement, not wholly in
+accordance with the facts, but as nearly so as could be ascertained in so short
+a space of time.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;It appears [read the report, after a preamble which explained why the
+committee had been appointed] that it has been the custom of city treasurers
+for years, when loans have been authorized by councils, to place them in the
+hands of some favorite broker for sale, the broker accounting to the treasurer
+for the moneys received by such sales at short periods, generally the first of
+each month. In the present case Frank A. Cowperwood has been acting as such
+broker for the city treasurer. But even this vicious and unbusiness-like system
+appears not to have been adhered to in the case of Mr. Cowperwood. The accident
+of the Chicago fire, the consequent depression of stock values, and the
+subsequent failure of Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood have so involved matters
+temporarily that the committee has not been able to ascertain with accuracy
+that regular accounts have been rendered; but from the manner in which Mr.
+Cowperwood has had possession of bonds (city loan) for hypothecation, etc., it
+would appear that he has been held to no responsibility in these matters, and
+that there have always been under his control several hundred thousand dollars
+of cash or securities belonging to the city, which he has manipulated for
+various purposes; but the details of the results of these transactions are not
+easily available.<br/>
+    &ldquo;Some of the operations consisted of hypothecation of large amounts
+of these loans before the certificates were issued, the lender seeing that the
+order for the hypothecated securities was duly made to him on the books of the
+treasurer. Such methods appear to have been occurring for a long time, and it
+being incredible that the city treasurer could be unaware of the nature of the
+business, there is indication of a complicity between him and Mr. Cowperwood to
+benefit by the use of the city credit, in violation of the law.<br/>
+    &ldquo;Furthermore, at the very time these hypothecations were being made,
+and the city paying interest upon such loans, the money representing them was
+in the hands of the treasurer&rsquo;s broker and bearing no interest to the
+city. The payment of municipal warrants was postponed, and they were being
+purchased at a discount in large amounts by Mr. Cowperwood with the very money
+that should have been in the city treasury. The <i>bona fide</i> holders of the
+orders for certificates of loans are now unable to obtain them, and thus the
+city&rsquo;s credit is injured to a greater extent than the present
+defalcation, which amounts to over five hundred thousand dollars. An accountant
+is now at work on the treasurer&rsquo;s books, and a few days should make clear
+the whole <i>modus operandi</i>. It is hoped that the publicity thus obtained
+will break up such vicious practices.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was appended to this report a quotation from the law governing the abuse
+of a public trust; and the committee went on to say that, unless some taxpayer
+chose to initiate proceedings for the prosecution of those concerned, the
+committee itself would be called upon to do so, although such action hardly
+came within the object for which it was formed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This report was immediately given to the papers. Though some sort of a public
+announcement had been anticipated by Cowperwood and the politicians, this was,
+nevertheless, a severe blow. Stener was beside himself with fear. He broke into
+a cold sweat when he saw the announcement which was conservatively headed,
+&ldquo;Meeting of the Municipal Reform Association.&rdquo; All of the papers
+were so closely identified with the political and financial powers of the city
+that they did not dare to come out openly and say what they thought. The chief
+facts had already been in the hands of the various editors and publishers for a
+week and more, but word had gone around from Mollenhauer, Simpson, and Butler
+to use the soft pedal for the present. It was not good for Philadelphia, for
+local commerce, etc., to make a row. The fair name of the city would be
+smirched. It was the old story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At once the question was raised as to who was really guilty, the city treasurer
+or the broker, or both. How much money had actually been lost? Where had it
+gone? Who was Frank Algernon Cowperwood, anyway? Why was he not arrested? How
+did he come to be identified so closely with the financial administration of
+the city? And though the day of what later was termed &ldquo;yellow
+journalism&rdquo; had not arrived, and the local papers were not given to such
+vital personal comment as followed later, it was not possible, even bound as
+they were, hand and foot, by the local political and social magnates, to avoid
+comment of some sort. Editorials had to be written. Some solemn, conservative
+references to the shame and disgrace which one single individual could bring to
+a great city and a noble political party had to be ventured upon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That desperate scheme to cast the blame on Cowperwood temporarily, which had
+been concocted by Mollenhauer, Butler, and Simpson, to get the odium of the
+crime outside the party lines for the time being, was now lugged forth and put
+in operation. It was interesting and strange to note how quickly the
+newspapers, and even the Citizens&rsquo; Municipal Reform Association, adopted
+the argument that Cowperwood was largely, if not solely, to blame. Stener had
+loaned him the money, it is true&mdash;had put bond issues in his hands for
+sale, it is true, but somehow every one seemed to gain the impression that
+Cowperwood had desperately misused the treasurer. The fact that he had taken a
+sixty-thousand-dollar check for certificates which were not in the sinking-fund
+was hinted at, though until they could actually confirm this for themselves
+both the newspapers and the committee were too fearful of the State libel laws
+to say so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In due time there were brought forth several noble municipal letters,
+purporting to be a stern call on the part of the mayor, Mr. Jacob Borchardt, on
+Mr. George W. Stener for an immediate explanation of his conduct, and the
+latter&rsquo;s reply, which were at once given to the newspapers and the
+Citizens&rsquo; Municipal Reform Association. These letters were enough to
+show, so the politicians figured, that the Republican party was anxious to
+purge itself of any miscreant within its ranks, and they also helped to pass
+the time until after election.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+OFFICE OF THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+GEORGE W. STENER, ESQ.,                    <i>October</i> 18, 1871.<br/>
+City Treasurer.<br/>
+<br/>
+    DEAR SIR,&mdash;Information has been given me that certificates of city loan to
+a large amount, issued by you for sale on account of the city, and, I presume,
+after the usual requisition from the mayor of the city, have passed out of your
+custody, and that the proceeds of the sale of said certificates have not been
+paid into the city treasury.<br/>
+    I have also been informed that a large amount of the city&rsquo;s money has
+been permitted to pass into the hands of some one or more brokers or bankers
+doing business on Third Street, and that said brokers or bankers have since met
+with financial difficulties, whereby, and by reason of the above generally, the
+interests of the city are likely to be very seriously affected.<br/>
+    I have therefore to request that you will promptly advise me of the truth or
+falsity of these statements, so that such duties as devolve upon me as the
+chief magistrate of the city, in view of such facts, if they exist, may be
+intelligently discharged. Yours respectfully,
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+JACOB BORCHARDT,<br/>
+<i>Mayor of Philadelphia.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+OFFICE OF THE TREASURER OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+HON. JACOB BORCHARDT.                    <i>October</i> 19, 1871.<br/>
+<br/>
+    DEAR SIR,&mdash;I have to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the
+21st instant, and to express my regret that I cannot at this time give you the
+information you ask. There is undoubtedly an embarrassment in the city
+treasury, owing to the delinquency of the broker who for several years past has
+negotiated the city loans, and I have been, since the discovery of this fact,
+and still am occupied in endeavoring to avert or lessen the loss with which the
+city is threatened.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+I am, very respectfully,<br/>
+GEORGE W. STENER.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+OFFICE OF THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+GEORGE W. STENER, ESQ.,                    <i>October</i> 21, 1871.<br/>
+City Treasurer.<br/>
+<br/>
+    DEAR SIR&mdash;Under the existing circumstances you will consider this as a
+notice of withdrawal and revocation of any requisition or authority by me for
+the sale of loan, so far as the same has not been fulfilled. Applications for
+loans may for the present be made at this office.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+Very respectfully,<br/>
+JACOB BORCHARDT,<br/>
+<i>Mayor of Philadelphia.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And did Mr. Jacob Borchardt write the letters to which his name was attached?
+He did not. Mr. Abner Sengstack wrote them in Mr. Mollenhauer&rsquo;s office,
+and Mr. Mollenhauer&rsquo;s comment when he saw them was that he thought they
+would do&mdash;that they were very good, in fact. And did Mr. George W. Stener,
+city treasurer of Philadelphia, write that very politic reply? He did not. Mr.
+Stener was in a state of complete collapse, even crying at one time at home in
+his bathtub. Mr. Abner Sengstack wrote that also, and had Mr. Stener sign it.
+And Mr. Mollenhauer&rsquo;s comment on that, before it was sent, was that he
+thought it was &ldquo;all right.&rdquo; It was a time when all the little rats
+and mice were scurrying to cover because of the presence of a great, fiery-eyed
+public cat somewhere in the dark, and only the older and wiser rats were able
+to act.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Indeed, at this very time and for some days past now, Messrs. Mollenhauer,
+Butler, and Simpson were, and had been, considering with Mr. Pettie, the
+district attorney, just what could be done about Cowperwood, if anything, and
+in order to further emphasize the blame in that direction, and just what
+defense, if any, could be made for Stener. Butler, of course, was strong for
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s prosecution. Pettie did not see that any defense could be
+made for Stener, since various records of street-car stocks purchased for him
+were spread upon Cowperwood&rsquo;s books; but for Cowperwood&mdash;&ldquo;Let
+me see,&rdquo; he said. They were speculating, first of all, as to whether it
+might not be good policy to arrest Cowperwood, and if necessary try him, since
+his mere arrest would seem to the general public, at least, positive proof of
+his greater guilt, to say nothing of the virtuous indignation of the
+administration, and in consequence might tend to divert attention from the evil
+nature of the party until after election.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So finally, on the afternoon of October 26, 1871, Edward Strobik, president of
+the common council of Philadelphia, appeared before the mayor, as finally
+ordered by Mollenhauer, and charged by affidavit that Frank A. Cowperwood, as
+broker, employed by the treasurer to sell the bonds of the city, had committed
+embezzlement and larceny as bailee. It did not matter that he charged George W.
+Stener with embezzlement at the same time. Cowperwood was the scapegoat they
+were after.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap34"></a>Chapter XXXIV</h2>
+
+<p>
+The contrasting pictures presented by Cowperwood and Stener at this time are
+well worth a moment&rsquo;s consideration. Stener&rsquo;s face was
+grayish-white, his lips blue. Cowperwood, despite various solemn thoughts
+concerning a possible period of incarceration which this hue and cry now
+suggested, and what that meant to his parents, his wife and children, his
+business associates, and his friends, was as calm and collected as one might
+assume his great mental resources would permit him to be. During all this whirl
+of disaster he had never once lost his head or his courage. That thing
+conscience, which obsesses and rides some people to destruction, did not
+trouble him at all. He had no consciousness of what is currently known as sin.
+There were just two faces to the shield of life from the point of view of his
+peculiar mind-strength and weakness. Right and wrong? He did not know about
+those. They were bound up in metaphysical abstrusities about which he did not
+care to bother. Good and evil? Those were toys of clerics, by which they made
+money. And as for social favor or social ostracism which, on occasion, so
+quickly followed upon the heels of disaster of any kind, well, what was social
+ostracism? Had either he or his parents been of the best society as yet? And
+since not, and despite this present mix-up, might not the future hold social
+restoration and position for him? It might. Morality and immorality? He never
+considered them. But strength and weakness&mdash;oh, yes! If you had strength
+you could protect yourself always and be something. If you were weak&mdash;pass
+quickly to the rear and get out of the range of the guns. He was strong, and he
+knew it, and somehow he always believed in his star. Something&mdash;he could
+not say what&mdash;it was the only metaphysics he bothered about&mdash;was
+doing something for him. It had always helped him. It made things come out
+right at times. It put excellent opportunities in his way. Why had he been
+given so fine a mind? Why always favored financially, personally? He had not
+deserved it&mdash;earned it. Accident, perhaps, but somehow the thought that he
+would always be protected&mdash;these intuitions, the &ldquo;hunches&rdquo; to
+act which he frequently had&mdash;could not be so easily explained. Life was a
+dark, insoluble mystery, but whatever it was, strength and weakness were its
+two constituents. Strength would win&mdash;weakness lose. He must rely on
+swiftness of thought, accuracy, his judgment, and on nothing else. He was
+really a brilliant picture of courage and energy&mdash;moving about briskly in
+a jaunty, dapper way, his mustaches curled, his clothes pressed, his nails
+manicured, his face clean-shaven and tinted with health.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the meantime, Cowperwood had gone personally to Skelton C. Wheat and tried
+to explain his side of the situation, alleging that he had done no differently
+from many others before him, but Wheat was dubious. He did not see how it was
+that the sixty thousand dollars&rsquo; worth of certificates were not in the
+sinking-fund. Cowperwood&rsquo;s explanation of custom did not avail.
+Nevertheless, Mr. Wheat saw that others in politics had been profiting quite as
+much as Cowperwood in other ways and he advised Cowperwood to turn
+state&rsquo;s evidence. This, however, he promptly refused to do&mdash;he was
+no &ldquo;squealer,&rdquo; and indicated as much to Mr. Wheat, who only smiled
+wryly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler, Sr., was delighted (concerned though he was about party success at the
+polls), for now he had this villain in the toils and he would have a fine time
+getting out of this. The incoming district attorney to succeed David Pettie if
+the Republican party won would be, as was now planned, an appointee of
+Butler&rsquo;s&mdash;a young Irishman who had done considerable legal work for
+him&mdash;one Dennis Shannon. The other two party leaders had already promised
+Butler that. Shannon was a smart, athletic, good-looking fellow, all of five
+feet ten inches in height, sandy-haired, pink-cheeked, blue-eyed, considerable
+of an orator and a fine legal fighter. He was very proud to be in the old
+man&rsquo;s favor&mdash;to be promised a place on the ticket by him&mdash;and
+would, he said, if elected, do his bidding to the best of his knowledge and
+ability.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was only one fly in the ointment, so far as some of the politicians were
+concerned, and that was that if Cowperwood were convicted, Stener must needs be
+also. There was no escape in so far as any one could see for the city
+treasurer. If Cowperwood was guilty of securing by trickery sixty thousand
+dollars&rsquo; worth of the city money, Stener was guilty of securing five
+hundred thousand dollars. The prison term for this was five years. He might
+plead not guilty, and by submitting as evidence that what he did was due to
+custom save himself from the odious necessity of pleading guilty; but he would
+be convicted nevertheless. No jury could get by the fact in regard to him. In
+spite of public opinion, when it came to a trial there might be considerable
+doubt in Cowperwood&rsquo;s case. There was none in Stener&rsquo;s.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The practical manner in which the situation was furthered, after Cowperwood and
+Stener were formally charged may be quickly noted. Steger, Cowperwood&rsquo;s
+lawyer, learned privately beforehand that Cowperwood was to be prosecuted. He
+arranged at once to have his client appear before any warrant could be served,
+and to forestall the newspaper palaver which would follow it if he had to be
+searched for.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The mayor issued a warrant for Cowperwood&rsquo;s arrest, and, in accordance
+with Steger&rsquo;s plan, Cowperwood immediately appeared before Borchardt in
+company with his lawyer and gave bail in twenty thousand dollars (W. C.
+Davison, president of the Girard National Bank, being his surety), for his
+appearance at the central police station on the following Saturday for a
+hearing. Marcus Oldslaw, a lawyer, had been employed by Strobik as president of
+the common council, to represent him in prosecuting the case for the city. The
+mayor looked at Cowperwood curiously, for he, being comparatively new to the
+political world of Philadelphia, was not so familiar with him as others were;
+and Cowperwood returned the look pleasantly enough.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is a great dumb show, Mr. Mayor,&rdquo; he observed once to
+Borchardt, quietly, and the latter replied, with a smile and a kindly eye, that
+as far as he was concerned, it was a form of procedure which was absolutely
+unavoidable at this time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know how it is, Mr. Cowperwood,&rdquo; he observed. The latter
+smiled. &ldquo;I do, indeed,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Later there followed several more or less perfunctory appearances in a local
+police court, known as the Central Court, where when arraigned he pleaded not
+guilty, and finally his appearance before the November grand jury, where, owing
+to the complicated nature of the charge drawn up against him by Pettie, he
+thought it wise to appear. He was properly indicted by the latter body
+(Shannon, the newly elected district attorney, making a demonstration in
+force), and his trial ordered for December 5th before a certain Judge Payderson
+in Part I of Quarter Sessions, which was the local branch of the State courts
+dealing with crimes of this character. His indictment did not occur, however,
+before the coming and going of the much-mooted fall election, which resulted,
+thanks to the clever political manipulations of Mollenhauer and Simpson
+(ballot-box stuffing and personal violence at the polls not barred), in another
+victory, by, however, a greatly reduced majority. The Citizens&rsquo; Municipal
+Reform Association, in spite of a resounding defeat at the polls, which could
+not have happened except by fraud, continued to fire courageously away at those
+whom it considered to be the chief malefactors.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen Butler, during all this time, was following the trend of
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s outward vicissitudes as heralded by the newspapers and the
+local gossip with as much interest and bias and enthusiasm for him as her
+powerful physical and affectional nature would permit. She was no great
+reasoner where affection entered in, but shrewd enough without it; and,
+although she saw him often and he told her much&mdash;as much as his natural
+caution would permit&mdash;she yet gathered from the newspapers and private
+conversation, at her own family&rsquo;s table and elsewhere, that, as bad as
+they said he was, he was not as bad as he might be. One item only, clipped from
+the Philadelphia Public Ledger soon after Cowperwood had been publicly accused
+of embezzlement, comforted and consoled her. She cut it out and carried it in
+her bosom; for, somehow, it seemed to show that her adored Frank was far more
+sinned against than sinning. It was a part of one of those very numerous
+pronunciamientos or reports issued by the Citizens&rsquo; Municipal Reform
+Association, and it ran:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;The aspects of the case are graver than have yet been allowed to reach
+the public. Five hundred thousand dollars of the deficiency arises not from
+city bonds sold and not accounted for, but from loans made by the treasurer to
+his broker. The committee is also informed, on what it believes to be good
+authority, that the loans sold by the broker were accounted for in the monthly
+settlements at the lowest prices current during the month, and that the
+difference between this rate and that actually realized was divided between the
+treasurer and the broker, thus making it to the interest of both parties to
+&lsquo;bear&rsquo; the market at some time during the month, so as to obtain a
+low quotation for settlement. Nevertheless, the committee can only regard the
+prosecution instituted against the broker, Mr. Cowperwood, as an effort to
+divert public attention from more guilty parties while those concerned may be
+able to &lsquo;fix&rsquo; matters to suit themselves.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There,&rdquo; thought Aileen, when she read it, &ldquo;there you have
+it.&rdquo; These politicians&mdash;her father among them as she gathered after
+his conversation with her&mdash;were trying to put the blame of their own evil
+deeds on her Frank. He was not nearly as bad as he was painted. The report said
+so. She gloated over the words &ldquo;an effort to divert public attention from
+more guilty parties.&rdquo; That was just what her Frank had been telling her
+in those happy, private hours when they had been together recently in one place
+and another, particularly the new rendezvous in South Sixth Street which he had
+established, since the old one had to be abandoned. He had stroked her rich
+hair, caressed her body, and told her it was all a prearranged political scheme
+to cast the blame as much as possible on him and make it as light as possible
+for Stener and the party generally. He would come out of it all right, he said,
+but he cautioned her not to talk. He did not deny his long and profitable
+relations with Stener. He told her exactly how it was. She understood, or
+thought she did. Anyhow, her Frank was telling her, and that was enough.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As for the two Cowperwood households, so recently and pretentiously joined in
+success, now so gloomily tied in failure, the life was going out of them. Frank
+Algernon was that life. He was the courage and force of his father: the spirit
+and opportunity of his brothers, the hope of his children, the estate of his
+wife, the dignity and significance of the Cowperwood name. All that meant
+opportunity, force, emolument, dignity, and happiness to those connected with
+him, he was. And his marvelous sun was waning apparently to a black eclipse.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Since the fatal morning, for instance, when Lillian Cowperwood had received
+that utterly destructive note, like a cannonball ripping through her domestic
+affairs, she had been walking like one in a trance. Each day now for weeks she
+had been going about her duties placidly enough to all outward seeming, but
+inwardly she was running with a troubled tide of thought. She was so utterly
+unhappy. Her fortieth year had come for her at a time when life ought naturally
+to stand fixed and firm on a solid base, and here she was about to be torn
+bodily from the domestic soil in which she was growing and blooming, and thrown
+out indifferently to wither in the blistering noonday sun of circumstance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As for Cowperwood, Senior, his situation at his bank and elsewhere was rapidly
+nearing a climax. As has been said, he had had tremendous faith in his son; but
+he could not help seeing that an error had been committed, as he thought, and
+that Frank was suffering greatly for it now. He considered, of course, that
+Frank had been entitled to try to save himself as he had; but he so regretted
+that his son should have put his foot into the trap of any situation which
+could stir up discussion of the sort that was now being aroused. Frank was
+wonderfully brilliant. He need never have taken up with the city treasurer or
+the politicians to have succeeded marvelously. Local street-railways and
+speculative politicians were his undoing. The old man walked the floor all of
+the days, realizing that his sun was setting, that with Frank&rsquo;s failure
+he failed, and that this disgrace&mdash;these public charges&mdash;meant his
+own undoing. His hair had grown very gray in but a few weeks, his step slow,
+his face pallid, his eyes sunken. His rather showy side-whiskers seemed now
+like flags or ornaments of a better day that was gone. His only consolation
+through it all was that Frank had actually got out of his relationship with the
+Third National Bank without owing it a single dollar. Still as he knew the
+directors of that institution could not possibly tolerate the presence of a man
+whose son had helped loot the city treasury, and whose name was now in the
+public prints in this connection. Besides, Cowperwood, Sr., was too old. He
+ought to retire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The crisis for him therefore came on the day when Frank was arrested on the
+embezzlement charge. The old man, through Frank, who had it from Steger, knew
+it was coming, still had the courage to go to the bank but it was like
+struggling under the weight of a heavy stone to do it. But before going, and
+after a sleepless night, he wrote his resignation to Frewen Kasson, the
+chairman of the board of directors, in order that he should be prepared to hand
+it to him, at once. Kasson, a stocky, well-built, magnetic man of fifty,
+breathed an inward sigh of relief at the sight of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s hard, Mr. Cowperwood,&rdquo; he said, sympathetically.
+&ldquo;We&mdash;and I can speak for the other members of the board&mdash;we
+feel keenly the unfortunate nature of your position. We know exactly how it is
+that your son has become involved in this matter. He is not the only banker who
+has been involved in the city&rsquo;s affairs. By no means. It is an old
+system. We appreciate, all of us, keenly, the services you have rendered this
+institution during the past thirty-five years. If there were any possible way
+in which we could help to tide you over the difficulties at this time, we would
+be glad to do so, but as a banker yourself you must realize just how impossible
+that would be. Everything is in a turmoil. If things were settled&mdash;if we
+knew how soon this would blow over&mdash;&rdquo; He paused, for he felt that he
+could not go on and say that he or the bank was sorry to be forced to lose Mr.
+Cowperwood in this way at present. Mr. Cowperwood himself would have to speak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During all this Cowperwood, Sr., had been doing his best to pull himself
+together in order to be able to speak at all. He had gotten out a large white
+linen handkerchief and blown his nose, and had straightened himself in his
+chair, and laid his hands rather peacefully on his desk. Still he was intensely
+wrought up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t stand this!&rdquo; he suddenly exclaimed. &ldquo;I wish
+you would leave me alone now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kasson, very carefully dressed and manicured, arose and walked out of the room
+for a few moments. He appreciated keenly the intensity of the strain he had
+just witnessed. The moment the door was closed Cowperwood put his head in his
+hands and shook convulsively. &ldquo;I never thought I&rsquo;d come to
+this,&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;I never thought it.&rdquo; Then he wiped away
+his salty hot tears, and went to the window to look out and to think of what
+else to do from now on.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap35"></a>Chapter XXXV</h2>
+
+<p>
+As time went on Butler grew more and more puzzled and restive as to his duty in
+regard to his daughter. He was sure by her furtive manner and her apparent
+desire to avoid him, that she was still in touch with Cowperwood in some way,
+and that this would bring about a social disaster of some kind. He thought once
+of going to Mrs. Cowperwood and having her bring pressure to bear on her
+husband, but afterwards he decided that that would not do. He was not really
+positive as yet that Aileen was secretly meeting Cowperwood, and, besides, Mrs.
+Cowperwood might not know of her husband&rsquo;s duplicity. He thought also of
+going to Cowperwood personally and threatening him, but that would be a severe
+measure, and again, as in the other case, he lacked proof. He hesitated to
+appeal to a detective agency, and he did not care to take the other members of
+the family into his confidence. He did go out and scan the neighborhood of 931
+North Tenth Street once, looking at the house; but that helped him little. The
+place was for rent, Cowperwood having already abandoned his connection with it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finally he hit upon the plan of having Aileen invited to go somewhere some
+distance off&mdash;Boston or New Orleans, where a sister of his wife lived. It
+was a delicate matter to engineer, and in such matters he was not exactly the
+soul of tact; but he undertook it. He wrote personally to his wife&rsquo;s
+sister at New Orleans, and asked her if she would, without indicating in any
+way that she had heard from him, write his wife and ask if she would not permit
+Aileen to come and visit her, writing Aileen an invitation at the same time;
+but he tore the letter up. A little later he learned accidentally that Mrs.
+Mollenhauer and her three daughters, Caroline, Felicia, and Alta, were going to
+Europe early in December to visit Paris, the Riviera, and Rome; and he decided
+to ask Mollenhauer to persuade his wife to invite Norah and Aileen, or Aileen
+only, to go along, giving as an excuse that his own wife would not leave him,
+and that the girls ought to go. It would be a fine way of disposing of Aileen
+for the present. The party was to be gone six months. Mollenhauer was glad to
+do so, of course. The two families were fairly intimate. Mrs. Mollenhauer was
+willing&mdash;delighted from a politic point of view&mdash;and the invitation
+was extended. Norah was overjoyed. She wanted to see something of Europe, and
+had always been hoping for some such opportunity. Aileen was pleased from the
+point of view that Mrs. Mollenhauer should invite her. Years before she would
+have accepted in a flash. But now she felt that it only came as a puzzling
+interruption, one more of the minor difficulties that were tending to interrupt
+her relations with Cowperwood. She immediately threw cold water on the
+proposition, which was made one evening at dinner by Mrs. Butler, who did not
+know of her husband&rsquo;s share in the matter, but had received a call that
+afternoon from Mrs. Mollenhauer, when the invitation had been extended.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She&rsquo;s very anxious to have you two come along, if your father
+don&rsquo;t mind,&rdquo; volunteered the mother, &ldquo;and I should think
+ye&rsquo;d have a fine time. They&rsquo;re going to Paris and the
+Riveera.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, fine!&rdquo; exclaimed Norah. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always wanted to go
+to Paris. Haven&rsquo;t you, Ai? Oh, wouldn&rsquo;t that be fine?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know that I want to go,&rdquo; replied Aileen. She did not
+care to compromise herself by showing any interest at the start.
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s coming on winter, and I haven&rsquo;t any clothes. I&rsquo;d
+rather wait and go some other time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Aileen Butler!&rdquo; exclaimed Norah. &ldquo;How you talk!
+I&rsquo;ve heard you say a dozen times you&rsquo;d like to go abroad some
+winter. Now when the chance comes&mdash;besides you can get your clothes made
+over there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Couldn&rsquo;t you get somethin&rsquo; over there?&rdquo; inquired Mrs.
+Butler. &ldquo;Besides, you&rsquo;ve got two or three weeks here yet.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They wouldn&rsquo;t want a man around as a sort of guide and adviser,
+would they, mother?&rdquo; put in Callum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I might offer my services in that capacity myself,&rdquo; observed Owen,
+reservedly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; returned Mrs. Butler, smiling,
+and at the same time chewing a lusty mouthful. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll have to ast
+&rsquo;em, my sons.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen still persisted. She did not want to go. It was too sudden. It was this.
+It was that. Just then old Butler came in and took his seat at the head of the
+table. Knowing all about it, he was most anxious to appear not to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You wouldn&rsquo;t object, Edward, would you?&rdquo; queried his wife,
+explaining the proposition in general.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Object!&rdquo; he echoed, with a well simulated but rough attempt at
+gayety. &ldquo;A fine thing I&rsquo;d be doing for
+meself&mdash;objectin&rsquo;. I&rsquo;d be glad if I could get shut of the
+whole pack of ye for a time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What talk ye have!&rdquo; said his wife. &ldquo;A fine mess you&rsquo;d
+make of it livin&rsquo; alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d not be alone, belave me,&rdquo; replied Butler.
+&ldquo;There&rsquo;s many a place I&rsquo;d be welcome in this town&mdash;no
+thanks to ye.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And there&rsquo;s many a place ye wouldn&rsquo;t have been if it
+hadn&rsquo;t been for me. I&rsquo;m tellin&rsquo; ye that,&rdquo; retorted Mrs.
+Butler, genially.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And that&rsquo;s not stretchin&rsquo; the troot much, aither,&rdquo; he
+answered, fondly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen was adamant. No amount of argument both on the part of Norah and her
+mother had any effect whatever. Butler witnessed the failure of his plan with
+considerable dissatisfaction, but he was not through. When he was finally
+convinced that there was no hope of persuading her to accept the Mollenhauer
+proposition, he decided, after a while, to employ a detective.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At that time, the reputation of William A. Pinkerton, of detective fame, and of
+his agency was great. The man had come up from poverty through a series of
+vicissitudes to a high standing in his peculiar and, to many, distasteful
+profession; but to any one in need of such in themselves calamitous services,
+his very famous and decidedly patriotic connection with the Civil War and
+Abraham Lincoln was a recommendation. He, or rather his service, had guarded
+the latter all his stormy incumbency at the executive mansion. There were
+offices for the management of the company&rsquo;s business in Philadelphia,
+Washington, and New York, to say nothing of other places. Butler was familiar
+with the Philadelphia sign, but did not care to go to the office there. He
+decided, once his mind was made up on this score, that he would go over to New
+York, where he was told the principal offices were.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He made the simple excuse one day of business, which was common enough in his
+case, and journeyed to New York&mdash;nearly five hours away as the trains ran
+then&mdash;arriving at two o&rsquo;clock. At the offices on lower Broadway, he
+asked to see the manager, whom he found to be a large, gross-featured,
+heavy-bodied man of fifty, gray-eyed, gray-haired, puffily outlined as to
+countenance, but keen and shrewd, and with short, fat-fingered hands, which
+drummed idly on his desk as he talked. He was dressed in a suit of dark-brown
+wool cloth, which struck Butler as peculiarly showy, and wore a large horseshoe
+diamond pin. The old man himself invariably wore conservative gray.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you do?&rdquo; said Butler, when a boy ushered him into the
+presence of this worthy, whose name was Martinson&mdash;Gilbert Martinson, of
+American and Irish extraction. The latter nodded and looked at Butler shrewdly,
+recognizing him at once as a man of force and probably of position. He
+therefore rose and offered him a chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sit down,&rdquo; he said, studying the old Irishman from under thick,
+bushy eyebrows. &ldquo;What can I do for you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re the manager, are you?&rdquo; asked Butler, solemnly, eyeing
+the man with a shrewd, inquiring eye.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; replied Martinson, simply. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s my
+position here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This Mr. Pinkerton that runs this agency&mdash;he wouldn&rsquo;t be
+about this place, now, would he?&rdquo; asked Butler, carefully.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to talk to him personally, if I might, meaning no offense
+to you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Pinkerton is in Chicago at present,&rdquo; replied Mr. Martinson.
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t expect him back for a week or ten days. You can talk to
+me, though, with the same confidence that you could to him. I&rsquo;m the
+responsible head here. However, you&rsquo;re the best judge of that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler debated with himself in silence for a few moments, estimating the man
+before him. &ldquo;Are you a family man yourself?&rdquo; he asked, oddly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir, I&rsquo;m married,&rdquo; replied Martinson, solemnly.
+&ldquo;I have a wife and two children.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martinson, from long experience conceived that this must be a matter of family
+misconduct&mdash;a son, daughter, wife. Such cases were not infrequent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought I would like to talk to Mr. Pinkerton himself, but if
+you&rsquo;re the responsible head&mdash;&rdquo; Butler paused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am,&rdquo; replied Martinson. &ldquo;You can talk to me with the same
+freedom that you could to Mr. Pinkerton. Won&rsquo;t you come into my private
+office? We can talk more at ease in there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He led the way into an adjoining room which had two windows looking down into
+Broadway; an oblong table, heavy, brown, smoothly polished; four leather-backed
+chairs; and some pictures of the Civil War battles in which the North had been
+victorious. Butler followed doubtfully. He hated very much to take any one into
+his confidence in regard to Aileen. He was not sure that he would, even now. He
+wanted to &ldquo;look these fellys over,&rdquo; as he said in his mind. He
+would decide then what he wanted to do. He went to one of the windows and
+looked down into the street, where there was a perfect swirl of omnibuses and
+vehicles of all sorts. Mr. Martinson quietly closed the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now then, if there&rsquo;s anything I can do for you,&rdquo; Mr.
+Martinson paused. He thought by this little trick to elicit Buder&rsquo;s real
+name&mdash;it often &ldquo;worked&rdquo;&mdash;but in this instance the name
+was not forthcoming. Butler was too shrewd.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not so sure that I want to go into this,&rdquo; said the old
+man solemnly. &ldquo;Certainly not if there&rsquo;s any risk of the thing not
+being handled in the right way. There&rsquo;s somethin&rsquo; I want to find
+out about&mdash;somethin&rsquo; that I ought to know; but it&rsquo;s a very
+private matter with me, and&mdash;&rdquo; He paused to think and conjecture,
+looking at Mr. Martinson the while. The latter understood his peculiar state of
+mind. He had seen many such cases.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let me say right here, to begin with, Mr.&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Scanlon,&rdquo; interpolated Butler, easily; &ldquo;that&rsquo;s as good
+a name as any if you want to use one. I&rsquo;m keepin&rsquo; me own to meself
+for the present.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Scanlon,&rdquo; continued Martinson, easily. &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t
+care whether it&rsquo;s your right name or not. I was just going to say that it
+might not be necessary to have your right name under any circumstances&mdash;it
+all depends upon what you want to know. But, so far as your private affairs are
+concerned, they are as safe with us, as if you had never told them to any one.
+Our business is built upon confidence, and we never betray it. We
+wouldn&rsquo;t dare. We have men and women who have been in our employ for over
+thirty years, and we never retire any one except for cause, and we don&rsquo;t
+pick people who are likely to need to be retired for cause. Mr. Pinkerton is a
+good judge of men. There are others here who consider that they are. We handle
+over ten thousand separate cases in all parts of the United States every year.
+We work on a case only so long as we are wanted. We try to find out only such
+things as our customers want. We do not pry unnecessarily into anybody&rsquo;s
+affairs. If we decide that we cannot find out what you want to know, we are the
+first to say so. Many cases are rejected right here in this office before we
+ever begin. Yours might be such a one. We don&rsquo;t want cases merely for the
+sake of having them, and we are frank to say so. Some matters that involve
+public policy, or some form of small persecution, we don&rsquo;t touch at
+all&mdash;we won&rsquo;t be a party to them. You can see how that is. You look
+to me to be a man of the world. I hope I am one. Does it strike you that an
+organization like ours would be likely to betray any one&rsquo;s
+confidence?&rdquo; He paused and looked at Butler for confirmation of what he
+had just said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It wouldn&rsquo;t seem likely,&rdquo; said the latter;
+&ldquo;that&rsquo;s the truth. It&rsquo;s not aisy to bring your private
+affairs into the light of day, though,&rdquo; added the old man, sadly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They both rested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Butler, finally, &ldquo;you look to me to be all
+right, and I&rsquo;d like some advice. Mind ye, I&rsquo;m willing to pay for it
+well enough; and it isn&rsquo;t anything that&rsquo;ll be very hard to find
+out. I want to know whether a certain man where I live is goin&rsquo; with a
+certain woman, and where. You could find that out aisy enough, I
+belave&mdash;couldn&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing easier,&rdquo; replied Martinson. &ldquo;We are doing it all the
+time. Let me see if I can help you just a moment, Mr. Scanlon, in order to make
+it easier for you. It is very plain to me that you don&rsquo;t care to tell any
+more than you can help, and we don&rsquo;t care to have you tell any more than
+we absolutely need. We will have to have the name of the city, of course, and
+the name of either the man or the woman; but not necessarily both of them,
+unless you want to help us in that way. Sometimes if you give us the name of
+one party&mdash;say the man, for illustration&mdash;and the description of the
+woman&mdash;an accurate one&mdash;or a photograph, we can tell you after a
+little while exactly what you want to know. Of course, it&rsquo;s always better
+if we have full information. You suit yourself about that. Tell me as much or
+as little as you please, and I&rsquo;ll guarantee that we will do our best to
+serve you, and that you will be satisfied afterward.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He smiled genially.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that bein&rsquo; the case,&rdquo; said Butler, finally taking the
+leap, with many mental reservations, however, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be plain with
+you. My name&rsquo;s not Scanlon. It&rsquo;s Butler. I live in Philadelphy.
+There&rsquo;s a man there, a banker by the name of Cowperwood&mdash;Frank A.
+Cowperwood&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wait a moment,&rdquo; said Martinson, drawing an ample pad out of his
+pocket and producing a lead-pencil; &ldquo;I want to get that. How do you spell
+it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler told him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes; now go on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He has a place in Third Street&mdash;Frank A. Cowperwood&mdash;any one
+can show you where it is. He&rsquo;s just failed there recently.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, that&rsquo;s the man,&rdquo; interpolated Martinson.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard of him. He&rsquo;s mixed up in some city embezzlement
+case over there. I suppose the reason you didn&rsquo;t go to our Philadelphia
+office is because you didn&rsquo;t want our local men over there to know
+anything about it. Isn&rsquo;t that it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the man, and that&rsquo;s the reason,&rdquo; said Butler.
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care to have anything of this known in Philadelphy.
+That&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;m here. This man has a house on Girard
+Avenue&mdash;Nineteen-thirty-seven. You can find that out, too, when you get
+over there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; agreed Mr. Martinson.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, it&rsquo;s him that I want to know about&mdash;him&mdash;and a
+certain woman, or girl, rather.&rdquo; The old man paused and winced at this
+necessity of introducing Aileen into the case. He could scarcely think of
+it&mdash;he was so fond of her. He had been so proud of Aileen. A dark,
+smoldering rage burned in his heart against Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A relative of yours&mdash;possibly, I suppose,&rdquo; remarked
+Martinson, tactfully. &ldquo;You needn&rsquo;t tell me any more&mdash;just give
+me a description if you wish. We may be able to work from that.&rdquo; He saw
+quite clearly what a fine old citizen in his way he was dealing with here, and
+also that the man was greatly troubled. Butler&rsquo;s heavy, meditative face
+showed it. &ldquo;You can be quite frank with me, Mr. Butler,&rdquo; he added;
+&ldquo;I think I understand. We only want such information as we must have to
+help you, nothing more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the old man, dourly. &ldquo;She is a relative.
+She&rsquo;s me daughter, in fact. You look to me like a sensible, honest man.
+I&rsquo;m her father, and I wouldn&rsquo;t do anything for the world to harm
+her. It&rsquo;s tryin&rsquo; to save her I am. It&rsquo;s him I want.&rdquo; He
+suddenly closed one big fist forcefully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martinson, who had two daughters of his own, observed the suggestive movement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I understand how you feel, Mr. Butler,&rdquo; he observed. &ldquo;I am a
+father myself. We&rsquo;ll do all we can for you. If you can give me an
+accurate description of her, or let one of my men see her at your house or
+office, accidentally, of course, I think we can tell you in no time at all if
+they are meeting with any regularity. That&rsquo;s all you want to know, is
+it&mdash;just that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all,&rdquo; said Butler, solemnly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that oughtn&rsquo;t to take any time at all, Mr.
+Butler&mdash;three or four days possibly, if we have any luck&mdash;a week, ten
+days, two weeks. It depends on how long you want us to shadow him in case there
+is no evidence the first few days.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I want to know, however long it takes,&rdquo; replied Butler, bitterly.
+&ldquo;I want to know, if it takes a month or two months or three to find out.
+I want to know.&rdquo; The old man got up as he said this, very positive, very
+rugged. &ldquo;And don&rsquo;t send me men that haven&rsquo;t sinse&mdash;lots
+of it, plase. I want men that are fathers, if you&rsquo;ve got
+&rsquo;em&mdash;and that have sinse enough to hold their tongues&mdash;not
+b&rsquo;ys.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I understand, Mr. Butler,&rdquo; Martinson replied. &ldquo;Depend on it,
+you&rsquo;ll have the best we have, and you can trust them. They&rsquo;ll be
+discreet. You can depend on that. The way I&rsquo;ll do will be to assign just
+one man to the case at first, some one you can see for yourself whether you
+like or not. I&rsquo;ll not tell him anything. You can talk to him. If you like
+him, tell him, and he&rsquo;ll do the rest. Then, if he needs any more help, he
+can get it. What is your address?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler gave it to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And there&rsquo;ll be no talk about this?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;None whatever&mdash;I assure you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And when&rsquo;ll he be comin&rsquo; along?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-morrow, if you wish. I have a man I could send to-night. He
+isn&rsquo;t here now or I&rsquo;d have him talk with you. I&rsquo;ll talk to
+him, though, and make everything clear. You needn&rsquo;t worry about anything.
+Your daughter&rsquo;s reputation will be safe in his hands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you kindly,&rdquo; commented Butler, softening the least bit in a
+gingerly way. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m much obliged to you. I&rsquo;ll take it as a
+great favor, and pay you well.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never mind about that, Mr. Butler,&rdquo; replied Martinson.
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re welcome to anything this concern can do for you at its
+ordinary rates.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He showed Butler to the door, and the old man went out. He was feeling very
+depressed over this&mdash;very shabby. To think he should have to put
+detectives on the track of his Aileen, his daughter!
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap36"></a>Chapter XXXVI</h2>
+
+<p>
+The very next day there called at Butler&rsquo;s office a long, preternaturally
+solemn man of noticeable height and angularity, dark-haired, dark-eyed, sallow,
+with a face that was long and leathery, and particularly hawk-like, who talked
+with Butler for over an hour and then departed. That evening he came to the
+Butler house around dinner-time, and, being shown into Butler&rsquo;s room, was
+given a look at Aileen by a ruse. Butler sent for her, standing in the doorway
+just far enough to one side to yield a good view of her. The detective stood
+behind one of the heavy curtains which had already been put up for the winter,
+pretending to look out into the street.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did any one drive Sissy this mornin&rsquo;?&rdquo; asked Butler of
+Aileen, inquiring after a favorite family horse. Butler&rsquo;s plan, in case
+the detective was seen, was to give the impression that he was a horseman who
+had come either to buy or to sell. His name was Jonas Alderson, and be looked
+sufficiently like a horsetrader to be one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think so, father,&rdquo; replied Aileen. &ldquo;I
+didn&rsquo;t. I&rsquo;ll find out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never mind. What I want to know is did you intend using her
+to-morrow?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, not if you want her. Jerry suits me just as well.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well, then. Leave her in the stable.&rdquo; Butler quietly closed
+the door. Aileen concluded at once that it was a horse conference. She knew he
+would not dispose of any horse in which she was interested without first
+consulting her, and so she thought no more about it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After she was gone Alderson stepped out and declared that he was satisfied.
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all I need to know,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll let
+you know in a few days if I find out anything.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He departed, and within thirty-six hours the house and office of Cowperwood,
+the house of Butler, the office of Harper Steger, Cowperwood&rsquo;s lawyer,
+and Cowperwood and Aileen separately and personally were under complete
+surveillance. It took six men to do it at first, and eventually a seventh, when
+the second meeting-place, which was located in South Sixth Street, was
+discovered. All the detectives were from New York. In a week all was known to
+Alderson. It bad been agreed between him and Butler that if Aileen and
+Cowperwood were discovered to have any particular rendezvous Butler was to be
+notified some time when she was there, so that he might go immediately and
+confront her in person, if he wished. He did not intend to kill
+Cowperwood&mdash;and Alderson would have seen to it that he did not in his
+presence at least, but he would give him a good tongue-lashing, fell him to the
+floor, in all likelihood, and march Aileen away. There would be no more lying
+on her part as to whether she was or was not going with Cowperwood. She would
+not be able to say after that what she would or would not do. Butler would lay
+down the law to her. She would reform, or he would send her to a reformatory.
+Think of her influence on her sister, or on any good girl&mdash;knowing what
+she knew, or doing what she was doing! She would go to Europe after this, or
+any place he chose to send her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In working out his plan of action it was necessary for Butler to take Alderson
+into his confidence and the detective made plain his determination to safeguard
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s person.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We couldn&rsquo;t allow you to strike any blows or do any
+violence,&rdquo; Alderson told Butler, when they first talked about it.
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s against the rules. You can go in there on a search-warrant,
+if we have to have one. I can get that for you without anybody&rsquo;s knowing
+anything about your connection with the case. We can say it&rsquo;s for a girl
+from New York. But you&rsquo;ll have to go in in the presence of my men. They
+won&rsquo;t permit any trouble. You can get your daughter all
+right&mdash;we&rsquo;ll bring her away, and him, too, if you say so; but
+you&rsquo;ll have to make some charge against him, if we do. Then there&rsquo;s
+the danger of the neighbors seeing. You can&rsquo;t always guarantee you
+won&rsquo;t collect a crowd that way.&rdquo; Butler had many misgivings about
+the matter. It was fraught with great danger of publicity. Still he wanted to
+know. He wanted to terrify Aileen if he could&mdash;to reform her drastically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Within a week Alderson learned that Aileen and Cowperwood were visiting an
+apparently private residence, which was anything but that. The house on South
+Sixth Street was one of assignation purely; but in its way it was superior to
+the average establishment of its kind&mdash;of red brick, white-stone
+trimmings, four stories high, and all the rooms, some eighteen in number,
+furnished in a showy but cleanly way. It&rsquo;s patronage was highly
+exclusive, only those being admitted who were known to the mistress, having
+been introduced by others. This guaranteed that privacy which the illicit
+affairs of this world so greatly required. The mere phrase, &ldquo;I have an
+appointment,&rdquo; was sufficient, where either of the parties was known, to
+cause them to be shown to a private suite. Cowperwood had known of the place
+from previous experiences, and when it became necessary to abandon the North
+Tenth Street house, he had directed Aileen to meet him here.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The matter of entering a place of this kind and trying to find any one was, as
+Alderson informed Butler on hearing of its character, exceedingly difficult. It
+involved the right of search, which was difficult to get. To enter by sheer
+force was easy enough in most instances where the business conducted was in
+contradistinction to the moral sentiment of the community; but sometimes one
+encountered violent opposition from the tenants themselves. It might be so in
+this case. The only sure way of avoiding such opposition would be to take the
+woman who ran the place into one&rsquo;s confidence, and by paying her
+sufficiently insure silence. &ldquo;But I do not advise that in this
+instance,&rdquo; Alderson had told Butler, &ldquo;for I believe this woman is
+particularly friendly to your man. It might be better, in spite of the risk, to
+take it by surprise.&rdquo; To do that, he explained, it would be necessary to
+have at least three men in addition to the leader&mdash;perhaps four, who, once
+one man had been able to make his entrance into the hallway, on the door being
+opened in response to a ring, would appear quickly and enter with and sustain
+him. Quickness of search was the next thing&mdash;the prompt opening of all
+doors. The servants, if any, would have to be overpowered and silenced in some
+way. Money sometimes did this; force accomplished it at other times. Then one
+of the detectives simulating a servant could tap gently at the different
+doors&mdash;Butler and the others standing by&mdash;and in case a face appeared
+identify it or not, as the case might be. If the door was not opened and the
+room was not empty, it could eventually be forced. The house was one of a solid
+block, so that there was no chance of escape save by the front and rear doors,
+which were to be safe-guarded. It was a daringly conceived scheme. In spite of
+all this, secrecy in the matter of removing Aileen was to be preserved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Butler heard of this he was nervous about the whole terrible procedure. He
+thought once that without going to the house he would merely talk to his
+daughter declaring that he knew and that she could not possibly deny it. He
+would then give her her choice between going to Europe or going to a
+reformatory. But a sense of the raw brutality of Aileen&rsquo;s disposition,
+and something essentially coarse in himself, made him eventually adopt the
+other method. He ordered Alderson to perfect his plan, and once he found Aileen
+or Cowperwood entering the house to inform him quickly. He would then drive
+there, and with the assistance of these men confront her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a foolish scheme, a brutalizing thing to do, both from the point of view
+of affection and any corrective theory he might have had. No good ever springs
+from violence. But Butler did not see that. He wanted to frighten Aileen, to
+bring her by shock to a realization of the enormity of the offense she was
+committing. He waited fully a week after his word had been given; and then, one
+afternoon, when his nerves were worn almost thin from fretting, the climax
+came. Cowperwood had already been indicted, and was now awaiting trial. Aileen
+had been bringing him news, from time to time, of just how she thought her
+father was feeling toward him. She did not get this evidence direct from
+Butler, of course&mdash;he was too secretive, in so far as she was concerned,
+to let her know how relentlessly he was engineering Cowperwood&rsquo;s final
+downfall&mdash;but from odd bits confided to Owen, who confided them to Callum,
+who in turn, innocently enough, confided them to Aileen. For one thing, she had
+learned in this way of the new district attorney elect&mdash;his probable
+attitude&mdash;for he was a constant caller at the Butler house or office. Owen
+had told Callum that he thought Shannon was going to do his best to send
+Cowperwood &ldquo;up&rdquo;&mdash;that the old man thought he deserved it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the next place she had learned that her father did not want Cowperwood to
+resume business&mdash;did not feel he deserved to be allowed to. &ldquo;It
+would be a God&rsquo;s blessing if the community were shut of him,&rdquo; he
+had said to Owen one morning, apropos of a notice in the papers of
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s legal struggles; and Owen had asked Callum why he thought
+the old man was so bitter. The two sons could not understand it. Cowperwood
+heard all this from her, and more&mdash;bits about Judge Payderson, the judge
+who was to try him, who was a friend of Butler&rsquo;s&mdash;also about the
+fact that Stener might be sent up for the full term of his crime, but that he
+would be pardoned soon afterward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Apparently Cowperwood was not very much frightened. He told her that he had
+powerful financial friends who would appeal to the governor to pardon him in
+case he was convicted; and, anyhow, that he did not think that the evidence was
+strong enough to convict him. He was merely a political scapegoat through
+public clamor and her father&rsquo;s influence; since the latter&rsquo;s
+receipt of the letter about them he had been the victim of Butler&rsquo;s
+enmity, and nothing more. &ldquo;If it weren&rsquo;t for your father,
+honey,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;I could have this indictment quashed in no
+time. Neither Mollenhauer nor Simpson has anything against me personally, I am
+sure. They want me to get out of the street-railway business here in
+Philadelphia, and, of course, they wanted to make things look better for Stener
+at first; but depend upon it, if your father hadn&rsquo;t been against me they
+wouldn&rsquo;t have gone to any such length in making me the victim. Your
+father has this fellow Shannon and these minor politicians just where he wants
+them, too. That&rsquo;s where the trouble lies. They have to go on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, I know,&rdquo; replied Aileen. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s me, just me,
+that&rsquo;s all. If it weren&rsquo;t for me and what he suspects he&rsquo;d
+help you in a minute. Sometimes, you know, I think I&rsquo;ve been very bad for
+you. I don&rsquo;t know what I ought to do. If I thought it would help you any
+I&rsquo;d not see you any more for a while, though I don&rsquo;t see what good
+that would do now. Oh, I love you, love you, Frank! I would do anything for
+you. I don&rsquo;t care what people think or say. I love you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, you just think you do,&rdquo; he replied, jestingly.
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll get over it. There are others.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Others!&rdquo; echoed Aileen, resentfully and contemptuously.
+&ldquo;After you there aren&rsquo;t any others. I just want one man, my Frank.
+If you ever desert me, I&rsquo;ll go to hell. You&rsquo;ll see.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t talk like that, Aileen,&rdquo; he replied, almost irritated.
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like to hear you. You wouldn&rsquo;t do anything of the
+sort. I love you. You know I&rsquo;m not going to desert you. It would pay you
+to desert me just now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, how you talk!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Desert you! It&rsquo;s
+likely, isn&rsquo;t it? But if ever you desert me, I&rsquo;ll do just what I
+say. I swear it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t talk like that. Don&rsquo;t talk nonsense.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I swear it. I swear by my love. I swear by your success&mdash;my own
+happiness. I&rsquo;ll do just what I say. I&rsquo;ll go to hell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood got up. He was a little afraid now of this deep-seated passion he
+had aroused. It was dangerous. He could not tell where it would lead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a cheerless afternoon in November, when Alderson, duly informed of the
+presence of Aileen and Cowperwood in the South Sixth Street house by the
+detective on guard drove rapidly up to Butler&rsquo;s office and invited him to
+come with him. Yet even now Butler could scarcely believe that he was to find
+his daughter there. The shame of it. The horror. What would he say to her? How
+reproach her? What would he do to Cowperwood? His large hands shook as he
+thought. They drove rapidly to within a few doors of the place, where a second
+detective on guard across the street approached. Butler and Alderson descended
+from the vehicle, and together they approached the door. It was now almost
+four-thirty in the afternoon. In a room within the house, Cowperwood, his coat
+and vest off, was listening to Aileen&rsquo;s account of her troubles.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The room in which they were sitting at the time was typical of the rather
+commonplace idea of luxury which then prevailed. Most of the &ldquo;sets&rdquo;
+of furniture put on the market for general sale by the furniture companies
+were, when they approached in any way the correct idea of luxury, imitations of
+one of the Louis periods. The curtains were always heavy, frequently brocaded,
+and not infrequently red. The carpets were richly flowered in high colors with
+a thick, velvet nap. The furniture, of whatever wood it might be made, was
+almost invariably heavy, floriated, and cumbersome. This room contained a
+heavily constructed bed of walnut, with washstand, bureau, and wardrobe to
+match. A large, square mirror in a gold frame was hung over the washstand. Some
+poor engravings of landscapes and several nude figures were hung in gold frames
+on the wall. The gilt-framed chairs were upholstered in pink-and-white-flowered
+brocade, with polished brass tacks. The carpet was of thick Brussels, pale
+cream and pink in hue, with large blue jardinieres containing flowers woven in
+as ornaments. The general effect was light, rich, and a little stuffy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know I get desperately frightened, sometimes,&rdquo; said Aileen.
+&ldquo;Father might be watching us, you know. I&rsquo;ve often wondered what
+I&rsquo;d do if he caught us. I couldn&rsquo;t lie out of this, could I?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You certainly couldn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said Cowperwood, who never failed
+to respond to the incitement of her charms. She had such lovely smooth arms, a
+full, luxuriously tapering throat and neck; her golden-red hair floated like an
+aureole about her head, and her large eyes sparkled. The wondrous vigor of a
+full womanhood was hers&mdash;errant, ill-balanced, romantic, but exquisite,
+&ldquo;but you might as well not cross that bridge until you come to it,&rdquo;
+he continued. &ldquo;I myself have been thinking that we had better not go on
+with this for the present. That letter ought to have been enough to stop us for
+the time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He came over to where she stood by the dressing-table, adjusting her hair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re such a pretty minx,&rdquo; he said. He slipped his arm
+about her and kissed her pretty mouth. &ldquo;Nothing sweeter than you this
+side of Paradise,&rdquo; he whispered in her ear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While this was enacting, Butler and the extra detective had stepped out of
+sight, to one side of the front door of the house, while Alderson, taking the
+lead, rang the bell. A negro servant appeared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is Mrs. Davis in?&rdquo; he asked, genially, using the name of the woman
+in control. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to see her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just come in,&rdquo; said the maid, unsuspectingly, and indicated a
+reception-room on the right. Alderson took off his soft, wide-brimmed hat and
+entered. When the maid went up-stairs he immediately returned to the door and
+let in Butler and two detectives. The four stepped into the reception-room
+unseen. In a few moments the &ldquo;madam&rdquo; as the current word
+characterized this type of woman, appeared. She was tall, fair, rugged, and not
+at all unpleasant to look upon. She had light-blue eyes and a genial smile.
+Long contact with the police and the brutalities of sex in her early life had
+made her wary, a little afraid of how the world would use her. This particular
+method of making a living being illicit, and she having no other practical
+knowledge at her command, she was as anxious to get along peacefully with the
+police and the public generally as any struggling tradesman in any walk of life
+might have been. She had on a loose, blue-flowered peignoir, or dressing-gown,
+open at the front, tied with blue ribbons and showing a little of her expensive
+underwear beneath. A large opal ring graced her left middle finger, and
+turquoises of vivid blue were pendent from her ears. She wore yellow silk
+slippers with bronze buckles; and altogether her appearance was not out of
+keeping with the character of the reception-room itself, which was a composite
+of gold-flowered wall-paper, blue and cream-colored Brussels carpet, heavily
+gold-framed engravings of reclining nudes, and a gilt-framed pier-glass, which
+rose from the floor to the ceiling. Needless to say, Butler was shocked to the
+soul of him by this suggestive atmosphere which was supposed to include his
+daughter in its destructive reaches.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alderson motioned one of his detectives to get behind the woman&mdash;between
+her and the door&mdash;which he did.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sorry to trouble you, Mrs. Davis,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but we are
+looking for a couple who are in your house here. We&rsquo;re after a runaway
+girl. We don&rsquo;t want to make any disturbance&mdash;merely to get her and
+take her away.&rdquo; Mrs. Davis paled and opened her mouth. &ldquo;Now
+don&rsquo;t make any noise or try to scream, or we&rsquo;ll have to stop you.
+My men are all around the house. Nobody can get out. Do you know anybody by the
+name of Cowperwood?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Davis, fortunately from one point of view, was not of a particularly
+nervous nor yet contentious type. She was more or less philosophic. She was not
+in touch with the police here in Philadelphia, hence subject to exposure. What
+good would it do to cry out? she thought. The place was surrounded. There was
+no one in the house at the time to save Cowperwood and Aileen. She did not know
+Cowperwood by his name, nor Aileen by hers. They were a Mr. and Mrs. Montague
+to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know anybody by that name,&rdquo; she replied nervously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t there a girl here with red hair?&rdquo; asked one of
+Alderson&rsquo;s assistants. &ldquo;And a man with a gray suit and a
+light-brown mustache? They came in here half an hour ago. You remember them,
+don&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There&rsquo;s just one couple in the house, but I&rsquo;m not sure
+whether they&rsquo;re the ones you want. I&rsquo;ll ask them to come down if
+you wish. Oh, I wish you wouldn&rsquo;t make any disturbance. This is
+terrible.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll not make any disturbance,&rdquo; replied Alderson, &ldquo;if
+you don&rsquo;t. Just you be quiet. We merely want to see the girl and take her
+away. Now, you stay where you are. What room are they in?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In the second one in the rear up-stairs. Won&rsquo;t you let me go,
+though? It will be so much better. I&rsquo;ll just tap and ask them to come
+out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No. We&rsquo;ll tend to that. You stay where you are. You&rsquo;re not
+going to get into any trouble. You just stay where you are,&rdquo; insisted
+Alderson.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He motioned to Butler, who, however, now that he had embarked on his grim task,
+was thinking that he had made a mistake. What good would it do him to force his
+way in and make her come out, unless he intended to kill Cowperwood? If she
+were made to come down here, that would be enough. She would then know that he
+knew all. He did not care to quarrel with Cowperwood, in any public way, he now
+decided. He was afraid to. He was afraid of himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let her go,&rdquo; he said grimly, doggedly referring to Mrs. Davis,
+&ldquo;But watch her. Tell the girl to come down-stairs to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Davis, realizing on the moment that this was some family tragedy, and
+hoping in an agonized way that she could slip out of it peacefully, started
+upstairs at once with Alderson and his assistants who were close at his heels.
+Reaching the door of the room occupied by Cowperwood and Aileen, she tapped
+lightly. At the time Aileen and Cowperwood were sitting in a big arm-chair. At
+the first knock Aileen blanched and leaped to her feet. Usually not nervous,
+to-day, for some reason, she anticipated trouble. Cowperwood&rsquo;s eyes
+instantly hardened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be nervous,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;no doubt it&rsquo;s only
+the servant. I&rsquo;ll go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He started, but Aileen interfered. &ldquo;Wait,&rdquo; she said. Somewhat
+reassured, she went to the closet, and taking down a dressing-gown, slipped it
+on. Meanwhile the tap came again. Then she went to the door and opened it the
+least bit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mrs. Montague,&rdquo; exclaimed Mrs. Davis, in an obviously nervous,
+forced voice, &ldquo;there&rsquo;s a gentleman downstairs who wishes to see
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A gentleman to see me!&rdquo; exclaimed Aileen, astonished and paling.
+&ldquo;Are you sure?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes; he says he wants to see you. There are several other men with him.
+I think it&rsquo;s some one who belongs to you, maybe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen realized on the instant, as did Cowperwood, what had in all likelihood
+happened. Butler or Mrs. Cowperwood had trailed them&mdash;in all probability
+her father. He wondered now what he should do to protect her, not himself. He
+was in no way deeply concerned for himself, even here. Where any woman was
+concerned he was too chivalrous to permit fear. It was not at all improbable
+that Butler might want to kill him; but that did not disturb him. He really did
+not pay any attention to that thought, and he was not armed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll dress and go down,&rdquo; he said, when he saw Aileen&rsquo;s
+pale face. &ldquo;You stay here. And don&rsquo;t you worry in any way for
+I&rsquo;ll get you out of this&mdash;now, don&rsquo;t worry. This is my affair.
+I got you in it and I&rsquo;ll get you out of it.&rdquo; He went for his hat
+and coat and added, as he did so, &ldquo;You go ahead and dress; but let me go
+first.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen, the moment the door closed, had begun to put on her clothes swiftly and
+nervously. Her mind was working like a rapidly moving machine. She was
+wondering whether this really could be her father. Perhaps it was not. Might
+there be some other Mrs. Montague&mdash;a real one? Supposing it was her
+father&mdash;he had been so nice to her in not telling the family, in keeping
+her secret thus far. He loved her&mdash;she knew that. It makes all the
+difference in the world in a child&rsquo;s attitude on an occasion like this
+whether she has been loved and petted and spoiled, or the reverse. Aileen had
+been loved and petted and spoiled. She could not think of her father doing
+anything terrible physically to her or to any one else. But it was so hard to
+confront him&mdash;to look into his eyes. When she had attained a proper memory
+of him, her fluttering wits told her what to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, Frank,&rdquo; she whispered, excitedly; &ldquo;if it&rsquo;s father,
+you&rsquo;d better let me go. I know how to talk to him. He won&rsquo;t say
+anything to me. You stay here. I&rsquo;m not afraid&mdash;really, I&rsquo;m
+not. If I want you, I&rsquo;ll call you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had come over and taken her pretty chin in his hands, and was looking
+solemnly into her eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mustn&rsquo;t be afraid,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll go down.
+If it&rsquo;s your father, you can go away with him. I don&rsquo;t think
+he&rsquo;ll do anything either to you or to me. If it is he, write me something
+at the office. I&rsquo;ll be there. If I can help you in any way, I will. We
+can fix up something. There&rsquo;s no use trying to explain this. Say nothing
+at all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had on his coat and overcoat, and was standing with his hat in his hand.
+Aileen was nearly dressed, struggling with the row of red current-colored
+buttons which fastened her dress in the back. Cowperwood helped her. When she
+was ready&mdash;hat, gloves, and all&mdash;he said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now let me go first. I want to see.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No; please, Frank,&rdquo; she begged, courageously. &ldquo;Let me, I
+know it&rsquo;s father. Who else could it be?&rdquo; She wondered at the moment
+whether her father had brought her two brothers but would not now believe it.
+He would not do that, she knew. &ldquo;You can come if I call.&rdquo; She went
+on. &ldquo;Nothing&rsquo;s going to happen, though. I understand him. He
+won&rsquo;t do anything to me. If you go it will only make him angry. Let me
+go. You stand in the door here. If I don&rsquo;t call, it&rsquo;s all right.
+Will you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She put her two pretty hands on his shoulders, and he weighed the matter very
+carefully. &ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;only I&rsquo;ll go to the
+foot of the stairs with you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They went to the door and he opened it. Outside were Alderson with two other
+detectives and Mrs. Davis, standing perhaps five feet away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Cowperwood, commandingly, looking at Alderson.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a gentleman down-stairs wishes to see the lady,&rdquo;
+said Alderson. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s her father, I think,&rdquo; he added quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood made way for Aileen, who swept by, furious at the presence of men
+and this exposure. Her courage had entirely returned. She was angry now to
+think her father would make a public spectacle of her. Cowperwood started to
+follow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d advise you not to go down there right away,&rdquo; cautioned
+Alderson, sagely. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s her father. Butler&rsquo;s her name,
+isn&rsquo;t it? He don&rsquo;t want you so much as he wants her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood nevertheless walked slowly toward the head of the stairs, listening.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What made you come here, father?&rdquo; he heard Aileen ask.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler&rsquo;s reply he could not hear, but he was now at ease for he knew how
+much Butler loved his daughter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Confronted by her father, Aileen was now attempting to stare defiantly, to look
+reproachful, but Butler&rsquo;s deep gray eyes beneath their shaggy brows
+revealed such a weight of weariness and despair as even she, in her anger and
+defiance, could not openly flaunt. It was all too sad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I never expected to find you in a place like this, daughter,&rdquo; he
+said. &ldquo;I should have thought you would have thought better of
+yourself.&rdquo; His voice choked and he stopped.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know who you&rsquo;re here with,&rdquo; he continued, shaking his head
+sadly. &ldquo;The dog! I&rsquo;ll get him yet. I&rsquo;ve had men
+watchin&rsquo; you all the time. Oh, the shame of this day! The shame of this
+day! You&rsquo;ll be comin&rsquo; home with me now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s just it, father,&rdquo; began Aileen. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve
+had men watching me. I should have thought&mdash;&rdquo; She stopped, because
+he put up his hand in a strange, agonized, and yet dominating way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;None of that! none of that!&rdquo; he said, glowering under his strange,
+sad, gray brows. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t stand it! Don&rsquo;t tempt me!
+We&rsquo;re not out of this place yet. He&rsquo;s not! You&rsquo;ll come home
+with me now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen understood. It was Cowperwood he was referring to. That frightened her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m ready,&rdquo; she replied, nervously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man led the way broken-heartedly. He felt he would never live to forget
+the agony of this hour.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap37"></a>Chapter XXXVII</h2>
+
+<p>
+In spite of Butler&rsquo;s rage and his determination to do many things to the
+financier, if he could, he was so wrought up and shocked by the attitude of
+Aileen that he could scarcely believe he was the same man he had been
+twenty-four hours before. She was so nonchalant, so defiant. He had expected to
+see her wilt completely when confronted with her guilt. Instead, he found, to
+his despair, after they were once safely out of the house, that he had aroused
+a fighting quality in the girl which was not incomparable to his own. She had
+some of his own and Owen&rsquo;s grit. She sat beside him in the little
+runabout&mdash;not his own&mdash;in which he was driving her home, her face
+coloring and blanching by turns, as different waves of thought swept over her,
+determined to stand her ground now that her father had so plainly trapped her,
+to declare for Cowperwood and her love and her position in general. What did
+she care, she asked herself, what her father thought now? She was in this
+thing. She loved Cowperwood; she was permanently disgraced in her
+father&rsquo;s eyes. What difference could it all make now? He had fallen so
+low in his parental feeling as to spy on her and expose her before other
+men&mdash;strangers, detectives, Cowperwood. What real affection could she have
+for him after this? He had made a mistake, according to her. He had done a
+foolish and a contemptible thing, which was not warranted however bad her
+actions might have been. What could he hope to accomplish by rushing in on her
+in this way and ripping the veil from her very soul before these other
+men&mdash;these crude detectives? Oh, the agony of that walk from the bedroom
+to the reception-room! She would never forgive her father for this&mdash;never,
+never, never! He had now killed her love for him&mdash;that was what she felt.
+It was to be a battle royal between them from now on. As they rode&mdash;in
+complete silence for a while&mdash;her hands clasped and unclasped defiantly,
+her nails cutting her palms, and her mouth hardened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is an open question whether raw opposition ever accomplishes anything of
+value in this world. It seems so inherent in this mortal scheme of things that
+it appears to have a vast validity. It is more than likely that we owe this
+spectacle called life to it, and that this can be demonstrated scientifically;
+but when that is said and done, what is the value? What is the value of the
+spectacle? And what the value of a scene such as this enacted between Aileen
+and her father?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man saw nothing for it, as they rode on, save a grim contest between
+them which could end in what? What could he do with her? They were riding away
+fresh from this awful catastrophe, and she was not saying a word! She had even
+asked him why he had come there! How was he to subdue her, when the very act of
+trapping her had failed to do so? His ruse, while so successful materially, had
+failed so utterly spiritually. They reached the house, and Aileen got out. The
+old man, too nonplussed to wish to go further at this time, drove back to his
+office. He then went out and walked&mdash;a peculiar thing for him to do; he
+had done nothing like that in years and years&mdash;walking to think. Coming to
+an open Catholic church, he went in and prayed for enlightenment, the growing
+dusk of the interior, the single everlasting lamp before the repository of the
+chalice, and the high, white altar set with candles soothing his troubled
+feelings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He came out of the church after a time and returned home. Aileen did not appear
+at dinner, and he could not eat. He went into his private room and shut the
+door&mdash;thinking, thinking, thinking. The dreadful spectacle of Aileen in a
+house of ill repute burned in his brain. To think that Cowperwood should have
+taken her to such a place&mdash;his Aileen, his and his wife&rsquo;s pet. In
+spite of his prayers, his uncertainty, her opposition, the puzzling nature of
+the situation, she must be got out of this. She must go away for a while, give
+the man up, and then the law should run its course with him. In all likelihood
+Cowperwood would go to the penitentiary&mdash;if ever a man richly deserved to
+go, it was he. Butler would see that no stone was left unturned. He would make
+it a personal issue, if necessary. All he had to do was to let it be known in
+judicial circles that he wanted it so. He could not suborn a jury, that would
+be criminal; but he could see that the case was properly and forcefully
+presented; and if Cowperwood were convicted, Heaven help him. The appeal of his
+financial friends would not save him. The judges of the lower and superior
+courts knew on which side their bread was buttered. They would strain a point
+in favor of the highest political opinion of the day, and he certainly could
+influence that. Aileen meanwhile was contemplating the peculiar nature of her
+situation. In spite of their silence on the way home, she knew that a
+conversation was coming with her father. It had to be. He would want her to go
+somewhere. Most likely he would revive the European trip in some form&mdash;she
+now suspected the invitation of Mrs. Mollenhauer as a trick; and she had to
+decide whether she would go. Would she leave Cowperwood just when he was about
+to be tried? She was determined she would not. She wanted to see what was going
+to happen to him. She would leave home first&mdash;run to some relative, some
+friend, some stranger, if necessary, and ask to be taken in. She had some
+money&mdash;a little. Her father had always been very liberal with her. She
+could take a few clothes and disappear. They would be glad enough to send for
+her after she had been gone awhile. Her mother would be frantic; Norah and
+Callum and Owen would be beside themselves with wonder and worry; her
+father&mdash;she could see him. Maybe that would bring him to his senses. In
+spite of all her emotional vagaries, she was the pride and interest of this
+home, and she knew it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was in this direction that her mind was running when her father, a few days
+after the dreadful exposure in the Sixth Street house, sent for her to come to
+him in his room. He had come home from his office very early in the afternoon,
+hoping to find Aileen there, in order that he might have a private interview
+with her, and by good luck found her in. She had had no desire to go out into
+the world these last few days&mdash;she was too expectant of trouble to come.
+She had just written Cowperwood asking for a rendezvous out on the Wissahickon
+the following afternoon, in spite of the detectives. She must see him. Her
+father, she said, had done nothing; but she was sure he would attempt to do
+something. She wanted to talk to Cowperwood about that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been thinkin&rsquo; about ye, Aileen, and what ought to be
+done in this case,&rdquo; began her father without preliminaries of any kind
+once they were in his &ldquo;office room&rdquo; in the house together.
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re on the road to ruin if any one ever was. I tremble when I
+think of your immortal soul. I want to do somethin&rsquo; for ye, my child,
+before it&rsquo;s too late. I&rsquo;ve been reproachin&rsquo; myself for the
+last month and more, thinkin&rsquo;, perhaps, it was somethin&rsquo; I had
+done, or maybe had failed to do, aither me or your mother, that has brought ye
+to the place where ye are to-day. Needless to say, it&rsquo;s on me conscience,
+me child. It&rsquo;s a heartbroken man you&rsquo;re lookin&rsquo; at this day.
+I&rsquo;ll never be able to hold me head up again. Oh, the shame&mdash;the
+shame! That I should have lived to see it!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But father,&rdquo; protested Aileen, who was a little distraught at the
+thought of having to listen to a long preachment which would relate to her duty
+to God and the Church and her family and her mother and him. She realized that
+all these were important in their way; but Cowperwood and his point of view had
+given her another outlook on life. They had discussed this matter of
+families&mdash;parents, children, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters&mdash;from
+almost every point of view. Cowperwood&rsquo;s laissez-faire attitude had
+permeated and colored her mind completely. She saw things through his cold,
+direct &ldquo;I satisfy myself&rdquo; attitude. He was sorry for all the little
+differences of personality that sprang up between people, causing quarrels,
+bickerings, oppositions, and separation; but they could not be helped. People
+outgrew each other. Their points of view altered at varying ratios&mdash;hence
+changes. Morals&mdash;those who had them had them; those who hadn&rsquo;t,
+hadn&rsquo;t. There was no explaining. As for him, he saw nothing wrong in the
+sex relationship. Between those who were mutually compatible it was innocent
+and delicious. Aileen in his arms, unmarried, but loved by him, and he by her,
+was as good and pure as any living woman&mdash;a great deal purer than most.
+One found oneself in a given social order, theory, or scheme of things. For
+purposes of social success, in order not to offend, to smooth one&rsquo;s path,
+make things easy, avoid useless criticism, and the like, it was necessary to
+create an outward seeming&mdash;ostensibly conform. Beyond that it was not
+necessary to do anything. Never fail, never get caught. If you did, fight your
+way out silently and say nothing. That was what he was doing in connection with
+his present financial troubles; that was what he had been ready to do the other
+day when they were caught. It was something of all this that was coloring
+Aileen&rsquo;s mood as she listened at present.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But father,&rdquo; she protested, &ldquo;I love Mr. Cowperwood.
+It&rsquo;s almost the same as if I were married to him. He will marry me some
+day when he gets a divorce from Mrs. Cowperwood. You don&rsquo;t understand how
+it is. He&rsquo;s very fond of me, and I love him. He needs me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler looked at her with strange, non-understanding eyes. &ldquo;Divorce, did
+you say,&rdquo; he began, thinking of the Catholic Church and its dogma in
+regard to that. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll divorce his own wife and children&mdash;and
+for you, will he? He needs you, does he?&rdquo; he added, sarcastically.
+&ldquo;What about his wife and children? I don&rsquo;t suppose they need him,
+do they? What talk have ye?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen flung her head back defiantly. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s true,
+nevertheless,&rdquo; she reiterated. &ldquo;You just don&rsquo;t
+understand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler could scarcely believe his ears. He had never heard such talk before in
+his life from any one. It amazed and shocked him. He was quite aware of all the
+subtleties of politics and business, but these of romance were too much for
+him. He knew nothing about them. To think a daughter of his should be talking
+like this, and she a Catholic! He could not understand where she got such
+notions unless it was from the Machiavellian, corrupting brain of Cowperwood
+himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How long have ye had these notions, my child?&rdquo; he suddenly asked,
+calmly and soberly. &ldquo;Where did ye get them? Ye certainly never heard
+anything like that in this house, I warrant. Ye talk as though ye had gone out
+of yer mind.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, don&rsquo;t talk nonsense, father,&rdquo; flared Aileen, angrily,
+thinking how hopeless it was to talk to her father about such things anyhow.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a child any more. I&rsquo;m twenty-four years of age. You
+just don&rsquo;t understand. Mr. Cowperwood doesn&rsquo;t like his wife.
+He&rsquo;s going to get a divorce when he can, and will marry me. I love him,
+and he loves me, and that&rsquo;s all there is to it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it, though?&rdquo; asked Butler, grimly determined by hook or by
+crook, to bring this girl to her senses. &ldquo;Ye&rsquo;ll be takin&rsquo; no
+thought of his wife and children then? The fact that he&rsquo;s goin&rsquo; to
+jail, besides, is nawthin&rsquo; to ye, I suppose. Ye&rsquo;d love him just as
+much in convict stripes, I suppose&mdash;more, maybe.&rdquo; (The old man was
+at his best, humanly speaking, when he was a little sarcastic.)
+&ldquo;Ye&rsquo;ll have him that way, likely, if at all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen blazed at once to a furious heat. &ldquo;Yes, I know,&rdquo; she
+sneered. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what you would like. I know what you&rsquo;ve been
+doing. Frank does, too. You&rsquo;re trying to railroad him to prison for
+something he didn&rsquo;t do&mdash;and all on account of me. Oh, I know. But
+you won&rsquo;t hurt him. You can&rsquo;t! He&rsquo;s bigger and finer than you
+think he is and you won&rsquo;t hurt him in the long run. He&rsquo;ll get out
+again. You want to punish him on my account; but he doesn&rsquo;t care.
+I&rsquo;ll marry him anyhow. I love him, and I&rsquo;ll wait for him and marry
+him, and you can do what you please. So there!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ye&rsquo;ll marry him, will you?&rdquo; asked Butler, nonplussed and
+further astounded. &ldquo;So ye&rsquo;ll wait for him and marry him?
+Ye&rsquo;ll take him away from his wife and children, where, if he were half a
+man, he&rsquo;d be stayin&rsquo; this minute instead of gallivantin&rsquo;
+around with you. And marry him? Ye&rsquo;d disgrace your father and yer mother
+and yer family? Ye&rsquo;ll stand here and say this to me, I that have raised
+ye, cared for ye, and made somethin&rsquo; of ye? Where would you be if it
+weren&rsquo;t for me and your poor, hard-workin&rsquo; mother, schemin&rsquo;
+and plannin&rsquo; for you year in and year out? Ye&rsquo;re smarter than I am,
+I suppose. Ye know more about the world than I do, or any one else that might
+want to say anythin&rsquo; to ye. I&rsquo;ve raised ye to be a fine lady, and
+this is what I get. Talk about me not bein&rsquo; able to understand, and ye
+lovin&rsquo; a convict-to-be, a robber, an embezzler, a bankrupt, a
+lyin&rsquo;, thavin&rsquo;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Father!&rdquo; exclaimed Aileen, determinedly. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll not
+listen to you talking that way. He&rsquo;s not any of the things that you say.
+I&rsquo;ll not stay here.&rdquo; She moved toward the door; but Butler jumped
+up now and stopped her. His face for the moment was flushed and swollen with
+anger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m not through with him yet,&rdquo; he went on, ignoring her
+desire to leave, and addressing her direct&mdash;confident now that she was as
+capable as another of understanding him. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll get him as sure as I
+have a name. There&rsquo;s law in this land, and I&rsquo;ll have it on him.
+I&rsquo;ll show him whether he&rsquo;ll come sneakin&rsquo; into dacent homes
+and robbin&rsquo; parents of their children.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused after a time for want of breath and Aileen stared, her face tense and
+white. Her father could be so ridiculous. He was, contrasted with Cowperwood
+and his views, so old-fashioned. To think he could be talking of some one
+coming into their home and stealing her away from him, when she had been so
+willing to go. What silliness! And yet, why argue? What good could be
+accomplished, arguing with him here in this way? And so for the moment, she
+said nothing more&mdash;merely looked. But Butler was by no means done. His
+mood was too stormy even though he was doing his best now to subdue himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s too bad, daughter,&rdquo; he resumed quietly, once he was
+satisfied that she was going to have little, if anything, to say.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m lettin&rsquo; my anger get the best of me. It wasn&rsquo;t
+that I intended talkin&rsquo; to ye about when I ast ye to come in. It&rsquo;s
+somethin&rsquo; else I have on me mind. I was thinkin&rsquo;, perhaps,
+ye&rsquo;d like to go to Europe for the time bein&rsquo; to study music.
+Ye&rsquo;re not quite yourself just at present. Ye&rsquo;re needin&rsquo; a
+rest. It would be good for ye to go away for a while. Ye could have a nice time
+over there. Norah could go along with ye, if you would, and Sister Constantia
+that taught you. Ye wouldn&rsquo;t object to havin&rsquo; her, I
+suppose?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the mention of this idea of a trip of Europe again, with Sister Constantia
+and music thrown in to give it a slightly new form, Aileen bridled, and yet
+half-smiled to herself now. It was so ridiculous&mdash;so tactless, really, for
+her father to bring up this now, and especially after denouncing Cowperwood and
+her, and threatening all the things he had. Had he no diplomacy at all where
+she was concerned? It was really too funny! But she restrained herself here
+again, because she felt as well as saw, that argument of this kind was all
+futile now.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish you wouldn&rsquo;t talk about that, father,&rdquo; she began,
+having softened under his explanation. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to go to
+Europe now. I don&rsquo;t want to leave Philadelphia. I know you want me to go;
+but I don&rsquo;t want to think of going now. I can&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler&rsquo;s brow darkened again. What was the use of all this opposition on
+her part? Did she really imagine that she was going to master him&mdash;her
+father, and in connection with such an issue as this? How impossible! But
+tempering his voice as much as possible, he went on, quite softly, in fact.
+&ldquo;But it would be so fine for ye, Aileen. Ye surely can&rsquo;t expect to
+stay here after&mdash;&rdquo; He paused, for he was going to say &ldquo;what
+has happened.&rdquo; He knew she was very sensitive on that point. His own
+conduct in hunting her down had been such a breach of fatherly courtesy that he
+knew she felt resentful, and in a way properly so. Still, what could be greater
+than her own crime? &ldquo;After,&rdquo; he concluded, &ldquo;ye have made such
+a mistake ye surely wouldn&rsquo;t want to stay here. Ye won&rsquo;t be
+wantin&rsquo; to keep up that&mdash;committin&rsquo; a mortal sin. It&rsquo;s
+against the laws of God and man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He did so hope the thought of sin would come to Aileen&mdash;the enormity of
+her crime from a spiritual point of view&mdash;but Aileen did not see it at
+all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t understand me, father,&rdquo; she exclaimed, hopelessly
+toward the end. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t. I have one idea, and you have another.
+But I don&rsquo;t seem to be able to make you understand now. The fact is, if
+you want to know it, I don&rsquo;t believe in the Catholic Church any more, so
+there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The moment Aileen had said this she wished she had not. It was a slip of the
+tongue. Butler&rsquo;s face took on an inexpressibly sad, despairing look.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ye don&rsquo;t believe in the Church?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, not exactly&mdash;not like you do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The harm that has come to yer soul!&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s
+plain to me, daughter, that somethin&rsquo; terrible has happened to ye. This
+man has ruined ye, body and soul. Somethin&rsquo; must be done. I don&rsquo;t
+want to be hard on ye, but ye must leave Philadelphy. Ye can&rsquo;t stay here.
+I can&rsquo;t permit ye. Ye can go to Europe, or ye can go to yer aunt&rsquo;s
+in New Orleans; but ye must go somewhere. I can&rsquo;t have ye stayin&rsquo;
+here&mdash;it&rsquo;s too dangerous. It&rsquo;s sure to be comin&rsquo; out.
+The papers&rsquo;ll be havin&rsquo; it next. Ye&rsquo;re young yet. Yer life is
+before you. I tremble for yer soul; but so long as ye&rsquo;re young and alive
+ye may come to yer senses. It&rsquo;s me duty to be hard. It&rsquo;s my
+obligation to you and the Church. Ye must quit this life. Ye must lave this
+man. Ye must never see him any more. I can&rsquo;t permit ye. He&rsquo;s no
+good. He has no intintion of marrying ye, and it would be a crime against God
+and man if he did. No, no! Never that! The man&rsquo;s a bankrupt, a scoundrel,
+a thafe. If ye had him, ye&rsquo;d soon be the unhappiest woman in the world.
+He wouldn&rsquo;t be faithful to ye. No, he couldn&rsquo;t. He&rsquo;s not that
+kind.&rdquo; He paused, sick to the depths of his soul. &ldquo;Ye must go away.
+I say it once and for all. I mane it kindly, but I want it. I have yer best
+interests at heart. I love ye; but ye must. I&rsquo;m sorry to see ye
+go&mdash;I&rsquo;d rather have ye here. No one will be sorrier; but ye must. Ye
+must make it all seem natcheral and ordinary to yer mother; but ye must
+go&mdash;d&rsquo;ye hear? Ye must.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused, looking sadly but firmly at Aileen under his shaggy eyebrows. She
+knew he meant this. It was his most solemn, his most religious expression. But
+she did not answer. She could not. What was the use? Only she was not going.
+She knew that&mdash;and so she stood there white and tense.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now get all the clothes ye want,&rdquo; went on Butler, by no means
+grasping her true mood. &ldquo;Fix yourself up in any way you plase. Say where
+ye want to go, but get ready.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But I won&rsquo;t, father,&rdquo; finally replied Aileen, equally
+solemnly, equally determinedly. &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t go! I won&rsquo;t leave
+Philadelphia.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ye don&rsquo;t mane to say ye will deliberately disobey me when
+I&rsquo;m asking ye to do somethin&rsquo; that&rsquo;s intended for yer own
+good, will ye daughter?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I will,&rdquo; replied Aileen, determinedly. &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t
+go! I&rsquo;m sorry, but I won&rsquo;t!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ye really mane that, do ye?&rdquo; asked Butler, sadly but grimly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I do,&rdquo; replied Aileen, grimly, in return.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then I&rsquo;ll have to see what I can do, daughter,&rdquo; replied the
+old man. &ldquo;Ye&rsquo;re still my daughter, whatever ye are, and I&rsquo;ll
+not see ye come to wreck and ruin for want of doin&rsquo; what I know to be my
+solemn duty. I&rsquo;ll give ye a few more days to think this over, but go ye
+must. There&rsquo;s an end of that. There are laws in this land still. There
+are things that can be done to those who won&rsquo;t obey the law. I found ye
+this time&mdash;much as it hurt me to do it. I&rsquo;ll find ye again if ye try
+to disobey me. Ye must change yer ways. I can&rsquo;t have ye goin&rsquo; on as
+ye are. Ye understand now. It&rsquo;s the last word. Give this man up, and ye
+can have anything ye choose. Ye&rsquo;re my girl&mdash;I&rsquo;ll do everything
+I can in this world to make ye happy. Why, why shouldn&rsquo;t I? What else
+have I to live for but me children? It&rsquo;s ye and the rest of them that
+I&rsquo;ve been workin&rsquo; and plannin&rsquo; for all these years. Come now,
+be a good girl. Ye love your old father, don&rsquo;t ye? Why, I rocked ye in my
+arms as a baby, Aileen. I&rsquo;ve watched over ye when ye were not bigger than
+what would rest in me two fists here. I&rsquo;ve been a good father to
+ye&mdash;ye can&rsquo;t deny that. Look at the other girls you&rsquo;ve seen.
+Have any of them had more nor what ye have had? Ye won&rsquo;t go against me in
+this. I&rsquo;m sure ye won&rsquo;t. Ye can&rsquo;t. Ye love me too
+much&mdash;surely ye do&mdash;don&rsquo;t ye?&rdquo; His voice weakened. His
+eyes almost filled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused and put a big, brown, horny hand on Aileen&rsquo;s arm. She had
+listened to his plea not unmoved&mdash;really more or less
+softened&mdash;because of the hopelessness of it. She could not give up
+Cowperwood. Her father just did not understand. He did not know what love was.
+Unquestionably he had never loved as she had.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She stood quite silent while Butler appealed to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to, father,&rdquo; she said at last and softly, tenderly.
+&ldquo;Really I would. I do love you. Yes, I do. I want to please you; but I
+can&rsquo;t in this&mdash;I can&rsquo;t! I love Frank Cowperwood. You
+don&rsquo;t understand&mdash;really you don&rsquo;t!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the repetition of Cowperwood&rsquo;s name Butler&rsquo;s mouth hardened. He
+could see that she was infatuated&mdash;that his carefully calculated plea had
+failed. So he must think of some other way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well, then,&rdquo; he said at last and sadly, oh, so sadly, as
+Aileen turned away. &ldquo;Have it yer own way, if ye will. Ye must go, though,
+willy-nilly. It can&rsquo;t be any other way. I wish to God it could.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen went out, very solemn, and Butler went over to his desk and sat down.
+&ldquo;Such a situation!&rdquo; he said to himself. &ldquo;Such a
+complication!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap38"></a>Chapter XXXVIII</h2>
+
+<p>
+The situation which confronted Aileen was really a trying one. A girl of less
+innate courage and determination would have weakened and yielded. For in spite
+of her various social connections and acquaintances, the people to whom Aileen
+could run in an emergency of the present kind were not numerous. She could
+scarcely think of any one who would be likely to take her in for any lengthy
+period, without question. There were a number of young women of her own age,
+married and unmarried, who were very friendly to her, but there were few with
+whom she was really intimate. The only person who stood out in her mind, as
+having any real possibility of refuge for a period, was a certain Mary
+Calligan, better known as &ldquo;Mamie&rdquo; among her friends, who had
+attended school with Aileen in former years and was now a teacher in one of the
+local schools.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Calligan family consisted of Mrs. Katharine Calligan, the mother, a
+dressmaker by profession and a widow&mdash;her husband, a house-mover by trade,
+having been killed by a falling wall some ten years before&mdash;and Mamie, her
+twenty-three-year-old daughter. They lived in a small two-story brick house in
+Cherry Street, near Fifteenth. Mrs. Calligan was not a very good dressmaker,
+not good enough, at least, for the Butler family to patronize in their present
+exalted state. Aileen went there occasionally for gingham house-dresses,
+underwear, pretty dressing-gowns, and alterations on some of her more important
+clothing which was made by a very superior modiste in Chestnut Street. She
+visited the house largely because she had gone to school with Mamie at St.
+Agatha&rsquo;s, when the outlook of the Calligan family was much more
+promising. Mamie was earning forty dollars a month as the teacher of a
+sixth-grade room in one of the nearby public schools, and Mrs. Calligan
+averaged on the whole about two dollars a day&mdash;sometimes not so much. The
+house they occupied was their own, free and clear, and the furniture which it
+contained suggested the size of their joint income, which was somewhere near
+eighty dollars a month.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mamie Calligan was not good-looking, not nearly as good-looking as her mother
+had been before her. Mrs. Calligan was still plump, bright, and cheerful at
+fifty, with a fund of good humor. Mamie was somewhat duller mentally and
+emotionally. She was serious-minded&mdash;made so, perhaps, as much by
+circumstances as by anything else, for she was not at all vivid, and had little
+sex magnetism. Yet she was kindly, honest, earnest, a good Catholic, and
+possessed of that strangely excessive ingrowing virtue which shuts so many
+people off from the world&mdash;a sense of duty. To Mamie Calligan duty (a
+routine conformity to such theories and precepts as she had heard and worked by
+since her childhood) was the all-important thing, her principal source of
+comfort and relief; her props in a queer and uncertain world being her duty to
+her Church; her duty to her school; her duty to her mother; her duty to her
+friends, etc. Her mother often wished for Mamie&rsquo;s sake that she was less
+dutiful and more charming physically, so that the men would like her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In spite of the fact that her mother was a dressmaker, Mamie&rsquo;s clothes
+never looked smart or attractive&mdash;she would have felt out of keeping with
+herself if they had. Her shoes were rather large, and ill-fitting; her skirt
+hung in lifeless lines from her hips to her feet, of good material but
+seemingly bad design. At that time the colored &ldquo;jersey,&rdquo; so-called,
+was just coming into popular wear, and, being close-fitting, looked well on
+those of good form. Alas for Mamie Calligan! The mode of the time compelled her
+to wear one; but she had neither the arms nor the chest development which made
+this garment admirable. Her hat, by choice, was usually a pancake affair with a
+long, single feather, which somehow never seemed to be in exactly the right
+position, either to her hair or her face. At most times she looked a little
+weary; but she was not physically weary so much as she was bored. Her life held
+so little of real charm; and Aileen Butler was unquestionably the most
+significant element of romance in it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mamie&rsquo;s mother&rsquo;s very pleasant social disposition, the fact that
+they had a very cleanly, if poor little home, that she could entertain them by
+playing on their piano, and that Mrs. Calligan took an adoring interest in the
+work she did for her, made up the sum and substance of the attraction of the
+Calligan home for Aileen. She went there occasionally as a relief from other
+things, and because Mamie Calligan had a compatible and very understanding
+interest in literature. Curiously, the books Aileen liked she
+liked&mdash;<i>Jane Eyre, Kenelm Chillingly, Tricotrin</i>, and <i>A Bow of
+Orange Ribbon</i>. Mamie occasionally recommended to Aileen some latest
+effusion of this character; and Aileen, finding her judgment good, was
+constrained to admire her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this crisis it was to the home of the Calligans that Aileen turned in
+thought. If her father really was not nice to her, and she had to leave home
+for a time, she could go to the Calligans. They would receive her and say
+nothing. They were not sufficiently well known to the other members of the
+Butler family to have the latter suspect that she had gone there. She might
+readily disappear into the privacy of Cherry Street and not be seen or heard of
+for weeks. It is an interesting fact to contemplate that the Calligans, like
+the various members of the Butler family, never suspected Aileen of the least
+tendency toward a wayward existence. Hence her flight from her own family, if
+it ever came, would be laid more to the door of a temperamental pettishness
+than anything else.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the other hand, in so far as the Butler family as a unit was concerned, it
+needed Aileen more than she needed it. It needed the light of her countenance
+to keep it appropriately cheerful, and if she went away there would be a
+distinct gulf that would not soon be overcome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler, senior, for instance, had seen his little daughter grow into radiantly
+beautiful womanhood. He had seen her go to school and convent and learn to play
+the piano&mdash;to him a great accomplishment. Also he had seen her manner
+change and become very showy and her knowledge of life broaden, apparently, and
+become to him, at least, impressive. Her smart, dogmatic views about most
+things were, to him, at least, well worth listening to. She knew more about
+books and art than Owen or Callum, and her sense of social manners was perfect.
+When she came to the table&mdash;breakfast, luncheon, or dinner&mdash;she was
+to him always a charming object to see. He had produced Aileen&mdash;he
+congratulated himself. He had furnished her the money to be so fine. He would
+continue to do so. No second-rate upstart of a man should be allowed to ruin
+her life. He proposed to take care of her always&mdash;to leave her so much
+money in a legally involved way that a failure of a husband could not possibly
+affect her. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re the charming lady this evenin&rsquo;, I&rsquo;m
+thinkin&rsquo;,&rdquo; was one of his pet remarks; and also, &ldquo;My, but
+we&rsquo;re that fine!&rdquo; At table almost invariably she sat beside him and
+looked out for him. That was what he wanted. He had put her there beside him at
+his meals years before when she was a child.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her mother, too, was inordinately fond of her, and Callum and Owen
+appropriately brotherly. So Aileen had thus far at least paid back with beauty
+and interest quite as much as she received, and all the family felt it to be
+so. When she was away for a day or two the house seemed glum&mdash;the meals
+less appetizing. When she returned, all were happy and gay again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen understood this clearly enough in a way. Now, when it came to thinking
+of leaving and shifting for herself, in order to avoid a trip which she did not
+care to be forced into, her courage was based largely on this keen sense of her
+own significance to the family. She thought over what her father had said, and
+decided she must act at once. She dressed for the street the next morning,
+after her father had gone, and decided to step in at the Calligans&rsquo; about
+noon, when Mamie would be at home for luncheon. Then she would take up the
+matter casually. If they had no objection, she would go there. She sometimes
+wondered why Cowperwood did not suggest, in his great stress, that they leave
+for some parts unknown; but she also felt that he must know best what he could
+do. His increasing troubles depressed her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Calligan was alone when she arrived and was delighted to see her. After
+exchanging the gossip of the day, and not knowing quite how to proceed in
+connection with the errand which had brought her, she went to the piano and
+played a melancholy air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sure, it&rsquo;s lovely the way you play, Aileen,&rdquo; observed Mrs.
+Calligan who was unduly sentimental herself. &ldquo;I love to hear you. I wish
+you&rsquo;d come oftener to see us. You&rsquo;re so rarely here
+nowadays.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, I&rsquo;ve been so busy, Mrs. Calligan,&rdquo; replied Aileen.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had so much to do this fall, I just couldn&rsquo;t. They
+wanted me to go to Europe; but I didn&rsquo;t care to. Oh, dear!&rdquo; she
+sighed, and in her playing swept off with a movement of sad, romantic
+significance. The door opened and Mamie came in. Her commonplace face
+brightened at the sight of Aileen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Aileen Butler!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Where did you come
+from? Where have you been keeping yourself so long?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen rose to exchange kisses. &ldquo;Oh, I&rsquo;ve been very busy, Mamie.
+I&rsquo;ve just been telling your mother. How are you, anyway? How are you
+getting along in your work?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mamie recounted at once some school difficulties which were puzzling
+her&mdash;the growing size of classes and the amount of work expected. While
+Mrs. Calligan was setting the table Mamie went to her room and Aileen followed
+her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As she stood before her mirror arranging her hair Aileen looked at her
+meditatively.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the matter with you, Aileen, to-day?&rdquo; Mamie asked.
+&ldquo;You look so&mdash;&rdquo; She stopped to give her a second glance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do I look?&rdquo; asked Aileen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, as if you were uncertain or troubled about something. I never saw
+you look that way before. What&rsquo;s the matter?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, nothing,&rdquo; replied Aileen. &ldquo;I was just thinking.&rdquo;
+She went to one of the windows which looked into the little yard, meditating on
+whether she could endure living here for any length of time. The house was so
+small, the furnishings so very simple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is something the matter with you to-day, Aileen,&rdquo; observed
+Mamie, coming over to her and looking in her face. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not like
+yourself at all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got something on my mind,&rdquo; replied
+Aileen&mdash;&ldquo;something that&rsquo;s worrying me. I don&rsquo;t know just
+what to do&mdash;that&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s the matter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, whatever can it be?&rdquo; commented Mamie. &ldquo;I never saw you
+act this way before. Can&rsquo;t you tell me? What is it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I don&rsquo;t think I can&mdash;not now, anyhow.&rdquo; Aileen
+paused. &ldquo;Do you suppose your mother would object,&rdquo; she asked,
+suddenly, &ldquo;if I came here and stayed a little while? I want to get away
+from home for a time for a certain reason.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, Aileen Butler, how you talk!&rdquo; exclaimed her friend.
+&ldquo;Object! You know she&rsquo;d be delighted, and so would I. Oh,
+dear&mdash;can you come? But what makes you want to leave home?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s just what I can&rsquo;t tell you&mdash;not now, anyhow. Not
+you, so much, but your mother. You know, I&rsquo;m afraid of what she&rsquo;d
+think,&rdquo; replied Aileen. &ldquo;But, you mustn&rsquo;t ask me yet, anyhow.
+I want to think. Oh, dear! But I want to come, if you&rsquo;ll let me. Will you
+speak to your mother, or shall I?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, I will,&rdquo; said Mamie, struck with wonder at this remarkable
+development; &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s silly to do it. I know what she&rsquo;ll say
+before I tell her, and so do you. You can just bring your things and come.
+That&rsquo;s all. She&rsquo;d never say anything or ask anything, either, and
+you know that&mdash;if you didn&rsquo;t want her to.&rdquo; Mamie was all agog
+and aglow at the idea. She wanted the companionship of Aileen so much.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen looked at her solemnly, and understood well enough why she was so
+enthusiastic&mdash;both she and her mother. Both wanted her presence to
+brighten their world. &ldquo;But neither of you must tell anybody that
+I&rsquo;m here, do you hear? I don&rsquo;t want any one to
+know&mdash;particularly no one of my family. I&rsquo;ve a reason, and a good
+one, but I can&rsquo;t tell you what it is&mdash;not now, anyhow. You&rsquo;ll
+promise not to tell any one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, of course,&rdquo; replied Mamie eagerly. &ldquo;But you&rsquo;re not
+going to run away for good, are you, Aileen?&rdquo; she concluded curiously and
+gravely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, I don&rsquo;t know; I don&rsquo;t know what I&rsquo;ll do yet. I
+only know that I want to get away for a while, just now&mdash;that&rsquo;s
+all.&rdquo; She paused, while Mamie stood before her, agape.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, of all things,&rdquo; replied her friend. &ldquo;Wonders never
+cease, do they, Aileen? But it will be so lovely to have you here. Mama will be
+so pleased. Of course, we won&rsquo;t tell anybody if you don&rsquo;t want us
+to. Hardly any one ever comes here; and if they do, you needn&rsquo;t see them.
+You could have this big room next to me. Oh, wouldn&rsquo;t that be nice?
+I&rsquo;m perfectly delighted.&rdquo; The young school-teacher&rsquo;s spirits
+rose to a decided height. &ldquo;Come on, why not tell mama right now?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen hesitated because even now she was not positive whether she should do
+this, but finally they went down the stairs together, Aileen lingering behind a
+little as they neared the bottom. Mamie burst in upon her mother with:
+&ldquo;Oh, mama, isn&rsquo;t it lovely? Aileen&rsquo;s coming to stay with us
+for a while. She doesn&rsquo;t want any one to know, and she&rsquo;s coming
+right away.&rdquo; Mrs. Calligan, who was holding a sugarbowl in her hand,
+turned to survey her with a surprised but smiling face. She was immediately
+curious as to why Aileen should want to come&mdash;why leave home. On the other
+hand, her feeling for Aileen was so deep that she was greatly and joyously
+intrigued by the idea. And why not? Was not the celebrated Edward
+Butler&rsquo;s daughter a woman grown, capable of regulating her own affairs,
+and welcome, of course, as the honored member of so important a family. It was
+very flattering to the Calligans to think that she would want to come under any
+circumstances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see how your parents can let you go, Aileen; but
+you&rsquo;re certainly welcome here as long as you want to stay, and
+that&rsquo;s forever, if you want to.&rdquo; And Mrs. Calligan beamed on her
+welcomingly. The idea of Aileen Butler asking to be permitted to come here! And
+the hearty, comprehending manner in which she said this, and Mamie&rsquo;s
+enthusiasm, caused Aileen to breathe a sigh of relief. The matter of the
+expense of her presence to the Calligans came into her mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I want to pay you, of course,&rdquo; she said to Mrs. Calligan,
+&ldquo;if I come.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The very idea, Aileen Butler!&rdquo; exclaimed Mamie.
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll do nothing of the sort. You&rsquo;ll come here and live
+with me as my guest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I won&rsquo;t! If I can&rsquo;t pay I won&rsquo;t come,&rdquo;
+replied Aileen. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll have to let me do that.&rdquo; She knew
+that the Calligans could not afford to keep her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;ll not talk about that now, anyhow,&rdquo; replied Mrs.
+Calligan. &ldquo;You can come when you like and stay as long as you like. Reach
+me some clean napkins, Mamie.&rdquo; Aileen remained for luncheon, and left
+soon afterward to keep her suggested appointment with Cowperwood, feeling
+satisfied that her main problem had been solved. Now her way was clear. She
+could come here if she wanted to. It was simply a matter of collecting a few
+necessary things or coming without bringing anything. Perhaps Frank would have
+something to suggest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the meantime Cowperwood made no effort to communicate with Aileen since the
+unfortunate discovery of their meeting place, but had awaited a letter from
+her, which was not long in coming. And, as usual, it was a long, optimistic,
+affectionate, and defiant screed in which she related all that had occurred to
+her and her present plan of leaving home. This last puzzled and troubled him
+not a little.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen in the bosom of her family, smart and well-cared for, was one thing.
+Aileen out in the world dependent on him was another. He had never imagined
+that she would be compelled to leave before he was prepared to take her; and if
+she did now, it might stir up complications which would be anything but
+pleasant to contemplate. Still he was fond of her, very, and would do anything
+to make her happy. He could support her in a very respectable way even now, if
+he did not eventually go to prison, and even there he might manage to make some
+shift for her. It would be so much better, though, if he could persuade her to
+remain at home until he knew exactly what his fate was to be. He never doubted
+but that some day, whatever happened, within a reasonable length of time, he
+would be rid of all these complications and well-to-do again, in which case, if
+he could get a divorce, he wanted to marry Aileen. If not, he would take her
+with him anyhow, and from this point of view it might be just as well as if she
+broke away from her family now. But from the point of view of present
+complications&mdash;the search Butler would make&mdash;it might be dangerous.
+He might even publicly charge him with abduction. He therefore decided to
+persuade Aileen to stay at home, drop meetings and communications for the time
+being, and even go abroad. He would be all right until she came back and so
+would she&mdash;common sense ought to rule in this case.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With all this in mind he set out to keep the appointment she suggested in her
+letter, nevertheless feeling it a little dangerous to do so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you sure,&rdquo; he asked, after he had listened to her description
+of the Calligan homestead, &ldquo;that you would like it there? It sounds
+rather poor to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, but I like them so much,&rdquo; replied Aileen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you&rsquo;re sure they won&rsquo;t tell on you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, no; never, never!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; he concluded. &ldquo;You know what you&rsquo;re doing.
+I don&rsquo;t want to advise you against your will. If I were you, though,
+I&rsquo;d take your father&rsquo;s advice and go away for a while. He&rsquo;ll
+get over this then, and I&rsquo;ll still be here. I can write you occasionally,
+and you can write me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The moment Cowperwood said this Aileen&rsquo;s brow clouded. Her love for him
+was so great that there was something like a knife thrust in the merest hint at
+an extended separation. Her Frank here and in trouble&mdash;on trial maybe and
+she away! Never! What could he mean by suggesting such a thing? Could it be
+that he didn&rsquo;t care for her as much as she did for him? Did he really
+love her? she asked herself. Was he going to desert her just when she was going
+to do the thing which would bring them nearer together? Her eyes clouded, for
+she was terribly hurt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, how you talk!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;You know I won&rsquo;t
+leave Philadelphia now. You certainly don&rsquo;t expect me to leave
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood saw it all very clearly. He was too shrewd not to. He was immensely
+fond of her. Good heaven, he thought, he would not hurt her feelings for the
+world!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Honey,&rdquo; he said, quickly, when he saw her eyes, &ldquo;you
+don&rsquo;t understand. I want you to do what you want to do. You&rsquo;ve
+planned this out in order to be with me; so now you do it. Don&rsquo;t think
+any more about me or anything I&rsquo;ve said. I was merely thinking that it
+might make matters worse for both of us; but I don&rsquo;t believe it will. You
+think your father loves you so much that after you&rsquo;re gone he&rsquo;ll
+change his mind. Very good; go. But we must be very careful, sweet&mdash;you
+and I&mdash;really we must. This thing is getting serious. If you should go and
+your father should charge me with abduction&mdash;take the public into his
+confidence and tell all about this, it would be serious for both of us&mdash;as
+much for you as for me, for I&rsquo;d be convicted sure then, just on that
+account, if nothing else. And then what? You&rsquo;d better not try to see me
+often for the present&mdash;not any oftener than we can possibly help. If we
+had used common sense and stopped when your father got that letter, this
+wouldn&rsquo;t have happened. But now that it has happened, we must be as wise
+as we can, don&rsquo;t you see? So, think it over, and do what you think best
+and then write me and whatever you do will be all right with me&mdash;do you
+hear?&rdquo; He drew her to him and kissed her. &ldquo;You haven&rsquo;t any
+money, have you?&rdquo; he concluded wisely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen, deeply moved by all he had just said, was none the less convinced once
+she had meditated on it a moment, that her course was best. Her father loved
+her too much. He would not do anything to hurt her publicly and so he would not
+attack Cowperwood through her openly. More than likely, as she now explained to
+Frank, he would plead with her to come back. And he, listening, was compelled
+to yield. Why argue? She would not leave him anyhow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went down in his pocket for the first time since he had known Aileen and
+produced a layer of bills. &ldquo;Here&rsquo;s two hundred dollars,
+sweet,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;until I see or hear from you. I&rsquo;ll see that
+you have whatever you need; and now don&rsquo;t think that I don&rsquo;t love
+you. You know I do. I&rsquo;m crazy about you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen protested that she did not need so much&mdash;that she did not really
+need any&mdash;she had some at home; but he put that aside. He knew that she
+must have money.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t talk, honey,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know what you
+need.&rdquo; She had been so used to receiving money from her father and mother
+in comfortable amounts from time to time that she thought nothing of it. Frank
+loved her so much that it made everything right between them. She softened in
+her mood and they discussed the matter of letters, reaching the conclusion that
+a private messenger would be safest. When finally they parted, Aileen, from
+being sunk in the depths by his uncertain attitude, was now once more on the
+heights. She decided that he did love her, and went away smiling. She had her
+Frank to fall back on&mdash;she would teach her father. Cowperwood shook his
+head, following her with his eyes. She represented an additional burden, but
+give her up, he certainly could not. Tear the veil from this illusion of
+affection and make her feel so wretched when he cared for her so much? No.
+There was really nothing for him to do but what he had done. After all, he
+reflected, it might not work out so badly. Any detective work that Butler might
+choose to do would prove that she had not run to him. If at any moment it
+became necessary to bring common sense into play to save the situation from a
+deadly climax, he could have the Butlers secretly informed as to Aileen&rsquo;s
+whereabouts. That would show he had little to do with it, and they could try to
+persuade Aileen to come home again. Good might result&mdash;one could not tell.
+He would deal with the evils as they arose. He drove quickly back to his
+office, and Aileen returned to her home determined to put her plan into action.
+Her father had given her some little time in which to decide&mdash;possibly he
+would give her longer&mdash;but she would not wait. Having always had her wish
+granted in everything, she could not understand why she was not to have her way
+this time. It was about five o&rsquo;clock now. She would wait until all the
+members of the family were comfortably seated at the dinner-table, which would
+be about seven o&rsquo;clock, and then slip out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On arriving home, however, she was greeted by an unexpected reason for
+suspending action. This was the presence of a certain Mr. and Mrs.
+Steinmetz&mdash;the former a well-known engineer who drew the plans for many of
+the works which Butler undertook. It was the day before Thanksgiving, and they
+were eager to have Aileen and Norah accompany them for a fortnight&rsquo;s stay
+at their new home in West Chester&mdash;a structure concerning the charm of
+which Aileen had heard much. They were exceedingly agreeable
+people&mdash;comparatively young and surrounded by a coterie of interesting
+friends. Aileen decided to delay her flight and go. Her father was most
+cordial. The presence and invitation of the Steinmetzes was as much a relief to
+him as it was to Aileen. West Chester being forty miles from Philadelphia, it
+was unlikely that Aileen would attempt to meet Cowperwood while there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She wrote Cowperwood of the changed condition and departed, and he breathed a
+sigh of relief, fancying at the time that this storm had permanently blown
+over.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap39"></a>Chapter XXXIX</h2>
+
+<p>
+In the meanwhile the day of Cowperwood&rsquo;s trial was drawing near. He was
+under the impression that an attempt was going to be made to convict him
+whether the facts warranted it or not. He did not see any way out of his
+dilemma, however, unless it was to abandon everything and leave Philadelphia
+for good, which was impossible. The only way to guard his future and retain his
+financial friends was to stand trial as quickly as possible, and trust them to
+assist him to his feet in the future in case he failed. He discussed the
+possibilities of an unfair trial with Steger, who did not seem to think that
+there was so much to that. In the first place, a jury could not easily be
+suborned by any one. In the next place, most judges were honest, in spite of
+their political cleavage, and would go no further than party bias would lead
+them in their rulings and opinions, which was, in the main, not so far. The
+particular judge who was to sit in this case, one Wilbur Payderson, of the
+Court of Quarter Sessions, was a strict party nominee, and as such beholden to
+Mollenhauer, Simpson, and Butler; but, in so far as Steger had ever heard, he
+was an honest man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What I can&rsquo;t understand,&rdquo; said Steger, &ldquo;is why these
+fellows should be so anxious to punish you, unless it is for the effect on the
+State at large. The election&rsquo;s over. I understand there&rsquo;s a
+movement on now to get Stener out in case he is convicted, which he will be.
+They have to try him. He won&rsquo;t go up for more than a year, or two or
+three, and if he does he&rsquo;ll be pardoned out in half the time or less. It
+would be the same in your case, if you were convicted. They couldn&rsquo;t keep
+you in and let him out. But it will never get that far&mdash;take my word for
+it. We&rsquo;ll win before a jury, or we&rsquo;ll reverse the judgment of
+conviction before the State Supreme Court, certain. Those five judges up there
+are not going to sustain any such poppycock idea as this.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Steger actually believed what he said, and Cowperwood was pleased. Thus far the
+young lawyer had done excellently well in all of his cases. Still, he did not
+like the idea of being hunted down by Butler. It was a serious matter, and one
+of which Steger was totally unaware. Cowperwood could never quite forget that
+in listening to his lawyer&rsquo;s optimistic assurances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The actual beginning of the trial found almost all of the inhabitants of this
+city of six hundred thousand &ldquo;keyed up.&rdquo; None of the women of
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s family were coming into court. He had insisted that there
+should be no family demonstration for the newspapers to comment upon. His
+father was coming, for he might be needed as a witness. Aileen had written him
+the afternoon before saying she had returned from West Chester and wishing him
+luck. She was so anxious to know what was to become of him that she could not
+stay away any longer and had returned&mdash;not to go to the courtroom, for he
+did not want her to do that, but to be as near as possible when his fate was
+decided, adversely or otherwise. She wanted to run and congratulate him if he
+won, or to console with him if he lost. She felt that her return would be
+likely to precipitate a collision with her father, but she could not help that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The position of Mrs. Cowperwood was most anomalous. She had to go through the
+formality of seeming affectionate and tender, even when she knew that Frank did
+not want her to be. He felt instinctively now that she knew of Aileen. He was
+merely awaiting the proper hour in which to spread the whole matter before her.
+She put her arms around him at the door on the fateful morning, in the somewhat
+formal manner into which they had dropped these later years, and for a moment,
+even though she was keenly aware of his difficulties, she could not kiss him.
+He did not want to kiss her, but he did not show it. She did kiss him, though,
+and added: &ldquo;Oh, I do hope things come out all right.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You needn&rsquo;t worry about that, I think, Lillian,&rdquo; he replied,
+buoyantly. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be all right.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He ran down the steps and walked out on Girard Avenue to his former car line,
+where he boarded a car. He was thinking of Aileen and how keenly she was
+feeling for him, and what a mockery his married life now was, and whether he
+would face a sensible jury, and so on and so forth. If he didn&rsquo;t&mdash;if
+he didn&rsquo;t&mdash;this day was crucial!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stepped off the car at Third and Market and hurried to his office. Steger
+was already there. &ldquo;Well, Harper,&rdquo; observed Cowperwood,
+courageously, &ldquo;today&rsquo;s the day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Court of Quarter Sessions, Part I, where this trial was to take place, was
+held in famous Independence Hall, at Sixth and Chestnut Streets, which was at
+this time, as it had been for all of a century before, the center of local
+executive and judicial life. It was a low two-story building of red brick, with
+a white wooden central tower of old Dutch and English derivation, compounded of
+the square, the circle, and the octagon. The total structure consisted of a
+central portion and two T-shaped wings lying to the right and left, whose
+small, oval-topped old-fashioned windows and doors were set with those
+many-paned sashes so much admired by those who love what is known as Colonial
+architecture. Here, and in an addition known as State House Row (since torn
+down), which extended from the rear of the building toward Walnut Street, were
+located the offices of the mayor, the chief of police, the city treasurer, the
+chambers of council, and all the other important and executive offices of the
+city, together with the four branches of Quarter Sessions, which sat to hear
+the growing docket of criminal cases. The mammoth city hall which was
+subsequently completed at Broad and Market Streets was then building.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An attempt had been made to improve the reasonably large courtrooms by putting
+in them raised platforms of dark walnut surmounted by large, dark walnut desks,
+behind which the judges sat; but the attempt was not very successful. The
+desks, jury-boxes, and railings generally were made too large, and so the
+general effect was one of disproportion. A cream-colored wall had been thought
+the appropriate thing to go with black walnut furniture, but time and dust had
+made the combination dreary. There were no pictures or ornaments of any kind,
+save the stalky, over-elaborated gas-brackets which stood on his honor&rsquo;s
+desk, and the single swinging chandelier suspended from the center of the
+ceiling. Fat bailiffs and court officers, concerned only in holding their
+workless jobs, did not add anything to the spirit of the scene. Two of them in
+the particular court in which this trial was held contended hourly as to which
+should hand the judge a glass of water. One preceded his honor like a fat,
+stuffy, dusty majordomo to and from his dressing-room. His business was to call
+loudly, when the latter entered, &ldquo;His honor the Court, hats off.
+Everybody please rise,&rdquo; while a second bailiff, standing at the left of
+his honor when he was seated, and between the jury-box and the witness-chair,
+recited in an absolutely unintelligible way that beautiful and dignified
+statement of collective society&rsquo;s obligation to the constituent units,
+which begins, &ldquo;Hear ye! hear ye! hear ye!&rdquo; and ends, &ldquo;All
+those of you having just cause for complaint draw near and ye shall be
+heard.&rdquo; However, you would have thought it was of no import here. Custom
+and indifference had allowed it to sink to a mumble. A third bailiff guarded
+the door of the jury-room; and in addition to these there were present a court
+clerk&mdash;small, pale, candle-waxy, with colorless milk-and-water eyes, and
+thin, pork-fat-colored hair and beard, who looked for all the world like an
+Americanized and decidedly decrepit Chinese mandarin&mdash;and a court
+stenographer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Judge Wilbur Payderson, a lean herring of a man, who had sat in this case
+originally as the examining judge when Cowperwood had been indicted by the
+grand jury, and who had bound him over for trial at this term, was a peculiarly
+interesting type of judge, as judges go. He was so meager and thin-blooded that
+he was arresting for those qualities alone. Technically, he was learned in the
+law; actually, so far as life was concerned, absolutely unconscious of that
+subtle chemistry of things that transcends all written law and makes for the
+spirit and, beyond that, the inutility of all law, as all wise judges know. You
+could have looked at his lean, pedantic body, his frizzled gray hair, his
+fishy, blue-gray eyes, without any depth of speculation in them, and his nicely
+modeled but unimportant face, and told him that he was without imagination; but
+he would not have believed you&mdash;would have fined you for contempt of
+court. By the careful garnering of all his little opportunities, the furbishing
+up of every meager advantage; by listening slavishly to the voice of party, and
+following as nearly as he could the behests of intrenched property, he had
+reached his present state. It was not very far along, at that. His salary was
+only six thousand dollars a year. His little fame did not extend beyond the
+meager realm of local lawyers and judges. But the sight of his name quoted
+daily as being about his duties, or rendering such and such a decision, was a
+great satisfaction to him. He thought it made him a significant figure in the
+world. &ldquo;Behold I am not as other men,&rdquo; he often thought, and this
+comforted him. He was very much flattered when a prominent case came to his
+calendar; and as he sat enthroned before the various litigants and lawyers he
+felt, as a rule, very significant indeed. Now and then some subtlety of life
+would confuse his really limited intellect; but in all such cases there was the
+letter of the law. He could hunt in the reports to find out what really
+thinking men had decided. Besides, lawyers everywhere are so subtle. They put
+the rules of law, favorable or unfavorable, under the judge&rsquo;s thumb and
+nose. &ldquo;Your honor, in the thirty-second volume of the Revised Reports of
+Massachusetts, page so and so, line so and so, in Arundel versus Bannerman, you
+will find, etc.&rdquo; How often have you heard that in a court of law? The
+reasoning that is left to do in most cases is not much. And the sanctity of the
+law is raised like a great banner by which the pride of the incumbent is
+strengthened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Payderson, as Steger had indicated, could scarcely be pointed to as an unjust
+judge. He was a party judge&mdash;Republican in principle, or rather belief,
+beholden to the dominant party councils for his personal continuance in office,
+and as such willing and anxious to do whatever he considered that he reasonably
+could do to further the party welfare and the private interests of his masters.
+Most people never trouble to look into the mechanics of the thing they call
+their conscience too closely. Where they do, too often they lack the skill to
+disentangle the tangled threads of ethics and morals. Whatever the opinion of
+the time is, whatever the weight of great interests dictates, that they
+conscientiously believe. Some one has since invented the phrase &ldquo;a
+corporation-minded judge.&rdquo; There are many such.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Payderson was one. He fairly revered property and power. To him Butler and
+Mollenhauer and Simpson were great men&mdash;reasonably sure to be right always
+because they were so powerful. This matter of Cowperwood&rsquo;s and
+Stener&rsquo;s defalcation he had long heard of. He knew by associating with
+one political light and another just what the situation was. The party, as the
+leaders saw it, had been put in a very bad position by Cowperwood&rsquo;s
+subtlety. He had led Stener astray&mdash;more than an ordinary city treasurer
+should have been led astray&mdash;and, although Stener was primarily guilty as
+the original mover in the scheme, Cowperwood was more so for having led him
+imaginatively to such disastrous lengths. Besides, the party needed a
+scapegoat&mdash;that was enough for Payderson, in the first place. Of course,
+after the election had been won, and it appeared that the party had not
+suffered so much, he did not understand quite why it was that Cowperwood was
+still so carefully included in the Proceedings; but he had faith to believe
+that the leaders had some just grounds for not letting him off. From one source
+and another he learned that Butler had some private grudge against Cowperwood.
+What it was no one seemed to know exactly. The general impression was that
+Cowperwood had led Butler into some unwholesome financial transactions. Anyhow,
+it was generally understood that for the good of the party, and in order to
+teach a wholesome lesson to dangerous subordinates&mdash;it had been decided to
+allow these several indictments to take their course. Cowperwood was to be
+punished quite as severely as Stener for the moral effect on the community.
+Stener was to be sentenced the maximum sentence for his crime in order that the
+party and the courts should appear properly righteous. Beyond that he was to be
+left to the mercy of the governor, who could ease things up for him if he
+chose, and if the leaders wished. In the silly mind of the general public the
+various judges of Quarter Sessions, like girls incarcerated in
+boarding-schools, were supposed in their serene aloofness from life not to know
+what was going on in the subterranean realm of politics; but they knew well
+enough, and, knowing particularly well from whence came their continued
+position and authority, they were duly grateful.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap40"></a>Chapter XL</h2>
+
+<p>
+When Cowperwood came into the crowded courtroom with his father and Steger,
+quite fresh and jaunty (looking the part of the shrewd financier, the man of
+affairs), every one stared. It was really too much to expect, most of them
+thought, that a man like this would be convicted. He was, no doubt, guilty;
+but, also, no doubt, he had ways and means of evading the law. His lawyer,
+Harper Steger, looked very shrewd and canny to them. It was very cold, and both
+men wore long, dark, bluish-gray overcoats, cut in the latest mode. Cowperwood
+was given to small boutonnieres in fair weather, but to-day he wore none. His
+tie, however, was of heavy, impressive silk, of lavender hue, set with a large,
+clear, green emerald. He wore only the thinnest of watch-chains, and no other
+ornament of any kind. He always looked jaunty and yet reserved, good-natured,
+and yet capable and self-sufficient. Never had he looked more so than he did
+to-day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He at once took in the nature of the scene, which had a peculiar interest for
+him. Before him was the as yet empty judge&rsquo;s rostrum, and at its right
+the empty jury-box, between which, and to the judge&rsquo;s left, as he sat
+facing the audience, stood the witness-chair where he must presently sit and
+testify. Behind it, already awaiting the arrival of the court, stood a fat
+bailiff, one John Sparkheaver whose business it was to present the aged, greasy
+Bible to be touched by the witnesses in making oath, and to say, &ldquo;Step
+this way,&rdquo; when the testimony was over. There were other
+bailiffs&mdash;one at the gate giving into the railed space before the
+judge&rsquo;s desk, where prisoners were arraigned, lawyers sat or pleaded, the
+defendant had a chair, and so on; another in the aisle leading to the
+jury-room, and still another guarding the door by which the public entered.
+Cowperwood surveyed Stener, who was one of the witnesses, and who now, in his
+helpless fright over his own fate, was without malice toward any one. He had
+really never borne any. He wished if anything now that he had followed
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s advice, seeing where he now was, though he still had faith
+that Mollenhauer and the political powers represented by him would do something
+for him with the governor, once he was sentenced. He was very pale and
+comparatively thin. Already he had lost that ruddy bulk which had been added
+during the days of his prosperity. He wore a new gray suit and a brown tie, and
+was clean-shaven. When his eye caught Cowperwood&rsquo;s steady beam, it
+faltered and drooped. He rubbed his ear foolishly. Cowperwood nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know,&rdquo; he said to Steger, &ldquo;I feel sorry for George.
+He&rsquo;s such a fool. Still I did all I could.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood also watched Mrs. Stener out of the tail of his eye&mdash;an
+undersized, peaked, and sallow little woman, whose clothes fitted her
+abominably. It was just like Stener to marry a woman like that, he thought. The
+scrubby matches of the socially unelect or unfit always interested, though they
+did not always amuse, him. Mrs. Stener had no affection for Cowperwood, of
+course, looking on him, as she did, as the unscrupulous cause of her
+husband&rsquo;s downfall. They were now quite poor again, about to move from
+their big house into cheaper quarters; and this was not pleasing for her to
+contemplate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Judge Payderson came in after a time, accompanied by his undersized but stout
+court attendant, who looked more like a pouter-pigeon than a human being; and
+as they came, Bailiff Sparkheaver rapped on the judge&rsquo;s desk, beside
+which he had been slumbering, and mumbled, &ldquo;Please rise!&rdquo; The
+audience arose, as is the rule of all courts. Judge Payderson stirred among a
+number of briefs that were lying on his desk, and asked, briskly,
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the first case, Mr. Protus?&rdquo; He was speaking to his
+clerk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the long and tedious arrangement of the day&rsquo;s docket and while the
+various minor motions of lawyers were being considered, this courtroom scene
+still retained interest for Cowperwood. He was so eager to win, so incensed at
+the outcome of untoward events which had brought him here. He was always
+intensely irritated, though he did not show it, by the whole process of footing
+delays and queries and quibbles, by which legally the affairs of men were too
+often hampered. Law, if you had asked him, and he had accurately expressed
+himself, was a mist formed out of the moods and the mistakes of men, which
+befogged the sea of life and prevented plain sailing for the little commercial
+and social barques of men; it was a miasma of misinterpretation where the ills
+of life festered, and also a place where the accidentally wounded were ground
+between the upper and the nether millstones of force or chance; it was a
+strange, weird, interesting, and yet futile battle of wits where the ignorant
+and the incompetent and the shrewd and the angry and the weak were made pawns
+and shuttlecocks for men&mdash;lawyers, who were playing upon their moods,
+their vanities, their desires, and their necessities. It was an unholy and
+unsatisfactory disrupting and delaying spectacle, a painful commentary on the
+frailties of life, and men, a trick, a snare, a pit and gin. In the hands of
+the strong, like himself when he was at his best, the law was a sword and a
+shield, a trap to place before the feet of the unwary; a pit to dig in the path
+of those who might pursue. It was anything you might choose to make of
+it&mdash;a door to illegal opportunity; a cloud of dust to be cast in the eyes
+of those who might choose, and rightfully, to see; a veil to be dropped
+arbitrarily between truth and its execution, justice and its judgment, crime
+and punishment. Lawyers in the main were intellectual mercenaries to be bought
+and sold in any cause. It amused him to hear the ethical and emotional
+platitudes of lawyers, to see how readily they would lie, steal, prevaricate,
+misrepresent in almost any cause and for any purpose. Great lawyers were merely
+great unscrupulous subtleties, like himself, sitting back in dark, close-woven
+lairs like spiders and awaiting the approach of unwary human flies. Life was at
+best a dark, inhuman, unkind, unsympathetic struggle built of cruelties and the
+law, and its lawyers were the most despicable representatives of the whole
+unsatisfactory mess. Still he used law as he would use any other trap or weapon
+to rid him of a human ill; and as for lawyers, he picked them up as he would
+any club or knife wherewith to defend himself. He had no particular respect for
+any of them&mdash;not even Harper Steger, though he liked him. They were tools
+to be used&mdash;knives, keys, clubs, anything you will; but nothing more. When
+they were through they were paid and dropped&mdash;put aside and forgotten. As
+for judges, they were merely incompetent lawyers, at a rule, who were shelved
+by some fortunate turn of chance, and who would not, in all likelihood, be as
+efficient as the lawyers who pleaded before them if they were put in the same
+position. He had no respect for judges&mdash;he knew too much about them. He
+knew how often they were sycophants, political climbers, political hacks,
+tools, time-servers, judicial door-mats lying before the financially and
+politically great and powerful who used them as such. Judges were fools, as
+were most other people in this dusty, shifty world. Pah! His inscrutable eyes
+took them all in and gave no sign. His only safety lay, he thought, in the
+magnificent subtley of his own brain, and nowhere else. You could not convince
+Cowperwood of any great or inherent virtue in this mortal scheme of things. He
+knew too much; he knew himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the judge finally cleared away the various minor motions pending, he
+ordered his clerk to call the case of the City of Philadelphia versus Frank A.
+Cowperwood, which was done in a clear voice. Both Dennis Shannon, the new
+district attorney, and Steger, were on their feet at once. Steger and
+Cowperwood, together with Shannon and Strobik, who had now come in and was
+standing as the representative of the State of Pennsylvania&mdash;the
+complainant&mdash;had seated themselves at the long table inside the railing
+which inclosed the space before the judge&rsquo;s desk. Steger proposed to
+Judge Payderson, for effect&rsquo;s sake more than anything else, that this
+indictment be quashed, but was overruled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A jury to try the case was now quickly impaneled&mdash;twelve men out of the
+usual list called to serve for the month&mdash;and was then ready to be
+challenged by the opposing counsel. The business of impaneling a jury was a
+rather simple thing so far as this court was concerned. It consisted in the
+mandarin-like clerk taking the names of all the jurors called to serve in this
+court for the month&mdash;some fifty in all&mdash;and putting them, each
+written on a separate slip of paper, in a whirling drum, spinning it around a
+few times, and then lifting out the first slip which his hand encountered, thus
+glorifying chance and settling on who should be juror No. 1. His hand reaching
+in twelve times drew out the names of the twelve jurymen, who as their names
+were called, were ordered to take their places in the jury-box.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood observed this proceeding with a great deal of interest. What could
+be more important than the men who were going to try him? The process was too
+swift for accurate judgment, but he received a faint impression of middle-class
+men. One man in particular, however, an old man of sixty-five, with iron-gray
+hair and beard, shaggy eyebrows, sallow complexion, and stooped shoulders,
+struck him as having that kindness of temperament and breadth of experience
+which might under certain circumstances be argumentatively swayed in his favor.
+Another, a small, sharp-nosed, sharp-chinned commercial man of some kind, he
+immediately disliked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hope I don&rsquo;t have to have that man on my jury,&rdquo; he said to
+Steger, quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t,&rdquo; replied Steger. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll challenge him.
+We have the right to fifteen peremptory challenges on a case like this, and so
+has the prosecution.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the jury-box was finally full, the two lawyers waited for the clerk to
+bring them the small board upon which slips of paper bearing the names of the
+twelve jurors were fastened in rows in order of their selection&mdash;jurors
+one, two, and three being in the first row; four, five, and six in the second,
+and so on. It being the prerogative of the attorney for the prosecution to
+examine and challenge the jurors first, Shannon arose, and, taking the board,
+began to question them as to their trades or professions, their knowledge of
+the case before the court, and their possible prejudice for or against the
+prisoner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was the business of both Steger and Shannon to find men who knew a little
+something of finance and could understand a peculiar situation of this kind
+without any of them (looking at it from Steger&rsquo;s point of view) having
+any prejudice against a man&rsquo;s trying to assist himself by reasonable
+means to weather a financial storm or (looking at it from Shannon&rsquo;s point
+of view) having any sympathy with such means, if they bore about them the least
+suspicion of chicanery, jugglery, or dishonest manipulation of any kind. As
+both Shannon and Steger in due course observed for themselves in connection
+with this jury, it was composed of that assorted social fry which the dragnets
+of the courts, cast into the ocean of the city, bring to the surface for
+purposes of this sort. It was made up in the main of managers, agents,
+tradesmen, editors, engineers, architects, furriers, grocers, traveling
+salesmen, authors, and every other kind of working citizen whose experience had
+fitted him for service in proceedings of this character. Rarely would you have
+found a man of great distinction; but very frequently a group of men who were
+possessed of no small modicum of that interesting quality known as hard common
+sense.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Throughout all this Cowperwood sat quietly examining the men. A young florist,
+with a pale face, a wide speculative forehead, and anemic hands, struck him as
+being sufficiently impressionable to his personal charm to be worth while. He
+whispered as much to Steger. There was a shrewd Jew, a furrier, who was
+challenged because he had read all of the news of the panic and had lost two
+thousand dollars in street-railway stocks. There was a stout wholesale grocer,
+with red cheeks, blue eyes, and flaxen hair, who Cowperwood said he thought was
+stubborn. He was eliminated. There was a thin, dapper manager of a small retail
+clothing store, very anxious to be excused, who declared, falsely, that he did
+not believe in swearing by the Bible. Judge Payderson, eyeing him severely, let
+him go. There were some ten more in all&mdash;men who knew of Cowperwood, men
+who admitted they were prejudiced, men who were hidebound Republicans and
+resentful of this crime, men who knew Stener&mdash;who were pleasantly
+eliminated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By twelve o&rsquo;clock, however, a jury reasonably satisfactory to both sides
+had been chosen.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap41"></a>Chapter XLI</h2>
+
+<p>
+At two o&rsquo;clock sharp Dennis Shannon, as district attorney, began his
+opening address. He stated in a very simple, kindly way&mdash;for he had a most
+engaging manner&mdash;that the indictment as here presented charged Mr. Frank
+A. Cowperwood, who was sitting at the table inside the jury-rail, first with
+larceny, second with embezzlement, third with larceny as bailee, and fourth
+with embezzlement of a certain sum of money&mdash;a specific sum, to wit, sixty
+thousand dollars&mdash;on a check given him (drawn to his order) October 9,
+1871, which was intended to reimburse him for a certain number of certificates
+of city loan, which he as agent or bailee of the check was supposed to have
+purchased for the city sinking-fund on the order of the city treasurer (under
+some form of agreement which had been in existence between them, and which had
+been in force for some time)&mdash;said fund being intended to take up such
+certificates as they might mature in the hands of holders and be presented for
+payment&mdash;for which purpose, however, the check in question had never been
+used.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, gentlemen,&rdquo; said Mr. Shannon, very quietly, &ldquo;before we
+go into this very simple question of whether Mr. Cowperwood did or did not on
+the date in question get from the city treasurer sixty thousand dollars, for
+which he made no honest return, let me explain to you just what the people mean
+when they charge him first with larceny, second with embezzlement, third with
+larceny as bailee, and fourth with embezzlement on a check. Now, as you see,
+there are four counts here, as we lawyers term them, and the reason there are
+four counts is as follows: A man may be guilty of larceny and embezzlement at
+the same time, or of larceny or embezzlement separately, and without being
+guilty of the other, and the district attorney representing the people might be
+uncertain, not that he was not guilty of both, but that it might not be
+possible to present the evidence under one count, so as to insure his adequate
+punishment for a crime which in a way involved both. In such cases, gentlemen,
+it is customary to indict a man under separate counts, as has been done in this
+case. Now, the four counts in this case, in a way, overlap and confirm each
+other, and it will be your duty, after we have explained their nature and
+character and presented the evidence, to say whether the defendant is guilty on
+one count or the other, or on two or three of the counts, or on all four, just
+as you see fit and proper&mdash;or, to put it in a better way, as the evidence
+warrants. Larceny, as you may or may not know, is the act of taking away the
+goods or chattels of another without his knowledge or consent, and embezzlement
+is the fraudulent appropriation to one&rsquo;s own use of what is intrusted to
+one&rsquo;s care and management, especially money. Larceny as bailee, on the
+other hand, is simply a more definite form of larceny wherein one fixes the act
+of carrying away the goods of another without his knowledge or consent on the
+person to whom the goods were delivered in trust that is, the agent or bailee.
+Embezzlement on a check, which constitutes the fourth charge, is simply a more
+definite form of fixing charge number two in an exact way and signifies
+appropriating the money on a check given for a certain definite purpose. All of
+these charges, as you can see, gentlemen, are in a way synonymous. They overlap
+and overlay each other. The people, through their representative, the district
+attorney, contend that Mr. Cowperwood, the defendant here, is guilty of all
+four charges. So now, gentlemen, we will proceed to the history of this crime,
+which proves to me as an individual that this defendant has one of the most
+subtle and dangerous minds of the criminal financier type, and we hope by
+witnesses to prove that to you, also.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shannon, because the rules of evidence and court procedure here admitted of no
+interruption of the prosecution in presenting a case, then went on to describe
+from his own point of view how Cowperwood had first met Stener; how he had
+wormed himself into his confidence; how little financial knowledge Stener had,
+and so forth; coming down finally to the day the check for sixty thousand
+dollars was given Cowperwood; how Stener, as treasurer, claimed that he knew
+nothing of its delivery, which constituted the base of the charge of larceny;
+how Cowperwood, having it, misappropriated the certificates supposed to have
+been purchased for the sinking-fund, if they were purchased at all&mdash;all of
+which Shannon said constituted the crimes with which the defendant was charged,
+and of which he was unquestionably guilty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We have direct and positive evidence of all that we have thus far
+contended, gentlemen,&rdquo; Mr. Shannon concluded violently. &ldquo;This is
+not a matter of hearsay or theory, but of fact. You will be shown by direct
+testimony which cannot be shaken just how it was done. If, after you have heard
+all this, you still think this man is innocent&mdash;that he did not commit the
+crimes with which he is charged&mdash;it is your business to acquit him. On the
+other hand, if you think the witnesses whom we shall put on the stand are
+telling the truth, then it is your business to convict him, to find a verdict
+for the people as against the defendant. I thank you for your attention.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The jurors stirred comfortably and took positions of ease, in which they
+thought they were to rest for the time; but their idle comfort was of short
+duration for Shannon now called out the name of George W. Stener, who came
+hurrying forward very pale, very flaccid, very tired-looking. His eyes, as he
+took his seat in the witness-chair, laying his hand on the Bible and swearing
+to tell the truth, roved in a restless, nervous manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His voice was a little weak as he started to give his testimony. He told first
+how he had met Cowperwood in the early months of 1866&mdash;he could not
+remember the exact day; it was during his first term as city treasurer&mdash;he
+had been elected to the office in the fall of 1864. He had been troubled about
+the condition of city loan, which was below par, and which could not be sold by
+the city legally at anything but par. Cowperwood had been recommended to him by
+some one&mdash;Mr. Strobik, he believed, though he couldn&rsquo;t be sure. It
+was the custom of city treasurers to employ brokers, or a broker, in a crisis
+of this kind, and he was merely following what had been the custom. He went on
+to describe, under steady promptings and questions from the incisive mind of
+Shannon, just what the nature of this first conversation was&mdash;he
+remembered it fairly well; how Mr. Cowperwood had said he thought he could do
+what was wanted; how he had gone away and drawn up a plan or thought one out;
+and how he had returned and laid it before Stener. Under Shannon&rsquo;s
+skillful guidance Stener elucidated just what this scheme was&mdash;which
+wasn&rsquo;t exactly so flattering to the honesty of men in general as it was a
+testimonial to their subtlety and skill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After much discussion of Stener&rsquo;s and Cowperwood&rsquo;s relations the
+story finally got down to the preceding October, when by reason of
+companionship, long business understanding, mutually prosperous relationship,
+etc., the place had been reached where, it was explained, Cowperwood was not
+only handling several millions of city loan annually, buying and selling for
+the city and trading in it generally, but in the bargain had secured one five
+hundred thousand dollars&rsquo; worth of city money at an exceedingly low rate
+of interest, which was being invested for himself and Stener in profitable
+street-car ventures of one kind and another. Stener was not anxious to be
+altogether clear on this point; but Shannon, seeing that he was later to
+prosecute Stener himself for this very crime of embezzlement, and that Steger
+would soon follow in cross-examination, was not willing to let him be hazy.
+Shannon wanted to fix Cowperwood in the minds of the jury as a clever, tricky
+person, and by degrees he certainly managed to indicate a very subtle-minded
+man. Occasionally, as one sharp point after another of Cowperwood&rsquo;s skill
+was brought out and made moderately clear, one juror or another turned to look
+at Cowperwood. And he noting this and in order to impress them all as favorably
+as possible merely gazed Stenerward with a steady air of intelligence and
+comprehension.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The examination now came down to the matter of the particular check for sixty
+thousand dollars which Albert Stires had handed Cowperwood on the
+afternoon&mdash;late&mdash;of October 9, 1871. Shannon showed Stener the check
+itself. Had he ever seen it? Yes. Where? In the office of District Attorney
+Pettie on October 20th, or thereabouts last. Was that the first time he had
+seen it? Yes. Had he ever heard about it before then? Yes. When? On October
+10th last. Would he kindly tell the jury in his own way just how and under what
+circumstances he first heard of it then? Stener twisted uncomfortably in his
+chair. It was a hard thing to do. It was not a pleasant commentary on his own
+character and degree of moral stamina, to say the least. However, he cleared
+his throat again and began a description of that small but bitter section of
+his life&rsquo;s drama in which Cowperwood, finding himself in a tight place
+and about to fail, had come to him at his office and demanded that he loan him
+three hundred thousand dollars more in one lump sum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was considerable bickering just at this point between Steger and Shannon,
+for the former was very anxious to make it appear that Stener was lying out of
+the whole cloth about this. Steger got in his objection at this point, and
+created a considerable diversion from the main theme, because Stener kept
+saying he &ldquo;thought&rdquo; or he &ldquo;believed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Object!&rdquo; shouted Steger, repeatedly. &ldquo;I move that that be
+stricken from the record as incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial. The
+witness is not allowed to say what he thinks, and the prosecution knows it very
+well.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your honor,&rdquo; insisted Shannon, &ldquo;I am doing the best I can to
+have the witness tell a plain, straightforward story, and I think that it is
+obvious that he is doing so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Object!&rdquo; reiterated Steger, vociferously. &ldquo;Your honor, I
+insist that the district attorney has no right to prejudice the minds of the
+jury by flattering estimates of the sincerity of the witness. What he thinks of
+the witness and his sincerity is of no importance in this case. I must ask that
+your honor caution him plainly in this matter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Objection sustained,&rdquo; declared Judge Payderson, &ldquo;the
+prosecution will please be more explicit&rdquo;; and Shannon went on with his
+case.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stener&rsquo;s testimony, in one respect, was most important, for it made plain
+what Cowperwood did not want brought out&mdash;namely, that he and Stener had
+had a dispute before this; that Stener had distinctly told Cowperwood that he
+would not loan him any more money; that Cowperwood had told Stener, on the day
+before he secured this check, and again on that very day, that he was in a very
+desperate situation financially, and that if he were not assisted to the extent
+of three hundred thousand dollars he would fail, and that then both he and
+Stener would be ruined. On the morning of this day, according to Stener, he had
+sent Cowperwood a letter ordering him to cease purchasing city loan
+certificates for the sinking-fund. It was after their conversation on the same
+afternoon that Cowperwood surreptitiously secured the check for sixty thousand
+dollars from Albert Stires without his (Stener&rsquo;s) knowledge; and it was
+subsequent to this latter again that Stener, sending Albert to demand the
+return of the check, was refused, though the next day at five o&rsquo;clock in
+the afternoon Cowperwood made an assignment. And the certificates for which the
+check had been purloined were not in the sinking-fund as they should have been.
+This was dark testimony for Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If any one imagines that all this was done without many vehement objections and
+exceptions made and taken by Steger, and subsequently when he was
+cross-examining Stener, by Shannon, he errs greatly. At times the chamber was
+coruscating with these two gentlemen&rsquo;s bitter wrangles, and his honor was
+compelled to hammer his desk with his gavel, and to threaten both with contempt
+of court, in order to bring them to a sense of order. Indeed while Payderson
+was highly incensed, the jury was amused and interested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You gentlemen will have to stop this, or I tell you now that you will
+both be heavily fined. This is a court of law, not a bar-room. Mr. Steger, I
+expect you to apologize to me and your colleague at once. Mr. Shannon, I must
+ask that you use less aggressive methods. Your manner is offensive to me. It is
+not becoming to a court of law. I will not caution either of you again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Both lawyers apologized as lawyers do on such occasions, but it really made but
+little difference. Their individual attitudes and moods continued about as
+before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What did he say to you,&rdquo; asked Shannon of Stener, after one of
+these troublesome interruptions, &ldquo;on that occasion, October 9th last,
+when he came to you and demanded the loan of an additional three hundred
+thousand dollars? Give his words as near as you can remember&mdash;exactly, if
+possible.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Object!&rdquo; interposed Steger, vigorously. &ldquo;His exact words are
+not recorded anywhere except in Mr. Stener&rsquo;s memory, and his memory of
+them cannot be admitted in this case. The witness has testified to the general
+facts.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Judge Payderson smiled grimly. &ldquo;Objection overruled,&rdquo; he returned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Exception!&rdquo; shouted Steger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He said, as near as I can remember,&rdquo; replied Stener, drumming on
+the arms of the witness-chair in a nervous way, &ldquo;that if I didn&rsquo;t
+give him three hundred thousand dollars he was going to fail, and I would be
+poor and go to the penitentiary.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Object!&rdquo; shouted Stager, leaping to his feet. &ldquo;Your honor, I
+object to the whole manner in which this examination is being conducted by the
+prosecution. The evidence which the district attorney is here trying to extract
+from the uncertain memory of the witness is in defiance of all law and
+precedent, and has no definite bearing on the facts of the case, and could not
+disprove or substantiate whether Mr. Cowperwood thought or did not think that
+he was going to fail. Mr. Stener might give one version of this conversation or
+any conversation that took place at this time, and Mr. Cowperwood another. As a
+matter of fact, their versions are different. I see no point in Mr.
+Shannon&rsquo;s line of inquiry, unless it is to prejudice the jury&rsquo;s
+minds towards accepting certain allegations which the prosecution is pleased to
+make and which it cannot possibly substantiate. I think you ought to caution
+the witness to testify only in regard to things that he recalls exactly, not to
+what he thinks he remembers; and for my part I think that all that has been
+testified to in the last five minutes might be well stricken out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Objection overruled,&rdquo; replied Judge Payderson, rather
+indifferently; and Steger who had been talking merely to overcome the weight of
+Stener&rsquo;s testimony in the minds of the jury, sat down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shannon once more approached Stener.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, as near as you can remember, Mr. Stener, I wish you would tell the
+jury what else it was that Mr. Cowperwood said on that occasion. He certainly
+didn&rsquo;t stop with the remark that you would be ruined and go to the
+penitentiary. Wasn&rsquo;t there other language that was employed on that
+occasion?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He said, as far as I can remember,&rdquo; replied Stener, &ldquo;that
+there were a lot of political schemers who were trying to frighten me, that if
+I didn&rsquo;t give him three hundred thousand dollars we would both be ruined,
+and that I might as well be tried for stealing a sheep as a lamb.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ha!&rdquo; yelled Shannon. &ldquo;He said that, did he?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir; he did,&rdquo; said Stener.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How did he say it, exactly? What were his exact words?&rdquo; Shannon
+demanded, emphatically, pointing a forceful forefinger at Stener in order to
+key him up to a clear memory of what had transpired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, as near as I can remember, he said just that,&rdquo; replied
+Stener, vaguely. &ldquo;You might as well be tried for stealing a sheep as a
+lamb.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Exactly!&rdquo; exclaimed Shannon, whirling around past the jury to look
+at Cowperwood. &ldquo;I thought so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pure pyrotechnics, your honor,&rdquo; said Steger, rising to his feet on
+the instant. &ldquo;All intended to prejudice the minds of the jury. Acting. I
+wish you would caution the counsel for the prosecution to confine himself to
+the evidence in hand, and not act for the benefit of his case.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The spectators smiled; and Judge Payderson, noting it, frowned severely.
+&ldquo;Do you make that as an objection, Mr. Steger?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I certainly do, your honor,&rdquo; insisted Steger, resourcefully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Objection overruled. Neither counsel for the prosecution nor for the
+defense is limited to a peculiar routine of expression.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Steger himself was ready to smile, but he did not dare to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood fearing the force of such testimony and regretting it, still looked
+at Stener, pityingly. The feebleness of the man; the weakness of the man; the
+pass to which his cowardice had brought them both!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Shannon was through bringing out this unsatisfactory data, Steger took
+Stener in hand; but he could not make as much out of him as he hoped. In so far
+as this particular situation was concerned, Stener was telling the exact truth;
+and it is hard to weaken the effect of the exact truth by any subtlety of
+interpretation, though it can, sometimes, be done. With painstaking care Steger
+went over all the ground of Stener&rsquo;s long relationship with Cowperwood,
+and tried to make it appear that Cowperwood was invariably the disinterested
+agent&mdash;not the ringleader in a subtle, really criminal adventure. It was
+hard to do, but he made a fine impression. Still the jury listened with
+skeptical minds. It might not be fair to punish Cowperwood for seizing with
+avidity upon a splendid chance to get rich quick, they thought; but it
+certainly was not worth while to throw a veil of innocence over such palpable
+human cupidity. Finally, both lawyers were through with Stener for the time
+being, anyhow, and then Albert Stires was called to the stand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was the same thin, pleasant, alert, rather agreeable soul that he had been
+in the heyday of his clerkly prosperity&mdash;a little paler now, but not
+otherwise changed. His small property had been saved for him by Cowperwood, who
+had advised Steger to inform the Municipal Reform Association that
+Stires&rsquo; bondsmen were attempting to sequestrate it for their own benefit,
+when actually it should go to the city if there were any real claim against
+him&mdash;which there was not. That watchful organization had issued one of its
+numerous reports covering this point, and Albert had had the pleasure of seeing
+Strobik and the others withdraw in haste. Naturally he was grateful to
+Cowperwood, even though once he had been compelled to cry in vain in his
+presence. He was anxious now to do anything he could to help the banker, but
+his naturally truthful disposition prevented him from telling anything except
+the plain facts, which were partly beneficial and partly not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Stires testified that he recalled Cowperwood&rsquo;s saying that he had
+purchased the certificates, that he was entitled to the money, that Stener was
+unduly frightened, and that no harm would come to him, Albert. He identified
+certain memoranda in the city treasurer&rsquo;s books, which were produced, as
+being accurate, and others in Cowperwood&rsquo;s books, which were also
+produced, as being corroborative. His testimony as to Stener&rsquo;s
+astonishment on discovering that his chief clerk had given Cowperwood a check
+was against the latter; but Cowperwood hoped to overcome the effect of this by
+his own testimony later.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Up to now both Steger and Cowperwood felt that they were doing fairly well, and
+that they need not be surprised if they won their case.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap42"></a>Chapter XLII</h2>
+
+<p>
+The trial moved on. One witness for the prosecution after another followed
+until the State had built up an arraignment that satisfied Shannon that he had
+established Cowperwood&rsquo;s guilt, whereupon he announced that he rested.
+Steger at once arose and began a long argument for the dismissal of the case on
+the ground that there was no evidence to show this, that and the other, but
+Judge Payderson would have none of it. He knew how important the matter was in
+the local political world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you had better go into all that now, Mr.
+Steger,&rdquo; he said, wearily, after allowing him to proceed a reasonable
+distance. &ldquo;I am familiar with the custom of the city, and the indictment
+as here made does not concern the custom of the city. Your argument is with the
+jury, not with me. I couldn&rsquo;t enter into that now. You may renew your
+motion at the close of the defendants&rsquo; case. Motion denied.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+District-Attorney Shannon, who had been listening attentively, sat down.
+Steger, seeing there was no chance to soften the judge&rsquo;s mind by any
+subtlety of argument, returned to Cowperwood, who smiled at the result.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll just have to take our chances with the jury,&rdquo; he
+announced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I was sure of it,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Steger then approached the jury, and, having outlined the case briefly from his
+angle of observation, continued by telling them what he was sure the evidence
+would show from his point of view.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As a matter of fact, gentlemen, there is no essential difference in the
+evidence which the prosecution can present and that which we, the defense, can
+present. We are not going to dispute that Mr. Cowperwood received a check from
+Mr. Stener for sixty thousand dollars, or that he failed to put the certificate
+of city loan which that sum of money represented, and to which he was entitled
+in payment as agent, in the sinking-fund, as the prosecution now claims he
+should have done; but we are going to claim and prove also beyond the shadow of
+a reasonable doubt that he had a right, as the agent of the city, doing
+business with the city through its treasury department for four years, to
+withhold, under an agreement which he had with the city treasurer, all payments
+of money and all deposits of certificates in the sinking-fund until the first
+day of each succeeding month&mdash;the first month following any given
+transaction. As a matter of fact we can and will bring many traders and bankers
+who have had dealings with the city treasury in the past in just this way to
+prove this. The prosecution is going to ask you to believe that Mr. Cowperwood
+knew at the time he received this check that he was going to fail; that he did
+not buy the certificates, as he claimed, with the view of placing them in the
+sinking-fund; and that, knowing he was going to fail, and that he could not
+subsequently deposit them, he deliberately went to Mr. Albert Stires, Mr.
+Stener&rsquo;s secretary, told him that he had purchased such certificates, and
+on the strength of a falsehood, implied if not actually spoken, secured the
+check, and walked away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, gentlemen, I am not going to enter into a long-winded discussion of
+these points at this time, since the testimony is going to show very rapidly
+what the facts are. We have a number of witnesses here, and we are all anxious
+to have them heard. What I am going to ask you to remember is that there is not
+one scintilla of testimony outside of that which may possibly be given by Mr.
+George W. Stener, which will show either that Mr. Cowperwood knew, at the time
+he called on the city treasurer, that he was going to fail, or that he had not
+purchased the certificates in question, or that he had not the right to
+withhold them from the sinking-fund as long as he pleased up to the first of
+the month, the time he invariably struck a balance with the city. Mr. Stener,
+the ex-city treasurer, may possibly testify one way. Mr. Cowperwood, on his own
+behalf, will testify another. It will then be for you gentlemen to decide
+between them, to decide which one you prefer to believe&mdash;Mr. George W.
+Stener, the ex-city treasurer, the former commercial associate of Mr.
+Cowperwood, who, after years and years of profit, solely because of conditions
+of financial stress, fire, and panic, preferred to turn on his one-time
+associate from whose labors he had reaped so much profit, or Mr. Frank A.
+Cowperwood, the well-known banker and financier, who did his best to weather
+the storm alone, who fulfilled to the letter every agreement he ever had with
+the city, who has even until this hour been busy trying to remedy the unfair
+financial difficulties forced upon him by fire and panic, and who only
+yesterday made an offer to the city that, if he were allowed to continue in
+uninterrupted control of his affairs he would gladly repay as quickly as
+possible every dollar of his indebtedness (which is really not all his),
+including the five hundred thousand dollars under discussion between him and
+Mr. Stener and the city, and so prove by his works, not talk, that there was no
+basis for this unfair suspicion of his motives. As you perhaps surmise, the
+city has not chosen to accept his offer, and I shall try and tell you why
+later, gentlemen. For the present we will proceed with the testimony, and for
+the defense all I ask is that you give very close attention to all that is
+testified to here to-day. Listen very carefully to Mr. W. C. Davison when he is
+put on the stand. Listen equally carefully to Mr. Cowperwood when we call him
+to testify. Follow the other testimony closely, and then you will be able to
+judge for yourselves. See if you can distinguish a just motive for this
+prosecution. I can&rsquo;t. I am very much obliged to you for listening to me,
+gentlemen, so attentively.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He then put on Arthur Rivers, who had acted for Cowperwood on &rsquo;change as
+special agent during the panic, to testify to the large quantities of city loan
+he had purchased to stay the market; and then after him, Cowperwood&rsquo;s
+brothers, Edward and Joseph, who testified to instructions received from Rivers
+as to buying and selling city loan on that occasion&mdash;principally buying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next witness was President W. C. Davison of the Girard National Bank. He
+was a large man physically, not so round of body as full and broad. His
+shoulders and chest were ample. He had a big blond head, with an ample breadth
+of forehead, which was high and sane-looking. He had a thick, squat nose,
+which, however, was forceful, and thin, firm, even lips. There was the faintest
+touch of cynical humor in his hard blue eyes at times; but mostly he was
+friendly, alert, placid-looking, without seeming in the least sentimental or
+even kindly. His business, as one could see plainly, was to insist on hard
+financial facts, and one could see also how he would naturally be drawn to
+Frank Algernon Cowperwood without being mentally dominated or upset by him. As
+he took the chair very quietly, and yet one might say significantly, it was
+obvious that he felt that this sort of legal-financial palaver was above the
+average man and beneath the dignity of a true financier&mdash;in other words, a
+bother. The drowsy Sparkheaver holding up a Bible beside him for him to swear
+by might as well have been a block of wood. His oath was a personal matter with
+him. It was good business to tell the truth at times. His testimony was very
+direct and very simple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had known Mr. Frank Algernon Cowperwood for nearly ten years. He had done
+business with or through him nearly all of that time. He knew nothing of his
+personal relations with Mr. Stener, and did not know Mr. Stener personally. As
+for the particular check of sixty thousand dollars&mdash;yes, he had seen it
+before. It had come into the bank on October 10th along with other collateral
+to offset an overdraft on the part of Cowperwood &amp; Co. It was placed to the
+credit of Cowperwood &amp; Co. on the books of the bank, and the bank secured
+the cash through the clearing-house. No money was drawn out of the bank by
+Cowperwood &amp; Co. after that to create an overdraft. The bank&rsquo;s
+account with Cowperwood was squared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nevertheless, Mr. Cowperwood might have drawn heavily, and nothing would have
+been thought of it. Mr. Davison did not know that Mr. Cowperwood was going to
+fail&mdash;did not suppose that he could, so quickly. He had frequently
+overdrawn his account with the bank; as a matter of fact, it was the regular
+course of his business to overdraw it. It kept his assets actively in use,
+which was the height of good business. His overdrafts were protected by
+collateral, however, and it was his custom to send bundles of collateral or
+checks, or both, which were variously distributed to keep things straight. Mr.
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s account was the largest and most active in the bank, Mr.
+Davison kindly volunteered. When Mr. Cowperwood had failed there had been over
+ninety thousand dollars&rsquo; worth of certificates of city loan in the
+bank&rsquo;s possession which Mr Cowperwood had sent there as collateral.
+Shannon, on cross-examination, tried to find out for the sake of the effect on
+the jury, whether Mr. Davison was not for some ulterior motive especially
+favorable to Cowperwood. It was not possible for him to do that. Steger
+followed, and did his best to render the favorable points made by Mr. Davison
+in Cowperwood&rsquo;s behalf perfectly clear to the jury by having him repeat
+them. Shannon objected, of course, but it was of no use. Steger managed to make
+his point.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He now decided to have Cowperwood take the stand, and at the mention of his
+name in this connection the whole courtroom bristled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood came forward briskly and quickly. He was so calm, so jaunty, so
+defiant of life, and yet so courteous to it. These lawyers, this jury, this
+straw-and-water judge, these machinations of fate, did not basically disturb or
+humble or weaken him. He saw through the mental equipment of the jury at once.
+He wanted to assist his counsel in disturbing and confusing Shannon, but his
+reason told him that only an indestructible fabric of fact or seeming would do
+it. He believed in the financial rightness of the thing he had done. He was
+entitled to do it. Life was war&mdash;particularly financial life; and strategy
+was its keynote, its duty, its necessity. Why should he bother about petty,
+picayune minds which could not understand this? He went over his history for
+Steger and the jury, and put the sanest, most comfortable light on it that he
+could. He had not gone to Mr. Stener in the first place, he said&mdash;he had
+been called. He had not urged Mr. Stener to anything. He had merely shown him
+and his friends financial possibilities which they were only too eager to seize
+upon. And they had seized upon them. (It was not possible for Shannon to
+discover at this period how subtly he had organized his street-car companies so
+that he could have &ldquo;shaken out&rdquo; Stener and his friends without
+their being able to voice a single protest, so he talked of these things as
+opportunities which he had made for Stener and others. Shannon was not a
+financier, neither was Steger. They had to believe in a way, though they
+doubted it, partly&mdash;particularly Shannon.) He was not responsible for the
+custom prevailing in the office of the city treasurer, he said. He was a banker
+and broker.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The jury looked at him, and believed all except this matter of the
+sixty-thousand-dollar check. When it came to that he explained it all plausibly
+enough. When he had gone to see Stener those several last days, he had not
+fancied that he was really going to fail. He had asked Stener for some money,
+it is true&mdash;not so very much, all things considered&mdash;one hundred and
+fifty thousand dollars; but, as Stener should have testified, he (Cowperwood)
+was not disturbed in his manner. Stener had merely been one resource of his. He
+was satisfied at that time that he had many others. He had not used the
+forceful language or made the urgent appeal which Stener said he had, although
+he had pointed out to Stener that it was a mistake to become panic-stricken,
+also to withhold further credit. It was true that Stener was his easiest, his
+quickest resource, but not his only one. He thought, as a matter of fact, that
+his credit would be greatly extended by his principal money friends if
+necessary, and that he would have ample time to patch up his affairs and keep
+things going until the storm should blow over. He had told Stener of his
+extended purchase of city loan to stay the market on the first day of the
+panic, and of the fact that sixty thousand dollars was due him. Stener had made
+no objection. It was just possible that he was too mentally disturbed at the
+time to pay close attention. After that, to his, Cowperwood&rsquo;s, surprise,
+unexpected pressure on great financial houses from unexpected directions had
+caused them to be not willingly but unfortunately severe with him. This
+pressure, coming collectively the next day, had compelled him to close his
+doors, though he had not really expected to up to the last moment. His call for
+the sixty-thousand-dollar check at the time had been purely fortuitous. He
+needed the money, of course, but it was due him, and his clerks were all very
+busy. He merely asked for and took it personally to save time. Stener knew if
+it had been refused him he would have brought suit. The matter of depositing
+city loan certificates in the sinking-fund, when purchased for the city, was
+something to which he never gave any personal attention whatsoever. His
+bookkeeper, Mr. Stapley, attended to all that. He did not know, as a matter of
+fact, that they had not been deposited. (This was a barefaced lie. He did
+know.) As for the check being turned over to the Girard National Bank, that was
+fortuitous. It might just as well have been turned over to some other bank if
+the conditions had been different.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus on and on he went, answering all of Steger&rsquo;s and Shannon&rsquo;s
+searching questions with the most engaging frankness, and you could have sworn
+from the solemnity with which he took it all&mdash;the serious business
+attention&mdash;that he was the soul of so-called commercial honor. And to say
+truly, he did believe in the justice as well as the necessity and the
+importance of all that he had done and now described. He wanted the jury to see
+it as he saw it&mdash;put itself in his place and sympathize with him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was through finally, and the effect on the jury of his testimony and his
+personality was peculiar. Philip Moultrie, juror No. 1, decided that Cowperwood
+was lying. He could not see how it was possible that he could not know the day
+before that he was going to fail. He must have known, he thought. Anyhow, the
+whole series of transactions between him and Stener seemed deserving of some
+punishment, and all during this testimony he was thinking how, when he got in
+the jury-room, he would vote guilty. He even thought of some of the arguments
+he would use to convince the others that Cowperwood was guilty. Juror No. 2, on
+the contrary, Simon Glassberg, a clothier, thought he understood how it all
+came about, and decided to vote for acquittal. He did not think Cowperwood was
+innocent, but he did not think he deserved to be punished. Juror No. 3,
+Fletcher Norton, an architect, thought Cowperwood was guilty, but at the same
+time that he was too talented to be sent to prison. Juror No. 4, Charles
+Hillegan, an Irishman, a contractor, and a somewhat religious-minded person,
+thought Cowperwood was guilty and ought to be punished. Juror No. 5, Philip
+Lukash, a coal merchant, thought he was guilty. Juror No. 6, Benjamin Fraser, a
+mining expert, thought he was probably guilty, but he could not be sure.
+Uncertain what he would do, juror No. 7, J. J. Bridges, a broker in Third
+Street, small, practical, narrow, thought Cowperwood was shrewd and guilty and
+deserved to be punished. He would vote for his punishment. Juror No. 8, Guy E.
+Tripp, general manager of a small steamboat company, was uncertain. Juror No.
+9, Joseph Tisdale, a retired glue manufacturer, thought Cowperwood was probably
+guilty as charged, but to Tisdale it was no crime. Cowperwood was entitled to
+do as he had done under the circumstances. Tisdale would vote for his
+acquittal. Juror No. 10, Richard Marsh, a young florist, was for Cowperwood in
+a sentimental way. He had, as a matter of fact, no real convictions. Juror No.
+11, Richard Webber, a grocer, small financially, but heavy physically, was for
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s conviction. He thought him guilty. Juror No. 12, Washington
+B. Thomas, a wholesale flour merchant, thought Cowperwood was guilty, but
+believed in a recommendation to mercy after pronouncing him so. Men ought to be
+reformed, was his slogan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So they stood, and so Cowperwood left them, wondering whether any of his
+testimony had had a favorable effect.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap43"></a>Chapter XLIII</h2>
+
+<p>
+Since it is the privilege of the lawyer for the defense to address the jury
+first, Steger bowed politely to his colleague and came forward. Putting his
+hands on the jury-box rail, he began in a very quiet, modest, but impressive
+way:
+</p>
+
+<blockquote> <div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Gentlemen of the jury, my client, Mr. Frank Algernon Cowperwood, a
+well-known banker and financier of this city, doing business in Third Street,
+is charged by the State of Pennsylvania, represented by the district attorney
+of this district, with fraudulently transferring from the treasury of the city
+of Philadelphia to his own purse the sum of sixty thousand dollars, in the form
+of a check made out to his order, dated October 9, 1871, and by him received
+from one Albert Stires, the private secretary and head bookkeeper of the
+treasurer of this city, at the time in question. Now, gentlemen, what are the
+facts in this connection? You have heard the various witnesses and know the
+general outlines of the story. Take the testimony of George W. Stener, to begin
+with. He tells you that sometime back in the year 1866 he was greatly in need
+of some one, some banker or broker, who would tell him how to bring city loan,
+which was selling very low at the time, to par&mdash;who would not only tell
+him this, but proceed to demonstrate that his knowledge was accurate by doing
+it. Mr. Stener was an inexperienced man at the time in the matter of finance.
+Mr. Cowperwood was an active young man with an enviable record as a broker and
+a trader on &rsquo;change. He proceeded to demonstrate to Mr. Stener not only
+in theory, but in fact, how this thing of bringing city loan to par could be
+done. He made an arrangement at that time with Mr. Stener, the details of which
+you have heard from Mr. Stener himself, the result of which was that a large
+amount of city loan was turned over to Mr. Cowperwood by Mr. Stener for sale,
+and by adroit manipulation&mdash;methods of buying and selling which need not
+be gone into here, but which are perfectly sane and legitimate in the world in
+which Mr. Cowperwood operated, did bring that loan to par, and kept it there
+year after year as you have all heard here testified to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now what is the bone of contention here, gentlemen, the significant fact
+which brings Mr. Stener into this court at this time charging his old-time
+agent and broker with larceny and embezzlement, and alleging that he has
+transferred to his own use without a shadow of return sixty thousand dollars of
+the money which belongs to the city treasury? What is it? Is it that Mr.
+Cowperwood secretly, with great stealth, as it were, at some time or other,
+unknown to Mr. Stener or to his assistants, entered the office of the treasurer
+and forcibly, and with criminal intent, carried away sixty thousand
+dollars&rsquo; worth of the city&rsquo;s money? Not at all. The charge is, as
+you have heard the district attorney explain, that Mr. Cowperwood came in broad
+daylight at between four and five o&rsquo;clock of the afternoon preceeding the
+day of his assignment; was closeted with Mr. Stener for a half or
+three-quarters of an hour; came out; explained to Mr. Albert Stires that he had
+recently bought sixty thousand dollars&rsquo; worth of city loan for the city
+sinking-fund, for which he had not been paid; asked that the amount be credited
+on the city&rsquo;s books to him, and that he be given a check, which was his
+due, and walked out. Anything very remarkable about that, gentlemen? Anything
+very strange? Has it been testified here to-day that Mr. Cowperwood was not the
+agent of the city for the transaction of just such business as he said on that
+occasion that he had transacted? Did any one say here on the witness-stand that
+he had not bought city loan as he said he had?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why is it then that Mr. Stener charges Mr. Cowperwood with larcenously
+securing and feloniously disposing of a check for sixty thousand dollars for
+certificates which he had a right to buy, and which it has not been contested
+here that he did buy? The reason lies just here&mdash;listen&mdash;just here.
+At the time my client asked for the check and took it away with him and
+deposited it in his own bank to his own account, he failed, so the prosecution
+insists, to put the sixty thousand dollars&rsquo; worth of certificates for
+which he had received the check, in the sinking-fund; and having failed to do
+that, and being compelled by the pressure of financial events the same day to
+suspend payment generally, he thereby, according to the prosecution and the
+anxious leaders of the Republican party in the city, became an embezzler, a
+thief, a this or that&mdash;anything you please so long as you find a
+substitute for George W. Stener and the indifferent leaders of the Republican
+party in the eyes of the people.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div> </blockquote>
+
+<p>
+And here Mr. Steger proceeded boldly and defiantly to outline the entire
+political situation as it had manifested itself in connection with the Chicago
+fire, the subsequent panic and its political consequences, and to picture
+Cowperwood as the unjustly maligned agent, who before the fire was valuable and
+honorable enough to suit any of the political leaders of Philadelphia, but
+afterward, and when political defeat threatened, was picked upon as the most
+available scapegoat anywhere within reach.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And it took him a half hour to do that. And afterward but only after he had
+pointed to Stener as the true henchman and stalking horse, who had, in turn,
+been used by political forces above him to accomplish certain financial
+results, which they were not willing to have ascribed to themselves, he
+continued with:
+</p>
+
+<blockquote> <div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But now, in the light of all this, only see how ridiculous all this is!
+How silly! Frank A. Cowperwood had always been the agent of the city in these
+matters for years and years. He worked under certain rules which he and Mr.
+Stener had agreed upon in the first place, and which obviously came from
+others, who were above Mr. Stener, since they were hold-over customs and rules
+from administrations, which had been long before Mr. Stener ever appeared on
+the scene as city treasurer. One of them was that he could carry all
+transactions over until the first of the month following before he struck a
+balance. That is, he need not pay any money over for anything to the city
+treasurer, need not send him any checks or deposit any money or certificates in
+the sinking-fund until the first of the month because&mdash;now listen to this
+carefully, gentlemen; it is important&mdash;because his transactions in
+connection with city loan and everything else that he dealt in for the city
+treasurer were so numerous, so swift, so uncalculated beforehand, that he had
+to have a loose, easy system of this kind in order to do his work
+properly&mdash;to do business at all. Otherwise he could not very well have
+worked to the best advantage for Mr. Stener, or for any one else. It would have
+meant too much bookkeeping for him&mdash;too much for the city treasurer. Mr.
+Stener has testified to that in the early part of his story. Albert Stires has
+indicated that that was his understanding of it. Well, then what? Why, just
+this. Would any jury suppose, would any sane business man believe that if such
+were the case Mr. Cowperwood would be running personally with all these items
+of deposit, to the different banks or the sinking-fund or the city
+treasurer&rsquo;s office, or would be saying to his head bookkeeper,
+&lsquo;Here, Stapley, here is a check for sixty thousand dollars. See that the
+certificates of loan which this represents are put in the sinking-fund
+to-day&rsquo;? And why not? What a ridiculous supposition any other supposition
+is! As a matter of course and as had always been the case, Mr. Cowperwood had a
+system. When the time came, this check and these certificates would be
+automatically taken care of. He handed his bookkeeper the check and forgot all
+about it. Would you imagine a banker with a vast business of this kind doing
+anything else?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div> </blockquote>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Steger paused for breath and inquiry, and then, having satisfied himself
+that his point had been sufficiently made, he continued:
+</p>
+
+<blockquote> <div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course the answer is that he knew he was going to fail. Well, Mr.
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s reply is that he didn&rsquo;t know anything of the sort. He
+has personally testified here that it was only at the last moment before it
+actually happened that he either thought or knew of such an occurrence. Why,
+then, this alleged refusal to let him have the check to which he was legally
+entitled? I think I know. I think I can give a reason if you will hear me
+out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div> </blockquote>
+
+<p>
+Steger shifted his position and came at the jury from another intellectual
+angle:
+</p>
+
+<blockquote> <div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was simply because Mr. George W. Stener at that time, owing to a
+recent notable fire and a panic, imagined for some reason&mdash;perhaps because
+Mr. Cowperwood cautioned him not to become frightened over local developments
+generally&mdash;that Mr. Cowperwood was going to close his doors; and having
+considerable money on deposit with him at a low rate of interest, Mr. Stener
+decided that Mr. Cowperwood must not have any more money&mdash;not even the
+money that was actually due him for services rendered, and that had nothing
+whatsoever to do with the money loaned him by Mr. Stener at two and one-half
+per cent. Now isn&rsquo;t that a ridiculous situation? But it was because Mr.
+George W. Stener was filled with his own fears, based on a fire and a panic
+which had absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Cowperwood&rsquo;s solvency in the
+beginning that he decided not to let Frank A. Cowperwood have the money that
+was actually due him, because he, Stener, was criminally using the city&rsquo;s
+money to further his own private interests (through Mr. Cowperwood as a
+broker), and in danger of being exposed and possibly punished. Now where, I ask
+you, does the good sense of that decision come in? Is it apparent to you,
+gentlemen? Was Mr. Cowperwood still an agent for the city at the time he bought
+the loan certificates as here testified? He certainly was. If so, was he
+entitled to that money? Who is going to stand up here and deny it? Where is the
+question then, as to his right or his honesty in this matter? How does it come
+in here at all? I can tell you. It sprang solely from one source and from
+nowhere else, and that is the desire of the politicians of this city to find a
+scapegoat for the Republican party.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now you may think I am going rather far afield for an explanation of
+this very peculiar decision to prosecute Mr. Cowperwood, an agent of the city,
+for demanding and receiving what actually belonged to him. But I&rsquo;m not.
+Consider the position of the Republican party at that time. Consider the fact
+that an exposure of the truth in regard to the details of a large defalcation
+in the city treasury would have a very unsatisfactory effect on the election
+about to be held. The Republican party had a new city treasurer to elect, a new
+district attorney. It had been in the habit of allowing its city treasurers the
+privilege of investing the funds in their possession at a low rate of interest
+for the benefit of themselves and their friends. Their salaries were small.
+They had to have some way of eking out a reasonable existence. Was Mr. George
+Stener responsible for this custom of loaning out the city money? Not at all.
+Was Mr. Cowperwood? Not at all. The custom had been in vogue long before either
+Mr. Cowperwood or Mr. Stener came on the scene. Why, then, this great hue and
+cry about it now? The entire uproar sprang solely from the fear of Mr. Stener
+at this juncture, the fear of the politicians at this juncture, of public
+exposure. No city treasurer had ever been exposed before. It was a new thing to
+face exposure, to face the risk of having the public&rsquo;s attention called
+to a rather nefarious practice of which Mr. Stener was taking advantage, that
+was all. A great fire and a panic were endangering the security and well-being
+of many a financial organization in the city&mdash;Mr. Cowperwood&rsquo;s among
+others. It meant many possible failures, and many possible failures meant one
+possible failure. If Frank A. Cowperwood failed, he would fail owing the city
+of Philadelphia five hundred thousand dollars, borrowed from the city treasurer
+at the very low rate of interest of two and one-half per cent. Anything very
+detrimental to Mr. Cowperwood in that? Had he gone to the city treasurer and
+asked to be loaned money at two and one-half per cent.? If he had, was there
+anything criminal in it from a business point of view? Isn&rsquo;t a man
+entitled to borrow money from any source he can at the lowest possible rate of
+interest? Did Mr. Stener have to loan it to Mr. Cowperwood if he did not want
+to? As a matter of fact didn&rsquo;t he testify here to-day that he personally
+had sent for Mr. Cowperwood in the first place? Why, then, in Heaven&rsquo;s
+name, this excited charge of larceny, larceny as bailee, embezzlement,
+embezzlement on a check, etc., etc.?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Once more, gentlemen, listen. I&rsquo;ll tell you why. The men who stood
+behind Stener, and whose bidding he was doing, wanted to make a political
+scapegoat of some one&mdash;of Frank Algernon Cowperwood, if they
+couldn&rsquo;t get any one else. That&rsquo;s why. No other reason under
+God&rsquo;s blue sky, not one. Why, if Mr. Cowperwood needed more money just at
+that time to tide him over, it would have been good policy for them to have
+given it to him and hushed this matter up. It would have been
+illegal&mdash;though not any more illegal than anything else that has ever been
+done in this connection&mdash;but it would have been safer. Fear, gentlemen,
+fear, lack of courage, inability to meet a great crisis when a great crisis
+appears, was all that really prevented them from doing this. They were afraid
+to place confidence in a man who had never heretofore betrayed their trust and
+from whose loyalty and great financial ability they and the city had been
+reaping large profits. The reigning city treasurer of the time didn&rsquo;t
+have the courage to go on in the face of fire and panic and the rumors of
+possible failure, and stick by his illegal guns; and so he decided to draw in
+his horns as testified here to-day&mdash;to ask Mr. Cowperwood to return all or
+at least a big part of the five hundred thousand dollars he had loaned him, and
+which Cowperwood had been actually using for his, Stener&rsquo;s benefit, and
+to refuse him in addition the money that was actually due him for an authorized
+purchase of city loan. Was Cowperwood guilty as an agent in any of these
+transactions? Not in the least. Was there any suit pending to make him return
+the five hundred thousand dollars of city money involved in his present
+failure? Not at all. It was simply a case of wild, silly panic on the part of
+George W. Stener, and a strong desire on the part of the Republican party
+leaders, once they discovered what the situation was, to find some one outside
+of Stener, the party treasurer, upon whom they could blame the shortage in the
+treasury. You heard what Mr. Cowperwood testified to here in this case
+to-day&mdash;that he went to Mr. Stener to forfend against any possible action
+of this kind in the first place. And it was because of this very warning that
+Mr. Stener became wildly excited, lost his head, and wanted Mr. Cowperwood to
+return him all his money, all the five hundred thousand dollars he had loaned
+him at two and one-half per cent. Isn&rsquo;t that silly financial business at
+the best? Wasn&rsquo;t that a fine time to try to call a perfectly legal loan?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But now to return to this particular check of sixty thousand dollars.
+When Mr. Cowperwood called that last afternoon before he failed, Mr. Stener
+testified that he told him that he couldn&rsquo;t have any more money, that it
+was impossible, and that then Mr. Cowperwood went out into his general office
+and without his knowledge or consent persuaded his chief clerk and secretary,
+Mr. Albert Stires, to give him a check for sixty thousand dollars, to which he
+was not entitled and on which he, Stener, would have stopped payment if he had
+known.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What nonsense! Why didn&rsquo;t he know? The books were there, open to
+him. Mr. Stires told him the first thing the next morning. Mr. Cowperwood
+thought nothing of it, for he was entitled to it, and could collect it in any
+court of law having jurisdiction in such cases, failure or no failure. It is
+silly for Mr. Stener to say he would have stopped payment. Such a claim was
+probably an after-thought of the next morning after he had talked with his
+friends, the politicians, and was all a part, a trick, a trap, to provide the
+Republican party with a scapegoat at this time. Nothing more and nothing less;
+and you may be sure no one knew it better than the people who were most anxious
+to see Mr. Cowperwood convicted.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div> </blockquote>
+
+<p>
+Steger paused and looked significantly at Shannon.
+</p>
+
+<blockquote> <div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Gentlemen of the jury [he finally concluded, quietly and earnestly], you
+are going to find, when you think it over in the jury-room this evening, that
+this charge of larceny and larceny as bailee, and embezzlement of a check for
+sixty thousand dollars, which are contained in this indictment, and which
+represent nothing more than the eager effort of the district attorney to word
+this one act in such a way that it will look like a crime, represents nothing
+more than the excited imagination of a lot of political refugees who are
+anxious to protect their own skirts at the expense of Mr. Cowperwood, and who
+care for nothing&mdash;honor, fair play, or anything else, so long as they are
+let off scot-free. They don&rsquo;t want the Republicans of Pennsylvania to
+think too ill of the Republican party management and control in this city. They
+want to protect George W. Stener as much as possible and to make a political
+scapegoat of my client. It can&rsquo;t be done, and it won&rsquo;t be done. As
+honorable, intelligent men you won&rsquo;t permit it to be done. And I think
+with that thought I can safely leave you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div> </blockquote>
+
+<p>
+Steger suddenly turned from the jury-box and walked to his seat beside
+Cowperwood, while Shannon arose, calm, forceful, vigorous, much younger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As between man and man, Shannon was not particularly opposed to the case Steger
+had made out for Cowperwood, nor was he opposed to Cowperwood&rsquo;s having
+made money as he did. As a matter of fact, Shannon actually thought that if he
+had been in Cowperwood&rsquo;s position he would have done exactly the same
+thing. However, he was the newly elected district attorney. He had a record to
+make; and, besides, the political powers who were above him were satisfied that
+Cowperwood ought to be convicted for the looks of the thing. Therefore he laid
+his hands firmly on the rail at first, looked the jurors steadily in the eyes
+for a time, and, having framed a few thoughts in his mind began:
+</p>
+
+<blockquote> <div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, gentlemen of the jury, it seems to me that if we all pay strict
+attention to what has transpired here to-day, we will have no difficulty in
+reaching a conclusion; and it will be a very satisfactory one, if we all try to
+interpret the facts correctly. This defendant, Mr. Cowperwood, comes into this
+court to-day charged, as I have stated to you before, with larceny, with
+larceny as bailee, with embezzlement, and with embezzlement of a specific
+check&mdash;namely, one dated October 9, 1871, drawn to the order of Frank A.
+Cowperwood &amp; Company for the sum of sixty thousand dollars by the secretary
+of the city treasurer for the city treasurer, and by him signed, as he had a
+perfect right to sign it, and delivered to the said Frank A. Cowperwood, who
+claims that he was not only properly solvent at the time, but had previously
+purchased certificates of city loan to the value of sixty thousand dollars, and
+had at that time or would shortly thereafter, as was his custom, deposit them
+to the credit of the city in the city sinking-fund, and thus close what would
+ordinarily be an ordinary transaction&mdash;namely, that of Frank A. Cowperwood
+&amp; Company as bankers and brokers for the city buying city loan for the
+city, depositing it in the sinking-fund, and being promptly and properly
+reimbursed. Now, gentlemen, what are the actual facts in this case? Was the
+said Frank A. Cowperwood &amp; Company&mdash;there is no company, as you well
+know, as you have heard testified here to-day, only Frank A.
+Cowperwood&mdash;was the said Frank A. Cowperwood a fit person to receive the
+check at this time in the manner he received it&mdash;that is, was he
+authorized agent of the city at the time, or was he not? Was he solvent? Did he
+actually himself think he was going to fail, and was this sixty-thousand-dollar
+check a last thin straw which he was grabbing at to save his financial life
+regardless of what it involved legally, morally, or otherwise; or had he
+actually purchased certificates of city loan to the amount he said he had in
+the way he said he had, at the time he said he had, and was he merely
+collecting his honest due? Did he intend to deposit these certificates of loans
+in the city sinking-fund, as he said he would&mdash;as it was understood
+naturally and normally that he would&mdash;or did he not? Were his relations
+with the city treasurer as broker and agent the same as they had always been on
+the day that he secured this particular check for sixty thousand dollars, or
+were they not? Had they been terminated by a conversation fifteen minutes
+before or two days before or two weeks before&mdash;it makes no difference
+when, so long as they had been properly terminated&mdash;or had they not? A
+business man has a right to abrogate an agreement at any time where there is no
+specific form of contract and no fixed period of operation entered
+into&mdash;as you all must know. You must not forget that in considering the
+evidence in this case. Did George W. Stener, knowing or suspecting that Frank
+A. Cowperwood was in a tight place financially, unable to fulfill any longer
+properly and honestly the duties supposedly devolving on him by this agreement,
+terminate it then and there on October 9, 1871, before this check for sixty
+thousand dollars was given, or did he not? Did Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood then and
+there, knowing that he was no longer an agent of the city treasurer and the
+city, and knowing also that he was insolvent (having, as Mr. Stener contends,
+admitted to him that he was so), and having no intention of placing the
+certificates which he subsequently declared he had purchased in the
+sinking-fund, go out into Mr. Stener&rsquo;s general office, meet his
+secretary, tell him he had purchased sixty thousand dollars&rsquo; worth of
+city loan, ask for the check, get it, put it in his pocket, walk off, and never
+make any return of any kind in any manner, shape, or form to the city, and
+then, subsequently, twenty-four hours later, fail, owing this and five hundred
+thousand dollars more to the city treasury, or did he not? What are the facts
+in this case? What have the witnesses testified to? What has George W. Stener
+testified to, Albert Stires, President Davison, Mr. Cowperwood himself? What
+are the interesting, subtle facts in this case, anyhow? Gentlemen, you have a
+very curious problem to decide.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div> </blockquote>
+
+<p>
+He paused and gazed at the jury, adjusting his sleeves as he did so, and
+looking as though he knew for certain that he was on the trail of a slippery,
+elusive criminal who was in a fair way to foist himself upon an honorable and
+decent community and an honorable and innocent jury as an honest man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he continued:
+</p>
+
+<blockquote> <div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, gentlemen, what are the facts? You can see for yourselves exactly
+how this whole situation has come about. You are sensible men. I don&rsquo;t
+need to tell you. Here are two men, one elected treasurer of the city of
+Philadelphia, sworn to guard the interests of the city and to manipulate its
+finances to the best advantage, and the other called in at a time of uncertain
+financial cogitation to assist in unraveling a possibly difficult financial
+problem; and then you have a case of a quiet, private financial understanding
+being reached, and of subsequent illegal dealings in which one man who is
+shrewder, wiser, more versed in the subtle ways of Third Street leads the other
+along over seemingly charming paths of fortunate investment into an accidental
+but none the less criminal mire of failure and exposure and public calumny and
+what not. And then they get to the place where the more vulnerable individual
+of the two&mdash;the man in the most dangerous position, the city treasurer of
+Philadelphia, no less&mdash;can no longer reasonably or, let us say,
+courageously, follow the other fellow; and then you have such a spectacle as
+was described here this afternoon in the witness-chair by Mr. Stener&mdash;that
+is, you have a vicious, greedy, unmerciful financial wolf standing over a
+cowering, unsophisticated commercial lamb, and saying to him, his white, shiny
+teeth glittering all the while, &lsquo;If you don&rsquo;t advance me the money
+I ask for&mdash;the three hundred thousand dollars I now demand&mdash;you will
+be a convict, your children will be thrown in the street, you and your wife and
+your family will be in poverty again, and there will be no one to turn a hand
+for you.&rsquo; That is what Mr. Stener says Mr. Cowperwood said to him. I, for
+my part, haven&rsquo;t a doubt in the world that he did. Mr. Steger, in his
+very guarded references to his client, describes him as a nice, kind,
+gentlemanly agent, a broker merely on whom was practically forced the use of
+five hundred thousand dollars at two and a half per cent. when money was
+bringing from ten to fifteen per cent. in Third Street on call loans, and even
+more. But I for one don&rsquo;t choose to believe it. The thing that strikes me
+as strange in all of this is that if he was so nice and kind and gentle and
+remote&mdash;a mere hired and therefore subservient agent&mdash;how is it that
+he could have gone to Mr. Stener&rsquo;s office two or three days before the
+matter of this sixty-thousand-dollar check came up and say to him, as Mr.
+Stener testifies under oath that he did say to him, &lsquo;If you don&rsquo;t
+give me three hundred thousand dollars&rsquo; worth more of the city&rsquo;s
+money at once, to-day, I will fail, and you will be a convict. You will go to
+the penitentiary.&rsquo;? That&rsquo;s what he said to him. &lsquo;I will fail
+and you will be a convict. They can&rsquo;t touch me, but they will arrest you.
+I am an agent merely.&rsquo; Does that sound like a nice, mild, innocent,
+well-mannered agent, a hired broker, or doesn&rsquo;t it sound like a hard,
+defiant, contemptuous master&mdash;a man in control and ready to rule and win
+by fair means or foul?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Gentlemen, I hold no brief for George W. Stener. In my judgment he is as
+guilty as his smug co-partner in crime&mdash;if not more so&mdash;this oily
+financier who came smiling and in sheep&rsquo;s clothing, pointing out subtle
+ways by which the city&rsquo;s money could be made profitable for both; but
+when I hear Mr. Cowperwood described as I have just heard him described, as a
+nice, mild, innocent agent, my gorge rises. Why, gentlemen, if you want to get
+a right point of view on this whole proposition you will have to go back about
+ten or twelve years and see Mr. George W. Stener as he was then, a rather
+poverty-stricken beginner in politics, and before this very subtle and capable
+broker and agent came along and pointed out ways and means by which the
+city&rsquo;s money could be made profitable; George W. Stener wasn&rsquo;t very
+much of a personage then, and neither was Frank A. Cowperwood when he found
+Stener newly elected to the office of city treasurer. Can&rsquo;t you see him
+arriving at that time nice and fresh and young and well dressed, as shrewd as a
+fox, and saying: &lsquo;Come to me. Let me handle city loan. Loan me the
+city&rsquo;s money at two per cent. or less.&rsquo; Can&rsquo;t you hear him
+suggesting this? Can&rsquo;t you see him?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;George W. Stener was a poor man, comparatively a very poor man, when he
+first became city treasurer. All he had was a small real-estate and insurance
+business which brought him in, say, twenty-five hundred dollars a year. He had
+a wife and four children to support, and he had never had the slightest taste
+of what for him might be called luxury or comfort. Then comes Mr.
+Cowperwood&mdash;at his request, to be sure, but on an errand which held no
+theory of evil gains in Mr. Stener&rsquo;s mind at the time&mdash;and proposes
+his grand scheme of manipulating all the city loan to their mutual advantage.
+Do you yourselves think, gentlemen, from what you have seen of George W. Stener
+here on the witness-stand, that it was he who proposed this plan of ill-gotten
+wealth to that gentleman over there?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div> </blockquote>
+
+<p>
+He pointed to Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<blockquote> <div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Does he look to you like a man who would be able to tell that gentleman
+anything about finance or this wonderful manipulation that followed? I ask you,
+does he look clever enough to suggest all the subtleties by which these two
+subsequently made so much money? Why, the statement of this man Cowperwood made
+to his creditors at the time of his failure here a few weeks ago showed that he
+considered himself to be worth over one million two hundred and fifty thousand
+dollars, and he is only a little over thirty-four years old to-day. How much
+was he worth at the time he first entered business relations with the ex-city
+treasurer? Have you any idea? I can tell. I had the matter looked up almost a
+month ago on my accession to office. Just a little over two hundred thousand
+dollars, gentlemen&mdash;just a little over two hundred thousand dollars. Here
+is an abstract from the files of Dun &amp; Company for that year. Now you can
+see how rapidly our Caesar has grown in wealth since then. You can see how
+profitable these few short years have been to him. Was George W. Stener worth
+any such sum up to the time he was removed from his office and indicted for
+embezzlement? Was he? I have here a schedule of his liabilities and assets made
+out at the time. You can see it for yourselves, gentlemen. Just two hundred and
+twenty thousand dollars measured the sum of all his property three weeks ago;
+and it is an accurate estimate, as I have reason to know. Why was it, do you
+suppose, that Mr. Cowperwood grew so fast in wealth and Mr. Stener so slowly?
+They were partners in crime. Mr. Stener was loaning Mr. Cowperwood vast sums of
+the city&rsquo;s money at two per cent. when call-rates for money in Third
+Street were sometimes as high as sixteen and seventeen per cent. Don&rsquo;t
+you suppose that Mr. Cowperwood sitting there knew how to use this very cheaply
+come-by money to the very best advantage? Does he look to you as though he
+didn&rsquo;t? You have seen him on the witness-stand. You have heard him
+testify. Very suave, very straightforward-seeming, very innocent, doing
+everything as a favor to Mr. Stener and his friends, of course, and yet making
+a million in a little over six years and allowing Mr. Stener to make one
+hundred and sixty thousand dollars or less, for Mr. Stener had some little
+money at the time this partnership was entered into&mdash;a few thousand
+dollars.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div> </blockquote>
+
+<p>
+Shannon now came to the vital transaction of October 9th, when Cowperwood
+called on Stener and secured the check for sixty thousand dollars from Albert
+Stires. His scorn for this (as he appeared to think) subtle and criminal
+transaction was unbounded. It was plain larceny, stealing, and Cowperwood knew
+it when he asked Stires for the check.
+</p>
+
+<blockquote> <div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Think of it! [Shannon exclaimed, turning and looking squarely at
+Cowperwood, who faced him quite calmly, undisturbed and unashamed.] Think of
+it! Think of the colossal nerve of the man&mdash;the Machiavellian subtlety of
+his brain. He knew he was going to fail. He knew after two days of financial
+work&mdash;after two days of struggle to offset the providential disaster which
+upset his nefarious schemes&mdash;that he had exhausted every possible resource
+save one, the city treasury, and that unless he could compel aid there he was
+going to fail. He already owed the city treasury five hundred thousand dollars.
+He had already used the city treasurer as a cat&rsquo;s-paw so much, had
+involved him so deeply, that the latter, because of the staggering size of the
+debt, was becoming frightened. Did that deter Mr. Cowperwood? Not at
+all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div> </blockquote>
+
+<p>
+He shook his finger ominously in Cowperwood&rsquo;s face, and the latter turned
+irritably away. &ldquo;He is showing off for the benefit of his future,&rdquo;
+he whispered to Steger. &ldquo;I wish you could tell the jury that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish I could,&rdquo; replied Steger, smiling scornfully, &ldquo;but my
+hour is over.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<blockquote> <div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why [continued Mr. Shannon, turning once more to the jury], think of the
+colossal, wolfish nerve that would permit a man to say to Albert Stires that he
+had just purchased sixty thousand dollars&rsquo; worth additional of city loan,
+and that he would then and there take the check for it! Had he actually
+purchased this city loan as he said he had? Who can tell? Could any human being
+wind through all the mazes of the complicated bookkeeping system which he ran,
+and actually tell? The best answer to that is that if he did purchase the
+certificates he intended that it should make no difference to the city, for he
+made no effort to put the certificates in the sinking-fund, where they
+belonged. His counsel says, and he says, that he didn&rsquo;t have to until the
+first of the month, although the law says that he must do it at once, and he
+knew well enough that legally he was bound to do it. His counsel says, and he
+says, that he didn&rsquo;t know he was going to fail. Hence there was no need
+of worrying about it. I wonder if any of you gentlemen really believed that?
+Had he ever asked for a check like that so quick before in his life? In all the
+history of these nefarious transactions was there another incident like that?
+You know there wasn&rsquo;t. He had never before, on any occasion, asked
+personally for a check for anything in this office, and yet on this occasion he
+did it. Why? Why should he ask for it this time? A few hours more, according to
+his own statement, wouldn&rsquo;t have made any difference one way or the
+other, would it? He could have sent a boy for it, as usual. That was the way it
+had always been done before. Why anything different now? I&rsquo;ll tell you
+why! [Shannon suddenly shouted, varying his voice tremendously.] I&rsquo;ll
+tell you why! He knew that he was a ruined man! He knew that his last
+semi-legitimate avenue of escape&mdash;the favor of George W. Stener&mdash;had
+been closed to him! He knew that honestly, by open agreement, he could not
+extract another single dollar from the treasury of the city of Philadelphia. He
+knew that if he left the office without this check and sent a boy for it, the
+aroused city treasurer would have time to inform his clerks, and that then no
+further money could be obtained. That&rsquo;s why! That&rsquo;s why, gentlemen,
+if you really want to know.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, gentlemen of the jury, I am about done with my arraignment of this
+fine, honorable, virtuous citizen whom the counsel for the defense, Mr. Steger,
+tells you you cannot possibly convict without doing a great injustice. All I
+have to say is that you look to me like sane, intelligent men&mdash;just the
+sort of men that I meet everywhere in the ordinary walks of life, doing an
+honorable American business in an honorable American way. Now, gentlemen of the
+jury [he was very soft-spoken now], all I have to say is that if, after all you
+have heard and seen here to-day, you still think that Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood
+is an honest, honorable man&mdash;that he didn&rsquo;t steal, willfully and
+knowingly, sixty thousand dollars from the Philadelphia city treasury; that he
+had actually bought the certificates he said he had, and had intended to put
+them in the sinking-fund, as he said he did, then don&rsquo;t you dare to do
+anything except turn him loose, and that speedily, so that he can go on back
+to-day into Third Street, and start to straighten out his much-entangled
+financial affairs. It is the only thing for honest, conscientious men to
+do&mdash;to turn him instantly loose into the heart of this community, so that
+some of the rank injustice that my opponent, Mr. Steger, alleges has been done
+him will be a little made up to him. You owe him, if that is the way you feel,
+a prompt acknowledgment of his innocence. Don&rsquo;t worry about George W.
+Stener. His guilt is established by his own confession. He admits he is guilty.
+He will be sentenced without trial later on. But this man&mdash;he says he is
+an honest, honorable man. He says he didn&rsquo;t think he was going to fail.
+He says he used all that threatening, compelling, terrifying language, not
+because he was in danger of failing, but because he didn&rsquo;t want the
+bother of looking further for aid. What do you think? Do you really think that
+he had purchased sixty thousand dollars more of certificates for the
+sinking-fund, and that he was entitled to the money? If so, why didn&rsquo;t he
+put them in the sinking-fund? They&rsquo;re not there now, and the sixty
+thousand dollars is gone. Who got it? The Girard National Bank, where he was
+overdrawn to the extent of one hundred thousand dollars! Did it get it and
+forty thousand dollars more in other checks and certificates? Certainly. Why?
+Do you suppose the Girard National Bank might be in any way grateful for this
+last little favor before he closed his doors? Do you think that President
+Davison, whom you saw here testifying so kindly in this case feels at all
+friendly, and that that may possibly&mdash;I don&rsquo;t say that it
+does&mdash;explain his very kindly interpretation of Mr. Cowperwood&rsquo;s
+condition? It might be. You can think as well along that line as I can. Anyhow,
+gentlemen, President Davison says Mr. Cowperwood is an honorable, honest man,
+and so does his counsel, Mr. Steger. You have heard the testimony. Now you
+think it over. If you want to turn him loose&mdash;turn him loose. [He waved
+his hand wearily.] You&rsquo;re the judges. I wouldn&rsquo;t; but then I am
+merely a hard-working lawyer&mdash;one person, one opinion. You may think
+differently&mdash;that&rsquo;s your business. [He waved his hand suggestively,
+almost contemptuously.] However, I&rsquo;m through, and I thank you for your
+courtesy. Gentlemen, the decision rests with you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div> </blockquote>
+
+<p>
+He turned away grandly, and the jury stirred&mdash;so did the idle spectators
+in the court. Judge Payderson sighed a sigh of relief. It was now quite dark,
+and the flaring gas forms in the court were all brightly lighted. Outside one
+could see that it was snowing. The judge stirred among his papers wearily, and
+turning to the jurors solemnly, began his customary explanation of the law,
+after which they filed out to the jury-room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood turned to his father who now came over across the fast-emptying
+court, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;ll know now in a little while.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, Sr., a little wearily. &ldquo;I hope it
+comes out right. I saw Butler back there a little while ago.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did you?&rdquo; queried Cowperwood, to whom this had a peculiar
+interest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied his father. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just gone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So, Cowperwood thought, Butler was curious enough as to his fate to want to
+come here and watch him tried. Shannon was his tool. Judge Payderson was his
+emissary, in a way. He, Cowperwood, might defeat him in the matter of his
+daughter, but it was not so easy to defeat him here unless the jury should
+happen to take a sympathetic attitude. They might convict him, and then
+Butler&rsquo;s Judge Payderson would have the privilege of sentencing
+him&mdash;giving him the maximum sentence. That would not be so nice&mdash;five
+years! He cooled a little as he thought of it, but there was no use worrying
+about what had not yet happened. Steger came forward and told him that his bail
+was now ended&mdash;had been the moment the jury left the room&mdash;and that
+he was at this moment actually in the care of the sheriff, of whom he
+knew&mdash;Sheriff Adlai Jaspers. Unless he were acquitted by the jury, Steger
+added, he would have to remain in the sheriff&rsquo;s care until an application
+for a certificate of reasonable doubt could be made and acted upon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It would take all of five days, Frank,&rdquo; Steger said, &ldquo;but
+Jaspers isn&rsquo;t a bad sort. He&rsquo;d be reasonable. Of course if
+we&rsquo;re lucky you won&rsquo;t have to visit him. You will have to go with
+this bailiff now, though. Then if things come out right we&rsquo;ll go home.
+Say, I&rsquo;d like to win this case,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to
+give them the laugh and see you do it. I consider you&rsquo;ve been pretty
+badly treated, and I think I made that perfectly clear. I can reverse this
+verdict on a dozen grounds if they happen to decide against you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He and Cowperwood and the latter&rsquo;s father now stalked off with the
+sheriff&rsquo;s subordinate&mdash;a small man by the name of
+&ldquo;Eddie&rdquo; Zanders, who had approached to take charge. They entered a
+small room called the pen at the back of the court, where all those on trial
+whose liberty had been forfeited by the jury&rsquo;s leaving the room had to
+wait pending its return. It was a dreary, high-ceiled, four-square place, with
+a window looking out into Chestnut Street, and a second door leading off into
+somewhere&mdash;one had no idea where. It was dingy, with a worn wooden floor,
+some heavy, plain, wooden benches lining the four sides, no pictures or
+ornaments of any kind. A single two-arm gas-pipe descended from the center of
+the ceiling. It was permeated by a peculiarly stale and pungent odor, obviously
+redolent of all the flotsam and jetsam of life&mdash;criminal and
+innocent&mdash;that had stood or sat in here from time to time, waiting
+patiently to learn what a deliberating fate held in store.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood was, of course, disgusted; but he was too self-reliant and capable
+to show it. All his life he had been immaculate, almost fastidious in his care
+of himself. Here he was coming, perforce, in contact with a form of life which
+jarred upon him greatly. Steger, who was beside him, made some comforting,
+explanatory, apologetic remarks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not as nice as it might be,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but you won&rsquo;t
+mind waiting a little while. The jury won&rsquo;t be long, I fancy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That may not help me,&rdquo; he replied, walking to the window.
+Afterward he added: &ldquo;What must be, must be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His father winced. Suppose Frank was on the verge of a long prison term, which
+meant an atmosphere like this? Heavens! For a moment, he trembled, then for the
+first time in years he made a silent prayer.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap44"></a>Chapter XLIV</h2>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile the great argument had been begun in the jury-room, and all the
+points that had been meditatively speculated upon in the jury-box were now
+being openly discussed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is amazingly interesting to see how a jury will waver and speculate in a
+case like this&mdash;how curious and uncertain is the process by which it makes
+up its so-called mind. So-called truth is a nebulous thing at best; facts are
+capable of such curious inversion and interpretation, honest and otherwise. The
+jury had a strongly complicated problem before it, and it went over it and over
+it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Juries reach not so much definite conclusions as verdicts, in a curious fashion
+and for curious reasons. Very often a jury will have concluded little so far as
+its individual members are concerned and yet it will have reached a verdict.
+The matter of time, as all lawyers know, plays a part in this. Juries, speaking
+of the members collectively and frequently individually, object to the amount
+of time it takes to decide a case. They do not enjoy sitting and deliberating
+over a problem unless it is tremendously fascinating. The ramifications or the
+mystery of a syllogism can become a weariness and a bore. The jury-room itself
+may and frequently does become a dull agony.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the other hand, no jury contemplates a disagreement with any degree of
+satisfaction. There is something so inherently constructive in the human mind
+that to leave a problem unsolved is plain misery. It haunts the average
+individual like any other important task left unfinished. Men in a jury-room,
+like those scientifically demonstrated atoms of a crystal which scientists and
+philosophers love to speculate upon, like finally to arrange themselves into an
+orderly and artistic whole, to present a compact, intellectual front, to be
+whatever they have set out to be, properly and rightly&mdash;a compact,
+sensible jury. One sees this same instinct magnificently displayed in every
+other phase of nature&mdash;in the drifting of sea-wood to the Sargasso Sea, in
+the geometric interrelation of air-bubbles on the surface of still water, in
+the marvelous unreasoned architecture of so many insects and atomic forms which
+make up the substance and the texture of this world. It would seem as though
+the physical substance of life&mdash;this apparition of form which the eye
+detects and calls real were shot through with some vast subtlety that loves
+order, that is order. The atoms of our so-called being, in spite of our
+so-called reason&mdash;the dreams of a mood&mdash;know where to go and what to
+do. They represent an order, a wisdom, a willing that is not of us. They build
+orderly in spite of us. So the subconscious spirit of a jury. At the same time,
+one does not forget the strange hypnotic effect of one personality on another,
+the varying effects of varying types on each other, until a solution&mdash;to
+use the word in its purely chemical sense&mdash;is reached. In a jury-room the
+thought or determination of one or two or three men, if it be definite enough,
+is likely to pervade the whole room and conquer the reason or the opposition of
+the majority. One man &ldquo;standing out&rdquo; for the definite thought that
+is in him is apt to become either the triumphant leader of a pliant mass or the
+brutally battered target of a flaming, concentrated intellectual fire. Men
+despise dull opposition that is without reason. In a jury-room, of all places,
+a man is expected to give a reason for the faith that is in him&mdash;if one is
+demanded. It will not do to say, &ldquo;I cannot agree.&rdquo; Jurors have been
+known to fight. Bitter antagonisms lasting for years have been generated in
+these close quarters. Recalcitrant jurors have been hounded commercially in
+their local spheres for their unreasoned oppositions or conclusions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After reaching the conclusion that Cowperwood unquestionably deserved some
+punishment, there was wrangling as to whether the verdict should be guilty on
+all four counts, as charged in the indictment. Since they did not understand
+how to differentiate between the various charges very well, they decided it
+should be on all four, and a recommendation to mercy added. Afterward this last
+was eliminated, however; either he was guilty or he was not. The judge could
+see as well as they could all the extenuating circumstances&mdash;perhaps
+better. Why tie his hands? As a rule no attention was paid to such
+recommendations, anyhow, and it only made the jury look wabbly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So, finally, at ten minutes after twelve that night, they were ready to return
+a verdict; and Judge Payderson, who, because of his interest in the case and
+the fact that he lived not so far away, had decided to wait up this long, was
+recalled. Steger and Cowperwood were sent for. The court-room was fully
+lighted. The bailiff, the clerk, and the stenographer were there. The jury
+filed in, and Cowperwood, with Steger at his right, took his position at the
+gate which gave into the railed space where prisoners always stand to hear the
+verdict and listen to any commentary of the judge. He was accompanied by his
+father, who was very nervous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For the first time in his life he felt as though he were walking in his sleep.
+Was this the real Frank Cowperwood of two months before&mdash;so wealthy, so
+progressive, so sure? Was this only December 5th or 6th now (it was after
+midnight)? Why was it the jury had deliberated so long? What did it mean? Here
+they were now, standing and gazing solemnly before them; and here now was Judge
+Payderson, mounting the steps of his rostrum, his frizzled hair standing out in
+a strange, attractive way, his familiar bailiff rapping for order. He did not
+look at Cowperwood&mdash;it would not be courteous&mdash;but at the jury, who
+gazed at him in return. At the words of the clerk, &ldquo;Gentlemen of the
+jury, have you agreed upon a verdict?&rdquo; the foreman spoke up, &ldquo;We
+have.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We find the defendant guilty as charged in the indictment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How had they come to do this? Because he had taken a check for sixty thousand
+dollars which did not belong to him? But in reality it did. Good Lord, what was
+sixty thousand dollars in the sum total of all the money that had passed back
+and forth between him and George W. Stener? Nothing, nothing! A mere bagatelle
+in its way; and yet here it had risen up, this miserable, insignificant check,
+and become a mountain of opposition, a stone wall, a prison-wall barring his
+further progress. It was astonishing. He looked around him at the court-room.
+How large and bare and cold it was! Still he was Frank A. Cowperwood. Why
+should he let such queer thoughts disturb him? His fight for freedom and
+privilege and restitution was not over yet. Good heavens! It had only begun. In
+five days he would be out again on bail. Steger would take an appeal. He would
+be out, and he would have two long months in which to make an additional fight.
+He was not down yet. He would win his liberty. This jury was all wrong. A
+higher court would say so. It would reverse their verdict, and he knew it. He
+turned to Steger, where the latter was having the clerk poll the jury, in the
+hope that some one juror had been over-persuaded, made to vote against his
+will.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is that your verdict?&rdquo; he heard the clerk ask of Philip Moultrie,
+juror No. 1.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is,&rdquo; replied that worthy, solemnly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is that your verdict?&rdquo; The clerk was pointing to Simon Glassberg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is that your verdict?&rdquo; He pointed to Fletcher Norton.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So it went through the whole jury. All the men answered firmly and clearly,
+though Steger thought it might barely be possible that one would have changed
+his mind. The judge thanked them and told them that in view of their long
+services this night, they were dismissed for the term. The only thing remaining
+to be done now was for Steger to persuade Judge Payderson to grant a stay of
+sentence pending the hearing of a motion by the State Supreme Court for a new
+trial.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Judge looked at Cowperwood very curiously as Steger made this request in
+proper form, and owing to the importance of the case and the feeling he had
+that the Supreme Court might very readily grant a certificate of reasonable
+doubt in this case, he agreed. There was nothing left, therefore, but for
+Cowperwood to return at this late hour with the deputy sheriff to the county
+jail, where he must now remain for five days at least&mdash;possibly longer.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+The jail in question, which was known locally as Moyamensing Prison, was
+located at Tenth and Reed Streets, and from an architectural and artistic point
+of view was not actually displeasing to the eye. It consisted of a central
+portion&mdash;prison, residence for the sheriff or what you will&mdash;three
+stories high, with a battlemented cornice and a round battlemented tower about
+one-third as high as the central portion itself, and two wings, each two
+stories high, with battlemented turrets at either end, giving it a highly
+castellated and consequently, from the American point of view, a very
+prison-like appearance. The facade of the prison, which was not more than
+thirty-five feet high for the central portion, nor more than twenty-five feet
+for the wings, was set back at least a hundred feet from the street, and was
+continued at either end, from the wings to the end of the street block, by a
+stone wall all of twenty feet high. The structure was not severely prison-like,
+for the central portion was pierced by rather large, unbarred apertures hung on
+the two upper stories with curtains, and giving the whole front a rather
+pleasant and residential air. The wing to the right, as one stood looking in
+from the street, was the section known as the county jail proper, and was
+devoted to the care of prisoners serving short-term sentences on some judicial
+order. The wing to the left was devoted exclusively to the care and control of
+untried prisoners. The whole building was built of a smooth, light-colored
+stone, which on a snowy night like this, with the few lamps that were used in
+it glowing feebly in the dark, presented an eery, fantastic, almost
+supernatural appearance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a rough and blowy night when Cowperwood started for this institution
+under duress. The wind was driving the snow before it in curious, interesting
+whirls. Eddie Zanders, the sheriff&rsquo;s deputy on guard at the court of
+Quarter Sessions, accompanied him and his father and Steger. Zanders was a
+little man, dark, with a short, stubby mustache, and a shrewd though not highly
+intelligent eye. He was anxious first to uphold his dignity as a deputy
+sheriff, which was a very important position in his estimation, and next to
+turn an honest penny if he could. He knew little save the details of his small
+world, which consisted of accompanying prisoners to and from the courts and the
+jails, and seeing that they did not get away. He was not unfriendly to a
+particular type of prisoner&mdash;the well-to-do or moderately
+prosperous&mdash;for he had long since learned that it paid to be so. To-night
+he offered a few sociable suggestions&mdash;viz., that it was rather rough,
+that the jail was not so far but that they could walk, and that Sheriff Jaspers
+would, in all likelihood, be around or could be aroused. Cowperwood scarcely
+heard. He was thinking of his mother and his wife and of Aileen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the jail was reached he was led to the central portion, as it was here
+that the sheriff, Adlai Jaspers, had his private office. Jaspers had recently
+been elected to office, and was inclined to conform to all outward appearances,
+in so far as the proper conduct of his office was concerned, without in reality
+inwardly conforming. Thus it was generally known among the politicians that one
+way he had of fattening his rather lean salary was to rent private rooms and
+grant special privileges to prisoners who had the money to pay for the same.
+Other sheriffs had done it before him. In fact, when Jaspers was inducted into
+office, several prisoners were already enjoying these privileges, and it was
+not a part of his scheme of things to disturb them. The rooms that he let to
+the &ldquo;right parties,&rdquo; as he invariably put it, were in the central
+portion of the jail, where were his own private living quarters. They were
+unbarred, and not at all cell-like. There was no particular danger of escape,
+for a guard stood always at his private door instructed &ldquo;to keep an
+eye&rdquo; on the general movements of all the inmates. A prisoner so
+accommodated was in many respects quite a free person. His meals were served to
+him in his room, if he wished. He could read or play cards, or receive guests;
+and if he had any favorite musical instrument, that was not denied him. There
+was just one rule that had to be complied with. If he were a public character,
+and any newspaper men called, he had to be brought down-stairs into the private
+interviewing room in order that they might not know that he was not confined in
+a cell like any other prisoner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nearly all of these facts had been brought to Cowperwood&rsquo;s attention
+beforehand by Steger; but for all that, when he crossed the threshold of the
+jail a peculiar sensation of strangeness and defeat came over him. He and his
+party were conducted to a little office to the left of the entrance, where were
+only a desk and a chair, dimly lighted by a low-burning gas-jet. Sheriff
+Jaspers, rotund and ruddy, met them, greeting them in quite a friendly way.
+Zanders was dismissed, and went briskly about his affairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A bad night, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo; observed Jaspers, turning up the gas
+and preparing to go through the routine of registering his prisoner. Steger
+came over and held a short, private conversation with him in his corner, over
+his desk which resulted presently in the sheriff&rsquo;s face lighting up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, certainly, certainly! That&rsquo;s all right, Mr. Steger, to be
+sure! Why, certainly!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, eyeing the fat sheriff from his position, understood what it was
+all about. He had regained completely his critical attitude, his cool,
+intellectual poise. So this was the jail, and this was the fat mediocrity of a
+sheriff who was to take care of him. Very good. He would make the best of it.
+He wondered whether he was to be searched&mdash;prisoners usually
+were&mdash;but he soon discovered that he was not to be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all right, Mr. Cowperwood,&rdquo; said Jaspers, getting up.
+&ldquo;I guess I can make you comfortable, after a fashion. We&rsquo;re not
+running a hotel here, as you know&rdquo;&mdash;he chuckled to
+himself&mdash;&ldquo;but I guess I can make you comfortable. John,&rdquo; he
+called to a sleepy factotum, who appeared from another room, rubbing his eyes,
+&ldquo;is the key to Number Six down here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let me have it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John disappeared and returned, while Steger explained to Cowperwood that
+anything he wanted in the way of clothing, etc., could be brought in. Steger
+himself would stop round next morning and confer with him, as would any of the
+members of Cowperwood&rsquo;s family whom he wished to see. Cowperwood
+immediately explained to his father his desire for as little of this as
+possible. Joseph or Edward might come in the morning and bring a grip full of
+underwear, etc.; but as for the others, let them wait until he got out or had
+to remain permanently. He did think of writing Aileen, cautioning her to do
+nothing; but the sheriff now beckoned, and he quietly followed. Accompanied by
+his father and Steger, he ascended to his new room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a simple, white-walled chamber fifteen by twenty feet in size, rather
+high-ceiled, supplied with a high-backed, yellow wooden bed, a yellow bureau, a
+small imitation-cherry table, three very ordinary cane-seated chairs with
+carved hickory-rod backs, cherry-stained also, and a wash-stand of
+yellow-stained wood to match the bed, containing a washbasin, a pitcher, a
+soap-dish, uncovered, and a small, cheap, pink-flowered tooth and shaving brush
+mug, which did not match the other ware and which probably cost ten cents. The
+value of this room to Sheriff Jaspers was what he could get for it in cases
+like this&mdash;twenty-five to thirty-five dollars a week. Cowperwood would pay
+thirty-five.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood walked briskly to the window, which gave out on the lawn in front,
+now embedded in snow, and said he thought this was all right. Both his father
+and Steger were willing and anxious to confer with him for hours, if he wished;
+but there was nothing to say. He did not wish to talk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let Ed bring in some fresh linen in the morning and a couple of suits of
+clothes, and I will be all right. George can get my things together.&rdquo; He
+was referring to a family servant who acted as valet and in other capacities.
+&ldquo;Tell Lillian not to worry. I&rsquo;m all right. I&rsquo;d rather she
+would not come here so long as I&rsquo;m going to be out in five days. If
+I&rsquo;m not, it will be time enough then. Kiss the kids for me.&rdquo; And he
+smiled good-naturedly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After his unfulfilled predictions in regard to the result of this preliminary
+trial Steger was almost afraid to suggest confidently what the State Supreme
+Court would or would not do; but he had to say something.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you need worry about what the outcome of my appeal
+will be, Frank. I&rsquo;ll get a certificate of reasonable doubt, and
+that&rsquo;s as good as a stay of two months, perhaps longer. I don&rsquo;t
+suppose the bail will be more than thirty thousand dollars at the outside.
+You&rsquo;ll be out again in five or six days, whatever happens.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood said that he hoped so, and suggested that they drop matters for the
+night. After a few fruitless parleys his father and Steger finally said good
+night, leaving him to his own private reflections. He was tired, however, and
+throwing off his clothes, tucked himself in his mediocre bed, and was soon fast
+asleep.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap45"></a>Chapter XLV</h2>
+
+<p>
+Say what one will about prison life in general, modify it ever so much by
+special chambers, obsequious turnkeys, a general tendency to make one as
+comfortable as possible, a jail is a jail, and there is no getting away from
+that. Cowperwood, in a room which was not in any way inferior to that of the
+ordinary boarding-house, was nevertheless conscious of the character of that
+section of this real prison which was not yet his portion. He knew that there
+were cells there, probably greasy and smelly and vermin-infested, and that they
+were enclosed by heavy iron bars, which would have as readily clanked on him as
+on those who were now therein incarcerated if he had not had the price to pay
+for something better. So much for the alleged equality of man, he thought,
+which gave to one man, even within the grim confines of the machinery of
+justice, such personal liberty as he himself was now enjoying, and to another,
+because he chanced to lack wit or presence or friends or wealth, denied the
+more comfortable things which money would buy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The morning after the trial, on waking, he stirred curiously, and then it
+suddenly came to him that he was no longer in the free and comfortable
+atmosphere of his own bedroom, but in a jail-cell, or rather its very
+comfortable substitute, a sheriff&rsquo;s rented bedroom. He got up and looked
+out the window. The ground outside and Passayunk Avenue were white with snow.
+Some wagons were silently lumbering by. A few Philadelphians were visible here
+and there, going to and fro on morning errands. He began to think at once what
+he must do, how he must act to carry on his business, to rehabilitate himself;
+and as he did so he dressed and pulled the bell-cord, which had been indicated
+to him, and which would bring him an attendant who would build him a fire and
+later bring him something to eat. A shabby prison attendant in a blue uniform,
+conscious of Cowperwood&rsquo;s superiority because of the room he occupied,
+laid wood and coal in the grate and started a fire, and later brought him his
+breakfast, which was anything but prison fare, though poor enough at that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After that he was compelled to wait in patience several hours, in spite of the
+sheriff&rsquo;s assumption of solicitous interest, before his brother Edward
+was admitted with his clothes. An attendant, for a consideration, brought him
+the morning papers, and these, except for the financial news, he read
+indifferently. Late in the afternoon Steger arrived, saying he had been busy
+having certain proceedings postponed, but that he had arranged with the sheriff
+for Cowperwood to be permitted to see such of those as had important business
+with him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By this time, Cowperwood had written Aileen under no circumstances to try to
+see him, as he would be out by the tenth, and that either that day, or shortly
+after, they would meet. As he knew, she wanted greatly to see him, but he had
+reason to believe she was under surveillance by detectives employed by her
+father. This was not true, but it was preying on her fancy, and combined with
+some derogatory remarks dropped by Owen and Callum at the dinner table
+recently, had proved almost too much for her fiery disposition. But, because of
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s letter reaching her at the Calligans&rsquo;, she made no
+move until she read on the morning of the tenth that Cowperwood&rsquo;s plea
+for a certificate of reasonable doubt had been granted, and that he would once
+more, for the time being at least, be a free man. This gave her courage to do
+what she had long wanted to do, and that was to teach her father that she could
+get along without him and that he could not make her do anything she did not
+want to do. She still had the two hundred dollars Cowperwood had given her and
+some additional cash of her own&mdash;perhaps three hundred and fifty dollars
+in all. This she thought would be sufficient to see her to the end of her
+adventure, or at least until she could make some other arrangement for her
+personal well-being. From what she knew of the feeling of her family for her,
+she felt that the agony would all be on their side, not hers. Perhaps when her
+father saw how determined she was he would decide to let her alone and make
+peace with her. She was determined to try it, anyhow, and immediately sent word
+to Cowperwood that she was going to the Calligans and would welcome him to
+freedom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a way, Cowperwood was rather gratified by Aileen&rsquo;s message, for he
+felt that his present plight, bitter as it was, was largely due to
+Butler&rsquo;s opposition and he felt no compunction in striking him through
+his daughter. His former feeling as to the wisdom of not enraging Butler had
+proved rather futile, he thought, and since the old man could not be placated
+it might be just as well to have Aileen demonstrate to him that she was not
+without resources of her own and could live without him. She might force him to
+change his attitude toward her and possibly even to modify some of his
+political machinations against him, Cowperwood. Any port in a storm&mdash;and
+besides, he had now really nothing to lose, and instinct told him that her move
+was likely to prove more favorable than otherwise&mdash;so he did nothing to
+prevent it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She took her jewels, some underwear, a couple of dresses which she thought
+would be serviceable, and a few other things, and packed them in the most
+capacious portmanteau she had. Shoes and stockings came into consideration,
+and, despite her efforts, she found that she could not get in all that she
+wished. Her nicest hat, which she was determined to take, had to be carried
+outside. She made a separate bundle of it, which was not pleasant to
+contemplate. Still she decided to take it. She rummaged in a little drawer
+where she kept her money and jewels, and found the three hundred and fifty
+dollars and put it in her purse. It wasn&rsquo;t much, as Aileen could herself
+see, but Cowperwood would help her. If he did not arrange to take care of her,
+and her father would not relent, she would have to get something to do. Little
+she knew of the steely face the world presents to those who have not been
+practically trained and are not economically efficient. She did not understand
+the bitter reaches of life at all. She waited, humming for effect, until she
+heard her father go downstairs to dinner on this tenth day of December, then
+leaned over the upper balustrade to make sure that Owen, Callum, Norah, and her
+mother were at the table, and that Katy, the housemaid, was not anywhere in
+sight. Then she slipped into her father&rsquo;s den, and, taking a note from
+inside her dress, laid it on his desk, and went out. It was addressed to
+&ldquo;Father,&rdquo; and read:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Dear Father,&mdash;I just cannot do what you want me to. I have made up my mind
+that I love Mr. Cowperwood too much, so I am going away. Don&rsquo;t look for
+me with him. You won&rsquo;t find me where you think. I am not going to him; I
+will not be there. I am going to try to get along by myself for a while, until
+he wants me and can marry me. I&rsquo;m terribly sorry; but I just can&rsquo;t
+do what you want. I can&rsquo;t ever forgive you for the way you acted to me.
+Tell mama and Norah and the boys good-by for me.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+Aileen
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To insure its discovery, she picked up Butler&rsquo;s heavy-rimmed spectacles
+which he employed always when reading, and laid them on it. For a moment she
+felt very strange, somewhat like a thief&mdash;a new sensation for her. She
+even felt a momentary sense of ingratitude coupled with pain. Perhaps she was
+doing wrong. Her father had been very good to her. Her mother would feel so
+very bad. Norah would be sorry, and Callum and Owen. Still, they did not
+understand her any more. She was resentful of her father&rsquo;s attitude. He
+might have seen what the point was; but no, he was too old, too hidebound in
+religion and conventional ideas&mdash;he never would. He might never let her
+come back. Very well, she would get along somehow. She would show him. She
+might get a place as a school-teacher, and live with the Calligans a long
+while, if necessary, or teach music.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She stole downstairs and out into the vestibule, opening the outer door and
+looking out into the street. The lamps were already flaring in the dark, and a
+cool wind was blowing. Her portmanteau was heavy, but she was quite strong. She
+walked briskly to the corner, which was some fifty feet away, and turned south,
+walking rather nervously and irritably, for this was a new experience for her,
+and it all seemed so undignified, so unlike anything she was accustomed to
+doing. She put her bag down on a street corner, finally, to rest. A boy
+whistling in the distance attracted her attention, and as he drew near she
+called to him: &ldquo;Boy! Oh, boy!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He came over, looking at her curiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you want to earn some money?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, ma&rsquo;am,&rdquo; he replied politely, adjusting a frowsy cap
+over one ear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Carry this bag for me,&rdquo; said Aileen, and he picked it up and
+marched off.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In due time she arrived at the Calligans&rsquo;, and amid much excitement was
+installed in the bosom of her new home. She took her situation with much
+nonchalance, once she was properly placed, distributing her toilet articles and
+those of personal wear with quiet care. The fact that she was no longer to have
+the services of Kathleen, the maid who had served her and her mother and Norah
+jointly, was odd, though not trying. She scarcely felt that she had parted from
+these luxuries permanently, and so made herself comfortable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mamie Calligan and her mother were adoring slaveys, so she was not entirely out
+of the atmosphere which she craved and to which she was accustomed.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap46"></a>Chapter XLVI</h2>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile, in the Butler home the family was assembling for dinner. Mrs. Butler
+was sitting in rotund complacency at the foot of the table, her gray hair
+combed straight back from her round, shiny forehead. She had on a dark-gray
+silk dress, trimmed with gray-and-white striped ribbon. It suited her florid
+temperament admirably. Aileen had dictated her mother&rsquo;s choice, and had
+seen that it had been properly made. Norah was refreshingly youthful in a
+pale-green dress, with red-velvet cuffs and collar. She looked young, slender,
+gay. Her eyes, complexion and hair were fresh and healthy. She was trifling
+with a string of coral beads which her mother had just given her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, look, Callum,&rdquo; she said to her brother opposite her, who was
+drumming idly on the table with his knife and fork. &ldquo;Aren&rsquo;t they
+lovely? Mama gave them to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mama does more for you than I would. You know what you&rsquo;d get from
+me, don&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at her teasingly. For answer Norah made a face at him. Just then Owen
+came in and took his place at the table. Mrs. Butler saw Norah&rsquo;s grimace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that&rsquo;ll win no love from your brother, ye can depend on
+that,&rdquo; she commented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lord, what a day!&rdquo; observed Owen, wearily, unfolding his napkin.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had my fill of work for once.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the trouble?&rdquo; queried his mother, feelingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No real trouble, mother,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;Just
+everything&mdash;ducks and drakes, that&rsquo;s all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, ye must ate a good, hearty meal now, and that&rsquo;ll refresh
+ye,&rdquo; observed his mother, genially and feelingly.
+&ldquo;Thompson&rdquo;&mdash;she was referring to the family
+grocer&mdash;&ldquo;brought us the last of his beans. You must have some of
+those.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sure, beans&rsquo;ll fix it, whatever it is, Owen,&rdquo; joked Callum.
+&ldquo;Mother&rsquo;s got the answer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They&rsquo;re fine, I&rsquo;d have ye know,&rdquo; replied Mrs. Butler,
+quite unconscious of the joke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No doubt of it, mother,&rdquo; replied Callum. &ldquo;Real brain-food.
+Let&rsquo;s feed some to Norah.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;d better eat some yourself, smarty. My, but you&rsquo;re gay!
+I suppose you&rsquo;re going out to see somebody. That&rsquo;s why.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Right you are, Norah. Smart girl, you. Five or six. Ten to fifteen
+minutes each. I&rsquo;d call on you if you were nicer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You would if you got the chance,&rdquo; mocked Norah. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d
+have you know I wouldn&rsquo;t let you. I&rsquo;d feel very bad if I
+couldn&rsquo;t get somebody better than you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As good as, you mean,&rdquo; corrected Callum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Children, children!&rdquo; interpolated Mrs. Butler, calmly, looking
+about for old John, the servant. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll be losin&rsquo; your
+tempers in a minute. Hush now. Here comes your father. Where&rsquo;s
+Aileen?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler walked heavily in and took his seat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John, the servant, appeared bearing a platter of beans among other things, and
+Mrs. Butler asked him to send some one to call Aileen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s gettin&rsquo; colder, I&rsquo;m thinkin&rsquo;,&rdquo; said
+Butler, by way of conversation, and eyeing Aileen&rsquo;s empty chair. She
+would come soon now&mdash;his heavy problem. He had been very tactful these
+last two months&mdash;avoiding any reference to Cowperwood in so far as he
+could help in her presence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s colder,&rdquo; remarked Owen, &ldquo;much colder. We&rsquo;ll
+soon see real winter now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Old John began to offer the various dishes in order; but when all had been
+served Aileen had not yet come.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;See where Aileen is, John,&rdquo; observed Mrs. Butler, interestedly.
+&ldquo;The meal will be gettin&rsquo; cold.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Old John returned with the news that Aileen was not in her room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sure she must be somewhere,&rdquo; commented Mrs. Butler, only slightly
+perplexed. &ldquo;She&rsquo;ll be comin&rsquo;, though, never mind, if she
+wants to. She knows it&rsquo;s meal-time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The conversation drifted from a new water-works that was being planned to the
+new city hall, then nearing completion; Cowperwood&rsquo;s financial and social
+troubles, and the state of the stock market generally; a new gold-mine in
+Arizona; the departure of Mrs. Mollenhauer the following Tuesday for Europe,
+with appropriate comments by Norah and Callum; and a Christmas ball that was
+going to be given for charity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aileen&rsquo;ll be wantin&rsquo; to go to that,&rdquo; commented Mrs.
+Butler.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going, you bet,&rdquo; put in Norah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who&rsquo;s going to take you?&rdquo; asked Callum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s my affair, mister,&rdquo; she replied, smartly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The meal was over, and Mrs. Butler strolled up to Aileen&rsquo;s room to see
+why she had not come down to dinner. Butler entered his den, wishing so much
+that he could take his wife into his confidence concerning all that was
+worrying him. On his desk, as he sat down and turned up the light, he saw the
+note. He recognized Aileen&rsquo;s handwriting at once. What could she mean by
+writing him? A sense of the untoward came to him, and he tore it open slowly,
+and, putting on his glasses, contemplated it solemnly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So Aileen was gone. The old man stared at each word as if it had been written
+in fire. She said she had not gone with Cowperwood. It was possible, just the
+same, that he had run away from Philadelphia and taken her with him. This was
+the last straw. This ended it. Aileen lured away from home&mdash;to
+where&mdash;to what? Butler could scarcely believe, though, that Cowperwood had
+tempted her to do this. He had too much at stake; it would involve his own and
+Butler&rsquo;s families. The papers would be certain to get it quickly. He got
+up, crumpling the paper in his hand, and turned about at a noise. His wife was
+coming in. He pulled himself together and shoved the letter in his pocket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aileen&rsquo;s not in her room,&rdquo; she said, curiously. &ldquo;She
+didn&rsquo;t say anything to you about going out, did she?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; he replied, truthfully, wondering how soon he should have to
+tell his wife.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s odd,&rdquo; observed Mrs. Butler, doubtfully. &ldquo;She
+must have gone out after somethin&rsquo;. It&rsquo;s a wonder she
+wouldn&rsquo;t tell somebody.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler gave no sign. He dared not. &ldquo;She&rsquo;ll be back,&rdquo; he said,
+more in order to gain time than anything else. He was sorry to have to pretend.
+Mrs. Butler went out, and he closed the door. Then he took out the letter and
+read it again. The girl was crazy. She was doing an absolutely wild, inhuman,
+senseless thing. Where could she go, except to Cowperwood? She was on the verge
+of a public scandal, and this would produce it. There was just one thing to do
+as far as he could see. Cowperwood, if he were still in Philadelphia, would
+know. He would go to him&mdash;threaten, cajole, actually destroy him, if
+necessary. Aileen must come back. She need not go to Europe, perhaps, but she
+must come back and behave herself at least until Cowperwood could legitimately
+marry her. That was all he could expect now. She would have to wait, and some
+day perhaps he could bring himself to accept her wretched proposition. Horrible
+thought! It would kill her mother, disgrace her sister. He got up, took down
+his hat, put on his overcoat, and started out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Arriving at the Cowperwood home he was shown into the reception-room.
+Cowperwood at the time was in his den looking over some private papers. When
+the name of Butler was announced he immediately went down-stairs. It was
+characteristic of the man that the announcement of Butler&rsquo;s presence
+created no stir in him whatsoever. So Butler had come. That meant, of course,
+that Aileen had gone. Now for a battle, not of words, but of weights of
+personalities. He felt himself to be intellectually, socially, and in every
+other way the more powerful man of the two. That spiritual content of him which
+we call life hardened to the texture of steel. He recalled that although he had
+told his wife and his father that the politicians, of whom Butler was one, were
+trying to make a scapegoat of him, Butler, nevertheless, was not considered to
+be wholly alienated as a friend, and civility must prevail. He would like very
+much to placate him if he could, to talk out the hard facts of life in a quiet
+and friendly way. But this matter of Aileen had to be adjusted now once and for
+all. And with that thought in his mind he walked quickly into Butler&rsquo;s
+presence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man, when he learned that Cowperwood was in and would see him,
+determined to make his contact with the financier as short and effective as
+possible. He moved the least bit when he heard Cowperwood&rsquo;s step, as
+light and springy as ever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good evening, Mr. Butler,&rdquo; said Cowperwood, cheerfully, when he
+saw him, extending his hand. &ldquo;What can I do for you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ye can take that away from in front of me, for one thing,&rdquo; said
+Butler, grimly referring to his hand. &ldquo;I have no need of it. It&rsquo;s
+my daughter I&rsquo;ve come to talk to ye about, and I want plain answers.
+Where is she?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mean Aileen?&rdquo; said Cowperwood, looking at him with steady,
+curious, unrevealing eyes, and merely interpolating this to obtain a moment for
+reflection. &ldquo;What can I tell you about her?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ye can tell me where she is, that I know. And ye can make her come back
+to her home, where she belongs. It was bad fortune that ever brought ye across
+my doorstep; but I&rsquo;ll not bandy words with ye here. Ye&rsquo;ll tell me
+where my daughter is, and ye&rsquo;ll leave her alone from now, or
+I&rsquo;ll&mdash;&rdquo; The old man&rsquo;s fists closed like a vise, and his
+chest heaved with suppressed rage. &ldquo;Ye&rsquo;ll not be drivin&rsquo; me
+too far, man, if ye&rsquo;re wise,&rdquo; he added, after a time, recovering
+his equanimity in part. &ldquo;I want no truck with ye. I want my
+daughter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Listen, Mr. Butler,&rdquo; said Cowperwood, quite calmly, relishing the
+situation for the sheer sense of superiority it gave him. &ldquo;I want to be
+perfectly frank with you, if you will let me. I may know where your daughter
+is, and I may not. I may wish to tell you, and I may not. She may not wish me
+to. But unless you wish to talk with me in a civil way there is no need of our
+going on any further. You are privileged to do what you like. Won&rsquo;t you
+come up-stairs to my room? We can talk more comfortably there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler looked at his former protege in utter astonishment. He had never before
+in all his experience come up against a more ruthless type&mdash;suave, bland,
+forceful, unterrified. This man had certainly come to him as a sheep, and had
+turned out to be a ravening wolf. His incarceration had not put him in the
+least awe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll not come up to your room,&rdquo; Butler said, &ldquo;and
+ye&rsquo;ll not get out of Philadelphy with her if that&rsquo;s what
+ye&rsquo;re plannin&rsquo;. I can see to that. Ye think ye have the upper hand
+of me, I see, and ye&rsquo;re anxious to make something of it. Well,
+ye&rsquo;re not. It wasn&rsquo;t enough that ye come to me as a beggar,
+cravin&rsquo; the help of me, and that I took ye in and helped ye all I
+could&mdash;ye had to steal my daughter from me in the bargain. If it
+wasn&rsquo;t for the girl&rsquo;s mother and her sister and her
+brothers&mdash;dacenter men than ever ye&rsquo;ll know how to
+be&mdash;I&rsquo;d brain ye where ye stand. Takin&rsquo; a young, innocent girl
+and makin&rsquo; an evil woman out of her, and ye a married man! It&rsquo;s a
+God&rsquo;s blessin&rsquo; for ye that it&rsquo;s me, and not one of me sons,
+that&rsquo;s here talkin&rsquo; to ye, or ye wouldn&rsquo;t be alive to say
+what ye&rsquo;d do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man was grim but impotent in his rage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry, Mr. Butler,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, quietly.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m willing to explain, but you won&rsquo;t let me. I&rsquo;m not
+planning to run away with your daughter, nor to leave Philadelphia. You ought
+to know me well enough to know that I&rsquo;m not contemplating anything of
+that kind; my interests are too large. You and I are practical men. We ought to
+be able to talk this matter over together and reach an understanding. I thought
+once of coming to you and explaining this; but I was quite sure you
+wouldn&rsquo;t listen to me. Now that you are here I would like to talk to you.
+If you will come up to my room I will be glad to&mdash;otherwise not.
+Won&rsquo;t you come up?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler saw that Cowperwood had the advantage. He might as well go up. Otherwise
+it was plain he would get no information.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood led the way quite amicably, and, having entered his private office,
+closed the door behind him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We ought to be able to talk this matter over and reach an
+understanding,&rdquo; he said again, when they were in the room and he had
+closed the door. &ldquo;I am not as bad as you think, though I know I appear
+very bad.&rdquo; Butler stared at him in contempt. &ldquo;I love your daughter,
+and she loves me. I know you are asking yourself how I can do this while I am
+still married; but I assure you I can, and that I do. I am not happily married.
+I had expected, if this panic hadn&rsquo;t come along, to arrange with my wife
+for a divorce and marry Aileen. My intentions are perfectly good. The situation
+which you can complain of, of course, is the one you encountered a few weeks
+ago. It was indiscreet, but it was entirely human. Your daughter does not
+complain&mdash;she understands.&rdquo; At the mention of his daughter in this
+connection Butler flushed with rage and shame, but he controlled himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And ye think because she doesn&rsquo;t complain that it&rsquo;s all
+right, do ye?&rdquo; he asked, sarcastically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From my point of view, yes; from yours no. You have one view of life,
+Mr. Butler, and I have another.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ye&rsquo;re right there,&rdquo; put in Butler, &ldquo;for once,
+anyhow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t prove that either of us is right or wrong. In my
+judgment the present end justifies the means. The end I have in view is to
+marry Aileen. If I can possibly pull myself out of this financial scrape that I
+am in I will do so. Of course, I would like to have your consent for
+that&mdash;so would Aileen; but if we can&rsquo;t, we can&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
+(Cowperwood was thinking that while this might not have a very soothing effect
+on the old contractor&rsquo;s point of view, nevertheless it must make some
+appeal to his sense of the possible or necessary. Aileen&rsquo;s present
+situation was quite unsatisfactory without marriage in view. And even if he,
+Cowperwood, was a convicted embezzler in the eyes of the public, that did not
+make him so. He might get free and restore himself&mdash;would
+certainly&mdash;and Aileen ought to be glad to marry him if she could under the
+circumstances. He did not quite grasp the depth of Butler&rsquo;s religious and
+moral prejudices.) &ldquo;Lately,&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;you have been doing
+all you can, as I understand it, to pull me down, on account of Aileen, I
+suppose; but that is simply delaying what I want to do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ye&rsquo;d like me to help ye do that, I suppose?&rdquo; suggested
+Butler, with infinite disgust and patience.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I want to marry Aileen,&rdquo; Cowperwood repeated, for emphasis&rsquo;
+sake. &ldquo;She wants to marry me. Under the circumstances, however you may
+feel, you can have no real objection to my doing that, I am sure; yet you go on
+fighting me&mdash;making it hard for me to do what you really know ought to be
+done.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ye&rsquo;re a scoundrel,&rdquo; said Butler, seeing through his motives
+quite clearly. &ldquo;Ye&rsquo;re a sharper, to my way of thinkin&rsquo;, and
+it&rsquo;s no child of mine I want connected with ye. I&rsquo;m not
+sayin&rsquo;, seein&rsquo; that things are as they are, that if ye were a free
+man it wouldn&rsquo;t be better that she should marry ye. It&rsquo;s the one
+dacent thing ye could do&mdash;if ye would, which I doubt. But that&rsquo;s
+nayther here nor there now. What can ye want with her hid away somewhere? Ye
+can&rsquo;t marry her. Ye can&rsquo;t get a divorce. Ye&rsquo;ve got your hands
+full fightin&rsquo; your lawsuits and kapin&rsquo; yourself out of jail.
+She&rsquo;ll only be an added expense to ye, and ye&rsquo;ll be wantin&rsquo;
+all the money ye have for other things, I&rsquo;m thinkin&rsquo;. Why should ye
+want to be takin&rsquo; her away from a dacent home and makin&rsquo; something
+out of her that ye&rsquo;d be ashamed to marry if you could? The laist ye could
+do, if ye were any kind of a man at all, and had any of that thing that
+ye&rsquo;re plased to call love, would be to lave her at home and keep her as
+respectable as possible. Mind ye, I&rsquo;m not thinkin&rsquo; she isn&rsquo;t
+ten thousand times too good for ye, whatever ye&rsquo;ve made of her. But if ye
+had any sinse of dacency left, ye wouldn&rsquo;t let her shame her family and
+break her old mother&rsquo;s heart, and that for no purpose except to make her
+worse than she is already. What good can ye get out of it, now? What good can
+ye expect to come of it? Be hivins, if ye had any sinse at all I should think
+ye could see that for yerself. Ye&rsquo;re only addin&rsquo; to your troubles,
+not takin&rsquo; away from them&mdash;and she&rsquo;ll not thank ye for that
+later on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stopped, rather astonished that he should have been drawn into an argument.
+His contempt for this man was so great that he could scarcely look at him, but
+his duty and his need was to get Aileen back. Cowperwood looked at him as one
+who gives serious attention to another. He seemed to be thinking deeply over
+what Butler had said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To tell you the truth, Mr. Butler,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I did not want
+Aileen to leave your home at all; and she will tell you so, if you ever talk to
+her about it. I did my best to persuade her not to, and when she insisted on
+going the only thing I could do was to be sure she would be comfortable
+wherever she went. She was greatly outraged to think you should have put
+detectives on her trail. That, and the fact that you wanted to send her away
+somewhere against her will, was the principal reasons for her leaving. I assure
+you I did not want her to go. I think you forget sometimes, Mr. Butler, that
+Aileen is a grown woman, and that she has a will of her own. You think I
+control her to her great disadvantage. As a matter of fact, I am very much in
+love with her, and have been for three or four years; and if you know anything
+about love you know that it doesn&rsquo;t always mean control. I&rsquo;m not
+doing Aileen any injustice when I say that she has had as much influence on me
+as I have had on her. I love her, and that&rsquo;s the cause of all the
+trouble. You come and insist that I shall return your daughter to you. As a
+matter of fact, I don&rsquo;t know whether I can or not. I don&rsquo;t know
+that she would go if I wanted her to. She might turn on me and say that I
+didn&rsquo;t care for her any more. That is not true, and I would not want her
+to feel that way. She is greatly hurt, as I told you, by what you did to her,
+and the fact that you want her to leave Philadelphia. You can do as much to
+remedy that as I can. I could tell you where she is, but I do not know that I
+want to. Certainly not until I know what your attitude toward her and this
+whole proposition is to be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused and looked calmly at the old contractor, who eyed him grimly in
+return.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What proposition are ye talkin&rsquo; about?&rdquo; asked Butler,
+interested by the peculiar developments of this argument. In spite of himself
+he was getting a slightly different angle on the whole situation. The scene was
+shifting to a certain extent. Cowperwood appeared to be reasonably sincere in
+the matter. His promises might all be wrong, but perhaps he did love Aileen;
+and it was possible that he did intend to get a divorce from his wife some time
+and marry her. Divorce, as Butler knew, was against the rules of the Catholic
+Church, which he so much revered. The laws of God and any sense of decency
+commanded that Cowperwood should not desert his wife and children and take up
+with another woman&mdash;not even Aileen, in order to save her. It was a
+criminal thing to plan, sociologically speaking, and showed what a villain
+Cowperwood inherently was; but, nevertheless, Cowperwood was not a Catholic,
+his views of life were not the same as his own, Butler&rsquo;s, and besides and
+worst of all (no doubt due in part to Aileen&rsquo;s own temperament), he had
+compromised her situation very materially. She might not easily be restored to
+a sense of the normal and decent, and so the matter was worth taking into
+thought. Butler knew that ultimately he could not countenance any such
+thing&mdash;certainly not, and keep his faith with the Church&mdash;but he was
+human enough none the less to consider it. Besides, he wanted Aileen to come
+back; and Aileen from now on, he knew, would have some say as to what her
+future should be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, it&rsquo;s simple enough,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood. &ldquo;I
+should like to have you withdraw your opposition to Aileen&rsquo;s remaining in
+Philadelphia, for one thing; and for another, I should like you to stop your
+attacks on me.&rdquo; Cowperwood smiled in an ingratiating way. He hoped really
+to placate Butler in part by his generous attitude throughout this procedure.
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t make you do that, of course, unless you want to. I merely
+bring it up, Mr. Butler, because I am sure that if it hadn&rsquo;t been for
+Aileen you would not have taken the course you have taken toward me. I
+understood you received an anonymous letter, and that afternoon you called your
+loan with me. Since then I have heard from one source and another that you were
+strongly against me, and I merely wish to say that I wish you wouldn&rsquo;t
+be. I am not guilty of embezzling any sixty thousand dollars, and you know it.
+My intentions were of the best. I did not think I was going to fail at the time
+I used those certificates, and if it hadn&rsquo;t been for several other loans
+that were called I would have gone on to the end of the month and put them back
+in time, as I always had. I have always valued your friendship very highly, and
+I am very sorry to lose it. Now I have said all I am going to say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler looked at Cowperwood with shrewd, calculating eyes. The man had some
+merit, but much unconscionable evil in him. Butler knew very well how he had
+taken the check, and a good many other things in connection with it. The manner
+in which he had played his cards to-night was on a par with the way he had run
+to him on the night of the fire. He was just shrewd and calculating and
+heartless.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll make ye no promise,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Tell me where my
+daughter is, and I&rsquo;ll think the matter over. Ye have no claim on me now,
+and I owe ye no good turn. But I&rsquo;ll think it over, anyhow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s quite all right,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood.
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all I can expect. But what about Aileen? Do you expect her
+to leave Philadelphia?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not if she settles down and behaves herself: but there must be an end of
+this between you and her. She&rsquo;s disgracin&rsquo; her family and
+ruinin&rsquo; her soul in the bargain. And that&rsquo;s what you are
+doin&rsquo; with yours. It&rsquo;ll be time enough to talk about anything else
+when you&rsquo;re a free man. More than that I&rsquo;ll not promise.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, satisfied that this move on Aileen&rsquo;s part had done her a real
+service if it had not aided him especially, was convinced that it would be a
+good move for her to return to her home at once. He could not tell how his
+appeal to the State Supreme Court would eventuate. His motion for a new trial
+which was now to be made under the privilege of the certificate of reasonable
+doubt might not be granted, in which case he would have to serve a term in the
+penitentiary. If he were compelled to go to the penitentiary she would be
+safer&mdash;better off in the bosom of her family. His own hands were going to
+be exceedingly full for the next two months until he knew how his appeal was
+coming out. And after that&mdash;well, after that he would fight on, whatever
+happened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During all the time that Cowperwood had been arguing his case in this fashion
+he had been thinking how he could adjust this compromise so as to retain the
+affection of Aileen and not offend her sensibilities by urging her to return.
+He knew that she would not agree to give up seeing him, and he was not willing
+that she should. Unless he had a good and sufficient reason, he would be
+playing a wretched part by telling Butler where she was. He did not intend to
+do so until he saw exactly how to do it&mdash;the way that would make it most
+acceptable to Aileen. He knew that she would not long be happy where she was.
+Her flight was due in part to Butler&rsquo;s intense opposition to himself and
+in part to his determination to make her leave Philadelphia and behave; but
+this last was now in part obviated. Butler, in spite of his words, was no
+longer a stern Nemesis. He was a melting man&mdash;very anxious to find his
+daughter, very willing to forgive her. He was whipped, literally beaten, at his
+own game, and Cowperwood could see it in the old man&rsquo;s eyes. If he
+himself could talk to Aileen personally and explain just how things were, he
+felt sure he could make her see that it would be to their mutual advantage, for
+the present at least, to have the matter amicably settled. The thing to do was
+to make Butler wait somewhere&mdash;here, possibly&mdash;while he went and
+talked to her. When she learned how things were she would probably acquiesce.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The best thing that I can do under the circumstances,&rdquo; he said,
+after a time, &ldquo;would be to see Aileen in two or three days, and ask her
+what she wishes to do. I can explain the matter to her, and if she wants to go
+back, she can. I will promise to tell her anything that you say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Two or three days!&rdquo; exclaimed Butler, irritably. &ldquo;Two or
+three fiddlesticks! She must come home to-night. Her mother doesn&rsquo;t know
+she&rsquo;s left the place yet. To-night is the time! I&rsquo;ll go and fetch
+her meself to-night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, that won&rsquo;t do,&rdquo; said Cowperwood. &ldquo;I shall have to
+go myself. If you wish to wait here I will see what can be done, and let you
+know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; grunted Butler, who was now walking up and down with
+his hands behind his back. &ldquo;But for Heaven&rsquo;s sake be quick about
+it. There&rsquo;s no time to lose.&rdquo; He was thinking of Mrs. Butler.
+Cowperwood called the servant, ordered his runabout, and told George to see
+that his private office was not disturbed. Then, as Butler strolled to and fro
+in this, to him, objectionable room, Cowperwood drove rapidly away.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap47"></a>Chapter XLVII</h2>
+
+<p>
+Although it was nearly eleven o&rsquo;clock when he arrived at the
+Calligans&rsquo;, Aileen was not yet in bed. In her bedroom upstairs she was
+confiding to Mamie and Mrs. Calligan some of her social experiences when the
+bell rang, and Mrs. Calligan went down and opened the door to Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Miss Butler is here, I believe,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Will you tell her
+that there is some one here from her father?&rdquo; Although Aileen had
+instructed that her presence here was not to be divulged even to the members of
+her family the force of Cowperwood&rsquo;s presence and the mention of
+Butler&rsquo;s name cost Mrs. Calligan her presence of mind. &ldquo;Wait a
+moment,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll see.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She stepped back, and Cowperwood promptly stepped in, taking off his hat with
+the air of one who was satisfied that Aileen was there. &ldquo;Say to her that
+I only want to speak to her for a few moments,&rdquo; he called, as Mrs.
+Calligan went up-stairs, raising his voice in the hope that Aileen might hear.
+She did, and came down promptly. She was very much astonished to think that he
+should come so soon, and fancied, in her vanity, that there must be great
+excitement in her home. She would have greatly grieved if there had not been.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Calligans would have been pleased to hear, but Cowperwood was cautious. As
+she came down the stairs he put his finger to his lips in sign for silence, and
+said, &ldquo;This is Miss Butler, I believe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied Aileen, with a secret smile. Her one desire was to
+kiss him. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s the trouble darling?&rdquo; she asked, softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll have to go back, dear, I&rsquo;m afraid,&rdquo; whispered
+Cowperwood. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll have everything in a turmoil if you
+don&rsquo;t. Your mother doesn&rsquo;t know yet, it seems, and your father is
+over at my place now, waiting for you. It may be a good deal of help to me if
+you do. Let me tell you&mdash;&rdquo; He went off into a complete description
+of his conversation with Butler and his own views in the matter. Aileen&rsquo;s
+expression changed from time to time as the various phases of the matter were
+put before her; but, persuaded by the clearness with which he put the matter,
+and by his assurance that they could continue their relations as before
+uninterrupted, once this was settled, she decided to return. In a way, her
+father&rsquo;s surrender was a great triumph. She made her farewells to the
+Calligans, saying, with a smile, that they could not do without her at home,
+and that she would send for her belongings later, and returned with Cowperwood
+to his own door. There he asked her to wait in the runabout while he sent her
+father down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well?&rdquo; said Butler, turning on him when he opened the door, and
+not seeing Aileen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll find her outside in my runabout,&rdquo; observed
+Cowperwood. &ldquo;You may use that if you choose. I will send my man for
+it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, thank you; we&rsquo;ll walk,&rdquo; said Butler.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood called his servant to take charge of the vehicle, and Butler stalked
+solemnly out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had to admit to himself that the influence of Cowperwood over his daughter
+was deadly, and probably permanent. The best he could do would be to keep her
+within the precincts of the home, where she might still, possibly, be brought
+to her senses. He held a very guarded conversation with her on his way home,
+for fear that she would take additional offense. Argument was out of the
+question.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ye might have talked with me once more, Aileen,&rdquo; he said,
+&ldquo;before ye left. Yer mother would be in a terrible state if she knew ye
+were gone. She doesn&rsquo;t know yet. Ye&rsquo;ll have to say ye stayed
+somewhere to dinner.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I was at the Calligans,&rdquo; replied Aileen. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s easy
+enough. Mama won&rsquo;t think anything about it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a sore heart I have, Aileen. I hope ye&rsquo;ll think over
+your ways and do better. I&rsquo;ll not say anythin&rsquo; more now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen returned to her room, decidedly triumphant in her mood for the moment,
+and things went on apparently in the Butler household as before. But those who
+imagine that this defeat permanently altered the attitude of Butler toward
+Cowperwood are mistaken.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+In the meanwhile between the day of his temporary release and the hearing of
+his appeal which was two months off, Cowperwood was going on doing his best to
+repair his shattered forces. He took up his work where he left off; but the
+possibility of reorganizing his business was distinctly modified since his
+conviction. Because of his action in trying to protect his largest creditors at
+the time of his failure, he fancied that once he was free again, if ever he got
+free, his credit, other things being equal, would be good with those who could
+help him most&mdash;say, Cooke &amp; Co., Clark &amp; Co., Drexel &amp; Co.,
+and the Girard National Bank&mdash;providing his personal reputation had not
+been too badly injured by his sentence. Fortunately for his own hopefulness of
+mind, he failed fully to realize what a depressing effect a legal decision of
+this character, sound or otherwise, had on the minds of even his most
+enthusiastic supporters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His best friends in the financial world were by now convinced that his was a
+sinking ship. A student of finance once observed that nothing is so sensitive
+as money, and the financial mind partakes largely of the quality of the thing
+in which it deals. There was no use trying to do much for a man who might be
+going to prison for a term of years. Something might be done for him possibly
+in connection with the governor, providing he lost his case before the Supreme
+Court and was actually sentenced to prison; but that was two months off, or
+more, and they could not tell what the outcome of that would be. So
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s repeated appeals for assistance, extension of credit, or the
+acceptance of some plan he had for his general rehabilitation, were met with
+the kindly evasions of those who were doubtful. They would think it over. They
+would see about it. Certain things were standing in the way. And so on, and so
+forth, through all the endless excuses of those who do not care to act. In
+these days he went about the money world in his customary jaunty way, greeting
+all those whom he had known there many years and pretending, when asked, to be
+very hopeful, to be doing very well; but they did not believe him, and he
+really did not care whether they did or not. His business was to persuade or
+over-persuade any one who could really be of assistance to him, and at this
+task he worked untiringly, ignoring all others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, hello, Frank,&rdquo; his friends would call, on seeing him.
+&ldquo;How are you getting on?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Fine! Fine!&rdquo; he would reply, cheerfully. &ldquo;Never
+better,&rdquo; and he would explain in a general way how his affairs were being
+handled. He conveyed much of his own optimism to all those who knew him and
+were interested in his welfare, but of course there were many who were not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In these days also, he and Steger were constantly to be met with in courts of
+law, for he was constantly being reexamined in some petition in bankruptcy.
+They were heartbreaking days, but he did not flinch. He wanted to stay in
+Philadelphia and fight the thing to a finish&mdash;putting himself where he had
+been before the fire; rehabilitating himself in the eyes of the public. He felt
+that he could do it, too, if he were not actually sent to prison for a long
+term; and even then, so naturally optimistic was his mood, when he got out
+again. But, in so far as Philadelphia was concerned, distinctly he was dreaming
+vain dreams.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of the things militating against him was the continued opposition of Butler
+and the politicians. Somehow&mdash;no one could have said exactly why&mdash;the
+general political feeling was that the financier and the former city treasurer
+would lose their appeals and eventually be sentenced together. Stener, in spite
+of his original intention to plead guilty and take his punishment without
+comment, had been persuaded by some of his political friends that it would be
+better for his future&rsquo;s sake to plead not guilty and claim that his
+offense had been due to custom, rather than to admit his guilt outright and so
+seem not to have had any justification whatsoever. This he did, but he was
+convicted nevertheless. For the sake of appearances, a trumped-up appeal was
+made which was now before the State Supreme Court.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, too, due to one whisper and another, and these originating with the girl
+who had written Butler and Cowperwood&rsquo;s wife, there was at this time a
+growing volume of gossip relating to the alleged relations of Cowperwood with
+Butler&rsquo;s daughter, Aileen. There had been a house in Tenth Street. It had
+been maintained by Cowperwood for her. No wonder Butler was so vindictive.
+This, indeed, explained much. And even in the practical, financial world,
+criticism was now rather against Cowperwood than his enemies. For, was it not a
+fact, that at the inception of his career, he had been befriended by Butler?
+And what a way to reward that friendship! His oldest and firmest admirers
+wagged their heads. For they sensed clearly that this was another illustration
+of that innate &ldquo;I satisfy myself&rdquo; attitude which so regulated
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s conduct. He was a strong man, surely&mdash;and a brilliant
+one. Never had Third Street seen a more pyrotechnic, and yet fascinating and
+financially aggressive, and at the same time, conservative person. Yet might
+one not fairly tempt Nemesis by a too great daring and egotism? Like Death, it
+loves a shining mark. He should not, perhaps, have seduced Butler&rsquo;s
+daughter; unquestionably he should not have so boldly taken that check,
+especially after his quarrel and break with Stener. He was a little too
+aggressive. Was it not questionable whether&mdash;with such a record&mdash;he
+could be restored to his former place here? The bankers and business men who
+were closest to him were decidedly dubious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But in so far as Cowperwood and his own attitude toward life was concerned, at
+this time&mdash;the feeling he had&mdash;&ldquo;to satisfy
+myself&rdquo;&mdash;when combined with his love of beauty and love and women,
+still made him ruthless and thoughtless. Even now, the beauty and delight of a
+girl like Aileen Butler were far more important to him than the good-will of
+fifty million people, if he could evade the necessity of having their
+good-will. Previous to the Chicago fire and the panic, his star had been so
+rapidly ascending that in the helter-skelter of great and favorable events he
+had scarcely taken thought of the social significance of the thing he was
+doing. Youth and the joy of life were in his blood. He felt so young, so
+vigorous, so like new grass looks and feels. The freshness of spring evenings
+was in him, and he did not care. After the crash, when one might have imagined
+he would have seen the wisdom of relinquishing Aileen for the time being,
+anyhow, he did not care to. She represented the best of the wonderful days that
+had gone before. She was a link between him and the past and a still-to-be
+triumphant future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His worst anxiety was that if he were sent to the penitentiary, or adjudged a
+bankrupt, or both, he would probably lose the privilege of a seat on
+&rsquo;change, and that would close to him the most distinguished avenue of his
+prosperity here in Philadelphia for some time, if not forever. At present,
+because of his complications, his seat had been attached as an asset, and he
+could not act. Edward and Joseph, almost the only employees he could afford,
+were still acting for him in a small way; but the other members on
+&rsquo;change naturally suspected his brothers as his agents, and any talk that
+they might raise of going into business for themselves merely indicated to
+other brokers and bankers that Cowperwood was contemplating some concealed move
+which would not necessarily be advantageous to his creditors, and against the
+law anyhow. Yet he must remain on &rsquo;change, whatever happened, potentially
+if not actively; and so in his quick mental searchings he hit upon the idea
+that in order to forfend against the event of his being put into prison or
+thrown into bankruptcy, or both, he ought to form a subsidiary silent
+partnership with some man who was or would be well liked on &rsquo;change, and
+whom he could use as a cat&rsquo;s-paw and a dummy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finally he hit upon a man who he thought would do. He did not amount to
+much&mdash;had a small business; but he was honest, and he liked Cowperwood.
+His name was Wingate&mdash;Stephen Wingate&mdash;and he was eking out a not too
+robust existence in South Third Street as a broker. He was forty-five years of
+age, of medium height, fairly thick-set, not at all unprepossessing, and rather
+intelligent and active, but not too forceful and pushing in spirit. He really
+needed a man like Cowperwood to make him into something, if ever he was to be
+made. He had a seat on &rsquo;change, and was well thought of; respected, but
+not so very prosperous. In times past he had asked small favors of
+Cowperwood&mdash;the use of small loans at a moderate rate of interest, tips,
+and so forth; and Cowperwood, because he liked him and felt a little sorry for
+him, had granted them. Now Wingate was slowly drifting down toward a none too
+successful old age, and was as tractable as such a man would naturally be. No
+one for the time being would suspect him of being a hireling of
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s, and the latter could depend on him to execute his orders to
+the letter. He sent for him and had a long conversation with him. He told him
+just what the situation was, what he thought he could do for him as a partner,
+how much of his business he would want for himself, and so on, and found him
+agreeable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be glad to do anything you say, Mr. Cowperwood,&rdquo; he
+assured the latter. &ldquo;I know whatever happens that you&rsquo;ll protect
+me, and there&rsquo;s nobody in the world I would rather work with or have
+greater respect for. This storm will all blow over, and you&rsquo;ll be all
+right. We can try it, anyhow. If it don&rsquo;t work out you can see what you
+want to do about it later.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so this relationship was tentatively entered into and Cowperwood began to
+act in a small way through Wingate.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap48"></a>Chapter XLVIII</h2>
+
+<p>
+By the time the State Supreme Court came to pass upon Cowperwood&rsquo;s plea
+for a reversal of the lower court and the granting of a new trial, the rumor of
+his connection with Aileen had spread far and wide. As has been seen, it had
+done and was still doing him much damage. It confirmed the impression, which
+the politicians had originally tried to create, that Cowperwood was the true
+criminal and Stener the victim. His semi-legitimate financial subtlety, backed
+indeed by his financial genius, but certainly on this account not worse than
+that being practiced in peace and quiet and with much applause in many other
+quarters&mdash;was now seen to be Machiavellian trickery of the most dangerous
+type. He had a wife and two children; and without knowing what his real
+thoughts had been the fruitfully imaginative public jumped to the conclusion
+that he had been on the verge of deserting them, divorcing Lillian, and
+marrying Aileen. This was criminal enough in itself, from the conservative
+point of view; but when taken in connection with his financial record, his
+trial, conviction, and general bankruptcy situation, the public was inclined to
+believe that he was all the politicians said he was. He ought to be convicted.
+The Supreme Court ought not to grant his prayer for a new trial. It is thus
+that our inmost thoughts and intentions burst at times via no known material
+agency into public thoughts. People know, when they cannot apparently possibly
+know why they know. There is such a thing as thought-transference and
+transcendentalism of ideas.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It reached, for one thing, the ears of the five judges of the State Supreme
+Court and of the Governor of the State.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the four weeks Cowperwood had been free on a certificate of reasonable
+doubt both Harper Steger and Dennis Shannon appeared before the judges of the
+State Supreme Court, and argued pro and con as to the reasonableness of
+granting a new trial. Through his lawyer, Cowperwood made a learned appeal to
+the Supreme Court judges, showing how he had been unfairly indicted in the
+first place, how there was no real substantial evidence on which to base a
+charge of larceny or anything else. It took Steger two hours and ten minutes to
+make his argument, and District-Attorney Shannon longer to make his reply,
+during which the five judges on the bench, men of considerable legal experience
+but no great financial understanding, listened with rapt attention. Three of
+them, Judges Smithson, Rainey, and Beckwith, men most amenable to the political
+feeling of the time and the wishes of the bosses, were little interested in
+this story of Cowperwood&rsquo;s transaction, particularly since his relations
+with Butler&rsquo;s daughter and Butler&rsquo;s consequent opposition to him
+had come to them. They fancied that in a way they were considering the whole
+matter fairly and impartially; but the manner in which Cowperwood had treated
+Butler was never out of their minds. Two of them, Judges Marvin and Rafalsky,
+who were men of larger sympathies and understanding, but of no greater
+political freedom, did feel that Cowperwood had been badly used thus far, but
+they did not see what they could do about it. He had put himself in a most
+unsatisfactory position, politically and socially. They understood and took
+into consideration his great financial and social losses which Steger described
+accurately; and one of them, Judge Rafalsky, because of a similar event in his
+own life in so far as a girl was concerned, was inclined to argue strongly
+against the conviction of Cowperwood; but, owing to his political connections
+and obligations, he realized that it would not be wise politically to stand out
+against what was wanted. Still, when he and Marvin learned that Judges
+Smithson, Rainey, and Beckwith were inclined to convict Cowperwood without much
+argument, they decided to hand down a dissenting opinion. The point involved
+was a very knotty one. Cowperwood might carry it to the Supreme Court of the
+United States on some fundamental principle of liberty of action. Anyhow, other
+judges in other courts in Pennsylvania and elsewhere would be inclined to
+examine the decision in this case, it was so important. The minority decided
+that it would not do them any harm to hand down a dissenting opinion. The
+politicians would not mind as long as Cowperwood was convicted&mdash;would like
+it better, in fact. It looked fairer. Besides, Marvin and Rafalsky did not care
+to be included, if they could help it, with Smithson, Rainey, and Beckwith in a
+sweeping condemnation of Cowperwood. So all five judges fancied they were
+considering the whole matter rather fairly and impartially, as men will under
+such circumstances. Smithson, speaking for himself and Judges Rainey and
+Beckwith on the eleventh of February, 1872, said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The defendant, Frank A. Cowperwood, asks that the finding of the jury in
+the lower court (the State of Pennsylvania vs. Frank A. Cowperwood) be reversed
+and a new trial granted. This court cannot see that any substantial injustice
+has been done the defendant. [Here followed a rather lengthy resume of the
+history of the case, in which it was pointed out that the custom and precedent
+of the treasurer&rsquo;s office, to say nothing of Cowperwood&rsquo;s easy
+method of doing business with the city treasury, could have nothing to do with
+his responsibility for failure to observe both the spirit and the letter of the
+law.] The obtaining of goods under color of legal process [went on Judge
+Smithson, speaking for the majority] may amount to larceny. In the present case
+it was the province of the jury to ascertain the felonious intent. They have
+settled that against the defendant as a question of fact, and the court cannot
+say that there was not sufficient evidence to sustain the verdict. For what
+purpose did the defendant get the check? He was upon the eve of failure. He had
+already hypothecated for his own debts the loan of the city placed in his hands
+for sale&mdash;he had unlawfully obtained five hundred thousand dollars in cash
+as loans; and it is reasonable to suppose that he could obtain nothing more
+from the city treasury by any ordinary means. Then it is that he goes there,
+and, by means of a falsehood implied if not actual, obtains sixty thousand
+dollars more. The jury has found the intent with which this was done.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+It was in these words that Cowperwood&rsquo;s appeal for a new trial was denied
+by the majority.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For himself and Judge Rafalsky, Judge Marvin, dissenting, wrote:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;It is plain from the evidence in the case that Mr. Cowperwood did not
+receive the check without authority as agent to do so, and it has not been
+clearly demonstrated that within his capacity as agent he did not perform or
+intend to perform the full measure of the obligation which the receipt of this
+check implied. It was shown in the trial that as a matter of policy it was
+understood that purchases for the sinking-fund should not be known or
+understood in the market or by the public in that light, and that Mr.
+Cowperwood as agent was to have an absolutely free hand in the disposal of his
+assets and liabilities so long as the ultimate result was satisfactory. There
+was no particular time when the loan was to be bought, nor was there any
+particular amount mentioned at any time to be purchased. Unless the defendant
+intended at the time he received the check fraudulently to appropriate it he
+could not be convicted even on the first count. The verdict of the jury does
+not establish this fact; the evidence does not show conclusively that it could
+be established; and the same jury, upon three other counts, found the defendant
+guilty without the semblance of shadow of evidence. How can we say that their
+conclusions upon the first count are unerring when they so palpably erred on
+the other counts? It is the opinion of the minority that the verdict of the
+jury in charging larceny on the first count is not valid, and that that verdict
+should be set aside and a new trial granted.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Judge Rafalsky, a meditative and yet practical man of Jewish extraction but
+peculiarly American appearance, felt called upon to write a third opinion which
+should especially reflect his own cogitation and be a criticism on the majority
+as well as a slight variation from and addition to the points on which he
+agreed with Judge Marvin. It was a knotty question, this, of Cowperwood&rsquo;s
+guilt, and, aside from the political necessity of convicting him, nowhere was
+it more clearly shown than in these varying opinions of the superior court.
+Judge Rafalsky held, for instance, that if a crime had been committed at all,
+it was not that known as larceny, and he went on to add:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;It is impossible, from the evidence, to come to the conclusion either
+that Cowperwood did not intend shortly to deliver the loan or that Albert
+Stires, the chief clerk, or the city treasurer did not intend to part not only
+with the possession, but also and absolutely with the property in the check and
+the money represented by it. It was testified by Mr. Stires that Mr. Cowperwood
+said he had bought certificates of city loan to this amount, and it has not
+been clearly demonstrated that he had not. His non-placement of the same in the
+sinking-fund must in all fairness, the letter of the law to the contrary
+notwithstanding, be looked upon and judged in the light of custom. Was it his
+custom so to do? In my judgment the doctrine now announced by the majority of
+the court extends the crime of constructive larceny to such limits that any
+business man who engages in extensive and perfectly legitimate stock
+transactions may, before he knows it, by a sudden panic in the market or a
+fire, as in this instance, become a felon. When a principle is asserted which
+establishes such a precedent, and may lead to such results, it is, to say the
+least, startling.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While he was notably comforted by the dissenting opinions of the judges in
+minority, and while he had been schooling himself to expect the worst in this
+connection and had been arranging his affairs as well as he could in
+anticipation of it, Cowperwood was still bitterly disappointed. It would be
+untrue to say that, strong and self-reliant as he normally was, he did not
+suffer. He was not without sensibilities of the highest order, only they were
+governed and controlled in him by that cold iron thing, his reason, which never
+forsook him. There was no further appeal possible save to the United States
+Supreme Court, as Steger pointed out, and there only on the constitutionality
+of some phase of the decision and his rights as a citizen, of which the Supreme
+Court of the United States must take cognizance. This was a tedious and
+expensive thing to do. It was not exactly obvious at the moment on what point
+he could make an appeal. It would involve a long delay&mdash;perhaps a year and
+a half, perhaps longer, at the end of which period he might have to serve his
+prison term anyhow, and pending which he would certainly have to undergo
+incarceration for a time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood mused speculatively for a few moments after hearing Steger&rsquo;s
+presentation of the case. Then he said: &ldquo;Well, it looks as if I have to
+go to jail or leave the country, and I&rsquo;ve decided on jail. I can fight
+this out right here in Philadelphia in the long run and win. I can get that
+decision reversed in the Supreme Court, or I can get the Governor to pardon me
+after a time, I think. I&rsquo;m not going to run away, and everybody knows
+I&rsquo;m not. These people who think they have me down haven&rsquo;t got one
+corner of me whipped. I&rsquo;ll get out of this thing after a while, and when
+I do I&rsquo;ll show some of these petty little politicians what it means to
+put up a real fight. They&rsquo;ll never get a damned dollar out of me
+now&mdash;not a dollar! I did intend to pay that five hundred thousand dollars
+some time if they had let me go. Now they can whistle!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He set his teeth and his gray eyes fairly snapped their determination.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;ve done all I can, Frank,&rdquo; pleaded Steger,
+sympathetically. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll do me the justice to say that I put up the
+best fight I knew how. I may not know how&mdash;you&rsquo;ll have to answer for
+that&mdash;but within my limits I&rsquo;ve done the best I can. I can do a few
+things more to carry this thing on, if you want me to, but I&rsquo;m going to
+leave it to you now. Whatever you say goes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t talk nonsense at this stage, Harper,&rdquo; replied
+Cowperwood almost testily. &ldquo;I know whether I&rsquo;m satisfied or not,
+and I&rsquo;d soon tell you if I wasn&rsquo;t. I think you might as well go on
+and see if you can find some definite grounds for carrying it to the Supreme
+Court, but meanwhile I&rsquo;ll begin my sentence. I suppose Payderson will be
+naming a day to have me brought before him now shortly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It depends on how you&rsquo;d like to have it, Frank. I could get a stay
+of sentence for a week maybe, or ten days, if it will do you any good. Shannon
+won&rsquo;t make any objection to that, I&rsquo;m sure. There&rsquo;s only one
+hitch. Jaspers will be around here tomorrow looking for you. It&rsquo;s his
+duty to take you into custody again, once he&rsquo;s notified that your appeal
+has been denied. He&rsquo;ll be wanting to lock you up unless you pay him, but
+we can fix that. If you do want to wait, and want any time off, I suppose
+he&rsquo;ll arrange to let you out with a deputy; but I&rsquo;m afraid
+you&rsquo;ll have to stay there nights. They&rsquo;re pretty strict about that
+since that Albertson case of a few years ago.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Steger referred to the case of a noted bank cashier who, being let out of the
+county jail at night in the alleged custody of a deputy, was permitted to
+escape. There had been emphatic and severe condemnation of the sheriff&rsquo;s
+office at the time, and since then, repute or no repute, money or no money,
+convicted criminals were supposed to stay in the county jail at night at least.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood meditated this calmly, looking out of the lawyer&rsquo;s window into
+Second Street. He did not much fear anything that might happen to him in
+Jaspers&rsquo;s charge since his first taste of that gentleman&rsquo;s
+hospitality, although he did object to spending nights in the county jail when
+his general term of imprisonment was being reduced no whit thereby. All that he
+could do now in connection with his affairs, unless he could have months of
+freedom, could be as well adjusted from a prison cell as from his Third Street
+office&mdash;not quite, but nearly so. Anyhow, why parley? He was facing a
+prison term, and he might as well accept it without further ado. He might take
+a day or two finally to look after his affairs; but beyond that, why bother?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When, in the ordinary course of events, if you did nothing at all, would
+I come up for sentence?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Friday or Monday, I fancy,&rdquo; replied Steger. &ldquo;I
+don&rsquo;t know what move Shannon is planning to make in this matter. I
+thought I&rsquo;d walk around and see him in a little while.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think you&rsquo;d better do that,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood.
+&ldquo;Friday or Monday will suit me, either way. I&rsquo;m really not
+particular. Better make it Monday if you can. You don&rsquo;t suppose there is
+any way you can induce Jaspers to keep his hands off until then? He knows
+I&rsquo;m perfectly responsible.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, Frank, I&rsquo;m sure; I&rsquo;ll see. I&rsquo;ll go
+around and talk to him to-night. Perhaps a hundred dollars will make him relax
+the rigor of his rules that much.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood smiled grimly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I fancy a hundred dollars would make Jaspers relax a whole lot of
+rules,&rdquo; he replied, and he got up to go.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Steger arose also. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll see both these people, and then I&rsquo;ll
+call around at your house. You&rsquo;ll be in, will you, after dinner?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They slipped on their overcoats and went out into the cold February day,
+Cowperwood back to his Third Street office, Steger to see Shannon and Jaspers.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap49"></a>Chapter XLIX</h2>
+
+<p>
+The business of arranging Cowperwood&rsquo;s sentence for Monday was soon
+disposed of through Shannon, who had no personal objection to any reasonable
+delay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Steger next visited the county jail, close on to five o&rsquo;clock, when it
+was already dark. Sheriff Jaspers came lolling out from his private library,
+where he had been engaged upon the work of cleaning his pipe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How are you, Mr. Steger?&rdquo; he observed, smiling blandly. &ldquo;How
+are you? Glad to see you. Won&rsquo;t you sit down? I suppose you&rsquo;re
+round here again on that Cowperwood matter. I just received word from the
+district attorney that he had lost his case.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s it, Sheriff,&rdquo; replied Steger, ingratiatingly.
+&ldquo;He asked me to step around and see what you wanted him to do in the
+matter. Judge Payderson has just fixed the sentence time for Monday morning at
+ten o&rsquo;clock. I don&rsquo;t suppose you&rsquo;ll be much put out if he
+doesn&rsquo;t show up here before Monday at eight o&rsquo;clock, will you, or
+Sunday night, anyhow? He&rsquo;s perfectly reliable, as you know.&rdquo; Steger
+was sounding Jaspers out, politely trying to make the time of
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s arrival a trivial matter in order to avoid paying the
+hundred dollars, if possible. But Jaspers was not to be so easily disposed of.
+His fat face lengthened considerably. How could Steger ask him such a favor and
+not even suggest the slightest form of remuneration?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s ag&rsquo;in&rsquo; the law, Mr. Steger, as you know,&rdquo;
+he began, cautiously and complainingly. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to accommodate
+him, everything else being equal, but since that Albertson case three years ago
+we&rsquo;ve had to run this office much more careful, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, I know, Sheriff,&rdquo; interrupted Steger, blandly, &ldquo;but this
+isn&rsquo;t an ordinary case in any way, as you can see for yourself. Mr.
+Cowperwood is a very important man, and he has a great many things to attend
+to. Now if it were only a mere matter of seventy-five or a hundred dollars to
+satisfy some court clerk with, or to pay a fine, it would be easy enough,
+but&mdash;&rdquo; He paused and looked wisely away, and Mr. Jaspers&rsquo;s
+face began to relax at once. The law against which it was ordinarily so hard to
+offend was not now so important. Steger saw that it was needless to introduce
+any additional arguments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very ticklish business, this, Mr. Steger,&rdquo; put in the
+sheriff, yieldingly, and yet with a slight whimper in his voice. &ldquo;If
+anything were to happen, it would cost me my place all right. I don&rsquo;t
+like to do it under any circumstances, and I wouldn&rsquo;t, only I happen to
+know both Mr. Cowperwood and Mr. Stener, and I like &rsquo;em both. I
+don&rsquo; think they got their rights in this matter, either. I don&rsquo;t
+mind making an exception in this case if Mr. Cowperwood don&rsquo;t go about
+too publicly. I wouldn&rsquo;t want any of the men in the district
+attorney&rsquo;s office to know this. I don&rsquo;t suppose he&rsquo;ll mind if
+I keep a deputy somewhere near all the time for looks&rsquo; sake. I have to,
+you know, really, under the law. He won&rsquo;t bother him any. Just keep on
+guard like.&rdquo; Jaspers looked at Mr. Steger very flatly and
+wisely&mdash;almost placatingly under the circumstances&mdash;and Steger
+nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite right, Sheriff, quite right. You&rsquo;re quite right,&rdquo; and
+he drew out his purse while the sheriff led the way very cautiously back into
+his library.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to show you the line of law-books I&rsquo;m fixing up for
+myself in here, Mr. Steger,&rdquo; he observed, genially, but meanwhile closing
+his fingers gently on the small roll of ten-dollar bills Steger was handing
+him. &ldquo;We have occasional use for books of that kind here, as you see. I
+thought it a good sort of thing to have them around.&rdquo; He waved one arm
+comprehensively at the line of State reports, revised statutes, prison
+regulations, etc., the while he put the money in his pocket and Steger
+pretended to look.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A good idea, I think, Sheriff. Very good, indeed. So you think if Mr.
+Cowperwood gets around here very early Monday morning, say eight or
+eight-thirty, that it will be all right?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think so,&rdquo; replied the sheriff, curiously nervous, but
+agreeable, anxious to please. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that anything will
+come up that will make me want him earlier. If it does I&rsquo;ll let you know,
+and you can produce him. I don&rsquo;t think so, though, Mr. Steger; I think
+everything will be all right.&rdquo; They were once more in the main hall now.
+&ldquo;Glad to have seen you again, Mr. Steger&mdash;very glad,&rdquo; he
+added. &ldquo;Call again some day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Waving the sheriff a pleasant farewell, he hurried on his way to
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You would not have thought, seeing Cowperwood mount the front steps of his
+handsome residence in his neat gray suit and well-cut overcoat on his return
+from his office that evening, that he was thinking that this might be his last
+night here. His air and walk indicated no weakening of spirit. He entered the
+hall, where an early lamp was aglow, and encountered &ldquo;Wash&rdquo; Sims,
+an old negro factotum, who was just coming up from the basement, carrying a
+bucket of coal for one of the fireplaces.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mahty cold out, dis evenin&rsquo;, Mistah Coppahwood,&rdquo; said Wash,
+to whom anything less than sixty degrees was very cold. His one regret was that
+Philadelphia was not located in North Carolina, from whence he came.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&rsquo;Tis sharp, Wash,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, absentmindedly. He
+was thinking for the moment of the house and how it had looked, as he came
+toward it west along Girard Avenue&mdash;what the neighbors were thinking of
+him, too, observing him from time to time out of their windows. It was clear
+and cold. The lamps in the reception-hall and sitting-room had been lit, for he
+had permitted no air of funereal gloom to settle down over this place since his
+troubles had begun. In the far west of the street a last tingling gleam of
+lavender and violet was showing over the cold white snow of the roadway. The
+house of gray-green stone, with its lighted windows, and cream-colored lace
+curtains, had looked especially attractive. He had thought for the moment of
+the pride he had taken in putting all this here, decorating and ornamenting it,
+and whether, ever, he could secure it for himself again. &ldquo;Where is your
+mistress?&rdquo; he added to Wash, when he bethought himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In the sitting-room, Mr. Coppahwood, ah think.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood ascended the stairs, thinking curiously that Wash would soon be out
+of a job now, unless Mrs. Cowperwood, out of all the wreck of other things,
+chose to retain him, which was not likely. He entered the sitting-room, and
+there sat his wife by the oblong center-table, sewing a hook and eye on one of
+Lillian, second&rsquo;s, petticoats. She looked up, at his step, with the
+peculiarly uncertain smile she used these days&mdash;indication of her pain,
+fear, suspicion&mdash;and inquired, &ldquo;Well, what is new with you,
+Frank?&rdquo; Her smile was something like a hat or belt or ornament which one
+puts on or off at will.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing in particular,&rdquo; he replied, in his offhand way,
+&ldquo;except that I understand I have lost that appeal of mine. Steger is
+coming here in a little while to let me know. I had a note from him, and I
+fancy it&rsquo;s about that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He did not care to say squarely that he had lost. He knew that she was
+sufficiently distressed as it was, and he did not care to be too abrupt just
+now.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t say!&rdquo; replied Lillian, with surprise and fright in
+her voice, and getting up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She had been so used to a world where prisons were scarcely thought of, where
+things went on smoothly from day to day without any noticeable intrusion of
+such distressing things as courts, jails, and the like, that these last few
+months had driven her nearly mad. Cowperwood had so definitely insisted on her
+keeping in the background&mdash;he had told her so very little that she was all
+at sea anyhow in regard to the whole procedure. Nearly all that she had had in
+the way of intelligence had been from his father and mother and Anna, and from
+a close and almost secret scrutiny of the newspapers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the time he had gone to the county jail she did not even know anything about
+it until his father had come back from the court-room and the jail and had
+broken the news to her. It had been a terrific blow to her. Now to have this
+thing suddenly broken to her in this offhand way, even though she had been
+expecting and dreading it hourly, was too much.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was still a decidedly charming-looking woman as she stood holding her
+daughter&rsquo;s garment in her hand, even if she was forty years old to
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s thirty-five. She was robed in one of the creations of their
+late prosperity, a cream-colored gown of rich silk, with dark brown
+trimmings&mdash;a fetching combination for her. Her eyes were a little hollow,
+and reddish about the rims, but otherwise she showed no sign of her keen mental
+distress. There was considerable evidence of the former tranquil sweetness that
+had so fascinated him ten years before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t that terrible?&rdquo; she said, weakly, her hands trembling
+in a nervous way. &ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t it dreadful? Isn&rsquo;t there anything
+more you can do, truly? You won&rsquo;t really have to go to prison, will
+you?&rdquo; He objected to her distress and her nervous fears. He preferred a
+stronger, more self-reliant type of woman, but still she was his wife, and in
+his day he had loved her much.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It looks that way, Lillian,&rdquo; he said, with the first note of real
+sympathy he had used in a long while, for he felt sorry for her now. At the
+same time he was afraid to go any further along that line, for fear it might
+give her a false sense as to his present attitude toward her which was one
+essentially of indifference. But she was not so dull but what she could see
+that the consideration in his voice had been brought about by his defeat, which
+meant hers also. She choked a little&mdash;and even so was touched. The bare
+suggestion of sympathy brought back the old days so definitely gone forever. If
+only they could be brought back!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want you to feel distressed about me, though,&rdquo; he
+went on, before she could say anything to him. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not through
+with my fighting. I&rsquo;ll get out of this. I have to go to prison, it seems,
+in order to get things straightened out properly. What I would like you to do
+is to keep up a cheerful appearance in front of the rest of the
+family&mdash;father and mother particularly. They need to be cheered up.&rdquo;
+He thought once of taking her hand, then decided not. She noted mentally his
+hesitation, the great difference between his attitude now and that of ten or
+twelve years before. It did not hurt her now as much as she once would have
+thought. She looked at him, scarcely knowing what to say. There was really not
+so much to say.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will you have to go soon, if you do have to go?&rdquo; she ventured,
+wearily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t tell yet. Possibly to-night. Possibly Friday. Possibly not
+until Monday. I&rsquo;m waiting to hear from Steger. I expect him here any
+minute.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To prison! To prison! Her Frank Cowperwood, her husband&mdash;the substance of
+their home here&mdash;and all their soul destruction going to prison. And even
+now she scarcely grasped why! She stood there wondering what she could do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is there anything I can get for you?&rdquo; she asked, starting forward
+as if out of a dream. &ldquo;Do you want me to do anything? Don&rsquo;t you
+think perhaps you had better leave Philadelphia, Frank? You needn&rsquo;t go to
+prison unless you want to.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was a little beside herself, for the first time in her life shocked out of
+a deadly calm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused and looked at her for a moment in his direct, examining way, his hard
+commercial business judgment restored on the instant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That would be a confession of guilt, Lillian, and I&rsquo;m not
+guilty,&rdquo; he replied, almost coldly. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t done anything
+that warrants my running away or going to prison, either. I&rsquo;m merely
+going there to save time at present. I can&rsquo;t be litigating this thing
+forever. I&rsquo;ll get out&mdash;be pardoned out or sued out in a reasonable
+length of time. Just now it&rsquo;s better to go, I think. I wouldn&rsquo;t
+think of running away from Philadelphia. Two of five judges found for me in the
+decision. That&rsquo;s pretty fair evidence that the State has no case against
+me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His wife saw she had made a mistake. It clarified her judgment on the instant.
+&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t mean in that way, Frank,&rdquo; she replied,
+apologetically. &ldquo;You know I didn&rsquo;t. Of course I know you&rsquo;re
+not guilty. Why should I think you were, of all people?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She paused, expecting some retort, some further argument&mdash;a kind word
+maybe. A trace of the older, baffling love, but he had quietly turned to his
+desk and was thinking of other things.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this point the anomaly of her own state came over her again. It was all so
+sad and so hopeless. And what was she to do in the future? And what was he
+likely to do? She paused half trembling and yet decided, because of her
+peculiarly nonresisting nature&mdash;why trespass on his time? Why bother? No
+good would really come of it. He really did not care for her any
+more&mdash;that was it. Nothing could make him, nothing could bring them
+together again, not even this tragedy. He was interested in another
+woman&mdash;Aileen&mdash;and so her foolish thoughts and explanations, her
+fear, sorrow, distress, were not important to him. He could take her agonized
+wish for his freedom as a comment on his probable guilt, a doubt of his
+innocence, a criticism of him! She turned away for a minute, and he started to
+leave the room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be back again in a few moments,&rdquo; he volunteered.
+&ldquo;Are the children here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, they&rsquo;re up in the play-room,&rdquo; she answered, sadly,
+utterly nonplussed and distraught.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Frank!&rdquo; she had it on her lips to cry, but before she could
+utter it he had bustled down the steps and was gone. She turned back to the
+table, her left hand to her mouth, her eyes in a queer, hazy, melancholy mist.
+Could it be, she thought, that life could really come to this&mdash;that love
+could so utterly, so thoroughly die? Ten years before&mdash;but, oh, why go
+back to that? Obviously it could, and thoughts concerning that would not help
+now. Twice now in her life her affairs had seemed to go to pieces&mdash;once
+when her first husband had died, and now when her second had failed her, had
+fallen in love with another and was going to be sent off to prison. What was it
+about her that caused such things? Was there anything wrong with her? What was
+she going to do? Where go? She had no idea, of course, for how long a term of
+years he would be sent away. It might be one year or it might be five years, as
+the papers had said. Good heavens! The children could almost come to forget him
+in five years. She put her other hand to her mouth, also, and then to her
+forehead, where there was a dull ache. She tried to think further than this,
+but somehow, just now, there was no further thought. Suddenly quite outside of
+her own volition, with no thought that she was going to do such a thing, her
+bosom began to heave, her throat contracted in four or five short, sharp,
+aching spasms, her eyes burned, and she shook in a vigorous, anguished,
+desperate, almost one might have said dry-eyed, cry, so hot and few were the
+tears. She could not stop for the moment, just stood there and shook, and then
+after a while a dull ache succeeded, and she was quite as she had been before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why cry?&rdquo; she suddenly asked herself, fiercely&mdash;for her.
+&ldquo;Why break down in this stormy, useless way? Would it help?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But, in spite of her speculative, philosophic observations to herself, she
+still felt the echo, the distant rumble, as it were, of the storm in her own
+soul. &ldquo;Why cry? Why not cry?&rdquo; She might have said&mdash;but
+wouldn&rsquo;t, and in spite of herself and all her logic, she knew that this
+tempest which had so recently raged over her was now merely circling around her
+soul&rsquo;s horizon and would return to break again.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap50"></a>Chapter L</h2>
+
+<p>
+The arrival of Steger with the information that no move of any kind would be
+made by the sheriff until Monday morning, when Cowperwood could present
+himself, eased matters. This gave him time to think&mdash;to adjust home
+details at his leisure. He broke the news to his father and mother in a
+consoling way and talked with his brothers and father about getting matters
+immediately adjusted in connection with the smaller houses to which they were
+now shortly to be compelled to move. There was much conferring among the
+different members of this collapsing organization in regard to the minor
+details; and what with his conferences with Steger, his seeing personally
+Davison, Leigh, Avery Stone, of Jay Cooke &amp; Co., George Waterman (his
+old-time employer Henry was dead), ex-State Treasurer Van Nostrand, who had
+gone out with the last State administration, and others, he was very busy. Now
+that he was really going into prison, he wanted his financial friends to get
+together and see if they could get him out by appealing to the Governor. The
+division of opinion among the judges of the State Supreme Court was his excuse
+and strong point. He wanted Steger to follow this up, and he spared no pains in
+trying to see all and sundry who might be of use to him&mdash;Edward Tighe, of
+Tighe &amp; Co., who was still in business in Third Street; Newton Targool;
+Arthur Rivers; Joseph Zimmerman, the dry-goods prince, now a millionaire; Judge
+Kitchen; Terrence Relihan, the former representative of the money element at
+Harrisburg; and many others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood wanted Relihan to approach the newspapers and see if he could not
+readjust their attitude so as to work to get him out, and he wanted Walter
+Leigh to head the movement of getting up a signed petition which should contain
+all the important names of moneyed people and others, asking the Governor to
+release him. Leigh agreed to this heartily, as did Relihan, and many others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And, afterwards there was really nothing else to do, unless it was to see
+Aileen once more, and this, in the midst of his other complications and
+obligations, seemed all but impossible at times&mdash;and yet he did achieve
+that, too&mdash;so eager was he to be soothed and comforted by the ignorant and
+yet all embracing volume of her love. Her eyes these days! The eager, burning
+quest of him and his happiness that blazed in them. To think that he should be
+tortured so&mdash;her Frank! Oh, she knew&mdash;whatever he said, and however
+bravely and jauntily he talked. To think that her love for him should have been
+the principal cause of his being sent to jail, as she now believed. And the
+cruelty of her father! And the smallness of his enemies&mdash;that fool Stener,
+for instance, whose pictures she had seen in the papers. Actually, whenever in
+the presence of her Frank, she fairly seethed in a chemic agony for
+him&mdash;her strong, handsome lover&mdash;the strongest, bravest, wisest,
+kindest, handsomest man in the world. Oh, didn&rsquo;t she know! And
+Cowperwood, looking in her eyes and realizing this reasonless, if so comforting
+fever for him, smiled and was touched. Such love! That of a dog for a master;
+that of a mother for a child. And how had he come to evoke it? He could not
+say, but it was beautiful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so, now, in these last trying hours, he wished to see her much&mdash;and
+did&mdash;meeting her at least four times in the month in which he had been
+free, between his conviction and the final dismissal of his appeal. He had one
+last opportunity of seeing her&mdash;and she him&mdash;just before his entrance
+into prison this last time&mdash;on the Saturday before the Monday of his
+sentence. He had not come in contact with her since the decision of the Supreme
+Court had been rendered, but he had had a letter from her sent to a private
+mail-box, and had made an appointment for Saturday at a small hotel in Camden,
+which, being across the river, was safer, in his judgment, than anything in
+Philadelphia. He was a little uncertain as to how she would take the
+possibility of not seeing him soon again after Monday, and how she would act
+generally once he was where she could not confer with him as often as she
+chose. And in consequence, he was anxious to talk to her. But on this occasion,
+as he anticipated, and even feared, so sorry for her was he, she was not less
+emphatic in her protestations than she had ever been; in fact, much more so.
+When she saw him approaching in the distance, she went forward to meet him in
+that direct, forceful way which only she could attempt with him, a sort of
+mannish impetuosity which he both enjoyed and admired, and slipping her arms
+around his neck, said: &ldquo;Honey, you needn&rsquo;t tell me. I saw it in the
+papers the other morning. Don&rsquo;t you mind, honey. I love you. I&rsquo;ll
+wait for you. I&rsquo;ll be with you yet, if it takes a dozen years of waiting.
+It doesn&rsquo;t make any difference to me if it takes a hundred, only
+I&rsquo;m so sorry for you, sweetheart. I&rsquo;ll be with you every day
+through this, darling, loving you with all my might.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She caressed him while he looked at her in that quiet way which betokened at
+once his self-poise and yet his interest and satisfaction in her. He
+couldn&rsquo;t help loving Aileen, he thought who could? She was so passionate,
+vibrant, desireful. He couldn&rsquo;t help admiring her tremendously, now more
+than ever, because literally, in spite of all his intellectual strength, he
+really could not rule her. She went at him, even when he stood off in a calm,
+critical way, as if he were her special property, her toy. She would talk to
+him always, and particularly when she was excited, as if he were just a baby,
+her pet; and sometimes he felt as though she would really overcome him
+mentally, make him subservient to her, she was so individual, so sure of her
+importance as a woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now on this occasion she went babbling on as if he were broken-hearted, in need
+of her greatest care and tenderness, although he really wasn&rsquo;t at all;
+and for the moment she actually made him feel as though he was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t as bad as that, Aileen,&rdquo; he ventured to say,
+eventually; and with a softness and tenderness almost unusual for him, even
+where she was concerned, but she went on forcefully, paying no heed to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, yes, it is, too, honey. I know. Oh, my poor Frank! But I&rsquo;ll
+see you. I know how to manage, whatever happens. How often do they let visitors
+come out to see the prisoners there?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only once in three months, pet, so they say, but I think we can fix that
+after I get there; only do you think you had better try to come right away,
+Aileen? You know what the feeling now is. Hadn&rsquo;t you better wait a while?
+Aren&rsquo;t you in danger of stirring up your father? He might cause a lot of
+trouble out there if he were so minded.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only once in three months!&rdquo; she exclaimed, with rising emphasis,
+as he began this explanation. &ldquo;Oh, Frank, no! Surely not! Once in three
+months! Oh, I can&rsquo;t stand that! I won&rsquo;t! I&rsquo;ll go and see the
+warden myself. He&rsquo;ll let me see you. I&rsquo;m sure he will, if I talk to
+him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She fairly gasped in her excitement, not willing to pause in her tirade, but
+Cowperwood interposed with her, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not thinking what
+you&rsquo;re saying, Aileen. You&rsquo;re not thinking. Remember your father!
+Remember your family! Your father may know the warden out there. You
+don&rsquo;t want it to get all over town that you&rsquo;re running out there to
+see me, do you? Your father might cause you trouble. Besides you don&rsquo;t
+know the small party politicians as I do. They gossip like a lot of old women.
+You&rsquo;ll have to be very careful what you do and how you do it. I
+don&rsquo;t want to lose you. I want to see you. But you&rsquo;ll have to mind
+what you&rsquo;re doing. Don&rsquo;t try to see me at once. I want you to, but
+I want to find out how the land lies, and I want you to find out too. You
+won&rsquo;t lose me. I&rsquo;ll be there, well enough.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused as he thought of the long tier of iron cells which must be there, one
+of which would be his&mdash;for how long?&mdash;and of Aileen seeing him
+through the door of it or in it. At the same time he was thinking, in spite of
+all his other calculations, how charming she was looking to-day. How young she
+kept, and how forceful! While he was nearing his full maturity she was a
+comparatively young girl, and as beautiful as ever. She was wearing a
+black-and-white-striped silk in the curious bustle style of the times, and a
+set of sealskin furs, including a little sealskin cap set jauntily on top her
+red-gold hair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know, I know,&rdquo; replied Aileen, firmly. &ldquo;But think of three
+months! Honey, I can&rsquo;t! I won&rsquo;t! It&rsquo;s nonsense. Three months!
+I know that my father wouldn&rsquo;t have to wait any three months if he wanted
+to see anybody out there, nor anybody else that he wanted to ask favors for.
+And I won&rsquo;t, either. I&rsquo;ll find some way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood had to smile. You could not defeat Aileen so easily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But you&rsquo;re not your father, honey; and you don&rsquo;t want him to
+know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know I don&rsquo;t, but they don&rsquo;t need to know who I am. I can
+go heavily veiled. I don&rsquo;t think that the warden knows my father. He may.
+Anyhow, he doesn&rsquo;t know me; and he wouldn&rsquo;t tell on me if he did if
+I talked to him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her confidence in her charms, her personality, her earthly privileges was quite
+anarchistic. Cowperwood shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Honey, you&rsquo;re about the best and the worst there is when it comes
+to a woman,&rdquo; he observed, affectionately, pulling her head down to kiss
+her, &ldquo;but you&rsquo;ll have to listen to me just the same. I have a
+lawyer, Steger&mdash;you know him. He&rsquo;s going to take up this matter with
+the warden out there&mdash;is doing it today. He may be able to fix things, and
+he may not. I&rsquo;ll know to-morrow or Sunday, and I&rsquo;ll write you. But
+don&rsquo;t go and do anything rash until you hear. I&rsquo;m sure I can cut
+that visiting limit in half, and perhaps down to once a month or once in two
+weeks even. They only allow me to write one letter in three
+months&rdquo;&mdash;Aileen exploded again&mdash;&ldquo;and I&rsquo;m sure I can
+have that made different&mdash;some; but don&rsquo;t write me until you hear,
+or at least don&rsquo;t sign any name or put any address in. They open all mail
+and read it. If you see me or write me you&rsquo;ll have to be cautious, and
+you&rsquo;re not the most cautious person in the world. Now be good, will
+you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They talked much more&mdash;of his family, his court appearance Monday, whether
+he would get out soon to attend any of the suits still pending, or be pardoned.
+Aileen still believed in his future. She had read the opinions of the
+dissenting judges in his favor, and that of the three agreed judges against
+him. She was sure his day was not over in Philadelphia, and that he would some
+time reestablish himself and then take her with him somewhere else. She was
+sorry for Mrs. Cowperwood, but she was convinced that she was not suited to
+him&mdash;that Frank needed some one more like herself, some one with youth and
+beauty and force&mdash;her, no less. She clung to him now in ecstatic embraces
+until it was time to go. So far as a plan of procedure could have been adjusted
+in a situation so incapable of accurate adjustment, it had been done. She was
+desperately downcast at the last moment, as was he, over their parting; but she
+pulled herself together with her usual force and faced the dark future with a
+steady eye.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap51"></a>Chapter LI</h2>
+
+<p>
+Monday came and with it his final departure. All that could be done had been
+done. Cowperwood said his farewells to his mother and father, his brothers and
+sister. He had a rather distant but sensible and matter-of-fact talk with his
+wife. He made no special point of saying good-by to his son or his daughter;
+when he came in on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, after he
+had learned that he was to depart Monday, it was with the thought of talking to
+them a little in an especially affectionate way. He realized that his general
+moral or unmoral attitude was perhaps working them a temporary injustice. Still
+he was not sure. Most people did fairly well with their lives, whether coddled
+or deprived of opportunity. These children would probably do as well as most
+children, whatever happened&mdash;and then, anyhow, he had no intention of
+forsaking them financially, if he could help it. He did not want to separate
+his wife from her children, nor them from her. She should keep them. He wanted
+them to be comfortable with her. He would like to see them, wherever they were
+with her, occasionally. Only he wanted his own personal freedom, in so far as
+she and they were concerned, to go off and set up a new world and a new home
+with Aileen. So now on these last days, and particularly this last Sunday
+night, he was rather noticeably considerate of his boy and girl, without being
+too openly indicative of his approaching separation from them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frank,&rdquo; he said to his notably lackadaisical son on this occasion,
+&ldquo;aren&rsquo;t you going to straighten up and be a big, strong, healthy
+fellow? You don&rsquo;t play enough. You ought to get in with a gang of boys
+and be a leader. Why don&rsquo;t you fit yourself up a gymnasium somewhere and
+see how strong you can get?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They were in the senior Cowperwood&rsquo;s sitting-room, where they had all
+rather consciously gathered on this occasion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lillian, second, who was on the other side of the big library table from her
+father, paused to survey him and her brother with interest. Both had been
+carefully guarded against any real knowledge of their father&rsquo;s affairs or
+his present predicament. He was going away on a journey for about a month or so
+they understood. Lillian was reading in a Chatterbox book which had been given
+her the previous Christmas.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He won&rsquo;t do anything,&rdquo; she volunteered, looking up from her
+reading in a peculiarly critical way for her. &ldquo;Why, he won&rsquo;t ever
+run races with me when I want him to.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aw, who wants to run races with you, anyhow?&rdquo; returned Frank,
+junior, sourly. &ldquo;You couldn&rsquo;t run if I did want to run with
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Couldn&rsquo;t I?&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;I could beat you, all
+right.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lillian!&rdquo; pleaded her mother, with a warning sound in her voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood smiled, and laid his hand affectionately on his son&rsquo;s head.
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll be all right, Frank,&rdquo; he volunteered, pinching his
+ear lightly. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry&mdash;just make an effort.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The boy did not respond as warmly as he hoped. Later in the evening Mrs.
+Cowperwood noticed that her husband squeezed his daughter&rsquo;s slim little
+waist and pulled her curly hair gently. For the moment she was jealous of her
+daughter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Going to be the best kind of a girl while I&rsquo;m away?&rdquo; he said
+to her, privately.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, papa,&rdquo; she replied, brightly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s right,&rdquo; he returned, and leaned over and kissed her
+mouth tenderly. &ldquo;Button Eyes,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Cowperwood sighed after he had gone. &ldquo;Everything for the children,
+nothing for me,&rdquo; she thought, though the children had not got so vastly
+much either in the past.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s attitude toward his mother in this final hour was about as
+tender and sympathetic as any he could maintain in this world. He understood
+quite clearly the ramifications of her interests, and how she was suffering for
+him and all the others concerned. He had not forgotten her sympathetic care of
+him in his youth; and if he could have done anything to have spared her this
+unhappy breakdown of her fortunes in her old age, he would have done so. There
+was no use crying over spilled milk. It was impossible at times for him not to
+feel intensely in moments of success or failure; but the proper thing to do was
+to bear up, not to show it, to talk little and go your way with an air not so
+much of resignation as of self-sufficiency, to whatever was awaiting you. That
+was his attitude on this morning, and that was what he expected from those
+around him&mdash;almost compelled, in fact, by his own attitude.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, mother,&rdquo; he said, genially, at the last moment&mdash;he
+would not let her nor his wife nor his sister come to court, maintaining that
+it would make not the least difference to him and would only harrow their own
+feelings uselessly&mdash;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going now. Don&rsquo;t worry. Keep up
+your spirits.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He slipped his arm around his mother&rsquo;s waist, and she gave him a long,
+unrestrained, despairing embrace and kiss.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Go on, Frank,&rdquo; she said, choking, when she let him go. &ldquo;God
+bless you. I&rsquo;ll pray for you.&rdquo; He paid no further attention to her.
+He didn&rsquo;t dare.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good-by, Lillian,&rdquo; he said to his wife, pleasantly, kindly.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be back in a few days, I think. I&rsquo;ll be coming out to
+attend some of these court proceedings.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To his sister he said: &ldquo;Good-by, Anna. Don&rsquo;t let the others get too
+down-hearted.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll see you three afterward,&rdquo; he said to his father and
+brothers; and so, dressed in the very best fashion of the time, he hurried down
+into the reception-hall, where Steger was waiting, and was off. His family,
+hearing the door close on him, suffered a poignant sense of desolation. They
+stood there for a moment, his mother crying, his father looking as though he
+had lost his last friend but making a great effort to seem self-contained and
+equal to his troubles, Anna telling Lillian not to mind, and the latter staring
+dumbly into the future, not knowing what to think. Surely a brilliant sun had
+set on their local scene, and in a very pathetic way.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap52"></a>Chapter LII</h2>
+
+<p>
+When Cowperwood reached the jail, Jaspers was there, glad to see him but
+principally relieved to feel that nothing had happened to mar his own
+reputation as a sheriff. Because of the urgency of court matters generally, it
+was decided to depart for the courtroom at nine o&rsquo;clock. Eddie Zanders
+was once more delegated to see that Cowperwood was brought safely before Judge
+Payderson and afterward taken to the penitentiary. All of the papers in the
+case were put in his care to be delivered to the warden.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I suppose you know,&rdquo; confided Sheriff Jaspers to Steger,
+&ldquo;that Stener is here. He ain&rsquo;t got no money now, but I gave him a
+private room just the same. I didn&rsquo;t want to put a man like him in no
+cell.&rdquo; Sheriff Jaspers sympathized with Stener.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s right. I&rsquo;m glad to hear that,&rdquo; replied Steger,
+smiling to himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t suppose from what I&rsquo;ve heard that Mr. Cowperwood
+would want to meet Stener here, so I&rsquo;ve kept &rsquo;em apart. George just
+left a minute ago with another deputy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s good. That&rsquo;s the way it ought to be,&rdquo; replied
+Steger. He was glad for Cowperwood&rsquo;s sake that the sheriff had so much
+tact. Evidently George and the sheriff were getting along in a very friendly
+way, for all the former&rsquo;s bitter troubles and lack of means.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Cowperwood party walked, the distance not being great, and as they did so
+they talked of rather simple things to avoid the more serious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Things aren&rsquo;t going to be so bad,&rdquo; Edward said to his
+father. &ldquo;Steger says the Governor is sure to pardon Stener in a year or
+less, and if he does he&rsquo;s bound to let Frank out too.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, the elder, had heard this over and over, but he was never tired of
+hearing it. It was like some simple croon with which babies are hushed to
+sleep. The snow on the ground, which was enduring remarkably well for this time
+of year, the fineness of the day, which had started out to be clear and bright,
+the hope that the courtroom might not be full, all held the attention of the
+father and his two sons. Cowperwood, senior, even commented on some sparrows
+fighting over a piece of bread, marveling how well they did in winter, solely
+to ease his mind. Cowperwood, walking on ahead with Steger and Zanders, talked
+of approaching court proceedings in connection with his business and what ought
+to be done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When they reached the court the same little pen in which Cowperwood had awaited
+the verdict of his jury several months before was waiting to receive him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, senior, and his other sons sought places in the courtroom proper.
+Eddie Zanders remained with his charge. Stener and a deputy by the name of
+Wilkerson were in the room; but he and Cowperwood pretended now not to see each
+other. Frank had no objection to talking to his former associate, but he could
+see that Stener was diffident and ashamed. So he let the situation pass without
+look or word of any kind. After some three-quarters of an hour of dreary
+waiting the door leading into the courtroom proper opened and a bailiff stepped
+in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All prisoners up for sentence,&rdquo; he called.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were six, all told, including Cowperwood and Stener. Two of them were
+confederate housebreakers who had been caught red-handed at their midnight
+task.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another prisoner was no more and no less than a plain horse-thief, a young man
+of twenty-six, who had been convicted by a jury of stealing a grocer&rsquo;s
+horse and selling it. The last man was a negro, a tall, shambling, illiterate,
+nebulous-minded black, who had walked off with an apparently discarded section
+of lead pipe which he had found in a lumber-yard. His idea was to sell or trade
+it for a drink. He really did not belong in this court at all; but, having been
+caught by an undersized American watchman charged with the care of the
+property, and having at first refused to plead guilty, not quite understanding
+what was to be done with him, he had been perforce bound over to this court for
+trial. Afterward he had changed his mind and admitted his guilt, so he now had
+to come before Judge Payderson for sentence or dismissal. The lower court
+before which he had originally been brought had lost jurisdiction by binding
+him over to to higher court for trial. Eddie Zanders, in his self-appointed
+position as guide and mentor to Cowperwood, had confided nearly all of this
+data to him as he stood waiting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The courtroom was crowded. It was very humiliating to Cowperwood to have to
+file in this way along the side aisle with these others, followed by Stener,
+well dressed but sickly looking and disconsolate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The negro, Charles Ackerman, was the first on the list.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How is it this man comes before me?&rdquo; asked Payderson, peevishly,
+when he noted the value of the property Ackerman was supposed to have stolen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your honor,&rdquo; the assistant district attorney explained, promptly,
+&ldquo;this man was before a lower court and refused, because he was drunk, or
+something, to plead guilty. The lower court, because the complainant would not
+forego the charge, was compelled to bind him over to this court for trial.
+Since then he has changed his mind and has admitted his guilt to the district
+attorney. He would not be brought before you except we have no alternative. He
+has to be brought here now in order to clear the calendar.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Judge Payderson stared quizzically at the negro, who, obviously not very much
+disturbed by this examination, was leaning comfortably on the gate or bar
+before which the average criminal stood erect and terrified. He had been before
+police-court magistrates before on one charge and another&mdash;drunkenness,
+disorderly conduct, and the like&mdash;but his whole attitude was one of
+shambling, lackadaisical, amusing innocence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Ackerman,&rdquo; inquired his honor, severely, &ldquo;did you or
+did you not steal this piece of lead pipe as charged here&mdash;four dollars
+and eighty cents&rsquo; worth?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yassah, I did,&rdquo; he began. &ldquo;I tell you how it was, jedge. I
+was a-comin&rsquo; along past dat lumber-yard one Saturday afternoon, and I
+hadn&rsquo;t been wuckin&rsquo;, an&rsquo; I saw dat piece o&rsquo; pipe thoo
+de fence, lyin&rsquo; inside, and I jes&rsquo; reached thoo with a piece
+o&rsquo; boad I found dey and pulled it over to me an&rsquo; tuck it. An&rsquo;
+aftahwahd dis Mistah Watchman man&rdquo;&mdash;he waved his hand oratorically
+toward the witness-chair, where, in case the judge might wish to ask him some
+questions, the complainant had taken his stand&mdash;&ldquo;come around tuh
+where I live an&rsquo; accused me of done takin&rsquo; it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But you did take it, didn&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yassah, I done tuck it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What did you do with it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I traded it foh twenty-five cents.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mean you sold it,&rdquo; corrected his honor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yassah, I done sold it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, don&rsquo;t you know it&rsquo;s wrong to do anything like that?
+Didn&rsquo;t you know when you reached through that fence and pulled that pipe
+over to you that you were stealing? Didn&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yassah, I knowed it was wrong,&rdquo; replied Ackerman, sheepishly.
+&ldquo;I didn&rsquo; think &rsquo;twuz stealin&rsquo; like zackly, but I done
+knowed it was wrong. I done knowed I oughtn&rsquo; take it, I guess.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course you did. Of course you did. That&rsquo;s just it. You knew you
+were stealing, and still you took it. Has the man to whom this negro sold the
+lead pipe been apprehended yet?&rdquo; the judge inquired sharply of the
+district attorney. &ldquo;He should be, for he&rsquo;s more guilty than this
+negro, a receiver of stolen goods.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; replied the assistant. &ldquo;His case is before Judge
+Yawger.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite right. It should be,&rdquo; replied Payderson, severely.
+&ldquo;This matter of receiving stolen property is one of the worst offenses,
+in my judgment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He then turned his attention to Ackerman again. &ldquo;Now, look here,
+Ackerman,&rdquo; he exclaimed, irritated at having to bother with such a pretty
+case, &ldquo;I want to say something to you, and I want you to pay strict
+attention to me. Straighten up, there! Don&rsquo;t lean on that gate! You are
+in the presence of the law now.&rdquo; Ackerman had sprawled himself
+comfortably down on his elbows as he would have if he had been leaning over a
+back-fence gate talking to some one, but he immediately drew himself straight,
+still grinning foolishly and apologetically, when he heard this. &ldquo;You are
+not so dull but that you can understand what I am going to say to you. The
+offense you have committed&mdash;stealing a piece of lead pipe&mdash;is a
+crime. Do you hear me? A criminal offense&mdash;one that I could punish you
+very severely for. I could send you to the penitentiary for one year if I
+chose&mdash;the law says I may&mdash;one year at hard labor for stealing a
+piece of lead pipe. Now, if you have any sense you will pay strict attention to
+what I am going to tell you. I am not going to send you to the penitentiary
+right now. I&rsquo;m going to wait a little while. I am going to sentence you
+to one year in the penitentiary&mdash;one year. Do you understand?&rdquo;
+Ackerman blanched a little and licked his lips nervously. &ldquo;And then I am
+going to suspend that sentence&mdash;hold it over your head, so that if you are
+ever caught taking anything else you will be punished for this offense and the
+next one also at one and the same time. Do you understand that? Do you know
+what I mean? Tell me. Do you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yessah! I does, sir,&rdquo; replied the negro. &ldquo;You&rsquo;se gwine
+to let me go now&mdash;tha&rsquo;s it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The audience grinned, and his honor made a wry face to prevent his own grim
+grin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to let you go only so long as you don&rsquo;t steal
+anything else,&rdquo; he thundered. &ldquo;The moment you steal anything else,
+back you come to this court, and then you go to the penitentiary for a year and
+whatever more time you deserve. Do you understand that? Now, I want you to walk
+straight out of this court and behave yourself. Don&rsquo;t ever steal
+anything. Get something to do! Don&rsquo;t steal, do you hear? Don&rsquo;t
+touch anything that doesn&rsquo;t belong to you! Don&rsquo;t come back here! If
+you do, I&rsquo;ll send you to the penitentiary, sure.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yassah! No, sah, I won&rsquo;t,&rdquo; replied Ackerman, nervously.
+&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t take nothin&rsquo; more that don&rsquo;t belong tuh
+me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He shuffled away, after a moment, urged along by the guiding hand of a bailiff,
+and was put safely outside the court, amid a mixture of smiles and laughter
+over his simplicity and Payderson&rsquo;s undue severity of manner. But the
+next case was called and soon engrossed the interest of the audience.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was that of the two housebreakers whom Cowperwood had been and was still
+studying with much curiosity. In all his life before he had never witnessed a
+sentencing scene of any kind. He had never been in police or criminal courts of
+any kind&mdash;rarely in any of the civil ones. He was glad to see the negro
+go, and gave Payderson credit for having some sense and sympathy&mdash;more
+than he had expected.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He wondered now whether by any chance Aileen was here. He had objected to her
+coming, but she might have done so. She was, as a matter of fact, in the
+extreme rear, pocketed in a crowd near the door, heavily veiled, but present.
+She had not been able to resist the desire to know quickly and surely her
+beloved&rsquo;s fate&mdash;to be near him in his hour of real suffering, as she
+thought. She was greatly angered at seeing him brought in with a line of
+ordinary criminals and made to wait in this, to her, shameful public manner,
+but she could not help admiring all the more the dignity and superiority of his
+presence even here. He was not even pale, as she saw, just the same firm, calm
+soul she had always known him to be. If he could only see her now; if he would
+only look so she could lift her veil and smile! He didn&rsquo;t, though; he
+wouldn&rsquo;t. He didn&rsquo;t want to see her here. But she would tell him
+all about it when she saw him again just the same.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The two burglars were quickly disposed of by the judge, with a sentence of one
+year each, and they were led away, uncertain, and apparently not knowing what
+to think of their crime or their future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When it came to Cowperwood&rsquo;s turn to be called, his honor himself
+stiffened and straightened up, for this was a different type of man and could
+not be handled in the usual manner. He knew exactly what he was going to say.
+When one of Mollenhauer&rsquo;s agents, a close friend of Butler&rsquo;s, had
+suggested that five years for both Cowperwood and Stener would be about right,
+he knew exactly what to do. &ldquo;Frank Algernon Cowperwood,&rdquo; called the
+clerk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood stepped briskly forward, sorry for himself, ashamed of his position
+in a way, but showing it neither in look nor manner. Payderson eyed him as he
+had the others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Name?&rdquo; asked the bailiff, for the benefit of the court
+stenographer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frank Algernon Cowperwood.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Residence?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;1937 Girard Avenue.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Occupation?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Banker and broker.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Steger stood close beside him, very dignified, very forceful, ready to make a
+final statement for the benefit of the court and the public when the time
+should come. Aileen, from her position in the crowd near the door, was for the
+first time in her life biting her fingers nervously and there were great beads
+of perspiration on her brow. Cowperwood&rsquo;s father was tense with
+excitement and his two brothers looked quickly away, doing their best to hide
+their fear and sorrow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ever convicted before?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never,&rdquo; replied Steger for Cowperwood, quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frank Algernon Cowperwood,&rdquo; called the clerk, in his nasal,
+singsong way, coming forward, &ldquo;have you anything to say why judgment
+should not now be pronounced upon you? If so, speak.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood started to say no, but Steger put up his hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If the court pleases, my client, Mr. Cowperwood, the prisoner at the
+bar, is neither guilty in his own estimation, nor in that of two-fifths of the
+Pennsylvania State Supreme Court&mdash;the court of last resort in this
+State,&rdquo; he exclaimed, loudly and clearly, so that all might hear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of the interested listeners and spectators at this point was Edward Malia
+Butler, who had just stepped in from another courtroom where he had been
+talking to a judge. An obsequious court attendant had warned him that
+Cowperwood was about to be sentenced. He had really come here this morning in
+order not to miss this sentence, but he cloaked his motive under the guise of
+another errand. He did not know that Aileen was there, nor did he see her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As he himself testified at the time of his trial,&rdquo; went on Steger,
+&ldquo;and as the evidence clearly showed, he was never more than an agent for
+the gentleman whose offense was subsequently adjudicated by this court; and as
+an agent he still maintains, and two-fifths of the State Supreme Court agree
+with him, that he was strictly within his rights and privileges in not having
+deposited the sixty thousand dollars&rsquo; worth of city loan certificates at
+the time, and in the manner which the people, acting through the district
+attorney, complained that he should have. My client is a man of rare financial
+ability. By the various letters which have been submitted to your honor in his
+behalf, you will see that he commands the respect and the sympathy of a large
+majority of the most forceful and eminent men in his particular world. He is a
+man of distinguished social standing and of notable achievements. Only the most
+unheralded and the unkindest thrust of fortune has brought him here before you
+today&mdash;a fire and its consequent panic which involved a financial property
+of the most thorough and stable character. In spite of the verdict of the jury
+and the decision of three-fifths of the State Supreme Court, I maintain that my
+client is not an embezzler, that he has not committed larceny, that he should
+never have been convicted, and that he should not now be punished for something
+of which he is not guilty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I trust that your honor will not misunderstand me or my motives when I
+point out in this situation that what I have said is true. I do not wish to
+cast any reflection on the integrity of the court, nor of any court, nor of any
+of the processes of law. But I do condemn and deplore the untoward chain of
+events which has built up a seeming situation, not easily understood by the lay
+mind, and which has brought my distinguished client within the purview of the
+law. I think it is but fair that this should be finally and publicly stated
+here and now. I ask that your honor be lenient, and that if you cannot
+conscientiously dismiss this charge you will at least see that the facts, as I
+have indicated them, are given due weight in the measure of the punishment
+inflicted.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Steger stepped back and Judge Payderson nodded, as much as to say he had heard
+all the distinguished lawyer had to say, and would give it such consideration
+as it deserved&mdash;no more. Then he turned to Cowperwood, and, summoning all
+his judicial dignity to his aid, he began:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frank Algernon Cowperwood, you have been convicted by a jury of your own
+selection of the offense of larceny. The motion for a new trial, made in your
+behalf by your learned counsel, has been carefully considered and overruled,
+the majority of the court being entirely satisfied with the propriety of the
+conviction, both upon the law and the evidence. Your offense was one of more
+than usual gravity, the more so that the large amount of money which you
+obtained belonged to the city. And it was aggravated by the fact that you had
+in addition thereto unlawfully used and converted to your own use several
+hundred thousand dollars of the loan and money of the city. For such an offense
+the maximum punishment affixed by the law is singularly merciful. Nevertheless,
+the facts in connection with your hitherto distinguished position, the
+circumstances under which your failure was brought about, and the appeals of
+your numerous friends and financial associates, will be given due consideration
+by this court. It is not unmindful of any important fact in your career.&rdquo;
+Payderson paused as if in doubt, though he knew very well how he was about to
+proceed. He knew what his superiors expected of him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If your case points no other moral,&rdquo; he went on, after a moment,
+toying with the briefs, &ldquo;it will at least teach the lesson much needed at
+the present time, that the treasury of the city is not to be invaded and
+plundered with impunity under the thin disguise of a business transaction, and
+that there is still a power in the law to vindicate itself and to protect the
+public.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The sentence of the court,&rdquo; he added, solemnly, the while
+Cowperwood gazed unmoved, &ldquo;is, therefore, that you pay a fine of five
+thousand dollars to the commonwealth for the use of the county, that you pay
+the costs of prosecution, and that you undergo imprisonment in the State
+Penitentiary for the Eastern District by separate or solitary confinement at
+labor for a period of four years and three months, and that you stand committed
+until this sentence is complied with.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s father, on hearing this, bowed his head to hide his tears.
+Aileen bit her lower lip and clenched her hands to keep down her rage and
+disappointment and tears. Four years and three months! That would make a
+terrible gap in his life and hers. Still, she could wait. It was better than
+eight or ten years, as she had feared it might be. Perhaps now, once this was
+really over and he was in prison, the Governor would pardon him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The judge now moved to pick up the papers in connection with Stener&rsquo;s
+case, satisfied that he had given the financiers no chance to say he had not
+given due heed to their plea in Cowperwood&rsquo;s behalf and yet certain that
+the politicians would be pleased that he had so nearly given Cowperwood the
+maximum while appearing to have heeded the pleas for mercy. Cowperwood saw
+through the trick at once, but it did not disturb him. It struck him as rather
+weak and contemptible. A bailiff came forward and started to hurry him away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Allow the prisoner to remain for a moment,&rdquo; called the judge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The name, of George W. Stener had been called by the clerk and Cowperwood did
+not quite understand why he was being detained, but he soon learned. It was
+that he might hear the opinion of the court in connection with his copartner in
+crime. The latter&rsquo;s record was taken. Roger O&rsquo;Mara, the Irish
+political lawyer who had been his counsel all through his troubles, stood near
+him, but had nothing to say beyond asking the judge to consider Stener&rsquo;s
+previously honorable career.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;George W. Stener,&rdquo; said his honor, while the audience, including
+Cowperwood, listened attentively. &ldquo;The motion for a new trial as well as
+an arrest of judgment in your case having been overruled, it remains for the
+court to impose such sentence as the nature of your offense requires. I do not
+desire to add to the pain of your position by any extended remarks of my own;
+but I cannot let the occasion pass without expressing my emphatic condemnation
+of your offense. The misapplication of public money has become the great crime
+of the age. If not promptly and firmly checked, it will ultimately destroy our
+institutions. When a republic becomes honeycombed with corruption its vitality
+is gone. It must crumble upon the first pressure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In my opinion, the public is much to blame for your offense and others
+of a similar character. Heretofore, official fraud has been regarded with too
+much indifference. What we need is a higher and purer political
+morality&mdash;a state of public opinion which would make the improper use of
+public money a thing to be execrated. It was the lack of this which made your
+offense possible. Beyond that I see nothing of extenuation in your case.&rdquo;
+Judge Payderson paused for emphasis. He was coming to his finest flight, and he
+wanted it to sink in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The people had confided to you the care of their money,&rdquo; he went
+on, solemnly. &ldquo;It was a high, a sacred trust. You should have guarded the
+door of the treasury even as the cherubim protected the Garden of Eden, and
+should have turned the flaming sword of impeccable honesty against every one
+who approached it improperly. Your position as the representative of a great
+community warranted that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In view of all the facts in your case the court can do no less than
+impose a major penalty. The seventy-fourth section of the Criminal Procedure
+Act provides that no convict shall be sentenced by the court of this
+commonwealth to either of the penitentiaries thereof, for any term which shall
+expire between the fifteenth of November and the fifteenth day of February of
+any year, and this provision requires me to abate three months from the maximum
+of time which I would affix in your case&mdash;namely, five years. The sentence
+of the court is, therefore, that you pay a fine of five thousand dollars to the
+commonwealth for the use of the county&rdquo;&mdash;Payderson knew well enough
+that Stener could never pay that sum&mdash;&ldquo;and that you undergo
+imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for the Eastern District, by separate
+and solitary confinement at labor, for the period of four years and nine
+months, and that you stand committed until this sentence is complied
+with.&rdquo; He laid down the briefs and rubbed his chin reflectively while
+both Cowperwood and Stener were hurried out. Butler was the first to leave
+after the sentence&mdash;quite satisfied. Seeing that all was over so far as
+she was concerned, Aileen stole quickly out; and after her, in a few moments,
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s father and brothers. They were to await him outside and go
+with him to the penitentiary. The remaining members of the family were at home
+eagerly awaiting intelligence of the morning&rsquo;s work, and Joseph
+Cowperwood was at once despatched to tell them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The day had now become cloudy, lowery, and it looked as if there might be snow.
+Eddie Zanders, who had been given all the papers in the case, announced that
+there was no need to return to the county jail. In consequence the five of
+them&mdash;Zanders, Steger, Cowperwood, his father, and Edward&mdash;got into a
+street-car which ran to within a few blocks of the prison. Within half an hour
+they were at the gates of the Eastern Penitentiary.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap53"></a>Chapter LIII</h2>
+
+<p>
+The Eastern District Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, standing at Fairmount Avenue
+and Twenty-first Street in Philadelphia, where Cowperwood was now to serve his
+sentence of four years and three months, was a large, gray-stone structure,
+solemn and momentous in its mien, not at all unlike the palace of Sforzas at
+Milan, although not so distinguished. It stretched its gray length for several
+blocks along four different streets, and looked as lonely and forbidding as a
+prison should. The wall which inclosed its great area extending over ten acres
+and gave it so much of its solemn dignity was thirty-five feet high and some
+seven feet thick. The prison proper, which was not visible from the outside,
+consisted of seven arms or corridors, ranged octopus-like around a central room
+or court, and occupying in their sprawling length about two-thirds of the yard
+inclosed within the walls, so that there was but little space for the charm of
+lawn or sward. The corridors, forty-two feet wide from outer wall to outer
+wall, were one hundred and eighty feet in length, and in four instances two
+stories high, and extended in their long reach in every direction. There were
+no windows in the corridors, only narrow slits of skylights, three and one-half
+feet long by perhaps eight inches wide, let in the roof; and the ground-floor
+cells were accompanied in some instances by a small yard ten by
+sixteen&mdash;the same size as the cells proper&mdash;which was surrounded by a
+high brick wall in every instance. The cells and floors and roofs were made of
+stone, and the corridors, which were only ten feet wide between the cells, and
+in the case of the single-story portion only fifteen feet high, were paved with
+stone. If you stood in the central room, or rotunda, and looked down the long
+stretches which departed from you in every direction, you had a sense of
+narrowness and confinement not compatible with their length. The iron doors,
+with their outer accompaniment of solid wooden ones, the latter used at times
+to shut the prisoner from all sight and sound, were grim and unpleasing to
+behold. The halls were light enough, being whitewashed frequently and set with
+the narrow skylights, which were closed with frosted glass in winter; but they
+were, as are all such matter-of-fact arrangements for incarceration,
+bare&mdash;wearisome to look upon. Life enough there was in all conscience,
+seeing that there were four hundred prisoners here at that time, and that
+nearly every cell was occupied; but it was a life of which no one individual
+was essentially aware as a spectacle. He was of it; but he was not. Some of the
+prisoners, after long service, were used as &ldquo;trusties&rdquo; or
+&ldquo;runners,&rdquo; as they were locally called; but not many. There was a
+bakery, a machine-shop, a carpenter-shop, a store-room, a flour-mill, and a
+series of gardens, or truck patches; but the manipulation of these did not
+require the services of a large number.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The prison proper dated from 1822, and it had grown, wing by wing, until its
+present considerable size had been reached. Its population consisted of
+individuals of all degrees of intelligence and crime, from murderers to minor
+practitioners of larceny. It had what was known as the &ldquo;Pennsylvania
+System&rdquo; of regulation for its inmates, which was nothing more nor less
+than solitary confinement for all concerned&mdash;a life of absolute silence
+and separate labor in separate cells.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Barring his comparatively recent experience in the county jail, which after all
+was far from typical, Cowperwood had never been in a prison in his life. Once,
+when a boy, in one of his perambulations through several of the surrounding
+towns, he had passed a village &ldquo;lock-up,&rdquo; as the town prisons were
+then called&mdash;a small, square, gray building with long iron-barred windows,
+and he had seen, at one of these rather depressing apertures on the second
+floor, a none too prepossessing drunkard or town ne&rsquo;er-do-well who looked
+down on him with bleary eyes, unkempt hair, and a sodden, waxy, pallid face,
+and called&mdash;for it was summer and the jail window was open:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hey, sonny, get me a plug of tobacco, will you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, who had looked up, shocked and disturbed by the man&rsquo;s
+disheveled appearance, had called back, quite without stopping to think:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Naw, I can&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look out you don&rsquo;t get locked up yourself sometime, you little
+runt,&rdquo; the man had replied, savagely, only half recovered from his
+debauch of the day before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had not thought of this particular scene in years, but now suddenly it came
+back to him. Here he was on his way to be locked up in this dull, somber
+prison, and it was snowing, and he was being cut out of human affairs as much
+as it was possible for him to be cut out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No friends were permitted to accompany him beyond the outer gate&mdash;not even
+Steger for the time being, though he might visit him later in the day. This was
+an inviolable rule. Zanders being known to the gate-keeper, and bearing his
+commitment paper, was admitted at once. The others turned solemnly away. They
+bade a gloomy if affectionate farewell to Cowperwood, who, on his part,
+attempted to give it all an air of inconsequence&mdash;as, in part and even
+here, it had for him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, good-by for the present,&rdquo; he said, shaking hands.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be all right and I&rsquo;ll get out soon. Wait and see. Tell
+Lillian not to worry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stepped inside, and the gate clanked solemnly behind him. Zanders led the
+way through a dark, somber hall, wide and high-ceiled, to a farther gate, where
+a second gateman, trifling with a large key, unlocked a barred door at his
+bidding. Once inside the prison yard, Zanders turned to the left into a small
+office, presenting his prisoner before a small, chest-high desk, where stood a
+prison officer in uniform of blue. The latter, the receiving overseer of the
+prison&mdash;a thin, practical, executive-looking person with narrow gray eyes
+and light hair, took the paper which the sheriff&rsquo;s deputy handed him and
+read it. This was his authority for receiving Cowperwood. In his turn he handed
+Zanders a slip, showing that he had so received the prisoner; and then Zanders
+left, receiving gratefully the tip which Cowperwood pressed in his hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, good-by, Mr. Cowperwood,&rdquo; he said, with a peculiar twist of
+his detective-like head. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry. I hope you won&rsquo;t find it
+so bad here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He wanted to impress the receiving overseer with his familiarity with this
+distinguished prisoner, and Cowperwood, true to his policy of make-believe,
+shook hands with him cordially.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m much obliged to you for your courtesy, Mr. Zanders,&rdquo; he
+said, then turned to his new master with the air of a man who is determined to
+make a good impression. He was now in the hands of petty officials, he knew,
+who could modify or increase his comfort at will. He wanted to impress this man
+with his utter willingness to comply and obey&mdash;his sense of respect for
+his authority&mdash;without in any way demeaning himself. He was depressed but
+efficient, even here in the clutch of that eventual machine of the law, the
+State penitentiary, which he had been struggling so hard to evade.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The receiving overseer, Roger Kendall, though thin and clerical, was a rather
+capable man, as prison officials go&mdash;shrewd, not particularly well
+educated, not over-intelligent naturally, not over-industrious, but
+sufficiently energetic to hold his position. He knew something about
+convicts&mdash;considerable&mdash;for he had been dealing with them for nearly
+twenty-six years. His attitude toward them was cold, cynical, critical.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He did not permit any of them to come into personal contact with him, but he
+saw to it that underlings in his presence carried out the requirements of the
+law.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Cowperwood entered, dressed in his very good clothing&mdash;a dark
+gray-blue twill suit of pure wool, a light, well-made gray overcoat, a black
+derby hat of the latest shape, his shoes new and of good leather, his tie of
+the best silk, heavy and conservatively colored, his hair and mustache showing
+the attention of an intelligent barber, and his hands well manicured&mdash;the
+receiving overseer saw at once that he was in the presence of some one of
+superior intelligence and force, such a man as the fortune of his trade rarely
+brought into his net.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood stood in the middle of the room without apparently looking at any
+one or anything, though he saw all. &ldquo;Convict number 3633,&rdquo; Kendall
+called to a clerk, handing him at the same time a yellow slip of paper on which
+was written Cowperwood&rsquo;s full name and his record number, counting from
+the beginning of the penitentiary itself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The underling, a convict, took it and entered it in a book, reserving the slip
+at the same time for the penitentiary &ldquo;runner&rdquo; or
+&ldquo;trusty,&rdquo; who would eventually take Cowperwood to the
+&ldquo;manners&rdquo; gallery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will have to take off your clothes and take a bath,&rdquo; said
+Kendall to Cowperwood, eyeing him curiously. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t suppose you
+need one, but it&rsquo;s the rule.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, pleased that his personality was
+counting for something even here. &ldquo;Whatever the rules are, I want to
+obey.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he started to take off his coat, however, Kendall put up his hand
+delayingly and tapped a bell. There now issued from an adjoining room an
+assistant, a prison servitor, a weird-looking specimen of the genus
+&ldquo;trusty.&rdquo; He was a small, dark, lopsided individual, one leg being
+slightly shorter, and therefore one shoulder lower, than the other. He was
+hollow-chested, squint-eyed, and rather shambling, but spry enough withal. He
+was dressed in a thin, poorly made, baggy suit of striped jeans, the prison
+stripes of the place, showing a soft roll-collar shirt underneath, and wearing
+a large, wide-striped cap, peculiarly offensive in its size and shape to
+Cowperwood. He could not help thinking how uncanny the man&rsquo;s squint eyes
+looked under its straight outstanding visor. The trusty had a silly,
+sycophantic manner of raising one hand in salute. He was a professional
+&ldquo;second-story man,&rdquo; &ldquo;up&rdquo; for ten years, but by dint of
+good behavior he had attained to the honor of working about this office without
+the degrading hood customary for prisoners to wear over the cap. For this he
+was properly grateful. He now considered his superior with nervous dog-like
+eyes, and looked at Cowperwood with a certain cunning appreciation of his lot
+and a show of initial mistrust.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One prisoner is as good as another to the average convict; as a matter of fact,
+it is their only consolation in their degradation that all who come here are no
+better than they. The world may have misused them; but they misuse their
+confreres in their thoughts. The &ldquo;holier than thou&rdquo; attitude,
+intentional or otherwise, is quite the last and most deadly offense within
+prison walls. This particular &ldquo;trusty&rdquo; could no more understand
+Cowperwood than could a fly the motions of a fly-wheel; but with the cocky
+superiority of the underling of the world he did not hesitate to think that he
+could. A crook was a crook to him&mdash;Cowperwood no less than the shabbiest
+pickpocket. His one feeling was that he would like to demean him, to pull him
+down to his own level.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will have to take everything you have out of your pockets,&rdquo;
+Kendall now informed Cowperwood. Ordinarily he would have said, &ldquo;Search
+the prisoner.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood stepped forward and laid out a purse with twenty-five dollars in it,
+a pen-knife, a lead-pencil, a small note-book, and a little ivory elephant
+which Aileen had given him once, &ldquo;for luck,&rdquo; and which he treasured
+solely because she gave it to him. Kendall looked at the latter curiously.
+&ldquo;Now you can go on,&rdquo; he said to the &ldquo;trusty,&rdquo; referring
+to the undressing and bathing process which was to follow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This way,&rdquo; said the latter, addressing Cowperwood, and preceding
+him into an adjoining room, where three closets held three old-fashioned,
+iron-bodied, wooden-top bath-tubs, with their attendant shelves for rough crash
+towels, yellow soap, and the like, and hooks for clothes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Get in there,&rdquo; said the trusty, whose name was Thomas Kuby,
+pointing to one of the tubs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood realized that this was the beginning of petty official supervision;
+but he deemed it wise to appear friendly even here.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I see,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I will.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s right,&rdquo; replied the attendant, somewhat placated.
+&ldquo;What did you bring?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood looked at him quizzically. He did not understand. The prison
+attendant realized that this man did not know the lingo of the place.
+&ldquo;What did you bring?&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;How many years did you
+get?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; exclaimed Cowperwood, comprehendingly. &ldquo;I understand.
+Four and three months.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He decided to humor the man. It would probably be better so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What for?&rdquo; inquired Kuby, familiarly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s blood chilled slightly. &ldquo;Larceny,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yuh got off easy,&rdquo; commented Kuby. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m up for ten. A
+rube judge did that to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kuby had never heard of Cowperwood&rsquo;s crime. He would not have understood
+its subtleties if he had. Cowperwood did not want to talk to this man; he did
+not know how. He wished he would go away; but that was not likely. He wanted to
+be put in his cell and let alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s too bad,&rdquo; he answered; and the convict realized
+clearly that this man was really not one of them, or he would not have said
+anything like that. Kuby went to the two hydrants opening into the bath-tub and
+turned them on. Cowperwood had been undressing the while, and now stood naked,
+but not ashamed, in front of this eighth-rate intelligence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t forget to wash your head, too,&rdquo; said Kuby, and went
+away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood stood there while the water ran, meditating on his fate. It was
+strange how life had dealt with him of late&mdash;so severely. Unlike most men
+in his position, he was not suffering from a consciousness of evil. He did not
+think he was evil. As he saw it, he was merely unfortunate. To think that he
+should be actually in this great, silent penitentiary, a convict, waiting here
+beside this cheap iron bathtub, not very sweet or hygienic to contemplate, with
+this crackbrained criminal to watch over him!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stepped into the tub and washed himself briskly with the biting yellow soap,
+drying himself on one of the rough, only partially bleached towels. He looked
+for his underwear, but there was none. At this point the attendant looked in
+again. &ldquo;Out here,&rdquo; he said, inconsiderately.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood followed, naked. He was led through the receiving overseer&rsquo;s
+office into a room, where were scales, implements of measurement, a
+record-book, etc. The attendant who stood guard at the door now came over, and
+the clerk who sat in a corner automatically took down a record-blank. Kendall
+surveyed Cowperwood&rsquo;s decidedly graceful figure, already inclining to a
+slight thickening around the waist, and approved of it as superior to that of
+most who came here. His skin, as he particularly noted, was especially white.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Step on the scale,&rdquo; said the attendant, brusquely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood did so, The former adjusted the weights and scanned the record
+carefully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Weight, one hundred and seventy-five,&rdquo; he called. &ldquo;Now step
+over here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He indicated a spot in the side wall where was fastened in a thin
+slat&mdash;which ran from the floor to about seven and one half feet above,
+perpendicularly&mdash;a small movable wooden indicator, which, when a man was
+standing under it, could be pressed down on his head. At the side of the slat
+were the total inches of height, laid off in halves, quarters, eighths, and so
+on, and to the right a length measurement for the arm. Cowperwood understood
+what was wanted and stepped under the indicator, standing quite straight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Feet level, back to the wall,&rdquo; urged the attendant. &ldquo;So.
+Height, five feet nine and ten-sixteenths,&rdquo; he called. The clerk in the
+corner noted it. He now produced a tape-measure and began measuring
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s arms, legs, chest, waist, hips, etc. He called out the color
+of his eyes, his hair, his mustache, and, looking into his mouth, exclaimed,
+&ldquo;Teeth, all sound.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After Cowperwood had once more given his address, age, profession, whether he
+knew any trade, etc.&mdash;which he did not&mdash;he was allowed to return to
+the bathroom, and put on the clothing which the prison provided for
+him&mdash;first the rough, prickly underwear, then the cheap soft roll-collar,
+white-cotton shirt, then the thick bluish-gray cotton socks of a quality such
+as he had never worn in his life, and over these a pair of indescribable
+rough-leather clogs, which felt to his feet as though they were made of wood or
+iron&mdash;oily and heavy. He then drew on the shapeless, baggy trousers with
+their telltale stripes, and over his arms and chest the loose-cut shapeless
+coat and waistcoat. He felt and knew of course that he looked very strange,
+wretched. And as he stepped out into the overseer&rsquo;s room again he
+experienced a peculiar sense of depression, a gone feeling which before this
+had not assailed him and which now he did his best to conceal. This, then, was
+what society did to the criminal, he thought to himself. It took him and tore
+away from his body and his life the habiliments of his proper state and left
+him these. He felt sad and grim, and, try as he would&mdash;he could not help
+showing it for a moment. It was always his business and his intention to
+conceal his real feelings, but now it was not quite possible. He felt degraded,
+impossible, in these clothes, and he knew that he looked it. Nevertheless, he
+did his best to pull himself together and look unconcerned, willing, obedient,
+considerate of those above him. After all, he said to himself, it was all a
+play of sorts, a dream even, if one chose to view it so, a miasma even, from
+which, in the course of time and with a little luck one might emerge safely
+enough. He hoped so. It could not last. He was only acting a strange,
+unfamiliar part on the stage, this stage of life that he knew so well.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kendall did not waste any time looking at him, however. He merely said to his
+assistant, &ldquo;See if you can find a cap for him,&rdquo; and the latter,
+going to a closet containing numbered shelves, took down a cap&mdash;a
+high-crowned, straight-visored, shabby, striped affair which Cowperwood was
+asked to try on. It fitted well enough, slipping down close over his ears, and
+he thought that now his indignities must be about complete. What could be
+added? There could be no more of these disconcerting accoutrements. But he was
+mistaken. &ldquo;Now, Kuby, you take him to Mr. Chapin,&rdquo; said Kendall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kuby understood. He went back into the wash-room and produced what Cowperwood
+had heard of but never before seen&mdash;a blue-and-white-striped cotton bag
+about half the length of an ordinary pillow-case and half again as wide, which
+Kuby now unfolded and shook out as he came toward him. It was a custom. The use
+of this hood, dating from the earliest days of the prison, was intended to
+prevent a sense of location and direction and thereby obviate any attempt to
+escape. Thereafter during all his stay he was not supposed to walk with or talk
+to or see another prisoner&mdash;not even to converse with his superiors,
+unless addressed. It was a grim theory, and yet one definitely enforced here,
+although as he was to learn later even this could be modified here.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll have to put this on,&rdquo; Kuby said, and opened it in
+such a way that it could be put over Cowperwood&rsquo;s head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood understood. He had heard of it in some way, in times past. He was a
+little shocked&mdash;looked at it first with a touch of real surprise, but a
+moment after lifted his hands and helped pull it down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never mind,&rdquo; cautioned the guard, &ldquo;put your hands down.
+I&rsquo;ll get it over.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood dropped his arms. When it was fully on, it came to about his chest,
+giving him little means of seeing anything. He felt very strange, very
+humiliated, very downcast. This simple thing of a blue-and-white striped bag
+over his head almost cost him his sense of self-possession. Why could not they
+have spared him this last indignity, he thought?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This way,&rdquo; said his attendant, and he was led out to where he
+could not say.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you hold it out in front you can see to walk,&rdquo; said his guide;
+and Cowperwood pulled it out, thus being able to discern his feet and a portion
+of the floor below. He was thus conducted&mdash;seeing nothing in his
+transit&mdash;down a short walk, then through a long corridor, then through a
+room of uniformed guards, and finally up a narrow flight of iron steps, leading
+to the overseer&rsquo;s office on the second floor of one of the two-tier
+blocks. There, he heard the voice of Kuby saying: &ldquo;Mr. Chapin,
+here&rsquo;s another prisoner for you from Mr. Kendall.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be there in a minute,&rdquo; came a peculiarly pleasant voice
+from the distance. Presently a big, heavy hand closed about his arm, and he was
+conducted still further.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You hain&rsquo;t got far to go now,&rdquo; the voice said, &ldquo;and
+then I&rsquo;ll take that bag off,&rdquo; and Cowperwood felt for some reason a
+sense of sympathy, perhaps&mdash;as though he would choke. The further steps
+were not many.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A cell door was reached and unlocked by the inserting of a great iron key. It
+was swung open, and the same big hand guided him through. A moment later the
+bag was pulled easily from his head, and he saw that he was in a narrow,
+whitewashed cell, rather dim, windowless, but lighted from the top by a small
+skylight of frosted glass three and one half feet long by four inches wide. For
+a night light there was a tin-bodied lamp swinging from a hook near the middle
+of one of the side walls. A rough iron cot, furnished with a straw mattress and
+two pairs of dark blue, probably unwashed blankets, stood in one corner. There
+was a hydrant and small sink in another. A small shelf occupied the wall
+opposite the bed. A plain wooden chair with a homely round back stood at the
+foot of the bed, and a fairly serviceable broom was standing in one corner.
+There was an iron stool or pot for excreta, giving, as he could see, into a
+large drain-pipe which ran along the inside wall, and which was obviously
+flushed by buckets of water being poured into it. Rats and other vermin
+infested this, and it gave off an unpleasant odor which filled the cell. The
+floor was of stone. Cowperwood&rsquo;s clear-seeing eyes took it all in at a
+glance. He noted the hard cell door, which was barred and cross-barred with
+great round rods of steel, and fastened with a thick, highly polished lock. He
+saw also that beyond this was a heavy wooden door, which could shut him in even
+more completely than the iron one. There was no chance for any clear, purifying
+sunlight here. Cleanliness depended entirely on whitewash, soap and water and
+sweeping, which in turn depended on the prisoners themselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He also took in Chapin, the homely, good-natured, cell overseer whom he now saw
+for the first time&mdash;a large, heavy, lumbering man, rather dusty and
+misshapen-looking, whose uniform did not fit him well, and whose manner of
+standing made him look as though he would much prefer to sit down. He was
+obviously bulky, but not strong, and his kindly face was covered with a short
+growth of grayish-brown whiskers. His hair was cut badly and stuck out in odd
+strings or wisps from underneath his big cap. Nevertheless, Cowperwood was not
+at all unfavorably impressed&mdash;quite the contrary&mdash;and he felt at once
+that this man might be more considerate of him than the others had been. He
+hoped so, anyhow. He did not know that he was in the presence of the overseer
+of the &ldquo;manners squad,&rdquo; who would have him in charge for two weeks
+only, instructing him in the rules of the prison, and that he was only one of
+twenty-six, all told, who were in Chapin&rsquo;s care.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That worthy, by way of easy introduction, now went over to the bed and seated
+himself on it. He pointed to the hard wooden chair, which Cowperwood drew out
+and sat on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, now you&rsquo;re here, hain&rsquo;t yuh?&rdquo; he asked, and
+answered himself quite genially, for he was an unlettered man, generously
+disposed, of long experience with criminals, and inclined to deal kindly with
+kindly temperament and a form of religious belief&mdash;Quakerism&mdash;had
+inclined him to be merciful, and yet his official duties, as Cowperwood later
+found out, seemed to have led him to the conclusion that most criminals were
+innately bad. Like Kendall, he regarded them as weaklings and
+ne&rsquo;er-do-wells with evil streaks in them, and in the main he was not
+mistaken. Yet he could not help being what he was, a fatherly, kindly old man,
+having faith in those shibboleths of the weak and inexperienced
+mentally&mdash;human justice and human decency.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I&rsquo;m here, Mr. Chapin,&rdquo; Cowperwood replied, simply,
+remembering his name from the attendant, and flattering the keeper by the use
+of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To old Chapin the situation was more or less puzzling. This was the famous
+Frank A. Cowperwood whom he had read about, the noted banker and
+treasury-looter. He and his co-partner in crime, Stener, were destined to
+serve, as he had read, comparatively long terms here. Five hundred thousand
+dollars was a large sum of money in those days, much more than five million
+would have been forty years later. He was awed by the thought of what had
+become of it&mdash;how Cowperwood managed to do all the things the papers had
+said he had done. He had a little formula of questions which he usually went
+through with each new prisoner&mdash;asking him if he was sorry now for the
+crime he had committed, if he meant to do better with a new chance, if his
+father and mother were alive, etc.; and by the manner in which they answered
+these questions&mdash;simply, regretfully, defiantly, or otherwise&mdash;he
+judged whether they were being adequately punished or not. Yet he could not
+talk to Cowperwood as he now saw or as he would to the average second-story
+burglar, store-looter, pickpocket, and plain cheap thief and swindler. And yet
+he scarcely knew how else to talk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, now,&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t suppose you ever
+thought you&rsquo;d get to a place like this, did you, Mr. Cowperwood?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I never did,&rdquo; replied Frank, simply. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t have
+believed it a few months ago, Mr. Chapin. I don&rsquo;t think I deserve to be
+here now, though of course there is no use of my telling you that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He saw that old Chapin wanted to moralize a little, and he was only too glad to
+fall in with his mood. He would soon be alone with no one to talk to perhaps,
+and if a sympathetic understanding could be reached with this man now, so much
+the better. Any port in a storm; any straw to a drowning man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, no doubt all of us makes mistakes,&rdquo; continued Mr. Chapin,
+superiorly, with an amusing faith in his own value as a moral guide and
+reformer. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t just always tell how the plans we think so fine
+are coming out, can we? You&rsquo;re here now, an&rsquo; I suppose you&rsquo;re
+sorry certain things didn&rsquo;t come out just as you thought; but if you had
+a chance I don&rsquo;t suppose you&rsquo;d try to do just as you did before,
+now would yuh?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, Mr. Chapin, I wouldn&rsquo;t, exactly,&rdquo; said Cowperwood, truly
+enough, &ldquo;though I believed I was right in everything I did. I don&rsquo;t
+think legal justice has really been done me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, that&rsquo;s the way,&rdquo; continued Chapin, meditatively,
+scratching his grizzled head and looking genially about. &ldquo;Sometimes, as I
+allers says to some of these here young fellers that comes in here, we
+don&rsquo;t know as much as we thinks we does. We forget that others are just
+as smart as we are, and that there are allers people that are watchin&rsquo; us
+all the time. These here courts and jails and detectives&mdash;they&rsquo;re
+here all the time, and they get us. I gad&rdquo;&mdash;Chapin&rsquo;s moral
+version of &ldquo;by God&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;they do, if we don&rsquo;t
+behave.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; Cowperwood replied, &ldquo;that&rsquo;s true enough, Mr.
+Chapin.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; continued the old man after a time, after he had made a few
+more solemn, owl-like, and yet well-intentioned remarks, &ldquo;now
+here&rsquo;s your bed, and there&rsquo;s your chair, and there&rsquo;s your
+wash-stand, and there&rsquo;s your water-closet. Now keep &rsquo;em all clean
+and use &rsquo;em right.&rdquo; (You would have thought he was making
+Cowperwood a present of a fortune.) &ldquo;You&rsquo;re the one&rsquo;s got to
+make up your bed every mornin&rsquo; and keep your floor swept and your toilet
+flushed and your cell clean. There hain&rsquo;t anybody here&rsquo;ll do that
+for yuh. You want to do all them things the first thing in the mornin&rsquo;
+when you get up, and afterward you&rsquo;ll get sumpin&rsquo; to eat, about
+six-thirty. You&rsquo;re supposed to get up at five-thirty.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Mr. Chapin,&rdquo; Cowperwood said, politely. &ldquo;You can depend
+on me to do all those things promptly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There hain&rsquo;t so much more,&rdquo; added Chapin.
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re supposed to wash yourself all over once a week an&rsquo;
+I&rsquo;ll give you a clean towel for that. Next you gotta wash this floor up
+every Friday mornin&rsquo;.&rdquo; Cowperwood winced at that. &ldquo;You kin
+have hot water for that if you want it. I&rsquo;ll have one of the runners
+bring it to you. An&rsquo; as for your friends and relations&rdquo;&mdash;he
+got up and shook himself like a big Newfoundland dog. &ldquo;You gotta wife,
+hain&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, the rules here are that your wife or your friends kin come to see
+you once in three months, and your lawyer&mdash;you gotta lawyer hain&rsquo;t
+yuh?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, amused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, he kin come every week or so if he likes&mdash;every day, I
+guess&mdash;there hain&rsquo;t no rules about lawyers. But you kin only write
+one letter once in three months yourself, an&rsquo; if you want anything like
+tobaccer or the like o&rsquo; that, from the store-room, you gotta sign an
+order for it, if you got any money with the warden, an&rsquo; then I can git it
+for you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man was really above taking small tips in the shape of money. He was a
+hold-over from a much more severe and honest regime, but subsequent presents or
+constant flattery were not amiss in making him kindly and generous. Cowperwood
+read him accurately.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well, Mr. Chapin; I understand,&rdquo; he said, getting up as the
+old man did.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then when you have been here two weeks,&rdquo; added Chapin, rather
+ruminatively (he had forgot to state this to Cowperwood before), &ldquo;the
+warden &rsquo;ll come and git yuh and give yuh yer regular cell summers
+down-stairs. Yuh kin make up yer mind by that time what y&rsquo;u&rsquo;d like
+tuh do, what y&rsquo;u&rsquo;d like to work at. If you behave yourself proper,
+more&rsquo;n like they&rsquo;ll give yuh a cell with a yard. Yuh never can
+tell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went out, locking the door with a solemn click; and Cowperwood stood there,
+a little more depressed than he had been, because of this latest intelligence.
+Only two weeks, and then he would be transferred from this kindly old
+man&rsquo;s care to another&rsquo;s, whom he did not know and with whom he
+might not fare so well.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If ever you want me for anything&mdash;if ye&rsquo;re sick or
+sumpin&rsquo; like that,&rdquo; Chapin now returned to say, after he had walked
+a few paces away, &ldquo;we have a signal here of our own. Just hang your towel
+out through these here bars. I&rsquo;ll see it, and I&rsquo;ll stop and find
+out what yuh want, when I&rsquo;m passin&rsquo;.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, whose spirits had sunk, revived for the moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; he replied; &ldquo;thank you, Mr. Chapin.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man walked away, and Cowperwood heard his steps dying down the
+cement-paved hall. He stood and listened, his ears being greeted occasionally
+by a distant cough, a faint scraping of some one&rsquo;s feet, the hum or whir
+of a machine, or the iron scratch of a key in a lock. None of the noises was
+loud. Rather they were all faint and far away. He went over and looked at the
+bed, which was not very clean and without linen, and anything but wide or soft,
+and felt it curiously. So here was where he was to sleep from now on&mdash;he
+who so craved and appreciated luxury and refinement. If Aileen or some of his
+rich friends should see him here. Worse, he was sickened by the thought of
+possible vermin. How could he tell? How would he do? The one chair was
+abominable. The skylight was weak. He tried to think of himself as becoming
+accustomed to the situation, but he re-discovered the offal pot in one corner,
+and that discouraged him. It was possible that rats might come up here&mdash;it
+looked that way. No pictures, no books, no scene, no person, no space to
+walk&mdash;just the four bare walls and silence, which he would be shut into at
+night by the thick door. What a horrible fate!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He sat down and contemplated his situation. So here he was at last in the
+Eastern Penitentiary, and doomed, according to the judgment of the politicians
+(Butler among others), to remain here four long years and longer. Stener, it
+suddenly occurred to him, was probably being put through the same process he
+had just gone through. Poor old Stener! What a fool he had made of himself. But
+because of his foolishness he deserved all he was now getting. But the
+difference between himself and Stener was that they would let Stener out. It
+was possible that already they were easing his punishment in some way that he,
+Cowperwood, did not know. He put his hand to his chin, thinking&mdash;his
+business, his house, his friends, his family, Aileen. He felt for his watch,
+but remembered that they had taken that. There was no way of telling the time.
+Neither had he any notebook, pen, or pencil with which to amuse or interest
+himself. Besides he had had nothing to eat since morning. Still, that mattered
+little. What did matter was that he was shut up here away from the world, quite
+alone, quite lonely, without knowing what time it was, and that he could not
+attend to any of the things he ought to be attending to&mdash;his business
+affairs, his future. True, Steger would probably come to see him after a while.
+That would help a little. But even so&mdash;think of his position, his
+prospects up to the day of the fire and his state now. He sat looking at his
+shoes; his suit. God! He got up and walked to and fro, to and fro, but his own
+steps and movements sounded so loud. He walked to the cell door and looked out
+through the thick bars, but there was nothing to see&mdash;nothing save a
+portion of two cell doors opposite, something like his own. He came back and
+sat in his single chair, meditating, but, getting weary of that finally,
+stretched himself on the dirty prison bed to try it. It was not uncomfortable
+entirely. He got up after a while, however, and sat, then walked, then sat.
+What a narrow place to walk, he thought. This was horrible&mdash;something like
+a living tomb. And to think he should be here now, day after day and day after
+day, until&mdash;until what? Until the Governor pardoned him or his time was
+up, or his fortune eaten away&mdash;or&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So he cogitated while the hours slipped by. It was nearly five o&rsquo;clock
+before Steger was able to return, and then only for a little while. He had been
+arranging for Cowperwood&rsquo;s appearance on the following Thursday, Friday,
+and Monday in his several court proceedings. When he was gone, however, and the
+night fell and Cowperwood had to trim his little, shabby oil-lamp and to drink
+the strong tea and eat the rough, poor bread made of bran and white flour,
+which was shoved to him through the small aperture in the door by the trencher
+trusty, who was accompanied by the overseer to see that it was done properly,
+he really felt very badly. And after that the center wooden door of his cell
+was presently closed and locked by a trusty who slammed it rudely and said no
+word. Nine o&rsquo;clock would be sounded somewhere by a great bell, he
+understood, when his smoky oil-lamp would have to be put out promptly and he
+would have to undress and go to bed. There were punishments, no doubt, for
+infractions of these rules&mdash;reduced rations, the strait-jacket, perhaps
+stripes&mdash;he scarcely knew what. He felt disconsolate, grim, weary. He had
+put up such a long, unsatisfactory fight. After washing his heavy stone cup and
+tin plate at the hydrant, he took off the sickening uniform and shoes and even
+the drawers of the scratching underwear, and stretched himself wearily on the
+bed. The place was not any too warm, and he tried to make himself comfortable
+between the blankets&mdash;but it was of little use. His soul was cold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This will never do,&rdquo; he said to himself. &ldquo;This will never
+do. I&rsquo;m not sure whether I can stand much of this or not.&rdquo; Still he
+turned his face to the wall, and after several hours sleep eventually came.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap54"></a>Chapter LIV</h2>
+
+<p>
+Those who by any pleasing courtesy of fortune, accident of birth, inheritance,
+or the wisdom of parents or friends, have succeeded in avoiding making that
+anathema of the prosperous and comfortable, &ldquo;a mess of their
+lives,&rdquo; will scarcely understand the mood of Cowperwood, sitting rather
+gloomily in his cell these first days, wondering what, in spite of his great
+ingenuity, was to become of him. The strongest have their hours of depression.
+There are times when life to those endowed with the greatest
+intelligence&mdash;perhaps mostly to those&mdash;takes on a somber hue. They
+see so many phases of its dreary subtleties. It is only when the soul of man
+has been built up into some strange self-confidence, some curious faith in its
+own powers, based, no doubt, on the actual presence of these same powers subtly
+involved in the body, that it fronts life unflinchingly. It would be too much
+to say that Cowperwood&rsquo;s mind was of the first order. It was subtle
+enough in all conscience&mdash;and involved, as is common with the executively
+great, with a strong sense of personal advancement. It was a powerful mind,
+turning, like a vast searchlight, a glittering ray into many a dark corner; but
+it was not sufficiently disinterested to search the ultimate dark. He realized,
+in a way, what the great astronomers, sociologists, philosophers, chemists,
+physicists, and physiologists were meditating; but he could not be sure in his
+own mind that, whatever it was, it was important for him. No doubt life held
+many strange secrets. Perhaps it was essential that somebody should investigate
+them. However that might be, the call of his own soul was in another direction.
+His business was to make money&mdash;to organize something which would make him
+much money, or, better yet, save the organization he had begun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But this, as he now looked upon it, was almost impossible. It had been too
+disarranged and complicated by unfortunate circumstances. He might, as Steger
+pointed out to him, string out these bankruptcy proceedings for years, tiring
+out one creditor and another, but in the meantime the properties involved were
+being seriously damaged. Interest charges on his unsatisfied loans were making
+heavy inroads; court costs were mounting up; and, to cap it all, he had
+discovered with Steger that there were a number of creditors&mdash;those who
+had sold out to Butler, and incidentally to Mollenhauer&mdash;who would never
+accept anything except the full value of their claims. His one hope now was to
+save what he could by compromise a little later, and to build up some sort of
+profitable business through Stephen Wingate. The latter was coming in a day or
+two, as soon as Steger had made some working arrangement for him with Warden
+Michael Desmas who came the second day to have a look at the new prisoner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Desmas was a large man physically&mdash;Irish by birth, a politician by
+training&mdash;who had been one thing and another in Philadelphia from a
+policeman in his early days and a corporal in the Civil War to a ward captain
+under Mollenhauer. He was a canny man, tall, raw-boned, singularly
+muscular-looking, who for all his fifty-seven years looked as though he could
+give a splendid account of himself in a physical contest. His hands were large
+and bony, his face more square than either round or long, and his forehead
+high. He had a vigorous growth of short-clipped, iron-gray hair, and a bristly
+iron-gray mustache, very short, keen, intelligent blue-gray eyes; a florid
+complexion; and even-edged, savage-looking teeth, which showed the least bit in
+a slightly wolfish way when he smiled. However, he was not as cruel a person as
+he looked to be; temperamental, to a certain extent hard, and on occasions
+savage, but with kindly hours also. His greatest weakness was that he was not
+quite mentally able to recognize that there were mental and social differences
+between prisoners, and that now and then one was apt to appear here who, with
+or without political influences, was eminently worthy of special consideration.
+What he could recognize was the differences pointed out to him by the
+politicians in special cases, such as that of Stener&mdash;not Cowperwood.
+However, seeing that the prison was a public institution apt to be visited at
+any time by lawyers, detectives, doctors, preachers, propagandists, and the
+public generally, and that certain rules and regulations had to be enforced (if
+for no other reason than to keep a moral and administrative control over his
+own help), it was necessary to maintain&mdash;and that even in the face of the
+politician&mdash;a certain amount of discipline, system, and order, and it was
+not possible to be too liberal with any one. There were, however, exceptional
+cases&mdash;men of wealth and refinement, victims of those occasional uprisings
+which so shocked the political leaders generally&mdash;who had to be looked
+after in a friendly way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Desmas was quite aware, of course, of the history of Cowperwood and Stener. The
+politicians had already given him warning that Stener, because of his past
+services to the community, was to be treated with special consideration. Not so
+much was said about Cowperwood, although they did admit that his lot was rather
+hard. Perhaps he might do a little something for him but at his own risk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Butler is down on him,&rdquo; Strobik said to Desmas, on one occasion.
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s that girl of his that&rsquo;s at the bottom of it all. If you
+listened to Butler you&rsquo;d feed him on bread and water, but he isn&rsquo;t
+a bad fellow. As a matter of fact, if George had had any sense Cowperwood
+wouldn&rsquo;t be where he is to-day. But the big fellows wouldn&rsquo;t let
+Stener alone. They wouldn&rsquo;t let him give Cowperwood any money.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Although Strobik had been one of those who, under pressure from Mollenhauer,
+had advised Stener not to let Cowperwood have any more money, yet here he was
+pointing out the folly of the victim&rsquo;s course. The thought of the
+inconsistency involved did not trouble him in the least.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Desmas decided, therefore, that if Cowperwood were persona non grata to the
+&ldquo;Big Three,&rdquo; it might be necessary to be indifferent to him, or at
+least slow in extending him any special favors. For Stener a good chair, clean
+linen, special cutlery and dishes, the daily papers, privileges in the matter
+of mail, the visits of friends, and the like. For Cowperwood&mdash;well, he
+would have to look at Cowperwood and see what he thought. At the same time,
+Steger&rsquo;s intercessions were not without their effect on Desmas. So the
+morning after Cowperwood&rsquo;s entrance the warden received a letter from
+Terrence Relihan, the Harrisburg potentate, indicating that any kindness shown
+to Mr. Cowperwood would be duly appreciated by him. Upon the receipt of this
+letter Desmas went up and looked through Cowperwood&rsquo;s iron door. On the
+way he had a brief talk with Chapin, who told him what a nice man he thought
+Cowperwood was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Desmas had never seen Cowperwood before, but in spite of the shabby uniform,
+the clog shoes, the cheap shirt, and the wretched cell, he was impressed.
+Instead of the weak, anaemic body and the shifty eyes of the average prisoner,
+he saw a man whose face and form blazed energy and power, and whose vigorous
+erectness no wretched clothes or conditions could demean. He lifted his head
+when Desmas appeared, glad that any form should have appeared at his door, and
+looked at him with large, clear, examining eyes&mdash;those eyes that in the
+past had inspired so much confidence and surety in all those who had known him.
+Desmas was stirred. Compared with Stener, whom he knew in the past and whom he
+had met on his entry, this man was a force. Say what you will, one vigorous man
+inherently respects another. And Desmas was vigorous physically. He eyed
+Cowperwood and Cowperwood eyed him. Instinctively Desmas liked him. He was like
+one tiger looking at another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Instinctively Cowperwood knew that he was the warden. &ldquo;This is Mr.
+Desmas, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo; he asked, courteously and pleasantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir, I&rsquo;m the man,&rdquo; replied Desmas interestedly.
+&ldquo;These rooms are not as comfortable as they might be, are they?&rdquo;
+The warden&rsquo;s even teeth showed in a friendly, yet wolfish, way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They certainly are not, Mr. Desmas,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, standing
+very erect and soldier-like. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t imagine I was coming to a
+hotel, however.&rdquo; He smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t anything special I can do for you, is there, Mr.
+Cowperwood?&rdquo; began Desmas curiously, for he was moved by a thought that
+at some time or other a man such as this might be of service to him.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been talking to your lawyer.&rdquo; Cowperwood was intensely
+gratified by the Mr. So that was the way the wind was blowing. Well, then,
+within reason, things might not prove so bad here. He would see. He would sound
+this man out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to be asking anything, Warden, which you cannot
+reasonably give,&rdquo; he now returned politely. &ldquo;But there are a few
+things, of course, that I would change if I could. I wish I might have sheets
+for my bed, and I could afford better underwear if you would let me wear it.
+This that I have on annoys me a great deal.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They&rsquo;re not the best wool, that&rsquo;s true enough,&rdquo;
+replied Desmas, solemnly. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re made for the State out here in
+Pennsylvania somewhere. I suppose there&rsquo;s no objection to your wearing
+your own underwear if you want to. I&rsquo;ll see about that. And the sheets,
+too. We might let you use them if you have them. We&rsquo;ll have to go a
+little slow about this. There are a lot of people that take a special interest
+in showing the warden how to tend to his business.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can readily understand that, Warden,&rdquo; went on Cowperwood
+briskly, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m certainly very much obliged to you. You may be
+sure that anything you do for me here will be appreciated, and not misused, and
+that I have friends on the outside who can reciprocate for me in the course of
+time.&rdquo; He talked slowly and emphatically, looking Desmas directly in the
+eye all of the time. Desmas was very much impressed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all right,&rdquo; he said, now that he had gone so far as
+to be friendly. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t promise much. Prison rules are prison
+rules. But there are some things that can be done, because it&rsquo;s the rule
+to do them for other men when they behave themselves. You can have a better
+chair than that, if you want it, and something to read too. If you&rsquo;re in
+business yet, I wouldn&rsquo;t want to do anything to stop that. We can&rsquo;t
+have people running in and out of here every fifteen minutes, and you
+can&rsquo;t turn a cell into a business office&mdash;that&rsquo;s not possible.
+It would break up the order of the place. Still, there&rsquo;s no reason why
+you shouldn&rsquo;t see some of your friends now and then. As for your
+mail&mdash;well, that will have to be opened in the ordinary way for the time
+being, anyhow. I&rsquo;ll have to see about that. I can&rsquo;t promise too
+much. You&rsquo;ll have to wait until you come out of this block and
+down-stairs. Some of the cells have a yard there; if there are any
+empty&mdash;&rdquo; The warden cocked his eye wisely, and Cowperwood saw that
+his tot was not to be as bad as he had anticipated&mdash;though bad enough. The
+warden spoke to him about the different trades he might follow, and asked him
+to think about the one he would prefer. &ldquo;You want to have something to
+keep your hands busy, whatever else you want. You&rsquo;ll find you&rsquo;ll
+need that. Everybody here wants to work after a time. I notice that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood understood and thanked Desmas profusely. The horror of idleness in
+silence and in a cell scarcely large enough to turn around in comfortably had
+already begun to creep over him, and the thought of being able to see Wingate
+and Steger frequently, and to have his mail reach him, after a time, untampered
+with, was a great relief. He was to have his own underwear, silk and
+wool&mdash;thank God!&mdash;and perhaps they would let him take off these shoes
+after a while. With these modifications and a trade, and perhaps the little
+yard which Desmas had referred to, his life would be, if not ideal, at least
+tolerable. The prison was still a prison, but it looked as though it might not
+be so much of a terror to him as obviously it must be to many.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the two weeks in which Cowperwood was in the &ldquo;manners
+squad,&rdquo; in care of Chapin, he learned nearly as much as he ever learned
+of the general nature of prison life; for this was not an ordinary penitentiary
+in the sense that the prison yard, the prison squad, the prison lock-step, the
+prison dining-room, and prison associated labor make the ordinary penitentiary.
+There was, for him and for most of those confined there, no general prison life
+whatsoever. The large majority were supposed to work silently in their cells at
+the particular tasks assigned them, and not to know anything of the remainder
+of the life which went on around them, the rule of this prison being solitary
+confinement, and few being permitted to work at the limited number of outside
+menial tasks provided. Indeed, as he sensed and as old Chapin soon informed
+him, not more than seventy-five of the four hundred prisoners confined here
+were so employed, and not all of these regularly&mdash;cooking, gardening in
+season, milling, and general cleaning being the only avenues of escape from
+solitude. Even those who so worked were strictly forbidden to talk, and
+although they did not have to wear the objectionable hood when actually
+employed, they were supposed to wear it in going to and from their work.
+Cowperwood saw them occasionally tramping by his cell door, and it struck him
+as strange, uncanny, grim. He wished sincerely at times since old Chapin was so
+genial and talkative that he were to be under him permanently; but it was not
+to be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His two weeks soon passed&mdash;drearily enough in all conscience but they
+passed, interlaced with his few commonplace tasks of bed-making,
+floor-sweeping, dressing, eating, undressing, rising at five-thirty, and
+retiring at nine, washing his several dishes after each meal, etc. He thought
+he would never get used to the food. Breakfast, as has been said, was at
+six-thirty, and consisted of coarse black bread made of bran and some white
+flour, and served with black coffee. Dinner was at eleven-thirty, and consisted
+of bean or vegetable soup, with some coarse meat in it, and the same bread.
+Supper was at six, of tea and bread, very strong tea and the same
+bread&mdash;no butter, no milk, no sugar. Cowperwood did not smoke, so the
+small allowance of tobacco which was permitted was without value to him. Steger
+called in every day for two or three weeks, and after the second day, Stephen
+Wingate, as his new business associate, was permitted to see him
+also&mdash;once every day, if he wished, Desmas stated, though the latter felt
+he was stretching a point in permitting this so soon. Both of these visits
+rarely occupied more than an hour, or an hour and a half, and after that the
+day was long. He was taken out on several days on a court order, between nine
+and five, to testify in the bankruptcy proceedings against him, which caused
+the time in the beginning to pass quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was curious, once he was in prison, safely shut from the world for a period
+of years apparently, how quickly all thought of assisting him departed from the
+minds of those who had been most friendly. He was done, so most of them
+thought. The only thing they could do now would be to use their influence to
+get him out some time; how soon, they could not guess. Beyond that there was
+nothing. He would really never be of any great importance to any one any more,
+or so they thought. It was very sad, very tragic, but he was gone&mdash;his
+place knew him not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A bright young man, that,&rdquo; observed President Davison of the
+Girard National, on reading of Cowperwood&rsquo;s sentence and incarceration.
+&ldquo;Too bad! Too bad! He made a great mistake.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Only his parents, Aileen, and his wife&mdash;the latter with mingled feelings
+of resentment and sorrow&mdash;really missed him. Aileen, because of her great
+passion for him, was suffering most of all. Four years and three months; she
+thought. If he did not get out before then she would be nearing twenty-nine and
+he would be nearing forty. Would he want her then? Would she be so attractive?
+And would nearly five years change his point of view? He would have to wear a
+convict suit all that time, and be known as a convict forever after. It was
+hard to think about, but only made her more than ever determined to cling to
+him, whatever happened, and to help him all she could.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Indeed the day after his incarceration she drove out and looked at the grim,
+gray walls of the penitentiary. Knowing nothing absolutely of the vast and
+complicated processes of law and penal servitude, it seemed especially terrible
+to her. What might not they be doing to her Frank? Was he suffering much? Was
+he thinking of her as she was of him? Oh, the pity of it all! The pity! The
+pity of herself&mdash;her great love for him! She drove home, determined to see
+him; but as he had originally told her that visiting days were only once in
+three months, and that he would have to write her when the next one was, or
+when she could come, or when he could see her on the outside, she scarcely knew
+what to do. Secrecy was the thing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next day, however, she wrote him just the same, describing the drive she
+had taken on the stormy afternoon before&mdash;the terror of the thought that
+he was behind those grim gray walls&mdash;and declaring her determination to
+see him soon. And this letter, under the new arrangement, he received at once.
+He wrote her in reply, giving the letter to Wingate to mail. It ran:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+My sweet girl:&mdash;I fancy you are a little downhearted to think I cannot be
+with you any more soon, but you mustn&rsquo;t be. I suppose you read all about
+the sentence in the paper. I came out here the same morning&mdash;nearly noon.
+If I had time, dearest, I&rsquo;d write you a long letter describing the
+situation so as to ease your mind; but I haven&rsquo;t. It&rsquo;s against the
+rules, and I am really doing this secretly. I&rsquo;m here, though, safe
+enough, and wish I were out, of course. Sweetest, you must be careful how you
+try to see me at first. You can&rsquo;t do me much service outside of cheering
+me up, and you may do yourself great harm. Besides, I think I have done you far
+more harm than I can ever make up to you and that you had best give me up,
+although I know you do not think so, and I would be sad, if you did. I am to be
+in the Court of Special Pleas, Sixth and Chestnut, on Friday at two
+o&rsquo;clock; but you cannot see me there. I&rsquo;ll be out in charge of my
+counsel. You must be careful. Perhaps you&rsquo;ll think better, and not come
+here.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This last touch was one of pure gloom, the first Cowperwood had ever introduced
+into their relationship but conditions had changed him. Hitherto he had been in
+the position of the superior being, the one who was being sought&mdash;although
+Aileen was and had been well worth seeking&mdash;and he had thought that he
+might escape unscathed, and so grow in dignity and power until she might not
+possibly be worthy of him any longer. He had had that thought. But here, in
+stripes, it was a different matter. Aileen&rsquo;s position, reduced in value
+as it was by her long, ardent relationship with him, was now, nevertheless,
+superior to his&mdash;apparently so. For after all, was she not Edward
+Butler&rsquo;s daughter, and might she, after she had been away from him a
+while, wish to become a convict&rsquo;s bride. She ought not to want to, and
+she might not want to, for all he knew; she might change her mind. She ought
+not to wait for him. Her life was not yet ruined. The public did not know, so
+he thought&mdash;not generally anyhow&mdash;that she had been his mistress. She
+might marry. Why not, and so pass out of his life forever. And would not that
+be sad for him? And yet did he not owe it to her, to a sense of fair play in
+himself to ask her to give him up, or at least think over the wisdom of doing
+so?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He did her the justice to believe that she would not want to give him up; and
+in his position, however harmful it might be to her, it was an advantage, a
+connecting link with the finest period of his past life, to have her continue
+to love him. He could not, however, scribbling this note in his cell in
+Wingate&rsquo;s presence, and giving it to him to mail (Overseer Chapin was
+kindly keeping a respectful distance, though he was supposed to be present),
+refrain from adding, at the last moment, this little touch of doubt which, when
+she read it, struck Aileen to the heart. She read it as gloom on his
+part&mdash;as great depression. Perhaps, after all, the penitentiary and so
+soon, was really breaking his spirit, and he had held up so courageously so
+long. Because of this, now she was madly eager to get to him, to console him,
+even though it was difficult, perilous. She must, she said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In regard to visits from the various members of his family&mdash;his mother and
+father, his brother, his wife, and his sister&mdash;Cowperwood made it plain to
+them on one of the days on which he was out attending a bankruptcy hearing,
+that even providing it could be arranged he did not think they should come
+oftener than once in three months, unless he wrote them or sent word by Steger.
+The truth was that he really did not care to see much of any of them at
+present. He was sick of the whole social scheme of things. In fact he wanted to
+be rid of the turmoil he had been in, seeing it had proved so useless. He had
+used nearly fifteen thousand dollars thus far in defending himself&mdash;court
+costs, family maintenance, Steger, etc.; but he did not mind that. He expected
+to make some little money working through Wingate. His family were not utterly
+without funds, sufficient to live on in a small way. He had advised them to
+remove into houses more in keeping with their reduced circumstances, which they
+had done&mdash;his mother and father and brothers and sister to a three-story
+brick house of about the caliber of the old Buttonwood Street house, and his
+wife to a smaller, less expensive two-story one on North Twenty-first Street,
+near the penitentiary, a portion of the money saved out of the thirty-five
+thousand dollars extracted from Stener under false pretenses aiding to sustain
+it. Of course all this was a terrible descent from the Girard Avenue mansion
+for the elder Cowperwood; for here was none of the furniture which
+characterized the other somewhat gorgeous domicile&mdash;merely store-bought,
+ready-made furniture, and neat but cheap hangings and fixtures generally. The
+assignees, to whom all Cowperwood&rsquo;s personal property belonged, and to
+whom Cowperwood, the elder, had surrendered all his holdings, would not permit
+anything of importance to be removed. It had all to be sold for the benefit of
+creditors. A few very small things, but only a few, had been kept, as
+everything had been inventoried some time before. One of the things which old
+Cowperwood wanted was his own desk which Frank had had designed for him; but as
+it was valued at five hundred dollars and could not be relinquished by the
+sheriff except on payment of that sum, or by auction, and as Henry Cowperwood
+had no such sum to spare, he had to let the desk go. There were many things
+they all wanted, and Anna Adelaide had literally purloined a few though she did
+not admit the fact to her parents until long afterward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There came a day when the two houses in Girard Avenue were the scene of a
+sheriffs sale, during which the general public, without let or hindrance, was
+permitted to tramp through the rooms and examine the pictures, statuary, and
+objects of art generally, which were auctioned off to the highest bidder.
+Considerable fame had attached to Cowperwood&rsquo;s activities in this field,
+owing in the first place to the real merit of what he had brought together, and
+in the next place to the enthusiastic comment of such men as Wilton Ellsworth,
+Fletcher Norton, Gordon Strake&mdash;architects and art dealers whose judgment
+and taste were considered important in Philadelphia. All of the lovely things
+by which he had set great store&mdash;small bronzes, representative of the best
+period of the Italian Renaissance; bits of Venetian glass which he had
+collected with great care&mdash;a full curio case; statues by Powers, Hosmer,
+and Thorwaldsen&mdash;things which would be smiled at thirty years later, but
+which were of high value then; all of his pictures by representative American
+painters from Gilbert to Eastman Johnson, together with a few specimens of the
+current French and English schools, went for a song. Art judgment in
+Philadelphia at this time was not exceedingly high; and some of the pictures,
+for lack of appreciative understanding, were disposed of at much too low a
+figure. Strake, Norton, and Ellsworth were all present and bought liberally.
+Senator Simpson, Mollenhauer, and Strobik came to see what they could see. The
+small-fry politicians were there, en masse. But Simpson, calm judge of good
+art, secured practically the best of all that was offered. To him went the
+curio case of Venetian glass; one pair of tall blue-and-white Mohammedan
+cylindrical vases; fourteen examples of Chinese jade, including several
+artists&rsquo; water-dishes and a pierced window-screen of the faintest tinge
+of green. To Mollenhauer went the furniture and decorations of the entry-hall
+and reception-room of Henry Cowperwood&rsquo;s house, and to Edward Strobik two
+of Cowperwood&rsquo;s bird&rsquo;s-eye maple bedroom suites for the most modest
+of prices. Adam Davis was present and secured the secretaire of buhl which the
+elder Cowperwood prized so highly. To Fletcher Norton went the four Greek
+vases&mdash;a kylix, a water-jar, and two amphorae&mdash;which he had sold to
+Cowperwood and which he valued highly. Various objects of art, including a
+Sevres dinner set, a Gobelin tapestry, Barye bronzes and pictures by Detaille,
+Fortuny, and George Inness, went to Walter Leigh, Arthur Rivers, Joseph
+Zimmerman, Judge Kitchen, Harper Steger, Terrence Relihan, Trenor Drake, Mr.
+and Mrs. Simeon Jones, W. C. Davison, Frewen Kasson, Fletcher Norton, and Judge
+Rafalsky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Within four days after the sale began the two houses were bare of their
+contents. Even the objects in the house at 931 North Tenth Street had been
+withdrawn from storage where they had been placed at the time it was deemed
+advisable to close this institution, and placed on sale with the other objects
+in the two homes. It was at this time that the senior Cowperwoods first learned
+of something which seemed to indicate a mystery which had existed in connection
+with their son and his wife. No one of all the Cowperwoods was present during
+all this gloomy distribution; and Aileen, reading of the disposition of all the
+wares, and knowing their value to Cowperwood, to say nothing of their charm for
+her, was greatly depressed; yet she was not long despondent, for she was
+convinced that Cowperwood would some day regain his liberty and attain a
+position of even greater significance in the financial world. She could not
+have said why but she was sure of it.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap55"></a>Chapter LV</h2>
+
+<p>
+In the meanwhile Cowperwood had been transferred to a new overseer and a new
+cell in Block 3 on the ground door, which was like all the others in size, ten
+by sixteen, but to which was attached the small yard previously mentioned.
+Warden Desmas came up two days before he was transferred, and had another short
+conversation with him through his cell door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll be transferred on Monday,&rdquo; he said, in his reserved,
+slow way. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ll give you a yard, though it won&rsquo;t be much
+good to you&mdash;we only allow a half-hour a day in it. I&rsquo;ve told the
+overseer about your business arrangements. He&rsquo;ll treat you right in that
+matter. Just be careful not to take up too much time that way, and things will
+work out. I&rsquo;ve decided to let you learn caning chairs. That&rsquo;ll be
+the best for you. It&rsquo;s easy, and it&rsquo;ll occupy your mind.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The warden and some allied politicians made a good thing out of this prison
+industry. It was really not hard labor&mdash;the tasks set were simple and not
+oppressive, but all of the products were promptly sold, and the profits
+pocketed. It was good, therefore, to see all the prisoners working, and it did
+them good. Cowperwood was glad of the chance to do something, for he really did
+not care so much for books, and his connection with Wingate and his old affairs
+were not sufficient to employ his mind in a satisfactory way. At the same time,
+he could not help thinking, if he seemed strange to himself, now, how much
+stranger he would seem then, behind these narrow bars working at so commonplace
+a task as caning chairs. Nevertheless, he now thanked Desmas for this, as well
+as for the sheets and the toilet articles which had just been brought in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all right,&rdquo; replied the latter, pleasantly and
+softly, by now much intrigued by Cowperwood. &ldquo;I know that there are men
+and men here, the same as anywhere. If a man knows how to use these things and
+wants to be clean, I wouldn&rsquo;t be one to put anything in his way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The new overseer with whom Cowperwood had to deal was a very different person
+from Elias Chapin. His name was Walter Bonhag, and he was not more than
+thirty-seven years of age&mdash;a big, flabby sort of person with a crafty
+mind, whose principal object in life was to see that this prison situation as
+he found it should furnish him a better income than his normal salary provided.
+A close study of Bonhag would have seemed to indicate that he was a
+stool-pigeon of Desmas, but this was really not true except in a limited way.
+Because Bonhag was shrewd and sycophantic, quick to see a point in his or
+anybody else&rsquo;s favor, Desmas instinctively realized that he was the kind
+of man who could be trusted to be lenient on order or suggestion. That is, if
+Desmas had the least interest in a prisoner he need scarcely say so much to
+Bonhag; he might merely suggest that this man was used to a different kind of
+life, or that, because of some past experience, it might go hard with him if he
+were handled roughly; and Bonhag would strain himself to be pleasant. The
+trouble was that to a shrewd man of any refinement his attentions were
+objectionable, being obviously offered for a purpose, and to a poor or ignorant
+man they were brutal and contemptuous. He had built up an extra income for
+himself inside the prison by selling the prisoners extra allowances of things
+which he secretly brought into the prison. It was strictly against the rules,
+in theory at least, to bring in anything which was not sold in the
+store-room&mdash;tobacco, writing paper, pens, ink, whisky, cigars, or
+delicacies of any kind. On the other hand, and excellently well for him, it was
+true that tobacco of an inferior grade was provided, as well as wretched pens,
+ink and paper, so that no self-respecting man, if he could help it, would
+endure them. Whisky was not allowed at all, and delicacies were abhorred as
+indicating rank favoritism; nevertheless, they were brought in. If a prisoner
+had the money and was willing to see that Bonhag secured something for his
+trouble, almost anything would be forthcoming. Also the privilege of being sent
+into the general yard as a &ldquo;trusty,&rdquo; or being allowed to stay in
+the little private yard which some cells possessed, longer than the half-hour
+ordinarily permitted, was sold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of the things curiously enough at this time, which worked in
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s favor, was the fact that Bonhag was friendly with the
+overseer who had Stener in charge, and Stener, because of his political
+friends, was being liberally treated, and Bonhag knew of this. He was not a
+careful reader of newspapers, nor had he any intellectual grasp of important
+events; but he knew by now that both Stener and Cowperwood were, or had been,
+individuals of great importance in the community; also that Cowperwood had been
+the more important of the two. Better yet, as Bonhag now heard, Cowperwood
+still had money. Some prisoner, who was permitted to read the paper, told him
+so. And so, entirely aside from Warden Desmas&rsquo;s recommendation, which was
+given in a very quiet, noncommittal way, Bonhag was interested to see what he
+could do for Cowperwood for a price.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The day Cowperwood was installed in his new cell, Bonhag lolled up to the door,
+which was open, and said, in a semi-patronizing way, &ldquo;Got all your things
+over yet?&rdquo; It was his business to lock the door once Cowperwood was
+inside it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, who had been shrewd enough to get
+the new overseer&rsquo;s name from Chapin; &ldquo;this is Mr. Bonhag, I
+presume?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s me,&rdquo; replied Bonhag, not a little flattered by the
+recognition, but still purely interested by the practical side of this
+encounter. He was anxious to study Cowperwood, to see what type of man he was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll find it a little different down here from up there,&rdquo;
+observed Bonhag. &ldquo;It ain&rsquo;t so stuffy. These doors out in the yards
+make a difference.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, yes,&rdquo; said Cowperwood, observantly and shrewdly, &ldquo;that
+is the yard Mr. Desmas spoke of.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the mention of the magic name, if Bonhag had been a horse, his ears would
+have been seen to lift. For, of course, if Cowperwood was so friendly with
+Desmas that the latter had described to him the type of cell he was to have
+beforehand, it behooved Bonhag to be especially careful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, that&rsquo;s it, but it ain&rsquo;t much,&rdquo; he observed.
+&ldquo;They only allow a half-hour a day in it. Still it would be all right if
+a person could stay out there longer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was his first hint at graft, favoritism; and Cowperwood distinctly caught
+the sound of it in his voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s too bad,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t suppose good
+conduct helps a person to get more.&rdquo; He waited to hear a reply, but
+instead Bonhag continued with: &ldquo;I&rsquo;d better teach you your new trade
+now. You&rsquo;ve got to learn to cane chairs, so the warden says. If you want,
+we can begin right away.&rdquo; But without waiting for Cowperwood to
+acquiesce, he went off, returning after a time with three unvarnished frames of
+chairs and a bundle of cane strips or withes, which he deposited on the floor.
+Having so done&mdash;and with a flourish&mdash;he now continued: &ldquo;Now
+I&rsquo;ll show you if you&rsquo;ll watch me,&rdquo; and he began showing
+Cowperwood how the strips were to be laced through the apertures on either
+side, cut, and fastened with little hickory pegs. This done, he brought a
+forcing awl, a small hammer, a box of pegs, and a pair of clippers. After
+several brief demonstrations with different strips, as to how the geometric
+forms were designed, he allowed Cowperwood to take the matter in hand, watching
+over his shoulder. The financier, quick at anything, manual or mental, went at
+it in his customary energetic fashion, and in five minutes demonstrated to
+Bonhag that, barring skill and speed, which could only come with practice, he
+could do it as well as another. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll make out all right,&rdquo;
+said Bonhag. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re supposed to do ten of those a day. We
+won&rsquo;t count the next few days, though, until you get your hand in. After
+that I&rsquo;ll come around and see how you&rsquo;re getting along. You
+understand about the towel on the door, don&rsquo;t you?&rdquo; he inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Mr. Chapin explained that to me,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood.
+&ldquo;I think I know what most of the rules are now. I&rsquo;ll try not to
+break any of them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The days which followed brought a number of modifications of his prison lot,
+but not sufficient by any means to make it acceptable to him. Bonhag, during
+the first few days in which he trained Cowperwood in the art of caning chairs,
+managed to make it perfectly clear that there were a number of things he would
+be willing to do for him. One of the things that moved him to this, was that
+already he had been impressed by the fact that Stener&rsquo;s friends were
+coming to see him in larger numbers than Cowperwood&rsquo;s, sending him an
+occasional basket of fruit, which he gave to the overseers, and that his wife
+and children had been already permitted to visit him outside the regular
+visiting-day. This was a cause for jealousy on Bonhag&rsquo;s part. His
+fellow-overseer was lording it over him&mdash;telling him, as it were, of the
+high jinks in Block 4. Bonhag really wanted Cowperwood to spruce up and show
+what he could do, socially or otherwise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so now he began with: &ldquo;I see you have your lawyer and your partner
+here every day. There ain&rsquo;t anybody else you&rsquo;d like to have visit
+you, is there? Of course, it&rsquo;s against the rules to have your wife or
+sister or anybody like that, except on visiting days&mdash;&rdquo; And here he
+paused and rolled a large and informing eye on Cowperwood&mdash;such an eye as
+was supposed to convey dark and mysterious things. &ldquo;But all the rules
+ain&rsquo;t kept around here by a long shot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood was not the man to lose a chance of this kind. He smiled a
+little&mdash;enough to relieve himself, and to convey to Bonhag that he was
+gratified by the information, but vocally he observed: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell
+you how it is, Mr. Bonhag. I believe you understand my position better than
+most men would, and that I can talk to you. There are people who would like to
+come here, but I have been afraid to let them come. I did not know that it
+could be arranged. If it could be, I would be very grateful. You and I are
+practical men&mdash;I know that if any favors are extended some of those who
+help to bring them about must be looked after. If you can do anything to make
+it a little more comfortable for me here I will show you that I appreciate it.
+I haven&rsquo;t any money on my person, but I can always get it, and I will see
+that you are properly looked after.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bonhag&rsquo;s short, thick ears tingled. This was the kind of talk he liked to
+hear. &ldquo;I can fix anything like that, Mr. Cowperwood,&rdquo; he replied,
+servilely. &ldquo;You leave it to me. If there&rsquo;s any one you want to see
+at any time, just let me know. Of course I have to be very careful, and so do
+you, but that&rsquo;s all right, too. If you want to stay out in that yard a
+little longer in the mornings or get out there afternoons or evenings, from now
+on, why, go ahead. It&rsquo;s all right. I&rsquo;ll just leave the door open.
+If the warden or anybody else should be around, I&rsquo;ll just scratch on your
+door with my key, and you come in and shut it. If there&rsquo;s anything you
+want from the outside I can get it for you&mdash;jelly or eggs or butter or any
+little thing like that. You might like to fix up your meals a little that
+way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m certainly most grateful, Mr. Bonhag,&rdquo; returned
+Cowperwood in his grandest manner, and with a desire to smile, but he kept a
+straight face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In regard to that other matter,&rdquo; went on Bonhag, referring to the
+matter of extra visitors, &ldquo;I can fix that any time you want to. I know
+the men out at the gate. If you want anybody to come here, just write &rsquo;em
+a note and give it to me, and tell &rsquo;em to ask for me when they come.
+That&rsquo;ll get &rsquo;em in all right. When they get here you can talk to
+&rsquo;em in your cell. See! Only when I tap they have to come out. You want to
+remember that. So just you let me know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood was exceedingly grateful. He said so in direct, choice language. It
+occurred to him at once that this was Aileen&rsquo;s opportunity, and that he
+could now notify her to come. If she veiled herself sufficiently she would
+probably be safe enough. He decided to write her, and when Wingate came he gave
+him a letter to mail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Two days later, at three o&rsquo;clock in the afternoon&mdash;the time
+appointed by him&mdash;Aileen came to see him. She was dressed in gray
+broadcloth with white-velvet trimmings and cut-steel buttons which glistened
+like silver, and wore, as additional ornaments, as well as a protection against
+the cold, a cap, stole, and muff of snow-white ermine. Over this rather
+striking costume she had slipped a long dark circular cloak, which she meant to
+lay off immediately upon her arrival. She had made a very careful toilet as to
+her shoes, gloves, hair, and the gold ornaments which she wore. Her face was
+concealed by a thick green veil, as Cowperwood had suggested; and she arrived
+at an hour when, as near as he had been able to prearrange, he would be alone.
+Wingate usually came at four, after business, and Steger in the morning, when
+he came at all. She was very nervous over this strange adventure, leaving the
+street-car in which she had chosen to travel some distance away and walking up
+a side street. The cold weather and the gray walls under a gray sky gave her a
+sense of defeat, but she had worked very hard to look nice in order to cheer
+her lover up. She knew how readily he responded to the influence of her beauty
+when properly displayed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood, in view of her coming, had made his cell as acceptable as possible.
+It was clean, because he had swept it himself and made his own bed; and besides
+he had shaved and combed his hair, and otherwise put himself to rights. The
+caned chairs on which he was working had been put in the corner at the end of
+the bed. His few dishes were washed and hung up, and his clogs brushed with a
+brush which he now kept for the purpose. Never before, he thought to himself,
+with a peculiar feeling of artistic degradation, had Aileen seen him like this.
+She had always admired his good taste in clothes, and the way he carried
+himself in them; and now she was to see him in garments which no dignity of
+body could make presentable. Only a stoic sense of his own soul-dignity aided
+him here. After all, as he now thought, he was Frank A. Cowperwood, and that
+was something, whatever he wore. And Aileen knew it. Again, he might be free
+and rich some day, and he knew that she believed that. Best of all, his looks
+under these or any other circumstances, as he knew, would make no difference to
+Aileen. She would only love him the more. It was her ardent sympathy that he
+was afraid of. He was so glad that Bonhag had suggested that she might enter
+the cell, for it would be a grim procedure talking to her through a barred
+door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Aileen arrived she asked for Mr. Bonhag, and was permitted to go to the
+central rotunda, where he was sent for. When he came she murmured: &ldquo;I
+wish to see Mr. Cowperwood, if you please&rdquo;; and he exclaimed, &ldquo;Oh,
+yes, just come with me.&rdquo; As he came across the rotunda floor from his
+corridor he was struck by the evident youth of Aileen, even though he could not
+see her face. This now was something in accordance with what he had expected of
+Cowperwood. A man who could steal five hundred thousand dollars and set a whole
+city by the ears must have wonderful adventures of all kinds, and Aileen looked
+like a true adventure. He led her to the little room where he kept his desk and
+detained visitors, and then bustled down to Cowperwood&rsquo;s cell, where the
+financier was working on one of his chairs and scratching on the door with his
+key, called: &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a young lady here to see you. Do you want to
+let her come inside?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you, yes,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood; and Bonhag hurried away,
+unintentionally forgetting, in his boorish incivility, to unlock the cell door,
+so that he had to open it in Aileen&rsquo;s presence. The long corridor, with
+its thick doors, mathematically spaced gratings and gray-stone pavement, caused
+Aileen to feel faint at heart. A prison, iron cells! And he was in one of them.
+It chilled her usually courageous spirit. What a terrible place for her Frank
+to be! What a horrible thing to have put him here! Judges, juries, courts,
+laws, jails seemed like so many foaming ogres ranged about the world, glaring
+down upon her and her love-affair. The clank of the key in the lock, and the
+heavy outward swinging of the door, completed her sense of the untoward. And
+then she saw Cowperwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Because of the price he was to receive, Bonhag, after admitting her, strolled
+discreetly away. Aileen looked at Cowperwood from behind her veil, afraid to
+speak until she was sure Bonhag had gone. And Cowperwood, who was retaining his
+self-possession by an effort, signaled her but with difficulty after a moment
+or two. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all right,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s gone
+away.&rdquo; She lifted her veil, removed her cloak, and took in, without
+seeming to, the stuffy, narrow thickness of the room, his wretched shoes, the
+cheap, misshapen suit, the iron door behind him leading out into the little
+yard attached to his cell. Against such a background, with his partially caned
+chairs visible at the end of the bed, he seemed unnatural, weird even. Her
+Frank! And in this condition. She trembled and it was useless for her to try to
+speak. She could only put her arms around him and stroke his head, murmuring:
+&ldquo;My poor boy&mdash;my darling. Is this what they have done to you? Oh, my
+poor darling.&rdquo; She held his head while Cowperwood, anxious to retain his
+composure, winced and trembled, too. Her love was so full&mdash;so genuine. It
+was so soothing at the same time that it was unmanning, as now he could see,
+making of him a child again. And for the first time in his life, some
+inexplicable trick of chemistry&mdash;that chemistry of the body, of blind
+forces which so readily supersedes reason at times&mdash;he lost his
+self-control. The depth of Aileen&rsquo;s feelings, the cooing sound of her
+voice, the velvety tenderness of her hands, that beauty that had drawn him all
+the time&mdash;more radiant here perhaps within these hard walls, and in the
+face of his physical misery, than it had ever been before&mdash;completely
+unmanned him. He did not understand how it could; he tried to defy the moods,
+but he could not. When she held his head close and caressed it, of a sudden, in
+spite of himself, his breast felt thick and stuffy, and his throat hurt him. He
+felt, for him, an astonishingly strange feeling, a desire to cry, which he did
+his best to overcome; it shocked him so. There then combined and conspired to
+defeat him a strange, rich picture of the great world he had so recently lost,
+of the lovely, magnificent world which he hoped some day to regain. He felt
+more poignantly at this moment than ever he had before the degradation of the
+clog shoes, the cotton shirt, the striped suit, the reputation of a convict,
+permanent and not to be laid aside. He drew himself quickly away from her,
+turned his back, clinched his hands, drew his muscles taut; but it was too
+late. He was crying, and he could not stop.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, damn it!&rdquo; he exclaimed, half angrily, half
+self-commiseratingly, in combined rage and shame. &ldquo;Why should I cry? What
+the devil&rsquo;s the matter with me, anyhow?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen saw it. She fairly flung herself in front of him, seized his head with
+one hand, his shabby waist with the other, and held him tight in a grip that he
+could not have readily released.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, honey, honey, honey!&rdquo; she exclaimed, pityingly feverishly.
+&ldquo;I love you, I adore you. They could cut my body into bits if it would do
+you any good. To think that they should make you cry! Oh, my sweet, my sweet,
+my darling boy!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She pulled his still shaking body tighter, and with her free hand caressed his
+head. She kissed his eyes, his hair, his cheeks. He pulled himself loose again
+after a moment, exclaiming, &ldquo;What the devil&rsquo;s got into me?&rdquo;
+but she drew him back.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never mind, honey darling, don&rsquo;t you be ashamed to cry. Cry here
+on my shoulder. Cry here with me. My baby&mdash;my honey pet!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He quieted down after a few moments, cautioning her against Bonhag, and
+regaining his former composure, which he was so ashamed to have lost.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;re a great girl, pet,&rdquo; he said, with a tender and yet
+apologetic smile. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re all right&mdash;all that I need&mdash;a
+great help to me; but don&rsquo;t worry any longer about me, dear. I&rsquo;m
+all right. It isn&rsquo;t as bad as you think. How are you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aileen on her part was not to be soothed so easily. His many woes, including
+his wretched position here, outraged her sense of justice and decency. To think
+her fine, wonderful Frank should be compelled to come to this&mdash;to cry. She
+stroked his head, tenderly, while wild, deadly, unreasoning opposition to life
+and chance and untoward opposition surged in her brain. Her father&mdash;damn
+him! Her family&mdash;pooh! What did she care? Her Frank&mdash;her Frank. How
+little all else mattered where he was concerned. Never, never, never would she
+desert him&mdash;never&mdash;come what might. And now she clung to him in
+silence while she fought in her brain an awful battle with life and law and
+fate and circumstance. Law&mdash;nonsense! People&mdash;they were brutes,
+devils, enemies, hounds! She was delighted, eager, crazy to make a sacrifice of
+herself. She would go anywhere for or with her Frank now. She would do anything
+for him. Her family was nothing&mdash;life nothing, nothing, nothing. She would
+do anything he wished, nothing more, nothing less; anything she could do to
+save him, to make his life happier, but nothing for any one else.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap56"></a>Chapter LVI</h2>
+
+<p>
+The days passed. Once the understanding with Bonhag was reached,
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s wife, mother and sister were allowed to appear on occasions.
+His wife and the children were now settled in the little home for which he was
+paying, and his financial obligations to her were satisfied by Wingate, who
+paid her one hundred and twenty five dollars a month for him. He realized that
+he owed her more, but he was sailing rather close to the wind financially,
+these days. The final collapse of his old interests had come in March, when he
+had been legally declared a bankrupt, and all his properties forfeited to
+satisfy the claims against him. The city&rsquo;s claim of five hundred thousand
+dollars would have eaten up more than could have been realized at the time, had
+not a pro rata payment of thirty cents on the dollar been declared. Even then
+the city never received its due, for by some hocus-pocus it was declared to
+have forfeited its rights. Its claims had not been made at the proper time in
+the proper way. This left larger portions of real money for the others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fortunately by now Cowperwood had begun to see that by a little experimenting
+his business relations with Wingate were likely to prove profitable. The broker
+had made it clear that he intended to be perfectly straight with him. He had
+employed Cowperwood&rsquo;s two brothers, at very moderate salaries&mdash;one
+to take care of the books and look after the office, and the other to act on
+&rsquo;change with him, for their seats in that organization had never been
+sold. And also, by considerable effort, he had succeeded in securing
+Cowperwood, Sr., a place as a clerk in a bank. For the latter, since the day of
+his resignation from the Third National had been in a deep, sad quandary as to
+what further to do with his life. His son&rsquo;s disgrace! The horror of his
+trial and incarceration. Since the day of Frank&rsquo;s indictment and more so,
+since his sentence and commitment to the Eastern Penitentiary, he was as one
+who walked in a dream. That trial! That charge against Frank! His own son, a
+convict in stripes&mdash;and after he and Frank had walked so proudly in the
+front rank of the successful and respected here. Like so many others in his
+hour of distress, he had taken to reading the Bible, looking into its pages for
+something of that mind consolation that always, from youth up, although rather
+casually in these latter years, he had imagined was to be found there. The
+Psalms, Isaiah, the Book of Job, Ecclesiastes. And for the most part, because
+of the fraying nature of his present ills, not finding it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But day after day secreting himself in his room&mdash;a little hall-bedroom
+office in his newest home, where to his wife, he pretended that he had some
+commercial matters wherewith he was still concerned&mdash;and once inside, the
+door locked, sitting and brooding on all that had befallen him&mdash;his
+losses; his good name. Or, after months of this, and because of the new
+position secured for him by Wingate&mdash;a bookkeeping job in one of the
+outlying banks&mdash;slipping away early in the morning, and returning late at
+night, his mind a gloomy epitome of all that had been or yet might be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To see him bustling off from his new but very much reduced home at half after
+seven in the morning in order to reach the small bank, which was some distance
+away and not accessible by street-car line, was one of those pathetic sights
+which the fortunes of trade so frequently offer. He carried his lunch in a
+small box because it was inconvenient to return home in the time allotted for
+this purpose, and because his new salary did not permit the extravagance of a
+purchased one. It was his one ambition now to eke out a respectable but unseen
+existence until he should die, which he hoped would not be long. He was a
+pathetic figure with his thin legs and body, his gray hair, and his snow-white
+side-whiskers. He was very lean and angular, and, when confronted by a
+difficult problem, a little uncertain or vague in his mind. An old habit which
+had grown on him in the years of his prosperity of putting his hand to his
+mouth and of opening his eyes in an assumption of surprise, which had no basis
+in fact, now grew upon him. He really degenerated, although he did not know it,
+into a mere automaton. Life strews its shores with such interesting and
+pathetic wrecks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of the things that caused Cowperwood no little thought at this time, and
+especially in view of his present extreme indifference to her, was how he would
+bring up this matter of his indifference to his wife and his desire to end
+their relationship. Yet apart from the brutality of the plain truth, he saw no
+way. As he could plainly see, she was now persisting in her pretense of
+devotion, uncolored, apparently, by any suspicion of what had happened. Yet
+since his trial and conviction, she had been hearing from one source and
+another that he was still intimate with Aileen, and it was only her thought of
+his concurrent woes, and the fact that he might possibly be spared to a
+successful financial life, that now deterred her from speaking. He was shut up
+in a cell, she said to herself, and she was really very sorry for him, but she
+did not love him as she once had. He was really too deserving of reproach for
+his general unseemly conduct, and no doubt this was what was intended, as well
+as being enforced, by the Governing Power of the world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One can imagine how much such an attitude as this would appeal to Cowperwood,
+once he had detected it. By a dozen little signs, in spite of the fact that she
+brought him delicacies, and commiserated on his fate, he could see that she
+felt not only sad, but reproachful, and if there was one thing that Cowperwood
+objected to at all times it was the moral as well as the funereal air.
+Contrasted with the cheerful combative hopefulness and enthusiasm of Aileen,
+the wearied uncertainty of Mrs. Cowperwood was, to say the least, a little
+tame. Aileen, after her first burst of rage over his fate, which really did not
+develop any tears on her part, was apparently convinced that he would get out
+and be very successful again. She talked success and his future all the time
+because she believed in it. Instinctively she seemed to realize that prison
+walls could not make a prison for him. Indeed, on the first day she left she
+handed Bonhag ten dollars, and after thanking him in her attractive
+voice&mdash;without showing her face, however&mdash;for his obvious kindness to
+her, bespoke his further favor for Cowperwood&mdash;&ldquo;a very great
+man,&rdquo; as she described him, which sealed that ambitious
+materialist&rsquo;s fate completely. There was nothing the overseer would not
+do for the young lady in the dark cloak. She might have stayed in
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s cell for a week if the visiting-hours of the penitentiary
+had not made it impossible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The day that Cowperwood decided to discuss with his wife the weariness of his
+present married state and his desire to be free of it was some four months
+after he had entered the prison. By that time he had become inured to his
+convict life. The silence of his cell and the menial tasks he was compelled to
+perform, which had at first been so distressing, banal, maddening, in their
+pointless iteration, had now become merely commonplace&mdash;dull, but not
+painful. Furthermore he had learned many of the little resources of the
+solitary convict, such as that of using his lamp to warm up some delicacy which
+he had saved from a previous meal or from some basket which had been sent him
+by his wife or Aileen. He had partially gotten rid of the sickening odor of his
+cell by persuading Bonhag to bring him small packages of lime; which he used
+with great freedom. Also he succeeded in defeating some of the more venturesome
+rats with traps; and with Bonhag&rsquo;s permission, after his cell door had
+been properly locked at night, and sealed with the outer wooden door, he would
+take his chair, if it were not too cold, out into the little back yard of his
+cell and look at the sky, where, when the nights were clear, the stars were to
+be seen. He had never taken any interest in astronomy as a scientific study,
+but now the Pleiades, the belt of Orion, the Big Dipper and the North Star, to
+which one of its lines pointed, caught his attention, almost his fancy. He
+wondered why the stars of the belt of Orion came to assume the peculiar
+mathematical relation to each other which they held, as far as distance and
+arrangement were concerned, and whether that could possibly have any
+intellectual significance. The nebulous conglomeration of the suns in Pleiades
+suggested a soundless depth of space, and he thought of the earth floating like
+a little ball in immeasurable reaches of ether. His own life appeared very
+trivial in view of these things, and he found himself asking whether it was all
+really of any significance or importance. He shook these moods off with ease,
+however, for the man was possessed of a sense of grandeur, largely in relation
+to himself and his affairs; and his temperament was essentially material and
+vital. Something kept telling him that whatever his present state he must yet
+grow to be a significant personage, one whose fame would be heralded the world
+over&mdash;who must try, try, try. It was not given all men to see far or to do
+brilliantly; but to him it was given, and he must be what he was cut out to be.
+There was no more escaping the greatness that was inherent in him than there
+was for so many others the littleness that was in them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Cowperwood came in that afternoon quite solemnly, bearing several changes
+of linen, a pair of sheets, some potted meat and a pie. She was not exactly
+doleful, but Cowperwood thought that she was tending toward it, largely because
+of her brooding over his relationship to Aileen, which he knew that she knew.
+Something in her manner decided him to speak before she left; and after asking
+her how the children were, and listening to her inquiries in regard to the
+things that he needed, he said to her, sitting on his single chair while she
+sat on his bed:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lillian, there&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ve been wanting to talk with
+you about for some time. I should have done it before, but it&rsquo;s better
+late than never. I know that you know that there is something between Aileen
+Butler and me, and we might as well have it open and aboveboard. It&rsquo;s
+true I am very fond of her and she is very devoted to me, and if ever I get out
+of here I want to arrange it so that I can marry her. That means that you will
+have to give me a divorce, if you will; and I want to talk to you about that
+now. This can&rsquo;t be so very much of a surprise to you, because you must
+have seen this long while that our relationship hasn&rsquo;t been all that it
+might have been, and under the circumstances this can&rsquo;t prove such a very
+great hardship to you&mdash;I am sure.&rdquo; He paused, waiting, for Mrs.
+Cowperwood at first said nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her thought, when he first broached this, was that she ought to make some
+demonstration of astonishment or wrath: but when she looked into his steady,
+examining eyes, so free from the illusion of or interest in demonstrations of
+any kind, she realized how useless it would be. He was so utterly
+matter-of-fact in what seemed to her quite private and secret
+affairs&mdash;very shameless. She had never been able to understand quite how
+he could take the subtleties of life as he did, anyhow. Certain things which
+she always fancied should be hushed up he spoke of with the greatest
+nonchalance. Her ears tingled sometimes at his frankness in disposing of a
+social situation; but she thought this must be characteristic of notable men,
+and so there was nothing to be said about it. Certain men did as they pleased;
+society did not seem to be able to deal with them in any way. Perhaps God
+would, later&mdash;she was not sure. Anyhow, bad as he was, direct as he was,
+forceful as he was, he was far more interesting than most of the more
+conservative types in whom the social virtues of polite speech and modest
+thoughts were seemingly predominate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know,&rdquo; she said, rather peacefully, although with a touch of
+anger and resentment in her voice. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve known all about it all
+this time. I expected you would say something like this to me some day.
+It&rsquo;s a nice reward for all my devotion to you; but it&rsquo;s just like
+you, Frank. When you are set on something, nothing can stop you. It
+wasn&rsquo;t enough that you were getting along so nicely and had two children
+whom you ought to love, but you had to take up with this Butler creature until
+her name and yours are a by-word throughout the city. I know that she comes to
+this prison. I saw her out here one day as I was coming in, and I suppose every
+one else knows it by now. She has no sense of decency and she does not
+care&mdash;the wretched, vain thing&mdash;but I would have thought that you
+would be ashamed, Frank, to go on the way that you have, when you still have me
+and the children and your father and mother and when you are certain to have
+such a hard fight to get yourself on your feet, as it is. If she had any sense
+of decency she would not have anything to do with you&mdash;the shameless
+thing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood looked at his wife with unflinching eyes. He read in her remarks
+just what his observation had long since confirmed&mdash;that she was
+sympathetically out of touch with him. She was no longer so attractive
+physically, and intellectually she was not Aileen&rsquo;s equal. Also that
+contact with those women who had deigned to grace his home in his greatest hour
+of prosperity had proved to him conclusively she was lacking in certain social
+graces. Aileen was by no means so vastly better, still she was young and
+amenable and adaptable, and could still be improved. Opportunity as he now
+chose to think, might make Aileen, whereas for Lillian&mdash;or at least, as he
+now saw it&mdash;it could do nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you how it is, Lillian,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;I&rsquo;m
+not sure that you are going to get what I mean exactly, but you and I are not
+at all well suited to each other any more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You didn&rsquo;t seem to think that three or four years ago,&rdquo;
+interrupted his wife, bitterly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I married you when I was twenty-one,&rdquo; went on Cowperwood, quite
+brutally, not paying any attention to her interruption, &ldquo;and I was really
+too young to know what I was doing. I was a mere boy. It doesn&rsquo;t make so
+much difference about that. I am not using that as an excuse. The point that I
+am trying to make is this&mdash;that right or wrong, important or not
+important, I have changed my mind since. I don&rsquo;t love you any more, and I
+don&rsquo;t feel that I want to keep up a relationship, however it may look to
+the public, that is not satisfactory to me. You have one point of view about
+life, and I have another. You think your point of view is the right one, and
+there are thousands of people who will agree with you; but I don&rsquo;t think
+so. We have never quarreled about these things, because I didn&rsquo;t think it
+was important to quarrel about them. I don&rsquo;t see under the circumstances
+that I am doing you any great injustice when I ask you to let me go. I
+don&rsquo;t intend to desert you or the children&mdash;you will get a good
+living-income from me as long as I have the money to give it to you&mdash;but I
+want my personal freedom when I come out of here, if ever I do, and I want you
+to let me have it. The money that you had and a great deal more, once I am out
+of here, you will get back when I am on my feet again. But not if you oppose
+me&mdash;only if you help me. I want, and intend to help you always&mdash;but
+in my way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He smoothed the leg of his prison trousers in a thoughtful way, and plucked at
+the sleeve of his coat. Just now he looked very much like a highly intelligent
+workman as he sat here, rather than like the important personage that he was.
+Mrs. Cowperwood was very resentful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a nice way to talk to me, and a nice way to treat
+me!&rdquo; she exclaimed dramatically, rising and walking the short
+space&mdash;some two steps&mdash;that lay between the wall and the bed.
+&ldquo;I might have known that you were too young to know your own mind when
+you married me. Money, of course, that&rsquo;s all you think of and your own
+gratification. I don&rsquo;t believe you have any sense of justice in you. I
+don&rsquo;t believe you ever had. You only think of yourself, Frank. I never
+saw such a man as you. You have treated me like a dog all through this affair;
+and all the while you have been running with that little snip of an Irish
+thing, and telling her all about your affairs, I suppose. You let me go on
+believing that you cared for me up to the last moment, and then you suddenly
+step up and tell me that you want a divorce. I&rsquo;ll not do it. I&rsquo;ll
+not give you a divorce, and you needn&rsquo;t think it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood listened in silence. His position, in so far as this marital tangle
+was concerned, as he saw, was very advantageous. He was a convict, constrained
+by the exigencies of his position to be out of personal contact with his wife
+for a long period of time to come, which should naturally tend to school her to
+do without him. When he came out, it would be very easy for her to get a
+divorce from a convict, particularly if she could allege misconduct with
+another woman, which he would not deny. At the same time, he hoped to keep
+Aileen&rsquo;s name out of it. Mrs. Cowperwood, if she would, could give any
+false name if he made no contest. Besides, she was not a very strong person,
+intellectually speaking. He could bend her to his will. There was no need of
+saying much more now; the ice had been broken, the situation had been put
+before her, and time should do the rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be dramatic, Lillian,&rdquo; he commented, indifferently.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not such a loss to you if you have enough to live on. I
+don&rsquo;t think I want to live in Philadelphia if ever I come out of here. My
+idea now is to go west, and I think I want to go alone. I sha&rsquo;n&rsquo;t
+get married right away again even if you do give me a divorce. I don&rsquo;t
+care to take anybody along. It would be better for the children if you would
+stay here and divorce me. The public would think better of them and you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll not do it,&rdquo; declared Mrs. Cowperwood, emphatically.
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never do it, never; so there! You can say what you choose.
+You owe it to me to stick by me and the children after all I&rsquo;ve done for
+you, and I&rsquo;ll not do it. You needn&rsquo;t ask me any more; I&rsquo;ll
+not do it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood, quietly, getting up. &ldquo;We
+needn&rsquo;t talk about it any more now. Your time is nearly up,
+anyhow.&rdquo; (Twenty minutes was supposed to be the regular allotment for
+visitors.) &ldquo;Perhaps you&rsquo;ll change your mind sometime.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She gathered up her muff and the shawl-strap in which she had carried her
+gifts, and turned to go. It had been her custom to kiss Cowperwood in a
+make-believe way up to this time, but now she was too angry to make this
+pretense. And yet she was sorry, too&mdash;sorry for herself and, she thought,
+for him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Frank,&rdquo; she declared, dramatically, at the last moment, &ldquo;I
+never saw such a man as you. I don&rsquo;t believe you have any heart.
+You&rsquo;re not worthy of a good wife. You&rsquo;re worthy of just such a
+woman as you&rsquo;re getting. The idea!&rdquo; Suddenly tears came to her
+eyes, and she flounced scornfully and yet sorrowfully out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood stood there. At least there would be no more useless kissing between
+them, he congratulated himself. It was hard in a way, but purely from an
+emotional point of view. He was not doing her any essential injustice, he
+reasoned&mdash;not an economic one&mdash;which was the important thing. She was
+angry to-day, but she would get over it, and in time might come to see his
+point of view. Who could tell? At any rate he had made it plain to her what he
+intended to do and that was something as he saw it. He reminded one of nothing
+so much, as he stood there, as of a young chicken picking its way out of the
+shell of an old estate. Although he was in a cell of a penitentiary, with
+nearly four years more to serve, yet obviously he felt, within himself, that
+the whole world was still before him. He could go west if he could not
+reestablish himself in Philadelphia; but he must stay here long enough to win
+the approval of those who had known him formerly&mdash;to obtain, as it were, a
+letter of credit which he could carry to other parts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hard words break no bones,&rdquo; he said to himself, as his wife went
+out. &ldquo;A man&rsquo;s never done till he&rsquo;s done. I&rsquo;ll show some
+of these people yet.&rdquo; Of Bonhag, who came to close the cell door, he
+asked whether it was going to rain, it looked so dark in the hall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s sure to before night,&rdquo; replied Bonhag, who was always
+wondering over Cowperwood&rsquo;s tangled affairs as he heard them retailed
+here and there.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap57"></a>Chapter LVII</h2>
+
+<p>
+The time that Cowperwood spent in the Eastern Penitentiary of Pennsylvania was
+exactly thirteen months from the day of his entry to his discharge. The
+influences which brought about this result were partly of his willing, and
+partly not. For one thing, some six months after his incarceration, Edward
+Malia Butler died, expired sitting in his chair in his private office at his
+home. The conduct of Aileen had been a great strain on him. From the time
+Cowperwood had been sentenced, and more particularly after the time he had
+cried on Aileen&rsquo;s shoulder in prison, she had turned on her father in an
+almost brutal way. Her attitude, unnatural for a child, was quite explicable as
+that of a tortured sweetheart. Cowperwood had told her that he thought Butler
+was using his influence to withhold a pardon for him, even though one were
+granted to Stener, whose life in prison he had been following with considerable
+interest; and this had enraged her beyond measure. She lost no chance of being
+practically insulting to her father, ignoring him on every occasion, refusing
+as often as possible to eat at the same table, and when she did, sitting next
+her mother in the place of Norah, with whom she managed to exchange. She
+refused to sing or play any more when he was present, and persistently ignored
+the large number of young political aspirants who came to the house, and whose
+presence in a way had been encouraged for her benefit. Old Butler realized, of
+course, what it was all about. He said nothing. He could not placate her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her mother and brothers did not understand it at all at first. (Mrs. Butler
+never understood.) But not long after Cowperwood&rsquo;s incarceration Callum
+and Owen became aware of what the trouble was. Once, when Owen was coming away
+from a reception at one of the houses where his growing financial importance
+made him welcome, he heard one of two men whom he knew casually, say to the
+other, as they stood at the door adjusting their coats, &ldquo;You saw where
+this fellow Cowperwood got four years, didn&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied the other. &ldquo;A clever devil
+that&mdash;wasn&rsquo;t he? I knew that girl he was in with, too&mdash;you know
+who I mean. Miss Butler&mdash;wasn&rsquo;t that her name?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Owen was not sure that he had heard right. He did not get the connection until
+the other guest, opening the door and stepping out, remarked: &ldquo;Well, old
+Butler got even, apparently. They say he sent him up.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Owen&rsquo;s brow clouded. A hard, contentious look came into his eyes. He had
+much of his father&rsquo;s force. What in the devil were they talking about?
+What Miss Butler did they have in mind? Could this be Aileen or Norah, and how
+could Cowperwood come to be in with either of them? It could not possibly be
+Norah, he reflected; she was very much infatuated with a young man whom he
+knew, and was going to marry him. Aileen had been most friendly with the
+Cowperwoods, and had often spoken well of the financier. Could it be she? He
+could not believe it. He thought once of overtaking the two acquaintances and
+demanding to know what they meant, but when he came out on the step they were
+already some distance down the street and in the opposite direction from that
+in which he wished to go. He decided to ask his father about this.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On demand, old Butler confessed at once, but insisted that his son keep silent
+about it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish I&rsquo;d have known,&rdquo; said Owen, grimly. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d
+have shot the dirty dog.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aisy, aisy,&rdquo; said Butler. &ldquo;Yer own life&rsquo;s worth more
+than his, and ye&rsquo;d only be draggin&rsquo; the rest of yer family in the
+dirt with him. He&rsquo;s had somethin&rsquo; to pay him for his dirty trick,
+and he&rsquo;ll have more. Just ye say nothin&rsquo; to no one. Wait.
+He&rsquo;ll be wantin&rsquo; to get out in a year or two. Say nothin&rsquo; to
+her aither. Talkin&rsquo; won&rsquo;t help there. She&rsquo;ll come to her
+sinses when he&rsquo;s been away long enough, I&rsquo;m thinkin&rsquo;.&rdquo;
+Owen had tried to be civil to his sister after that, but since he was a
+stickler for social perfection and advancement, and so eager to get up in the
+world himself, he could not understand how she could possibly have done any
+such thing. He resented bitterly the stumbling-block she had put in his path.
+Now, among other things, his enemies would have this to throw in his face if
+they wanted to&mdash;and they would want to, trust life for that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Callum reached his knowledge of the matter in quite another manner, but at
+about the same time. He was a member of an athletic club which had an
+attractive building in the city, and a fine country club, where he went
+occasionally to enjoy the swimming-pool and the Turkish bath connected with it.
+One of his friends approached him there in the billiard-room one evening and
+said, &ldquo;Say, Butler, you know I&rsquo;m a good friend of yours,
+don&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, certainly, I know it,&rdquo; replied Callum. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s
+the matter?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, you know,&rdquo; said the young individual, whose name was Richard
+Pethick, looking at Callum with a look of almost strained affection, &ldquo;I
+wouldn&rsquo;t come to you with any story that I thought would hurt your
+feelings or that you oughtn&rsquo;t to know about, but I do think you ought to
+know about this.&rdquo; He pulled at a high white collar which was choking his
+neck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know you wouldn&rsquo;t, Pethick,&rdquo; replied Callum; very much
+interested. &ldquo;What is it? What&rsquo;s the point?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I don&rsquo;t like to say anything,&rdquo; replied Pethick,
+&ldquo;but that fellow Hibbs is saying things around here about your
+sister.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s that?&rdquo; exclaimed Callum, straightening up in the most
+dynamic way and bethinking him of the approved social procedure in all such
+cases. He should be very angry. He should demand and exact proper satisfaction
+in some form or other&mdash;by blows very likely if his honor had been in any
+way impugned. &ldquo;What is it he says about my sister? What right has he to
+mention her name here, anyhow? He doesn&rsquo;t know her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pethick affected to be greatly concerned lest he cause trouble between Callum
+and Hibbs. He protested that he did not want to, when, in reality, he was dying
+to tell. At last he came out with, &ldquo;Why, he&rsquo;s circulated the yarn
+that your sister had something to do with this man Cowperwood, who was tried
+here recently, and that that&rsquo;s why he&rsquo;s just gone to prison.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s that?&rdquo; exclaimed Callum, losing the make-believe of
+the unimportant, and taking on the serious mien of some one who feels
+desperately. &ldquo;He says that, does he? Where is he? I want to see if
+he&rsquo;ll say that to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some of the stern fighting ability of his father showed in his slender, rather
+refined young face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, Callum,&rdquo; insisted Pethick, realizing the genuine storm he had
+raised, and being a little fearful of the result, &ldquo;do be careful what you
+say. You mustn&rsquo;t have a row in here. You know it&rsquo;s against the
+rules. Besides he may be drunk. It&rsquo;s just some foolish talk he&rsquo;s
+heard, I&rsquo;m sure. Now, for goodness&rsquo; sake, don&rsquo;t get so
+excited.&rdquo; Pethick, having evoked the storm, was not a little nervous as
+to its results in his own case. He, too, as well as Callum, himself as the
+tale-bearer, might now be involved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Callum by now was not so easily restrained. His face was quite pale, and he
+was moving toward the old English grill-room, where Hibbs happened to be,
+consuming a brandy-and-soda with a friend of about his own age. Callum entered
+and called him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Hibbs!&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hibbs, hearing his voice and seeing him in the door, arose and came over. He
+was an interesting youth of the collegiate type, educated at Princeton. He had
+heard the rumor concerning Aileen from various sources&mdash;other members of
+the club, for one&mdash;and had ventured to repeat it in Pethick&rsquo;s
+presence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s that you were just saying about my sister?&rdquo; asked
+Callum, grimly, looking Hibbs in the eye.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why&mdash;I&mdash;&rdquo; hesitated Hibbs, who sensed trouble and was
+eager to avoid it. He was not exceptionally brave and looked it. His hair was
+straw-colored, his eyes blue, and his cheeks pink. &ldquo;Why&mdash;nothing in
+particular. Who said I was talking about her?&rdquo; He looked at Pethick, whom
+he knew to be the tale-bearer, and the latter exclaimed, excitedly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now don&rsquo;t you try to deny it, Hibbs. You know I heard you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, what did I say?&rdquo; asked Hibbs, defiantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, what did you say?&rdquo; interrupted Callum, grimly, transferring
+the conversation to himself. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s just what I want to
+know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why,&rdquo; stammered Hibbs, nervously, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think
+I&rsquo;ve said anything that anybody else hasn&rsquo;t said. I just repeated
+that some one said that your sister had been very friendly with Mr. Cowperwood.
+I didn&rsquo;t say any more than I have heard other people say around
+here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, you didn&rsquo;t, did you?&rdquo; exclaimed Callum, withdrawing his
+hand from his pocket and slapping Hibbs in the face. He repeated the blow with
+his left hand, fiercely. &ldquo;Perhaps that&rsquo;ll teach you to keep my
+sister&rsquo;s name out of your mouth, you pup!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hibbs&rsquo;s arms flew up. He was not without pugilistic training, and he
+struck back vigorously, striking Callum once in the chest and once in the neck.
+In an instant the two rooms of this suite were in an uproar. Tables and chairs
+were overturned by the energy of men attempting to get to the scene of action.
+The two combatants were quickly separated; sides were taken by the friends of
+each, excited explanations attempted and defied. Callum was examining the
+knuckles of his left hand, which were cut from the blow he had delivered. He
+maintained a gentlemanly calm. Hibbs, very much flustered and excited, insisted
+that he had been most unreasonably used. The idea of attacking him here. And,
+anyhow, as he maintained now, Pethick had been both eavesdropping and lying
+about him. Incidentally, the latter was protesting to others that he had done
+the only thing which an honorable friend could do. It was a nine days&rsquo;
+wonder in the club, and was only kept out of the newspapers by the most
+strenuous efforts on the part of the friends of both parties. Callum was so
+outraged on discovering that there was some foundation for the rumor at the
+club in a general rumor which prevailed that he tendered his resignation, and
+never went there again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish to heaven you hadn&rsquo;t struck that fellow,&rdquo; counseled
+Owen, when the incident was related to him. &ldquo;It will only make more talk.
+She ought to leave this place; but she won&rsquo;t. She&rsquo;s struck on that
+fellow yet, and we can&rsquo;t tell Norah and mother. We will never hear the
+last of this, you and I&mdash;believe me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Damn it, she ought to be made to go,&rdquo; exclaimed Callum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, she won&rsquo;t,&rdquo; replied Owen. &ldquo;Father has tried
+making her, and she won&rsquo;t go. Just let things stand. He&rsquo;s in the
+penitentiary now, and that&rsquo;s probably the end of him. The public seem to
+think that father put him there, and that&rsquo;s something. Maybe we can
+persuade her to go after a while. I wish to God we had never had sight of that
+fellow. If ever he comes out, I&rsquo;ve a good notion to kill him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, I wouldn&rsquo;t do anything like that,&rdquo; replied Callum.
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s useless. It would only stir things up afresh. He&rsquo;s done
+for, anyhow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They planned to urge Norah to marry as soon as possible. And as for their
+feelings toward Aileen, it was a very chilly atmosphere which Mrs. Butler
+contemplated from now on, much to her confusion, grief, and astonishment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this divided world it was that Butler eventually found himself, all at sea
+as to what to think or what to do. He had brooded so long now, for months, and
+as yet had found no solution. And finally, in a form of religious despair,
+sitting at his desk, in his business chair, he had collapsed&mdash;a weary and
+disconsolate man of seventy. A lesion of the left ventricle was the immediate
+physical cause, although brooding over Aileen was in part the mental one. His
+death could not have been laid to his grief over Aileen exactly, for he was a
+very large man&mdash;apoplectic and with sclerotic veins and arteries. For a
+great many years now he had taken very little exercise, and his digestion had
+been considerably impaired thereby. He was past seventy, and his time had been
+reached. They found him there the next morning, his hands folded in his lap,
+his head on his bosom, quite cold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was buried with honors out of St. Timothy&rsquo;s Church, the funeral
+attended by a large body of politicians and city officials, who discussed
+secretly among themselves whether his grief over his daughter had anything to
+do with his end. All his good deeds were remembered, of course, and Mollenhauer
+and Simpson sent great floral emblems in remembrance. They were very sorry that
+he was gone, for they had been a cordial three. But gone he was, and that ended
+their interest in the matter. He left all of his property to his wife in one of
+the shortest wills ever recorded locally.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I give and bequeath to my beloved wife, Norah, all my property of
+whatsoever kind to be disposed of as she may see fit.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no misconstruing this. A private paper drawn secretly for her
+sometime before by Butler, explained how the property should be disposed of by
+her at her death. It was Butler&rsquo;s real will masquerading as hers, and she
+would not have changed it for worlds; but he wanted her left in undisturbed
+possession of everything until she should die. Aileen&rsquo;s originally
+assigned portion had never been changed. According to her father&rsquo;s will,
+which no power under the sun could have made Mrs. Butler alter, she was left
+$250,000 to be paid at Mrs. Butler&rsquo;s death. Neither this fact nor any of
+the others contained in the paper were communicated by Mrs. Butler, who
+retained it to be left as her will. Aileen often wondered, but never sought to
+know, what had been left her. Nothing she fancied&mdash;but felt that she could
+not help this.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Butler&rsquo;s death led at once to a great change in the temper of the home.
+After the funeral the family settled down to a seemingly peaceful continuance
+of the old life; but it was a matter of seeming merely. The situation stood
+with Callum and Owen manifesting a certain degree of contempt for Aileen, which
+she, understanding, reciprocated. She was very haughty. Owen had plans of
+forcing her to leave after Butler&rsquo;s death, but he finally asked himself
+what was the use. Mrs. Butler, who did not want to leave the old home, was very
+fond of Aileen, so therein lay a reason for letting her remain. Besides, any
+move to force her out would have entailed an explanation to her mother, which
+was not deemed advisable. Owen himself was interested in Caroline Mollenhauer,
+whom he hoped some day to marry&mdash;as much for her prospective wealth as for
+any other reason, though he was quite fond of her. In the January following
+Butler&rsquo;s death, which occurred in August, Norah was married very quietly,
+and the following spring Callum embarked on a similar venture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the meanwhile, with Butler&rsquo;s death, the control of the political
+situation had shifted considerably. A certain Tom Collins, formerly one of
+Butler&rsquo;s henchmen, but latterly a power in the First, Second, Third, and
+Fourth Wards, where he had numerous saloons and control of other forms of vice,
+appeared as a claimant for political recognition. Mollenhauer and Simpson had
+to consult him, as he could make very uncertain the disposition of some hundred
+and fifteen thousand votes, a large number of which were fraudulent, but which
+fact did not modify their deadly character on occasion. Butler&rsquo;s sons
+disappeared as possible political factors, and were compelled to confine
+themselves to the street-railway and contracting business. The pardon of
+Cowperwood and Stener, which Butler would have opposed, because by keeping
+Stener in he kept Cowperwood in, became a much easier matter. The scandal of
+the treasury defalcation was gradually dying down; the newspapers had ceased to
+refer to it in any way. Through Steger and Wingate, a large petition signed by
+all important financiers and brokers had been sent to the Governor pointing out
+that Cowperwood&rsquo;s trial and conviction had been most unfair, and asking
+that he be pardoned. There was no need of any such effort, so far as Stener was
+concerned; whenever the time seemed ripe the politicians were quite ready to
+say to the Governor that he ought to let him go. It was only because Butler had
+opposed Cowperwood&rsquo;s release that they had hesitated. It was really not
+possible to let out the one and ignore the other; and this petition, coupled
+with Butler&rsquo;s death, cleared the way very nicely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nevertheless, nothing was done until the March following Butler&rsquo;s death,
+when both Stener and Cowperwood had been incarcerated thirteen months&mdash;a
+length of time which seemed quite sufficient to appease the anger of the public
+at large. In this period Stener had undergone a considerable change physically
+and mentally. In spite of the fact that a number of the minor aldermen, who had
+profited in various ways by his largess, called to see him occasionally, and
+that he had been given, as it were, almost the liberty of the place, and that
+his family had not been allowed to suffer, nevertheless he realized that his
+political and social days were over. Somebody might now occasionally send him a
+basket of fruit and assure him that he would not be compelled to suffer much
+longer; but when he did get out, he knew that he had nothing to depend on save
+his experience as an insurance agent and real-estate dealer. That had been
+precarious enough in the days when he was trying to get some small political
+foothold. How would it be when he was known only as the man who had looted the
+treasury of five hundred thousand dollars and been sent to the penitentiary for
+five years? Who would lend him the money wherewith to get a little start, even
+so much as four or five thousand dollars? The people who were calling to pay
+their respects now and then, and to assure him that he had been badly treated?
+Never. All of them could honestly claim that they had not so much to spare. If
+he had good security to offer&mdash;yes; but if he had good security he would
+not need to go to them at all. The man who would have actually helped him if he
+had only known was Frank A. Cowperwood. Stener could have confessed his
+mistake, as Cowperwood saw it, and Cowperwood would have given him the money
+gladly, without any thought of return. But by his poor understanding of human
+nature, Stener considered that Cowperwood must be an enemy of his, and he would
+not have had either the courage or the business judgment to approach him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During his incarceration Cowperwood had been slowly accumulating a little money
+through Wingate. He had paid Steger considerable sums from time to time, until
+that worthy finally decided that it would not be fair to take any more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If ever you get on your feet, Frank,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you can
+remember me if you want to, but I don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;ll want to.
+It&rsquo;s been nothing but lose, lose, lose for you through me. I&rsquo;ll
+undertake this matter of getting that appeal to the Governor without any charge
+on my part. Anything I can do for you from now on is free gratis for
+nothing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, don&rsquo;t talk nonsense, Harper,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood.
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know of anybody that could have done better with my case.
+Certainly there isn&rsquo;t anybody that I would have trusted as much. I
+don&rsquo;t like lawyers you know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes&mdash;well,&rdquo; said Steger, &ldquo;they&rsquo;ve got nothing on
+financiers, so we&rsquo;ll call it even.&rdquo; And they shook hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So when it was finally decided to pardon Stener, which was in the early part of
+March, 1873&mdash;Cowperwood&rsquo;s pardon was necessarily but gingerly
+included. A delegation, consisting of Strobik, Harmon, and Winpenny,
+representing, as it was intended to appear, the unanimous wishes of the council
+and the city administration, and speaking for Mollenhauer and Simpson, who had
+given their consent, visited the Governor at Harrisburg and made the necessary
+formal representations which were intended to impress the public. At the same
+time, through the agency of Steger, Davison, and Walter Leigh, the appeal in
+behalf of Cowperwood was made. The Governor, who had had instructions
+beforehand from sources quite superior to this committee, was very solemn about
+the whole procedure. He would take the matter under advisement. He would look
+into the history of the crimes and the records of the two men. He could make no
+promises&mdash;he would see. But in ten days, after allowing the petitions to
+gather considerable dust in one of his pigeonholes and doing absolutely nothing
+toward investigating anything, he issued two separate pardons in writing. One,
+as a matter of courtesy, he gave into the hands of Messrs. Strobik, Harmon, and
+Winpenny, to bear personally to Mr. Stener, as they desired that he should. The
+other, on Steger&rsquo;s request, he gave to him. The two committees which had
+called to receive them then departed; and the afternoon of that same day saw
+Strobik, Harmon, and Winpenny arrive in one group, and Steger, Wingate, and
+Walter Leigh in another, at the prison gate, but at different hours.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap58"></a>Chapter LVIII</h2>
+
+<p>
+This matter of the pardon of Cowperwood, the exact time of it, was kept a
+secret from him, though the fact that he was to be pardoned soon, or that he
+had a very excellent chance of being, had not been denied&mdash;rather had been
+made much of from time to time. Wingate had kept him accurately informed as to
+the progress being made, as had Steger; but when it was actually ascertained,
+from the Governor&rsquo;s private secretary, that a certain day would see the
+pardon handed over to them, Steger, Wingate, and Walter Leigh had agreed
+between themselves that they would say nothing, taking Cowperwood by surprise.
+They even went so far&mdash;that is, Steger and Wingate did&mdash;as to
+indicate to Cowperwood that there was some hitch to the proceedings and that he
+might not now get out so soon. Cowperwood was somewhat depressed, but properly
+stoical; he assured himself that he could wait, and that he would be all right
+sometime. He was rather surprised therefore, one Friday afternoon, to see
+Wingate, Steger, and Leigh appear at his cell door, accompanied by Warden
+Desmas.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The warden was quite pleased to think that Cowperwood should finally be going
+out&mdash;he admired him so much&mdash;and decided to come along to the cell,
+to see how he would take his liberation. On the way Desmas commented on the
+fact that he had always been a model prisoner. &ldquo;He kept a little garden
+out there in that yard of his,&rdquo; he confided to Walter Leigh. &ldquo;He
+had violets and pansies and geraniums out there, and they did very well,
+too.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leigh smiled. It was like Cowperwood to be industrious and tasteful, even in
+prison. Such a man could not be conquered. &ldquo;A very remarkable man,
+that,&rdquo; he remarked to Desmas.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very,&rdquo; replied the warden. &ldquo;You can tell that by looking at
+him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The four looked in through the barred door where he was working, without being
+observed, having come up quite silently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hard at it, Frank?&rdquo; asked Steger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood glanced over his shoulder and got up. He had been thinking, as
+always these days, of what he would do when he did get out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is this,&rdquo; he asked&mdash;&ldquo;a political
+delegation?&rdquo; He suspected something on the instant. All four smiled
+cheeringly, and Bonhag unlocked the door for the warden.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing very much, Frank,&rdquo; replied Stager, gleefully, &ldquo;only
+you&rsquo;re a free man. You can gather up your traps and come right along, if
+you wish.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood surveyed his friends with a level gaze. He had not expected this so
+soon after what had been told him. He was not one to be very much interested in
+the practical joke or the surprise, but this pleased him&mdash;the sudden
+realization that he was free. Still, he had anticipated it so long that the
+charm of it had been discounted to a certain extent. He had been unhappy here,
+and he had not. The shame and humiliation of it, to begin with, had been much.
+Latterly, as he had become inured to it all, the sense of narrowness and
+humiliation had worn off. Only the consciousness of incarceration and delay
+irked him. Barring his intense desire for certain things&mdash;success and
+vindication, principally&mdash;he found that he could live in his narrow cell
+and be fairly comfortable. He had long since become used to the limy smell
+(used to defeat a more sickening one), and to the numerous rats which he quite
+regularly trapped. He had learned to take an interest in chair-caning, having
+become so proficient that he could seat twenty in a day if he chose, and in
+working in the little garden in spring, summer, and fall. Every evening he had
+studied the sky from his narrow yard, which resulted curiously in the gift in
+later years of a great reflecting telescope to a famous university. He had not
+looked upon himself as an ordinary prisoner, by any means&mdash;had not felt
+himself to be sufficiently punished if a real crime had been involved. From
+Bonhag he had learned the history of many criminals here incarcerated, from
+murderers up and down, and many had been pointed out to him from time to time.
+He had been escorted into the general yard by Bonhag, had seen the general food
+of the place being prepared, had heard of Stener&rsquo;s modified life here,
+and so forth. It had finally struck him that it was not so bad, only that the
+delay to an individual like himself was wasteful. He could do so much now if he
+were out and did not have to fight court proceedings. Courts and jails! He
+shook his head when he thought of the waste involved in them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s all right,&rdquo; he said, looking around him in an
+uncertain way. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m ready.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stepped out into the hall, with scarcely a farewell glance, and to Bonhag,
+who was grieving greatly over the loss of so profitable a customer, he said:
+&ldquo;I wish you would see that some of these things are sent over to my
+house, Walter. You&rsquo;re welcome to the chair, that clock, this mirror,
+those pictures&mdash;all of these things in fact, except my linen, razors, and
+so forth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The last little act of beneficence soothed Bonhag&rsquo;s lacerated soul a
+little. They went out into the receiving overseer&rsquo;s office, where
+Cowperwood laid aside his prison suit and the soft shirt with a considerable
+sense of relief. The clog shoes had long since been replaced by a better pair
+of his own. He put on the derby hat and gray overcoat he had worn the year
+before, on entering, and expressed himself as ready. At the entrance of the
+prison he turned and looked back&mdash;one last glance&mdash;at the iron door
+leading into the garden.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t regret leaving that, do you, Frank?&rdquo; asked Steger,
+curiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t that I was
+thinking of. It was just the appearance of it, that&rsquo;s all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In another minute they were at the outer gate, where Cowperwood shook the
+warden finally by the hand. Then entering a carriage outside the large,
+impressive, Gothic entrance, the gates were locked behind them and they were
+driven away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, there&rsquo;s an end of that, Frank,&rdquo; observed Steger,
+gayly; &ldquo;that will never bother you any more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied Cowperwood. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s worse to see it coming
+than going.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It seems to me we ought to celebrate this occasion in some way,&rdquo;
+observed Walter Leigh. &ldquo;It won&rsquo;t do just to take Frank home. Why
+don&rsquo;t we all go down to Green&rsquo;s? That&rsquo;s a good idea.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather not, if you don&rsquo;t mind,&rdquo; replied
+Cowperwood, feelingly. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll get together with you all, later. Just
+now I&rsquo;d like to go home and change these clothes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was thinking of Aileen and his children and his mother and father and of his
+whole future. Life was going to broaden out for him considerably from now on,
+he was sure of it. He had learned so much about taking care of himself in those
+thirteen months. He was going to see Aileen, and find how she felt about things
+in general, and then he was going to resume some such duties as he had had in
+his own concern, with Wingate &amp; Co. He was going to secure a seat on
+&rsquo;change again, through his friends; and, to escape the effect of the
+prejudice of those who might not care to do business with an ex-convict, he was
+going to act as general outside man, and floor man on &rsquo;charge, for
+Wingate &amp; Co. His practical control of that could not be publicly proved.
+Now for some important development in the market&mdash;some slump or something.
+He would show the world whether he was a failure or not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They let him down in front of his wife&rsquo;s little cottage, and he entered
+briskly in the gathering gloom.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+On September 18, 1873, at twelve-fifteen of a brilliant autumn day, in the city
+of Philadelphia, one of the most startling financial tragedies that the world
+has ever seen had its commencement. The banking house of Jay Cooke &amp; Co.,
+the foremost financial organization of America, doing business at Number 114
+South Third Street in Philadelphia, and with branches in New York, Washington,
+and London, closed its doors. Those who know anything about the financial
+crises of the United States know well the significance of the panic which
+followed. It is spoken of in all histories as the panic of 1873, and the
+widespread ruin and disaster which followed was practically unprecedented in
+American history.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this time Cowperwood, once more a broker&mdash;ostensibly a broker&rsquo;s
+agent&mdash;was doing business in South Third Street, and representing Wingate
+&amp; Co. on &rsquo;change. During the six months which had elapsed since he
+had emerged from the Eastern Penitentiary he had been quietly resuming
+financial, if not social, relations with those who had known him before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Furthermore, Wingate &amp; Co. were prospering, and had been for some time, a
+fact which redounded to his credit with those who knew. Ostensibly he lived
+with his wife in a small house on North Twenty-first Street. In reality he
+occupied a bachelor apartment on North Fifteenth Street, to which Aileen
+occasionally repaired. The difference between himself and his wife had now
+become a matter of common knowledge in the family, and, although there were
+some faint efforts made to smooth the matter over, no good resulted. The
+difficulties of the past two years had so inured his parents to expect the
+untoward and exceptional that, astonishing as this was, it did not shock them
+so much as it would have years before. They were too much frightened by life to
+quarrel with its weird developments. They could only hope and pray for the
+best.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Butler family, on the other hand, what there was of it, had become
+indifferent to Aileen&rsquo;s conduct. She was ignored by her brothers and
+Norah, who now knew all; and her mother was so taken up with religious
+devotions and brooding contemplation of her loss that she was not as active in
+her observation of Aileen&rsquo;s life as she might have been. Besides,
+Cowperwood and his mistress were more circumspect in their conduct than they
+had ever been before. Their movements were more carefully guarded, though the
+result was the same. Cowperwood was thinking of the West&mdash;of reaching some
+slight local standing here in Philadelphia, and then, with perhaps one hundred
+thousand dollars in capital, removing to the boundless prairies of which he had
+heard so much&mdash;Chicago, Fargo, Duluth, Sioux City, places then heralded in
+Philadelphia and the East as coming centers of great life&mdash;and taking
+Aileen with him. Although the problem of marriage with her was insoluble unless
+Mrs. Cowperwood should formally agree to give him up&mdash;a possibility which
+was not manifest at this time, neither he nor Aileen were deterred by that
+thought. They were going to build a future together&mdash;or so they thought,
+marriage or no marriage. The only thing which Cowperwood could see to do was to
+take Aileen away with him, and to trust to time and absence to modify his
+wife&rsquo;s point of view.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This particular panic, which was destined to mark a notable change in
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s career, was one of those peculiar things which spring
+naturally out of the optimism of the American people and the irrepressible
+progress of the country. It was the result, to be accurate, of the prestige and
+ambition of Jay Cooke, whose early training and subsequent success had all been
+acquired in Philadelphia, and who had since become the foremost financial
+figure of his day. It would be useless to attempt to trace here the rise of
+this man to distinction; it need only be said that by suggestions which he made
+and methods which he devised the Union government, in its darkest hours, was
+able to raise the money wherewith to continue the struggle against the South.
+After the Civil War this man, who had built up a tremendous banking business in
+Philadelphia, with great branches in New York and Washington, was at a loss for
+some time for some significant thing to do, some constructive work which would
+be worthy of his genius. The war was over; the only thing which remained was
+the finances of peace, and the greatest things in American financial enterprise
+were those related to the construction of transcontinental railway lines. The
+Union Pacific, authorized in 1860, was already building; the Northern Pacific
+and the Southern Pacific were already dreams in various pioneer minds. The
+great thing was to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific by steel, to bind up
+the territorially perfected and newly solidified Union, or to enter upon some
+vast project of mining, of which gold and silver were the most important.
+Actually railway-building was the most significant of all, and railroad stocks
+were far and away the most valuable and important on every exchange in America.
+Here in Philadelphia, New York Central, Rock Island, Wabash, Central Pacific,
+St. Paul, Hannibal &amp; St. Joseph, Union Pacific, and Ohio &amp; Mississippi
+were freely traded in. There were men who were getting rich and famous out of
+handling these things; and such towering figures as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay
+Gould, Daniel Drew, James Fish, and others in the East, and Fair, Crocker, W.
+R. Hearst, and Collis P. Huntington, in the West, were already raising their
+heads like vast mountains in connection with these enterprises. Among those who
+dreamed most ardently on this score was Jay Cooke, who without the wolfish
+cunning of a Gould or the practical knowledge of a Vanderbilt, was ambitious to
+thread the northern reaches of America with a band of steel which should be a
+permanent memorial to his name.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The project which fascinated him most was one that related to the development
+of the territory then lying almost unexplored between the extreme western shore
+of Lake Superior, where Duluth now stands, and that portion of the Pacific
+Ocean into which the Columbia River empties&mdash;the extreme northern
+one-third of the United States. Here, if a railroad were built, would spring up
+great cities and prosperous towns. There were, it was suspected, mines of
+various metals in the region of the Rockies which this railroad would traverse,
+and untold wealth to be reaped from the fertile corn and wheat lands. Products
+brought only so far east as Duluth could then be shipped to the Atlantic, via
+the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal, at a greatly reduced cost. It was a vision
+of empire, not unlike the Panama Canal project of the same period, and one that
+bade fair apparently to be as useful to humanity. It had aroused the interest
+and enthusiasm of Cooke. Because of the fact that the government had made a
+grant of vast areas of land on either side of the proposed track to the
+corporation that should seriously undertake it and complete it within a
+reasonable number of years, and because of the opportunity it gave him of
+remaining a distinguished public figure, he had eventually shouldered the
+project. It was open to many objections and criticisms; but the genius which
+had been sufficient to finance the Civil War was considered sufficient to
+finance the Northern Pacific Railroad. Cooke undertook it with the idea of
+being able to put the merits of the proposition before the people
+direct&mdash;not through the agency of any great financial
+corporation&mdash;and of selling to the butcher, the baker, and the
+candlestick-maker the stock or shares that he wished to dispose of.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a brilliant chance. His genius had worked out the sale of great
+government loans during the Civil War to the people direct in this fashion. Why
+not Northern Pacific certificates? For several years he conducted a pyrotechnic
+campaign, surveying the territory in question, organizing great
+railway-construction corps, building hundreds of miles of track under most
+trying conditions, and selling great blocks of his stock, on which interest of
+a certain percentage was guaranteed. If it had not been that he knew little of
+railroad-building, personally, and that the project was so vast that it could
+not well be encompassed by one man, even so great a man it might have proved
+successful, as under subsequent management it did. However, hard times, the war
+between France and Germany, which tied up European capital for the time being
+and made it indifferent to American projects, envy, calumny, a certain
+percentage of mismanagement, all conspired to wreck it. On September 18, 1873,
+at twelve-fifteen noon, Jay Cooke &amp; Co. failed for approximately eight
+million dollars and the Northern Pacific for all that had been invested in
+it&mdash;some fifty million dollars more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One can imagine what the result was&mdash;the most important financier and the
+most distinguished railway enterprise collapsing at one and the same time.
+&ldquo;A financial thunderclap in a clear sky,&rdquo; said the Philadelphia
+Press. &ldquo;No one could have been more surprised,&rdquo; said the
+Philadelphia Inquirer, &ldquo;if snow had fallen amid the sunshine of a summer
+noon.&rdquo; The public, which by Cooke&rsquo;s previous tremendous success had
+been lulled into believing him invincible, could not understand it. It was
+beyond belief. Jay Cooke fail? Impossible, or anything connected with him.
+Nevertheless, he had failed; and the New York Stock Exchange, after witnessing
+a number of crashes immediately afterward, closed for eight days. The Lake
+Shore Railroad failed to pay a call-loan of one million seven hundred and fifty
+thousand dollars; and the Union Trust Company, allied to the Vanderbilt
+interests, closed its doors after withstanding a prolonged run. The National
+Trust Company of New York had eight hundred thousand dollars of government
+securities in its vaults, but not a dollar could be borrowed upon them; and it
+suspended. Suspicion was universal, rumor affected every one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In Philadelphia, when the news reached the stock exchange, it came first in the
+form of a brief despatch addressed to the stock board from the New York Stock
+Exchange&mdash;&ldquo;Rumor on street of failure of Jay Cooke &amp; Co.
+Answer.&rdquo; It was not believed, and so not replied to. Nothing was thought
+of it. The world of brokers paid scarcely any attention to it. Cowperwood, who
+had followed the fortunes of Jay Cooke &amp; Co. with considerable suspicion of
+its president&rsquo;s brilliant theory of vending his wares direct to the
+people&mdash;was perhaps the only one who had suspicions. He had once written a
+brilliant criticism to some inquirer, in which he had said that no enterprise
+of such magnitude as the Northern Pacific had ever before been entirely
+dependent upon one house, or rather upon one man, and that he did not like it.
+&ldquo;I am not sure that the lands through which the road runs are so
+unparalleled in climate, soil, timber, minerals, etc., as Mr. Cooke and his
+friends would have us believe. Neither do I think that the road can at present,
+or for many years to come, earn the interest which its great issues of stock
+call for. There is great danger and risk there.&rdquo; So when the notice was
+posted, he looked at it, wondering what the effect would be if by any chance
+Jay Cooke &amp; Co. should fail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was not long in wonder. A second despatch posted on &rsquo;change read:
+&ldquo;New York, September 18th. Jay Cooke &amp; Co. have suspended.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood could not believe it. He was beside himself with the thought of a
+great opportunity. In company with every other broker, he hurried into Third
+Street and up to Number 114, where the famous old banking house was located, in
+order to be sure. Despite his natural dignity and reserve, he did not hesitate
+to run. If this were true, a great hour had struck. There would be wide-spread
+panic and disaster. There would be a terrific slump in prices of all stocks. He
+must be in the thick of it. Wingate must be on hand, and his two brothers. He
+must tell them how to sell and when and what to buy. His great hour had come!
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap59"></a>Chapter LIX</h2>
+
+<p>
+The banking house of Jay Cooke &amp; Co., in spite of its tremendous
+significance as a banking and promoting concern, was a most unpretentious
+affair, four stories and a half in height of gray stone and red brick. It had
+never been deemed a handsome or comfortable banking house. Cowperwood had been
+there often. Wharf-rats as long as the forearm of a man crept up the culverted
+channels of Dock Street to run through the apartments at will. Scores of clerks
+worked under gas-jets, where light and air were not any too abundant, keeping
+track of the firm&rsquo;s vast accounts. It was next door to the Girard
+National Bank, where Cowperwood&rsquo;s friend Davison still flourished, and
+where the principal financial business of the street converged. As Cowperwood
+ran he met his brother Edward, who was coming to the stock exchange with some
+word for him from Wingate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Run and get Wingate and Joe,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s
+something big on this afternoon. Jay Cooke has failed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edward waited for no other word, but hurried off as directed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood reached Cooke &amp; Co. among the earliest. To his utter
+astonishment, the solid brown-oak doors, with which he was familiar, were shut,
+and a notice posted on them, which he quickly read, ran:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<i>September</i> 18, 1873.<br/>
+To the Public&mdash;We regret to be obliged to announce that, owing to
+unexpected demands on us, our firm has been obliged to suspend payment. In a
+few days we will be able to present a statement to our creditors. Until which
+time we must ask their patient consideration. We believe our assets to be
+largely in excess of our liabilities.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+Jay Cooke &amp; Co.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A magnificent gleam of triumph sprang into Cowperwood&rsquo;s eye. In company
+with many others he turned and ran back toward the exchange, while a reporter,
+who had come for information knocked at the massive doors of the banking house,
+and was told by a porter, who peered out of a diamond-shaped aperture, that Jay
+Cooke had gone home for the day and was not to be seen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; thought Cowperwood, to whom this panic spelled opportunity,
+not ruin, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll get my innings. I&rsquo;ll go short of
+this&mdash;of everything.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before, when the panic following the Chicago fire had occurred, he had been
+long&mdash;had been compelled to stay long of many things in order to protect
+himself. To-day he had nothing to speak of&mdash;perhaps a paltry seventy-five
+thousand dollars which he had managed to scrape together. Thank God! he had
+only the reputation of Wingate&rsquo;s old house to lose, if he lost, which was
+nothing. With it as a trading agency behind him&mdash;with it as an excuse for
+his presence, his right to buy and sell&mdash;he had everything to gain. Where
+many men were thinking of ruin, he was thinking of success. He would have
+Wingate and his two brothers under him to execute his orders exactly. He could
+pick up a fourth and a fifth man if necessary. He would give them orders to
+sell&mdash;everything&mdash;ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty points off, if
+necessary, in order to trap the unwary, depress the market, frighten the
+fearsome who would think he was too daring; and then he would buy, buy, buy,
+below these figures as much as possible, in order to cover his sales and reap a
+profit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His instinct told him how widespread and enduring this panic would be. The
+Northern Pacific was a hundred-million-dollar venture. It involved the savings
+of hundreds of thousands of people&mdash;small bankers, tradesmen, preachers,
+lawyers, doctors, widows, institutions all over the land, and all resting on
+the faith and security of Jay Cooke. Once, not unlike the Chicago fire map,
+Cowperwood had seen a grand prospectus and map of the location of the Northern
+Pacific land-grant which Cooke had controlled, showing a vast stretch or belt
+of territory extending from Duluth&mdash;&ldquo;The Zenith City of the Unsalted
+Seas,&rdquo; as Proctor Knott, speaking in the House of Representatives, had
+sarcastically called it&mdash;through the Rockies and the headwaters of the
+Missouri to the Pacific Ocean. He had seen how Cooke had ostensibly managed to
+get control of this government grant, containing millions upon millions of
+acres and extending fourteen hundred miles in length; but it was only a vision
+of empire. There might be silver and gold and copper mines there. The land was
+usable&mdash;would some day be usable. But what of it now? It would do to fire
+the imaginations of fools with&mdash;nothing more. It was inaccessible, and
+would remain so for years to come. No doubt thousands had subscribed to build
+this road; but, too, thousands would now fail if it had failed. Now the crash
+had come. The grief and the rage of the public would be intense. For days and
+days and weeks and months, normal confidence and courage would be gone. This
+was his hour. This was his great moment. Like a wolf prowling under glittering,
+bitter stars in the night, he was looking down into the humble folds of simple
+men and seeing what their ignorance and their unsophistication would cost them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He hurried back to the exchange, the very same room in which only two years
+before he had fought his losing fight, and, finding that his partner and his
+brother had not yet come, began to sell everything in sight. Pandemonium had
+broken loose. Boys and men were fairly tearing in from all sections with orders
+from panic-struck brokers to sell, sell, sell, and later with orders to buy;
+the various trading-posts were reeling, swirling masses of brokers and their
+agents. Outside in the street in front of Jay Cooke &amp; Co., Clark &amp; Co.,
+the Girard National Bank, and other institutions, immense crowds were beginning
+to form. They were hurrying here to learn the trouble, to withdraw their
+deposits, to protect their interests generally. A policeman arrested a boy for
+calling out the failure of Jay Cooke &amp; Co., but nevertheless the news of
+the great disaster was spreading like wild-fire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Among these panic-struck men Cowperwood was perfectly calm, deadly cold, the
+same Cowperwood who had pegged solemnly at his ten chairs each day in prison,
+who had baited his traps for rats, and worked in the little garden allotted him
+in utter silence and loneliness. Now he was vigorous and energetic. He had been
+just sufficiently about this exchange floor once more to have made his
+personality impressive and distinguished. He forced his way into the center of
+swirling crowds of men already shouting themselves hoarse, offering whatever
+was being offered in quantities which were astonishing, and at prices which
+allured the few who were anxious to make money out of the tumbling prices to
+buy. New York Central had been standing at 104 7/8 when the failure was
+announced; Rhode Island at 108 7/8; Western Union at 92 1/2; Wabash at 70 1/4;
+Panama at 117 3/8; Central Pacific at 99 5/8; St. Paul at 51; Hannibal &amp;
+St. Joseph at 48; Northwestern at 63; Union Pacific at 26 3/4; Ohio and
+Mississippi at 38 3/4. Cowperwood&rsquo;s house had scarcely any of the stocks
+on hand. They were not carrying them for any customers, and yet he sold, sold,
+sold, to whoever would take, at prices which he felt sure would inspire them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Five thousand of New York Central at ninety-nine, ninety-eight,
+ninety-seven, ninety-six, ninety-five, ninety-four, ninety-three, ninety-two,
+ninety-one, ninety, eighty-nine,&rdquo; you might have heard him call; and when
+his sales were not sufficiently brisk he would turn to something
+else&mdash;Rock Island, Panama, Central Pacific, Western Union, Northwestern,
+Union Pacific. He saw his brother and Wingate hurrying in, and stopped in his
+work long enough to instruct them. &ldquo;Sell everything you can,&rdquo; he
+cautioned them quietly, &ldquo;at fifteen points off if you have to&mdash;no
+lower than that now&mdash;and buy all you can below it. Ed, you see if you
+cannot buy up some local street-railways at fifteen off. Joe, you stay near me
+and buy when I tell you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The secretary of the board appeared on his little platform.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;E. W. Clark &amp; Company,&rdquo; he announced, at one-thirty,
+&ldquo;have just closed their doors.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tighe &amp; Company,&rdquo; he called at one-forty-five, &ldquo;announce
+that they are compelled to suspend.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The First National Bank of Philadelphia,&rdquo; he called, at two
+o&rsquo;clock, &ldquo;begs to state that it cannot at present meet its
+obligations.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After each announcement, always, as in the past, when the gong had compelled
+silence, the crowd broke into an ominous &ldquo;Aw, aw, aw.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tighe &amp; Company,&rdquo; thought Cowperwood, for a single second,
+when he heard it. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s an end of him.&rdquo; And then he
+returned to his task.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the time for closing came, his coat torn, his collar twisted loose, his
+necktie ripped, his hat lost, he emerged sane, quiet, steady-mannered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Ed,&rdquo; he inquired, meeting his brother, &ldquo;how&rsquo;d
+you make out?&rdquo; The latter was equally torn, scratched, exhausted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Christ,&rdquo; he replied, tugging at his sleeves, &ldquo;I never saw
+such a place as this. They almost tore my clothes off.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Buy any local street-railways?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;About five thousand shares.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We&rsquo;d better go down to Green&rsquo;s,&rdquo; Frank observed,
+referring to the lobby of the principal hotel. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not through
+yet. There&rsquo;ll be more trading there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He led the way to find Wingate and his brother Joe, and together they were off,
+figuring up some of the larger phases of their purchases and sales as they
+went.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And, as he predicted, the excitement did not end with the coming of the night.
+The crowd lingered in front of Jay Cooke &amp; Co.&rsquo;s on Third Street and
+in front of other institutions, waiting apparently for some development which
+would be favorable to them. For the initiated the center of debate and
+agitation was Green&rsquo;s Hotel, where on the evening of the eighteenth the
+lobby and corridors were crowded with bankers, brokers, and speculators. The
+stock exchange had practically adjourned to that hotel en masse. What of the
+morrow? Who would be the next to fail? From whence would money be forthcoming?
+These were the topics from each mind and upon each tongue. From New York was
+coming momentarily more news of disaster. Over there banks and trust companies
+were falling like trees in a hurricane. Cowperwood in his perambulations,
+seeing what he could see and hearing what he could hear, reaching
+understandings which were against the rules of the exchange, but which were
+nevertheless in accord with what every other person was doing, saw about him
+men known to him as agents of Mollenhauer and Simpson, and congratulated
+himself that he would have something to collect from them before the week was
+over. He might not own a street-railway, but he would have the means to. He
+learned from hearsay, and information which had been received from New York and
+elsewhere, that things were as bad as they could be, and that there was no hope
+for those who expected a speedy return of normal conditions. No thought of
+retiring for the night entered until the last man was gone. It was then
+practically morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next day was Friday, and suggested many ominous things. Would it be another
+Black Friday? Cowperwood was at his office before the street was fairly awake.
+He figured out his program for the day to a nicety, feeling strangely different
+from the way he had felt two years before when the conditions were not
+dissimilar. Yesterday, in spite of the sudden onslaught, he had made one
+hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and he expected to make as much, if not
+more, to-day. There was no telling what he could make, he thought, if he could
+only keep his small organization in perfect trim and get his assistants to
+follow his orders exactly. Ruin for others began early with the suspension of
+Fisk &amp; Hatch, Jay Cooke&rsquo;s faithful lieutenants during the Civil War.
+They had calls upon them for one million five hundred thousand dollars in the
+first fifteen minutes after opening the doors, and at once closed them again,
+the failure being ascribed to Collis P. Huntington&rsquo;s Central Pacific
+Railroad and the Chesapeake &amp; Ohio. There was a long-continued run on the
+Fidelity Trust Company. News of these facts, and of failures in New York posted
+on &rsquo;change, strengthened the cause Cowperwood was so much interested in;
+for he was selling as high as he could and buying as low as he could on a
+constantly sinking scale. By twelve o&rsquo;clock he figured with his
+assistants that he had cleared one hundred thousand dollars; and by three
+o&rsquo;clock he had two hundred thousand dollars more. That afternoon between
+three and seven he spent adjusting his trades, and between seven and one in the
+morning, without anything to eat, in gathering as much additional information
+as he could and laying his plans for the future. Saturday morning came, and he
+repeated his performance of the day before, following it up with adjustments on
+Sunday and heavy trading on Monday. By Monday afternoon at three o&rsquo;clock
+he figured that, all losses and uncertainties to one side, he was once more a
+millionaire, and that now his future lay clear and straight before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he sat at his desk late that afternoon in his office looking out into Third
+Street, where a hurrying of brokers, messengers, and anxious depositors still
+maintained, he had the feeling that so far as Philadelphia and the life here
+was concerned, his day and its day with him was over. He did not care anything
+about the brokerage business here any more or anywhere. Failures such as this,
+and disasters such as the Chicago fire, that had overtaken him two years
+before, had cured him of all love of the stock exchange and all feeling for
+Philadelphia. He had been very unhappy here in spite of all his previous
+happiness; and his experience as a convict had made, him, he could see quite
+plainly, unacceptable to the element with whom he had once hoped to associate.
+There was nothing else to do, now that he had reestablished himself as a
+Philadelphia business man and been pardoned for an offense which he hoped to
+make people believe he had never committed, but to leave Philadelphia to seek a
+new world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If I get out of this safely,&rdquo; he said to himself, &ldquo;this is
+the end. I am going West, and going into some other line of business.&rdquo; He
+thought of street-railways, land speculation, some great manufacturing project
+of some kind, even mining, on a legitimate basis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have had my lesson,&rdquo; he said to himself, finally getting up and
+preparing to leave. &ldquo;I am as rich as I was, and only a little older. They
+caught me once, but they will not catch me again.&rdquo; He talked to Wingate
+about following up the campaign on the lines in which he had started, and he
+himself intended to follow it up with great energy; but all the while his mind
+was running with this one rich thought: &ldquo;I am a millionaire. I am a free
+man. I am only thirty-six, and my future is all before me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was with this thought that he went to visit Aileen, and to plan for the
+future.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+It was only three months later that a train, speeding through the mountains of
+Pennsylvania and over the plains of Ohio and Indiana, bore to Chicago and the
+West the young financial aspirant who, in spite of youth and wealth and a
+notable vigor of body, was a solemn, conservative speculator as to what his
+future might be. The West, as he had carefully calculated before leaving, held
+much. He had studied the receipts of the New York Clearing House recently and
+the disposition of bank-balances and the shipment of gold, and had seen that
+vast quantities of the latter metal were going to Chicago. He understood
+finance accurately. The meaning of gold shipments was clear. Where money was
+going trade was&mdash;a thriving, developing life. He wished to see clearly for
+himself what this world had to offer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Two years later, following the meteoric appearance of a young speculator in
+Duluth, and after Chicago had seen the tentative opening of a grain and
+commission company labeled Frank A. Cowperwood &amp; Co., which ostensibly
+dealt in the great wheat crops of the West, a quiet divorce was granted Mrs.
+Frank A. Cowperwood in Philadelphia, because apparently she wished it. Time had
+not seemingly dealt badly with her. Her financial affairs, once so bad, were
+now apparently all straightened out, and she occupied in West Philadelphia,
+near one of her sisters, a new and interesting home which was fitted with all
+the comforts of an excellent middle-class residence. She was now quite
+religious once more. The two children, Frank and Lillian, were in private
+schools, returning evenings to their mother. &ldquo;Wash&rdquo; Sims was once
+more the negro general factotum. Frequent visitors on Sundays were Mr. and Mrs.
+Henry Worthington Cowperwood, no longer distressed financially, but subdued and
+wearied, the wind completely gone from their once much-favored sails.
+Cowperwood, senior, had sufficient money wherewith to sustain himself, and that
+without slaving as a petty clerk, but his social joy in life was gone. He was
+old, disappointed, sad. He could feel that with his quondam honor and financial
+glory, he was the same&mdash;and he was not. His courage and his dreams were
+gone, and he awaited death.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here, too, came Anna Adelaide Cowperwood on occasion, a clerk in the city water
+office, who speculated much as to the strange vicissitudes of life. She had
+great interest in her brother, who seemed destined by fate to play a
+conspicuous part in the world; but she could not understand him. Seeing that
+all those who were near to him in any way seemed to rise or fall with his
+prosperity, she did not understand how justice and morals were arranged in this
+world. There seemed to be certain general principles&mdash;or people assumed
+there were&mdash;but apparently there were exceptions. Assuredly her brother
+abided by no known rule, and yet he seemed to be doing fairly well once more.
+What did this mean? Mrs. Cowperwood, his former wife, condemned his actions,
+and yet accepted of his prosperity as her due. What were the ethics of that?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cowperwood&rsquo;s every action was known to Aileen Butler, his present
+whereabouts and prospects. Not long after his wife&rsquo;s divorce, and after
+many trips to and from this new world in which he was now living, these two
+left Philadelphia together one afternoon in the winter. Aileen explained to her
+mother, who was willing to go and live with Norah, that she had fallen in love
+with the former banker and wished to marry him. The old lady, gathering only a
+garbled version of it at first, consented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus ended forever for Aileen this long-continued relationship with this older
+world. Chicago was before her&mdash;a much more distinguished career, Frank
+told her, than ever they could have had in Philadelphia.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t it nice to be finally going?&rdquo; she commented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is advantageous, anyhow,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap60"></a>Concerning Mycteroperca Bonaci</h2>
+
+<p>
+There is a certain fish, the scientific name of which is Mycteroperca Bonaci,
+its common name Black Grouper, which is of considerable value as an
+afterthought in this connection, and which deserves to be better known. It is a
+healthy creature, growing quite regularly to a weight of two hundred and fifty
+pounds, and lives a comfortable, lengthy existence because of its very
+remarkable ability to adapt itself to conditions. That very subtle thing which
+we call the creative power, and which we endow with the spirit of the
+beatitudes, is supposed to build this mortal life in such fashion that only
+honesty and virtue shall prevail. Witness, then, the significant manner in
+which it has fashioned the black grouper. One might go far afield and gather
+less forceful indictments&mdash;the horrific spider spinning his trap for the
+unthinking fly; the lovely Drosera (Sundew) using its crimson calyx for a
+smothering-pit in which to seal and devour the victim of its beauty; the
+rainbow-colored jellyfish that spreads its prismed tentacles like streamers of
+great beauty, only to sting and torture all that falls within their radiant
+folds. Man himself is busy digging the pit and fashioning the snare, but he
+will not believe it. His feet are in the trap of circumstance; his eyes are on
+an illusion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mycteroperca moving in its dark world of green waters is as fine an
+illustration of the constructive genius of nature, which is not beatific, as
+any which the mind of man may discover. Its great superiority lies in an almost
+unbelievable power of simulation, which relates solely to the pigmentation of
+its skin. In electrical mechanics we pride ourselves on our ability to make
+over one brilliant scene into another in the twinkling of an eye, and flash
+before the gaze of an onlooker picture after picture, which appear and
+disappear as we look. The directive control of Mycteroperca over its appearance
+is much more significant. You cannot look at it long without feeling that you
+are witnessing something spectral and unnatural, so brilliant is its power to
+deceive. From being black it can become instantly white; from being an
+earth-colored brown it can fade into a delightful water-colored green. Its
+markings change as the clouds of the sky. One marvels at the variety and
+subtlety of its power.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lying at the bottom of a bay, it can simulate the mud by which it is
+surrounded. Hidden in the folds of glorious leaves, it is of the same markings.
+Lurking in a flaw of light, it is like the light itself shining dimly in water.
+Its power to elude or strike unseen is of the greatest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What would you say was the intention of the overruling, intelligent,
+constructive force which gives to Mycteroperca this ability? To fit it to be
+truthful? To permit it to present an unvarying appearance which all honest
+life-seeking fish may know? Or would you say that subtlety, chicanery,
+trickery, were here at work? An implement of illusion one might readily suspect
+it to be, a living lie, a creature whose business it is to appear what it is
+not, to simulate that with which it has nothing in common, to get its living by
+great subtlety, the power of its enemies to forefend against which is little.
+The indictment is fair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Would you say, in the face of this, that a beatific, beneficent creative,
+overruling power never wills that which is either tricky or deceptive? Or would
+you say that this material seeming in which we dwell is itself an illusion? If
+not, whence then the Ten Commandments and the illusion of justice? Why were the
+Beatitudes dreamed of and how do they avail?
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap61"></a>The Magic Crystal</h2>
+
+<p>
+If you had been a mystic or a soothsayer or a member of that mysterious world
+which divines by incantations, dreams, the mystic bowl, or the crystal sphere,
+you might have looked into their mysterious depths at this time and foreseen a
+world of happenings which concerned these two, who were now apparently so
+fortunately placed. In the fumes of the witches&rsquo; pot, or the depths of
+the radiant crystal, might have been revealed cities, cities, cities; a world
+of mansions, carriages, jewels, beauty; a vast metropolis outraged by the power
+of one man; a great state seething with indignation over a force it could not
+control; vast halls of priceless pictures; a palace unrivaled for its
+magnificence; a whole world reading with wonder, at times, of a given name. And
+sorrow, sorrow, sorrow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The three witches that hailed Macbeth upon the blasted heath might in turn have
+called to Cowperwood, &ldquo;Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood, master of a great
+railway system! Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood, builder of a priceless mansion!
+Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood, patron of arts and possessor of endless riches!
+You shall be famed hereafter.&rdquo; But like the Weird Sisters, they would
+have lied, for in the glory was also the ashes of Dead Sea fruit&mdash;an
+understanding that could neither be inflamed by desire nor satisfied by luxury;
+a heart that was long since wearied by experience; a soul that was as bereft of
+illusion as a windless moon. And to Aileen, as to Macduff, they might have
+spoken a more pathetic promise, one that concerned hope and failure. To have
+and not to have! All the seeming, and yet the sorrow of not having! Brilliant
+society that shone in a mirage, yet locked its doors; love that eluded as a
+will-o&rsquo;-the-wisp and died in the dark. &ldquo;Hail to you, Frank
+Cowperwood, master and no master, prince of a world of dreams whose reality was
+disillusion!&rdquo; So might the witches have called, the bowl have danced with
+figures, the fumes with vision, and it would have been true. What wise man
+might not read from such a beginning, such an end?
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Financier, by Theodore Dreiser
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FINANCIER ***
+
+***** This file should be named 1840-h.htm or 1840-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/4/1840/
+
+Produced by Kirk Pearson and David Widger
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
+be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
+law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
+so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
+States without permission and without paying copyright
+royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
+of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
+and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
+specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
+eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
+for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
+performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
+away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
+not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
+trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
+
+START: FULL LICENSE
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
+Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
+www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+
+1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
+destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
+possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
+Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
+by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
+person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
+1.E.8.
+
+1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
+paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
+agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
+Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
+of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
+works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
+States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
+United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
+claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
+displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
+all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
+that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
+free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
+works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
+Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
+comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
+same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
+you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
+in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
+check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
+agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
+distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
+other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
+representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
+country outside the United States.
+
+1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
+immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
+prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
+on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
+performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
+
+  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
+  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
+  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
+  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
+  United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
+  are located before using this ebook.
+
+1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
+derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
+contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
+copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
+the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
+redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
+either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
+obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
+trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
+additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
+will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
+posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
+beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
+any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
+to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
+other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
+version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
+(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
+to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
+of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
+Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
+full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+provided that
+
+* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
+  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
+  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
+  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
+  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
+  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
+  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
+  Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
+  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
+  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
+  works.
+
+* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
+  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
+  receipt of the work.
+
+* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
+are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
+from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
+Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
+Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
+contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
+or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
+other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
+cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
+with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
+with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
+lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
+or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
+opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
+the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
+without further opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
+OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
+damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
+violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
+agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
+limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
+unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
+remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
+accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
+production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
+including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
+the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
+or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
+additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
+Defect you cause.
+
+Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
+computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
+exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
+from people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
+generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
+Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
+www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
+U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
+mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
+volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
+locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
+Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
+date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
+official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+
+    Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+    Chief Executive and Director
+    gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
+DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
+state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
+donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
+freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
+distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
+volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
+the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
+necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
+edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
+facility: www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+
+</html>
+
+
diff --git a/1840.txt b/1840.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4cd53e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/1840.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,19932 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Financier, by Theodore Dreiser
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Financier
+
+Author: Theodore Dreiser
+
+Release Date: February 25, 2006 [EBook #1840]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FINANCIER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Kirk Pearson and David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FINANCIER
+
+
+by Theodore Dreiser
+
+
+
+Chapter I
+
+The Philadelphia into which Frank Algernon Cowperwood was born was
+a city of two hundred and fifty thousand and more. It was set with
+handsome parks, notable buildings, and crowded with historic memories.
+Many of the things that we and he knew later were not then in
+existence--the telegraph, telephone, express company, ocean steamer,
+city delivery of mails. There were no postage-stamps or registered
+letters. The street car had not arrived. In its place were hosts of
+omnibuses, and for longer travel the slowly developing railroad system
+still largely connected by canals.
+
+Cowperwood's father was a bank clerk at the time of Frank's birth,
+but ten years later, when the boy was already beginning to turn a very
+sensible, vigorous eye on the world, Mr. Henry Worthington Cowperwood,
+because of the death of the bank's president and the consequent moving
+ahead of the other officers, fell heir to the place vacated by the
+promoted teller, at the, to him, munificent salary of thirty-five
+hundred dollars a year. At once he decided, as he told his wife
+joyously, to remove his family from 21 Buttonwood Street to 124 New
+Market Street, a much better neighborhood, where there was a nice brick
+house of three stories in height as opposed to their present two-storied
+domicile. There was the probability that some day they would come into
+something even better, but for the present this was sufficient. He was
+exceedingly grateful.
+
+Henry Worthington Cowperwood was a man who believed only what he saw and
+was content to be what he was--a banker, or a prospective one. He was at
+this time a significant figure--tall, lean, inquisitorial, clerkly--with
+nice, smooth, closely-cropped side whiskers coming to almost the lower
+lobes of his ears. His upper lip was smooth and curiously long, and
+he had a long, straight nose and a chin that tended to be pointed. His
+eyebrows were bushy, emphasizing vague, grayish-green eyes, and his hair
+was short and smooth and nicely parted. He wore a frock-coat always--it
+was quite the thing in financial circles in those days--and a high hat.
+And he kept his hands and nails immaculately clean. His manner might
+have been called severe, though really it was more cultivated than
+austere.
+
+Being ambitious to get ahead socially and financially, he was very
+careful of whom or with whom he talked. He was as much afraid of
+expressing a rabid or unpopular political or social opinion as he was
+of being seen with an evil character, though he had really no opinion
+of great political significance to express. He was neither anti- nor
+pro-slavery, though the air was stormy with abolition sentiment and its
+opposition. He believed sincerely that vast fortunes were to be made
+out of railroads if one only had the capital and that curious thing, a
+magnetic personality--the ability to win the confidence of others. He
+was sure that Andrew Jackson was all wrong in his opposition to Nicholas
+Biddle and the United States Bank, one of the great issues of the day;
+and he was worried, as he might well be, by the perfect storm of wildcat
+money which was floating about and which was constantly coming to his
+bank--discounted, of course, and handed out again to anxious borrowers
+at a profit. His bank was the Third National of Philadelphia, located in
+that center of all Philadelphia and indeed, at that time, of practically
+all national finance--Third Street--and its owners conducted a brokerage
+business as a side line. There was a perfect plague of State banks,
+great and small, in those days, issuing notes practically without
+regulation upon insecure and unknown assets and failing and suspending
+with astonishing rapidity; and a knowledge of all these was an important
+requirement of Mr. Cowperwood's position. As a result, he had become the
+soul of caution. Unfortunately, for him, he lacked in a great
+measure the two things that are necessary for distinction in any
+field--magnetism and vision. He was not destined to be a great
+financier, though he was marked out to be a moderately successful one.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood was of a religious temperament--a small woman, with
+light-brown hair and clear, brown eyes, who had been very attractive in
+her day, but had become rather prim and matter-of-fact and inclined
+to take very seriously the maternal care of her three sons and one
+daughter. The former, captained by Frank, the eldest, were a source of
+considerable annoyance to her, for they were forever making expeditions
+to different parts of the city, getting in with bad boys, probably, and
+seeing and hearing things they should neither see nor hear.
+
+Frank Cowperwood, even at ten, was a natural-born leader. At the day
+school he attended, and later at the Central High School, he was looked
+upon as one whose common sense could unquestionably be trusted in all
+cases. He was a sturdy youth, courageous and defiant. From the very
+start of his life, he wanted to know about economics and politics. He
+cared nothing for books. He was a clean, stalky, shapely boy, with
+a bright, clean-cut, incisive face; large, clear, gray eyes; a
+wide forehead; short, bristly, dark-brown hair. He had an incisive,
+quick-motioned, self-sufficient manner, and was forever asking questions
+with a keen desire for an intelligent reply. He never had an ache or
+pain, ate his food with gusto, and ruled his brothers with a rod of
+iron. "Come on, Joe!" "Hurry, Ed!" These commands were issued in no
+rough but always a sure way, and Joe and Ed came. They looked up to
+Frank from the first as a master, and what he had to say was listened to
+eagerly.
+
+He was forever pondering, pondering--one fact astonishing him quite as
+much as another--for he could not figure out how this thing he had come
+into--this life--was organized. How did all these people get into the
+world? What were they doing here? Who started things, anyhow? His mother
+told him the story of Adam and Eve, but he didn't believe it. There was
+a fish-market not so very far from his home, and there, on his way to
+see his father at the bank, or conducting his brothers on after-school
+expeditions, he liked to look at a certain tank in front of one store
+where were kept odd specimens of sea-life brought in by the Delaware Bay
+fishermen. He saw once there a sea-horse--just a queer little sea-animal
+that looked somewhat like a horse--and another time he saw an electric
+eel which Benjamin Franklin's discovery had explained. One day he saw
+a squid and a lobster put in the tank, and in connection with them was
+witness to a tragedy which stayed with him all his life and cleared
+things up considerably intellectually. The lobster, it appeared from
+the talk of the idle bystanders, was offered no food, as the squid was
+considered his rightful prey. He lay at the bottom of the clear glass
+tank on the yellow sand, apparently seeing nothing--you could not
+tell in which way his beady, black buttons of eyes were looking--but
+apparently they were never off the body of the squid. The latter, pale
+and waxy in texture, looking very much like pork fat or jade, moved
+about in torpedo fashion; but his movements were apparently never out of
+the eyes of his enemy, for by degrees small portions of his body began
+to disappear, snapped off by the relentless claws of his pursuer. The
+lobster would leap like a catapult to where the squid was apparently
+idly dreaming, and the squid, very alert, would dart away, shooting out
+at the same time a cloud of ink, behind which it would disappear. It was
+not always completely successful, however. Small portions of its body
+or its tail were frequently left in the claws of the monster below.
+Fascinated by the drama, young Cowperwood came daily to watch.
+
+One morning he stood in front of the tank, his nose almost pressed to
+the glass. Only a portion of the squid remained, and his ink-bag was
+emptier than ever. In the corner of the tank sat the lobster, poised
+apparently for action.
+
+The boy stayed as long as he could, the bitter struggle fascinating him.
+Now, maybe, or in an hour or a day, the squid might die, slain by
+the lobster, and the lobster would eat him. He looked again at the
+greenish-copperish engine of destruction in the corner and wondered when
+this would be. To-night, maybe. He would come back to-night.
+
+He returned that night, and lo! the expected had happened. There was a
+little crowd around the tank. The lobster was in the corner. Before him
+was the squid cut in two and partially devoured.
+
+"He got him at last," observed one bystander. "I was standing right here
+an hour ago, and up he leaped and grabbed him. The squid was too tired.
+He wasn't quick enough. He did back up, but that lobster he calculated
+on his doing that. He's been figuring on his movements for a long time
+now. He got him to-day."
+
+Frank only stared. Too bad he had missed this. The least touch of sorrow
+for the squid came to him as he stared at it slain. Then he gazed at the
+victor.
+
+"That's the way it has to be, I guess," he commented to himself. "That
+squid wasn't quick enough." He figured it out.
+
+"The squid couldn't kill the lobster--he had no weapon. The lobster
+could kill the squid--he was heavily armed. There was nothing for the
+squid to feed on; the lobster had the squid as prey. What was the result
+to be? What else could it be? He didn't have a chance," he concluded
+finally, as he trotted on homeward.
+
+The incident made a great impression on him. It answered in a rough way
+that riddle which had been annoying him so much in the past: "How is
+life organized?" Things lived on each other--that was it. Lobsters lived
+on squids and other things. What lived on lobsters? Men, of course!
+Sure, that was it! And what lived on men? he asked himself. Was it other
+men? Wild animals lived on men. And there were Indians and cannibals.
+And some men were killed by storms and accidents. He wasn't so sure
+about men living on men; but men did kill each other. How about wars and
+street fights and mobs? He had seen a mob once. It attacked the Public
+Ledger building as he was coming home from school. His father had
+explained why. It was about the slaves. That was it! Sure, men lived on
+men. Look at the slaves. They were men. That's what all this excitement
+was about these days. Men killing other men--negroes.
+
+He went on home quite pleased with himself at his solution.
+
+"Mother!" he exclaimed, as he entered the house, "he finally got him!"
+
+"Got who? What got what?" she inquired in amazement. "Go wash your
+hands."
+
+"Why, that lobster got that squid I was telling you and pa about the
+other day."
+
+"Well, that's too bad. What makes you take any interest in such things?
+Run, wash your hands."
+
+"Well, you don't often see anything like that. I never did." He went
+out in the back yard, where there was a hydrant and a post with a little
+table on it, and on that a shining tin-pan and a bucket of water. Here
+he washed his face and hands.
+
+"Say, papa," he said to his father, later, "you know that squid?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, he's dead. The lobster got him."
+
+His father continued reading. "Well, that's too bad," he said,
+indifferently.
+
+But for days and weeks Frank thought of this and of the life he was
+tossed into, for he was already pondering on what he should be in this
+world, and how he should get along. From seeing his father count money,
+he was sure that he would like banking; and Third Street, where his
+father's office was, seemed to him the cleanest, most fascinating street
+in the world.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II
+
+
+The growth of young Frank Algernon Cowperwood was through years of what
+might be called a comfortable and happy family existence. Buttonwood
+Street, where he spent the first ten years of his life, was a lovely
+place for a boy to live. It contained mostly small two and three-story
+red brick houses, with small white marble steps leading up to the front
+door, and thin, white marble trimmings outlining the front door and
+windows. There were trees in the street--plenty of them. The road
+pavement was of big, round cobblestones, made bright and clean by the
+rains; and the sidewalks were of red brick, and always damp and cool. In
+the rear was a yard, with trees and grass and sometimes flowers, for
+the lots were almost always one hundred feet deep, and the house-fronts,
+crowding close to the pavement in front, left a comfortable space in the
+rear.
+
+The Cowperwoods, father and mother, were not so lean and narrow that
+they could not enter into the natural tendency to be happy and joyous
+with their children; and so this family, which increased at the rate of
+a child every two or three years after Frank's birth until there were
+four children, was quite an interesting affair when he was ten and they
+were ready to move into the New Market Street home. Henry Worthington
+Cowperwood's connections were increased as his position grew more
+responsible, and gradually he was becoming quite a personage. He already
+knew a number of the more prosperous merchants who dealt with his bank,
+and because as a clerk his duties necessitated his calling at other
+banking-houses, he had come to be familiar with and favorably known in
+the Bank of the United States, the Drexels, the Edwards, and others. The
+brokers knew him as representing a very sound organization, and while he
+was not considered brilliant mentally, he was known as a most reliable
+and trustworthy individual.
+
+In this progress of his father young Cowperwood definitely shared. He
+was quite often allowed to come to the bank on Saturdays, when he would
+watch with great interest the deft exchange of bills at the brokerage
+end of the business. He wanted to know where all the types of money came
+from, why discounts were demanded and received, what the men did with
+all the money they received. His father, pleased at his interest, was
+glad to explain so that even at this early age--from ten to
+fifteen--the boy gained a wide knowledge of the condition of the country
+financially--what a State bank was and what a national one; what brokers
+did; what stocks were, and why they fluctuated in value. He began to
+see clearly what was meant by money as a medium of exchange, and how all
+values were calculated according to one primary value, that of gold.
+He was a financier by instinct, and all the knowledge that pertained to
+that great art was as natural to him as the emotions and subtleties
+of life are to a poet. This medium of exchange, gold, interested him
+intensely. When his father explained to him how it was mined, he dreamed
+that he owned a gold mine and waked to wish that he did. He was likewise
+curious about stocks and bonds and he learned that some stocks and bonds
+were not worth the paper they were written on, and that others were
+worth much more than their face value indicated.
+
+"There, my son," said his father to him one day, "you won't often see
+a bundle of those around this neighborhood." He referred to a series
+of shares in the British East India Company, deposited as collateral
+at two-thirds of their face value for a loan of one hundred thousand
+dollars. A Philadelphia magnate had hypothecated them for the use of the
+ready cash. Young Cowperwood looked at them curiously. "They don't look
+like much, do they?" he commented.
+
+"They are worth just four times their face value," said his father,
+archly.
+
+Frank reexamined them. "The British East India Company," he read. "Ten
+pounds--that's pretty near fifty dollars."
+
+"Forty-eight, thirty-five," commented his father, dryly. "Well, if we
+had a bundle of those we wouldn't need to work very hard. You'll notice
+there are scarcely any pin-marks on them. They aren't sent around very
+much. I don't suppose these have ever been used as collateral before."
+
+Young Cowperwood gave them back after a time, but not without a keen
+sense of the vast ramifications of finance. What was the East India
+Company? What did it do? His father told him.
+
+At home also he listened to considerable talk of financial investment
+and adventure. He heard, for one thing, of a curious character by the
+name of Steemberger, a great beef speculator from Virginia, who was
+attracted to Philadelphia in those days by the hope of large and easy
+credits. Steemberger, so his father said, was close to Nicholas Biddle,
+Lardner, and others of the United States Bank, or at least friendly with
+them, and seemed to be able to obtain from that organization nearly all
+that he asked for. His operations in the purchase of cattle in Virginia,
+Ohio, and other States were vast, amounting, in fact, to an entire
+monopoly of the business of supplying beef to Eastern cities. He was a
+big man, enormous, with a face, his father said, something like that of
+a pig; and he wore a high beaver hat and a long frock-coat which hung
+loosely about his big chest and stomach. He had managed to force the
+price of beef up to thirty cents a pound, causing all the retailers and
+consumers to rebel, and this was what made him so conspicuous. He used
+to come to the brokerage end of the elder Cowperwood's bank, with as
+much as one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand dollars, in twelve
+months--post-notes of the United States Bank in denominations of one
+thousand, five thousand, and ten thousand dollars. These he would
+cash at from ten to twelve per cent. under their face value, having
+previously given the United States Bank his own note at four months
+for the entire amount. He would take his pay from the Third National
+brokerage counter in packages of Virginia, Ohio, and western
+Pennsylvania bank-notes at par, because he made his disbursements
+principally in those States. The Third National would in the first
+place realize a profit of from four to five per cent. on the original
+transaction; and as it took the Western bank-notes at a discount, it
+also made a profit on those.
+
+There was another man his father talked about--one Francis J. Grund, a
+famous newspaper correspondent and lobbyist at Washington, who possessed
+the faculty of unearthing secrets of every kind, especially those
+relating to financial legislation. The secrets of the President and
+the Cabinet, as well as of the Senate and the House of Representatives,
+seemed to be open to him. Grund had been about, years before, purchasing
+through one or two brokers large amounts of the various kinds of Texas
+debt certificates and bonds. The Republic of Texas, in its struggle for
+independence from Mexico, had issued bonds and certificates in great
+variety, amounting in value to ten or fifteen million dollars. Later,
+in connection with the scheme to make Texas a State of the Union, a bill
+was passed providing a contribution on the part of the United States of
+five million dollars, to be applied to the extinguishment of this old
+debt. Grund knew of this, and also of the fact that some of this debt,
+owing to the peculiar conditions of issue, was to be paid in full, while
+other portions were to be scaled down, and there was to be a false
+or pre-arranged failure to pass the bill at one session in order to
+frighten off the outsiders who might have heard and begun to buy the old
+certificates for profit. He acquainted the Third National Bank with this
+fact, and of course the information came to Cowperwood as teller. He
+told his wife about it, and so his son, in this roundabout way, heard
+it, and his clear, big eyes glistened. He wondered why his father did
+not take advantage of the situation and buy some Texas certificates for
+himself. Grund, so his father said, and possibly three or four others,
+had made over a hundred thousand dollars apiece. It wasn't exactly
+legitimate, he seemed to think, and yet it was, too. Why shouldn't such
+inside information be rewarded? Somehow, Frank realized that his father
+was too honest, too cautious, but when he grew up, he told himself, he
+was going to be a broker, or a financier, or a banker, and do some of
+these things.
+
+Just at this time there came to the Cowperwoods an uncle who had not
+previously appeared in the life of the family. He was a brother of Mrs.
+Cowperwood's--Seneca Davis by name--solid, unctuous, five feet ten in
+height, with a big, round body, a round, smooth head rather bald, a
+clear, ruddy complexion, blue eyes, and what little hair he had of
+a sandy hue. He was exceedingly well dressed according to standards
+prevailing in those days, indulging in flowered waistcoats, long,
+light-colored frock-coats, and the invariable (for a fairly prosperous
+man) high hat. Frank was fascinated by him at once. He had been a
+planter in Cuba and still owned a big ranch there and could tell him
+tales of Cuban life--rebellions, ambuscades, hand-to-hand fighting with
+machetes on his own plantation, and things of that sort. He brought
+with him a collection of Indian curies, to say nothing of an independent
+fortune and several slaves--one, named Manuel, a tall, raw-boned black,
+was his constant attendant, a bodyservant, as it were. He shipped raw
+sugar from his plantation in boat-loads to the Southwark wharves in
+Philadelphia. Frank liked him because he took life in a hearty, jovial
+way, rather rough and offhand for this somewhat quiet and reserved
+household.
+
+"Why, Nancy Arabella," he said to Mrs Cowperwood on arriving one Sunday
+afternoon, and throwing the household into joyous astonishment at his
+unexpected and unheralded appearance, "you haven't grown an inch! I
+thought when you married old brother Hy here that you were going to
+fatten up like your brother. But look at you! I swear to Heaven you
+don't weigh five pounds." And he jounced her up and down by the waist,
+much to the perturbation of the children, who had never before seen
+their mother so familiarly handled.
+
+Henry Cowperwood was exceedingly interested in and pleased at the
+arrival of this rather prosperous relative; for twelve years before,
+when he was married, Seneca Davis had not taken much notice of him.
+
+"Look at these little putty-faced Philadelphians," he continued, "They
+ought to come down to my ranch in Cuba and get tanned up. That would
+take away this waxy look." And he pinched the cheek of Anna Adelaide,
+now five years old. "I tell you, Henry, you have a rather nice place
+here." And he looked at the main room of the rather conventional
+three-story house with a critical eye.
+
+Measuring twenty by twenty-four and finished in imitation cherry, with a
+set of new Sheraton parlor furniture it presented a quaintly harmonious
+aspect. Since Henry had become teller the family had acquired a piano--a
+decided luxury in those days--brought from Europe; and it was intended
+that Anna Adelaide, when she was old enough, should learn to play. There
+were a few uncommon ornaments in the room--a gas chandelier for one
+thing, a glass bowl with goldfish in it, some rare and highly polished
+shells, and a marble Cupid bearing a basket of flowers. It was summer
+time, the windows were open, and the trees outside, with their widely
+extended green branches, were pleasantly visible shading the brick
+sidewalk. Uncle Seneca strolled out into the back yard.
+
+"Well, this is pleasant enough," he observed, noting a large elm and
+seeing that the yard was partially paved with brick and enclosed within
+brick walls, up the sides of which vines were climbing. "Where's your
+hammock? Don't you string a hammock here in summer? Down on my veranda
+at San Pedro I have six or seven."
+
+"We hadn't thought of putting one up because of the neighbors, but it
+would be nice," agreed Mrs. Cowperwood. "Henry will have to get one."
+
+"I have two or three in my trunks over at the hotel. My niggers make 'em
+down there. I'll send Manuel over with them in the morning."
+
+He plucked at the vines, tweaked Edward's ear, told Joseph, the second
+boy, he would bring him an Indian tomahawk, and went back into the
+house.
+
+"This is the lad that interests me," he said, after a time, laying a
+hand on the shoulder of Frank. "What did you name him in full, Henry?"
+
+"Frank Algernon."
+
+"Well, you might have named him after me. There's something to this boy.
+How would you like to come down to Cuba and be a planter, my boy?"
+
+"I'm not so sure that I'd like to," replied the eldest.
+
+"Well, that's straight-spoken. What have you against it?"
+
+"Nothing, except that I don't know anything about it."
+
+"What do you know?"
+
+The boy smiled wisely. "Not very much, I guess."
+
+"Well, what are you interested in?"
+
+"Money!"
+
+"Aha! What's bred in the bone, eh? Get something of that from your
+father, eh? Well, that's a good trait. And spoken like a man, too! We'll
+hear more about that later. Nancy, you're breeding a financier here, I
+think. He talks like one."
+
+He looked at Frank carefully now. There was real force in that sturdy
+young body--no doubt of it. Those large, clear gray eyes were full of
+intelligence. They indicated much and revealed nothing.
+
+"A smart boy!" he said to Henry, his brother-in-law. "I like his get-up.
+You have a bright family."
+
+Henry Cowperwood smiled dryly. This man, if he liked Frank, might do
+much for the boy. He might eventually leave him some of his fortune. He
+was wealthy and single.
+
+Uncle Seneca became a frequent visitor to the house--he and his negro
+body-guard, Manuel, who spoke both English and Spanish, much to the
+astonishment of the children; and he took an increasing interest in
+Frank.
+
+"When that boy gets old enough to find out what he wants to do, I think
+I'll help him to do it," he observed to his sister one day; and she told
+him she was very grateful. He talked to Frank about his studies,
+and found that he cared little for books or most of the study he was
+compelled to pursue. Grammar was an abomination. Literature silly. Latin
+was of no use. History--well, it was fairly interesting.
+
+"I like bookkeeping and arithmetic," he observed. "I want to get out and
+get to work, though. That's what I want to do."
+
+"You're pretty young, my son," observed his uncle. "You're only how old
+now? Fourteen?"
+
+"Thirteen."
+
+"Well, you can't leave school much before sixteen. You'll do better
+if you stay until seventeen or eighteen. It can't do you any harm. You
+won't be a boy again."
+
+"I don't want to be a boy. I want to get to work."
+
+"Don't go too fast, son. You'll be a man soon enough. You want to be a
+banker, do you?"
+
+"Yes, sir!"
+
+"Well, when the time comes, if everything is all right and you've
+behaved yourself and you still want to, I'll help you get a start in
+business. If I were you and were going to be a banker, I'd first spend
+a year or so in some good grain and commission house. There's good
+training to be had there. You'll learn a lot that you ought to know.
+And, meantime, keep your health and learn all you can. Wherever I am,
+you let me know, and I'll write and find out how you've been conducting
+yourself."
+
+He gave the boy a ten-dollar gold piece with which to start a
+bank-account. And, not strange to say, he liked the whole Cowperwood
+household much better for this dynamic, self-sufficient, sterling youth
+who was an integral part of it.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III
+
+
+It was in his thirteenth year that young Cowperwood entered into his
+first business venture. Walking along Front Street one day, a street
+of importing and wholesale establishments, he saw an auctioneer's flag
+hanging out before a wholesale grocery and from the interior came the
+auctioneer's voice: "What am I bid for this exceptional lot of Java
+coffee, twenty-two bags all told, which is now selling in the market for
+seven dollars and thirty-two cents a bag wholesale? What am I bid? What
+am I bid? The whole lot must go as one. What am I bid?"
+
+"Eighteen dollars," suggested a trader standing near the door, more to
+start the bidding than anything else. Frank paused.
+
+"Twenty-two!" called another.
+
+"Thirty!" a third. "Thirty-five!" a fourth, and so up to seventy-five,
+less than half of what it was worth.
+
+"I'm bid seventy-five! I'm bid seventy-five!" called the auctioneer,
+loudly. "Any other offers? Going once at seventy-five; am I offered
+eighty? Going twice at seventy-five, and"--he paused, one hand raised
+dramatically. Then he brought it down with a slap in the palm of the
+other--"sold to Mr. Silas Gregory for seventy-five. Make a note of that,
+Jerry," he called to his red-haired, freckle-faced clerk beside him.
+Then he turned to another lot of grocery staples--this time starch,
+eleven barrels of it.
+
+Young Cowperwood was making a rapid calculation. If, as the auctioneer
+said, coffee was worth seven dollars and thirty-two cents a bag in the
+open market, and this buyer was getting this coffee for seventy-five
+dollars, he was making then and there eighty-six dollars and four cents,
+to say nothing of what his profit would be if he sold it at retail. As
+he recalled, his mother was paying twenty-eight cents a pound. He drew
+nearer, his books tucked under his arm, and watched these operations
+closely. The starch, as he soon heard, was valued at ten dollars a
+barrel, and it only brought six. Some kegs of vinegar were knocked down
+at one-third their value, and so on. He began to wish he could bid; but
+he had no money, just a little pocket change. The auctioneer noticed
+him standing almost directly under his nose, and was impressed with the
+stolidity--solidity--of the boy's expression.
+
+"I am going to offer you now a fine lot of Castile soap--seven cases,
+no less--which, as you know, if you know anything about soap, is now
+selling at fourteen cents a bar. This soap is worth anywhere at this
+moment eleven dollars and seventy-five cents a case. What am I bid?
+What am I bid? What am I bid?" He was talking fast in the usual style
+of auctioneers, with much unnecessary emphasis; but Cowperwood was not
+unduly impressed. He was already rapidly calculating for himself. Seven
+cases at eleven dollars and seventy-five cents would be worth just
+eighty-two dollars and twenty-five cents; and if it went at half--if it
+went at half--
+
+"Twelve dollars," commented one bidder.
+
+"Fifteen," bid another.
+
+"Twenty," called a third.
+
+"Twenty-five," a fourth.
+
+Then it came to dollar raises, for Castile soap was not such a vital
+commodity. "Twenty-six." "Twenty-seven." "Twenty-eight." "Twenty-nine."
+There was a pause. "Thirty," observed young Cowperwood, decisively.
+
+The auctioneer, a short lean faced, spare man with bushy hair and an
+incisive eye, looked at him curiously and almost incredulously but
+without pausing. He had, somehow, in spite of himself, been impressed by
+the boy's peculiar eye; and now he felt, without knowing why, that the
+offer was probably legitimate enough, and that the boy had the money. He
+might be the son of a grocer.
+
+"I'm bid thirty! I'm bid thirty! I'm bid thirty for this fine lot of
+Castile soap. It's a fine lot. It's worth fourteen cents a bar. Will
+any one bid thirty-one? Will any one bid thirty-one? Will any one bid
+thirty-one?"
+
+"Thirty-one," said a voice.
+
+"Thirty-two," replied Cowperwood. The same process was repeated.
+
+"I'm bid thirty-two! I'm bid thirty-two! I'm bid thirty-two! Will
+anybody bid thirty-three? It's fine soap. Seven cases of fine Castile
+soap. Will anybody bid thirty-three?"
+
+Young Cowperwood's mind was working. He had no money with him; but his
+father was teller of the Third National Bank, and he could quote him as
+reference. He could sell all of his soap to the family grocer, surely;
+or, if not, to other grocers. Other people were anxious to get this soap
+at this price. Why not he?
+
+The auctioneer paused.
+
+"Thirty-two once! Am I bid thirty-three? Thirty-two twice! Am I bid
+thirty-three? Thirty-two three times! Seven fine cases of soap. Am I bid
+anything more? Once, twice! Three times! Am I bid anything more?"--his
+hand was up again--"and sold to Mr.--?" He leaned over and looked
+curiously into the face of his young bidder.
+
+"Frank Cowperwood, son of the teller of the Third National Bank,"
+replied the boy, decisively.
+
+"Oh, yes," said the man, fixed by his glance.
+
+"Will you wait while I run up to the bank and get the money?"
+
+"Yes. Don't be gone long. If you're not here in an hour I'll sell it
+again."
+
+Young Cowperwood made no reply. He hurried out and ran fast; first, to
+his mother's grocer, whose store was within a block of his home.
+
+Thirty feet from the door he slowed up, put on a nonchalant air, and
+strolling in, looked about for Castile soap. There it was, the same
+kind, displayed in a box and looking just as his soap looked.
+
+"How much is this a bar, Mr. Dalrymple?" he inquired.
+
+"Sixteen cents," replied that worthy.
+
+"If I could sell you seven boxes for sixty-two dollars just like this,
+would you take them?"
+
+"The same soap?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+Mr. Dalrymple calculated a moment.
+
+"Yes, I think I would," he replied, cautiously.
+
+"Would you pay me to-day?"
+
+"I'd give you my note for it. Where is the soap?"
+
+He was perplexed and somewhat astonished by this unexpected proposition
+on the part of his neighbor's son. He knew Mr. Cowperwood well--and
+Frank also.
+
+"Will you take it if I bring it to you to-day?"
+
+"Yes, I will," he replied. "Are you going into the soap business?"
+
+"No. But I know where I can get some of that soap cheap."
+
+He hurried out again and ran to his father's bank. It was after banking
+hours; but he knew how to get in, and he knew that his father would be
+glad to see him make thirty dollars. He only wanted to borrow the money
+for a day.
+
+"What's the trouble, Frank?" asked his father, looking up from his desk
+when he appeared, breathless and red faced.
+
+"I want you to loan me thirty-two dollars! Will you?"
+
+"Why, yes, I might. What do you want to do with it?"
+
+"I want to buy some soap--seven boxes of Castile soap. I know where I
+can get it and sell it. Mr. Dalrymple will take it. He's already offered
+me sixty-two for it. I can get it for thirty-two. Will you let me have
+the money? I've got to run back and pay the auctioneer."
+
+His father smiled. This was the most business-like attitude he had seen
+his son manifest. He was so keen, so alert for a boy of thirteen.
+
+"Why, Frank," he said, going over to a drawer where some bills were,
+"are you going to become a financier already? You're sure you're not
+going to lose on this? You know what you're doing, do you?"
+
+"You let me have the money, father, will you?" he pleaded. "I'll show
+you in a little bit. Just let me have it. You can trust me."
+
+He was like a young hound on the scent of game. His father could not
+resist his appeal.
+
+"Why, certainly, Frank," he replied. "I'll trust you." And he counted
+out six five-dollar certificates of the Third National's own issue and
+two ones. "There you are."
+
+Frank ran out of the building with a briefly spoken thanks and returned
+to the auction room as fast as his legs would carry him. When he came
+in, sugar was being auctioned. He made his way to the auctioneer's
+clerk.
+
+"I want to pay for that soap," he suggested.
+
+"Now?"
+
+"Yes. Will you give me a receipt?"
+
+"Yep."
+
+"Do you deliver this?"
+
+"No. No delivery. You have to take it away in twenty-four hours."
+
+That difficulty did not trouble him.
+
+"All right," he said, and pocketed his paper testimony of purchase.
+
+The auctioneer watched him as he went out. In half an hour he was back
+with a drayman--an idle levee-wharf hanger-on who was waiting for a job.
+
+Frank had bargained with him to deliver the soap for sixty cents. In
+still another half-hour he was before the door of the astonished Mr.
+Dalrymple whom he had come out and look at the boxes before attempting
+to remove them. His plan was to have them carried on to his own home
+if the operation for any reason failed to go through. Though it was his
+first great venture, he was cool as glass.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Dalrymple, scratching his gray head reflectively. "Yes,
+that's the same soap. I'll take it. I'll be as good as my word. Where'd
+you get it, Frank?"
+
+"At Bixom's auction up here," he replied, frankly and blandly.
+
+Mr. Dalrymple had the drayman bring in the soap; and after some
+formality--because the agent in this case was a boy--made out his note
+at thirty days and gave it to him.
+
+Frank thanked him and pocketed the note. He decided to go back to his
+father's bank and discount it, as he had seen others doing, thereby
+paying his father back and getting his own profit in ready money. It
+couldn't be done ordinarily on any day after business hours; but his
+father would make an exception in his case.
+
+He hurried back, whistling; and his father glanced up smiling when he
+came in.
+
+"Well, Frank, how'd you make out?" he asked.
+
+"Here's a note at thirty days," he said, producing the paper Dalrymple
+had given him. "Do you want to discount that for me? You can take your
+thirty-two out of that."
+
+His father examined it closely. "Sixty-two dollars!" he observed. "Mr.
+Dalrymple! That's good paper! Yes, I can. It will cost you ten per
+cent.," he added, jestingly. "Why don't you just hold it, though? I'll
+let you have the thirty-two dollars until the end of the month."
+
+"Oh, no," said his son, "you discount it and take your money. I may want
+mine."
+
+His father smiled at his business-like air. "All right," he said. "I'll
+fix it to-morrow. Tell me just how you did this." And his son told him.
+
+At seven o'clock that evening Frank's mother heard about it, and in due
+time Uncle Seneca.
+
+"What'd I tell you, Cowperwood?" he asked. "He has stuff in him, that
+youngster. Look out for him."
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood looked at her boy curiously at dinner. Was this the
+son she had nursed at her bosom not so very long before? Surely he was
+developing rapidly.
+
+"Well, Frank, I hope you can do that often," she said.
+
+"I hope so, too, ma," was his rather noncommittal reply.
+
+Auction sales were not to be discovered every day, however, and his home
+grocer was only open to one such transaction in a reasonable period of
+time, but from the very first young Cowperwood knew how to make money.
+He took subscriptions for a boys' paper; handled the agency for the sale
+of a new kind of ice-skate, and once organized a band of neighborhood
+youths into a union for the purpose of purchasing their summer straw
+hats at wholesale. It was not his idea that he could get rich by saving.
+From the first he had the notion that liberal spending was better, and
+that somehow he would get along.
+
+It was in this year, or a little earlier, that he began to take an
+interest in girls. He had from the first a keen eye for the beautiful
+among them; and, being good-looking and magnetic himself, it was not
+difficult for him to attract the sympathetic interest of those in whom
+he was interested. A twelve-year old girl, Patience Barlow, who lived
+further up the street, was the first to attract his attention or be
+attracted by him. Black hair and snapping black eyes were her portion,
+with pretty pigtails down her back, and dainty feet and ankles to match
+a dainty figure. She was a Quakeress, the daughter of Quaker parents,
+wearing a demure little bonnet. Her disposition, however, was vivacious,
+and she liked this self-reliant, self-sufficient, straight-spoken boy.
+One day, after an exchange of glances from time to time, he said, with a
+smile and the courage that was innate in him: "You live up my way, don't
+you?"
+
+"Yes," she replied, a little flustered--this last manifested in a
+nervous swinging of her school-bag--"I live at number one-forty-one."
+
+"I know the house," he said. "I've seen you go in there. You go to the
+same school my sister does, don't you? Aren't you Patience Barlow?" He
+had heard some of the boys speak her name. "Yes. How do you know?"
+
+"Oh, I've heard," he smiled. "I've seen you. Do you like licorice?"
+
+He fished in his coat and pulled out some fresh sticks that were sold at
+the time.
+
+"Thank you," she said, sweetly, taking one.
+
+"It isn't very good. I've been carrying it a long time. I had some taffy
+the other day."
+
+"Oh, it's all right," she replied, chewing the end of hers.
+
+"Don't you know my sister, Anna Cowperwood?" he recurred, by way of
+self-introduction. "She's in a lower grade than you are, but I thought
+maybe you might have seen her."
+
+"I think I know who she is. I've seen her coming home from school."
+
+"I live right over there," he confided, pointing to his own home as he
+drew near to it, as if she didn't know. "I'll see you around here now, I
+guess."
+
+"Do you know Ruth Merriam?" she asked, when he was about ready to turn
+off into the cobblestone road to reach his own door.
+
+"No, why?"
+
+"She's giving a party next Tuesday," she volunteered, seemingly
+pointlessly, but only seemingly.
+
+"Where does she live?"
+
+"There in twenty-eight."
+
+"I'd like to go," he affirmed, warmly, as he swung away from her.
+
+"Maybe she'll ask you," she called back, growing more courageous as the
+distance between them widened. "I'll ask her."
+
+"Thanks," he smiled.
+
+And she began to run gayly onward.
+
+He looked after her with a smiling face. She was very pretty. He felt
+a keen desire to kiss her, and what might transpire at Ruth Merriam's
+party rose vividly before his eyes.
+
+This was just one of the early love affairs, or puppy loves, that held
+his mind from time to time in the mixture of after events. Patience
+Barlow was kissed by him in secret ways many times before he found
+another girl. She and others of the street ran out to play in the snow
+of a winter's night, or lingered after dusk before her own door when the
+days grew dark early. It was so easy to catch and kiss her then, and
+to talk to her foolishly at parties. Then came Dora Fitler, when he was
+sixteen years old and she was fourteen; and Marjorie Stafford, when
+he was seventeen and she was fifteen. Dora Fitter was a brunette, and
+Marjorie Stafford was as fair as the morning, with bright-red cheeks,
+bluish-gray eyes, and flaxen hair, and as plump as a partridge.
+
+It was at seventeen that he decided to leave school. He had not
+graduated. He had only finished the third year in high school; but he
+had had enough. Ever since his thirteenth year his mind had been on
+finance; that is, in the form in which he saw it manifested in Third
+Street. There had been odd things which he had been able to do to earn
+a little money now and then. His Uncle Seneca had allowed him to act
+as assistant weigher at the sugar-docks in Southwark, where
+three-hundred-pound bags were weighed into the government bonded
+warehouses under the eyes of United States inspectors. In certain
+emergencies he was called to assist his father, and was paid for it. He
+even made an arrangement with Mr. Dalrymple to assist him on Saturdays;
+but when his father became cashier of his bank, receiving an income
+of four thousand dollars a year, shortly after Frank had reached his
+fifteenth year, it was self-evident that Frank could no longer continue
+in such lowly employment.
+
+Just at this time his Uncle Seneca, again back in Philadelphia and
+stouter and more domineering than ever, said to him one day:
+
+"Now, Frank, if you're ready for it, I think I know where there's a good
+opening for you. There won't be any salary in it for the first year, but
+if you mind your p's and q's, they'll probably give you something as a
+gift at the end of that time. Do you know of Henry Waterman & Company
+down in Second Street?"
+
+"I've seen their place."
+
+"Well, they tell me they might make a place for you as a bookkeeper.
+They're brokers in a way--grain and commission men. You say you want
+to get in that line. When school's out, you go down and see Mr.
+Waterman--tell him I sent you, and he'll make a place for you, I think.
+Let me know how you come out."
+
+Uncle Seneca was married now, having, because of his wealth, attracted
+the attention of a poor but ambitious Philadelphia society matron;
+and because of this the general connections of the Cowperwoods were
+considered vastly improved. Henry Cowperwood was planning to move with
+his family rather far out on North Front Street, which commanded at that
+time a beautiful view of the river and was witnessing the construction
+of some charming dwellings. His four thousand dollars a year in these
+pre-Civil-War times was considerable. He was making what he considered
+judicious and conservative investments and because of his cautious,
+conservative, clock-like conduct it was thought he might reasonably
+expect some day to be vice-president and possibly president, of his
+bank.
+
+This offer of Uncle Seneca to get him in with Waterman & Company seemed
+to Frank just the thing to start him off right. So he reported to
+that organization at 74 South Second Street one day in June, and
+was cordially received by Mr. Henry Waterman, Sr. There was, he soon
+learned, a Henry Waterman, Jr., a young man of twenty-five, and a George
+Waterman, a brother, aged fifty, who was the confidential inside man.
+Henry Waterman, Sr., a man of fifty-five years of age, was the general
+head of the organization, inside and out--traveling about the nearby
+territory to see customers when that was necessary, coming into final
+counsel in cases where his brother could not adjust matters, suggesting
+and advising new ventures which his associates and hirelings carried
+out. He was, to look at, a phlegmatic type of man--short, stout,
+wrinkled about the eyes, rather protuberant as to stomach, red-necked,
+red-faced, the least bit popeyed, but shrewd, kindly, good-natured, and
+witty. He had, because of his naturally common-sense ideas and rather
+pleasing disposition built up a sound and successful business here. He
+was getting strong in years and would gladly have welcomed the hearty
+cooperation of his son, if the latter had been entirely suited to the
+business.
+
+He was not, however. Not as democratic, as quick-witted, or as pleased
+with the work in hand as was his father, the business actually offended
+him. And if the trade had been left to his care, it would have rapidly
+disappeared. His father foresaw this, was grieved, and was hoping
+some young man would eventually appear who would be interested in the
+business, handle it in the same spirit in which it had been handled, and
+who would not crowd his son out.
+
+Then came young Cowperwood, spoken of to him by Seneca Davis. He looked
+him over critically. Yes, this boy might do, he thought. There was
+something easy and sufficient about him. He did not appear to be in the
+least flustered or disturbed. He knew how to keep books, he said, though
+he knew nothing of the details of the grain and commission business. It
+was interesting to him. He would like to try it.
+
+"I like that fellow," Henry Waterman confided to his brother the moment
+Frank had gone with instructions to report the following morning.
+"There's something to him. He's the cleanest, briskest, most alive thing
+that's walked in here in many a day."
+
+"Yes," said George, a much leaner and slightly taller man, with
+dark, blurry, reflective eyes and a thin, largely vanished growth of
+brownish-black hair which contrasted strangely with the egg-shaped
+whiteness of his bald head. "Yes, he's a nice young man. It's a wonder
+his father don't take him in his bank."
+
+"Well, he may not be able to," said his brother. "He's only the cashier
+there."
+
+"That's right."
+
+"Well, we'll give him a trial. I bet anything he makes good. He's a
+likely-looking youth."
+
+Henry got up and walked out into the main entrance looking into Second
+Street. The cool cobble pavements, shaded from the eastern sun by the
+wall of buildings on the east--of which his was a part--the noisy trucks
+and drays, the busy crowds hurrying to and fro, pleased him. He looked
+at the buildings over the way--all three and four stories, and largely
+of gray stone and crowded with life--and thanked his stars that he
+had originally located in so prosperous a neighborhood. If he had only
+brought more property at the time he bought this!
+
+"I wish that Cowperwood boy would turn out to be the kind of man I
+want," he observed to himself, meditatively. "He could save me a lot of
+running these days."
+
+Curiously, after only three or four minutes of conversation with the
+boy, he sensed this marked quality of efficiency. Something told him he
+would do well.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV
+
+
+The appearance of Frank Cowperwood at this time was, to say the least,
+prepossessing and satisfactory. Nature had destined him to be about five
+feet ten inches tall. His head was large, shapely, notably commercial in
+aspect, thickly covered with crisp, dark-brown hair and fixed on a pair
+of square shoulders and a stocky body. Already his eyes had the look
+that subtle years of thought bring. They were inscrutable. You could
+tell nothing by his eyes. He walked with a light, confident, springy
+step. Life had given him no severe shocks nor rude awakenings. He had
+not been compelled to suffer illness or pain or deprivation of any kind.
+He saw people richer than himself, but he hoped to be rich. His family
+was respected, his father well placed. He owed no man anything. Once he
+had let a small note of his become overdue at the bank, but his father
+raised such a row that he never forgot it. "I would rather crawl on
+my hands and knees than let my paper go to protest," the old gentleman
+observed; and this fixed in his mind what scarcely needed to be so
+sharply emphasized--the significance of credit. No paper of his ever
+went to protest or became overdue after that through any negligence of
+his.
+
+He turned out to be the most efficient clerk that the house of Waterman
+& Co. had ever known. They put him on the books at first as assistant
+bookkeeper, vice Mr. Thomas Trixler, dismissed, and in two weeks George
+said: "Why don't we make Cowperwood head bookkeeper? He knows more in a
+minute than that fellow Sampson will ever know."
+
+"All right, make the transfer, George, but don't fuss so. He won't be a
+bookkeeper long, though. I want to see if he can't handle some of these
+transfers for me after a bit."
+
+The books of Messrs. Waterman & Co., though fairly complicated, were
+child's play to Frank. He went through them with an ease and rapidity
+which surprised his erstwhile superior, Mr. Sampson.
+
+"Why, that fellow," Sampson told another clerk on the first day he had
+seen Cowperwood work, "he's too brisk. He's going to make a bad break. I
+know that kind. Wait a little bit until we get one of those rush credit
+and transfer days." But the bad break Mr. Sampson anticipated did not
+materialize. In less than a week Cowperwood knew the financial condition
+of the Messrs. Waterman as well as they did--better--to a dollar. He
+knew how their accounts were distributed; from what section they drew
+the most business; who sent poor produce and good--the varying prices
+for a year told that. To satisfy himself he ran back over certain
+accounts in the ledger, verifying his suspicions. Bookkeeping did not
+interest him except as a record, a demonstration of a firm's life. He
+knew he would not do this long. Something else would happen; but he saw
+instantly what the grain and commission business was--every detail of
+it. He saw where, for want of greater activity in offering the goods
+consigned--quicker communication with shippers and buyers, a better
+working agreement with surrounding commission men--this house, or,
+rather, its customers, for it had nothing, endured severe losses. A man
+would ship a tow-boat or a car-load of fruit or vegetables against a
+supposedly rising or stable market; but if ten other men did the same
+thing at the same time, or other commission men were flooded with
+fruit or vegetables, and there was no way of disposing of them within
+a reasonable time, the price had to fall. Every day was bringing its
+special consignments. It instantly occurred to him that he would be
+of much more use to the house as an outside man disposing of heavy
+shipments, but he hesitated to say anything so soon. More than likely,
+things would adjust themselves shortly.
+
+The Watermans, Henry and George, were greatly pleased with the way
+he handled their accounts. There was a sense of security in his very
+presence. He soon began to call Brother George's attention to the
+condition of certain accounts, making suggestions as to their possible
+liquidation or discontinuance, which pleased that individual greatly. He
+saw a way of lightening his own labors through the intelligence of
+this youth; while at the same time developing a sense of pleasant
+companionship with him.
+
+Brother Henry was for trying him on the outside. It was not always
+possible to fill the orders with the stock on hand, and somebody had to
+go into the street or the Exchange to buy and usually he did this.
+One morning, when way-bills indicated a probable glut of flour and a
+shortage of grain--Frank saw it first--the elder Waterman called him
+into his office and said:
+
+"Frank, I wish you would see what you can do with this condition that
+confronts us on the street. By to-morrow we're going to be overcrowded
+with flour. We can't be paying storage charges, and our orders won't eat
+it up. We're short on grain. Maybe you could trade out the flour to some
+of those brokers and get me enough grain to fill these orders."
+
+"I'd like to try," said his employee.
+
+He knew from his books where the various commission-houses were. He knew
+what the local merchants' exchange, and the various commission-merchants
+who dealt in these things, had to offer. This was the thing he liked to
+do--adjust a trade difficulty of this nature. It was pleasant to be out
+in the air again, to be going from door to door. He objected to desk
+work and pen work and poring over books. As he said in later years, his
+brain was his office. He hurried to the principal commission-merchants,
+learning what the state of the flour market was, and offering his
+surplus at the very rate he would have expected to get for it if
+there had been no prospective glut. Did they want to buy for immediate
+delivery (forty-eight hours being immediate) six hundred barrels of
+prime flour? He would offer it at nine dollars straight, in the barrel.
+They did not. He offered it in fractions, and some agreed to take one
+portion, and some another. In about an hour he was all secure on this
+save one lot of two hundred barrels, which he decided to offer in one
+lump to a famous operator named Genderman with whom his firm did no
+business. The latter, a big man with curly gray hair, a gnarled and
+yet pudgy face, and little eyes that peeked out shrewdly through fat
+eyelids, looked at Cowperwood curiously when he came in.
+
+"What's your name, young man?" he asked, leaning back in his wooden
+chair.
+
+"Cowperwood."
+
+"So you work for Waterman & Company? You want to make a record, no
+doubt. That's why you came to me?"
+
+Cowperwood merely smiled.
+
+"Well, I'll take your flour. I need it. Bill it to me."
+
+Cowperwood hurried out. He went direct to a firm of brokers in Walnut
+Street, with whom his firm dealt, and had them bid in the grain he
+needed at prevailing rates. Then he returned to the office.
+
+"Well," said Henry Waterman, when he reported, "you did that quick. Sold
+old Genderman two hundred barrels direct, did you? That's doing pretty
+well. He isn't on our books, is he?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"I thought not. Well, if you can do that sort of work on the street you
+won't be on the books long."
+
+Thereafter, in the course of time, Frank became a familiar figure in
+the commission district and on 'change (the Produce Exchange), striking
+balances for his employer, picking up odd lots of things they needed,
+soliciting new customers, breaking gluts by disposing of odd lots
+in unexpected quarters. Indeed the Watermans were astonished at
+his facility in this respect. He had an uncanny faculty for getting
+appreciative hearings, making friends, being introduced into new realms.
+New life began to flow through the old channels of the Waterman company.
+Their customers were better satisfied. George was for sending him out
+into the rural districts to drum up trade, and this was eventually done.
+
+Near Christmas-time Henry said to George: "We'll have to make Cowperwood
+a liberal present. He hasn't any salary. How would five hundred dollars
+do?"
+
+"That's pretty much, seeing the way times are, but I guess he's worth
+it. He's certainly done everything we've expected, and more. He's cut
+out for this business."
+
+"What does he say about it? Do you ever hear him say whether he's
+satisfied?"
+
+"Oh, he likes it pretty much, I guess. You see him as much as I do."
+
+"Well, we'll make it five hundred. That fellow wouldn't make a bad
+partner in this business some day. He has the real knack for it. You see
+that he gets the five hundred dollars with a word from both of us."
+
+So the night before Christmas, as Cowperwood was looking over some
+way-bills and certificates of consignment preparatory to leaving all in
+order for the intervening holiday, George Waterman came to his desk.
+
+"Hard at it," he said, standing under the flaring gaslight and looking
+at his brisk employee with great satisfaction.
+
+It was early evening, and the snow was making a speckled pattern through
+the windows in front.
+
+"Just a few points before I wind up," smiled Cowperwood.
+
+"My brother and I have been especially pleased with the way you have
+handled the work here during the past six months. We wanted to make
+some acknowledgment, and we thought about five hundred dollars would be
+right. Beginning January first we'll give you a regular salary of thirty
+dollars a week."
+
+"I'm certainly much obliged to you," said Frank. "I didn't expect that
+much. It's a good deal. I've learned considerable here that I'm glad to
+know."
+
+"Oh, don't mention it. We know you've earned it. You can stay with us as
+long as you like. We're glad to have you with us."
+
+Cowperwood smiled his hearty, genial smile. He was feeling very
+comfortable under this evidence of approval. He looked bright and cheery
+in his well-made clothes of English tweed.
+
+On the way home that evening he speculated as to the nature of this
+business. He knew he wasn't going to stay there long, even in spite of
+this gift and promise of salary. They were grateful, of course; but
+why shouldn't they be? He was efficient, he knew that; under him things
+moved smoothly. It never occurred to him that he belonged in the realm
+of clerkdom. Those people were the kind of beings who ought to work for
+him, and who would. There was nothing savage in his attitude, no rage
+against fate, no dark fear of failure. These two men he worked for
+were already nothing more than characters in his eyes--their
+business significated itself. He could see their weaknesses and their
+shortcomings as a much older man might have viewed a boy's.
+
+After dinner that evening, before leaving to call on his girl, Marjorie
+Stafford, he told his father of the gift of five hundred dollars and the
+promised salary.
+
+"That's splendid," said the older man. "You're doing better than I
+thought. I suppose you'll stay there."
+
+"No, I won't. I think I'll quit sometime next year."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Well, it isn't exactly what I want to do. It's all right, but I'd
+rather try my hand at brokerage, I think. That appeals to me."
+
+"Don't you think you are doing them an injustice not to tell them?"
+
+"Not at all. They need me." All the while surveying himself in a mirror,
+straightening his tie and adjusting his coat.
+
+"Have you told your mother?"
+
+"No. I'm going to do it now."
+
+He went out into the dining-room, where his mother was, and slipping his
+arms around her little body, said: "What do you think, Mammy?"
+
+"Well, what?" she asked, looking affectionately into his eyes.
+
+"I got five hundred dollars to-night, and I get thirty a week next year.
+What do you want for Christmas?"
+
+"You don't say! Isn't that nice! Isn't that fine! They must like you.
+You're getting to be quite a man, aren't you?"
+
+"What do you want for Christmas?"
+
+"Nothing. I don't want anything. I have my children."
+
+He smiled. "All right. Then nothing it is."
+
+But she knew he would buy her something.
+
+He went out, pausing at the door to grab playfully at his sister's
+waist, and saying that he'd be back about midnight, hurried to
+Marjorie's house, because he had promised to take her to a show.
+
+"Anything you want for Christmas this year, Margy?" he asked, after
+kissing her in the dimly-lighted hall. "I got five hundred to-night."
+
+She was an innocent little thing, only fifteen, no guile, no shrewdness.
+
+"Oh, you needn't get me anything."
+
+"Needn't I?" he asked, squeezing her waist and kissing her mouth again.
+
+It was fine to be getting on this way in the world and having such a
+good time.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V
+
+
+The following October, having passed his eighteenth year by nearly six
+months, and feeling sure that he would never want anything to do with
+the grain and commission business as conducted by the Waterman Company,
+Cowperwood decided to sever his relations with them and enter the employ
+of Tighe & Company, bankers and brokers.
+
+Cowperwood's meeting with Tighe & Company had come about in the ordinary
+pursuance of his duties as outside man for Waterman & Company. From the
+first Mr. Tighe took a keen interest in this subtle young emissary.
+
+"How's business with you people?" he would ask, genially; or, "Find that
+you're getting many I.O.U.'s these days?"
+
+Because of the unsettled condition of the country, the over-inflation of
+securities, the slavery agitation, and so forth, there were prospects
+of hard times. And Tighe--he could not have told you why--was convinced
+that this young man was worth talking to in regard to all this. He was
+not really old enough to know, and yet he did know.
+
+"Oh, things are going pretty well with us, thank you, Mr. Tighe,"
+Cowperwood would answer.
+
+"I tell you," he said to Cowperwood one morning, "this slavery
+agitation, if it doesn't stop, is going to cause trouble."
+
+A negro slave belonging to a visitor from Cuba had just been abducted
+and set free, because the laws of Pennsylvania made freedom the right of
+any negro brought into the state, even though in transit only to another
+portion of the country, and there was great excitement because of it.
+Several persons had been arrested, and the newspapers were discussing it
+roundly.
+
+"I don't think the South is going to stand for this thing. It's making
+trouble in our business, and it must be doing the same thing for others.
+We'll have secession here, sure as fate, one of these days." He talked
+with the vaguest suggestion of a brogue.
+
+"It's coming, I think," said Cowperwood, quietly. "It can't be healed,
+in my judgment. The negro isn't worth all this excitement, but they'll
+go on agitating for him--emotional people always do this. They haven't
+anything else to do. It's hurting our Southern trade."
+
+"I thought so. That's what people tell me."
+
+He turned to a new customer as young Cowperwood went out, but again
+the boy struck him as being inexpressibly sound and deep-thinking on
+financial matters. "If that young fellow wanted a place, I'd give it to
+him," he thought.
+
+Finally, one day he said to him: "How would you like to try your hand at
+being a floor man for me in 'change? I need a young man here. One of my
+clerks is leaving."
+
+"I'd like it," replied Cowperwood, smiling and looking intensely
+gratified. "I had thought of speaking to you myself some time."
+
+"Well, if you're ready and can make the change, the place is open. Come
+any time you like."
+
+"I'll have to give a reasonable notice at the other place," Cowperwood
+said, quietly. "Would you mind waiting a week or two?"
+
+"Not at all. It isn't as important as that. Come as soon as you can
+straighten things out. I don't want to inconvenience your employers."
+
+It was only two weeks later that Frank took his departure from Waterman
+& Company, interested and yet in no way flustered by his new prospects.
+And great was the grief of Mr. George Waterman. As for Mr. Henry
+Waterman, he was actually irritated by this defection.
+
+"Why, I thought," he exclaimed, vigorously, when informed by Cowperwood
+of his decision, "that you liked the business. Is it a matter of
+salary?"
+
+"No, not at all, Mr. Waterman. It's just that I want to get into the
+straight-out brokerage business."
+
+"Well, that certainly is too bad. I'm sorry. I don't want to urge you
+against your own best interests. You know what you are doing. But George
+and I had about agreed to offer you an interest in this thing after a
+bit. Now you're picking up and leaving. Why, damn it, man, there's good
+money in this business."
+
+"I know it," smiled Cowperwood, "but I don't like it. I have other plans
+in view. I'll never be a grain and commission man." Mr. Henry Waterman
+could scarcely understand why obvious success in this field did not
+interest him. He feared the effect of his departure on the business.
+
+And once the change was made Cowperwood was convinced that this new work
+was more suited to him in every way--as easy and more profitable, of
+course. In the first place, the firm of Tighe & Co., unlike that of
+Waterman & Co., was located in a handsome green-gray stone building
+at 66 South Third Street, in what was then, and for a number of years
+afterward, the heart of the financial district. Great institutions of
+national and international import and repute were near at hand--Drexel
+& Co., Edward Clark & Co., the Third National Bank, the First National
+Bank, the Stock Exchange, and similar institutions. Almost a score of
+smaller banks and brokerage firms were also in the vicinity. Edward
+Tighe, the head and brains of this concern, was a Boston Irishman,
+the son of an immigrant who had flourished and done well in that
+conservative city. He had come to Philadelphia to interest himself in
+the speculative life there. "Sure, it's a right good place for those of
+us who are awake," he told his friends, with a slight Irish accent, and
+he considered himself very much awake. He was a medium-tall man, not
+very stout, slightly and prematurely gray, and with a manner which was
+as lively and good-natured as it was combative and self-reliant. His
+upper lip was ornamented by a short, gray mustache.
+
+"May heaven preserve me," he said, not long after he came there, "these
+Pennsylvanians never pay for anything they can issue bonds for." It
+was the period when Pennsylvania's credit, and for that matter
+Philadelphia's, was very bad in spite of its great wealth. "If there's
+ever a war there'll be battalions of Pennsylvanians marching around
+offering notes for their meals. If I could just live long enough I could
+get rich buyin' up Pennsylvania notes and bonds. I think they'll pay
+some time; but, my God, they're mortal slow! I'll be dead before the
+State government will ever catch up on the interest they owe me now."
+
+It was true. The condition of the finances of the state and city was
+most reprehensible. Both State and city were rich enough; but there were
+so many schemes for looting the treasury in both instances that when any
+new work had to be undertaken bonds were necessarily issued to raise the
+money. These bonds, or warrants, as they were called, pledged interest
+at six per cent.; but when the interest fell due, instead of paying it,
+the city or State treasurer, as the case might be, stamped the same with
+the date of presentation, and the warrant then bore interest for not
+only its original face value, but the amount then due in interest. In
+other words, it was being slowly compounded. But this did not help
+the man who wanted to raise money, for as security they could not be
+hypothecated for more than seventy per cent. of their market value, and
+they were not selling at par, but at ninety. A man might buy or accept
+them in foreclosure, but he had a long wait. Also, in the final payment
+of most of them favoritism ruled, for it was only when the treasurer
+knew that certain warrants were in the hands of "a friend" that he would
+advertise that such and such warrants--those particular ones that he
+knew about--would be paid.
+
+What was more, the money system of the United States was only then
+beginning slowly to emerge from something approximating chaos to
+something more nearly approaching order. The United States Bank, of
+which Nicholas Biddle was the progenitor, had gone completely in 1841,
+and the United States Treasury with its subtreasury system had come
+in 1846; but still there were many, many wildcat banks, sufficient
+in number to make the average exchange-counter broker a walking
+encyclopedia of solvent and insolvent institutions. Still, things
+were slowly improving, for the telegraph had facilitated stock-market
+quotations, not only between New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, but
+between a local broker's office in Philadelphia and his stock
+exchange. In other words, the short private wire had been introduced.
+Communication was quicker and freer, and daily grew better.
+
+Railroads had been built to the South, East, North, and West. There was
+as yet no stock-ticker and no telephone, and the clearing-house had only
+recently been thought of in New York, and had not yet been introduced in
+Philadelphia. Instead of a clearing-house service, messengers ran daily
+between banks and brokerage firms, balancing accounts on pass-books,
+exchanging bills, and, once a week, transferring the gold coin, which
+was the only thing that could be accepted for balances due, since there
+was no stable national currency. "On 'change," when the gong struck
+announcing the close of the day's business, a company of young men,
+known as "settlement clerks," after a system borrowed from London,
+gathered in the center of the room and compared or gathered the various
+trades of the day in a ring, thus eliminating all those sales and
+resales between certain firms which naturally canceled each other. They
+carried long account books, and called out the transactions--"Delaware
+and Maryland sold to Beaumont and Company," "Delware and Maryland sold
+to Tighe and Company," and so on. This simplified the bookkeeping of
+the various firms, and made for quicker and more stirring commercial
+transactions.
+
+Seats "on 'change" sold for two thousand dollars each. The members of
+the exchange had just passed rules limiting the trading to the hours
+between ten and three (before this they had been any time between
+morning and midnight), and had fixed the rates at which brokers could do
+business, in the face of cut-throat schemes which had previously held.
+Severe penalties were fixed for those who failed to obey. In other
+words, things were shaping up for a great 'change business, and Edward
+Tighe felt, with other brokers, that there was a great future ahead.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI
+
+
+The Cowperwood family was by this time established in its new and larger
+and more tastefully furnished house on North Front Street, facing the
+river. The house was four stories tall and stood twenty-five feet on the
+street front, without a yard.
+
+Here the family began to entertain in a small way, and there came to see
+them, now and then, representatives of the various interests that
+Henry Cowperwood had encountered in his upward climb to the position
+of cashier. It was not a very distinguished company, but it included a
+number of people who were about as successful as himself--heads of
+small businesses who traded at his bank, dealers in dry-goods, leather,
+groceries (wholesale), and grain. The children had come to have
+intimacies of their own. Now and then, because of church connections,
+Mrs. Cowperwood ventured to have an afternoon tea or reception, at which
+even Cowperwood attempted the gallant in so far as to stand about in a
+genially foolish way and greet those whom his wife had invited. And so
+long as he could maintain his gravity very solemnly and greet people
+without being required to say much, it was not too painful for him.
+Singing was indulged in at times, a little dancing on occasion, and
+there was considerably more "company to dinner," informally, than there
+had been previously.
+
+And here it was, during the first year of the new life in this house,
+that Frank met a certain Mrs. Semple, who interested him greatly. Her
+husband had a pretentious shoe store on Chestnut Street, near Third, and
+was planning to open a second one farther out on the same street.
+
+The occasion of the meeting was an evening call on the part of the
+Semples, Mr. Semple being desirous of talking with Henry Cowperwood
+concerning a new transportation feature which was then entering the
+world--namely, street-cars. A tentative line, incorporated by the North
+Pennsylvania Railway Company, had been put into operation on a mile and
+a half of tracks extending from Willow Street along Front to Germantown
+Road, and thence by various streets to what was then known as the
+Cohocksink Depot; and it was thought that in time this mode of
+locomotion might drive out the hundreds of omnibuses which now crowded
+and made impassable the downtown streets. Young Cowperwood had been
+greatly interested from the start. Railway transportation, as a whole,
+interested him, anyway, but this particular phase was most fascinating.
+It was already creating widespread discussion, and he, with others, had
+gone to see it. A strange but interesting new type of car, fourteen feet
+long, seven feet wide, and nearly the same height, running on small
+iron car-wheels, was giving great satisfaction as being quieter
+and easier-riding than omnibuses; and Alfred Semple was privately
+considering investing in another proposed line which, if it could secure
+a franchise from the legislature, was to run on Fifth and Sixth streets.
+
+Cowperwood, Senior, saw a great future for this thing; but he did not
+see as yet how the capital was to be raised for it. Frank believed that
+Tighe & Co. should attempt to become the selling agents of this new
+stock of the Fifth and Sixth Street Company in the event it succeeded
+in getting a franchise. He understood that a company was already formed,
+that a large amount of stock was to be issued against the prospective
+franchise, and that these shares were to be sold at five dollars,
+as against an ultimate par value of one hundred. He wished he had
+sufficient money to take a large block of them.
+
+Meanwhile, Lillian Semple caught and held his interest. Just what it was
+about her that attracted him at this age it would be hard to say,
+for she was really not suited to him emotionally, intellectually, or
+otherwise. He was not without experience with women or girls, and
+still held a tentative relationship with Marjorie Stafford; but Lillian
+Semple, in spite of the fact that she was married and that he could have
+legitimate interest in her, seemed not wiser and saner, but more worth
+while. She was twenty-four as opposed to Frank's nineteen, but still
+young enough in her thoughts and looks to appear of his own age. She was
+slightly taller than he--though he was now his full height (five feet
+ten and one-half inches)--and, despite her height, shapely, artistic
+in form and feature, and with a certain unconscious placidity of soul,
+which came more from lack of understanding than from force of character.
+Her hair was the color of a dried English walnut, rich and plentiful,
+and her complexion waxen--cream wax---with lips of faint pink, and eyes
+that varied from gray to blue and from gray to brown, according to the
+light in which you saw them. Her hands were thin and shapely, her nose
+straight, her face artistically narrow. She was not brilliant,
+not active, but rather peaceful and statuesque without knowing it.
+Cowperwood was carried away by her appearance. Her beauty measured up to
+his present sense of the artistic. She was lovely, he thought--gracious,
+dignified. If he could have his choice of a wife, this was the kind of a
+girl he would like to have.
+
+As yet, Cowperwood's judgment of women was temperamental rather than
+intellectual. Engrossed as he was by his desire for wealth, prestige,
+dominance, he was confused, if not chastened by considerations relating
+to position, presentability and the like. None the less, the homely
+woman meant nothing to him. And the passionate woman meant much. He
+heard family discussions of this and that sacrificial soul among women,
+as well as among men--women who toiled and slaved for their husbands
+or children, or both, who gave way to relatives or friends in crises
+or crucial moments, because it was right and kind to do so--but
+somehow these stories did not appeal to him. He preferred to think of
+people--even women--as honestly, frankly self-interested. He could
+not have told you why. People seemed foolish, or at the best very
+unfortunate not to know what to do in all circumstances and how to
+protect themselves. There was great talk concerning morality, much
+praise of virtue and decency, and much lifting of hands in righteous
+horror at people who broke or were even rumored to have broken the
+Seventh Commandment. He did not take this talk seriously. Already he had
+broken it secretly many times. Other young men did. Yet again, he was a
+little sick of the women of the streets and the bagnio. There were
+too many coarse, evil features in connection with such contacts. For
+a little while, the false tinsel-glitter of the house of ill repute
+appealed to him, for there was a certain force to its luxury--rich, as
+a rule, with red-plush furniture, showy red hangings, some coarse but
+showily-framed pictures, and, above all, the strong-bodied or sensuously
+lymphatic women who dwelt there, to (as his mother phrased it) prey on
+men. The strength of their bodies, the lust of their souls, the fact
+that they could, with a show of affection or good-nature, receive man
+after man, astonished and later disgusted him. After all, they were not
+smart. There was no vivacity of thought there. All that they could do,
+in the main, he fancied, was this one thing. He pictured to himself the
+dreariness of the mornings after, the stale dregs of things when only
+sleep and thought of gain could aid in the least; and more than once,
+even at his age, he shook his head. He wanted contact which was more
+intimate, subtle, individual, personal.
+
+So came Lillian Semple, who was nothing more to him than the shadow of
+an ideal. Yet she cleared up certain of his ideas in regard to women.
+She was not physically as vigorous or brutal as those other women
+whom he had encountered in the lupanars, thus far--raw, unashamed
+contraveners of accepted theories and notions--and for that very
+reason he liked her. And his thoughts continued to dwell on her,
+notwithstanding the hectic days which now passed like flashes of light
+in his new business venture. For this stock exchange world in which
+he now found himself, primitive as it would seem to-day, was most
+fascinating to Cowperwood. The room that he went to in Third Street, at
+Dock, where the brokers or their agents and clerks gathered one hundred
+and fifty strong, was nothing to speak of artistically--a square
+chamber sixty by sixty, reaching from the second floor to the roof of a
+four-story building; but it was striking to him. The windows were high
+and narrow; a large-faced clock faced the west entrance of the
+room where you came in from the stairs; a collection of telegraph
+instruments, with their accompanying desks and chairs, occupied the
+northeast corner. On the floor, in the early days of the exchange, were
+rows of chairs where the brokers sat while various lots of stocks were
+offered to them. Later in the history of the exchange the chairs were
+removed and at different points posts or floor-signs indicating where
+certain stocks were traded in were introduced. Around these the men who
+were interested gathered to do their trading. From a hall on the third
+floor a door gave entrance to a visitor's gallery, small and poorly
+furnished; and on the west wall a large blackboard carried current
+quotations in stocks as telegraphed from New York and Boston. A
+wicket-like fence in the center of the room surrounded the desk and
+chair of the official recorder; and a very small gallery opening from
+the third floor on the west gave place for the secretary of the board,
+when he had any special announcement to make. There was a room off the
+southwest corner, where reports and annual compendiums of chairs were
+removed and at different signs indicating where certain stocks of
+various kinds were kept and were available for the use of members.
+
+Young Cowperwood would not have been admitted at all, as either a broker
+or broker's agent or assistant, except that Tighe, feeling that he
+needed him and believing that he would be very useful, bought him a seat
+on 'change--charging the two thousand dollars it cost as a debt and then
+ostensibly taking him into partnership. It was against the rules of the
+exchange to sham a partnership in this way in order to put a man on the
+floor, but brokers did it. These men who were known to be minor partners
+and floor assistants were derisively called "eighth chasers" and
+"two-dollar brokers," because they were always seeking small orders and
+were willing to buy or sell for anybody on their commission, accounting,
+of course, to their firms for their work. Cowperwood, regardless of his
+intrinsic merits, was originally counted one of their number, and he was
+put under the direction of Mr. Arthur Rivers, the regular floor man of
+Tighe & Company.
+
+Rivers was an exceedingly forceful man of thirty-five, well-dressed,
+well-formed, with a hard, smooth, evenly chiseled face, which was
+ornamented by a short, black mustache and fine, black, clearly penciled
+eyebrows. His hair came to an odd point at the middle of his forehead,
+where he divided it, and his chin was faintly and attractively cleft. He
+had a soft voice, a quiet, conservative manner, and both in and out of
+this brokerage and trading world was controlled by good form. Cowperwood
+wondered at first why Rivers should work for Tighe--he appeared almost
+as able--but afterward learned that he was in the company. Tighe was the
+organizer and general hand-shaker, Rivers the floor and outside man.
+
+It was useless, as Frank soon found, to try to figure out exactly why
+stocks rose and fell. Some general reasons there were, of course, as he
+was told by Tighe, but they could not always be depended on.
+
+"Sure, anything can make or break a market"--Tighe explained in his
+delicate brogue--"from the failure of a bank to the rumor that your
+second cousin's grandmother has a cold. It's a most unusual world,
+Cowperwood. No man can explain it. I've seen breaks in stocks that you
+could never explain at all--no one could. It wouldn't be possible to
+find out why they broke. I've seen rises the same way. My God, the
+rumors of the stock exchange! They beat the devil. If they're going down
+in ordinary times some one is unloading, or they're rigging the market.
+If they're going up--God knows times must be good or somebody must
+be buying--that's sure. Beyond that--well, ask Rivers to show you the
+ropes. Don't you ever lose for me, though. That's the cardinal sin in
+this office." He grinned maliciously, even if kindly, at that.
+
+Cowperwood understood--none better. This subtle world appealed to him.
+It answered to his temperament.
+
+There were rumors, rumors, rumors--of great railway and street-car
+undertakings, land developments, government revision of the tariff, war
+between France and Turkey, famine in Russia or Ireland, and so on. The
+first Atlantic cable had not been laid as yet, and news of any kind from
+abroad was slow and meager. Still there were great financial figures in
+the held, men who, like Cyrus Field, or William H. Vanderbilt, or F. X.
+Drexel, were doing marvelous things, and their activities and the rumors
+concerning them counted for much.
+
+Frank soon picked up all of the technicalities of the situation. A
+"bull," he learned, was one who bought in anticipation of a higher price
+to come; and if he was "loaded up" with a "line" of stocks he was said
+to be "long." He sold to "realize" his profit, or if his margins were
+exhausted he was "wiped out." A "bear" was one who sold stocks which
+most frequently he did not have, in anticipation of a lower price, at
+which he could buy and satisfy his previous sales. He was "short" when
+he had sold what he did not own, and he "covered" when he bought to
+satisfy his sales and to realize his profits or to protect himself
+against further loss in case prices advanced instead of declining. He
+was in a "corner" when he found that he could not buy in order to make
+good the stock he had borrowed for delivery and the return of which
+had been demanded. He was then obliged to settle practically at a price
+fixed by those to whom he and other "shorts" had sold.
+
+He smiled at first at the air of great secrecy and wisdom on the part
+of the younger men. They were so heartily and foolishly suspicious. The
+older men, as a rule, were inscrutable. They pretended indifference,
+uncertainty. They were like certain fish after a certain kind of bait,
+however. Snap! and the opportunity was gone. Somebody else had picked up
+what you wanted. All had their little note-books. All had their peculiar
+squint of eye or position or motion which meant "Done! I take you!"
+Sometimes they seemed scarcely to confirm their sales or purchases--they
+knew each other so well--but they did. If the market was for any reason
+active, the brokers and their agents were apt to be more numerous than
+if it were dull and the trading indifferent. A gong sounded the call to
+trading at ten o'clock, and if there was a noticeable rise or decline in
+a stock or a group of stocks, you were apt to witness quite a spirited
+scene. Fifty to a hundred men would shout, gesticulate, shove here and
+there in an apparently aimless manner; endeavoring to take advantage of
+the stock offered or called for.
+
+"Five-eighths for five hundred P. and W.," some one would call--Rivers
+or Cowperwood, or any other broker.
+
+"Five hundred at three-fourths," would come the reply from some one
+else, who either had an order to sell the stock at that price or who
+was willing to sell it short, hoping to pick up enough of the stock at
+a lower figure later to fill his order and make a little something
+besides. If the supply of stock at that figure was large Rivers would
+probably continue to bid five-eighths. If, on the other hand, he noticed
+an increasing demand, he would probably pay three-fourths for it. If
+the professional traders believed Rivers had a large buying order, they
+would probably try to buy the stock before he could at three-fourths,
+believing they could sell it out to him at a slightly higher price. The
+professional traders were, of course, keen students of psychology; and
+their success depended on their ability to guess whether or not a broker
+representing a big manipulator, like Tighe, had an order large enough
+to affect the market sufficiently to give them an opportunity to "get
+in and out," as they termed it, at a profit before he had completed the
+execution of his order. They were like hawks watching for an opportunity
+to snatch their prey from under the very claws of their opponents.
+
+Four, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and sometimes
+the whole company would attempt to take advantage of the given rise of
+a given stock by either selling or offering to buy, in which case the
+activity and the noise would become deafening. Given groups might
+be trading in different things; but the large majority of them would
+abandon what they were doing in order to take advantage of a speciality.
+The eagerness of certain young brokers or clerks to discover all that
+was going on, and to take advantage of any given rise or fall, made
+for quick physical action, darting to and fro, the excited elevation of
+explanatory fingers. Distorted faces were shoved over shoulders or
+under arms. The most ridiculous grimaces were purposely or unconsciously
+indulged in. At times there were situations in which some individual was
+fairly smothered with arms, faces, shoulders, crowded toward him when
+he manifested any intention of either buying or selling at a
+profitable rate. At first it seemed quite a wonderful thing to young
+Cowperwood--the very physical face of it--for he liked human presence
+and activity; but a little later the sense of the thing as a picture or
+a dramatic situation, of which he was a part faded, and he came down to
+a clearer sense of the intricacies of the problem before him. Buying
+and selling stocks, as he soon learned, was an art, a subtlety, almost a
+psychic emotion. Suspicion, intuition, feeling--these were the things to
+be "long" on.
+
+Yet in time he also asked himself, who was it who made the real
+money--the stock-brokers? Not at all. Some of them were making money,
+but they were, as he quickly saw, like a lot of gulls or stormy petrels,
+hanging on the lee of the wind, hungry and anxious to snap up any
+unwary fish. Back of them were other men, men with shrewd ideas, subtle
+resources. Men of immense means whose enterprise and holdings these
+stocks represented, the men who schemed out and built the railroads,
+opened the mines, organized trading enterprises, and built up immense
+manufactories. They might use brokers or other agents to buy and sell on
+'change; but this buying and selling must be, and always was, incidental
+to the actual fact--the mine, the railroad, the wheat crop, the flour
+mill, and so on. Anything less than straight-out sales to realize
+quickly on assets, or buying to hold as an investment, was gambling
+pure and simple, and these men were gamblers. He was nothing more than
+a gambler's agent. It was not troubling him any just at this moment, but
+it was not at all a mystery now, what he was. As in the case of Waterman
+& Company, he sized up these men shrewdly, judging some to be weak, some
+foolish, some clever, some slow, but in the main all small-minded or
+deficient because they were agents, tools, or gamblers. A man, a real
+man, must never be an agent, a tool, or a gambler--acting for himself
+or for others--he must employ such. A real man--a financier--was never a
+tool. He used tools. He created. He led.
+
+Clearly, very clearly, at nineteen, twenty, and twenty-one years of age,
+he saw all this, but he was not quite ready yet to do anything about it.
+He was certain, however, that his day would come.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VII
+
+
+In the meantime, his interest in Mrs. Semple had been secretly and
+strangely growing. When he received an invitation to call at the Semple
+home, he accepted with a great deal of pleasure. Their house was located
+not so very far from his own, on North Front Street, in the neighborhood
+of what is now known as No. 956. It had, in summer, quite a wealth of
+green leaves and vines. The little side porch which ornamented its south
+wall commanded a charming view of the river, and all the windows and
+doors were topped with lunettes of small-paned glass. The interior
+of the house was not as pleasing as he would have had it. Artistic
+impressiveness, as to the furniture at least, was wanting, although it
+was new and good. The pictures were--well, simply pictures. There were
+no books to speak of--the Bible, a few current novels, some of the more
+significant histories, and a collection of antiquated odds and ends in
+the shape of books inherited from relatives. The china was good--of a
+delicate pattern. The carpets and wall-paper were too high in key. So it
+went. Still, the personality of Lillian Semple was worth something,
+for she was really pleasing to look upon, making a picture wherever she
+stood or sat.
+
+There were no children--a dispensation of sex conditions which had
+nothing to do with her, for she longed to have them. She was without any
+notable experience in social life, except such as had come to the Wiggin
+family, of which she was a member--relatives and a few neighborhood
+friends visiting. Lillian Wiggin, that was her maiden name--had two
+brothers and one sister, all living in Philadelphia and all married at
+this time. They thought she had done very well in her marriage.
+
+It could not be said that she had wildly loved Mr. Semple at any time.
+Although she had cheerfully married him, he was not the kind of man who
+could arouse a notable passion in any woman. He was practical, methodic,
+orderly. His shoe store was a good one--well-stocked with styles
+reflecting the current tastes and a model of cleanliness and what one
+might term pleasing brightness. He loved to talk, when he talked at
+all, of shoe manufacturing, the development of lasts and styles. The
+ready-made shoe--machine-made to a certain extent--was just coming into
+its own slowly, and outside of these, supplies of which he kept, he
+employed bench-making shoemakers, satisfying his customers with personal
+measurements and making the shoes to order.
+
+Mrs. Semple read a little--not much. She had a habit of sitting and
+apparently brooding reflectively at times, but it was not based on any
+deep thought. She had that curious beauty of body, though, that made her
+somewhat like a figure on an antique vase, or out of a Greek chorus. It
+was in this light, unquestionably, that Cowperwood saw her, for from the
+beginning he could not keep his eyes off her. In a way, she was aware
+of this but she did not attach any significance to it. Thoroughly
+conventional, satisfied now that her life was bound permanently
+with that of her husband, she had settled down to a staid and quiet
+existence.
+
+At first, when Frank called, she did not have much to say. She was
+gracious, but the burden of conversation fell on her husband. Cowperwood
+watched the varying expression of her face from time to time, and if she
+had been at all psychic she must have felt something. Fortunately she
+was not. Semple talked to him pleasantly, because in the first place
+Frank was becoming financially significant, was suave and ingratiating,
+and in the next place he was anxious to get richer and somehow Frank
+represented progress to him in that line. One spring evening they sat on
+the porch and talked--nothing very important--slavery, street-cars, the
+panic--it was on then, that of 1857--the development of the West. Mr.
+Semple wanted to know all about the stock exchange. In return Frank
+asked about the shoe business, though he really did not care. All the
+while, inoffensively, he watched Mrs. Semple. Her manner, he thought,
+was soothing, attractive, delightful. She served tea and cake for them.
+They went inside after a time to avoid the mosquitoes. She played the
+piano. At ten o'clock he left.
+
+Thereafter, for a year or so, Cowperwood bought his shoes of Mr. Semple.
+Occasionally also he stopped in the Chestnut Street store to exchange
+the time of the day. Semple asked his opinion as to the advisability
+of buying some shares in the Fifth and Sixth Street line, which, having
+secured a franchise, was creating great excitement. Cowperwood gave
+him his best judgment. It was sure to be profitable. He himself had
+purchased one hundred shares at five dollars a share, and urged Semple
+to do so. But he was not interested in him personally. He liked Mrs.
+Semple, though he did not see her very often.
+
+About a year later, Mr. Semple died. It was an untimely death, one
+of those fortuitous and in a way insignificant episodes which are,
+nevertheless, dramatic in a dull way to those most concerned. He was
+seized with a cold in the chest late in the fall--one of those seizures
+ordinarily attributed to wet feet or to going out on a damp day without
+an overcoat--and had insisted on going to business when Mrs. Semple
+urged him to stay at home and recuperate. He was in his way a very
+determined person, not obstreperously so, but quietly and under the
+surface. Business was a great urge. He saw himself soon to be worth
+about fifty thousand dollars. Then this cold--nine more days of
+pneumonia--and he was dead. The shoe store was closed for a few days;
+the house was full of sympathetic friends and church people. There was
+a funeral, with burial service in the Callowhill Presbyterian Church, to
+which they belonged, and then he was buried. Mrs. Semple cried bitterly.
+The shock of death affected her greatly and left her for a time in a
+depressed state. A brother of hers, David Wiggin, undertook for the time
+being to run the shoe business for her. There was no will, but in the
+final adjustment, which included the sale of the shoe business, there
+being no desire on anybody's part to contest her right to all the
+property, she received over eighteen thousand dollars. She continued
+to reside in the Front Street house, and was considered a charming and
+interesting widow.
+
+Throughout this procedure young Cowperwood, only twenty years of age,
+was quietly manifest. He called during the illness. He attended the
+funeral. He helped her brother, David Wiggin, dispose of the shoe
+business. He called once or twice after the funeral, then stayed away
+for a considerable time. In five months he reappeared, and thereafter he
+was a caller at stated intervals--periods of a week or ten days.
+
+Again, it would be hard to say what he saw in Semple. Her prettiness,
+wax-like in its quality, fascinated him; her indifference aroused
+perhaps his combative soul. He could not have explained why, but he
+wanted her in an urgent, passionate way. He could not think of her
+reasonably, and he did not talk of her much to any one. His family knew
+that he went to see her, but there had grown up in the Cowperwood family
+a deep respect for the mental force of Frank. He was genial, cheerful,
+gay at most times, without being talkative, and he was decidedly
+successful. Everybody knew he was making money now. His salary was fifty
+dollars a week, and he was certain soon to get more. Some lots of his in
+West Philadelphia, bought three years before, had increased notably in
+value. His street-car holdings, augmented by still additional lots of
+fifty and one hundred and one hundred and fifty shares in new lines
+incorporated, were slowly rising, in spite of hard times, from the
+initiative five dollars in each case to ten, fifteen, and twenty-five
+dollars a share--all destined to go to par. He was liked in the
+financial district and he was sure that he had a successful future.
+Because of his analysis of the brokerage situation he had come to the
+conclusion that he did not want to be a stock gambler. Instead, he was
+considering the matter of engaging in bill-brokering, a business which
+he had observed to be very profitable and which involved no risk as long
+as one had capital. Through his work and his father's connections he
+had met many people--merchants, bankers, traders. He could get their
+business, or a part of it, he knew. People in Drexel & Co. and Clark &
+Co. were friendly to him. Jay Cooke, a rising banking personality, was a
+personal friend of his.
+
+Meanwhile he called on Mrs. Semple, and the more he called the better he
+liked her. There was no exchange of brilliant ideas between them; but he
+had a way of being comforting and social when he wished. He advised
+her about her business affairs in so intelligent a way that even her
+relatives approved of it. She came to like him, because he was so
+considerate, quiet, reassuring, and so ready to explain over and over
+until everything was quite plain to her. She could see that he was
+looking on her affairs quite as if they were his own, trying to make
+them safe and secure.
+
+"You're so very kind, Frank," she said to him, one night. "I'm awfully
+grateful. I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't been for
+you."
+
+She looked at his handsome face, which was turned to hers, with
+child-like simplicity.
+
+"Not at all. Not at all. I want to do it. I wouldn't have been happy if
+I couldn't."
+
+His eyes had a peculiar, subtle ray in them--not a gleam. She felt warm
+toward him, sympathetic, quite satisfied that she could lean on him.
+
+"Well, I am very grateful just the same. You've been so good. Come out
+Sunday again, if you want to, or any evening. I'll be home."
+
+It was while he was calling on her in this way that his Uncle Seneca
+died in Cuba and left him fifteen thousand dollars. This money made him
+worth nearly twenty-five thousand dollars in his own right, and he knew
+exactly what to do with it. A panic had come since Mr. Semple had died,
+which had illustrated to him very clearly what an uncertain thing the
+brokerage business was. There was really a severe business depression.
+Money was so scarce that it could fairly be said not to exist at all.
+Capital, frightened by uncertain trade and money conditions, everywhere,
+retired to its hiding-places in banks, vaults, tea-kettles, and
+stockings. The country seemed to be going to the dogs. War with the
+South or secession was vaguely looming up in the distance. The temper of
+the whole nation was nervous. People dumped their holdings on the market
+in order to get money. Tighe discharged three of his clerks. He cut down
+his expenses in every possible way, and used up all his private savings
+to protect his private holdings. He mortgaged his house, his land
+holdings--everything; and in many instances young Cowperwood was his
+intermediary, carrying blocks of shares to different banks to get what
+he could on them.
+
+"See if your father's bank won't loan me fifteen thousand on these," he
+said to Frank, one day, producing a bundle of Philadelphia & Wilmington
+shares. Frank had heard his father speak of them in times past as
+excellent.
+
+"They ought to be good," the elder Cowperwood said, dubiously, when
+shown the package of securities. "At any other time they would be. But
+money is so tight. We find it awfully hard these days to meet our own
+obligations. I'll talk to Mr. Kugel." Mr. Kugel was the president.
+
+There was a long conversation--a long wait. His father came back to say
+it was doubtful whether they could make the loan. Eight per cent., then
+being secured for money, was a small rate of interest, considering its
+need. For ten per cent. Mr. Kugel might make a call-loan. Frank went
+back to his employer, whose commercial choler rose at the report.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, is there no money at all in the town?" he demanded,
+contentiously. "Why, the interest they want is ruinous! I can't stand
+that. Well, take 'em back and bring me the money. Good God, this'll
+never do at all, at all!"
+
+Frank went back. "He'll pay ten per cent.," he said, quietly.
+
+Tighe was credited with a deposit of fifteen thousand dollars, with
+privilege to draw against it at once. He made out a check for the
+total fifteen thousand at once to the Girard National Bank to cover a
+shrinkage there. So it went.
+
+During all these days young Cowperwood was following these financial
+complications with interest. He was not disturbed by the cause of
+slavery, or the talk of secession, or the general progress or decline of
+the country, except in so far as it affected his immediate interests. He
+longed to become a stable financier; but, now that he saw the inside of
+the brokerage business, he was not so sure that he wanted to stay in
+it. Gambling in stocks, according to conditions produced by this panic,
+seemed very hazardous. A number of brokers failed. He saw them rush in
+to Tighe with anguished faces and ask that certain trades be canceled.
+Their very homes were in danger, they said. They would be wiped out,
+their wives and children put out on the street.
+
+This panic, incidentally, only made Frank more certain as to what he
+really wanted to do--now that he had this free money, he would go into
+business for himself. Even Tighe's offer of a minor partnership failed
+to tempt him.
+
+"I think you have a nice business," he explained, in refusing, "but I
+want to get in the note-brokerage business for myself. I don't trust
+this stock game. I'd rather have a little business of my own than all
+the floor work in this world."
+
+"But you're pretty young, Frank," argued his employer. "You have lots of
+time to work for yourself." In the end he parted friends with both Tighe
+and Rivers. "That's a smart young fellow," observed Tighe, ruefully.
+
+"He'll make his mark," rejoined Rivers. "He's the shrewdest boy of his
+age I ever saw."
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VIII
+
+
+Cowperwood's world at this time was of roseate hue. He was in love and
+had money of his own to start his new business venture. He could take
+his street-car stocks, which were steadily increasing in value, and
+raise seventy per cent. of their market value. He could put a mortgage
+on his lots and get money there, if necessary. He had established
+financial relations with the Girard National Bank--President Davison
+there having taken a fancy to him--and he proposed to borrow from that
+institution some day. All he wanted was suitable investments--things in
+which he could realize surely, quickly. He saw fine prospective profits
+in the street-car lines, which were rapidly developing into local
+ramifications.
+
+He purchased a horse and buggy about this time--the most
+attractive-looking animal and vehicle he could find--the combination
+cost him five hundred dollars--and invited Mrs. Semple to drive with
+him. She refused at first, but later consented. He had told her of his
+success, his prospects, his windfall of fifteen thousand dollars, his
+intention of going into the note-brokerage business. She knew his father
+was likely to succeed to the position of vice-president in the Third
+National Bank, and she liked the Cowperwoods. Now she began to realize
+that there was something more than mere friendship here. This erstwhile
+boy was a man, and he was calling on her. It was almost ridiculous in
+the face of things--her seniority, her widowhood, her placid, retiring
+disposition--but the sheer, quiet, determined force of this young man
+made it plain that he was not to be balked by her sense of convention.
+
+Cowperwood did not delude himself with any noble theories of conduct in
+regard to her. She was beautiful, with a mental and physical lure for
+him that was irresistible, and that was all he desired to know. No other
+woman was holding him like that. It never occurred to him that he could
+not or should not like other women at the same time. There was a great
+deal of palaver about the sanctity of the home. It rolled off his mental
+sphere like water off the feathers of a duck. He was not eager for her
+money, though he was well aware of it. He felt that he could use it
+to her advantage. He wanted her physically. He felt a keen, primitive
+interest in the children they would have. He wanted to find out if he
+could make her love him vigorously and could rout out the memory of her
+former life. Strange ambition. Strange perversion, one might almost say.
+
+In spite of her fears and her uncertainty, Lillian Semple accepted his
+attentions and interest because, equally in spite of herself, she was
+drawn to him. One night, when she was going to bed, she stopped in front
+of her dressing table and looked at her face and her bare neck and arms.
+They were very pretty. A subtle something came over her as she surveyed
+her long, peculiarly shaded hair. She thought of young Cowperwood, and
+then was chilled and shamed by the vision of the late Mr. Semple and the
+force and quality of public opinion.
+
+"Why do you come to see me so often?" she asked him when he called the
+following evening.
+
+"Oh, don't you know?" he replied, looking at her in an interpretive way.
+
+"No."
+
+"Sure you don't?"
+
+"Well, I know you liked Mr. Semple, and I always thought you liked me as
+his wife. He's gone, though, now."
+
+"And you're here," he replied.
+
+"And I'm here?"
+
+"Yes. I like you. I like to be with you. Don't you like me that way?"
+
+"Why, I've never thought of it. You're so much younger. I'm five years
+older than you are."
+
+"In years," he said, "certainly. That's nothing. I'm fifteen years older
+than you are in other ways. I know more about life in some ways than
+you can ever hope to learn--don't you think so?" he added, softly,
+persuasively.
+
+"Well, that's true. But I know a lot of things you don't know." She
+laughed softly, showing her pretty teeth.
+
+It was evening. They were on the side porch. The river was before them.
+
+"Yes, but that's only because you're a woman. A man can't hope to get a
+woman's point of view exactly. But I'm talking about practical affairs
+of this world. You're not as old that way as I am."
+
+"Well, what of it?"
+
+"Nothing. You asked why I came to see you. That's why. Partly."
+
+He relapsed into silence and stared at the water.
+
+She looked at him. His handsome body, slowly broadening, was nearly full
+grown. His face, because of its full, clear, big, inscrutable eyes, had
+an expression which was almost babyish. She could not have guessed the
+depths it veiled. His cheeks were pink, his hands not large, but sinewy
+and strong. Her pale, uncertain, lymphatic body extracted a form of
+dynamic energy from him even at this range.
+
+"I don't think you ought to come to see me so often. People won't think
+well of it." She ventured to take a distant, matronly air--the air she
+had originally held toward him.
+
+"People," he said, "don't worry about people. People think what you want
+them to think. I wish you wouldn't take that distant air toward me."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I like you."
+
+"But you mustn't like me. It's wrong. I can't ever marry you. You're too
+young. I'm too old."
+
+"Don't say that!" he said, imperiously. "There's nothing to it. I want
+you to marry me. You know I do. Now, when will it be?"
+
+"Why, how silly! I never heard of such a thing!" she exclaimed. "It will
+never be, Frank. It can't be!"
+
+"Why can't it?" he asked.
+
+"Because--well, because I'm older. People would think it strange. I'm
+not long enough free."
+
+"Oh, long enough nothing!" he exclaimed, irritably. "That's the one
+thing I have against you--you are so worried about what people think.
+They don't make your life. They certainly don't make mine. Think of
+yourself first. You have your own life to make. Are you going to let
+what other people think stand in the way of what you want to do?"
+
+"But I don't want to," she smiled.
+
+He arose and came over to her, looking into her eyes.
+
+"Well?" she asked, nervously, quizzically.
+
+He merely looked at her.
+
+"Well?" she queried, more flustered.
+
+He stooped down to take her arms, but she got up.
+
+"Now you must not come near me," she pleaded, determinedly. "I'll go
+in the house, and I'll not let you come any more. It's terrible! You're
+silly! You mustn't interest yourself in me."
+
+She did show a good deal of determination, and he desisted. But for the
+time being only. He called again and again. Then one night, when they
+had gone inside because of the mosquitoes, and when she had insisted
+that he must stop coming to see her, that his attentions were noticeable
+to others, and that she would be disgraced, he caught her, under
+desperate protest, in his arms.
+
+"Now, see here!" she exclaimed. "I told you! It's silly! You mustn't
+kiss me! How dare you! Oh! oh! oh!--"
+
+She broke away and ran up the near-by stairway to her room. Cowperwood
+followed her swiftly. As she pushed the door to he forced it open
+and recaptured her. He lifted her bodily from her feet and held her
+crosswise, lying in his arms.
+
+"Oh, how could you!" she exclaimed. "I will never speak to you any more.
+I will never let you come here any more if you don't put me down this
+minute. Put me down!"
+
+"I'll put you down, sweet," he said. "I'll take you down," at the same
+time pulling her face to him and kissing her. He was very much aroused,
+excited.
+
+While she was twisting and protesting, he carried her down the stairs
+again into the living-room, and seated himself in the great armchair,
+still holding her tight in his arms.
+
+"Oh!" she sighed, falling limp on his shoulder when he refused to let
+her go. Then, because of the set determination of his face, some intense
+pull in him, she smiled. "How would I ever explain if I did marry you?"
+she asked, weakly. "Your father! Your mother!"
+
+"You don't need to explain. I'll do that. And you needn't worry about my
+family. They won't care."
+
+"But mine," she recoiled.
+
+"Don't worry about yours. I'm not marrying your family. I'm marrying
+you. We have independent means."
+
+She relapsed into additional protests; but he kissed her the more. There
+was a deadly persuasion to his caresses. Mr. Semple had never displayed
+any such fire. He aroused a force of feeling in her which had not
+previously been there. She was afraid of it and ashamed.
+
+"Will you marry me in a month?" he asked, cheerfully, when she paused.
+
+"You know I won't!" she exclaimed, nervously. "The idea! Why do you
+ask?"
+
+"What difference does it make? We're going to get married eventually."
+He was thinking how attractive he could make her look in other
+surroundings. Neither she nor his family knew how to live.
+
+"Well, not in a month. Wait a little while. I will marry you after a
+while--after you see whether you want me."
+
+He caught her tight. "I'll show you," he said.
+
+"Please stop. You hurt me."
+
+"How about it? Two months?"
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"Three?"
+
+"Well, maybe."
+
+"No maybe in that case. We marry."
+
+"But you're only a boy."
+
+"Don't worry about me. You'll find out how much of a boy I am."
+
+He seemed of a sudden to open up a new world to her, and she realized
+that she had never really lived before. This man represented something
+bigger and stronger than ever her husband had dreamed of. In his young
+way he was terrible, irresistible.
+
+"Well, in three months then," she whispered, while he rocked her cozily
+in his arms.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IX
+
+
+Cowperwood started in the note brokerage business with a small office
+at No. 64 South Third Street, where he very soon had the pleasure of
+discovering that his former excellent business connections remembered
+him. He would go to one house, where he suspected ready money might be
+desirable, and offer to negotiate their notes or any paper they might
+issue bearing six per cent. interest for a commission and then he would
+sell the paper for a small commission to some one who would welcome a
+secure investment. Sometimes his father, sometimes other people, helped
+him with suggestions as to when and how. Between the two ends he might
+make four and five per cent. on the total transaction. In the first year
+he cleared six thousand dollars over and above all expenses. That wasn't
+much, but he was augmenting it in another way which he believed would
+bring great profit in the future.
+
+Before the first street-car line, which was a shambling affair, had been
+laid on Front Street, the streets of Philadelphia had been crowded
+with hundreds of springless omnibuses rattling over rough, hard,
+cobblestones. Now, thanks to the idea of John Stephenson, in New York,
+the double rail track idea had come, and besides the line on Fifth and
+Sixth Streets (the cars running out one street and back on another)
+which had paid splendidly from the start, there were many other lines
+proposed or under way. The city was as eager to see street-cars
+replace omnibuses as it was to see railroads replace canals. There
+was opposition, of course. There always is in such cases. The cry of
+probable monopoly was raised. Disgruntled and defeated omnibus owners
+and drivers groaned aloud.
+
+Cowperwood had implicit faith in the future of the street railway. In
+support of this belief he risked all he could spare on new issues of
+stock shares in new companies. He wanted to be on the inside wherever
+possible, always, though this was a little difficult in the matter of
+the street-railways, he having been so young when they started and not
+having yet arranged his financial connections to make them count for
+much. The Fifth and Sixth Street line, which had been but recently
+started, was paying six hundred dollars a day. A project for a West
+Philadelphia line (Walnut and Chestnut) was on foot, as were lines to
+occupy Second and Third Streets, Race and Vine, Spruce and Pine, Green
+and Coates, Tenth and Eleventh, and so forth. They were engineered and
+backed by some powerful capitalists who had influence with the State
+legislature and could, in spite of great public protest, obtain
+franchises. Charges of corruption were in the air. It was argued that
+the streets were valuable, and that the companies should pay a road tax
+of a thousand dollars a mile. Somehow, however, these splendid grants
+were gotten through, and the public, hearing of the Fifth and Sixth
+Street line profits, was eager to invest. Cowperwood was one of these,
+and when the Second and Third Street line was engineered, he invested in
+that and in the Walnut and Chestnut Street line also. He began to have
+vague dreams of controlling a line himself some day, but as yet he did
+not see exactly how it was to be done, since his business was far from
+being a bonanza.
+
+In the midst of this early work he married Mrs. Semple. There was no
+vast to-do about it, as he did not want any and his bride-to-be was
+nervous, fearsome of public opinion. His family did not entirely
+approve. She was too old, his mother and father thought, and then Frank,
+with his prospects, could have done much better. His sister Anna fancied
+that Mrs. Semple was designing, which was, of course, not true. His
+brothers, Joseph and Edward, were interested, but not certain as to what
+they actually thought, since Mrs. Semple was good-looking and had some
+money.
+
+It was a warm October day when he and Lillian went to the altar, in the
+First Presbyterian Church of Callowhill Street. His bride, Frank was
+satisfied, looked exquisite in a trailing gown of cream lace--a creation
+that had cost months of labor. His parents, Mrs. Seneca Davis, the
+Wiggin family, brothers and sisters, and some friends were present. He
+was a little opposed to this idea, but Lillian wanted it. He stood
+up straight and correct in black broadcloth for the wedding
+ceremony--because she wished it, but later changed to a smart business
+suit for traveling. He had arranged his affairs for a two weeks' trip
+to New York and Boston. They took an afternoon train for New York, which
+required five hours to reach. When they were finally alone in the Astor
+House, New York, after hours of make-believe and public pretense of
+indifference, he gathered her in his arms.
+
+"Oh, it's delicious," he exclaimed, "to have you all to myself."
+
+She met his eagerness with that smiling, tantalizing passivity which
+he had so much admired but which this time was tinged strongly with a
+communicated desire. He thought he should never have enough of her, her
+beautiful face, her lovely arms, her smooth, lymphatic body. They were
+like two children, billing and cooing, driving, dining, seeing the
+sights. He was curious to visit the financial sections of both cities.
+New York and Boston appealed to him as commercially solid. He wondered,
+as he observed the former, whether he should ever leave Philadelphia.
+He was going to be very happy there now, he thought, with Lillian and
+possibly a brood of young Cowperwoods. He was going to work hard and
+make money. With his means and hers now at his command, he might become,
+very readily, notably wealthy.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter X
+
+
+The home atmosphere which they established when they returned from
+their honeymoon was a great improvement in taste over that which had
+characterized the earlier life of Mrs. Cowperwood as Mrs. Semple. They
+had decided to occupy her house, on North Front Street, for a while at
+least. Cowperwood, aggressive in his current artistic mood, had objected
+at once after they were engaged to the spirit of the furniture and
+decorations, or lack of them, and had suggested that he be allowed to
+have it brought more in keeping with his idea of what was appropriate.
+During the years in which he had been growing into manhood he had come
+instinctively into sound notions of what was artistic and refined. He
+had seen so many homes that were more distinguished and harmonious than
+his own. One could not walk or drive about Philadelphia without seeing
+and being impressed with the general tendency toward a more cultivated
+and selective social life. Many excellent and expensive houses were
+being erected. The front lawn, with some attempt at floral gardening,
+was achieving local popularity. In the homes of the Tighes, the
+Leighs, Arthur Rivers, and others, he had noticed art objects of some
+distinction--bronzes, marbles, hangings, pictures, clocks, rugs.
+
+It seemed to him now that his comparatively commonplace house could be
+made into something charming and for comparatively little money. The
+dining-room for instance which, through two plain windows set in a hat
+side wall back of the veranda, looked south over a stretch of grass and
+several trees and bushes to a dividing fence where the Semple property
+ended and a neighbor's began, could be made so much more attractive.
+That fence--sharp-pointed, gray palings--could be torn away and a hedge
+put in its place. The wall which divided the dining-room from the parlor
+could be knocked through and a hanging of some pleasing character put in
+its place. A bay-window could be built to replace the two present oblong
+windows--a bay which would come down to the floor and open out on the
+lawn via swiveled, diamond-shaped, lead-paned frames. All this shabby,
+nondescript furniture, collected from heaven knows where--partly
+inherited from the Semples and the Wiggins and partly bought--could be
+thrown out or sold and something better and more harmonious introduced.
+He knew a young man by the name of Ellsworth, an architect newly
+graduated from a local school, with whom he had struck up an interesting
+friendship--one of those inexplicable inclinations of temperament.
+Wilton Ellsworth was an artist in spirit, quiet, meditative, refined.
+From discussing the quality of a certain building on Chestnut Street
+which was then being erected, and which Ellsworth pronounced atrocious,
+they had fallen to discussing art in general, or the lack of it, in
+America. And it occurred to him that Ellsworth was the man to carry out
+his decorative views to a nicety. When he suggested the young man to
+Lillian, she placidly agreed with him and also with his own ideas of how
+the house could be revised.
+
+So while they were gone on their honeymoon Ellsworth began the revision
+on an estimated cost of three thousand dollars, including the furniture.
+It was not completed for nearly three weeks after their return; but when
+finished made a comparatively new house. The dining-room bay hung low
+over the grass, as Frank wished, and the windows were diamond-paned
+and leaded, swiveled on brass rods. The parlor and dining-room were
+separated by sliding doors; but the intention was to hang in this
+opening a silk hanging depicting a wedding scene in Normandy. Old
+English oak was used in the dining-room, an American imitation of
+Chippendale and Sheraton for the sitting-room and the bedrooms. There
+were a few simple water-colors hung here and there, some bronzes of
+Hosmer and Powers, a marble venus by Potter, a now forgotten sculptor,
+and other objects of art--nothing of any distinction. Pleasing,
+appropriately colored rugs covered the floor. Mrs. Cowperwood was
+shocked by the nudity of the Venus which conveyed an atmosphere of
+European freedom not common to America; but she said nothing. It was all
+harmonious and soothing, and she did not feel herself capable to judge.
+Frank knew about these things so much better than she did. Then with
+a maid and a man of all work installed, a program of entertaining was
+begun on a small scale.
+
+Those who recall the early years of their married life can best realize
+the subtle changes which this new condition brought to Frank, for, like
+all who accept the hymeneal yoke, he was influenced to a certain extent
+by the things with which he surrounded himself. Primarily, from certain
+traits of his character, one would have imagined him called to be a
+citizen of eminent respectability and worth. He appeared to be an ideal
+home man. He delighted to return to his wife in the evenings, leaving
+the crowded downtown section where traffic clamored and men hurried.
+Here he could feel that he was well-stationed and physically happy in
+life. The thought of the dinner-table with candles upon it (his idea);
+the thought of Lillian in a trailing gown of pale-blue or green silk--he
+liked her in those colors; the thought of a large fireplace flaming with
+solid lengths of cord-wood, and Lillian snuggling in his arms, gripped
+his immature imagination. As has been said before, he cared nothing for
+books, but life, pictures, trees, physical contact--these, in spite of
+his shrewd and already gripping financial calculations, held him. To
+live richly, joyously, fully--his whole nature craved that.
+
+And Mrs. Cowperwood, in spite of the difference in their years, appeared
+to be a fit mate for him at this time. She was once awakened, and for
+the time being, clinging, responsive, dreamy. His mood and hers was for
+a baby, and in a little while that happy expectation was whispered to
+him by her. She had half fancied that her previous barrenness was due to
+herself, and was rather surprised and delighted at the proof that it
+was not so. It opened new possibilities--a seemingly glorious future of
+which she was not afraid. He liked it, the idea of self-duplication. It
+was almost acquisitive, this thought. For days and weeks and months and
+years, at least the first four or five, he took a keen satisfaction in
+coming home evenings, strolling about the yard, driving with his wife,
+having friends in to dinner, talking over with her in an explanatory
+way the things he intended to do. She did not understand his financial
+abstrusities, and he did not trouble to make them clear.
+
+But love, her pretty body, her lips, her quiet manner--the lure of
+all these combined, and his two children, when they came--two in four
+years--held him. He would dandle Frank, Jr., who was the first to
+arrive, on his knee, looking at his chubby feet, his kindling eyes, his
+almost formless yet bud-like mouth, and wonder at the process by which
+children came into the world. There was so much to think of in this
+connection--the spermatozoic beginning, the strange period of gestation
+in women, the danger of disease and delivery. He had gone through a
+real period of strain when Frank, Jr., was born, for Mrs. Cowperwood
+was frightened. He feared for the beauty of her body--troubled over the
+danger of losing her; and he actually endured his first worry when he
+stood outside the door the day the child came. Not much--he was too
+self-sufficient, too resourceful; and yet he worried, conjuring up
+thoughts of death and the end of their present state. Then word came,
+after certain piercing, harrowing cries, that all was well, and he
+was permitted to look at the new arrival. The experience broadened his
+conception of things, made him more solid in his judgment of life. That
+old conviction of tragedy underlying the surface of things, like wood
+under its veneer, was emphasized. Little Frank, and later Lillian,
+blue-eyed and golden-haired, touched his imagination for a while. There
+was a good deal to this home idea, after all. That was the way life was
+organized, and properly so--its cornerstone was the home.
+
+It would be impossible to indicate fully how subtle were the material
+changes which these years involved--changes so gradual that they were,
+like the lap of soft waters, unnoticeable. Considerable--a great deal,
+considering how little he had to begin with--wealth was added in
+the next five years. He came, in his financial world, to know fairly
+intimately, as commercial relationships go, some of the subtlest
+characters of the steadily enlarging financial world. In his days at
+Tighe's and on the exchange, many curious figures had been pointed
+out to him--State and city officials of one grade and another who were
+"making something out of politics," and some national figures who came
+from Washington to Philadelphia at times to see Drexel & Co., Clark &
+Co., and even Tighe & Co. These men, as he learned, had tips or advance
+news of legislative or economic changes which were sure to affect
+certain stocks or trade opportunities. A young clerk had once pulled his
+sleeve at Tighe's.
+
+"See that man going in to see Tighe?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"That's Murtagh, the city treasurer. Say, he don't do anything but play
+a fine game. All that money to invest, and he don't have to account for
+anything except the principal. The interest goes to him."
+
+Cowperwood understood. All these city and State officials speculated.
+They had a habit of depositing city and State funds with certain bankers
+and brokers as authorized agents or designated State depositories. The
+banks paid no interest--save to the officials personally. They loaned
+it to certain brokers on the officials' secret order, and the latter
+invested it in "sure winners." The bankers got the free use of the money
+a part of the time, the brokers another part: the officials made money,
+and the brokers received a fat commission. There was a political ring
+in Philadelphia in which the mayor, certain members of the council, the
+treasurer, the chief of police, the commissioner of public works, and
+others shared. It was a case generally of "You scratch my back and I'll
+scratch yours." Cowperwood thought it rather shabby work at first,
+but many men were rapidly getting rich and no one seemed to care. The
+newspapers were always talking about civic patriotism and pride but
+never a word about these things. And the men who did them were powerful
+and respected.
+
+There were many houses, a constantly widening circle, that found him a
+very trustworthy agent in disposing of note issues or note payment. He
+seemed to know so quickly where to go to get the money. From the first
+he made it a principle to keep twenty thousand dollars in cash on hand
+in order to be able to take up a proposition instantly and without
+discussion. So, often he was able to say, "Why, certainly, I can do
+that," when otherwise, on the face of things, he would not have been
+able to do so. He was asked if he would not handle certain stock
+transactions on 'change. He had no seat, and he intended not to take
+any at first; but now he changed his mind, and bought one, not only
+in Philadelphia, but in New York also. A certain Joseph Zimmerman, a
+dry-goods man for whom he had handled various note issues, suggested
+that he undertake operating in street-railway shares for him, and this
+was the beginning of his return to the floor.
+
+In the meanwhile his family life was changing--growing, one might have
+said, finer and more secure. Mrs. Cowperwood had, for instance, been
+compelled from time to time to make a subtle readjustment of her
+personal relationship with people, as he had with his. When Mr.
+Semple was alive she had been socially connected with tradesmen
+principally--retailers and small wholesalers--a very few. Some of the
+women of her own church, the First Presbyterian, were friendly with
+her. There had been church teas and sociables which she and Mr. Semple
+attended, and dull visits to his relatives and hers. The Cowperwoods,
+the Watermans, and a few families of that caliber, had been the notable
+exceptions. Now all this was changed. Young Cowperwood did not care
+very much for her relatives, and the Semples had been alienated by her
+second, and to them outrageous, marriage. His own family was closely
+interested by ties of affection and mutual prosperity, but, better than
+this, he was drawing to himself some really significant personalities.
+He brought home with him, socially--not to talk business, for he
+disliked that idea--bankers, investors, customers and prospective
+customers. Out on the Schuylkill, the Wissahickon, and elsewhere, were
+popular dining places where one could drive on Sunday. He and Mrs.
+Cowperwood frequently drove out to Mrs. Seneca Davis's, to Judge
+Kitchen's, to the home of Andrew Sharpless, a lawyer whom he knew, to
+the home of Harper Steger, his own lawyer, and others. Cowperwood had
+the gift of geniality. None of these men or women suspected the depth of
+his nature--he was thinking, thinking, thinking, but enjoyed life as he
+went.
+
+One of his earliest and most genuine leanings was toward paintings. He
+admired nature, but somehow, without knowing why, he fancied one could
+best grasp it through the personality of some interpreter, just as we
+gain our ideas of law and politics through individuals. Mrs. Cowperwood
+cared not a whit one way or another, but she accompanied him to
+exhibitions, thinking all the while that Frank was a little peculiar.
+He tried, because he loved her, to interest her in these things
+intelligently, but while she pretended slightly, she could not really
+see or care, and it was very plain that she could not.
+
+The children took up a great deal of her time. However, Cowperwood was
+not troubled about this. It struck him as delightful and exceedingly
+worth while that she should be so devoted. At the same time, her
+lethargic manner, vague smile and her sometimes seeming indifference,
+which sprang largely from a sense of absolute security, attracted him
+also. She was so different from him! She took her second marriage quite
+as she had taken her first--a solemn fact which contained no possibility
+of mental alteration. As for himself, however, he was bustling about in
+a world which, financially at least, seemed all alteration--there were
+so many sudden and almost unheard-of changes. He began to look at her
+at times, with a speculative eye--not very critically, for he liked
+her--but with an attempt to weigh her personality. He had known her
+five years and more now. What did he know about her? The vigor of
+youth--those first years--had made up for so many things, but now that
+he had her safely...
+
+There came in this period the slow approach, and finally the
+declaration, of war between the North and the South, attended with so
+much excitement that almost all current minds were notably colored by
+it. It was terrific. Then came meetings, public and stirring, and riots;
+the incident of John Brown's body; the arrival of Lincoln, the great
+commoner, on his way from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington via
+Philadelphia, to take the oath of office; the battle of Bull Run; the
+battle of Vicksburg; the battle of Gettysburg, and so on. Cowperwood was
+only twenty-five at the time, a cool, determined youth, who thought the
+slave agitation might be well founded in human rights--no doubt was--but
+exceedingly dangerous to trade. He hoped the North would win; but it
+might go hard with him personally and other financiers. He did not
+care to fight. That seemed silly for the individual man to do. Others
+might--there were many poor, thin-minded, half-baked creatures who would
+put themselves up to be shot; but they were only fit to be commanded or
+shot down. As for him, his life was sacred to himself and his family and
+his personal interests. He recalled seeing, one day, in one of the quiet
+side streets, as the working-men were coming home from their work, a
+small enlisting squad of soldiers in blue marching enthusiastically
+along, the Union flag flying, the drummers drumming, the fifes blowing,
+the idea being, of course, to so impress the hitherto indifferent or
+wavering citizen, to exalt him to such a pitch, that he would lose
+his sense of proportion, of self-interest, and, forgetting all--wife,
+parents, home, and children--and seeing only the great need of the
+country, fall in behind and enlist. He saw one workingman swinging his
+pail, and evidently not contemplating any such denouement to his day's
+work, pause, listen as the squad approached, hesitate as it drew close,
+and as it passed, with a peculiar look of uncertainty or wonder in his
+eyes, fall in behind and march solemnly away to the enlisting quarters.
+What was it that had caught this man, Frank asked himself. How was he
+overcome so easily? He had not intended to go. His face was streaked
+with the grease and dirt of his work--he looked like a foundry man or
+machinist, say twenty-five years of age. Frank watched the little squad
+disappear at the end of the street round the corner under the trees.
+
+This current war-spirit was strange. The people seemed to him to want
+to hear nothing but the sound of the drum and fife, to see nothing but
+troops, of which there were thousands now passing through on their
+way to the front, carrying cold steel in the shape of guns at their
+shoulders, to hear of war and the rumors of war. It was a thrilling
+sentiment, no doubt, great but unprofitable. It meant self-sacrifice,
+and he could not see that. If he went he might be shot, and what would
+his noble emotion amount to then? He would rather make money, regulate
+current political, social and financial affairs. The poor fool who
+fell in behind the enlisting squad--no, not fool, he would not call him
+that--the poor overwrought working-man--well, Heaven pity him! Heaven
+pity all of them! They really did not know what they were doing.
+
+One day he saw Lincoln--a tall, shambling man, long, bony, gawky, but
+tremendously impressive. It was a raw, slushy morning of a late February
+day, and the great war President was just through with his solemn
+pronunciamento in regard to the bonds that might have been strained but
+must not be broken. As he issued from the doorway of Independence Hall,
+that famous birthplace of liberty, his face was set in a sad, meditative
+calm. Cowperwood looked at him fixedly as he issued from the doorway
+surrounded by chiefs of staff, local dignitaries, detectives, and the
+curious, sympathetic faces of the public. As he studied the strangely
+rough-hewn countenance a sense of the great worth and dignity of the man
+came over him.
+
+"A real man, that," he thought; "a wonderful temperament." His every
+gesture came upon him with great force. He watched him enter his
+carriage, thinking "So that is the railsplitter, the country lawyer.
+Well, fate has picked a great man for this crisis."
+
+For days the face of Lincoln haunted him, and very often during the
+war his mind reverted to that singular figure. It seemed to him
+unquestionable that fortuitously he had been permitted to look upon one
+of the world's really great men. War and statesmanship were not for him;
+but he knew how important those things were--at times.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XI
+
+
+It was while the war was on, and after it was perfectly plain that it
+was not to be of a few days' duration, that Cowperwood's first great
+financial opportunity came to him. There was a strong demand for money
+at the time on the part of the nation, the State, and the city. In July,
+1861, Congress had authorized a loan of fifty million dollars, to be
+secured by twenty-year bonds with interest not to exceed seven per
+cent., and the State authorized a loan of three millions on much the
+same security, the first being handled by financiers of Boston, New
+York, and Philadelphia, the second by Philadelphia financiers alone.
+Cowperwood had no hand in this. He was not big enough. He read in the
+papers of gatherings of men whom he knew personally or by reputation,
+"to consider the best way to aid the nation or the State"; but he was
+not included. And yet his soul yearned to be of them. He noticed
+how often a rich man's word sufficed--no money, no certificates, no
+collateral, no anything--just his word. If Drexel & Co., or Jay Cooke &
+Co., or Gould & Fiske were rumored to be behind anything, how secure
+it was! Jay Cooke, a young man in Philadelphia, had made a great strike
+taking this State loan in company with Drexel & Co., and selling it at
+par. The general opinion was that it ought to be and could only be sold
+at ninety. Cooke did not believe this. He believed that State pride
+and State patriotism would warrant offering the loan to small banks
+and private citizens, and that they would subscribe it fully and more.
+Events justified Cooke magnificently, and his public reputation was
+assured. Cowperwood wished he could make some such strike; but he was
+too practical to worry over anything save the facts and conditions that
+were before him.
+
+His chance came about six months later, when it was found that the State
+would have to have much more money. Its quota of troops would have to
+be equipped and paid. There were measures of defense to be taken, the
+treasury to be replenished. A call for a loan of twenty-three million
+dollars was finally authorized by the legislature and issued. There was
+great talk in the street as to who was to handle it--Drexel & Co. and
+Jay Cooke & Co., of course.
+
+Cowperwood pondered over this. If he could handle a fraction of this
+great loan now--he could not possibly handle the whole of it, for he
+had not the necessary connections--he could add considerably to his
+reputation as a broker while making a tidy sum. How much could he
+handle? That was the question. Who would take portions of it? His
+father's bank? Probably. Waterman & Co.? A little. Judge Kitchen? A
+small fraction. The Mills-David Company? Yes. He thought of different
+individuals and concerns who, for one reason and another--personal
+friendship, good-nature, gratitude for past favors, and so on--would
+take a percentage of the seven-percent. bonds through him. He totaled up
+his possibilities, and discovered that in all likelihood, with a little
+preliminary missionary work, he could dispose of one million dollars if
+personal influence, through local political figures, could bring this
+much of the loan his way.
+
+One man in particular had grown strong in his estimation as having some
+subtle political connection not visible on the surface, and this
+was Edward Malia Butler. Butler was a contractor, undertaking the
+construction of sewers, water-mains, foundations for buildings,
+street-paving, and the like. In the early days, long before Cowperwood
+had known him, he had been a garbage-contractor on his own account. The
+city at that time had no extended street-cleaning service, particularly
+in its outlying sections and some of the older, poorer regions. Edward
+Butler, then a poor young Irishman, had begun by collecting and hauling
+away the garbage free of charge, and feeding it to his pigs and cattle.
+Later he discovered that some people were willing to pay a small charge
+for this service. Then a local political character, a councilman friend
+of his--they were both Catholics--saw a new point in the whole thing.
+Butler could be made official garbage-collector. The council could
+vote an annual appropriation for this service. Butler could employ more
+wagons than he did now--dozens of them, scores. Not only that, but no
+other garbage-collector would be allowed. There were others, but the
+official contract awarded him would also, officially, be the end of
+the life of any and every disturbing rival. A certain amount of the
+profitable proceeds would have to be set aside to assuage the feelings
+of those who were not contractors. Funds would have to be loaned at
+election time to certain individuals and organizations--but no matter.
+The amount would be small. So Butler and Patrick Gavin Comiskey, the
+councilman (the latter silently) entered into business relations. Butler
+gave up driving a wagon himself. He hired a young man, a smart Irish boy
+of his neighborhood, Jimmy Sheehan, to be his assistant, superintendent,
+stableman, bookkeeper, and what not. Since he soon began to make between
+four and five thousand a year, where before he made two thousand, he
+moved into a brick house in an outlying section of the south side, and
+sent his children to school. Mrs. Butler gave up making soap and feeding
+pigs. And since then times had been exceedingly good with Edward Butler.
+
+He could neither read nor write at first; but now he knew how, of
+course. He had learned from association with Mr. Comiskey that there
+were other forms of contracting--sewers, water-mains, gas-mains,
+street-paving, and the like. Who better than Edward Butler to do it?
+He knew the councilmen, many of them. Het met them in the back rooms
+of saloons, on Sundays and Saturdays at political picnics, at election
+councils and conferences, for as a beneficiary of the city's largess he
+was expected to contribute not only money, but advice. Curiously he
+had developed a strange political wisdom. He knew a successful man or a
+coming man when he saw one. So many of his bookkeepers, superintendents,
+time-keepers had graduated into councilmen and state legislators. His
+nominees--suggested to political conferences--were so often known to
+make good. First he came to have influence in his councilman's ward,
+then in his legislative district, then in the city councils of
+his party--Whig, of course--and then he was supposed to have an
+organization.
+
+Mysterious forces worked for him in council. He was awarded significant
+contracts, and he always bid. The garbage business was now a thing of
+the past. His eldest boy, Owen, was a member of the State legislature
+and a partner in his business affairs. His second son, Callum, was a
+clerk in the city water department and an assistant to his father also.
+Aileen, his eldest daughter, fifteen years of age, was still in St.
+Agatha's, a convent school in Germantown. Norah, his second daughter and
+youngest child, thirteen years old, was in attendance at a local private
+school conducted by a Catholic sisterhood. The Butler family had
+moved away from South Philadelphia into Girard Avenue, near the twelve
+hundreds, where a new and rather interesting social life was beginning.
+They were not of it, but Edward Butler, contractor, now fifty-five years
+of age, worth, say, five hundred thousand dollars, had many political
+and financial friends. No longer a "rough neck," but a solid,
+reddish-faced man, slightly tanned, with broad shoulders and a solid
+chest, gray eyes, gray hair, a typically Irish face made wise and calm
+and undecipherable by much experience. His big hands and feet indicated
+a day when he had not worn the best English cloth suits and tanned
+leather, but his presence was not in any way offensive--rather the
+other way about. Though still possessed of a brogue, he was soft-spoken,
+winning, and persuasive.
+
+He had been one of the first to become interested in the development of
+the street-car system and had come to the conclusion, as had Cowperwood
+and many others, that it was going to be a great thing. The money
+returns on the stocks or shares he had been induced to buy had been
+ample evidence of that, He had dealt through one broker and another,
+having failed to get in on the original corporate organizations.
+He wanted to pick up such stock as he could in one organization and
+another, for he believed they all had a future, and most of all he
+wanted to get control of a line or two. In connection with this idea he
+was looking for some reliable young man, honest and capable, who
+would work under his direction and do what he said. Then he learned of
+Cowperwood, and one day sent for him and asked him to call at his house.
+
+Cowperwood responded quickly, for he knew of Butler, his rise, his
+connections, his force. He called at the house as directed, one cold,
+crisp February morning. He remembered the appearance of the street
+afterward--broad, brick-paved sidewalks, macadamized roadway, powdered
+over with a light snow and set with young, leafless, scrubby trees
+and lamp-posts. Butler's house was not new--he had bought and repaired
+it--but it was not an unsatisfactory specimen of the architecture of the
+time. It was fifty feet wide, four stories tall, of graystone and with
+four wide, white stone steps leading up to the door. The window arches,
+framed in white, had U-shaped keystones. There were curtains of lace and
+a glimpse of red plush through the windows, which gleamed warm against
+the cold and snow outside. A trim Irish maid came to the door and he
+gave her his card and was invited into the house.
+
+"Is Mr. Butler home?"
+
+"I'm not sure, sir. I'll find out. He may have gone out."
+
+In a little while he was asked to come upstairs, where he found Butler
+in a somewhat commercial-looking room. It had a desk, an office chair,
+some leather furnishings, and a bookcase, but no completeness or
+symmetry as either an office or a living room. There were several
+pictures on the wall--an impossible oil painting, for one thing, dark
+and gloomy; a canal and barge scene in pink and nile green for another;
+some daguerreotypes of relatives and friends which were not half bad.
+Cowperwood noticed one of two girls, one with reddish-gold hair, another
+with what appeared to be silky brown. The beautiful silver effect of the
+daguerreotype had been tinted. They were pretty girls, healthy, smiling,
+Celtic, their heads close together, their eyes looking straight out
+at you. He admired them casually, and fancied they must be Butler's
+daughters.
+
+"Mr. Cowperwood?" inquired Butler, uttering the name fully with a
+peculiar accent on the vowels. (He was a slow-moving man, solemn and
+deliberate.) Cowperwood noticed that his body was hale and strong like
+seasoned hickory, tanned by wind and rain. The flesh of his cheeks was
+pulled taut and there was nothing soft or flabby about him.
+
+"I'm that man."
+
+"I have a little matter of stocks to talk over with you" ("matter"
+almost sounded like "mather"), "and I thought you'd better come here
+rather than that I should come down to your office. We can be more
+private-like, and, besides, I'm not as young as I used to be."
+
+He allowed a semi-twinkle to rest in his eye as he looked his visitor
+over.
+
+Cowperwood smiled.
+
+"Well, I hope I can be of service to you," he said, genially.
+
+"I happen to be interested just at present in pickin' up certain
+street-railway stocks on 'change. I'll tell you about them later. Won't
+you have somethin' to drink? It's a cold morning."
+
+"No, thanks; I never drink."
+
+"Never? That's a hard word when it comes to whisky. Well, no matter.
+It's a good rule. My boys don't touch anything, and I'm glad of it. As I
+say, I'm interested in pickin' up a few stocks on 'change; but, to tell
+you the truth, I'm more interested in findin' some clever young felly
+like yourself through whom I can work. One thing leads to another, you
+know, in this world." And he looked at his visitor non-committally, and
+yet with a genial show of interest.
+
+"Quite so," replied Cowperwood, with a friendly gleam in return.
+
+"Well," Butler meditated, half to himself, half to Cowperwood, "there
+are a number of things that a bright young man could do for me in the
+street if he were so minded. I have two bright boys of my own, but I
+don't want them to become stock-gamblers, and I don't know that
+they would or could if I wanted them to. But this isn't a matter of
+stock-gambling. I'm pretty busy as it is, and, as I said awhile ago, I'm
+getting along. I'm not as light on my toes as I once was. But if I had
+the right sort of a young man--I've been looking into your record,
+by the way, never fear--he might handle a number of little
+things--investments and loans--which might bring us each a little
+somethin'. Sometimes the young men around town ask advice of me in one
+way and another--they have a little somethin' to invest, and so--"
+
+He paused and looked tantalizingly out of the window, knowing full
+well Cowperwood was greatly interested, and that this talk of political
+influence and connections could only whet his appetite. Butler wanted
+him to see clearly that fidelity was the point in this case--fidelity,
+tact, subtlety, and concealment.
+
+"Well, if you have been looking into my record," observed Cowperwood,
+with his own elusive smile, leaving the thought suspended.
+
+Butler felt the force of the temperament and the argument. He liked
+the young man's poise and balance. A number of people had spoken of
+Cowperwood to him. (It was now Cowperwood & Co. The company was fiction
+purely.) He asked him something about the street; how the market was
+running; what he knew about street-railways. Finally he outlined his
+plan of buying all he could of the stock of two given lines--the Ninth
+and Tenth and the Fifteenth and Sixteenth--without attracting any
+attention, if possible. It was to be done slowly, part on 'change, part
+from individual holders. He did not tell him that there was a certain
+amount of legislative pressure he hoped to bring to bear to get him
+franchises for extensions in the regions beyond where the lines now
+ended, in order that when the time came for them to extend their
+facilities they would have to see him or his sons, who might be large
+minority stockholders in these very concerns. It was a far-sighted plan,
+and meant that the lines would eventually drop into his or his sons'
+basket.
+
+"I'll be delighted to work with you, Mr. Butler, in any way that you
+may suggest," observed Cowperwood. "I can't say that I have so much of a
+business as yet--merely prospects. But my connections are good. I am
+now a member of the New York and Philadelphia exchanges. Those who have
+dealt with me seem to like the results I get."
+
+"I know a little something about your work already," reiterated Butler,
+wisely.
+
+"Very well, then; whenever you have a commission you can call at
+my office, or write, or I will call here. I will give you my secret
+operating code, so that anything you say will be strictly confidential."
+
+"Well, we'll not say anything more now. In a few days I'll have
+somethin' for you. When I do, you can draw on my bank for what you need,
+up to a certain amount." He got up and looked out into the street, and
+Cowperwood also arose.
+
+"It's a fine day now, isn't it?"
+
+"It surely is."
+
+"Well, we'll get to know each other better, I'm sure."
+
+He held out his hand.
+
+"I hope so."
+
+Cowperwood went out, Butler accompanying him to the door. As he did so a
+young girl bounded in from the street, red-cheeked, blue-eyed, wearing a
+scarlet cape with the peaked hood thrown over her red-gold hair.
+
+"Oh, daddy, I almost knocked you down."
+
+She gave her father, and incidentally Cowperwood, a gleaming, radiant,
+inclusive smile. Her teeth were bright and small, and her lips bud-red.
+
+"You're home early. I thought you were going to stay all day?"
+
+"I was, but I changed my mind."
+
+She passed on in, swinging her arms.
+
+"Yes, well--" Butler continued, when she had gone. "Then well leave it
+for a day or two. Good day."
+
+"Good day."
+
+Cowperwood, warm with this enhancing of his financial prospects, went
+down the steps; but incidentally he spared a passing thought for the gay
+spirit of youth that had manifested itself in this red-cheeked maiden.
+What a bright, healthy, bounding girl! Her voice had the subtle,
+vigorous ring of fifteen or sixteen. She was all vitality. What a fine
+catch for some young fellow some day, and her father would make him
+rich, no doubt, or help to.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XII
+
+
+It was to Edward Malia Butler that Cowperwood turned now, some nineteen
+months later when he was thinking of the influence that might bring him
+an award of a portion of the State issue of bonds. Butler could probably
+be interested to take some of them himself, or could help him place
+some. He had come to like Cowperwood very much and was now being carried
+on the latter's books as a prospective purchaser of large blocks of
+stocks. And Cowperwood liked this great solid Irishman. He liked his
+history. He had met Mrs. Butler, a rather fat and phlegmatic Irish woman
+with a world of hard sense who cared nothing at all for show and who
+still liked to go into the kitchen and superintend the cooking. He had
+met Owen and Callum Butler, the boys, and Aileen and Norah, the girls.
+Aileen was the one who had bounded up the steps the first day he had
+called at the Butler house several seasons before.
+
+There was a cozy grate-fire burning in Butler's improvised private
+office when Cowperwood called. Spring was coming on, but the evenings
+were cool. The older man invited Cowperwood to make himself comfortable
+in one of the large leather chairs before the fire and then proceeded to
+listen to his recital of what he hoped to accomplish.
+
+"Well, now, that isn't so easy," he commented at the end. "You ought to
+know more about that than I do. I'm not a financier, as you well know."
+And he grinned apologetically.
+
+"It's a matter of influence," went on Cowperwood. "And favoritism.
+That I know. Drexel & Company and Cooke & Company have connections at
+Harrisburg. They have men of their own looking after their interests.
+The attorney-general and the State treasurer are hand in glove with
+them. Even if I put in a bid, and can demonstrate that I can handle the
+loan, it won't help me to get it. Other people have done that. I have to
+have friends--influence. You know how it is."
+
+"Them things," Butler said, "is easy enough if you know the right
+parties to approach. Now there's Jimmy Oliver--he ought to know
+something about that." Jimmy Oliver was the whilom district attorney
+serving at this time, and incidentally free adviser to Mr. Butler in
+many ways. He was also, accidentally, a warm personal friend of the
+State treasurer.
+
+"How much of the loan do you want?"
+
+"Five million."
+
+"Five million!" Butler sat up. "Man, what are you talking about? That's
+a good deal of money. Where are you going to sell all that?"
+
+"I want to bid for five million," assuaged Cowperwood, softly. "I only
+want one million but I want the prestige of putting in a bona fide bid
+for five million. It will do me good on the street."
+
+Butler sank back somewhat relieved.
+
+"Five million! Prestige! You want one million. Well, now, that's
+different. That's not such a bad idea. We ought to be able to get that."
+
+He rubbed his chin some more and stared into the fire.
+
+And Cowperwood felt confident when he left the house that evening that
+Butler would not fail him but would set the wheels working. Therefore,
+he was not surprised, and knew exactly what it meant, when a few days
+later he was introduced to City Treasurer Julian Bode, who promised to
+introduce him to State Treasurer Van Nostrand and to see that his claims
+to consideration were put before the people. "Of course, you know,"
+he said to Cowperwood, in the presence of Butler, for it was at the
+latter's home that the conference took place, "this banking crowd is
+very powerful. You know who they are. They don't want any interference
+in this bond issue business. I was talking to Terrence Relihan, who
+represents them up there"--meaning Harrisburg, the State capital--"and
+he says they won't stand for it at all. You may have trouble right here
+in Philadelphia after you get it--they're pretty powerful, you know. Are
+you sure just where you can place it?"
+
+"Yes, I'm sure," replied Cowperwood.
+
+"Well, the best thing in my judgment is not to say anything at all. Just
+put in your bid. Van Nostrand, with the governor's approval, will make
+the award. We can fix the governor, I think. After you get it they may
+talk to you personally, but that's your business."
+
+Cowperwood smiled his inscrutable smile. There were so many ins and outs
+to this financial life. It was an endless network of underground holes,
+along which all sorts of influences were moving. A little wit, a little
+nimbleness, a little luck-time and opportunity--these sometimes availed.
+Here he was, through his ambition to get on, and nothing else, coming
+into contact with the State treasurer and the governor. They were
+going to consider his case personally, because he demanded that it be
+considered--nothing more. Others more influential than himself had
+quite as much right to a share, but they didn't take it. Nerve, ideas,
+aggressiveness, how these counted when one had luck!
+
+He went away thinking how surprised Drexel & Co. and Cooke & Co. would
+be to see him appearing in the field as a competitor. In his home, in a
+little room on the second floor next his bedroom, which he had fixed up
+as an office with a desk, a safe, and a leather chair, he consulted his
+resources. There were so many things to think of. He went over again the
+list of people whom he had seen and whom he could count on to
+subscribe, and in so far as that was concerned--the award of one million
+dollars--he was safe. He figured to make two per cent. on the total
+transaction, or twenty thousand dollars. If he did he was going to buy
+a house out on Girard Avenue beyond the Butlers', or, better yet, buy a
+piece of ground and erect one; mortgaging house and property so to do.
+His father was prospering nicely. He might want to build a house next to
+him, and they could live side by side. His own business, aside from this
+deal, would yield him ten thousand dollars this year. His street-car
+investments, aggregating fifty thousand, were paying six per cent. His
+wife's property, represented by this house, some government bonds, and
+some real estate in West Philadelphia amounted to forty thousand more.
+Between them they were rich; but he expected to be much richer. All he
+needed now was to keep cool. If he succeeded in this bond-issue matter,
+he could do it again and on a larger scale. There would be more issues.
+He turned out the light after a while and went into his wife's boudoir,
+where she was sleeping. The nurse and the children were in a room
+beyond.
+
+"Well, Lillian," he observed, when she awoke and turned over toward him,
+"I think I have that bond matter that I was telling you about arranged
+at last. I think I'll get a million of it, anyhow. That'll mean twenty
+thousand. If I do we'll build out on Girard Avenue. That's going to be
+the street. The college is making that neighborhood."
+
+"That'll be fine, won't it, Frank!" she observed, and rubbed his arm as
+he sat on the side of the bed.
+
+Her remark was vaguely speculative.
+
+"We'll have to show the Butlers some attention from now on. He's been
+very nice to me and he's going to be useful--I can see that. He asked me
+to bring you over some time. We must go. Be nice to his wife. He can do
+a lot for me if he wants to. He has two daughters, too. We'll have to
+have them over here."
+
+"I'll have them to dinner sometime," she agreed cheerfully and
+helpfully, "and I'll stop and take Mrs. Butler driving if she'll go, or
+she can take me."
+
+She had already learned that the Butlers were rather showy--the younger
+generation--that they were sensitive as to their lineage, and that money
+in their estimation was supposed to make up for any deficiency in any
+other respect. "Butler himself is a very presentable man," Cowperwood
+had once remarked to her, "but Mrs. Butler--well, she's all right,
+but she's a little commonplace. She's a fine woman, though, I think,
+good-natured and good-hearted." He cautioned her not to overlook Aileen
+and Norah, because the Butlers, mother and father, were very proud of
+them.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood at this time was thirty-two years old; Cowperwood
+twenty-seven. The birth and care of two children had made some
+difference in her looks. She was no longer as softly pleasing, more
+angular. Her face was hollow-cheeked, like so many of Rossetti's
+and Burne-Jones's women. Her health was really not as good as it had
+been--the care of two children and a late undiagnosed tendency toward
+gastritis having reduced her. In short she was a little run down
+nervously and suffered from fits of depression. Cowperwood had noticed
+this. He tried to be gentle and considerate, but he was too much of a
+utilitarian and practical-minded observer not to realize that he was
+likely to have a sickly wife on his hands later. Sympathy and affection
+were great things, but desire and charm must endure or one was compelled
+to be sadly conscious of their loss. So often now he saw young girls who
+were quite in his mood, and who were exceedingly robust and joyous. It
+was fine, advisable, practical, to adhere to the virtues as laid down
+in the current social lexicon, but if you had a sickly wife--And anyhow,
+was a man entitled to only one wife? Must he never look at another
+woman? Supposing he found some one? He pondered those things between
+hours of labor, and concluded that it did not make so much difference.
+If a man could, and not be exposed, it was all right. He had to be
+careful, though. Tonight, as he sat on the side of his wife's bed, he
+was thinking somewhat of this, for he had seen Aileen Butler again,
+playing and singing at her piano as he passed the parlor door. She was
+like a bright bird radiating health and enthusiasm--a reminder of youth
+in general.
+
+"It's a strange world," he thought; but his thoughts were his own, and
+he didn't propose to tell any one about them.
+
+The bond issue, when it came, was a curious compromise; for, although it
+netted him his twenty thousand dollars and more and served to
+introduce him to the financial notice of Philadelphia and the State of
+Pennsylvania, it did not permit him to manipulate the subscriptions as
+he had planned. The State treasurer was seen by him at the office of a
+local lawyer of great repute, where he worked when in the city. He was
+gracious to Cowperwood, because he had to be. He explained to him just
+how things were regulated at Harrisburg. The big financiers were looked
+to for campaign funds. They were represented by henchmen in the State
+assembly and senate. The governor and the treasurer were foot-free;
+but there were other influences--prestige, friendship, social power,
+political ambitions, etc. The big men might constitute a close
+corporation, which in itself was unfair; but, after all, they were the
+legitimate sponsors for big money loans of this kind. The State had to
+keep on good terms with them, especially in times like these. Seeing
+that Mr. Cowperwood was so well able to dispose of the million he
+expected to get, it would be perfectly all right to award it to him; but
+Van Nostrand had a counter-proposition to make. Would Cowperwood, if the
+financial crowd now handling the matter so desired, turn over his award
+to them for a consideration--a sum equal to what he expected to make--in
+the event the award was made to him? Certain financiers desired this. It
+was dangerous to oppose them. They were perfectly willing he should
+put in a bid for five million and get the prestige of that; to have him
+awarded one million and get the prestige of that was well enough also,
+but they desired to handle the twenty-three million dollars in an
+unbroken lot. It looked better. He need not be advertised as having
+withdrawn. They would be content to have him achieve the glory of having
+done what he started out to do. Just the same the example was bad.
+Others might wish to imitate him. If it were known in the street
+privately that he had been coerced, for a consideration, into giving up,
+others would be deterred from imitating him in the future. Besides, if
+he refused, they could cause him trouble. His loans might be called.
+Various banks might not be so friendly in the future. His constituents
+might be warned against him in one way or another.
+
+Cowperwood saw the point. He acquiesced. It was something to have
+brought so many high and mighties to their knees. So they knew of him!
+They were quite well aware of him! Well and good. He would take the
+award and twenty thousand or thereabouts and withdraw. The State
+treasurer was delighted. It solved a ticklish proposition for him.
+
+"I'm glad to have seen you," he said. "I'm glad we've met. I'll drop
+in and talk with you some time when I'm down this way. We'll have lunch
+together."
+
+The State treasurer, for some odd reason, felt that Mr. Cowperwood was
+a man who could make him some money. His eye was so keen; his expression
+was so alert, and yet so subtle. He told the governor and some other of
+his associates about him.
+
+So the award was finally made; Cowperwood, after some private
+negotiations in which he met the officers of Drexel & Co., was paid his
+twenty thousand dollars and turned his share of the award over to them.
+New faces showed up in his office now from time to time--among them that
+of Van Nostrand and one Terrence Relihan, a representative of some other
+political forces at Harrisburg. He was introduced to the governor one
+day at lunch. His name was mentioned in the papers, and his prestige
+grew rapidly.
+
+Immediately he began working on plans with young Ellsworth for his new
+house. He was going to build something exceptional this time, he told
+Lillian. They were going to have to do some entertaining--entertaining
+on a larger scale than ever. North Front Street was becoming too tame.
+He put the house up for sale, consulted with his father and found that
+he also was willing to move. The son's prosperity had redounded to the
+credit of the father. The directors of the bank were becoming much more
+friendly to the old man. Next year President Kugel was going to retire.
+Because of his son's noted coup, as well as his long service, he was
+going to be made president. Frank was a large borrower from his father's
+bank. By the same token he was a large depositor. His connection
+with Edward Butler was significant. He sent his father's bank certain
+accounts which it otherwise could not have secured. The city treasurer
+became interested in it, and the State treasurer. Cowperwood, Sr., stood
+to earn twenty thousand a year as president, and he owed much of it
+to his son. The two families were now on the best of terms. Anna, now
+twenty-one, and Edward and Joseph frequently spent the night at Frank's
+house. Lillian called almost daily at his mother's. There was much
+interchange of family gossip, and it was thought well to build side by
+side. So Cowperwood, Sr., bought fifty feet of ground next to his son's
+thirty-five, and together they commenced the erection of two charming,
+commodious homes, which were to be connected by a covered passageway, or
+pergola, which could be inclosed with glass in winter.
+
+The most popular local stone, a green granite was chosen; but Mr.
+Ellsworth promised to present it in such a way that it would be
+especially pleasing. Cowperwood, Sr., decided that he could afford to
+spent seventy-five thousand dollars--he was now worth two hundred and
+fifty thousand; and Frank decided that he could risk fifty, seeing
+that he could raise money on a mortgage. He planned at the same time to
+remove his office farther south on Third Street and occupy a building
+of his own. He knew where an option was to be had on a twenty-five-foot
+building, which, though old, could be given a new brownstone front and
+made very significant. He saw in his mind's eye a handsome building,
+fitted with an immense plate-glass window; inside his hardwood fixtures
+visible; and over the door, or to one side of it, set in bronze letters,
+Cowperwood & Co. Vaguely but surely he began to see looming before him,
+like a fleecy tinted cloud on the horizon, his future fortune. He was to
+be rich, very, very rich.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIII
+
+
+During all the time that Cowperwood had been building himself up thus
+steadily the great war of the rebellion had been fought almost to its
+close. It was now October, 1864. The capture of Mobile and the Battle of
+the Wilderness were fresh memories. Grant was now before Petersburg, and
+the great general of the South, Lee, was making that last brilliant and
+hopeless display of his ability as a strategist and a soldier. There had
+been times--as, for instance, during the long, dreary period in which
+the country was waiting for Vicksburg to fall, for the Army of the
+Potomac to prove victorious, when Pennsylvania was invaded by Lee--when
+stocks fell and commercial conditions were very bad generally. In
+times like these Cowperwood's own manipulative ability was taxed to the
+utmost, and he had to watch every hour to see that his fortune was not
+destroyed by some unexpected and destructive piece of news.
+
+His personal attitude toward the war, however, and aside from his
+patriotic feeling that the Union ought to be maintained, was that it
+was destructive and wasteful. He was by no means so wanting in patriotic
+emotion and sentiment but that he could feel that the Union, as it had
+now come to be, spreading its great length from the Atlantic to the
+Pacific and from the snows of Canada to the Gulf, was worth while.
+Since his birth in 1837 he had seen the nation reach that physical
+growth--barring Alaska--which it now possesses. Not so much earlier than
+his youth Florida had been added to the Union by purchase from Spain;
+Mexico, after the unjust war of 1848, had ceded Texas and the territory
+to the West. The boundary disputes between England and the United States
+in the far Northwest had been finally adjusted. To a man with great
+social and financial imagination, these facts could not help but be
+significant; and if they did nothing more, they gave him a sense of the
+boundless commercial possibilities which existed potentially in so
+vast a realm. His was not the order of speculative financial enthusiasm
+which, in the type known as the "promoter," sees endless possibilities
+for gain in every unexplored rivulet and prairie reach; but the very
+vastness of the country suggested possibilities which he hoped might
+remain undisturbed. A territory covering the length of a whole zone and
+between two seas, seemed to him to possess potentialities which it could
+not retain if the States of the South were lost.
+
+At the same time, the freedom of the negro was not a significant point
+with him. He had observed that race from his boyhood with considerable
+interest, and had been struck with virtues and defects which seemed
+inherent and which plainly, to him, conditioned their experiences.
+
+He was not at all sure, for instance, that the negroes could be made
+into anything much more significant than they were. At any rate, it was
+a long uphill struggle for them, of which many future generations would
+not witness the conclusion. He had no particular quarrel with the theory
+that they should be free; he saw no particular reason why the South
+should not protest vigorously against the destruction of their property
+and their system. It was too bad that the negroes as slaves should be
+abused in some instances. He felt sure that that ought to be adjusted
+in some way; but beyond that he could not see that there was any great
+ethical basis for the contentions of their sponsors. The vast majority
+of men and women, as he could see, were not essentially above slavery,
+even when they had all the guarantees of a constitution formulated to
+prevent it. There was mental slavery, the slavery of the weak mind
+and the weak body. He followed the contentions of such men as Sumner,
+Garrison, Phillips, and Beecher, with considerable interest; but at no
+time could he see that the problem was a vital one for him. He did
+not care to be a soldier or an officer of soldiers; he had no gift for
+polemics; his mind was not of the disputatious order--not even in
+the realm of finance. He was concerned only to see what was of vast
+advantage to him, and to devote all his attention to that. This
+fratricidal war in the nation could not help him. It really delayed, he
+thought, the true commercial and financial adjustment of the country,
+and he hoped that it would soon end. He was not of those who complained
+bitterly of the excessive war taxes, though he knew them to be trying to
+many. Some of the stories of death and disaster moved him greatly; but,
+alas, they were among the unaccountable fortunes of life, and could
+not be remedied by him. So he had gone his way day by day, watching
+the coming in and the departing of troops, seeing the bands of dirty,
+disheveled, gaunt, sickly men returning from the fields and hospitals;
+and all he could do was to feel sorry. This war was not for him. He had
+taken no part in it, and he felt sure that he could only rejoice in
+its conclusion--not as a patriot, but as a financier. It was wasteful,
+pathetic, unfortunate.
+
+The months proceeded apace. A local election intervened and there was a
+new city treasurer, a new assessor of taxes, and a new mayor; but Edward
+Malia Butler continued to have apparently the same influence as before.
+The Butlers and the Cowperwoods had become quite friendly. Mrs. Butler
+rather liked Lillian, though they were of different religious beliefs;
+and they went driving or shopping together, the younger woman a little
+critical and ashamed of the elder because of her poor grammar, her
+Irish accent, her plebeian tastes--as though the Wiggins had not been as
+plebeian as any. On the other hand the old lady, as she was compelled to
+admit, was good-natured and good-hearted. She loved to give, since she
+had plenty, and sent presents here and there to Lillian, the children,
+and others. "Now youse must come over and take dinner with us"--the
+Butlers had arrived at the evening-dinner period--or "Youse must come
+drive with me to-morrow."
+
+"Aileen, God bless her, is such a foine girl," or "Norah, the darlin',
+is sick the day."
+
+But Aileen, her airs, her aggressive disposition, her love of attention,
+her vanity, irritated and at times disgusted Mrs. Cowperwood. She was
+eighteen now, with a figure which was subtly provocative. Her manner
+was boyish, hoydenish at times, and although convent-trained, she was
+inclined to balk at restraint in any form. But there was a softness
+lurking in her blue eyes that was most sympathetic and human.
+
+St. Timothy's and the convent school in Germantown had been the choice
+of her parents for her education--what they called a good Catholic
+education. She had learned a great deal about the theory and forms of
+the Catholic ritual, but she could not understand them. The church, with
+its tall, dimly radiant windows, its high, white altar, its figure of
+St. Joseph on one side and the Virgin Mary on the other, clothed in
+golden-starred robes of blue, wearing haloes and carrying scepters, had
+impressed her greatly. The church as a whole--any Catholic church--was
+beautiful to look at--soothing. The altar, during high mass, lit with a
+half-hundred or more candles, and dignified and made impressive by the
+rich, lacy vestments of the priests and the acolytes, the impressive
+needlework and gorgeous colorings of the amice, chasuble, cope, stole,
+and maniple, took her fancy and held her eye. Let us say there was
+always lurking in her a sense of grandeur coupled with a love of color
+and a love of love. From the first she was somewhat sex-conscious. She
+had no desire for accuracy, no desire for precise information. Innate
+sensuousness rarely has. It basks in sunshine, bathes in color, dwells
+in a sense of the impressive and the gorgeous, and rests there. Accuracy
+is not necessary except in the case of aggressive, acquisitive natures,
+when it manifests itself in a desire to seize. True controlling
+sensuousness cannot be manifested in the most active dispositions, nor
+again in the most accurate.
+
+There is need of defining these statements in so far as they apply
+to Aileen. It would scarcely be fair to describe her nature as being
+definitely sensual at this time. It was too rudimentary. Any harvest is
+of long growth. The confessional, dim on Friday and Saturday evenings,
+when the church was lighted by but a few lamps, and the priest's
+warnings, penances, and ecclesiastical forgiveness whispered through
+the narrow lattice, moved her as something subtly pleasing. She was not
+afraid of her sins. Hell, so definitely set forth, did not frighten her.
+Really, it had not laid hold on her conscience. The old women and old
+men hobbling into church, bowed in prayer, murmuring over their beads,
+were objects of curious interest like the wood-carvings in the peculiar
+array of wood-reliefs emphasizing the Stations of the Cross. She herself
+had liked to confess, particularly when she was fourteen and fifteen,
+and to listen to the priest's voice as he admonished her with, "Now,
+my dear child." A particularly old priest, a French father, who came
+to hear their confessions at school, interested her as being kind and
+sweet. His forgiveness and blessing seemed sincere--better than her
+prayers, which she went through perfunctorily. And then there was a
+young priest at St. Timothy's, Father David, hale and rosy, with a curl
+of black hair over his forehead, and an almost jaunty way of wearing his
+priestly hat, who came down the aisle Sundays sprinkling holy water
+with a definite, distinguished sweep of the hand, who took her fancy.
+He heard confessions and now and then she liked to whisper her strange
+thoughts to him while she actually speculated on what he might privately
+be thinking. She could not, if she tried, associate him with any divine
+authority. He was too young, too human. There was something a little
+malicious, teasing, in the way she delighted to tell him about herself,
+and then walk demurely, repentantly out. At St. Agatha's she had been
+rather a difficult person to deal with. She was, as the good sisters of
+the school had readily perceived, too full of life, too active, to be
+easily controlled. "That Miss Butler," once observed Sister Constantia,
+the Mother Superior, to Sister Sempronia, Aileen's immediate mentor,
+"is a very spirited girl, you may have a great deal of trouble with her
+unless you use a good deal of tact. You may have to coax her with little
+gifts. You will get on better." So Sister Sempronia had sought to find
+what Aileen was most interested in, and bribe her therewith. Being
+intensely conscious of her father's competence, and vain of her personal
+superiority, it was not so easy to do. She had wanted to go home
+occasionally, though; she had wanted to be allowed to wear the sister's
+rosary of large beads with its pendent cross of ebony and its silver
+Christ, and this was held up as a great privilege. For keeping quiet in
+class, walking softly, and speaking softly--as much as it was in her to
+do--for not stealing into other girl's rooms after lights were out, and
+for abandoning crushes on this and that sympathetic sister, these awards
+and others, such as walking out in the grounds on Saturday afternoons,
+being allowed to have all the flowers she wanted, some extra dresses,
+jewels, etc., were offered. She liked music and the idea of painting,
+though she had no talent in that direction; and books, novels,
+interested her, but she could not get them. The rest--grammar, spelling,
+sewing, church and general history--she loathed. Deportment--well, there
+was something in that. She had liked the rather exaggerated curtsies
+they taught her, and she had often reflected on how she would use them
+when she reached home.
+
+When she came out into life the little social distinctions which have
+been indicated began to impress themselves on her, and she wished
+sincerely that her father would build a better home--a mansion--such as
+those she saw elsewhere, and launch her properly in society. Failing in
+that, she could think of nothing save clothes, jewels, riding-horses,
+carriages, and the appropriate changes of costume which were allowed her
+for these. Her family could not entertain in any distinguished way where
+they were, and so already, at eighteen, she was beginning to feel the
+sting of a blighted ambition. She was eager for life. How was she to get
+it?
+
+Her room was a study in the foibles of an eager and ambitious mind. It
+was full of clothes, beautiful things for all occasions--jewelry--which
+she had small opportunity to wear--shoes, stockings, lingerie, laces. In
+a crude way she had made a study of perfumes and cosmetics, though she
+needed the latter not at all, and these were present in abundance.
+She was not very orderly, and she loved lavishness of display; and
+her curtains, hangings, table ornaments, and pictures inclined to
+gorgeousness, which did not go well with the rest of the house.
+
+Aileen always reminded Cowperwood of a high-stepping horse without a
+check-rein. He met her at various times, shopping with her mother, out
+driving with her father, and he was always interested and amused at the
+affected, bored tone she assumed before him--the "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!
+Life is so tiresome, don't you know," when, as a matter of fact, every
+moment of it was of thrilling interest to her. Cowperwood took her
+mental measurement exactly. A girl with a high sense of life in her,
+romantic, full of the thought of love and its possibilities. As he
+looked at her he had the sense of seeing the best that nature can do
+when she attempts to produce physical perfection. The thought came to
+him that some lucky young dog would marry her pretty soon and carry her
+away; but whoever secured her would have to hold her by affection and
+subtle flattery and attention if he held her at all.
+
+"The little snip"--she was not at all--"she thinks the sun rises and
+sets in her father's pocket," Lillian observed one day to her husband.
+"To hear her talk, you'd think they were descended from Irish kings. Her
+pretended interest in art and music amuses me."
+
+"Oh, don't be too hard on her," coaxed Cowperwood diplomatically. He
+already liked Aileen very much. "She plays very well, and she has a good
+voice."
+
+"Yes, I know; but she has no real refinement. How could she have? Look
+at her father and mother."
+
+"I don't see anything so very much the matter with her," insisted
+Cowperwood. "She's bright and good-looking. Of course, she's only a
+girl, and a little vain, but she'll come out of that. She isn't without
+sense and force, at that."
+
+Aileen, as he knew, was most friendly to him. She liked him. She made a
+point of playing the piano and singing for him in his home, and she sang
+only when he was there. There was something about his steady, even gait,
+his stocky body and handsome head, which attracted her. In spite of
+her vanity and egotism, she felt a little overawed before him at
+times--keyed up. She seemed to grow gayer and more brilliant in his
+presence.
+
+The most futile thing in this world is any attempt, perhaps, at
+exact definition of character. All individuals are a bundle of
+contradictions--none more so than the most capable.
+
+In the case of Aileen Butler it would be quite impossible to give
+an exact definition. Intelligence, of a raw, crude order she had
+certainly--also a native force, tamed somewhat by the doctrines and
+conventions of current society, still showed clear at times in an
+elemental and not entirely unattractive way. At this time she was only
+eighteen years of age--decidedly attractive from the point of view of a
+man of Frank Cowperwood's temperament. She supplied something he had not
+previously known or consciously craved. Vitality and vivacity. No other
+woman or girl whom he had ever known had possessed so much innate
+force as she. Her red-gold hair--not so red as decidedly golden with a
+suggestion of red in it--looped itself in heavy folds about her forehead
+and sagged at the base of her neck. She had a beautiful nose, not
+sensitive, but straight-cut with small nostril openings, and eyes that
+were big and yet noticeably sensuous. They were, to him, a pleasing
+shade of blue-gray-blue, and her toilet, due to her temperament, of
+course, suggested almost undue luxury, the bangles, anklets, ear-rings,
+and breast-plates of the odalisque, and yet, of course, they were not
+there. She confessed to him years afterward that she would have loved
+to have stained her nails and painted the palms of her hands with
+madder-red. Healthy and vigorous, she was chronically interested in
+men--what they would think of her--and how she compared with other
+women.
+
+The fact that she could ride in a carriage, live in a fine home on
+Girard Avenue, visit such homes as those of the Cowperwoods and others,
+was of great weight; and yet, even at this age, she realized that life
+was more than these things. Many did not have them and lived.
+
+But these facts of wealth and advantage gripped her; and when she sat at
+the piano and played or rode in her carriage or walked or stood before
+her mirror, she was conscious of her figure, her charms, what they
+meant to men, how women envied her. Sometimes she looked at poor,
+hollow-chested or homely-faced girls and felt sorry for them; at other
+times she flared into inexplicable opposition to some handsome girl or
+woman who dared to brazen her socially or physically. There were such
+girls of the better families who, in Chestnut Street, in the expensive
+shops, or on the drive, on horseback or in carriages, tossed their heads
+and indicated as well as human motions can that they were better-bred
+and knew it. When this happened each stared defiantly at the other. She
+wanted ever so much to get up in the world, and yet namby-pamby men
+of better social station than herself did not attract her at all. She
+wanted a man. Now and then there was one "something like," but not
+entirely, who appealed to her, but most of them were politicians or
+legislators, acquaintances of her father, and socially nothing at
+all--and so they wearied and disappointed her. Her father did not know
+the truly elite. But Mr. Cowperwood--he seemed so refined, so forceful,
+and so reserved. She often looked at Mrs. Cowperwood and thought how
+fortunate she was.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIV
+
+
+The development of Cowperwood as Cowperwood & Co. following his
+arresting bond venture, finally brought him into relationship with one
+man who was to play an important part in his life, morally,
+financially, and in other ways. This was George W. Stener, the new city
+treasurer-elect, who, to begin with, was a puppet in the hands of
+other men, but who, also in spite of this fact, became a personage of
+considerable importance, for the simple reason that he was weak. Stener
+had been engaged in the real estate and insurance business in a small
+way before he was made city treasurer. He was one of those men, of whom
+there are so many thousands in every large community, with no breadth
+of vision, no real subtlety, no craft, no great skill in anything. You
+would never hear a new idea emanating from Stener. He never had one in
+his life. On the other hand, he was not a bad fellow. He had a stodgy,
+dusty, commonplace look to him which was more a matter of mind than of
+body. His eye was of vague gray-blue; his hair a dusty light-brown and
+thin. His mouth--there was nothing impressive there. He was quite tall,
+nearly six feet, with moderately broad shoulders, but his figure was
+anything but shapely. He seemed to stoop a little, his stomach was the
+least bit protuberant, and he talked commonplaces--the small change of
+newspaper and street and business gossip. People liked him in his own
+neighborhood. He was thought to be honest and kindly; and he was, as far
+as he knew. His wife and four children were as average and insignificant
+as the wives and children of such men usually are.
+
+Just the same, and in spite of, or perhaps, politically speaking,
+because of all this, George W. Stener was brought into temporary public
+notice by certain political methods which had existed in Philadelphia
+practically unmodified for the previous half hundred years. First,
+because he was of the same political faith as the dominant local
+political party, he had become known to the local councilman and
+ward-leader of his ward as a faithful soul--one useful in the matter
+of drumming up votes. And next--although absolutely without value as
+a speaker, for he had no ideas--you could send him from door to door,
+asking the grocer and the blacksmith and the butcher how he felt about
+things and he would make friends, and in the long run predict fairly
+accurately the probable vote. Furthermore, you could dole him out a few
+platitudes and he would repeat them. The Republican party, which was the
+new-born party then, but dominant in Philadelphia, needed your vote; it
+was necessary to keep the rascally Democrats out--he could scarcely have
+said why. They had been for slavery. They were for free trade. It never
+once occurred to him that these things had nothing to do with the local
+executive and financial administration of Philadelphia. Supposing they
+didn't? What of it?
+
+In Philadelphia at this time a certain United States Senator, one Mark
+Simpson, together with Edward Malia Butler and Henry A. Mollenhauer,
+a rich coal dealer and investor, were supposed to, and did, control
+jointly the political destiny of the city. They had representatives,
+benchmen, spies, tools--a great company. Among them was this same
+Stener--a minute cog in the silent machinery of their affairs.
+
+In scarcely any other city save this, where the inhabitants were of a
+deadly average in so far as being commonplace was concerned, could such
+a man as Stener have been elected city treasurer. The rank and file
+did not, except in rare instances, make up their political program. An
+inside ring had this matter in charge. Certain positions were allotted
+to such and such men or to such and such factions of the party for such
+and such services rendered--but who does not know politics?
+
+In due course of time, therefore, George W. Stener had become persona
+grata to Edward Strobik, a quondam councilman who afterward became ward
+leader and still later president of council, and who, in private life
+was a stone-dealer and owner of a brickyard. Strobik was a benchman
+of Henry A. Mollenhauer, the hardest and coldest of all three of the
+political leaders. The latter had things to get from council, and
+Strobik was his tool. He had Stener elected; and because he was
+faithful in voting as he was told the latter was later made an assistant
+superintendent of the highways department.
+
+Here he came under the eyes of Edward Malia Butler, and was slightly
+useful to him. Then the central political committee, with Butler in
+charge, decided that some nice, docile man who would at the same time be
+absolutely faithful was needed for city treasurer, and Stener was put on
+the ticket. He knew little of finance, but was an excellent bookkeeper;
+and, anyhow, was not corporation counsel Regan, another political tool
+of this great triumvirate, there to advise him at all times? He was.
+It was a very simple matter. Being put on the ticket was equivalent to
+being elected, and so, after a few weeks of exceedingly trying
+platform experiences, in which he had stammered through platitudinous
+declarations that the city needed to be honestly administered, he was
+inducted into office; and there you were.
+
+Now it wouldn't have made so much difference what George W. Stener's
+executive and financial qualifications for the position were, but
+at this time the city of Philadelphia was still hobbling along under
+perhaps as evil a financial system, or lack of it, as any city ever
+endured--the assessor and the treasurer being allowed to collect and
+hold moneys belonging to the city, outside of the city's private vaults,
+and that without any demand on the part of anybody that the same be
+invested by them at interest for the city's benefit. Rather, all they
+were expected to do, apparently, was to restore the principal and
+that which was with them when they entered or left office. It was not
+understood or publicly demanded that the moneys so collected, or
+drawn from any source, be maintained intact in the vaults of the city
+treasury. They could be loaned out, deposited in banks or used to
+further private interests of any one, so long as the principal was
+returned, and no one was the wiser. Of course, this theory of
+finance was not publicly sanctioned, but it was known politically and
+journalistically, and in high finance. How were you to stop it?
+
+Cowperwood, in approaching Edward Malia Butler, had been unconsciously
+let in on this atmosphere of erratic and unsatisfactory speculation
+without really knowing it. When he had left the office of Tighe & Co.,
+seven years before, it was with the idea that henceforth and forever he
+would have nothing to do with the stock-brokerage proposition; but now
+behold him back in it again, with more vim than he had ever displayed,
+for now he was working for himself, the firm of Cowperwood & Co., and
+he was eager to satisfy the world of new and powerful individuals who by
+degrees were drifting to him. All had a little money. All had tips,
+and they wanted him to carry certain lines of stock on margin for them,
+because he was known to other political men, and because he was safe.
+And this was true. He was not, or at least up to this time had not been,
+a speculator or a gambler on his own account. In fact he often soothed
+himself with the thought that in all these years he had never gambled
+for himself, but had always acted strictly for others instead. But now
+here was George W. Stener with a proposition which was not quite the
+same thing as stock-gambling, and yet it was.
+
+During a long period of years preceding the Civil War, and through it,
+let it here be explained and remembered, the city of Philadelphia had
+been in the habit, as a corporation, when there were no available funds
+in the treasury, of issuing what were known as city warrants, which were
+nothing more than notes or I.O.U.'s bearing six per cent. interest, and
+payable sometimes in thirty days, sometimes in three, sometimes in six
+months--all depending on the amount and how soon the city treasurer
+thought there would be sufficient money in the treasury to take them up
+and cancel them. Small tradesmen and large contractors were frequently
+paid in this way; the small tradesman who sold supplies to the city
+institutions, for instance, being compelled to discount his notes at the
+bank, if he needed ready money, usually for ninety cents on the dollar,
+while the large contractor could afford to hold his and wait. It can
+readily be seen that this might well work to the disadvantage of the
+small dealer and merchant, and yet prove quite a fine thing for a large
+contractor or note-broker, for the city was sure to pay the warrants at
+some time, and six per cent. interest was a fat rate, considering the
+absolute security. A banker or broker who gathered up these things from
+small tradesmen at ninety cents on the dollar made a fine thing of it
+all around if he could wait.
+
+Originally, in all probability, there was no intention on the part of
+the city treasurer to do any one an injustice, and it is likely that
+there really were no funds to pay with at the time. However that may
+have been, there was later no excuse for issuing the warrants, seeing
+that the city might easily have been managed much more economically. But
+these warrants, as can readily be imagined, had come to be a fine source
+of profit for note-brokers, bankers, political financiers, and inside
+political manipulators generally and so they remained a part of the
+city's fiscal policy.
+
+There was just one drawback to all this. In order to get the full
+advantage of this condition the large banker holding them must be an
+"inside banker," one close to the political forces of the city, for
+if he was not and needed money and he carried his warrants to the city
+treasurer, he would find that he could not get cash for them. But if
+he transferred them to some banker or note-broker who was close to the
+political force of the city, it was quite another matter. The treasury
+would find means to pay. Or, if so desired by the note-broker or
+banker--the right one--notes which were intended to be met in three
+months, and should have been settled at that time, were extended to run
+on years and years, drawing interest at six per cent. even when the
+city had ample funds to meet them. Yet this meant, of course, an illegal
+interest drain on the city, but that was all right also. "No funds"
+could cover that. The general public did not know. It could not find
+out. The newspapers were not at all vigilant, being pro-political. There
+were no persistent, enthusiastic reformers who obtained any political
+credence. During the war, warrants outstanding in this manner arose
+in amount to much over two million dollars, all drawing six per cent.
+interest, but then, of course, it began to get a little scandalous.
+Besides, at least some of the investors began to want their money back.
+
+In order, therefore, to clear up this outstanding indebtedness and make
+everything shipshape again, it was decided that the city must issue a
+loan, say for two million dollars--no need to be exact about the amount.
+And this loan must take the shape of interest-bearing certificates of a
+par value of one hundred dollars, redeemable in six, twelve, or eighteen
+months, as the case may be. These certificates of loan were then
+ostensibly to be sold in the open market, a sinking-fund set aside
+for their redemption, and the money so obtained used to take up the
+long-outstanding warrants which were now such a subject of public
+comment.
+
+It is obvious that this was merely a case of robbing Peter to pay
+Paul. There was no real clearing up of the outstanding debt. It was
+the intention of the schemers to make it possible for the financial
+politicians on the inside to reap the same old harvest by allowing the
+certificates to be sold to the right parties for ninety or less, setting
+up the claim that there was no market for them, the credit of the city
+being bad. To a certain extent this was true. The war was just over.
+Money was high. Investors could get more than six per cent. elsewhere
+unless the loan was sold at ninety. But there were a few watchful
+politicians not in the administration, and some newspapers and
+non-political financiers who, because of the high strain of patriotism
+existing at the time, insisted that the loan should be sold at par.
+Therefore a clause to that effect had to be inserted in the enabling
+ordinance.
+
+This, as one might readily see, destroyed the politicians' little scheme
+to get this loan at ninety. Nevertheless since they desired that the
+money tied up in the old warrants and now not redeemable because of lack
+of funds should be paid them, the only way this could be done would be
+to have some broker who knew the subtleties of the stock market handle
+this new city loan on 'change in such a way that it would be made to
+seem worth one hundred and to be sold to outsiders at that figure.
+Afterward, if, as it was certain to do, it fell below that, the
+politicians could buy as much of it as they pleased, and eventually have
+the city redeem it at par.
+
+George W. Stener, entering as city treasurer at this time, and bringing
+no special financial intelligence to the proposition, was really
+troubled. Henry A. Mollenhauer, one of the men who had gathered up a
+large amount of the old city warrants, and who now wanted his money, in
+order to invest it in bonanza offers in the West, called on Stener, and
+also on the mayor. He with Simpson and Butler made up the Big Three.
+
+"I think something ought to be done about these warrants that are
+outstanding," he explained. "I am carrying a large amount of them, and
+there are others. We have helped the city a long time by saying nothing;
+but now I think that something ought to be done. Mr. Butler and Mr.
+Simpson feel the same way. Couldn't these new loan certificates be
+listed on the stock exchange and the money raised that way? Some clever
+broker could bring them to par."
+
+Stener was greatly flattered by the visit from Mollenhauer. Rarely did
+he trouble to put in a personal appearance, and then only for the weight
+and effect his presence would have. He called on the mayor and the
+president of council, much as he called on Stener, with a lofty,
+distant, inscrutable air. They were as office-boys to him.
+
+In order to understand exactly the motive for Mollenhauer's interest
+in Stener, and the significance of this visit and Stener's subsequent
+action in regard to it, it will be necessary to scan the political
+horizon for some little distance back. Although George W. Stener was in
+a way a political henchman and appointee of Mollenhauer's, the latter
+was only vaguely acquainted with him. He had seen him before; knew of
+him; had agreed that his name should be put on the local slate largely
+because he had been assured by those who were closest to him and who
+did his bidding that Stener was "all right," that he would do as he
+was told, that he would cause no one any trouble, etc. In fact,
+during several previous administrations, Mollenhauer had maintained a
+subsurface connection with the treasury, but never so close a one as
+could easily be traced. He was too conspicuous a man politically and
+financially for that. But he was not above a plan, in which Simpson if
+not Butler shared, of using political and commercial stool-pigeons to
+bleed the city treasury as much as possible without creating a scandal.
+In fact, for some years previous to this, various agents had already
+been employed--Edward Strobik, president of council, Asa Conklin, the
+then incumbent of the mayor's chair, Thomas Wycroft, alderman, Jacob
+Harmon, alderman, and others--to organize dummy companies under various
+names, whose business it was to deal in those things which the city
+needed--lumber, stone, steel, iron, cement--a long list--and of course,
+always at a fat profit to those ultimately behind the dummy companies,
+so organized. It saved the city the trouble of looking far and wide for
+honest and reasonable dealers.
+
+Since the action of at least three of these dummies will have something
+to do with the development of Cowperwood's story, they may be briefly
+described. Edward Strobik, the chief of them, and the one most useful to
+Mollenhauer, in a minor way, was a very spry person of about thirty-five
+at this time--lean and somewhat forceful, with black hair, black eyes,
+and an inordinately large black mustache. He was dapper, inclined to
+noticeable clothing--a pair of striped trousers, a white vest, a black
+cutaway coat and a high silk hat. His markedly ornamental shoes were
+always polished to perfection, and his immaculate appearance gave him
+the nickname of "The Dude" among some. Nevertheless he was quite able on
+a small scale, and was well liked by many.
+
+His two closest associates, Messrs. Thomas Wycroft and Jacob Harmon,
+were rather less attractive and less brilliant. Jacob Harmon was a thick
+wit socially, but no fool financially. He was big and rather doleful to
+look upon, with sandy brown hair and brown eyes, but fairly intelligent,
+and absolutely willing to approve anything which was not too broad in
+its crookedness and which would afford him sufficient protection to keep
+him out of the clutches of the law. He was really not so cunning as dull
+and anxious to get along.
+
+Thomas Wycroft, the last of this useful but minor triumvirate, was a
+tall, lean man, candle-waxy, hollow-eyed, gaunt of face, pathetic to
+look at physically, but shrewd. He was an iron-molder by trade and had
+gotten into politics much as Stener had--because he was useful; and he
+had managed to make some money--via this triumvirate of which Strobik
+was the ringleader, and which was engaged in various peculiar businesses
+which will now be indicated.
+
+The companies which these several henchmen had organized under previous
+administrations, and for Mollenhauer, dealt in meat, building material,
+lamp-posts, highway supplies, anything you will, which the city
+departments or its institutions needed. A city contract once awarded was
+irrevocable, but certain councilmen had to be fixed in advance and
+it took money to do that. The company so organized need not actually
+slaughter any cattle or mold lamp-posts. All it had to do was to
+organize to do that, obtain a charter, secure a contract for supplying
+such material to the city from the city council (which Strobik, Harmon,
+and Wycroft would attend to), and then sublet this to some actual
+beef-slaughterer or iron-founder, who would supply the material and
+allow them to pocket their profit which in turn was divided or paid for
+to Mollenhauer and Simpson in the form of political donations to
+clubs or organizations. It was so easy and in a way so legitimate. The
+particular beef-slaughterer or iron-founder thus favored could not hope
+of his own ability thus to obtain a contract. Stener, or whoever was
+in charge of the city treasury at the time, for his services in loaning
+money at a low rate of interest to be used as surety for the proper
+performance of contract, and to aid in some instances the beef-killer or
+iron-founder to carry out his end, was to be allowed not only the one or
+two per cent. which he might pocket (other treasurers had), but a fair
+proportion of the profits. A complacent, confidential chief clerk who
+was all right would be recommended to him. It did not concern Stener
+that Strobik, Harmon, and Wycroft, acting for Mollenhauer, were
+incidentally planning to use a little of the money loaned for purposes
+quite outside those indicated. It was his business to loan it.
+
+However, to be going on. Some time before he was even nominated, Stener
+had learned from Strobik, who, by the way, was one of his sureties
+as treasurer (which suretyship was against the law, as were those of
+Councilmen Wycroft and Harmon, the law of Pennsylvania stipulating that
+one political servant might not become surety for another), that those
+who had brought about this nomination and election would by no means ask
+him to do anything which was not perfectly legal, but that he must be
+complacent and not stand in the way of big municipal perquisites nor
+bite the hands that fed him. It was also made perfectly plain to him,
+that once he was well in office a little money for himself was to be
+made. As has been indicated, he had always been a poor man. He had seen
+all those who had dabbled in politics to any extent about him heretofore
+do very well financially indeed, while he pegged along as an insurance
+and real-estate agent. He had worked hard as a small political henchman.
+Other politicians were building themselves nice homes in newer portions
+of the city. They were going off to New York or Harrisburg or Washington
+on jaunting parties. They were seen in happy converse at road-houses or
+country hotels in season with their wives or their women favorites,
+and he was not, as yet, of this happy throng. Naturally now that he was
+promised something, he was interested and compliant. What might he not
+get?
+
+When it came to this visit from Mollenhauer, with its suggestion
+in regard to bringing city loan to par, although it bore no obvious
+relation to Mollenhauer's subsurface connection with Stener, through
+Strobik and the others, Stener did definitely recognize his own
+political subservience--his master's stentorian voice--and immediately
+thereafter hurried to Strobik for information.
+
+"Just what would you do about this?" he asked of Strobik, who knew of
+Mollenhauer's visit before Stener told him, and was waiting for Stener
+to speak to him. "Mr. Mollenhauer talks about having this new loan
+listed on 'change and brought to par so that it will sell for one
+hundred."
+
+Neither Strobik, Harmon, nor Wycroft knew how the certificates of city
+loan, which were worth only ninety on the open market, were to be made
+to sell for one hundred on 'change, but Mollenhauer's secretary, one
+Abner Sengstack, had suggested to Strobik that, since Butler was dealing
+with young Cowperwood and Mollenhauer did not care particularly for his
+private broker in this instance, it might be as well to try Cowperwood.
+
+
+So it was that Cowperwood was called to Stener's office. And once there,
+and not as yet recognizing either the hand of Mollenhauer or Simpson
+in this, merely looked at the peculiarly shambling, heavy-cheeked,
+middle-class man before him without either interest or sympathy,
+realizing at once that he had a financial baby to deal with. If he could
+act as adviser to this man--be his sole counsel for four years!
+
+"How do you do, Mr. Stener?" he said in his soft, ingratiating voice,
+as the latter held out his hand. "I am glad to meet you. I have heard of
+you before, of course."
+
+Stener was long in explaining to Cowperwood just what his difficulty
+was. He went at it in a clumsy fashion, stumbling through the
+difficulties of the situation he was suffered to meet.
+
+"The main thing, as I see it, is to make these certificates sell at par.
+I can issue them in any sized lots you like, and as often as you like. I
+want to get enough now to clear away two hundred thousand dollars' worth
+of the outstanding warrants, and as much more as I can get later."
+
+Cowperwood felt like a physician feeling a patient's pulse--a patient
+who is really not sick at all but the reassurance of whom means a fat
+fee. The abstrusities of the stock exchange were as his A B C's to him.
+He knew if he could have this loan put in his hands--all of it, if he
+could have the fact kept dark that he was acting for the city, and that
+if Stener would allow him to buy as a "bull" for the sinking-fund while
+selling judiciously for a rise, he could do wonders even with a big
+issue. He had to have all of it, though, in order that he might have
+agents under him. Looming up in his mind was a scheme whereby he could
+make a lot of the unwary speculators about 'change go short of this
+stock or loan under the impression, of course, that it was scattered
+freely in various persons' hands, and that they could buy as much of it
+as they wanted. Then they would wake to find that they could not get it;
+that he had it all. Only he would not risk his secret that far. Not he,
+oh, no. But he would drive the city loan to par and then sell. And
+what a fat thing for himself among others in so doing. Wisely enough
+he sensed that there was politics in all this--shrewder and bigger men
+above and behind Stener. But what of that? And how slyly and shrewdly
+they were sending Stener to him. It might be that his name was becoming
+very potent in their political world here. And what might that not mean!
+
+"I tell you what I'd like to do, Mr. Stener," he said, after he had
+listened to his explanation and asked how much of the city loan he would
+like to sell during the coming year. "I'll be glad to undertake it. But
+I'd like to have a day or two in which to think it over."
+
+"Why, certainly, certainly, Mr. Cowperwood," replied Stener, genially.
+"That's all right. Take your time. If you know how it can be done, just
+show me when you're ready. By the way, what do you charge?"
+
+"Well, the stock exchange has a regular scale of charges which we
+brokers are compelled to observe. It's one-fourth of one per cent. on
+the par value of bonds and loans. Of course, I may hav to add a lot of
+fictitious selling--I'll explain that to you later--but I won't charge
+you anything for that so long as it is a secret between us. I'll give
+you the best service I can, Mr. Stener. You can depend on that. Let me
+have a day or two to think it over, though."
+
+He shook hands with Stener, and they parted. Cowperwood was satisfied
+that he was on the verge of a significant combination, and Stener that
+he had found someone on whom he could lean.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XV
+
+
+The plan Cowperwood developed after a few days' meditation will be
+plain enough to any one who knows anything of commercial and financial
+manipulation, but a dark secret to those who do not. In the first place,
+the city treasurer was to use his (Cowperwood's) office as a bank of
+deposit. He was to turn over to him, actually, or set over to his credit
+on the city's books, subject to his order, certain amounts of city
+loans--two hundred thousand dollars at first, since that was the amount
+it was desired to raise quickly--and he would then go into the market
+and see what could be done to have it brought to par. The city treasurer
+was to ask leave of the stock exchange at once to have it listed as
+a security. Cowperwood would then use his influence to have this
+application acted upon quickly. Stener was then to dispose of all city
+loan certificates through him, and him only. He was to allow him to buy
+for the sinking-fund, supposedly, such amounts as he might have to buy
+in order to keep the price up to par. To do this, once a considerable
+number of the loan certificates had been unloaded on the public, it
+might be necessary to buy back a great deal. However, these would be
+sold again. The law concerning selling only at par would have to be
+abrogated to this extent--i.e., that the wash sales and preliminary
+sales would have to be considered no sales until par was reached.
+
+There was a subtle advantage here, as Cowperwood pointed out to Stener.
+In the first place, since the certificates were going ultimately to
+reach par anyway, there was no objection to Stener or any one else
+buying low at the opening price and holding for a rise. Cowperwood would
+be glad to carry him on his books for any amount, and he would settle
+at the end of each month. He would not be asked to buy the certificates
+outright. He could be carried on the books for a certain reasonable
+margin, say ten points. The money was as good as made for Stener now. In
+the next place, in buying for the sinking-fund it would be possible to
+buy these certificates very cheap, for, having the new and reserve issue
+entirely in his hands, Cowperwood could throw such amounts as he wished
+into the market at such times as he wished to buy, and consequently
+depress the market. Then he could buy, and, later, up would go the
+price. Having the issues totally in his hands to boost or depress
+the market as he wished, there was no reason why the city should not
+ultimately get par for all its issues, and at the same time considerable
+money be made out of the manufactured fluctuations. He, Cowperwood,
+would be glad to make most of his profit that way. The city should allow
+him his normal percentage on all his actual sales of certificates for
+the city at par (he would have to have that in order to keep straight
+with the stock exchange); but beyond that, and for all the other
+necessary manipulative sales, of which there would be many, he would
+depend on his knowledge of the stock market to reimburse him. And if
+Stener wanted to speculate with him--well.
+
+Dark as this transaction may seem to the uninitiated, it will appear
+quite clear to those who know. Manipulative tricks have always been
+worked in connection with stocks of which one man or one set of men has
+had complete control. It was no different from what subsequently was
+done with Erie, Standard Oil, Copper, Sugar, Wheat, and what not.
+Cowperwood was one of the first and one of the youngest to see how it
+could be done. When he first talked to Stener he was twenty-eight years
+of age. When he last did business with him he was thirty-four.
+
+The houses and the bank-front of Cowperwood & Co. had been proceeding
+apace. The latter was early Florentine in its decorations with windows
+which grew narrower as they approached the roof, and a door of wrought
+iron set between delicately carved posts, and a straight lintel of
+brownstone. It was low in height and distinguished in appearance. In
+the center panel had been hammered a hand, delicately wrought, thin and
+artistic, holding aloft a flaming brand. Ellsworth informed him that
+this had formerly been a money-changer's sign used in old Venice, the
+significance of which had long been forgotten.
+
+The interior was finished in highly-polished hardwood, stained in
+imitation of the gray lichens which infest trees. Large sheets of clear,
+beveled glass were used, some oval, some oblong, some square, and some
+circular, following a given theory of eye movement. The fixtures for
+the gas-jets were modeled after the early Roman flame-brackets, and the
+office safe was made an ornament, raised on a marble platform at the
+back of the office and lacquered a silver-gray, with Cowperwood & Co.
+lettered on it in gold. One had a sense of reserve and taste pervading
+the place, and yet it was also inestimably prosperous, solid and
+assuring. Cowperwood, when he viewed it at its completion, complimented
+Ellsworth cheerily. "I like this. It is really beautiful. It will be
+a pleasure to work here. If those houses are going to be anything like
+this, they will be perfect."
+
+"Wait till you see them. I think you will be pleased, Mr. Cowperwood. I
+am taking especial pains with yours because it is smaller. It is
+really easier to treat your father's. But yours--" He went off into a
+description of the entrance-hall, reception-room and parlor, which he
+was arranging and decorating in such a way as to give an effect of size
+and dignity not really conformable to the actual space.
+
+And when the houses were finished, they were effective and
+arresting--quite different from the conventional residences of the
+street. They were separated by a space of twenty feet, laid out as
+greensward. The architect had borrowed somewhat from the Tudor
+school, yet not so elaborated as later became the style in many of the
+residences in Philadelphia and elsewhere. The most striking features
+were rather deep-recessed doorways under wide, low, slightly floriated
+arches, and three projecting windows of rich form, one on the second
+floor of Frank's house, two on the facade of his father's. There were
+six gables showing on the front of the two houses, two on Frank's and
+four on his father's. In the front of each house on the ground floor
+was a recessed window unconnected with the recessed doorways, formed
+by setting the inner external wall back from the outer face of the
+building. This window looked out through an arched opening to the
+street, and was protected by a dwarf parapet or balustrade. It was
+possible to set potted vines and flowers there, which was later done,
+giving a pleasant sense of greenery from the street, and to place a few
+chairs there, which were reached via heavily barred French casements.
+
+On the ground floor of each house was placed a conservatory of flowers,
+facing each other, and in the yard, which was jointly used, a pool of
+white marble eight feet in diameter, with a marble Cupid upon which jets
+of water played. The yard which was enclosed by a high but pierced wall
+of green-gray brick, especially burnt for the purpose the same color as
+the granite of the house, and surmounted by a white marble coping which
+was sown to grass and had a lovely, smooth, velvety appearance. The two
+houses, as originally planned, were connected by a low, green-columned
+pergola which could be enclosed in glass in winter.
+
+The rooms, which were now slowly being decorated and furnished in period
+styles were very significant in that they enlarged and strengthened
+Frank Cowperwood's idea of the world of art in general. It was an
+enlightening and agreeable experience--one which made for artistic and
+intellectual growth--to hear Ellsworth explain at length the styles and
+types of architecture and furniture, the nature of woods and ornaments
+employed, the qualities and peculiarities of hangings, draperies,
+furniture panels, and door coverings. Ellsworth was a student of
+decoration as well as of architecture, and interested in the artistic
+taste of the American people, which he fancied would some day have a
+splendid outcome. He was wearied to death of the prevalent Romanesque
+composite combinations of country and suburban villa. The time was ripe
+for something new. He scarcely knew what it would be; but this that he
+had designed for Cowperwood and his father was at least different, as
+he said, while at the same time being reserved, simple, and pleasing.
+It was in marked contrast to the rest of the architecture of the street.
+Cowperwood's dining-room, reception-room, conservatory, and butler's
+pantry he had put on the first floor, together with the general
+entry-hall, staircase, and coat-room under the stairs. For the second
+floor he had reserved the library, general living-room, parlor, and
+a small office for Cowperwood, together with a boudoir for Lillian,
+connected with a dressing-room and bath.
+
+On the third floor, neatly divided and accommodated with baths and
+dressing-rooms, were the nursery, the servants' quarters, and several
+guest-chambers.
+
+Ellsworth showed Cowperwood books of designs containing furniture,
+hangings, etageres, cabinets, pedestals, and some exquisite piano forms.
+He discussed woods with him--rosewood, mahogany, walnut, English
+oak, bird's-eye maple, and the manufactured effects such as ormolu,
+marquetry, and Boule, or buhl. He explained the latter--how difficult it
+was to produce, how unsuitable it was in some respects for this climate,
+the brass and tortoise-shell inlay coming to swell with the heat or
+damp, and so bulging or breaking. He told of the difficulties and
+disadvantages of certain finishes, but finally recommended ormolu
+furniture for the reception room, medallion tapestry for the parlor,
+French renaissance for the dining-room and library, and bird's-eye maple
+(dyed blue in one instance, and left its natural color in another) and
+a rather lightly constructed and daintily carved walnut for the
+other rooms. The hangings, wall-paper, and floor coverings were to
+harmonize--not match--and the piano and music-cabinet for the parlor,
+as well as the etagere, cabinets, and pedestals for the reception-rooms,
+were to be of buhl or marquetry, if Frank cared to stand the expense.
+
+Ellsworth advised a triangular piano--the square shapes were so
+inexpressibly wearisome to the initiated. Cowperwood listened
+fascinated. He foresaw a home which would be chaste, soothing, and
+delightful to look upon. If he hung pictures, gilt frames were to be the
+setting, large and deep; and if he wished a picture-gallery, the library
+could be converted into that, and the general living-room, which lay
+between the library and the parlor on the second-floor, could be turned
+into a combination library and living-room. This was eventually done;
+but not until his taste for pictures had considerably advanced.
+
+It was now that he began to take a keen interest in objects of art,
+pictures, bronzes, little carvings and figurines, for his cabinets,
+pedestals, tables, and etageres. Philadelphia did not offer much that
+was distinguished in this realm--certainly not in the open market.
+There were many private houses which were enriched by travel; but his
+connection with the best families was as yet small. There were then
+two famous American sculptors, Powers and Hosmer, of whose work he had
+examples; but Ellsworth told him that they were not the last word in
+sculpture and that he should look into the merits of the ancients. He
+finally secured a head of David, by Thorwaldsen, which delighted him,
+and some landscapes by Hunt, Sully, and Hart, which seemed somewhat in
+the spirit of his new world.
+
+The effect of a house of this character on its owner is unmistakable.
+We think we are individual, separate, above houses and material objects
+generally; but there is a subtle connection which makes them reflect us
+quite as much as we reflect them. They lend dignity, subtlety, force,
+each to the other, and what beauty, or lack of it, there is, is shot
+back and forth from one to the other as a shuttle in a loom, weaving,
+weaving. Cut the thread, separate a man from that which is rightfully
+his own, characteristic of him, and you have a peculiar figure, half
+success, half failure, much as a spider without its web, which will
+never be its whole self again until all its dignities and emoluments are
+restored.
+
+The sight of his new house going up made Cowperwood feel of more weight
+in the world, and the possession of his suddenly achieved connection
+with the city treasurer was as though a wide door had been thrown open
+to the Elysian fields of opportunity. He rode about the city those days
+behind a team of spirited bays, whose glossy hides and metaled harness
+bespoke the watchful care of hostler and coachman. Ellsworth was
+building an attractive stable in the little side street back of the
+houses, for the joint use of both families. He told Mrs. Cowperwood that
+he intended to buy her a victoria--as the low, open, four-wheeled coach
+was then known--as soon as they were well settled in their new home, and
+that they were to go out more. There was some talk about the value
+of entertaining--that he would have to reach out socially for certain
+individuals who were not now known to him. Together with Anna, his
+sister, and his two brothers, Joseph and Edward, they could use the two
+houses jointly. There was no reason why Anna should not make a splendid
+match. Joe and Ed might marry well, since they were not destined to set
+the world on fire in commerce. At least it would not hurt them to try.
+
+"Don't you think you will like that?" he asked his wife, referring to
+his plans for entertaining.
+
+She smiled wanly. "I suppose so," she said.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVI
+
+
+It was not long after the arrangement between Treasurer Stener and
+Cowperwood had been made that the machinery for the carrying out of
+that political-financial relationship was put in motion. The sum of
+two hundred and ten thousand dollars in six per cent. interest-bearing
+certificates, payable in ten years, was set over to the credit of
+Cowperwood & Co. on the books of the city, subject to his order. Then,
+with proper listing, he began to offer it in small amounts at more than
+ninety, at the same time creating the impression that it was going to
+be a prosperous investment. The certificates gradually rose and were
+unloaded in rising amounts until one hundred was reached, when all
+the two hundred thousand dollars' worth--two thousand certificates in
+all--was fed out in small lots. Stener was satisfied. Two hundred shares
+had been carried for him and sold at one hundred, which netted him
+two thousand dollars. It was illegitimate gain, unethical; but his
+conscience was not very much troubled by that. He had none, truly. He
+saw visions of a halcyon future.
+
+It is difficult to make perfectly clear what a subtle and significant
+power this suddenly placed in the hands of Cowperwood. Consider that he
+was only twenty-eight--nearing twenty-nine. Imagine yourself by nature
+versed in the arts of finance, capable of playing with sums of money in
+the forms of stocks, certificates, bonds, and cash, as the ordinary man
+plays with checkers or chess. Or, better yet, imagine yourself one of
+those subtle masters of the mysteries of the higher forms of
+chess--the type of mind so well illustrated by the famous and historic
+chess-players, who could sit with their backs to a group of rivals
+playing fourteen men at once, calling out all the moves in turn,
+remembering all the positions of all the men on all the boards, and
+winning. This, of course, would be an overstatement of the subtlety of
+Cowperwood at this time, and yet it would not be wholly out of bounds.
+He knew instinctively what could be done with a given sum of money--how
+as cash it could be deposited in one place, and yet as credit and the
+basis of moving checks, used in not one but many other places at the
+same time. When properly watched and followed this manipulation gave him
+the constructive and purchasing power of ten and a dozen times as much
+as his original sum might have represented. He knew instinctively the
+principles of "pyramiding" and "kiting." He could see exactly not only
+how he could raise and lower the value of these certificates of loan,
+day after day and year after year--if he were so fortunate as to retain
+his hold on the city treasurer--but also how this would give him a
+credit with the banks hitherto beyond his wildest dreams. His father's
+bank was one of the first to profit by this and to extend him loans. The
+various local politicians and bosses--Mollenhauer, Butler, Simpson, and
+others--seeing the success of his efforts in this direction, speculated
+in city loan. He became known to Mollenhauer and Simpson, by reputation,
+if not personally, as the man who was carrying this city loan
+proposition to a successful issue. Stener was supposed to have done
+a clever thing in finding him. The stock exchange stipulated that all
+trades were to be compared the same day and settled before the close of
+the next; but this working arrangement with the new city treasurer gave
+Cowperwood much more latitude, and now he had always until the first of
+the month, or practically thirty days at times, in which to render an
+accounting for all deals connected with the loan issue.
+
+And, moreover, this was really not an accounting in the sense of
+removing anything from his hands. Since the issue was to be so large,
+the sum at his disposal would always be large, and so-called transfers
+and balancing at the end of the month would be a mere matter of
+bookkeeping. He could use these city loan certificates deposited with
+him for manipulative purposes, deposit them at any bank as collateral
+for a loan, quite as if they were his own, thus raising seventy per
+cent. of their actual value in cash, and he did not hesitate to do so.
+He could take this cash, which need not be accounted for until the end
+of the month, and cover other stock transactions, on which he could
+borrow again. There was no limit to the resources of which he now found
+himself possessed, except the resources of his own energy, ingenuity,
+and the limits of time in which he had to work. The politicians did not
+realize what a bonanza he was making of it all for himself, because they
+were as yet unaware of the subtlety of his mind. When Stener told him,
+after talking the matter over with the mayor, Strobik, and others that
+he would formally, during the course of the year, set over on the city's
+books all of the two millions in city loan, Cowperwood was silent--but
+with delight. Two millions! His to play with! He had been called in as
+a financial adviser, and he had given his advice and it had been taken!
+Well. He was not a man who inherently was troubled with conscientious
+scruples. At the same time he still believed himself financially honest.
+He was no sharper or shrewder than any other financier--certainly no
+sharper than any other would be if he could.
+
+It should be noted here that this proposition of Stener's in regard to
+city money had no connection with the attitude of the principal leaders
+in local politics in regard to street-railway control, which was a new
+and intriguing phase of the city's financial life. Many of the leading
+financiers and financier-politicians were interested in that. For
+instance, Messrs. Mollenhauer, Butler, and Simpson were interested
+in street-railways separately on their own account. There was no
+understanding between them on this score. If they had thought at all on
+the matter they would have decided that they did not want any outsider
+to interfere. As a matter of fact the street-railway business in
+Philadelphia was not sufficiently developed at this time to suggest to
+any one the grand scheme of union which came later. Yet in connection
+with this new arrangement between Stener and Cowperwood, it was Strobik
+who now came forward to Stener with an idea of his own. All were certain
+to make money through Cowperwood--he and Stener, especially. What
+was amiss, therefore, with himself and Stener and with Cowperwood as
+their--or rather Stener's secret representative, since Strobik did
+not dare to appear in the matter--buying now sufficient street-railway
+shares in some one line to control it, and then, if he, Strobik, could,
+by efforts of his own, get the city council to set aside certain streets
+for its extension, why, there you were--they would own it. Only, later,
+he proposed to shake Stener out if he could. But this preliminary work
+had to be done by some one, and it might as well be Stener. At the
+same time, as he saw, this work had to be done very carefully, because
+naturally his superiors were watchful, and if they found him dabbling in
+affairs of this kind to his own advantage, they might make it impossible
+for him to continue politically in a position where he could help
+himself just the same. Any outside organization such as a street-railway
+company already in existence had a right to appeal to the city council
+for privileges which would naturally further its and the city's growth,
+and, other things being equal, these could not be refused. It would not
+do for him to appear, however, both as a shareholder and president of
+the council. But with Cowperwood acting privately for Stener it would be
+another thing.
+
+The interesting thing about this proposition as finally presented by
+Stener for Strobik to Cowperwood, was that it raised, without appearing
+to do so, the whole question of Cowperwood's attitude toward the city
+administration. Although he was dealing privately for Edward Butler as
+an agent, and with this same plan in mind, and although he had never met
+either Mollenhauer or Simpson, he nevertheless felt that in so far as
+the manipulation of the city loan was concerned he was acting for them.
+On the other hand, in this matter of the private street-railway purchase
+which Stener now brought to him, he realized from the very beginning, by
+Stener's attitude, that there was something untoward in it, that Stener
+felt he was doing something which he ought not to do.
+
+"Cowperwood," he said to him the first morning he ever broached this
+matter--it was in Stener's office, at the old city hall at Sixth and
+Chestnut, and Stener, in view of his oncoming prosperity, was feeling
+very good indeed--"isn't there some street-railway property around town
+here that a man could buy in on and get control of if he had sufficient
+money?"
+
+Cowperwood knew that there were such properties. His very alert mind
+had long since sensed the general opportunities here. The omnibuses
+were slowly disappearing. The best routes were already preempted.
+Still, there were other streets, and the city was growing. The incoming
+population would make great business in the future. One could afford to
+pay almost any price for the short lines already built if one could wait
+and extend the lines into larger and better areas later. And already
+he had conceived in his own mind the theory of the "endless chain,"
+or "argeeable formula," as it was later termed, of buying a certain
+property on a long-time payment and issuing stocks or bonds sufficient
+not only to pay your seller, but to reimburse you for your trouble,
+to say nothing of giving you a margin wherewith to invest in other
+things--allied properties, for instance, against which more bonds could
+be issued, and so on, ad infinitum. It became an old story later, but it
+was new at that time, and he kept the thought closely to himself. None
+the less he was glad to have Stener speak of this, since street-railways
+were his hobby, and he was convinced that he would be a great master of
+them if he ever had an opportunity to control them.
+
+"Why, yes, George," he said, noncommittally, "there are two or three that
+offer a good chance if a man had money enough. I notice blocks of stock
+being offered on 'change now and then by one person and another. It
+would be good policy to pick these things up as they're offered, and
+then to see later if some of the other stockholders won't want to sell
+out. Green and Coates, now, looks like a good proposition to me. If I
+had three or four hundred thousand dollars that I thought I could put
+into that by degrees I would follow it up. It only takes about thirty
+per cent. of the stock of any railroad to control it. Most of the shares
+are scattered around so far and wide that they never vote, and I think
+two or three hundred thousand dollars would control that road." He
+mentioned one other line that might be secured in the same way in the
+course of time.
+
+Stener meditated. "That's a good deal of money," he said, thoughtfully.
+"I'll talk to you about that some more later." And he was off to see
+Strobik none the less.
+
+Cowperwood knew that Stener did not have any two or three hundred
+thousand dollars to invest in anything. There was only one way that he
+could get it--and that was to borrow it out of the city treasury and
+forego the interest. But he would not do that on his own initiative.
+Some one else must be behind him and who else other than Mollenhauer,
+or Simpson, or possibly even Butler, though he doubted that, unless the
+triumvirate were secretly working together. But what of it? The larger
+politicians were always using the treasury, and he was thinking now,
+only, of his own attitude in regard to the use of this money. No harm
+could come to him, if Stener's ventures were successful; and there was
+no reason why they should not be. Even if they were not he would be
+merely acting as an agent. In addition, he saw how in the manipulation
+of this money for Stener he could probably eventually control certain
+lines for himself.
+
+There was one line being laid out to within a few blocks of his new
+home--the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line it was called--which
+interested him greatly. He rode on it occasionally when he was delayed
+or did not wish to trouble about a vehicle. It ran through two thriving
+streets of red-brick houses, and was destined to have a great future
+once the city grew large enough. As yet it was really not long enough.
+If he could get that, for instance, and combine it with Butler's lines,
+once they were secured--or Mollenhauer's, or Simpson's, the legislature
+could be induced to give them additional franchises. He even dreamed of
+a combination between Butler, Mollenhauer, Simpson, and himself.
+Between them, politically, they could get anything. But Butler was not a
+philanthropist. He would have to be approached with a very sizable bird
+in hand. The combination must be obviously advisable. Besides, he was
+dealing for Butler in street-railway stocks, and if this particular line
+were such a good thing Butler might wonder why it had not been brought
+to him in the first place. It would be better, Frank thought, to
+wait until he actually had it as his own, in which case it would be a
+different matter. Then he could talk as a capitalist. He began to
+dream of a city-wide street-railway system controlled by a few men, or
+preferably himself alone.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVII
+
+
+The days that had been passing brought Frank Cowperwood and Aileen
+Butler somewhat closer together in spirit. Because of the pressure of
+his growing affairs he had not paid so much attention to her as he might
+have, but he had seen her often this past year. She was now nineteen and
+had grown into some subtle thoughts of her own. For one thing, she was
+beginning to see the difference between good taste and bad taste in
+houses and furnishings.
+
+"Papa, why do we stay in this old barn?" she asked her father one
+evening at dinner, when the usual family group was seated at the table.
+
+"What's the matter with this house, I'd like to know?" demanded Butler,
+who was drawn up close to the table, his napkin tucked comfortably under
+his chin, for he insisted on this when company was not present. "I don't
+see anything the matter with this house. Your mother and I manage to
+live in it well enough."
+
+"Oh, it's terrible, papa. You know it," supplemented Norah, who was
+seventeen and quite as bright as her sister, though a little less
+experienced. "Everybody says so. Look at all the nice houses that are
+being built everywhere about here."
+
+"Everybody! Everybody! Who is 'everybody,' I'd like to know?" demanded
+Butler, with the faintest touch of choler and much humor. "I'm somebody,
+and I like it. Those that don't like it don't have to live in it. Who
+are they? What's the matter with it, I'd like to know?"
+
+The question in just this form had been up a number of times before,
+and had been handled in just this manner, or passed over entirely with a
+healthy Irish grin. To-night, however, it was destined for a little more
+extended thought.
+
+"You know it's bad, papa," corrected Aileen, firmly. "Now what's the use
+getting mad about it? It's old and cheap and dingy. The furniture is all
+worn out. That old piano in there ought to be given away. I won't play
+on it any more. The Cowperwoods--"
+
+"Old is it!" exclaimed Butler, his accent sharpening somewhat with his
+self-induced rage. He almost pronounced it "owled." "Dingy, hi! Where do
+you get that? At your convent, I suppose. And where is it worn? Show me
+where it's worn."
+
+He was coming to her reference to Cowperwood, but he hadn't reached
+that when Mrs. Butler interfered. She was a stout, broad-faced woman,
+smiling-mouthed most of the time, with blurry, gray Irish eyes, and a
+touch of red in her hair, now modified by grayness. Her cheek, below the
+mouth, on the left side, was sharply accented by a large wen.
+
+"Children! children!" (Mr. Butler, for all his commercial and political
+responsibility, was as much a child to her as any.) "Youse mustn't
+quarrel now. Come now. Give your father the tomatoes."
+
+There was an Irish maid serving at table; but plates were passed from
+one to the other just the same. A heavily ornamented chandelier, holding
+sixteen imitation candles in white porcelain, hung low over the table
+and was brightly lighted, another offense to Aileen.
+
+"Mama, how often have I told you not to say 'youse'?" pleaded Norah,
+very much disheartened by her mother's grammatical errors. "You know you
+said you wouldn't."
+
+"And who's to tell your mother what she should say?" called Butler, more
+incensed than ever at this sudden and unwarranted rebellion and assault.
+"Your mother talked before ever you was born, I'd have you know. If it
+weren't for her workin' and slavin' you wouldn't have any fine manners
+to be paradin' before her. I'd have you know that. She's a better woman
+nor any you'll be runnin' with this day, you little baggage, you!"
+
+"Mama, do you hear what he's calling me?" complained Norah, hugging
+close to her mother's arm and pretending fear and dissatisfaction.
+
+"Eddie! Eddie!" cautioned Mrs. Butler, pleading with her husband. "You
+know he don't mean that, Norah, dear. Don't you know he don't?"
+
+She was stroking her baby's head. The reference to her grammar had not
+touched her at all.
+
+Butler was sorry that he had called his youngest a baggage; but these
+children--God bless his soul--were a great annoyance. Why, in the name
+of all the saints, wasn't this house good enough for them?
+
+"Why don't you people quit fussing at the table?" observed Callum, a
+likely youth, with black hair laid smoothly over his forehead in a long,
+distinguished layer reaching from his left to close to his right ear,
+and his upper lip carrying a short, crisp mustache. His nose was short
+and retrousse, and his ears were rather prominent; but he was bright and
+attractive. He and Owen both realized that the house was old and poorly
+arranged; but their father and mother liked it, and business sense and
+family peace dictated silence on this score.
+
+"Well, I think it's mean to have to live in this old place when
+people not one-fourth as good as we are are living in better ones. The
+Cowperwoods--why, even the Cowperwoods--"
+
+"Yes, the Cowperwoods! What about the Cowperwoods?" demanded Butler,
+turning squarely to Aileen--she was sitting beside him---his big, red
+face glowing.
+
+"Why, even they have a better house than we have, and he's merely an
+agent of yours."
+
+"The Cowperwoods! The Cowperwoods! I'll not have any talk about the
+Cowperwoods. I'm not takin' my rules from the Cowperwoods. Suppose they
+have a fine house, what of it? My house is my house. I want to live
+here. I've lived here too long to be pickin' up and movin' away. If you
+don't like it you know what else you can do. Move if you want to. I'll
+not move."
+
+It was Butler's habit when he became involved in these family
+quarrels, which were as shallow as puddles, to wave his hands rather
+antagonistically under his wife's or his children's noses.
+
+"Oh, well, I will get out one of these days," Aileen replied. "Thank
+heaven I won't have to live here forever."
+
+There flashed across her mind the beautiful reception-room, library,
+parlor, and boudoirs of the Cowperwoods, which were now being arranged
+and about which Anna Cowperwood talked to her so much--their dainty,
+lovely triangular grand piano in gold and painted pink and blue. Why
+couldn't they have things like that? Her father was unquestionably a
+dozen times as wealthy. But no, her father, whom she loved dearly, was
+of the old school. He was just what people charged him with being, a
+rough Irish contractor. He might be rich. She flared up at the injustice
+of things--why couldn't he have been rich and refined, too? Then they
+could have--but, oh, what was the use of complaining? They would never
+get anywhere with her father and mother in charge. She would just have
+to wait. Marriage was the answer--the right marriage. But whom was she
+to marry?
+
+"You surely are not going to go on fighting about that now," pleaded
+Mrs. Butler, as strong and patient as fate itself. She knew where
+Aileen's trouble lay.
+
+"But we might have a decent house," insisted Aileen. "Or this one done
+over," whispered Norah to her mother.
+
+"Hush now! In good time," replied Mrs. Butler to Norah. "Wait. We'll
+fix it all up some day, sure. You run to your lessons now. You've had
+enough."
+
+Norah arose and left. Aileen subsided. Her father was simply stubborn
+and impossible. And yet he was sweet, too. She pouted in order to compel
+him to apologize.
+
+"Come now," he said, after they had left the table, and conscious of the
+fact that his daughter was dissatisfied with him. He must do something
+to placate her. "Play me somethin' on the piano, somethin' nice." He
+preferred showy, clattery things which exhibited her skill and muscular
+ability and left him wondering how she did it. That was what education
+was for--to enable her to play these very difficult things quickly and
+forcefully. "And you can have a new piano any time you like. Go and see
+about it. This looks pretty good to me, but if you don't want it, all
+right." Aileen squeezed his arm. What was the use of arguing with her
+father? What good would a lone piano do, when the whole house and
+the whole family atmosphere were at fault? But she played Schumann,
+Schubert, Offenbach, Chopin, and the old gentleman strolled to and
+fro and mused, smiling. There was real feeling and a thoughtful
+interpretation given to some of these things, for Aileen was not without
+sentiment, though she was so strong, vigorous, and withal so defiant;
+but it was all lost on him. He looked on her, his bright, healthy,
+enticingly beautiful daughter, and wondered what was going to become of
+her. Some rich man was going to many her--some fine, rich young man with
+good business instincts--and he, her father, would leave her a lot of
+money.
+
+There was a reception and a dance to be given to celebrate the
+opening of the two Cowperwood homes--the reception to be held in Frank
+Cowperwood's residence, and the dance later at his father's. The Henry
+Cowperwood domicile was much more pretentious, the reception-room,
+parlor, music-room, and conservatory being in this case all on the
+ground floor and much larger. Ellsworth had arranged it so that those
+rooms, on occasion, could be thrown into one, leaving excellent space
+for promenade, auditorium, dancing--anything, in fact, that a large
+company might require. It had been the intention all along of the two
+men to use these houses jointly. There was, to begin with, a combination
+use of the various servants, the butler, gardener, laundress, and maids.
+Frank Cowperwood employed a governess for his children. The butler was
+really not a butler in the best sense. He was Henry Cowperwood's private
+servitor. But he could carve and preside, and he could be used in either
+house as occasion warranted. There was also a hostler and a coachman for
+the joint stable. When two carriages were required at once, both drove.
+It made a very agreeable and satisfactory working arrangement.
+
+The preparation of this reception had been quite a matter of importance,
+for it was necessary for financial reasons to make it as extensive as
+possible, and for social reasons as exclusive. It was therefore decided
+that the afternoon reception at Frank's house, with its natural overflow
+into Henry W.'s, was to be for all--the Tighes, Steners, Butlers,
+Mollenhauers, as well as the more select groups to which, for instance,
+belonged Arthur Rivers, Mrs. Seneca Davis, Mr. and Mrs. Trenor Drake,
+and some of the younger Drexels and Clarks, whom Frank had met. It was
+not likely that the latter would condescend, but cards had to be sent.
+Later in the evening a less democratic group if possible was to be
+entertained, albeit it would have to be extended to include the friends
+of Anna, Mrs. Cowperwood, Edward, and Joseph, and any list which Frank
+might personally have in mind. This was to be the list. The best that
+could be persuaded, commanded, or influenced of the young and socially
+elect were to be invited here.
+
+It was not possible, however, not to invite the Butlers, parents and
+children, particularly the children, for both afternoon and evening,
+since Cowperwood was personally attracted to Aileen and despite the
+fact that the presence of the parents would be most unsatisfactory. Even
+Aileen as he knew was a little unsatisfactory to Anna and Mrs. Frank
+Cowperwood; and these two, when they were together supervising the list
+of invitations, often talked about it.
+
+"She's so hoidenish," observed Anna, to her sister-in-law, when they
+came to the name of Aileen. "She thinks she knows so much, and she isn't
+a bit refined. Her father! Well, if I had her father I wouldn't talk so
+smart."
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood, who was before her secretaire in her new boudoir,
+lifted her eyebrows.
+
+"You know, Anna, I sometimes wish that Frank's business did not compel
+me to have anything to do with them. Mrs. Butler is such a bore. She
+means well enough, but she doesn't know anything. And Aileen is too
+rough. She's too forward, I think. She comes over here and plays upon
+the piano, particularly when Frank's here. I wouldn't mind so much for
+myself, but I know it must annoy him. All her pieces are so noisy. She
+never plays anything really delicate and refined."
+
+"I don't like the way she dresses," observed Anna, sympathetically.
+"She gets herself up too conspicuously. Now, the other day I saw her out
+driving, and oh, dear! you should have seen her! She had on a crimson
+Zouave jacket heavily braided with black about the edges, and a turban
+with a huge crimson feather, and crimson ribbons reaching nearly to her
+waist. Imagine that kind of a hat to drive in. And her hands! You should
+have seen the way she held her hands--oh--just so--self-consciously.
+They were curved just so"--and she showed how. "She had on yellow
+gauntlets, and she held the reins in one hand and the whip in the other.
+She drives just like mad when she drives, anyhow, and William, the
+footman, was up behind her. You should just have seen her. Oh, dear!
+oh, dear! she does think she is so much!" And Anna giggled, half in
+reproach, half in amusement.
+
+"I suppose we'll have to invite her; I don't see how we can get out of
+it. I know just how she'll do, though. She'll walk about and pose and
+hold her nose up."
+
+"Really, I don't see how she can," commented Anna. "Now, I like Norah.
+She's much nicer. She doesn't think she's so much."
+
+"I like Norah, too," added Mrs. Cowperwood. "She's really very sweet,
+and to me she's prettier."
+
+"Oh, indeed, I think so, too."
+
+It was curious, though, that it was Aileen who commanded nearly all
+their attention and fixed their minds on her so-called idiosyncrasies.
+All they said was in its peculiar way true; but in addition the girl was
+really beautiful and much above the average intelligence and force. She
+was running deep with ambition, and she was all the more conspicuous,
+and in a way irritating to some, because she reflected in her own
+consciousness her social defects, against which she was inwardly
+fighting. She resented the fact that people could justly consider her
+parents ineligible, and for that reason her also. She was intrinsically
+as worth while as any one. Cowperwood, so able, and rapidly becoming so
+distinguished, seemed to realize it. The days that had been passing had
+brought them somewhat closer together in spirit. He was nice to her and
+liked to talk to her. Whenever he was at her home now, or she was at his
+and he was present, he managed somehow to say a word. He would come over
+quite near and look at her in a warm friendly fashion.
+
+"Well, Aileen"--she could see his genial eyes--"how is it with you? How
+are your father and mother? Been out driving? That's fine. I saw you
+to-day. You looked beautiful."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Cowperwood!"
+
+"You did. You looked stunning. A black riding-habit becomes you. I can
+tell your gold hair a long way off."
+
+"Oh, now, you mustn't say that to me. You'll make me vain. My mother and
+father tell me I'm too vain as it is."
+
+"Never mind your mother and father. I say you looked stunning, and you
+did. You always do."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+She gave a little gasp of delight. The color mounted to her cheeks and
+temples. Mr. Cowperwood knew of course. He was so informed and intensely
+forceful. And already he was so much admired by so many, her own father
+and mother included, and by Mr. Mollenhauer and Mr. Simpson, so she
+heard. And his own home and office were so beautiful. Besides, his quiet
+intensity matched her restless force.
+
+Aileen and her sister were accordingly invited to the reception but the
+Butlers mere and pere were given to understand, in as tactful a manner
+as possible, that the dance afterward was principally for young people.
+
+The reception brought a throng of people. There were many, very many,
+introductions. There were tactful descriptions of little effects Mr.
+Ellsworth had achieved under rather trying circumstances; walks under
+the pergola; viewings of both homes in detail. Many of the guests were
+old friends. They gathered in the libraries and dining-rooms and
+talked. There was much jesting, some slappings of shoulders, some good
+story-telling, and so the afternoon waned into evening, and they went
+away.
+
+Aileen had created an impression in a street costume of dark blue silk
+with velvet pelisse to match, and trimmed with elaborate pleatings and
+shirrings of the same materials. A toque of blue velvet, with high crown
+and one large dark-red imitation orchid, had given her a jaunty, dashing
+air. Beneath the toque her red-gold hair was arranged in an enormous
+chignon, with one long curl escaping over her collar. She was not
+exactly as daring as she seemed, but she loved to give that impression.
+
+"You look wonderful," Cowperwood said as she passed him.
+
+"I'll look different to-night," was her answer.
+
+She had swung herself with a slight, swaggering stride into the
+dining-room and disappeared. Norah and her mother stayed to chat with
+Mrs. Cowperwood.
+
+"Well, it's lovely now, isn't it?" breathed Mrs. Butler. "Sure you'll be
+happy here. Sure you will. When Eddie fixed the house we're in now, says
+I: 'Eddie, it's almost too fine for us altogether--surely it is,' and he
+says, says 'e, 'Norah, nothin' this side o' heavin or beyond is too
+good for ye'--and he kissed me. Now what d'ye think of that fer a big,
+hulkin' gossoon?"
+
+"It's perfectly lovely, I think, Mrs. Butler," commented Mrs.
+Cowperwood, a little bit nervous because of others.
+
+"Mama does love to talk so. Come on, mama. Let's look at the
+dining-room." It was Norah talking.
+
+"Well, may ye always be happy in it. I wish ye that. I've always been
+happy in mine. May ye always be happy." And she waddled good-naturedly
+along.
+
+The Cowperwood family dined hastily alone between seven and eight. At
+nine the evening guests began to arrive, and now the throng was of a
+different complexion--girls in mauve and cream-white and salmon-pink and
+silver-gray, laying aside lace shawls and loose dolmans, and the men in
+smooth black helping them. Outside in the cold, the carriage doors were
+slamming, and new guests were arriving constantly. Mrs. Cowperwood stood
+with her husband and Anna in the main entrance to the reception room,
+while Joseph and Edward Cowperwood and Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Cowperwood
+lingered in the background. Lillian looked charming in a train gown of
+old rose, with a low, square neck showing a delicate chemisette of fine
+lace. Her face and figure were still notable, though her face was not as
+smoothly sweet as it had been years before when Cowperwood had first met
+her. Anna Cowperwood was not pretty, though she could not be said to be
+homely. She was small and dark, with a turned-up nose, snapping black
+eyes, a pert, inquisitive, intelligent, and alas, somewhat critical,
+air. She had considerable tact in the matter of dressing. Black, in
+spite of her darkness, with shining beads of sequins on it, helped her
+complexion greatly, as did a red rose in her hair. She had smooth, white
+well-rounded arms and shoulders. Bright eyes, a pert manner, clever
+remarks--these assisted to create an illusion of charm, though, as she
+often said, it was of little use. "Men want the dolly things."
+
+In the evening inpour of young men and women came Aileen and Norah, the
+former throwing off a thin net veil of black lace and a dolman of black
+silk, which her brother Owen took from her. Norah was with Callum, a
+straight, erect, smiling young Irishman, who looked as though he might
+carve a notable career for himself. She wore a short, girlish dress that
+came to a little below her shoe-tops, a pale-figured lavender and white
+silk, with a fluffy hoop-skirt of dainty laced-edged ruffles, against
+which tiny bows of lavender stood out in odd places. There was a great
+sash of lavender about her waist, and in her hair a rosette of the same
+color. She looked exceedingly winsome--eager and bright-eyed.
+
+But behind her was her sister in ravishing black satin, scaled as a fish
+with glistening crimsoned-silver sequins, her round, smooth arms bare
+to the shoulders, her corsage cut as low in the front and back as her
+daring, in relation to her sense of the proprieties, permitted. She was
+naturally of exquisite figure, erect, full-breasted, with somewhat more
+than gently swelling hips, which, nevertheless, melted into lovely,
+harmonious lines; and this low-cut corsage, receding back and front into
+a deep V, above a short, gracefully draped overskirt of black tulle
+and silver tissue, set her off to perfection. Her full, smooth, roundly
+modeled neck was enhanced in its cream-pink whiteness by an inch-wide
+necklet of black jet cut in many faceted black squares. Her complexion,
+naturally high in tone because of the pink of health, was enhanced by
+the tiniest speck of black court-plaster laid upon her cheekbone; and
+her hair, heightened in its reddish-gold by her dress, was fluffed
+loosely and adroitly about her eyes. The main mass of this treasure was
+done in two loose braids caught up in a black spangled net at the back
+of her neck; and her eyebrows had been emphasized by a pencil into
+something almost as significant as her hair. She was, for the occasion,
+a little too emphatic, perhaps, and yet more because of her burning
+vitality than of her costume. Art for her should have meant subduing
+her physical and spiritual significance. Life for her meant emphasizing
+them.
+
+"Lillian!" Anna nudged her sister-in-law. She was grieved to think that
+Aileen was wearing black and looked so much better than either of them.
+
+"I see," Lillian replied, in a subdued tone.
+
+"So you're back again." She was addressing Aileen. "It's chilly out,
+isn't it?"
+
+"I don't mind. Don't the rooms look lovely?"
+
+She was gazing at the softly lighted chambers and the throng before her.
+
+Norah began to babble to Anna. "You know, I just thought I never would
+get this old thing on." She was speaking of her dress. "Aileen wouldn't
+help me--the mean thing!"
+
+Aileen had swept on to Cowperwood and his mother, who was near him. She
+had removed from her arm the black satin ribbon which held her train and
+kicked the skirts loose and free. Her eyes gleamed almost pleadingly
+for all her hauteur, like a spirited collie's, and her even teeth showed
+beautifully.
+
+Cowperwood understood her precisely, as he did any fine, spirited
+animal.
+
+"I can't tell you how nice you look," he whispered to her, familiarly,
+as though there was an old understanding between them. "You're like fire
+and song."
+
+He did not know why he said this. He was not especially poetic. He had
+not formulated the phrase beforehand. Since his first glimpse of her
+in the hall, his feelings and ideas had been leaping and plunging like
+spirited horses. This girl made him set his teeth and narrow his eyes.
+Involuntarily he squared his jaw, looking more defiant, forceful,
+efficient, as she drew near.
+
+But Aileen and her sister were almost instantly surrounded by young men
+seeking to be introduced and to write their names on dance-cards, and
+for the time being she was lost to view.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVIII
+
+
+The seeds of change--subtle, metaphysical--are rooted deeply. From the
+first mention of the dance by Mrs. Cowperwood and Anna, Aileen had been
+conscious of a desire toward a more effective presentation of herself
+than as yet, for all her father's money, she had been able to achieve.
+The company which she was to encounter, as she well knew, was to be so
+much more impressive, distinguished than anything she had heretofore
+known socially. Then, too, Cowperwood appeared as something more
+definite in her mind than he had been before, and to save herself she
+could not get him out of her consciousness.
+
+A vision of him had come to her but an hour before as she was dressing.
+In a way she had dressed for him. She was never forgetful of the times
+he had looked at her in an interested way. He had commented on her hands
+once. To-day he had said that she looked "stunning," and she had thought
+how easy it would be to impress him to-night--to show him how truly
+beautiful she was.
+
+She had stood before her mirror between eight and nine--it was
+nine-fifteen before she was really ready--and pondered over what she
+should wear. There were two tall pier-glasses in her wardrobe--an unduly
+large piece of furniture--and one in her closet door. She stood before
+the latter, looking at her bare arms and shoulders, her shapely figure,
+thinking of the fact that her left shoulder had a dimple, and that she
+had selected garnet garters decorated with heart-shaped silver buckles.
+The corset could not be made quite tight enough at first, and she chided
+her maid, Kathleen Kelly. She studied how to arrange her hair, and there
+was much ado about that before it was finally adjusted. She penciled her
+eyebrows and plucked at the hair about her forehead to make it loose
+and shadowy. She cut black court-plaster with her nail-shears and tried
+different-sized pieces in different places. Finally, she found one size
+and one place that suited her. She turned her head from side to side,
+looking at the combined effect of her hair, her penciled brows, her
+dimpled shoulder, and the black beauty-spot. If some one man could see
+her as she was now, some time! Which man? That thought scurried back
+like a frightened rat into its hole. She was, for all her strength,
+afraid of the thought of the one--the very deadly--the man.
+
+And then she came to the matter of a train-gown. Kathleen laid out five,
+for Aileen had come into the joy and honor of these things recently, and
+she had, with the permission of her mother and father, indulged
+herself to the full. She studied a golden-yellow silk, with cream-lace
+shoulder-straps, and some gussets of garnet beads in the train that
+shimmered delightfully, but set it aside. She considered favorably a
+black-and-white striped silk of odd gray effect, and, though she was
+sorely tempted to wear it, finally let it go. There was a maroon dress,
+with basque and overskirt over white silk; a rich cream-colored satin;
+and then this black sequined gown, which she finally chose. She tried
+on the cream-colored satin first, however, being in much doubt about it;
+but her penciled eyes and beauty-spot did not seem to harmonize with
+it. Then she put on the black silk with its glistening crimsoned-silver
+sequins, and, lo, it touched her. She liked its coquettish drapery of
+tulle and silver about the hips. The "overskirt," which was at that time
+just coming into fashion, though avoided by the more conservative, had
+been adopted by Aileen with enthusiasm. She thrilled a little at the
+rustle of this black dress, and thrust her chin and nose forward to make
+it set right. Then after having Kathleen tighten her corsets a little
+more, she gathered the train over her arm by its train-band and looked
+again. Something was wanting. Oh, yes, her neck! What to wear--red
+coral? It did not look right. A string of pearls? That would not do
+either. There was a necklace made of small cameos set in silver which
+her mother had purchased, and another of diamonds which belonged to her
+mother, but they were not right. Finally, her jet necklet, which she
+did not value very highly, came into her mind, and, oh, how lovely it
+looked! How soft and smooth and glistening her chin looked above it. She
+caressed her neck affectionately, called for her black lace mantilla,
+her long, black silk dolman lined with red, and she was ready.
+
+The ball-room, as she entered, was lovely enough. The young men and
+young women she saw there were interesting, and she was not wanting
+for admirers. The most aggressive of these youths--the most
+forceful--recognized in this maiden a fillip to life, a sting to
+existence. She was as a honey-jar surrounded by too hungry flies.
+
+But it occurred to her, as her dance-list was filling up, that there was
+not much left for Mr. Cowperwood, if he should care to dance with her.
+
+Cowperwood was meditating, as he received the last of the guests, on the
+subtlety of this matter of the sex arrangement of life. Two sexes. He
+was not at all sure that there was any law governing them. By comparison
+now with Aileen Butler, his wife looked rather dull, quite too old, and
+when he was ten years older she would look very much older.
+
+"Oh, yes, Ellsworth had made quite an attractive arrangement out of
+these two houses--better than we ever thought he could do." He was
+talking to Henry Hale Sanderson, a young banker. "He had the advantage
+of combining two into one, and I think he's done more with my little
+one, considering the limitations of space, than he has with this big
+one. Father's has the advantage of size. I tell the old gentleman he's
+simply built a lean-to for me."
+
+His father and a number of his cronies were over in the dining-room of
+his grand home, glad to get away from the crowd. He would have to stay,
+and, besides, he wanted to. Had he better dance with Aileen? His wife
+cared little for dancing, but he would have to dance with her at least
+once. There was Mrs. Seneca Davis smiling at him, and Aileen. By George,
+how wonderful! What a girl!
+
+"I suppose your dance-list is full to overflowing. Let me see." He was
+standing before her and she was holding out the little blue-bordered,
+gold-monogrammed booklet. An orchestra was playing in the music room.
+The dance would begin shortly. There were delicately constructed,
+gold-tinted chairs about the walls and behind palms.
+
+He looked down into her eyes--those excited, life-loving, eager eyes.
+
+"You're quite full up. Let me see. Nine, ten, eleven. Well, that will be
+enough. I don't suppose I shall want to dance very much. It's nice to be
+popular."
+
+"I'm not sure about number three. I think that's a mistake. You might
+have that if you wish."
+
+She was falsifying.
+
+"It doesn't matter so much about him, does it?"
+
+His cheeks flushed a little as he said this.
+
+"No."
+
+Her own flamed.
+
+"Well, I'll see where you are when it's called. You're darling. I'm
+afraid of you." He shot a level, interpretive glance into her eyes, then
+left. Aileen's bosom heaved. It was hard to breathe sometimes in this
+warm air.
+
+While he was dancing first with Mrs. Cowperwood and later with Mrs.
+Seneca Davis, and still later with Mrs. Martyn Walker, Cowperwood had
+occasion to look at Aileen often, and each time that he did so there
+swept over him a sense of great vigor there, of beautiful if raw,
+dynamic energy that to him was irresistible and especially so to-night.
+She was so young. She was beautiful, this girl, and in spite of his
+wife's repeated derogatory comments he felt that she was nearer to his
+clear, aggressive, unblinking attitude than any one whom he had yet seen
+in the form of woman. She was unsophisticated, in a way, that was plain,
+and yet in another way it would take so little to make her understand so
+much. Largeness was the sense he had of her--not physically, though she
+was nearly as tall as himself--but emotionally. She seemed so intensely
+alive. She passed close to him a number of times, her eyes wide and
+smiling, her lips parted, her teeth agleam, and he felt a stirring
+of sympathy and companionship for her which he had not previously
+experienced. She was lovely, all of her--delightful.
+
+"I'm wondering if that dance is open now," he said to her as he drew
+near toward the beginning of the third set. She was seated with her
+latest admirer in a far corner of the general living-room, a clear floor
+now waxed to perfection. A few palms here and there made embrasured
+parapets of green. "I hope you'll excuse me," he added, deferentially,
+to her companion.
+
+"Surely," the latter replied, rising.
+
+"Yes, indeed," she replied. "And you'd better stay here with me. It's
+going to begin soon. You won't mind?" she added, giving her companion a
+radiant smile.
+
+"Not at all. I've had a lovely waltz." He strolled off.
+
+Cowperwood sat down. "That's young Ledoux, isn't it? I thought so. I saw
+you dancing. You like it, don't you?"
+
+"I'm crazy about it."
+
+"Well, I can't say that myself. It's fascinating, though. Your partner
+makes such a difference. Mrs. Cowperwood doesn't like it as much as I
+do."
+
+His mention of Lillian made Aileen think of her in a faintly derogative
+way for a moment.
+
+"I think you dance very well. I watched you, too." She questioned
+afterwards whether she should have said this. It sounded most forward
+now--almost brazen.
+
+"Oh, did you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+He was a little keyed up because of her--slightly cloudy in his
+thoughts--because she was generating a problem in his life, or would
+if he let her, and so his talk was a little tame. He was thinking of
+something to say--some words which would bring them a little nearer
+together. But for the moment he could not. Truth to tell, he wanted to
+say a great deal.
+
+"Well, that was nice of you," he added, after a moment. "What made you
+do it?"
+
+He turned with a mock air of inquiry. The music was beginning again. The
+dancers were rising. He arose.
+
+He had not intended to give this particular remark a serious turn; but,
+now that she was so near him, he looked into her eyes steadily but with
+a soft appeal and said, "Yes, why?"
+
+They had come out from behind the palms. He had put his hand to her
+waist. His right arm held her left extended arm to arm, palm to palm.
+Her right hand was on his shoulder, and she was close to him, looking
+into his eyes. As they began the gay undulations of the waltz she looked
+away and then down without answering. Her movements were as light
+and airy as those of a butterfly. He felt a sudden lightness himself,
+communicated as by an invisible current. He wanted to match the
+suppleness of her body with his own, and did. Her arms, the flash and
+glint of the crimson sequins against the smooth, black silk of her
+closely fitting dress, her neck, her glowing, radiant hair, all combined
+to provoke a slight intellectual intoxication. She was so vigorously
+young, so, to him, truly beautiful.
+
+"But you didn't answer," he continued.
+
+"Isn't this lovely music?"
+
+He pressed her fingers.
+
+She lifted shy eyes to him now, for, in spite of her gay, aggressive
+force, she was afraid of him. His personality was obviously so
+dominating. Now that he was so close to her, dancing, she conceived
+of him as something quite wonderful, and yet she experienced a nervous
+reaction--a momentary desire to run away.
+
+"Very well, if you won't tell me," he smiled, mockingly.
+
+He thought she wanted him to talk to her so, to tease her with
+suggestions of this concealed feeling of his--this strong liking. He
+wondered what could come of any such understanding as this, anyhow?
+
+"Oh, I just wanted to see how you danced," she said, tamely, the force
+of her original feeling having been weakened by a thought of what she
+was doing. He noted the change and smiled. It was lovely to be dancing
+with her. He had not thought mere dancing could hold such charm.
+
+"You like me?" he said, suddenly, as the music drew to its close.
+
+She thrilled from head to toe at the question. A piece of ice dropped
+down her back could not have startled her more. It was apparently
+tactless, and yet it was anything but tactless. She looked up quickly,
+directly, but his strong eyes were too much for her.
+
+"Why, yes," she answered, as the music stopped, trying to keep an even
+tone to her voice. She was glad they were walking toward a chair.
+
+"I like you so much," he said, "that I have been wondering if you really
+like me." There was an appeal in his voice, soft and gentle. His manner
+was almost sad.
+
+"Why, yes," she replied, instantly, returning to her earlier mood toward
+him. "You know I do."
+
+"I need some one like you to like me," he continued, in the same vein.
+"I need some one like you to talk to. I didn't think so before--but now
+I do. You are beautiful--wonderful."
+
+"We mustn't," she said. "I mustn't. I don't know what I'm doing."
+She looked at a young man strolling toward her, and asked: "I have to
+explain to him. He's the one I had this dance with."
+
+Cowperwood understood. He walked away. He was quite warm and tense
+now--almost nervous. It was quite clear to him that he had done or was
+contemplating perhaps a very treacherous thing. Under the current code
+of society he had no right to do it. It was against the rules, as
+they were understood by everybody. Her father, for instance--his
+father--every one in this particular walk of life. However, much
+breaking of the rules under the surface of things there might be, the
+rules were still there. As he had heard one young man remark once at
+school, when some story had been told of a boy leading a girl astray and
+to a disastrous end, "That isn't the way at all."
+
+Still, now that he had said this, strong thoughts of her were in his
+mind. And despite his involved social and financial position, which he
+now recalled, it was interesting to him to see how deliberately and even
+calculatingly--and worse, enthusiastically--he was pumping the bellows
+that tended only to heighten the flames of his desire for this girl; to
+feed a fire that might ultimately consume him--and how deliberately and
+resourcefully!
+
+Aileen toyed aimlessly with her fan as a black-haired, thin-faced young
+law student talked to her, and seeing Norah in the distance she asked to
+be allowed to run over to her.
+
+"Oh, Aileen," called Norah, "I've been looking for you everywhere. Where
+have you been?"
+
+"Dancing, of course. Where do you suppose I've been? Didn't you see me
+on the floor?"
+
+"No, I didn't," complained Norah, as though it were most essential that
+she should. "How late are you going to stay?"
+
+"Until it's over, I suppose. I don't know."
+
+"Owen says he's going at twelve."
+
+"Well, that doesn't matter. Some one will take me home. Are you having a
+good time?"
+
+"Fine. Oh, let me tell you. I stepped on a lady's dress over there, last
+dance. She was terribly angry. She gave me such a look."
+
+"Well, never mind, honey. She won't hurt you. Where are you going now?"
+
+Aileen always maintained a most guardian-like attitude toward her
+sister.
+
+"I want to find Callum. He has to dance with me next time. I know what
+he's trying to do. He's trying to get away from me. But he won't."
+
+Aileen smiled. Norah looked very sweet. And she was so bright. What
+would she think of her if she knew? She turned back, and her fourth
+partner sought her. She began talking gayly, for she felt that she had
+to make a show of composure; but all the while there was ringing in her
+ears that definite question of his, "You like me, don't you?" and her
+later uncertain but not less truthful answer, "Yes, of course I do."
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIX
+
+
+The growth of a passion is a very peculiar thing. In highly organized
+intellectual and artistic types it is so often apt to begin with
+keen appreciation of certain qualities, modified by many, many mental
+reservations. The egoist, the intellectual, gives but little of himself
+and asks much. Nevertheless, the lover of life, male or female, finding
+himself or herself in sympathetic accord with such a nature, is apt to
+gain much.
+
+Cowperwood was innately and primarily an egoist and intellectual, though
+blended strongly therewith, was a humane and democratic spirit. We think
+of egoism and intellectualism as closely confined to the arts. Finance
+is an art. And it presents the operations of the subtlest of the
+intellectuals and of the egoists. Cowperwood was a financier. Instead
+of dwelling on the works of nature, its beauty and subtlety, to his
+material disadvantage, he found a happy mean, owing to the swiftness
+of his intellectual operations, whereby he could, intellectually and
+emotionally, rejoice in the beauty of life without interfering with his
+perpetual material and financial calculations. And when it came to women
+and morals, which involved so much relating to beauty, happiness, a
+sense of distinction and variety in living, he was but now beginning
+to suspect for himself at least that apart from maintaining organized
+society in its present form there was no basis for this one-life,
+one-love idea. How had it come about that so many people agreed on this
+single point, that it was good and necessary to marry one woman and
+cleave to her until death? He did not know. It was not for him to bother
+about the subtleties of evolution, which even then was being noised
+abroad, or to ferret out the curiosities of history in connection with
+this matter. He had no time. Suffice it that the vagaries of temperament
+and conditions with which he came into immediate contact proved to him
+that there was great dissatisfaction with that idea. People did not
+cleave to each other until death; and in thousands of cases where
+they did, they did not want to. Quickness of mind, subtlety of idea,
+fortuitousness of opportunity, made it possible for some people to right
+their matrimonial and social infelicities; whereas for others, because
+of dullness of wit, thickness of comprehension, poverty, and lack of
+charm, there was no escape from the slough of their despond. They
+were compelled by some devilish accident of birth or lack of force
+or resourcefulness to stew in their own juice of wretchedness, or to
+shuffle off this mortal coil--which under other circumstances had such
+glittering possibilities--via the rope, the knife, the bullet, or the
+cup of poison.
+
+"I would die, too," he thought to himself, one day, reading of a man
+who, confined by disease and poverty, had lived for twelve years alone
+in a back bedroom attended by an old and probably decrepit housekeeper.
+A darning-needle forced into his heart had ended his earthly woes. "To
+the devil with such a life! Why twelve years? Why not at the end of the
+second or third?"
+
+Again, it was so very evident, in so many ways, that force was the
+answer--great mental and physical force. Why, these giants of commerce
+and money could do as they pleased in this life, and did. He had already
+had ample local evidence of it in more than one direction. Worse--the
+little guardians of so-called law and morality, the newspapers, the
+preachers, the police, and the public moralists generally, so loud in
+their denunciation of evil in humble places, were cowards all when it
+came to corruption in high ones. They did not dare to utter a feeble
+squeak until some giant had accidentally fallen and they could do
+so without danger to themselves. Then, O Heavens, the palaver!
+What beatings of tom-toms! What mouthings of pharisaical
+moralities--platitudes! Run now, good people, for you may see clearly
+how evil is dealt with in high places! It made him smile. Such
+hypocrisy! Such cant! Still, so the world was organized, and it was not
+for him to set it right. Let it wag as it would. The thing for him to
+do was to get rich and hold his own--to build up a seeming of virtue and
+dignity which would pass muster for the genuine thing. Force would do
+that. Quickness of wit. And he had these. "I satisfy myself," was his
+motto; and it might well have been emblazoned upon any coat of arms
+which he could have contrived to set forth his claim to intellectual and
+social nobility.
+
+But this matter of Aileen was up for consideration and solution at this
+present moment, and because of his forceful, determined character he
+was presently not at all disturbed by the problem it presented. It was
+a problem, like some of those knotty financial complications which
+presented themselves daily; but it was not insoluble. What did he want
+to do? He couldn't leave his wife and fly with Aileen, that was certain.
+He had too many connections. He had too many social, and thinking of his
+children and parents, emotional as well as financial ties to bind him.
+Besides, he was not at all sure that he wanted to. He did not intend to
+leave his growing interests, and at the same time he did not intend to
+give up Aileen immediately. The unheralded manifestation of interest
+on her part was too attractive. Mrs. Cowperwood was no longer what
+she should be physically and mentally, and that in itself to him was
+sufficient to justify his present interest in this girl. Why fear
+anything, if only he could figure out a way to achieve it without harm
+to himself? At the same time he thought it might never be possible for
+him to figure out any practical or protective program for either himself
+or Aileen, and that made him silent and reflective. For by now he was
+intensely drawn to her, as he could feel--something chemic and hence
+dynamic was uppermost in him now and clamoring for expression.
+
+At the same time, in contemplating his wife in connection with all
+this, he had many qualms, some emotional, some financial. While she had
+yielded to his youthful enthusiasm for her after her husband's death,
+he had only since learned that she was a natural conservator of public
+morals--the cold purity of the snowdrift in so far as the world might
+see, combined at times with the murky mood of the wanton. And yet, as he
+had also learned, she was ashamed of the passion that at times swept and
+dominated her. This irritated Cowperwood, as it would always irritate
+any strong, acquisitive, direct-seeing temperament. While he had no
+desire to acquaint the whole world with his feelings, why should there
+be concealment between them, or at least mental evasion of a fact which
+physically she subscribed to? Why do one thing and think another? To be
+sure, she was devoted to him in her quiet way, not passionately (as
+he looked back he could not say that she had ever been that), but
+intellectually. Duty, as she understood it, played a great part in this.
+She was dutiful. And then what people thought, what the time-spirit
+demanded--these were the great things. Aileen, on the contrary, was
+probably not dutiful, and it was obvious that she had no temperamental
+connection with current convention. No doubt she had been as well
+instructed as many another girl, but look at her. She was not obeying
+her instructions.
+
+In the next three months this relationship took on a more flagrant form.
+Aileen, knowing full well what her parents would think, how unspeakable
+in the mind of the current world were the thoughts she was thinking,
+persisted, nevertheless, in so thinking and longing. Cowperwood, now
+that she had gone thus far and compromised herself in intention, if not
+in deed, took on a peculiar charm for her. It was not his body--great
+passion is never that, exactly. The flavor of his spirit was what
+attracted and compelled, like the glow of a flame to a moth. There was
+a light of romance in his eyes, which, however governed and
+controlled--was directive and almost all-powerful to her.
+
+When he touched her hand at parting, it was as though she had received
+an electric shock, and she recalled that it was very difficult for her
+to look directly into his eyes. Something akin to a destructive force
+seemed to issue from them at times. Other people, men particularly,
+found it difficult to face Cowperwood's glazed stare. It was as though
+there were another pair of eyes behind those they saw, watching through
+thin, obscuring curtains. You could not tell what he was thinking.
+
+And during the next few months she found herself coming closer and
+closer to Cowperwood. At his home one evening, seated at the piano, no
+one else being present at the moment, he leaned over and kissed her.
+There was a cold, snowy street visible through the interstices of the
+hangings of the windows, and gas-lamps flickering outside. He had come
+in early, and hearing Aileen, he came to where she was seated at the
+piano. She was wearing a rough, gray wool cloth dress, ornately banded
+with fringed Oriental embroidery in blue and burnt-orange, and her
+beauty was further enhanced by a gray hat planned to match her dress,
+with a plume of shaded orange and blue. On her fingers were four or
+five rings, far too many--an opal, an emerald, a ruby, and a
+diamond--flashing visibly as she played.
+
+She knew it was he, without turning. He came beside her, and she looked
+up smiling, the reverie evoked by Schubert partly vanishing--or melting
+into another mood. Suddenly he bent over and pressed his lips firmly
+to hers. His mustache thrilled her with its silky touch. She stopped
+playing and tried to catch her breath, for, strong as she was, it
+affected her breathing. Her heart was beating like a triphammer. She did
+not say, "Oh," or, "You mustn't," but rose and walked over to a window,
+where she lifted a curtain, pretending to look out. She felt as though
+she might faint, so intensely happy was she.
+
+Cowperwood followed her quickly. Slipping his arms about her waist, he
+looked at her flushed cheeks, her clear, moist eyes and red mouth.
+
+"You love me?" he whispered, stern and compelling because of his desire.
+
+"Yes! Yes! You know I do."
+
+He crushed her face to his, and she put up her hands and stroked his
+hair.
+
+A thrilling sense of possession, mastery, happiness and understanding,
+love of her and of her body, suddenly overwhelmed him.
+
+"I love you," he said, as though he were surprised to hear himself say
+it. "I didn't think I did, but I do. You're beautiful. I'm wild about
+you."
+
+"And I love you" she answered. "I can't help it. I know I shouldn't,
+but--oh--" Her hands closed tight over his ears and temples. She put her
+lips to his and dreamed into his eyes. Then she stepped away quickly,
+looking out into the street, and he walked back into the living-room.
+They were quite alone. He was debating whether he should risk anything
+further when Norah, having been in to see Anna next door, appeared and
+not long afterward Mrs. Cowperwood. Then Aileen and Norah left.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XX
+
+
+This definite and final understanding having been reached, it was
+but natural that this liaison should proceed to a closer and closer
+relationship. Despite her religious upbringing, Aileen was decidedly a
+victim of her temperament. Current religious feeling and belief could
+not control her. For the past nine or ten years there had been slowly
+forming in her mind a notion of what her lover should be like. He should
+be strong, handsome, direct, successful, with clear eyes, a ruddy glow
+of health, and a certain native understanding and sympathy--a love of
+life which matched her own. Many young men had approached her. Perhaps
+the nearest realization of her ideal was Father David, of St. Timothy's,
+and he was, of course, a priest and sworn to celibacy. No word had ever
+passed between them but he had been as conscious of her as she of him.
+Then came Frank Cowperwood, and by degrees, because of his presence and
+contact, he had been slowly built up in her mind as the ideal person.
+She was drawn as planets are drawn to their sun.
+
+It is a question as to what would have happened if antagonistic forces
+could have been introduced just at this time. Emotions and liaisons of
+this character can, of course, occasionally be broken up and destroyed.
+The characters of the individuals can be modified or changed to a
+certain extent, but the force must be quite sufficient. Fear is a great
+deterrent--fear of material loss where there is no spiritual dread--but
+wealth and position so often tend to destroy this dread. It is so easy
+to scheme with means. Aileen had no spiritual dread whatever. Cowperwood
+was without spiritual or religious feeling. He looked at this girl,
+and his one thought was how could he so deceive the world that he could
+enjoy her love and leave his present state undisturbed. Love her he did
+surely.
+
+Business necessitated his calling at the Butlers' quite frequently, and
+on each occasion he saw Aileen. She managed to slip forward and squeeze
+his hand the first time he came--to steal a quick, vivid kiss; and
+another time, as he was going out, she suddenly appeared from behind the
+curtains hanging at the parlor door.
+
+"Honey!"
+
+The voice was soft and coaxing. He turned, giving her a warning nod in
+the direction of her father's room upstairs.
+
+She stood there, holding out one hand, and he stepped forward for a
+second. Instantly her arms were about his neck, as he slipped his about
+her waist.
+
+"I long to see you so."
+
+"I, too. I'll fix some way. I'm thinking."
+
+He released her arms, and went out, and she ran to the window and looked
+out after him. He was walking west on the street, for his house was only
+a few blocks away, and she looked at the breadth of his shoulders, the
+balance of his form. He stepped so briskly, so incisively. Ah, this was
+a man! He was her Frank. She thought of him in that light already. Then
+she sat down at the piano and played pensively until dinner.
+
+And it was so easy for the resourceful mind of Frank Cowperwood, wealthy
+as he was, to suggest ways and means. In his younger gallivantings about
+places of ill repute, and his subsequent occasional variations from the
+straight and narrow path, he had learned much of the curious resources
+of immorality. Being a city of five hundred thousand and more at this
+time, Philadelphia had its nondescript hotels, where one might go,
+cautiously and fairly protected from observation; and there were houses
+of a conservative, residential character, where appointments might be
+made, for a consideration. And as for safeguards against the production
+of new life--they were not mysteries to him any longer. He knew all
+about them. Care was the point of caution. He had to be cautious, for
+he was so rapidly coming to be an influential and a distinguished man.
+Aileen, of course, was not conscious, except in a vague way, of the
+drift of her passion; the ultimate destiny to which this affection might
+lead was not clear to her. Her craving was for love--to be fondled and
+caressed--and she really did not think so much further. Further thoughts
+along this line were like rats that showed their heads out of dark holes
+in shadowy corners and scuttled back at the least sound. And, anyhow,
+all that was to be connected with Cowperwood would be beautiful. She
+really did not think that he loved her yet as he should; but he would.
+She did not know that she wanted to interfere with the claims of his
+wife. She did not think she did. But it would not hurt Mrs. Cowperwood
+if Frank loved her--Aileen--also.
+
+How shall we explain these subtleties of temperament and desire? Life
+has to deal with them at every turn. They will not down, and the large,
+placid movements of nature outside of man's little organisms would
+indicate that she is not greatly concerned. We see much punishment in
+the form of jails, diseases, failures, and wrecks; but we also see that
+the old tendency is not visibly lessened. Is there no law outside of the
+subtle will and power of the individual to achieve? If not, it is surely
+high time that we knew it--one and all. We might then agree to do as we
+do; but there would be no silly illusion as to divine regulation. Vox
+populi, vox Dei.
+
+So there were other meetings, lovely hours which they soon began to
+spend the moment her passion waxed warm enough to assure compliance,
+without great fear and without thought of the deadly risk involved. From
+odd moments in his own home, stolen when there was no one about to see,
+they advanced to clandestine meetings beyond the confines of the city.
+Cowperwood was not one who was temperamentally inclined to lose his head
+and neglect his business. As a matter of fact, the more he thought of
+this rather unexpected affectional development, the more certain he was
+that he must not let it interfere with his business time and judgment.
+His office required his full attention from nine until three, anyhow. He
+could give it until five-thirty with profit; but he could take several
+afternoons off, from three-thirty until five-thirty or six, and no one
+would be the wiser. It was customary for Aileen to drive alone almost
+every afternoon a spirited pair of bays, or to ride a mount, bought
+by her father for her from a noted horse-dealer in Baltimore. Since
+Cowperwood also drove and rode, it was not difficult to arrange
+meeting-places far out on the Wissahickon or the Schuylkill road. There
+were many spots in the newly laid-out park, which were as free from
+interruption as the depths of a forest. It was always possible that
+they might encounter some one; but it was also always possible to make a
+rather plausible explanation, or none at all, since even in case of such
+an encounter nothing, ordinarily, would be suspected.
+
+So, for the time being there was love-making, the usual billing and
+cooing of lovers in a simple and much less than final fashion; and the
+lovely horseback rides together under the green trees of the approaching
+spring were idyllic. Cowperwood awakened to a sense of joy in life such
+as he fancied, in the blush of this new desire, he had never experienced
+before. Lillian had been lovely in those early days in which he had
+first called on her in North Front Street, and he had fancied himself
+unspeakably happy at that time; but that was nearly ten years since,
+and he had forgotten. Since then he had had no great passion, no notable
+liaison; and then, all at once, in the midst of his new, great business
+prosperity, Aileen. Her young body and soul, her passionate illusions.
+He could see always, for all her daring, that she knew so little of the
+calculating, brutal world with which he was connected. Her father had
+given her all the toys she wanted without stint; her mother and brothers
+had coddled her, particularly her mother. Her young sister thought she
+was adorable. No one imagined for one moment that Aileen would ever do
+anything wrong. She was too sensible, after all, too eager to get up
+in the world. Why should she, when her life lay open and happy before
+her--a delightful love-match, some day soon, with some very eligible and
+satisfactory lover?
+
+"When you marry, Aileen," her mother used to say to her, "we'll have a
+grand time here. Sure we'll do the house over then, if we don't do it
+before. Eddie will have to fix it up, or I'll do it meself. Never fear."
+
+"Yes--well, I'd rather you'd fix it now," was her reply.
+
+Butler himself used to strike her jovially on the shoulder in a rough,
+loving way, and ask, "Well, have you found him yet?" or "Is he hanging
+around the outside watchin' for ye?"
+
+If she said, "No," he would reply: "Well, he will be, never fear--worse
+luck. I'll hate to see ye go, girlie! You can stay here as long as ye
+want to, and ye want to remember that you can always come back."
+
+Aileen paid very little attention to this bantering. She loved her
+father, but it was all such a matter of course. It was the commonplace
+of her existence, and not so very significant, though delightful enough.
+
+But how eagerly she yielded herself to Cowperwood under the spring trees
+these days! She had no sense of that ultimate yielding that was coming,
+for now he merely caressed and talked to her. He was a little doubtful
+about himself. His growing liberties for himself seemed natural enough,
+but in a sense of fairness to her he began to talk to her about what
+their love might involve. Would she? Did she understand? This phase of
+it puzzled and frightened Aileen a little at first. She stood before him
+one afternoon in her black riding-habit and high silk riding-hat perched
+jauntily on her red-gold hair; and striking her riding-skirt with her
+short whip, pondering doubtfully as she listened. He had asked her
+whether she knew what she was doing? Whither they were drifting? If
+she loved him truly enough? The two horses were tethered in a thicket a
+score of yards away from the main road and from the bank of a tumbling
+stream, which they had approached. She was trying to discover if she
+could see them. It was pretense. There was no interest in her glance.
+She was thinking of him and the smartness of his habit, and the
+exquisiteness of this moment. He had such a charming calico pony. The
+leaves were just enough developed to make a diaphanous lacework of
+green. It was like looking through a green-spangled arras to peer into
+the woods beyond or behind. The gray stones were already faintly
+messy where the water rippled and sparkled, and early birds were
+calling--robins and blackbirds and wrens.
+
+"Baby mine," he said, "do you understand all about this? Do you know
+exactly what you're doing when you come with me this way?"
+
+"I think I do."
+
+She struck her boot and looked at the ground, and then up through the
+trees at the blue sky.
+
+"Look at me, honey."
+
+"I don't want to."
+
+"But look at me, sweet. I want to ask you something."
+
+"Don't make me, Frank, please. I can't."
+
+"Oh yes, you can look at me."
+
+"No."
+
+She backed away as he took her hands, but came forward again, easily
+enough.
+
+"Now look in my eyes."
+
+"I can't."
+
+"See here."
+
+"I can't. Don't ask me. I'll answer you, but don't make me look at you."
+
+His hand stole to her cheek and fondled it. He petted her shoulder, and
+she leaned her head against him.
+
+"Sweet, you're so beautiful," he said finally, "I can't give you up. I
+know what I ought to do. You know, too, I suppose; but I can't. I must
+have you. If this should end in exposure, it would be quite bad for you
+and me. Do you understand?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I don't know your brothers very well; but from looking at them I judge
+they're pretty determined people. They think a great deal of you."
+
+"Indeed, they do." Her vanity prinked slightly at this.
+
+"They would probably want to kill me, and very promptly, for just this
+much. What do you think they would want to do if--well, if anything
+should happen, some time?"
+
+He waited, watching her pretty face.
+
+"But nothing need happen. We needn't go any further."
+
+"Aileen!"
+
+"I won't look at you. You needn't ask. I can't."
+
+"Aileen! Do you mean that?"
+
+"I don't know. Don't ask me, Frank."
+
+"You know it can't stop this way, don't you? You know it. This isn't
+the end. Now, if--" He explained the whole theory of illicit meetings,
+calmly, dispassionately. "You are perfectly safe, except for one thing,
+chance exposure. It might just so happen; and then, of course, there
+would be a great deal to settle for. Mrs. Cowperwood would never give me
+a divorce; she has no reason to. If I should clean up in the way I hope
+to--if I should make a million--I wouldn't mind knocking off now. I
+don't expect to work all my days. I have always planned to knock off at
+thirty-five. I'll have enough by that time. Then I want to travel. It
+will only be a few more years now. If you were free--if your father
+and mother were dead"--curiously she did not wince at this practical
+reference--"it would be a different matter."
+
+He paused. She still gazed thoughtfully at the water below, her mind
+running out to a yacht on the sea with him, a palace somewhere--just
+they two. Her eyes, half closed, saw this happy world; and, listening to
+him, she was fascinated.
+
+"Hanged if I see the way out of this, exactly. But I love you!" He
+caught her to him. "I love you--love you!"
+
+"Oh, yes," she replied intensely, "I want you to. I'm not afraid."
+
+"I've taken a house in North Tenth Street," he said finally, as they
+walked over to the horses and mounted them. "It isn't furnished yet; but
+it will be soon. I know a woman who will take charge."
+
+"Who is she?"
+
+"An interesting widow of nearly fifty. Very intelligent--she is
+attractive, and knows a good deal of life. I found her through an
+advertisement. You might call on her some afternoon when things are
+arranged, and look the place over. You needn't meet her except in a
+casual way. Will you?"
+
+She rode on, thinking, making no reply. He was so direct and practical
+in his calculations.
+
+"Will you? It will be all right. You might know her. She isn't
+objectionable in any way. Will you?"
+
+"Let me know when it is ready," was all she said finally.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXI
+
+
+The vagaries of passion! Subtleties! Risks! What sacrifices are not
+laid willfully upon its altar! In a little while this more than average
+residence to which Cowperwood had referred was prepared solely to
+effect a satisfactory method of concealment. The house was governed by
+a seemingly recently-bereaved widow, and it was possible for Aileen to
+call without seeming strangely out of place. In such surroundings, and
+under such circumstances, it was not difficult to persuade her to
+give herself wholly to her lover, governed as she was by her wild and
+unreasoning affection and passion. In a way, there was a saving element
+of love, for truly, above all others, she wanted this man. She had no
+thought or feeling toward any other. All her mind ran toward visions of
+the future, when, somehow, she and he might be together for all time.
+Mrs. Cowperwood might die, or he might run away with her at thirty-five
+when he had a million. Some adjustment would be made, somehow. Nature
+had given her this man. She relied on him implicitly. When he told her
+that he would take care of her so that nothing evil should befall, she
+believed him fully. Such sins are the commonplaces of the confessional.
+
+It is a curious fact that by some subtlety of logic in the Christian
+world, it has come to be believed that there can be no love outside the
+conventional process of courtship and marriage. One life, one love, is
+the Christian idea, and into this sluice or mold it has been endeavoring
+to compress the whole world. Pagan thought held no such belief. A
+writing of divorce for trivial causes was the theory of the elders; and
+in the primeval world nature apparently holds no scheme for the unity of
+two beyond the temporary care of the young. That the modern home is
+the most beautiful of schemes, when based upon mutual sympathy and
+understanding between two, need not be questioned. And yet this fact
+should not necessarily carry with it a condemnation of all love not so
+fortunate as to find so happy a denouement. Life cannot be put into
+any mold, and the attempt might as well be abandoned at once. Those
+so fortunate as to find harmonious companionship for life should
+congratulate themselves and strive to be worthy of it. Those not
+so blessed, though they be written down as pariahs, have yet some
+justification. And, besides, whether we will or not, theory or no
+theory, the basic facts of chemistry and physics remain. Like is drawn
+to like. Changes in temperament bring changes in relationship. Dogma may
+bind some minds; fear, others. But there are always those in whom the
+chemistry and physics of life are large, and in whom neither dogma nor
+fear is operative. Society lifts its hands in horror; but from age
+to age the Helens, the Messalinas, the Du Barrys, the Pompadours, the
+Maintenons, and the Nell Gwyns flourish and point a freer basis of
+relationship than we have yet been able to square with our lives.
+
+These two felt unutterably bound to each other. Cowperwood, once he came
+to understand her, fancied that he had found the one person with whom he
+could live happily the rest of his life. She was so young, so confident,
+so hopeful, so undismayed. All these months since they had first begun
+to reach out to each other he had been hourly contrasting her with his
+wife. As a matter of fact, his dissatisfaction, though it may be said to
+have been faint up to this time, was now surely tending to become real
+enough. Still, his children were pleasing to him; his home beautiful.
+Lillian, phlegmatic and now thin, was still not homely. All these years
+he had found her satisfactory enough; but now his dissatisfaction with
+her began to increase. She was not like Aileen--not young, not vivid,
+not as unschooled in the commonplaces of life. And while ordinarily, he
+was not one who was inclined to be querulous, still now on occasion,
+he could be. He began by asking questions concerning his wife's
+appearance--irritating little whys which are so trivial and yet so
+exasperating and discouraging to a woman. Why didn't she get a mauve
+hat nearer the shade of her dress? Why didn't she go out more? Exercise
+would do her good. Why didn't she do this, and why didn't she do that?
+He scarcely noticed that he was doing this; but she did, and she felt
+the undertone--the real significance--and took umbrage.
+
+"Oh, why--why?" she retorted, one day, curtly. "Why do you ask so many
+questions? You don't care so much for me any more; that's why. I can
+tell."
+
+He leaned back startled by the thrust. It had not been based on any
+evidence of anything save his recent remarks; but he was not absolutely
+sure. He was just the least bit sorry that he had irritated her, and he
+said so.
+
+"Oh, it's all right," she replied. "I don't care. But I notice that you
+don't pay as much attention to me as you used to. It's your business
+now, first, last, and all the time. You can't get your mind off of
+that."
+
+He breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't suspect, then.
+
+But after a little time, as he grew more and more in sympathy with
+Aileen, he was not so disturbed as to whether his wife might suspect
+or not. He began to think on occasion, as his mind followed the various
+ramifications of the situation, that it would be better if she did. She
+was really not of the contentious fighting sort. He now decided because
+of various calculations in regard to her character that she might not
+offer as much resistance to some ultimate rearrangement, as he had
+originally imagined. She might even divorce him. Desire, dreams, even
+in him were evoking calculations not as sound as those which ordinarily
+generated in his brain.
+
+No, as he now said to himself, the rub was not nearly so much in his own
+home, as it was in the Butler family. His relations with Edward Malia
+Butler had become very intimate. He was now advising with him constantly
+in regard to the handling of his securities, which were numerous.
+Butler held stocks in such things as the Pennsylvania Coal Company,
+the Delaware and Hudson Canal, the Morris and Essex Canal, the Reading
+Railroad. As the old gentleman's mind had broadened to the significance
+of the local street-railway problem in Philadelphia, he had decided to
+close out his other securities at such advantageous terms as he could,
+and reinvest the money in local lines. He knew that Mollenhauer
+and Simpson were doing this, and they were excellent judges of the
+significance of local affairs. Like Cowperwood, he had the idea that if
+he controlled sufficient of the local situation in this field, he
+could at last effect a joint relationship with Mollenhauer and Simpson.
+Political legislation, advantageous to the combined lines, could then
+be so easily secured. Franchises and necessary extensions to existing
+franchises could be added. This conversion of his outstanding stock
+in other fields, and the picking up of odd lots in the local
+street-railway, was the business of Cowperwood. Butler, through his
+sons, Owen and Callum, was also busy planning a new line and obtaining a
+franchise, sacrificing, of course, great blocks of stock and actual cash
+to others, in order to obtain sufficient influence to have the necessary
+legislation passed. Yet it was no easy matter, seeing that others knew
+what the general advantages of the situation were, and because of this
+Cowperwood, who saw the great source of profit here, was able, betimes,
+to serve himself--buying blocks, a part of which only went to Butler,
+Mollenhauer or others. In short he was not as eager to serve Butler, or
+any one else, as he was to serve himself if he could.
+
+In this connection, the scheme which George W. Stener had brought
+forward, representing actually in the background Strobik, Wycroft, and
+Harmon, was an opening wedge for himself. Stener's plan was to loan him
+money out of the city treasury at two per cent., or, if he would waive
+all commissions, for nothing (an agent for self-protective purposes
+was absolutely necessary), and with it take over the North Pennsylvania
+Company's line on Front Street, which, because of the shortness of its
+length, one mile and a half, and the brevity of the duration of its
+franchise, was neither doing very well nor being rated very high.
+Cowperwood in return for his manipulative skill was to have a fair
+proportion of the stock--twenty per cent. Strobik and Wycroft knew the
+parties from whom the bulk of the stock could be secured if engineered
+properly. Their plan was then, with this borrowed treasury money, to
+extend its franchise and then the line itself, and then later again, by
+issuing a great block of stock and hypothecating it with a favored bank,
+be able to return the principal to the city treasury and pocket their
+profits from the line as earned. There was no trouble in this, in so far
+as Cowperwood was concerned, except that it divided the stock very badly
+among these various individuals, and left him but a comparatively small
+share--for his thought and pains.
+
+But Cowperwood was an opportunist. And by this time his financial
+morality had become special and local in its character. He did not think
+it was wise for any one to steal anything from anybody where the act of
+taking or profiting was directly and plainly considered stealing.
+That was unwise--dangerous--hence wrong. There were so many situations
+wherein what one might do in the way of taking or profiting was open
+to discussion and doubt. Morality varied, in his mind at least, with
+conditions, if not climates. Here, in Philadelphia, the tradition
+(politically, mind you--not generally) was that the city treasurer might
+use the money of the city without interest so long as he returned the
+principal intact. The city treasury and the city treasurer were like
+a honey-laden hive and a queen bee around which the drones--the
+politicians--swarmed in the hope of profit. The one disagreeable thing
+in connection with this transaction with Stener was that neither Butler,
+Mollenhauer nor Simpson, who were the actual superiors of Stener and
+Strobik, knew anything about it. Stener and those behind him were,
+through him, acting for themselves. If the larger powers heard of this,
+it might alienate them. He had to think of this. Still, if he refused
+to make advantageous deals with Stener or any other man influential in
+local affairs, he was cutting off his nose to spite his face, for other
+bankers and brokers would, and gladly. And besides it was not at all
+certain that Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson would ever hear.
+
+In this connection, there was another line, which he rode on
+occasionally, the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line, which he felt
+was a much more interesting thing for him to think about, if he could
+raise the money. It had been originally capitalized for five hundred
+thousand dollars; but there had been a series of bonds to the value of
+two hundred and fifty thousand dollars added for improvements, and the
+company was finding great difficulty in meeting the interest. The bulk
+of the stock was scattered about among small investors, and it would
+require all of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to collect it and
+have himself elected president or chairman of the board of directors.
+Once in, however, he could vote this stock as he pleased, hypothecating
+it meanwhile at his father's bank for as much as he could get, and
+issuing more stocks with which to bribe legislators in the matter of
+extending the line, and in taking up other opportunities to either
+add to it by purchase or supplement it by working agreements. The
+word "bribe" is used here in this matter-of-fact American way, because
+bribery was what was in every one's mind in connection with the State
+legislature. Terrence Relihan--the small, dark-faced Irishman, a
+dandy in dress and manners--who represented the financial interests at
+Harrisburg, and who had come to Cowperwood after the five million bond
+deal had been printed, had told him that nothing could be done at the
+capital without money, or its equivalent, negotiable securities. Each
+significant legislator, if he yielded his vote or his influence, must be
+looked after. If he, Cowperwood, had any scheme which he wanted handled
+at any time, Relihan had intimated to him that he would be glad to talk
+with him. Cowperwood had figured on this Seventeenth and Nineteenth
+Street line scheme more than once, but he had never felt quite sure that
+he was willing to undertake it. His obligations in other directions were
+so large. But the lure was there, and he pondered and pondered.
+
+Stener's scheme of loaning him money wherewith to manipulate the North
+Pennsylvania line deal put this Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street dream
+in a more favorable light. As it was he was constantly watching the
+certificates of loan issue, for the city treasury,--buying large
+quantities when the market was falling to protect it and selling
+heavily, though cautiously, when he saw it rising and to do this he
+had to have a great deal of free money to permit him to do it. He was
+constantly fearful of some break in the market which would affect the
+value of all his securities and result in the calling of his loans.
+There was no storm in sight. He did not see that anything could happen
+in reason; but he did not want to spread himself out too thin. As he saw
+it now, therefore if he took one hundred and fifty thousand dollars of
+this city money and went after this Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street
+matter it would not mean that he was spreading himself out too thin, for
+because of this new proposition could he not call on Stener for more as
+a loan in connection with these other ventures? But if anything should
+happen--well--
+
+"Frank," said Stener, strolling into his office one afternoon after four
+o'clock when the main rush of the day's work was over--the relationship
+between Cowperwood and Stener had long since reached the "Frank" and
+"George" period--"Strobik thinks he has that North Pennsylvania
+deal arranged so that we can take it up if we want to. The principal
+stockholder, we find, is a man by the name of Coltan--not Ike Colton,
+but Ferdinand. How's that for a name?" Stener beamed fatly and genially.
+
+Things had changed considerably for him since the days when he had been
+fortuitously and almost indifferently made city treasurer. His method
+of dressing had so much improved since he had been inducted into office,
+and his manner expressed so much more good feeling, confidence, aplomb,
+that he would not have recognized himself if he had been permitted
+to see himself as had those who had known him before. An old, nervous
+shifting of the eyes had almost ceased, and a feeling of restfulness,
+which had previously been restlessness, and had sprung from a sense of
+necessity, had taken its place. His large feet were incased in good,
+square-toed, soft-leather shoes; his stocky chest and fat legs were made
+somewhat agreeable to the eye by a well-cut suit of brownish-gray cloth;
+and his neck was now surrounded by a low, wing-point white collar and
+brown-silk tie. His ample chest, which spread out a little lower in
+around and constantly enlarging stomach, was ornamented by a heavy-link
+gold chain, and his white cuffs had large gold cuff-buttons set with
+rubies of a very notable size. He was rosy and decidedly well fed. In
+fact, he was doing very well indeed.
+
+He had moved his family from a shabby two-story frame house in South
+Ninth Street to a very comfortable brick one three stories in height,
+and three times as large, on Spring Garden Street. His wife had a
+few acquaintances--the wives of other politicians. His children were
+attending the high school, a thing he had hardly hoped for in earlier
+days. He was now the owner of fourteen or fifteen pieces of cheap real
+estate in different portions of the city, which might eventually become
+very valuable, and he was a silent partner in the South Philadelphia
+Foundry Company and the American Beef and Pork Company, two corporations
+on paper whose principal business was subletting contracts secured
+from the city to the humble butchers and foundrymen who would carry out
+orders as given and not talk too much or ask questions.
+
+"Well, that is an odd name," said Cowperwood, blandly. "So he has it? I
+never thought that road would pay, as it was laid out. It's too short.
+It ought to run about three miles farther out into the Kensington
+section."
+
+"You're right," said Stener, dully.
+
+"Did Strobik say what Colton wants for his shares?"
+
+"Sixty-eight, I think."
+
+"The current market rate. He doesn't want much, does he? Well, George,
+at that rate it will take about"--he calculated quickly on the basis
+of the number of shares Cotton was holding--"one hundred and twenty
+thousand to get him out alone. That isn't all. There's Judge Kitchen
+and Joseph Zimmerman and Senator Donovan"--he was referring to the State
+senator of that name. "You'll be paying a pretty fair price for that
+stud when you get it. It will cost considerable more to extend the line.
+It's too much, I think."
+
+Cowperwood was thinking how easy it would be to combine this line with
+his dreamed-of Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line, and after a time
+and with this in view he added:
+
+"Say, George, why do you work all your schemes through Strobik and
+Harmon and Wycroft? Couldn't you and I manage some of these things for
+ourselves alone instead of for three or four? It seems to me that plan
+would be much more profitable to you."
+
+"It would, it would!" exclaimed Stener, his round eyes fixed on
+Cowperwood in a rather helpless, appealing way. He liked Cowperwood and
+had always been hoping that mentally as well as financially he could
+get close to him. "I've thought of that. But these fellows have had more
+experience in these matters than I have had, Frank. They've been longer
+at the game. I don't know as much about these things as they do."
+
+Cowperwood smiled in his soul, though his face remained passive.
+
+"Don't worry about them, George," he continued genially and
+confidentially. "You and I together can know and do as much as they ever
+could and more. I'm telling you. Take this railroad deal you're in on
+now, George; you and I could manipulate that just as well and better
+than it can be done with Wycroft, Strobik, and Harmon in on it. They're
+not adding anything to the wisdom of the situation. They're not putting
+up any money. You're doing that. All they're doing is agreeing to see it
+through the legislature and the council, and as far as the legislature
+is concerned, they can't do any more with that than any one else
+could--than I could, for instance. It's all a question of arranging
+things with Relihan, anyhow, putting up a certain amount of money for
+him to work with. Here in town there are other people who can reach the
+council just as well as Strobik." He was thinking (once he controlled
+a road of his own) of conferring with Butler and getting him to use his
+influence. It would serve to quiet Strobik and his friends. "I'm not
+asking you to change your plans on this North Pennsylvania deal. You
+couldn't do that very well. But there are other things. In the future
+why not let's see if you and I can't work some one thing together?
+You'll be much better off, and so will I. We've done pretty well on the
+city-loan proposition so far, haven't we?"
+
+The truth was, they had done exceedingly well. Aside from what the
+higher powers had made, Stener's new house, his lots, his bank-account,
+his good clothes, and his changed and comfortable sense of life were
+largely due to Cowperwood's successful manipulation of these city-loan
+certificates. Already there had been four issues of two hundred thousand
+dollars each. Cowperwood had bought and sold nearly three million
+dollars' worth of these certificates, acting one time as a "bull" and
+another as a "bear." Stener was now worth all of one hundred and fifty
+thousand dollars.
+
+"There's a line that I know of here in the city which could be made into
+a splendidly paying property," continued Cowperwood, meditatively,
+"if the right things could be done with it. Just like this North
+Pennsylvania line, it isn't long enough. The territory it serves isn't
+big enough. It ought to be extended; but if you and I could get it, it
+might eventually be worked with this North Pennsylvania Company or some
+other as one company. That would save officers and offices and a lot
+of things. There is always money to be made out of a larger purchasing
+power."
+
+He paused and looked out the window of his handsome little hardwood
+office, speculating upon the future. The window gave nowhere save into
+a back yard behind another office building which had formerly been a
+residence. Some grass grew feebly there. The red wall and old-fashioned
+brick fence which divided it from the next lot reminded him somehow of
+his old home in New Market Street, to which his Uncle Seneca used to
+come as a Cuban trader followed by his black Portuguese servitor. He
+could see him now as he sat here looking at the yard.
+
+"Well," asked Stener, ambitiously, taking the bait, "why don't we get
+hold of that--you and me? I suppose I could fix it so far as the money
+is concerned. How much would it take?"
+
+Cowperwood smiled inwardly again.
+
+"I don't know exactly," he said, after a time. "I want to look into it
+more carefully. The one trouble is that I'm carrying a good deal of the
+city's money as it is. You see, I have that two hundred thousand dollars
+against your city-loan deals. And this new scheme will take two or three
+hundred thousand more. If that were out of the way--"
+
+He was thinking of one of the inexplicable stock panics--those strange
+American depressions which had so much to do with the temperament of the
+people, and so little to do with the basic conditions of the country.
+"If this North Pennsylvania deal were through and done with--"
+
+He rubbed his chin and pulled at his handsome silky mustache.
+
+"Don't ask me any more about it, George," he said, finally, as he saw
+that the latter was beginning to think as to which line it might be.
+"Don't say anything at all about it. I want to get my facts exactly
+right, and then I'll talk to you. I think you and I can do this thing a
+little later, when we get the North Pennsylvania scheme under way. I'm
+so rushed just now I'm not sure that I want to undertake it at once; but
+you keep quiet and we'll see." He turned toward his desk, and Stener got
+up.
+
+"I'll make any sized deposit with you that you wish, the moment you
+think you're ready to act, Frank," exclaimed Stener, and with the
+thought that Cowperwood was not nearly as anxious to do this as he
+should be, since he could always rely on him (Stener) when there was
+anything really profitable in the offing. Why should not the able and
+wonderful Cowperwood be allowed to make the two of them rich? "Just
+notify Stires, and he'll send you a check. Strobik thought we ought to
+act pretty soon."
+
+"I'll tend to it, George," replied Cowperwood, confidently. "It will
+come out all right. Leave it to me."
+
+Stener kicked his stout legs to straighten his trousers, and extended
+his hand. He strolled out in the street thinking of this new scheme.
+Certainly, if he could get in with Cowperwood right he would be a rich
+man, for Cowperwood was so successful and so cautious. His new house,
+this beautiful banking office, his growing fame, and his subtle
+connections with Butler and others put Stener in considerable awe of
+him. Another line! They would control it and the North Pennsylvania!
+Why, if this went on, he might become a magnate--he really might--he,
+George W. Stener, once a cheap real-estate and insurance agent. He
+strolled up the street thinking, but with no more idea of the importance
+of his civic duties and the nature of the social ethics against which he
+was offending than if they had never existed.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXII
+
+
+The services which Cowperwood performed during the ensuing year and a
+half for Stener, Strobik, Butler, State Treasurer Van Nostrand, State
+Senator Relihan, representative of "the interests," so-called, at
+Harrisburg, and various banks which were friendly to these gentlemen,
+were numerous and confidential. For Stener, Strobik, Wycroft, Harmon and
+himself he executed the North Pennsylvania deal, by which he became
+a holder of a fifth of the controlling stock. Together he and Stener
+joined to purchase the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line and in the
+concurrent gambling in stocks.
+
+By the summer of 1871, when Cowperwood was nearly thirty-four years of
+age, he had a banking business estimated at nearly two million dollars,
+personal holdings aggregating nearly half a million, and prospects which
+other things being equal looked to wealth which might rival that of
+any American. The city, through its treasurer--still Mr. Stener--was
+a depositor with him to the extent of nearly five hundred thousand
+dollars. The State, through its State treasurer, Van Nostrand, carried
+two hundred thousand dollars on his books. Bode was speculating in
+street-railway stocks to the extent of fifty thousand dollars. Relihan
+to the same amount. A small army of politicians and political hangers-on
+were on his books for various sums. And for Edward Malia Butler he
+occasionally carried as high as one hundred thousand dollars in margins.
+His own loans at the banks, varying from day to day on variously
+hypothecated securities, were as high as seven and eight hundred
+thousand dollars. Like a spider in a spangled net, every thread of which
+he knew, had laid, had tested, he had surrounded and entangled himself
+in a splendid, glittering network of connections, and he was watching
+all the details.
+
+His one pet idea, the thing he put more faith in than anything else, was
+his street-railway manipulations, and particularly his actual control of
+the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line. Through an advance to him,
+on deposit, made in his bank by Stener at a time when the stock of the
+Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line was at a low ebb, he had managed
+to pick up fifty-one per cent. of the stock for himself and Stener,
+by virtue of which he was able to do as he pleased with the road.
+To accomplish this, however, he had resorted to some very "peculiar"
+methods, as they afterward came to be termed in financial circles, to
+get this stock at his own valuation. Through agents he caused suits for
+damages to be brought against the company for non-payment of interest
+due. A little stock in the hands of a hireling, a request made to
+a court of record to examine the books of the company in order to
+determine whether a receivership were not advisable, a simultaneous
+attack in the stock market, selling at three, five, seven, and ten
+points off, brought the frightened stockholders into the market with
+their holdings. The banks considered the line a poor risk, and called
+their loans in connection with it. His father's bank had made one loan
+to one of the principal stockholders, and that was promptly called, of
+course. Then, through an agent, the several heaviest shareholders were
+approached and an offer was made to help them out. The stocks would
+be taken off their hands at forty. They had not really been able to
+discover the source of all their woes; and they imagined that the road
+was in bad condition, which it was not. Better let it go. The money was
+immediately forthcoming, and Cowperwood and Stener jointly controlled
+fifty-one per cent. But, as in the case of the North Pennsylvania line,
+Cowperwood had been quietly buying all of the small minority holdings,
+so that he had in reality fifty-one per cent. of the stock, and Stener
+twenty-five per cent. more.
+
+This intoxicated him, for immediately he saw the opportunity of
+fulfilling his long-contemplated dream--that of reorganizing the company
+in conjunction with the North Pennsylvania line, issuing three shares
+where one had been before and after unloading all but a control on the
+general public, using the money secured to buy into other lines which
+were to be boomed and sold in the same way. In short, he was one of
+those early, daring manipulators who later were to seize upon other
+and ever larger phases of American natural development for their own
+aggrandizement.
+
+In connection with this first consolidation, his plan was to spread
+rumors of the coming consolidation of the two lines, to appeal to
+the legislature for privileges of extension, to get up an arresting
+prospectus and later annual reports, and to boom the stock on the stock
+exchange as much as his swelling resources would permit. The trouble is
+that when you are trying to make a market for a stock--to unload a large
+issue such as his was (over five hundred thousand dollars' worth)--while
+retaining five hundred thousand for yourself, it requires large capital
+to handle it. The owner in these cases is compelled not only to go on
+the market and do much fictitious buying, thus creating a fictitious
+demand, but once this fictitious demand has deceived the public and he
+has been able to unload a considerable quantity of his wares, he is,
+unless he rids himself of all his stock, compelled to stand behind it.
+If, for instance, he sold five thousand shares, as was done in this
+instance, and retained five thousand, he must see that the public price
+of the outstanding five thousand shares did not fall below a certain
+point, because the value of his private shares would fall with it.
+And if, as is almost always the case, the private shares had been
+hypothecated with banks and trust companies for money wherewith to
+conduct other enterprises, the falling of their value in the open market
+merely meant that the banks would call for large margins to protect
+their loans or call their loans entirely. This meant that his work was
+a failure, and he might readily fail. He was already conducting one such
+difficult campaign in connection with this city-loan deal, the price of
+which varied from day to day, and which he was only too anxious to have
+vary, for in the main he profited by these changes.
+
+But this second burden, interesting enough as it was, meant that he
+had to be doubly watchful. Once the stock was sold at a high price,
+the money borrowed from the city treasurer could be returned; his
+own holdings created out of foresight, by capitalizing the future, by
+writing the shrewd prospectuses and reports, would be worth their face
+value, or little less. He would have money to invest in other lines.
+He might obtain the financial direction of the whole, in which case he
+would be worth millions. One shrewd thing he did, which indicated the
+foresight and subtlety of the man, was to make a separate organization
+or company of any extension or addition which he made to his line. Thus,
+if he had two or three miles of track on a street, and he wanted to
+extend it two or three miles farther on the same street, instead of
+including this extension in the existing corporation, he would make a
+second corporation to control the additional two or three miles of
+right of way. This corporation he would capitalize at so much, and issue
+stocks and bonds for its construction, equipment, and manipulation.
+Having done this he would then take the sub-corporation over into the
+parent concern, issuing more stocks and bonds of the parent company
+wherewith to do it, and, of course, selling these bonds to the
+public. Even his brothers who worked for him did not know the various
+ramifications of his numerous deals, and executed his orders blindly.
+Sometimes Joseph said to Edward, in a puzzled way, "Well, Frank knows
+what he is about, I guess."
+
+On the other hand, he was most careful to see that every current
+obligation was instantly met, and even anticipated, for he wanted to
+make a great show of regularity. Nothing was so precious as reputation
+and standing. His forethought, caution, and promptness pleased the
+bankers. They thought he was one of the sanest, shrewdest men they had
+ever met.
+
+However, by the spring and summer of 1871, Cowperwood had actually,
+without being in any conceivable danger from any source, spread
+himself out very thin. Because of his great success he had grown more
+liberal--easier--in his financial ventures. By degrees, and largely
+because of his own confidence in himself, he had induced his father
+to enter upon his street-car speculations, to use the resources of the
+Third National to carry a part of his loans and to furnish capital at
+such times as quick resources were necessary. In the beginning the old
+gentleman had been a little nervous and skeptical, but as time had worn
+on and nothing but profit eventuated, he grew bolder and more confident.
+
+"Frank," he would say, looking up over his spectacles, "aren't you
+afraid you're going a little too fast in these matters? You're carrying
+a lot of loans these days."
+
+"No more than I ever did, father, considering my resources. You can't
+turn large deals without large loans. You know that as well as I do."
+
+"Yes, I know, but--now that Green and Coates--aren't you going pretty
+strong there?"
+
+"Not at all. I know the inside conditions there. The stock is bound to
+go up eventually. I'll bull it up. I'll combine it with my other lines,
+if necessary."
+
+Cowperwood stared at his boy. Never was there such a defiant, daring
+manipulator.
+
+"You needn't worry about me, father. If you are going to do that, call
+my loans. Other banks will loan on my stocks. I'd like to see your bank
+have the interest."
+
+So Cowperwood, Sr., was convinced. There was no gainsaying this
+argument. His bank was loaning Frank heavily, but not more so than any
+other. And as for the great blocks of stocks he was carrying in his
+son's companies, he was to be told when to get out should that prove
+necessary. Frank's brothers were being aided in the same way to
+make money on the side, and their interests were also now bound up
+indissolubly with his own.
+
+With his growing financial opportunities, however, Cowperwood had also
+grown very liberal in what might be termed his standard of living.
+Certain young art dealers in Philadelphia, learning of his artistic
+inclinations and his growing wealth, had followed him up with
+suggestions as to furniture, tapestries, rugs, objects of art,
+and paintings--at first the American and later the foreign masters
+exclusively. His own and his father's house had not been furnished fully
+in these matters, and there was that other house in North Tenth Street,
+which he desired to make beautiful. Aileen had always objected to the
+condition of her own home. Love of distinguished surroundings was a
+basic longing with her, though she had not the gift of interpreting
+her longings. But this place where they were secretly meeting must be
+beautiful. She was as keen for that as he was. So it became a veritable
+treasure-trove, more distinguished in furnishings than some of the rooms
+of his own home. He began to gather here some rare examples of altar
+cloths, rugs, and tapestries of the Middle Ages. He bought furniture
+after the Georgian theory--a combination of Chippendale, Sheraton, and
+Heppelwhite modified by the Italian Renaissance and the French Louis. He
+learned of handsome examples of porcelain, statuary, Greek vase forms,
+lovely collections of Japanese ivories and netsukes. Fletcher Gray,
+a partner in Cable & Gray, a local firm of importers of art objects,
+called on him in connection with a tapestry of the fourteenth century
+weaving. Gray was an enthusiast and almost instantly he conveyed some of
+his suppressed and yet fiery love of the beautiful to Cowperwood.
+
+"There are fifty periods of one shade of blue porcelain alone, Mr.
+Cowperwood," Gray informed him. "There are at least seven distinct
+schools or periods of rugs--Persian, Armenian, Arabian, Flemish, Modern
+Polish, Hungarian, and so on. If you ever went into that, it
+would be a distinguished thing to get a complete--I mean a
+representative--collection of some one period, or of all these periods.
+They are beautiful. I have seen some of them, others I've read about."
+
+"You'll make a convert of me yet, Fletcher," replied Cowperwood. "You or
+art will be the ruin of me. I'm inclined that way temperamentally as it
+is, I think, and between you and Ellsworth and Gordon Strake"--another
+young man intensely interested in painting--"you'll complete my
+downfall. Strake has a splendid idea. He wants me to begin right
+now--I'm using that word 'right' in the sense of 'properly,'" he
+commented--"and get what examples I can of just the few rare things in
+each school or period of art which would properly illustrate each. He
+tells me the great pictures are going to increase in value, and what I
+could get for a few hundred thousand now will be worth millions later.
+He doesn't want me to bother with American art."
+
+"He's right," exclaimed Gray, "although it isn't good business for me to
+praise another art man. It would take a great deal of money, though."
+
+"Not so very much. At least, not all at once. It would be a matter
+of years, of course. Strake thinks that some excellent examples of
+different periods could be picked up now and later replaced if anything
+better in the same held showed up."
+
+His mind, in spite of his outward placidity, was tinged with a great
+seeking. Wealth, in the beginning, had seemed the only goal, to which
+had been added the beauty of women. And now art, for art's sake--the
+first faint radiance of a rosy dawn--had begun to shine in upon him, and
+to the beauty of womanhood he was beginning to see how necessary it was
+to add the beauty of life--the beauty of material background--how, in
+fact, the only background for great beauty was great art. This girl,
+this Aileen Butler, her raw youth and radiance, was nevertheless
+creating in him a sense of the distinguished and a need for it which
+had never existed in him before to the same degree. It is impossible to
+define these subtleties of reaction, temperament on temperament, for no
+one knows to what degree we are marked by the things which attract us. A
+love affair such as this had proved to be was little less or more than a
+drop of coloring added to a glass of clear water, or a foreign chemical
+agent introduced into a delicate chemical formula.
+
+In short, for all her crudeness, Aileen Butler was a definite force
+personally. Her nature, in a way, a protest against the clumsy
+conditions by which she found herself surrounded, was almost
+irrationally ambitious. To think that for so long, having been born into
+the Butler family, she had been the subject, as well as the victim of
+such commonplace and inartistic illusions and conditions, whereas now,
+owing to her contact with, and mental subordination to Cowperwood, she
+was learning so many wonderful phases of social, as well as financial,
+refinement of which previously she had guessed nothing. The wonder, for
+instance, of a future social career as the wife of such a man as Frank
+Cowperwood. The beauty and resourcefulness of his mind, which, after
+hours of intimate contact with her, he was pleased to reveal, and which,
+so definite were his comments and instructions, she could not fail
+to sense. The wonder of his financial and artistic and future social
+dreams. And, oh, oh, she was his, and he was hers. She was actually
+beside herself at times with the glory, as well as the delight of all
+this.
+
+At the same time, her father's local reputation as a quondam garbage
+contractor ("slop-collector" was the unfeeling comment of the vulgarian
+cognoscenti); her own unavailing efforts to right a condition of
+material vulgarity or artistic anarchy in her own home; the hopelessness
+of ever being admitted to those distinguished portals which she
+recognized afar off as the last sanctum sanctorum of established
+respectability and social distinction, had bred in her, even at this
+early age, a feeling of deadly opposition to her home conditions as they
+stood. Such a house compared to Cowperwood's! Her dear, but ignorant,
+father! And this great man, her lover, had now condescended to love
+her--see in her his future wife. Oh, God, that it might not fail!
+Through the Cowperwoods at first she had hoped to meet a few people,
+young men and women--and particularly men--who were above the station in
+which she found herself, and to whom her beauty and prospective fortune
+would commend her; but this had not been the case. The Cowperwoods
+themselves, in spite of Frank Cowperwood's artistic proclivities and
+growing wealth, had not penetrated the inner circle as yet. In fact,
+aside from the subtle, preliminary consideration which they were
+receiving, they were a long way off.
+
+None the less, and instinctively in Cowperwood Aileen recognized a way
+out--a door--and by the same token a subtle, impending artistic future
+of great magnificence. This man would rise beyond anything he
+now dreamed of--she felt it. There was in him, in some nebulous,
+unrecognizable form, a great artistic reality which was finer than
+anything she could plan for herself. She wanted luxury, magnificence,
+social station. Well, if she could get this man they would come to her.
+There were, apparently, insuperable barriers in the way; but hers was no
+weakling nature, and neither was his. They ran together temperamentally
+from the first like two leopards. Her own thoughts--crude, half
+formulated, half spoken--nevertheless matched his to a degree in the
+equality of their force and their raw directness.
+
+"I don't think papa knows how to do," she said to him, one day. "It
+isn't his fault. He can't help it. He knows that he can't. And he knows
+that I know it. For years I wanted him to move out of that old house
+there. He knows that he ought to. But even that wouldn't do much good."
+
+She paused, looking at him with a straight, clear, vigorous glance.
+He liked the medallion sharpness of her features--their smooth, Greek
+modeling.
+
+"Never mind, pet," he replied. "We will arrange all these things later.
+I don't see my way out of this just now; but I think the best thing to
+do is to confess to Lillian some day, and see if some other plan can't
+be arranged. I want to fix it so the children won't suffer. I can
+provide for them amply, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Lillian
+would be willing to let me go. She certainly wouldn't want any
+publicity."
+
+He was counting practically, and man-fashion, on her love for her
+children.
+
+Aileen looked at him with clear, questioning, uncertain eyes. She was
+not wholly without sympathy, but in a way this situation did not appeal
+to her as needing much. Mrs. Cowperwood was not friendly in her mood
+toward her. It was not based on anything save a difference in their
+point of view. Mrs. Cowperwood could never understand how a girl could
+carry her head so high and "put on such airs," and Aileen could not
+understand how any one could be so lymphatic and lackadaisical as
+Lillian Cowperwood. Life was made for riding, driving, dancing, going.
+It was made for airs and banter and persiflage and coquetry. To see this
+woman, the wife of a young, forceful man like Cowperwood, acting, even
+though she were five years older and the mother of two children, as
+though life on its romantic and enthusiastic pleasurable side were all
+over was too much for her. Of course Lillian was unsuited to Frank; of
+course he needed a young woman like herself, and fate would surely give
+him to her. Then what a delicious life they would lead!
+
+"Oh, Frank," she exclaimed to him, over and over, "if we could only
+manage it. Do you think we can?"
+
+"Do I think we can? Certainly I do. It's only a matter of time. I think
+if I were to put the matter to her clearly, she wouldn't expect me to
+stay. You look out how you conduct your affairs. If your father or your
+brother should ever suspect me, there'd be an explosion in this town,
+if nothing worse. They'd fight me in all my money deals, if they didn't
+kill me. Are you thinking carefully of what you are doing?"
+
+"All the time. If anything happens I'll deny everything. They can't
+prove it, if I deny it. I'll come to you in the long run, just the
+same."
+
+They were in the Tenth Street house at the time. She stroked his cheeks
+with the loving fingers of the wildly enamored woman.
+
+"I'll do anything for you, sweetheart," she declared. "I'd die for you
+if I had to. I love you so."
+
+"Well, pet, no danger. You won't have to do anything like that. But be
+careful."
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIII
+
+
+Then, after several years of this secret relationship, in which the ties
+of sympathy and understanding grew stronger instead of weaker, came
+the storm. It burst unexpectedly and out of a clear sky, and bore no
+relation to the intention or volition of any individual. It was nothing
+more than a fire, a distant one--the great Chicago fire, October 7th,
+1871, which burned that city--its vast commercial section--to the
+ground, and instantly and incidentally produced a financial panic,
+vicious though of short duration in various other cities in America.
+The fire began on Saturday and continued apparently unabated until the
+following Wednesday. It destroyed the banks, the commercial houses, the
+shipping conveniences, and vast stretches of property. The heaviest loss
+fell naturally upon the insurance companies, which instantly, in many
+cases--the majority--closed their doors. This threw the loss back on the
+manufacturers and wholesalers in other cities who had had dealings with
+Chicago as well as the merchants of that city. Again, very grievous
+losses were borne by the host of eastern capitalists which had for years
+past partly owned, or held heavy mortgages on, the magnificent buildings
+for business purposes and residences in which Chicago was already
+rivaling every city on the continent. Transportation was disturbed, and
+the keen scent of Wall Street, and Third Street in Philadelphia, and
+State Street in Boston, instantly perceived in the early reports the
+gravity of the situation. Nothing could be done on Saturday or Sunday
+after the exchange closed, for the opening reports came too late. On
+Monday, however, the facts were pouring in thick and fast; and the
+owners of railroad securities, government securities, street-car
+securities, and, indeed, all other forms of stocks and bonds, began to
+throw them on the market in order to raise cash. The banks naturally
+were calling their loans, and the result was a stock stampede which
+equaled the Black Friday of Wall Street of two years before.
+
+Cowperwood and his father were out of town at the time the fire began.
+They had gone with several friends--bankers--to look at a proposed route
+of extension of a local steam-railroad, on which a loan was desired.
+In buggies they had driven over a good portion of the route, and were
+returning to Philadelphia late Sunday evening when the cries of newsboys
+hawking an "extra" reached their ears.
+
+"Ho! Extra! Extra! All about the big Chicago fire!"
+
+"Ho! Extra! Extra! Chicago burning down! Extra! Extra!"
+
+The cries were long-drawn-out, ominous, pathetic. In the dusk of the
+dreary Sunday afternoon, when the city had apparently retired to Sabbath
+meditation and prayer, with that tinge of the dying year in the foliage
+and in the air, one caught a sense of something grim and gloomy.
+
+"Hey, boy," called Cowperwood, listening, seeing a shabbily clothed
+misfit of a boy with a bundle of papers under his arm turning a corner.
+"What's that? Chicago burning!"
+
+He looked at his father and the other men in a significant way as he
+reached for the paper, and then, glancing at the headlines, realized the
+worst.
+
+ALL CHICAGO BURNING
+
+FIRE RAGES UNCHECKED IN COMMERCIAL SECTION SINCE YESTERDAY EVENING.
+BANKS, COMMERCIAL HOUSES, PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN RUINS. DIRECT TELEGRAPHIC
+COMMUNICATION SUSPENDED SINCE THREE O'CLOCK TO-DAY. NO END TO PROGRESS
+OF DISASTER IN SIGHT.
+
+"That looks rather serious," he said, calmly, to his companions, a cold,
+commanding force coming into his eyes and voice. To his father he said
+a little later, "It's panic, unless the majority of the banks and
+brokerage firms stand together."
+
+He was thinking quickly, brilliantly, resourcefully of his own
+outstanding obligations. His father's bank was carrying one hundred
+thousand dollars' worth of his street-railway securities at sixty, and
+fifty thousand dollars' worth of city loan at seventy. His father
+had "up with him" over forty thousand dollars in cash covering market
+manipulations in these stocks. The banking house of Drexel & Co. was on
+his books as a creditor for one hundred thousand, and that loan would be
+called unless they were especially merciful, which was not likely.
+Jay Cooke & Co. were his creditors for another one hundred and fifty
+thousand. They would want their money. At four smaller banks and three
+brokerage companies he was debtor for sums ranging from fifty thousand
+dollars down. The city treasurer was involved with him to the extent of
+nearly five hundred thousand dollars, and exposure of that would create
+a scandal; the State treasurer for two hundred thousand. There were
+small accounts, hundreds of them, ranging from one hundred dollars up
+to five and ten thousand. A panic would mean not only a withdrawal of
+deposits and a calling of loans, but a heavy depression of securities.
+How could he realize on his securities?--that was the question--how
+without selling so many points off that his fortune would be swept away
+and he would be ruined?
+
+He figured briskly the while he waved adieu to his friends, who hurried
+away, struck with their own predicament.
+
+"You had better go on out to the house, father, and I'll send some
+telegrams." (The telephone had not yet been invented.) "I'll be right
+out and we'll go into this thing together. It looks like black weather
+to me. Don't say anything to any one until after we have had our talk;
+then we can decide what to do."
+
+Cowperwood, Sr., was already plucking at his side-whiskers in a confused
+and troubled way. He was cogitating as to what might happen to him
+in case his son failed, for he was deeply involved with him. He was
+a little gray in his complexion now, frightened, for he had already
+strained many points in his affairs to accommodate his son. If Frank
+should not be able promptly on the morrow to meet the call which the
+bank might have to make for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the
+onus and scandal of the situation would be on him.
+
+On the other hand, his son was meditating on the tangled relation in
+which he now found himself in connection with the city treasurer and the
+fact that it was not possible for him to support the market alone. Those
+who should have been in a position to help him were now as bad off as
+himself. There were many unfavorable points in the whole situation.
+Drexel & Co. had been booming railway stocks--loaning heavily on them.
+Jay Cooke & Co. had been backing Northern Pacific--were practically
+doing their best to build that immense transcontinental system alone.
+Naturally, they were long on that and hence in a ticklish position. At
+the first word they would throw over their surest securities--government
+bonds, and the like--in order to protect their more speculative
+holdings. The bears would see the point. They would hammer and hammer,
+selling short all along the line. But he did not dare to do that. He
+would be breaking his own back quickly, and what he needed was time. If
+he could only get time--three days, a week, ten days--this storm would
+surely blow over.
+
+The thing that was troubling him most was the matter of the half-million
+invested with him by Stener. A fall election was drawing near. Stener,
+although he had served two terms, was slated for reelection. A scandal
+in connection with the city treasury would be a very bad thing. It would
+end Stener's career as an official--would very likely send him to the
+penitentiary. It might wreck the Republican party's chances to win. It
+would certainly involve himself as having much to do with it. If that
+happened, he would have the politicians to reckon with. For, if he were
+hard pressed, as he would be, and failed, the fact that he had been
+trying to invade the city street-railway preserves which they held
+sacred to themselves, with borrowed city money, and that this borrowing
+was liable to cost them the city election, would all come out. They
+would not view all that with a kindly eye. It would be useless to say,
+as he could, that he had borrowed the money at two per cent. (most of
+it, to save himself, had been covered by a protective clause of that
+kind), or that he had merely acted as an agent for Stener. That might go
+down with the unsophisticated of the outer world, but it would never be
+swallowed by the politicians. They knew better than that.
+
+There was another phase to this situation, however, that encouraged him,
+and that was his knowledge of how city politics were going in general.
+It was useless for any politician, however loftly, to take a high and
+mighty tone in a crisis like this. All of them, great and small, were
+profiting in one way and another through city privileges. Butler,
+Mollenhauer, and Simpson, he knew, made money out of contracts--legal
+enough, though they might be looked upon as rank favoritism--and also
+out of vast sums of money collected in the shape of taxes--land taxes,
+water taxes, etc.--which were deposited in the various banks designated
+by these men and others as legal depositories for city money. The banks
+supposedly carried the city's money in their vaults as a favor,
+without paying interest of any kind, and then reinvested it--for whom?
+Cowperwood had no complaint to make, for he was being well treated, but
+these men could scarcely expect to monopolize all the city's benefits.
+He did not know either Mollenhauer or Simpson personally--but he knew
+they as well as Butler had made money out of his own manipulation
+of city loan. Also, Butler was most friendly to him. It was not
+unreasonable for him to think, in a crisis like this, that if worst came
+to worst, he could make a clean breast of it to Butler and receive aid.
+In case he could not get through secretly with Stener's help, Cowperwood
+made up his mind that he would do this.
+
+His first move, he decided, would be to go at once to Stener's house and
+demand the loan of an additional three or four hundred thousand dollars.
+Stener had always been very tractable, and in this instance would see
+how important it was that his shortage of half a million should not be
+made public. Then he must get as much more as possible. But where to get
+it? Presidents of banks and trust companies, large stock jobbers, and
+the like, would have to be seen. Then there was a loan of one hundred
+thousand dollars he was carrying for Butler. The old contractor might be
+induced to leave that. He hurried to his home, secured his runabout, and
+drove rapidly to Stener's.
+
+As it turned out, however, much to his distress and confusion, Stener
+was out of town--down on the Chesapeake with several friends shooting
+ducks and fishing, and was not expected back for several days. He was in
+the marshes back of some small town. Cowperwood sent an urgent wire to
+the nearest point and then, to make assurance doubly sure, to several
+other points in the same neighborhood, asking him to return immediately.
+He was not at all sure, however, that Stener would return in time and
+was greatly nonplussed and uncertain for the moment as to what his next
+step would be. Aid must be forthcoming from somewhere and at once.
+
+Suddenly a helpful thought occurred to him. Butler and Mollenhauer and
+Simpson were long on local street-railways. They must combine to support
+the situation and protect their interests. They could see the big
+bankers, Drexel & Co. and Cooke & Co., and others and urge them to
+sustain the market. They could strengthen things generally by organizing
+a buying ring, and under cover of their support, if they would, he might
+sell enough to let him out, and even permit him to go short and make
+something--a whole lot. It was a brilliant thought, worthy of a greater
+situation, and its only weakness was that it was not absolutely certain
+of fulfillment.
+
+He decided to go to Butler at once, the only disturbing thought being
+that he would now be compelled to reveal his own and Stener's affairs.
+So reentering his runabout he drove swiftly to the Butler home.
+
+When he arrived there the famous contractor was at dinner. He had not
+heard the calling of the extras, and of course, did not understand
+as yet the significance of the fire. The servant's announcement of
+Cowperwood brought him smiling to the door.
+
+"Won't you come in and join us? We're just havin' a light supper. Have a
+cup of coffee or tea, now--do."
+
+"I can't," replied Cowperwood. "Not to-night, I'm in too much of a
+hurry. I want to see you for just a few moments, and then I'll be off
+again. I won't keep you very long."
+
+"Why, if that's the case, I'll come right out." And Butler returned to
+the dining-room to put down his napkin. Aileen, who was also dining,
+had heard Cowperwood's voice, and was on the qui vive to see him. She
+wondered what it was that brought him at this time of night to see her
+father. She could not leave the table at once, but hoped to before he
+went. Cowperwood was thinking of her, even in the face of this impending
+storm, as he was of his wife, and many other things. If his affairs
+came down in a heap it would go hard with those attached to him. In
+this first clouding of disaster, he could not tell how things
+would eventuate. He meditated on this desperately, but he was not
+panic-stricken. His naturally even-molded face was set in fine, classic
+lines; his eyes were as hard as chilled steel.
+
+"Well, now," exclaimed Butler, returning, his countenance manifesting
+a decidedly comfortable relationship with the world as at present
+constituted. "What's up with you to-night? Nawthin' wrong, I hope. It's
+been too fine a day."
+
+"Nothing very serious, I hope myself," replied Cowperwood, "But I want
+to talk with you a few minutes, anyhow. Don't you think we had better go
+up to your room?"
+
+"I was just going to say that," replied Butler--"the cigars are up
+there."
+
+They started from the reception-room to the stairs, Butler preceding
+and as the contractor mounted, Aileen came out from the dining-room in
+a frou-frou of silk. Her splendid hair was drawn up from the base of the
+neck and the line of the forehead into some quaint convolutions which
+constituted a reddish-gold crown. Her complexion was glowing, and her
+bare arms and shoulders shone white against the dark red of her evening
+gown. She realized there was something wrong.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Cowperwood, how do you do?" she exclaimed, coming forward and
+holding out her hand as her father went on upstairs. She was delaying
+him deliberately in order to have a word with him and this bold acting
+was for the benefit of the others.
+
+"What's the trouble, honey?" she whispered, as soon as her father was
+out of hearing. "You look worried."
+
+"Nothing much, I hope, sweet," he said. "Chicago is burning up and
+there's going to be trouble to-morrow. I have to talk to your father."
+
+She had time only for a sympathetic, distressed "Oh," before he withdrew
+his hand and followed Butler upstairs. She squeezed his arm, and went
+through the reception-room to the parlor. She sat down, thinking, for
+never before had she seen Cowperwood's face wearing such an expression
+of stern, disturbed calculation. It was placid, like fine, white wax,
+and quite as cold; and those deep, vague, inscrutable eyes! So Chicago
+was burning. What would happen to him? Was he very much involved? He had
+never told her in detail of his affairs. She would not have understood
+fully any more than would have Mrs. Cowperwood. But she was worried,
+nevertheless, because it was her Frank, and because she was bound to him
+by what to her seemed indissoluble ties.
+
+Literature, outside of the masters, has given us but one idea of the
+mistress, the subtle, calculating siren who delights to prey on the
+souls of men. The journalism and the moral pamphleteering of the time
+seem to foster it with almost partisan zeal. It would seem that a
+censorship of life had been established by divinity, and the care of its
+execution given into the hands of the utterly conservative. Yet there
+is that other form of liaison which has nothing to do with conscious
+calculation. In the vast majority of cases it is without design or
+guile. The average woman, controlled by her affections and deeply in
+love, is no more capable than a child of anything save sacrificial
+thought--the desire to give; and so long as this state endures, she
+can only do this. She may change--Hell hath no fury, etc.--but the
+sacrificial, yielding, solicitous attitude is more often the outstanding
+characteristic of the mistress; and it is this very attitude in
+contradistinction to the grasping legality of established matrimony that
+has caused so many wounds in the defenses of the latter. The temperament
+of man, either male or female, cannot help falling down before and
+worshiping this nonseeking, sacrificial note. It approaches vast
+distinction in life. It appears to be related to that last word in art,
+that largeness of spirit which is the first characteristic of the
+great picture, the great building, the great sculpture, the great
+decoration--namely, a giving, freely and without stint, of itself, of
+beauty. Hence the significance of this particular mood in Aileen.
+
+All the subtleties of the present combination were troubling Cowperwood
+as he followed Butler into the room upstairs.
+
+"Sit down, sit down. You won't take a little somethin'? You never do.
+I remember now. Well, have a cigar, anyhow. Now, what's this that's
+troublin' you to-night?"
+
+Voices could be heard faintly in the distance, far off toward the
+thicker residential sections.
+
+"Extra! Extra! All about the big Chicago fire! Chicago burning down!"
+
+"Just that," replied Cowperwood, hearkening to them. "Have you heard the
+news?"
+
+"No. What's that they're calling?"
+
+"It's a big fire out in Chicago."
+
+"Oh," replied Butler, still not gathering the significance of it.
+
+"It's burning down the business section there, Mr. Butler," went on
+Cowperwood ominously, "and I fancy it's going to disturb financial
+conditions here to-morrow. That is what I have come to see you about.
+How are your investments? Pretty well drawn in?"
+
+Butler suddenly gathered from Cowperwood's expression that there was
+something very wrong. He put up his large hand as he leaned back in his
+big leather chair, and covered his mouth and chin with it. Over those
+big knuckles, and bigger nose, thick and cartilaginous, his large,
+shaggy-eyebrowed eyes gleamed. His gray, bristly hair stood up stiffly
+in a short, even growth all over his head.
+
+"So that's it," he said. "You're expectin' trouble to-morrow. How are
+your own affairs?"
+
+"I'm in pretty good shape, I think, all told, if the money element of
+this town doesn't lose its head and go wild. There has to be a lot of
+common sense exercised to-morrow, or to-night, even. You know we are
+facing a real panic. Mr. Butler, you may as well know that. It may not
+last long, but while it does it will be bad. Stocks are going to drop
+to-morrow ten or fifteen points on the opening. The banks are going to
+call their loans unless some arrangement can be made to prevent them.
+No one man can do that. It will have to be a combination of men. You and
+Mr. Simpson and Mr. Mollenhauer might do it--that is, you could if you
+could persuade the big banking people to combine to back the market.
+There is going to be a raid on local street-railways--all of them.
+Unless they are sustained the bottom is going to drop out. I have always
+known that you were long on those. I thought you and Mr. Mollenhauer
+and some of the others might want to act. If you don't I might as well
+confess that it is going to go rather hard with me. I am not strong
+enough to face this thing alone."
+
+He was meditating on how he should tell the whole truth in regard to
+Stener.
+
+"Well, now, that's pretty bad," said Butler, calmly and meditatively.
+He was thinking of his own affairs. A panic was not good for him either,
+but he was not in a desperate state. He could not fail. He might lose
+some money, but not a vast amount--before he could adjust things. Still
+he did not care to lose any money.
+
+"How is it you're so bad off?" he asked, curiously. He was wondering how
+the fact that the bottom was going to drop out of local street-railways
+would affect Cowperwood so seriously. "You're not carryin' any of them
+things, are you?" he added.
+
+It was now a question of lying or telling the truth, and Cowperwood
+was literally afraid to risk lying in this dilemma. If he did not gain
+Butler's comprehending support he might fail, and if he failed the truth
+would come out, anyhow.
+
+"I might as well make a clean breast of this, Mr. Butler," he said,
+throwing himself on the old man's sympathies and looking at him with
+that brisk assurance which Butler so greatly admired. He felt as proud
+of Cowperwood at times as he did of his own sons. He felt that he had
+helped to put him where he was.
+
+"The fact is that I have been buying street-railway stocks, but not for
+myself exactly. I am going to do something now which I think I ought not
+to do, but I cannot help myself. If I don't do it, it will injure
+you and a lot of people whom I do not wish to injure. I know you are
+naturally interested in the outcome of the fall election. The truth is
+I have been carrying a lot of stocks for Mr. Stener and some of his
+friends. I do not know that all the money has come from the city
+treasury, but I think that most of it has. I know what that means to
+Mr. Stener and the Republican party and your interests in case I fail.
+I don't think Mr. Stener started this of his own accord in the first
+place--I think I am as much to blame as anybody--but it grew out of
+other things. As you know, I handled that matter of city loan for him
+and then some of his friends wanted me to invest in street-railways
+for them. I have been doing that ever since. Personally I have borrowed
+considerable money from Mr. Stener at two per cent. In fact, originally
+the transactions were covered in that way. Now I don't want to shift the
+blame on any one. It comes back to me and I am willing to let it stay
+there, except that if I fail Mr. Stener will be blamed and that will
+reflect on the administration. Naturally, I don't want to fail. There is
+no excuse for my doing so. Aside from this panic I have never been in
+a better position in my life. But I cannot weather this storm without
+assistance, and I want to know if you won't help me. If I pull through
+I will give you my word that I will see that the money which has been
+taken from the treasury is put back there. Mr. Stener is out of town or
+I would have brought him here with me."
+
+Cowperwood was lying out of the whole cloth in regard to bringing Stener
+with him, and he had no intention of putting the money back in the city
+treasury except by degrees and in such manner as suited his convenience;
+but what he had said sounded well and created a great seeming of
+fairness.
+
+"How much money is it Stener has invested with you?" asked Butler. He
+was a little confused by this curious development. It put Cowperwood and
+Stener in an odd light.
+
+"About five hundred thousand dollars," replied Cowperwood.
+
+The old man straightened up. "Is it as much as that?" he said.
+
+"Just about--a little more or a little less; I'm not sure which."
+
+The old contractor listened solemnly to all Cowperwood had to say on
+this score, thinking of the effect on the Republican party and his own
+contracting interests. He liked Cowperwood, but this was a rough thing
+the latter was telling him--rough, and a great deal to ask. He was a
+slow-thinking and a slow-moving man, but he did well enough when he did
+think. He had considerable money invested in Philadelphia street-railway
+stocks--perhaps as much as eight hundred thousand dollars. Mollenhauer
+had perhaps as much more. Whether Senator Simpson had much or little he
+could not tell. Cowperwood had told him in the past that he thought
+the Senator had a good deal. Most of their holdings, as in the case of
+Cowperwood's, were hypothecated at the various banks for loans and these
+loans invested in other ways. It was not advisable or comfortable
+to have these loans called, though the condition of no one of the
+triumvirate was anything like as bad as that of Cowperwood. They could
+see themselves through without much trouble, though not without probable
+loss unless they took hurried action to protect themselves.
+
+He would not have thought so much of it if Cowperwood had told him that
+Stener was involved, say, to the extent of seventy-five or a hundred
+thousand dollars. That might be adjusted. But five hundred thousand
+dollars!
+
+"That's a lot of money," said Butler, thinking of the amazing audacity
+of Stener, but failing at the moment to identify it with the astute
+machinations of Cowperwood. "That's something to think about. There's
+no time to lose if there's going to be a panic in the morning. How much
+good will it do ye if we do support the market?"
+
+"A great deal," returned Cowperwood, "although of course I have to raise
+money in other ways. I have that one hundred thousand dollars of yours
+on deposit. Is it likely that you'll want that right away?"
+
+"It may be," said Butler.
+
+"It's just as likely that I'll need it so badly that I can't give it up
+without seriously injuring myself," added Cowperwood. "That's just one
+of a lot of things. If you and Senator Simpson and Mr. Mollenhauer
+were to get together--you're the largest holders of street-railway
+stocks--and were to see Mr. Drexel and Mr. Cooke, you could fix things
+so that matters would be considerably easier. I will be all right if my
+loans are not called, and my loans will not be called if the market does
+not slump too heavily. If it does, all my securities are depreciated,
+and I can't hold out."
+
+Old Butler got up. "This is serious business," he said. "I wish you'd
+never gone in with Stener in that way. It don't look quite right and it
+can't be made to. It's bad, bad business," he added dourly. "Still, I'll
+do what I can. I can't promise much, but I've always liked ye and I'll
+not be turning on ye now unless I have to. But I'm sorry--very. And I'm
+not the only one that has a hand in things in this town." At the same
+time he was thinking it was right decent of Cowperwood to forewarn him
+this way in regard to his own affairs and the city election, even though
+he was saving his own neck by so doing. He meant to do what he could.
+
+"I don't suppose you could keep this matter of Stener and the city
+treasury quiet for a day or two until I see how I come out?" suggested
+Cowperwood warily.
+
+"I can't promise that," replied Butler. "I'll have to do the best I can.
+I won't lave it go any further than I can help--you can depend on that."
+He was thinking how the effect of Stener's crime could be overcome if
+Cowperwood failed.
+
+"Owen!"
+
+He stepped to the door, and, opening it, called down over the banister.
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+"Have Dan hitch up the light buggy and bring it around to the door. And
+you get your hat and coat. I want you to go along with me."
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+He came back.
+
+"Sure that's a nice little storm in a teapot, now, isn't it? Chicago
+begins to burn, and I have to worry here in Philadelphia. Well, well--"
+Cowperwood was up now and moving to the door. "And where are you going?"
+
+"Back to the house. I have several people coming there to see me. But
+I'll come back here later, if I may."
+
+"Yes, yes," replied Butler. "To be sure I'll be here by midnight,
+anyhow. Well, good night. I'll see you later, then, I suppose. I'll tell
+you what I find out."
+
+He went back in his room for something, and Cowperwood descended the
+stair alone. From the hangings of the reception-room entryway Aileen
+signaled him to draw near.
+
+"I hope it's nothing serious, honey?" she sympathized, looking into his
+solemn eyes.
+
+It was not time for love, and he felt it.
+
+"No," he said, almost coldly, "I think not."
+
+"Frank, don't let this thing make you forget me for long, please. You
+won't, will you? I love you so."
+
+"No, no, I won't!" he replied earnestly, quickly and yet absently.
+
+"I can't! Don't you know I won't?" He had started to kiss her, but a
+noise disturbed him. "Sh!"
+
+He walked to the door, and she followed him with eager, sympathetic
+eyes.
+
+What if anything should happen to her Frank? What if anything could?
+What would she do? That was what was troubling her. What would, what
+could she do to help him? He looked so pale--strained.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIV
+
+
+The condition of the Republican party at this time in Philadelphia,
+its relationship to George W. Stener, Edward Malia Butler, Henry A.
+Mollenhauer, Senator Mark Simpson, and others, will have to be briefly
+indicated here, in order to foreshadow Cowperwood's actual situation.
+Butler, as we have seen, was normally interested in and friendly to
+Cowperwood. Stener was Cowperwood's tool. Mollenhauer and Senator
+Simpson were strong rivals of Butler for the control of city affairs.
+Simpson represented the Republican control of the State legislature,
+which could dictate to the city if necessary, making new election laws,
+revising the city charter, starting political investigations, and the
+like. He had many influential newspapers, corporations, banks, at his
+beck and call. Mollenhauer represented the Germans, some Americans, and
+some large stable corporations--a very solid and respectable man. All
+three were strong, able, and dangerous politically. The two latter
+counted on Butler's influence, particularly with the Irish, and a
+certain number of ward leaders and Catholic politicians and laymen,
+who were as loyal to him as though he were a part of the church itself.
+Butler's return to these followers was protection, influence, aid,
+and good-will generally. The city's return to him, via Mollenhauer
+and Simpson, was in the shape of contracts--fat ones--street-paving,
+bridges, viaducts, sewers. And in order for him to get these contracts
+the affairs of the Republican party, of which he was a beneficiary as
+well as a leader, must be kept reasonably straight. At the same time it
+was no more a part of his need to keep the affairs of the party straight
+than it was of either Mollenhauer's or Simpson's, and Stener was not his
+appointee. The latter was more directly responsible to Mollenhauer than
+to any one else.
+
+As Butler stepped into the buggy with his son he was thinking about
+this, and it was puzzling him greatly.
+
+"Cowperwood's just been here," he said to Owen, who had been rapidly
+coming into a sound financial understanding of late, and was already a
+shrewder man politically and socially than his father, though he had
+not the latter's magnetism. "He's been tellin' me that he's in a rather
+tight place. You hear that?" he continued, as some voice in the distance
+was calling "Extra! Extra!" "That's Chicago burnin', and there's goin'
+to be trouble on the stock exchange to-morrow. We have a lot of our
+street-railway stocks around at the different banks. If we don't look
+sharp they'll be callin' our loans. We have to 'tend to that the first
+thing in the mornin'. Cowperwood has a hundred thousand of mine with him
+that he wants me to let stay there, and he has some money that belongs
+to Stener, he tells me."
+
+"Stener?" asked Owen, curiously. "Has he been dabbling in stocks?" Owen
+had heard some rumors concerning Stener and others only very recently,
+which he had not credited nor yet communicated to his father. "How much
+money of his has Cowperwood?" he asked.
+
+Butler meditated. "Quite a bit, I'm afraid," he finally said. "As a
+matter of fact, it's a great deal--about five hundred thousand dollars.
+If that should become known, it would be makin' a good deal of noise,
+I'm thinkin'."
+
+"Whew!" exclaimed Owen in astonishment. "Five hundred thousand dollars!
+Good Lord, father! Do you mean to say Stener has got away with five
+hundred thousand dollars? Why, I wouldn't think he was clever enough to
+do that. Five hundred thousand dollars! It will make a nice row if that
+comes out."
+
+"Aisy, now! Aisy, now!" replied Butler, doing his best to keep all
+phases of the situation in mind. "We can't tell exactly what the
+circumstances were yet. He mayn't have meant to take so much. It may all
+come out all right yet. The money's invested. Cowperwood hasn't failed
+yet. It may be put back. The thing to be settled on now is whether
+anything can be done to save him. If he's tellin' me the truth--and I
+never knew him to lie--he can get out of this if street-railway stocks
+don't break too heavy in the mornin'. I'm going over to see Henry
+Mollenhauer and Mark Simpson. They're in on this. Cowperwood wanted me
+to see if I couldn't get them to get the bankers together and have them
+stand by the market. He thought we might protect our loans by comin' on
+and buyin' and holdin' up the price."
+
+Owen was running swiftly in his mind over Cowperwood's affairs--as much
+as he knew of them. He felt keenly that the banker ought to be shaken
+out. This dilemma was his fault, not Stener's--he felt. It was strange
+to him that his father did not see it and resent it.
+
+"You see what it is, father," he said, dramatically, after a time.
+"Cowperwood's been using this money of Stener's to pick up stocks, and
+he's in a hole. If it hadn't been for this fire he'd have got away with
+it; but now he wants you and Simpson and Mollenhauer and the others to
+pull him out. He's a nice fellow, and I like him fairly well; but you're
+a fool if you do as he wants you to. He has more than belongs to him
+already. I heard the other day that he has the Front Street line,
+and almost all of Green and Coates; and that he and Stener own the
+Seventeenth and Nineteenth; but I didn't believe it. I've been intending
+to ask you about it. I think Cowperwood has a majority for himself
+stowed away somewhere in every instance. Stener is just a pawn. He moves
+him around where he pleases."
+
+Owen's eyes gleamed avariciously, opposingly. Cowperwood ought to be
+punished, sold out, driven out of the street-railway business in which
+Owen was anxious to rise.
+
+"Now you know," observed Butler, thickly and solemnly, "I always thought
+that young felly was clever, but I hardly thought he was as clever as
+all that. So that's his game. You're pretty shrewd yourself, aren't you?
+Well, we can fix that, if we think well of it. But there's more than
+that to all this. You don't want to forget the Republican party. Our
+success goes with the success of that, you know"--and he paused and
+looked at his son. "If Cowperwood should fail and that money couldn't be
+put back--" He broke off abstractedly. "The thing that's troublin' me
+is this matter of Stener and the city treasury. If somethin' ain't done
+about that, it may go hard with the party this fall, and with some of
+our contracts. You don't want to forget that an election is comin'
+along in November. I'm wonderin' if I ought to call in that one hundred
+thousand dollars. It's goin' to take considerable money to meet my loans
+in the mornin'."
+
+It is a curious matter of psychology, but it was only now that the real
+difficulties of the situation were beginning to dawn on Butler. In
+the presence of Cowperwood he was so influenced by that young man's
+personality and his magnetic presentation of his need and his own liking
+for him that he had not stopped to consider all the phases of his own
+relationship to the situation. Out here in the cool night air,
+talking to Owen, who was ambitious on his own account and anything but
+sentimentally considerate of Cowperwood, he was beginning to sober down
+and see things in their true light. He had to admit that Cowperwood had
+seriously compromised the city treasury and the Republican party, and
+incidentally Butler's own private interests. Nevertheless, he liked
+Cowperwood. He was in no way prepared to desert him. He was now going
+to see Mollenhauer and Simpson as much to save Cowperwood really as
+the party and his own affairs. And yet a scandal. He did not like
+that--resented it. This young scalawag! To think he should be so sly.
+None the less he still liked him, even here and now, and was feeling
+that he ought to do something to help the young man, if anything could
+help him. He might even leave his hundred-thousand-dollar loan with him
+until the last hour, as Cowperwood had requested, if the others were
+friendly.
+
+"Well, father," said Owen, after a time, "I don't see why you need to
+worry any more than Mollenhauer or Simpson. If you three want to help
+him out, you can; but for the life of me I don't see why you should. I
+know this thing will have a bad effect on the election, if it comes out
+before then; but it could be hushed up until then, couldn't it? Anyhow,
+your street-railway holdings are more important than this election, and
+if you can see your way clear to getting the street-railway lines in
+your hands you won't need to worry about any elections. My advice to
+you is to call that one-hundred-thousand-dollar loan of yours in
+the morning, and meet the drop in your stocks that way. It may make
+Cowperwood fail, but that won't hurt you any. You can go into the market
+and buy his stocks. I wouldn't be surprised if he would run to you and
+ask you to take them. You ought to get Mollenhauer and Simpson to scare
+Stener so that he won't loan Cowperwood any more money. If you don't,
+Cowperwood will run there and get more. Stener's in too far now. If
+Cowperwood won't sell out, well and good; the chances are he will bust,
+anyhow, and then you can pick up as much on the market as any one
+else. I think he'll sell. You can't afford to worry about Stener's five
+hundred thousand dollars. No one told him to loan it. Let him look out
+for himself. It may hurt the party, but you can look after that later.
+You and Mollenhauer can fix the newspapers so they won't talk about it
+till after election."
+
+"Aisy! Aisy!" was all the old contractor would say. He was thinking
+hard.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXV
+
+
+The residence of Henry A. Mollenhauer was, at that time, in a section of
+the city which was almost as new as that in which Butler was living. It
+was on South Broad Street, near a handsome library building which had
+been recently erected. It was a spacious house of the type usually
+affected by men of new wealth in those days--a structure four stories in
+height of yellow brick and white stone built after no school which
+one could readily identify, but not unattractive in its architectural
+composition. A broad flight of steps leading to a wide veranda gave into
+a decidedly ornate door, which was set on either side by narrow windows
+and ornamented to the right and left with pale-blue jardinieres of
+considerable charm of outline. The interior, divided into twenty rooms,
+was paneled and parqueted in the most expensive manner for homes of that
+day. There was a great reception-hall, a large parlor or drawing-room,
+a dining-room at least thirty feet square paneled in oak; and on the
+second floor were a music-room devoted to the talents of Mollenhauer's
+three ambitious daughters, a library and private office for himself, a
+boudoir and bath for his wife, and a conservatory.
+
+Mollenhauer was, and felt himself to be, a very important man. His
+financial and political judgment was exceedingly keen. Although he was
+a German, or rather an American of German parentage, he was a man of a
+rather impressive American presence. He was tall and heavy and shrewd
+and cold. His large chest and wide shoulders supported a head of
+distinguished proportions, both round and long when seen from different
+angles. The frontal bone descended in a protruding curve over the
+nose, and projected solemnly over the eyes, which burned with a shrewd,
+inquiring gaze. And the nose and mouth and chin below, as well as his
+smooth, hard cheeks, confirmed the impression that he knew very well
+what he wished in this world, and was very able without regard to let or
+hindrance to get it. It was a big face, impressive, well modeled. He was
+an excellent friend of Edward Malia Butler's, as such friendships go,
+and his regard for Mark Simpson was as sincere as that of one tiger for
+another. He respected ability; he was willing to play fair when fair
+was the game. When it was not, the reach of his cunning was not easily
+measured.
+
+When Edward Butler and his son arrived on this Sunday evening, this
+distinguished representative of one-third of the city's interests was
+not expecting them. He was in his library reading and listening to one
+of his daughters playing the piano. His wife and his other two daughters
+had gone to church. He was of a domestic turn of mind. Still, Sunday
+evening being an excellent one for conference purposes generally in the
+world of politics, he was not without the thought that some one or other
+of his distinguished confreres might call, and when the combination
+footman and butler announced the presence of Butler and his son, he was
+well pleased.
+
+"So there you are," he remarked to Butler, genially, extending his hand.
+"I'm certainly glad to see you. And Owen! How are you, Owen? What will
+you gentlemen have to drink, and what will you smoke? I know you'll have
+something. John"--to the servitor---"see if you can find something for
+these gentlemen. I have just been listening to Caroline play; but I
+think you've frightened her off for the time being."
+
+He moved a chair into position for Butler, and indicated to Owen another
+on the other side of the table. In a moment his servant had returned
+with a silver tray of elaborate design, carrying whiskies and wines of
+various dates and cigars in profusion. Owen was the new type of young
+financier who neither smoked nor drank. His father temperately did both.
+
+"It's a comfortable place you have here," said Butler, without any
+indication of the important mission that had brought him. "I don't
+wonder you stay at home Sunday evenings. What's new in the city?"
+
+"Nothing much, so far as I can see," replied Mollenhauer, pacifically.
+"Things seem to be running smooth enough. You don't know anything that
+we ought to worry about, do you?"
+
+"Well, yes," said Butler, draining off the remainder of a brandy and
+soda that had been prepared for him. "One thing. You haven't seen an
+avenin' paper, have you?"
+
+"No, I haven't," said Mollenhauer, straightening up. "Is there one out?
+What's the trouble anyhow?"
+
+"Nothing--except Chicago's burning, and it looks as though we'd have a
+little money-storm here in the morning."
+
+"You don't say! I didn't hear that. There's a paper out, is there? Well,
+well--is it much of a fire?"
+
+"The city is burning down, so they say," put in Owen, who was watching
+the face of the distinguished politician with considerable interest.
+
+"Well, that is news. I must send out and get a paper. John!" he called.
+His man-servant appeared. "See if you can get me a paper somewhere." The
+servant disappeared. "What makes you think that would have anything to
+do with us?" observed Mollenhauer, returning to Butler.
+
+"Well, there's one thing that goes with that that I didn't know till a
+little while ago and that is that our man Stener is apt to be short in
+his accounts, unless things come out better than some people seem to
+think," suggested Butler, calmly. "That might not look so well
+before election, would it?" His shrewd gray Irish eyes looked into
+Mollenhauer's, who returned his gaze.
+
+"Where did you get that?" queried Mr. Mollenhauer icily. "He hasn't
+deliberately taken much money, has he? How much has he taken--do you
+know?"
+
+"Quite a bit," replied Butler, quietly. "Nearly five hundred thousand,
+so I understand. Only I wouldn't say that it has been taken as yet. It's
+in danger of being lost."
+
+"Five hundred thousand!" exclaimed Mollenhauer in amazement, and yet
+preserving his usual calm. "You don't tell me! How long has this been
+going on? What has he been doing with the money?"
+
+"He's loaned a good deal--about five hundred thousand dollars to this
+young Cowperwood in Third Street, that's been handlin' city
+loan. They've been investin' it for themselves in one thing and
+another--mostly in buyin' up street-railways." (At the mention of
+street-railways Mollenhauer's impassive countenance underwent a barely
+perceptible change.) "This fire, accordin' to Cowperwood, is certain to
+produce a panic in the mornin', and unless he gets considerable help he
+doesn't see how he's to hold out. If he doesn't hold out, there'll be
+five hundred thousand dollars missin' from the city treasury which can't
+be put back. Stener's out of town and Cowperwood's come to me to see
+what can be done about it. As a matter of fact, he's done a little
+business for me in times past, and he thought maybe I could help him
+now--that is, that I might get you and the Senator to see the big
+bankers with me and help support the market in the mornin'. If we don't
+he's goin' to fail, and he thought the scandal would hurt us in the
+election. He doesn't appear to me to be workin' any game--just anxious
+to save himself and do the square thing by me--by us, if he can." Butler
+paused.
+
+Mollenhauer, sly and secretive himself, was apparently not at all moved
+by this unexpected development. At the same time, never having thought
+of Stener as having any particular executive or financial ability,
+he was a little stirred and curious. So his treasurer was using money
+without his knowing it, and now stood in danger of being prosecuted!
+Cowperwood he knew of only indirectly, as one who had been engaged to
+handle city loan. He had profited by his manipulation of city loan.
+Evidently the banker had made a fool of Stener, and had used the money
+for street-railway shares! He and Stener must have quite some private
+holdings then. That did interest Mollenhauer greatly.
+
+"Five hundred thousand dollars!" he repeated, when Butler had finished.
+"That is quite a little money. If merely supporting the market would
+save Cowperwood we might do that, although if it's a severe panic I do
+not see how anything we can do will be of very much assistance to him.
+If he's in a very tight place and a severe slump is coming, it will take
+a great deal more than our merely supporting the market to save him.
+I've been through that before. You don't know what his liabilities are?"
+
+"I do not," said Butler.
+
+"He didn't ask for money, you say?"
+
+"He wants me to l'ave a hundred thousand he has of mine until he sees
+whether he can get through or not."
+
+"Stener is really out of town, I suppose?" Mollenhauer was innately
+suspicious.
+
+"So Cowperwood says. We can send and find out."
+
+Mollenhauer was thinking of the various aspects of the case. Supporting
+the market would be all very well if that would save Cowperwood, and the
+Republican party and his treasurer. At the same time Stener could then
+be compelled to restore the five hundred thousand dollars to the
+city treasury, and release his holdings to some one--preferably to
+him--Mollenhauer. But here was Butler also to be considered in this
+matter. What might he not want? He consulted with Butler and learned
+that Cowperwood had agreed to return the five hundred thousand in case
+he could get it together. The various street-car holdings were not asked
+after. But what assurance had any one that Cowperwood could be so saved?
+And could, or would get the money together? And if he were saved would
+he give the money back to Stener? If he required actual money, who would
+loan it to him in a time like this--in case a sharp panic was imminent?
+What security could he give? On the other hand, under pressure from
+the right parties he might be made to surrender all his street-railway
+holdings for a song--his and Stener's. If he (Mollenhauer) could get
+them he would not particularly care whether the election was lost this
+fall or not, although he felt satisfied, as had Owen, that it would not
+be lost. It could be bought, as usual. The defalcation--if Cowperwood's
+failure made Stener's loan into one--could be concealed long enough,
+Mollenhauer thought, to win. Personally as it came to him now he would
+prefer to frighten Stener into refusing Cowperwood additional aid,
+and then raid the latter's street-railway stock in combination with
+everybody else's, for that matter--Simpson's and Butler's included. One
+of the big sources of future wealth in Philadelphia lay in these lines.
+For the present, however, he had to pretend an interest in saving the
+party at the polls.
+
+"I can't speak for the Senator, that's sure," pursued Mollenhauer,
+reflectively. "I don't know what he may think. As for myself, I am
+perfectly willing to do what I can to keep up the price of stocks, if
+that will do any good. I would do so naturally in order to protect my
+loans. The thing that we ought to be thinking about, in my judgment, is
+how to prevent exposure, in case Mr. Cowperwood does fail, until after
+election. We have no assurance, of course, that however much we support
+the market we will be able to sustain it."
+
+"We have not," replied Butler, solemnly.
+
+Owen thought he could see Cowperwood's approaching doom quite plainly.
+At that moment the door-bell rang. A maid, in the absence of the
+footman, brought in the name of Senator Simpson.
+
+"Just the man," said Mollenhauer. "Show him up. You can see what he
+thinks."
+
+"Perhaps I had better leave you alone now," suggested Owen to his
+father. "Perhaps I can find Miss Caroline, and she will sing for me.
+I'll wait for you, father," he added.
+
+Mollenhauer cast him an ingratiating smile, and as he stepped out
+Senator Simpson walked in.
+
+A more interesting type of his kind than Senator Mark Simpson never
+flourished in the State of Pennsylvania, which has been productive of
+interesting types. Contrasted with either of the two men who now greeted
+him warmly and shook his hand, he was physically unimpressive. He was
+small--five feet nine inches, to Mollenhauer's six feet and Butler's
+five feet eleven inches and a half, and then his face was smooth, with a
+receding jaw. In the other two this feature was prominent. Nor were
+his eyes as frank as those of Butler, nor as defiant as those of
+Mollenhauer; but for subtlety they were unmatched by either--deep,
+strange, receding, cavernous eyes which contemplated you as might those
+of a cat looking out of a dark hole, and suggesting all the artfulness
+that has ever distinguished the feline family. He had a strange mop of
+black hair sweeping down over a fine, low, white forehead, and a skin
+as pale and bluish as poor health might make it; but there was,
+nevertheless, resident here a strange, resistant, capable force that
+ruled men--the subtlety with which he knew how to feed cupidity with
+hope and gain and the ruthlessness with which he repaid those who said
+him nay. He was a still man, as such a man might well have been--feeble
+and fish-like in his handshake, wan and slightly lackadaisical in his
+smile, but speaking always with eyes that answered for every defect.
+
+"Av'nin', Mark, I'm glad to see you," was Butler's greeting.
+
+"How are you, Edward?" came the quiet reply.
+
+"Well, Senator, you're not looking any the worse for wear. Can I pour
+you something?"
+
+"Nothing to-night, Henry," replied Simpson. "I haven't long to stay. I
+just stopped by on my way home. My wife's over here at the Cavanaghs',
+and I have to stop by to fetch her."
+
+"Well, it's a good thing you dropped in, Senator, just when you did,"
+began Mollenhauer, seating himself after his guest. "Butler here has
+been telling me of a little political problem that has arisen since I
+last saw you. I suppose you've heard that Chicago is burning?"
+
+"Yes; Cavanagh was just telling me. It looks to be quite serious. I
+think the market will drop heavily in the morning."
+
+"I wouldn't be surprised myself," put in Mollenhauer, laconically.
+
+"Here's the paper now," said Butler, as John, the servant, came in from
+the street bearing the paper in his hand. Mollenhauer took it and spread
+it out before them. It was among the earliest of the "extras" that were
+issued in this country, and contained a rather impressive spread of type
+announcing that the conflagration in the lake city was growing hourly
+worse since its inception the day before.
+
+"Well, that is certainly dreadful," said Simpson. "I'm very sorry for
+Chicago. I have many friends there. I shall hope to hear that it is not
+so bad as it seems."
+
+The man had a rather grandiloquent manner which he never abandoned under
+any circumstances.
+
+"The matter that Butler was telling me about," continued Mollenhauer,
+"has something to do with this in a way. You know the habit our city
+treasurers have of loaning out their money at two per cent.?"
+
+"Yes?" said Simpson, inquiringly.
+
+"Well, Mr. Stener, it seems, has been loaning out a good deal of the
+city's money to this young Cowperwood, in Third Street, who has been
+handling city loans."
+
+"You don't say!" said Simpson, putting on an air of surprise. "Not much,
+I hope?" The Senator, like Butler and Mollenhauer, was profiting
+greatly by cheap loans from the same source to various designated city
+depositories.
+
+"Well, it seems that Stener has loaned him as much as five hundred
+thousand dollars, and if by any chance Cowperwood shouldn't be able
+to weather this storm, Stener is apt to be short that amount, and that
+wouldn't look so good as a voting proposition to the people in November,
+do you think? Cowperwood owes Mr. Butler here one hundred thousand
+dollars, and because of that he came to see him to-night. He wanted
+Butler to see if something couldn't be done through us to tide him over.
+If not"--he waved one hand suggestively--"well, he might fail."
+
+Simpson fingered his strange, wide mouth with his delicate hand. "What
+have they been doing with the five hundred thousand dollars?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, the boys must make a little somethin' on the side," said Butler,
+cheerfully. "I think they've been buyin' up street-railways, for
+one thing." He stuck his thumbs in the armholes of his vest. Both
+Mollenhauer and Simpson smiled wan smiles.
+
+"Quite so," said Mollenhauer. Senator Simpson merely looked the deep
+things that he thought.
+
+He, too, was thinking how useless it was for any one to approach a group
+of politicians with a proposition like this, particularly in a crisis
+such as bid fair to occur. He reflected that if he and Butler and
+Mollenhauer could get together and promise Cowperwood protection in
+return for the surrender of his street-railway holdings it would be a
+very different matter. It would be very easy in this case to carry the
+city treasury loan along in silence and even issue more money to support
+it; but it was not sure, in the first place, that Cowperwood could be
+made to surrender his stocks, and in the second place that either Butler
+or Mollenhauer would enter into any such deal with him, Simpson. Butler
+had evidently come here to say a good word for Cowperwood. Mollenhauer
+and himself were silent rivals. Although they worked together
+politically it was toward essentially different financial ends. They
+were allied in no one particular financial proposition, any more than
+Mollenhauer and Butler were. And besides, in all probability Cowperwood
+was no fool. He was not equally guilty with Stener; the latter had
+loaned him money. The Senator reflected on whether he should broach
+some such subtle solution of the situation as had occurred to him to his
+colleagues, but he decided not. Really Mollenhauer was too treacherous
+a man to work with on a thing of this kind. It was a splendid chance but
+dangerous. He had better go it alone. For the present they should demand
+of Stener that he get Cowperwood to return the five hundred thousand
+dollars if he could. If not, Stener could be sacrificed for the benefit
+of the party, if need be. Cowperwood's stocks, with this tip as to his
+condition, would, Simpson reflected, offer a good opportunity for a
+little stock-exchange work on the part of his own brokers. They could
+spread rumors as to Cowperwood's condition and then offer to take his
+shares off his hands--for a song, of course. It was an evil moment that
+led Cowperwood to Butler.
+
+"Well, now," said the Senator, after a prolonged silence, "I might
+sympathize with Mr. Cowperwood in his situation, and I certainly don't
+blame him for buying up street-railways if he can; but I really don't
+see what can be done for him very well in this crisis. I don't know
+about you, gentlemen, but I am rather certain that I am not in a
+position to pick other people's chestnuts out of the fire if I wanted
+to, just now. It all depends on whether we feel that the danger to
+the party is sufficient to warrant our going down into our pockets and
+assisting him."
+
+At the mention of real money to be loaned Mollenhauer pulled a
+long face. "I can't see that I will be able to do very much for Mr.
+Cowperwood," he sighed.
+
+"Begad," said Buler, with a keen sense of humor, "it looks to me as if
+I'd better be gettin' in my one hundred thousand dollars. That's the
+first business of the early mornin'." Neither Simpson nor Mollenhauer
+condescended on this occasion to smile even the wan smile they had
+smiled before. They merely looked wise and solemn.
+
+"But this matter of the city treasury, now," said Senator Simpson, after
+the atmosphere had been allowed to settle a little, "is something to
+which we shall have to devote a little thought. If Mr. Cowperwood should
+fail, and the treasury lose that much money, it would embarrass us no
+little. What lines are they," he added, as an afterthought, "that this
+man has been particularly interested in?"
+
+"I really don't know," replied Butler, who did not care to say what Owen
+had told him on the drive over.
+
+"I don't see," said Mollenhauer, "unless we can make Stener get the
+money back before this man Cowperwood fails, how we can save ourselves
+from considerable annoyance later; but if we did anything which would
+look as though we were going to compel restitution, he would probably
+shut up shop anyhow. So there's no remedy in that direction. And it
+wouldn't be very kind to our friend Edward here to do it until we hear
+how he comes out on his affair." He was referring to Butler's loan.
+
+"Certainly not," said Senator Simpson, with true political sagacity and
+feeling.
+
+"I'll have that one hundred thousand dollars in the mornin'," said
+Butler, "and never fear."
+
+"I think," said Simpson, "if anything comes of this matter that we
+will have to do our best to hush it up until after the election. The
+newspapers can just as well keep silent on that score as not.
+There's one thing I would suggest"--and he was now thinking of
+the street-railway properties which Cowperwood had so judiciously
+collected--"and that is that the city treasurer be cautioned against
+advancing any more money in a situation of this kind. He might readily
+be compromised into advancing much more. I suppose a word from you,
+Henry, would prevent that."
+
+"Yes; I can do that," said Mollenhauer, solemnly.
+
+"My judgement would be," said Butler, in a rather obscure manner,
+thinking of Cowperwood's mistake in appealing to these noble protectors
+of the public, "that it's best to let sleepin' dogs run be thimselves."
+
+Thus ended Frank Cowperwood's dreams of what Butler and his political
+associates might do for him in his hour of distress.
+
+The energies of Cowperwood after leaving Butler were devoted to the task
+of seeing others who might be of some assistance to him. He had left
+word with Mrs. Stener that if any message came from her husband he was
+to be notified at once. He hunted up Walter Leigh, of Drexel & Co.,
+Avery Stone of Jay Cooke & Co., and President Davison of the Girard
+National Bank. He wanted to see what they thought of the situation and
+to negotiate a loan with President Davison covering all his real and
+personal property.
+
+"I can't tell you, Frank," Walter Leigh insisted, "I don't know how
+things will be running by to-morrow noon. I'm glad to know how you
+stand. I'm glad you're doing what you're doing--getting all your affairs
+in shape. It will help a lot. I'll favor you all I possibly can. But if
+the chief decides on a certain group of loans to be called, they'll have
+to be called, that's all. I'll do my best to make things look better.
+If the whole of Chicago is wiped out, the insurance companies--some of
+them, anyhow--are sure to go, and then look out. I suppose you'll call
+in all your loans?"
+
+"Not any more than I have to."
+
+"Well, that's just the way it is here--or will be."
+
+The two men shook hands. They liked each other. Leigh was of the city's
+fashionable coterie, a society man to the manner born, but with a wealth
+of common sense and a great deal of worldly experience.
+
+"I'll tell you, Frank," he observed at parting, "I've always thought you
+were carrying too much street-railway. It's great stuff if you can get
+away with it, but it's just in a pinch like this that you're apt to get
+hurt. You've been making money pretty fast out of that and city loans."
+
+He looked directly into his long-time friend's eyes, and they smiled.
+
+It was the same with Avery Stone, President Davison, and others. They
+had all already heard rumors of disaster when he arrived. They were not
+sure what the morrow would bring forth. It looked very unpromising.
+
+Cowperwood decided to stop and see Butler again for he felt certain his
+interview with Mollenhauer and Simpson was now over. Butler, who had
+been meditating what he should say to Cowperwood, was not unfriendly in
+his manner. "So you're back," he said, when Cowperwood appeared.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Butler."
+
+"Well, I'm not sure that I've been able to do anything for you. I'm
+afraid not," Butler said, cautiously. "It's a hard job you set me.
+Mollenhauer seems to think that he'll support the market, on his own
+account. I think he will. Simpson has interests which he has to protect.
+I'm going to buy for myself, of course."
+
+He paused to reflect.
+
+"I couldn't get them to call a conference with any of the big moneyed
+men as yet," he added, warily. "They'd rather wait and see what happens
+in the mornin'. Still, I wouldn't be down-hearted if I were you. If
+things turn out very bad they may change their minds. I had to tell them
+about Stener. It's pretty bad, but they're hopin' you'll come through
+and straighten that out. I hope so. About my own loan--well, I'll see
+how things are in the mornin'. If I raisonably can I'll lave it with
+you. You'd better see me again about it. I wouldn't try to get any more
+money out of Stener if I were you. It's pretty bad as it is."
+
+Cowperwood saw at once that he was to get no aid from the politicians.
+The one thing that disturbed him was this reference to Stener. Had they
+already communicated with him--warned him? If so, his own coming to
+Butler had been a bad move; and yet from the point of view of his
+possible failure on the morrow it had been advisable. At least now the
+politicians knew where he stood. If he got in a very tight corner he
+would come to Butler again--the politicians could assist him or not,
+as they chose. If they did not help him and he failed, and the election
+were lost, it was their own fault. Anyhow, if he could see Stener first
+the latter would not be such a fool as to stand in his own light in a
+crisis like this.
+
+"Things look rather dark to-night, Mr. Butler," he said, smartly, "but I
+still think I'll come through. I hope so, anyhow. I'm sorry to have put
+you to so much trouble. I wish, of course, that you gentlemen could
+see your way clear to assist me, but if you can't, you can't. I have a
+number of things that I can do. I hope that you will leave your loan as
+long as you can."
+
+He went briskly out, and Butler meditated. "A clever young chap that,"
+he said. "It's too bad. But he may come out all right at that."
+
+Cowperwood hurried to his own home only to find his father awake
+and brooding. To him he talked with that strong vein of sympathy and
+understanding which is usually characteristic of those drawn by ties
+of flesh and blood. He liked his father. He sympathized with his
+painstaking effort to get up in the world. He could not forget that as a
+boy he had had the loving sympathy and interest of his father. The loan
+which he had from the Third National, on somewhat weak Union Street
+Railway shares he could probably replace if stocks did not drop too
+tremendously. He must replace this at all costs. But his father's
+investments in street-railways, which had risen with his own ventures,
+and which now involved an additional two hundred thousand--how could he
+protect those? The shares were hypothecated and the money was used
+for other things. Additional collateral would have to be furnished the
+several banks carrying them. It was nothing except loans, loans, loans,
+and the need of protecting them. If he could only get an additional
+deposit of two or three hundred thousand dollars from Stener. But that,
+in the face of possible financial difficulties, was rank criminality.
+All depended on the morrow.
+
+Monday, the ninth, dawned gray and cheerless. He was up with the first
+ray of light, shaved and dressed, and went over, under the gray-green
+pergola, to his father's house. He was up, also, and stirring about, for
+he had not been able to sleep. His gray eyebrows and gray hair looked
+rather shaggy and disheveled, and his side-whiskers anything but
+decorative. The old gentleman's eyes were tired, and his face was gray.
+Cowperwood could see that he was worrying. He looked up from a small,
+ornate escritoire of buhl, which Ellsworth had found somewhere, and
+where he was quietly tabulating a list of his resources and liabilities.
+Cowperwood winced. He hated to see his father worried, but he could not
+help it. He had hoped sincerely, when they built their houses together,
+that the days of worry for his father had gone forever.
+
+"Counting up?" he asked, familiarly, with a smile. He wanted to hearten
+the old gentleman as much as possible.
+
+"I was just running over my affairs again to see where I stood in
+case--" He looked quizzically at his son, and Frank smiled again.
+
+"I wouldn't worry, father. I told you how I fixed it so that Butler and
+that crowd will support the market. I have Rivers and Targool and Harry
+Eltinge on 'change helping me sell out, and they are the best men there.
+They'll handle the situation carefully. I couldn't trust Ed or Joe in
+this case, for the moment they began to sell everybody would know what
+was going on with me. This way my men will seem like bears hammering the
+market, but not hammering too hard. I ought to be able to unload enough
+at ten points off to raise five hundred thousand. The market may not go
+lower than that. You can't tell. It isn't going to sink indefinitely.
+If I just knew what the big insurance companies were going to do! The
+morning paper hasn't come yet, has it?"
+
+He was going to pull a bell, but remembered that the servants would
+scarcely be up as yet. He went to the front door himself. There were the
+Press and the Public Ledger lying damp from the presses. He picked them
+up and glanced at the front pages. His countenance fell. On one, the
+Press, was spread a great black map of Chicago, a most funereal-looking
+thing, the black portion indicating the burned section. He had never
+seen a map of Chicago before in just this clear, definite way. That
+white portion was Lake Michigan, and there was the Chicago River
+dividing the city into three almost equal portions--the north side, the
+west side, the south side. He saw at once that the city was curiously
+arranged, somewhat like Philadelphia, and that the business section was
+probably an area of two or three miles square, set at the juncture of
+the three sides, and lying south of the main stem of the river, where
+it flowed into the lake after the southwest and northwest branches had
+united to form it. This was a significant central area; but, according
+to this map, it was all burned out. "Chicago in Ashes" ran a great
+side-heading set in heavily leaded black type. It went on to detail the
+sufferings of the homeless, the number of the dead, the number of those
+whose fortunes had been destroyed. Then it descanted upon the probable
+effect in the East. Insurance companies and manufacturers might not be
+able to meet the great strain of all this.
+
+"Damn!" said Cowperwood gloomily. "I wish I were out of this
+stock-jobbing business. I wish I had never gotten into it." He returned
+to his drawing-room and scanned both accounts most carefully.
+
+Then, though it was still early, he and his father drove to his office.
+There were already messages awaiting him, a dozen or more, to cancel
+or sell. While he was standing there a messenger-boy brought him three
+more. One was from Stener and said that he would be back by twelve
+o'clock, the very earliest he could make it. Cowperwood was relieved and
+yet distressed. He would need large sums of money to meet various loans
+before three. Every hour was precious. He must arrange to meet Stener at
+the station and talk to him before any one else should see him. Clearly
+this was going to be a hard, dreary, strenuous day.
+
+Third Street, by the time he reached there, was stirring with other
+bankers and brokers called forth by the exigencies of the occasion.
+There was a suspicious hurrying of feet--that intensity which makes
+all the difference in the world between a hundred people placid and a
+hundred people disturbed. At the exchange, the atmosphere was feverish.
+At the sound of the gong, the staccato uproar began. Its metallic
+vibrations were still in the air when the two hundred men who composed
+this local organization at its utmost stress of calculation, threw
+themselves upon each other in a gibbering struggle to dispose of or
+seize bargains of the hour. The interests were so varied that it was
+impossible to say at which pole it was best to sell or buy.
+
+Targool and Rivers had been delegated to stay at the center of things,
+Joseph and Edward to hover around on the outside and to pick up such
+opportunities of selling as might offer a reasonable return on the
+stock. The "bears" were determined to jam things down, and it all
+depended on how well the agents of Mollenhauer, Simpson, Butler, and
+others supported things in the street-railway world whether those stocks
+retained any strength or not. The last thing Butler had said the night
+before was that they would do the best they could. They would buy up to
+a certain point. Whether they would support the market indefinitely he
+would not say. He could not vouch for Mollenhauer and Simpson. Nor did
+he know the condition of their affairs.
+
+While the excitement was at its highest Cowperwood came in. As he
+stood in the door looking to catch the eye of Rivers, the 'change gong
+sounded, and trading stopped. All the brokers and traders faced about
+to the little balcony, where the secretary of the 'change made his
+announcements; and there he stood, the door open behind him, a small,
+dark, clerkly man of thirty-eight or forty, whose spare figure and pale
+face bespoke the methodic mind that knows no venturous thought. In his
+right hand he held a slip of white paper.
+
+"The American Fire Insurance Company of Boston announces its inability
+to meet its obligations." The gong sounded again.
+
+Immediately the storm broke anew, more voluble than before, because,
+if after one hour of investigation on this Monday morning one insurance
+company had gone down, what would four or five hours or a day or two
+bring forth? It meant that men who had been burned out in Chicago would
+not be able to resume business. It meant that all loans connected
+with this concern had been, or would be called now. And the cries of
+frightened "bulls" offering thousand and five thousand lot holdings in
+Northern Pacific, Illinois Central, Reading, Lake Shore, Wabash; in all
+the local streetcar lines; and in Cowperwood's city loans at constantly
+falling prices was sufficient to take the heart out of all concerned.
+He hurried to Arthur Rivers's side in the lull; but there was little he
+could say.
+
+"It looks as though the Mollenhauer and Simpson crowds aren't doing much
+for the market," he observed, gravely.
+
+"They've had advices from New York," explained Rivers solemnly. "It
+can't be supported very well. There are three insurance companies over
+there on the verge of quitting, I understand. I expect to see them
+posted any minute."
+
+They stepped apart from the pandemonium, to discuss ways and means.
+Under his agreement with Stener, Cowperwood could buy up to one hundred
+thousand dollars of city loan, above the customary wash sales, or market
+manipulation, by which they were making money. This was in case the
+market had to be genuinely supported. He decided to buy sixty thousand
+dollars worth now, and use this to sustain his loans elsewhere. Stener
+would pay him for this instantly, giving him more ready cash. It
+might help him in one way and another; and, anyhow, it might tend to
+strengthen the other securities long enough at least to allow him to
+realize a little something now at better than ruinous rates. If only
+he had the means "to go short" on this market! If only doing so did not
+really mean ruin to his present position. It was characteristic of the
+man that even in this crisis he should be seeing how the very thing that
+of necessity, because of his present obligations, might ruin him, might
+also, under slightly different conditions, yield him a great harvest. He
+could not take advantage of it, however. He could not be on both sides
+of this market. It was either "bear" or "bull," and of necessity he was
+"bull." It was strange but true. His subtlety could not avail him here.
+He was about to turn and hurry to see a certain banker who might loan
+him something on his house, when the gong struck again. Once more
+trading ceased. Arthur Rivers, from his position at the State securities
+post, where city loan was sold, and where he had started to buy for
+Cowperwood, looked significantly at him. Newton Targool hurried to
+Cowperwood's side.
+
+"You're up against it," he exclaimed. "I wouldn't try to sell against
+this market. It's no use. They're cutting the ground from under you.
+The bottom's out. Things are bound to turn in a few days. Can't you hold
+out? Here's more trouble."
+
+He raised his eyes to the announcer's balcony.
+
+"The Eastern and Western Fire Insurance Company of New York announces
+that it cannot meet its obligations."
+
+A low sound something like "Haw!" broke forth. The announcer's gavel
+struck for order.
+
+"The Erie Fire Insurance Company of Rochester announces that it cannot
+meet its obligations."
+
+Again that "H-a-a-a-w!"
+
+Once more the gavel.
+
+"The American Trust Company of New York has suspended payment."
+
+"H-a-a-a-w!"
+
+The storm was on.
+
+"What do you think?" asked Targool. "You can't brave this storm. Can't
+you quit selling and hold out for a few days? Why not sell short?"
+
+"They ought to close this thing up," Cowperwood said, shortly. "It would
+be a splendid way out. Then nothing could be done."
+
+He hurried to consult with those who, finding themselves in a similar
+predicament with himself, might use their influence to bring it about.
+It was a sharp trick to play on those who, now finding the market
+favorable to their designs in its falling condition, were harvesting a
+fortune. But what was that to him? Business was business. There was no
+use selling at ruinous figures, and he gave his lieutenants orders to
+stop. Unless the bankers favored him heavily, or the stock exchange
+was closed, or Stener could be induced to deposit an additional three
+hundred thousand with him at once, he was ruined. He hurried down
+the street to various bankers and brokers suggesting that they do
+this--close the exchange. At a few minutes before twelve o'clock
+he drove rapidly to the station to meet Stener; but to his great
+disappointment the latter did not arrive. It looked as though he had
+missed his train. Cowperwood sensed something, some trick; and decided
+to go to the city hall and also to Stener's house. Perhaps he had
+returned and was trying to avoid him.
+
+Not finding him at his office, he drove direct to his house. Here he
+was not surprised to meet Stener just coming out, looking very pale and
+distraught. At the sight of Cowperwood he actually blanched.
+
+"Why, hello, Frank," he exclaimed, sheepishly, "where do you come from?"
+
+"What's up, George?" asked Cowperwood. "I thought you were coming into
+Broad Street."
+
+"So I was," returned Stener, foolishly, "but I thought I would get off
+at West Philadelphia and change my clothes. I've a lot of things
+to 'tend to yet this afternoon. I was coming in to see you." After
+Cowperwood's urgent telegram this was silly, but the young banker let it
+pass.
+
+"Jump in, George," he said. "I have something very important to talk to
+you about. I told you in my telegram about the likelihood of a panic.
+It's on. There isn't a moment to lose. Stocks are 'way down, and most of
+my loans are being called. I want to know if you won't let me have three
+hundred and fifty thousand dollars for a few days at four or five per
+cent. I'll pay it all back to you. I need it very badly. If I don't get
+it I'm likely to fail. You know what that means, George. It will tie up
+every dollar I have. Those street-car holdings of yours will be tied up
+with me. I won't be able to let you realize on them, and that will put
+those loans of mine from the treasury in bad shape. You won't be able
+to put the money back, and you know what that means. We're in this thing
+together. I want to see you through safely, but I can't do it without
+your help. I had to go to Butler last night to see about a loan of his,
+and I'm doing my best to get money from other sources. But I can't see
+my way through on this, I'm afraid, unless you're willing to help
+me." Cowperwood paused. He wanted to put the whole case clearly and
+succinctly to him before he had a chance to refuse--to make him realize
+it as his own predicament.
+
+As a matter of fact, what Cowperwood had keenly suspected was literally
+true. Stener had been reached. The moment Butler and Simpson had left
+him the night before, Mollenhauer had sent for his very able secretary,
+Abner Sengstack, and despatched him to learn the truth about Stener's
+whereabouts. Sengstack had then sent a long wire to Strobik, who was
+with Stener, urging him to caution the latter against Cowperwood. The
+state of the treasury was known. Stener and Strobik were to be met by
+Sengstack at Wilmington (this to forefend against the possibility of
+Cowperwood's reaching Stener first)--and the whole state of affairs
+made perfectly plain. No more money was to be used under penalty of
+prosecution. If Stener wanted to see any one he must see Mollenhauer.
+Sengstack, having received a telegram from Strobik informing him of
+their proposed arrival at noon the next day, had proceeded to Wilmington
+to meet them. The result was that Stener did not come direct into the
+business heart of the city, but instead got off at West Philadelphia,
+proposing to go first to his house to change his clothes and then to see
+Mollenhauer before meeting Cowperwood. He was very badly frightened and
+wanted time to think.
+
+"I can't do it, Frank," he pleaded, piteously. "I'm in pretty bad in
+this matter. Mollenhauer's secretary met the train out at Wilmington
+just now to warn me against this situation, and Strobik is against it.
+They know how much money I've got outstanding. You or somebody has told
+them. I can't go against Mollenhauer. I owe everything I've got to him,
+in a way. He got me this place."
+
+"Listen, George. Whatever you do at this time, don't let this political
+loyalty stuff cloud your judgment. You're in a very serious position and
+so am I. If you don't act for yourself with me now no one is going to
+act for you--now or later--no one. And later will be too late. I proved
+that last night when I went to Butler to get help for the two of us.
+They all know about this business of our street-railway holdings and
+they want to shake us out and that's the big and little of it--nothing
+more and nothing less. It's a case of dog eat dog in this game and
+this particular situation and it's up to us to save ourselves against
+everybody or go down together, and that's just what I'm here to tell
+you. Mollenhauer doesn't care any more for you to-day than he does
+for that lamp-post. It isn't that money you've paid out to me that's
+worrying him, but who's getting something for it and what. Well they
+know that you and I are getting street-railways, don't you see, and they
+don't want us to have them. Once they get those out of our hands they
+won't waste another day on you or me. Can't you see that? Once we've
+lost all we've invested, you're down and so am I--and no one is going to
+turn a hand for you or me politically or in any other way. I want you to
+understand that, George, because it's true. And before you say you won't
+or you will do anything because Mollenhauer says so, you want to think
+over what I have to tell you."
+
+He was in front of Stener now, looking him directly in the eye and by
+the kinetic force of his mental way attempting to make Stener take the
+one step that might save him--Cowperwood--however little in the long run
+it might do for Stener. And, more interesting still, he did not care.
+Stener, as he saw him now, was a pawn in whosoever's hands he happened
+to be at the time, and despite Mr. Mollenhauer and Mr. Simpson and Mr.
+Butler he proposed to attempt to keep him in his own hands if possible.
+And so he stood there looking at him as might a snake at a bird
+determined to galvanize him into selfish self-interest if possible. But
+Stener was so frightened that at the moment it looked as though there
+was little to be done with him. His face was a grayish-blue: his eyelids
+and eye rings puffy and his hands and lips moist. God, what a hole he
+was in now!
+
+"Say that's all right, Frank," he exclaimed desperately. "I know what
+you say is true. But look at me and my position, if I do give you this
+money. What can't they do to me, and won't. If you only look at it from
+my point of view. If only you hadn't gone to Butler before you saw me."
+
+"As though I could see you, George, when you were off duck shooting and
+when I was wiring everywhere I knew to try to get in touch with you. How
+could I? The situation had to be met. Besides, I thought Butler was more
+friendly to me than he proved. But there's no use being angry with me
+now, George, for going to Butler as I did, and anyhow you can't afford
+to be now. We're in this thing together. It's a case of sink or swim
+for just us two--not any one else--just us--don't you get that? Butler
+couldn't or wouldn't do what I wanted him to do--get Mollenhauer and
+Simpson to support the market. Instead of that they are hammering it.
+They have a game of their own. It's to shake us out--can't you see that?
+Take everything that you and I have gathered. It is up to you and me,
+George, to save ourselves, and that's what I'm here for now. If you
+don't let me have three hundred and fifty thousand dollars--three
+hundred thousand, anyhow--you and I are ruined. It will be worse for
+you, George, than for me, for I'm not involved in this thing in any
+way--not legally, anyhow. But that's not what I'm thinking of. What I
+want to do is to save us both--put us on easy street for the rest of our
+lives, whatever they say or do, and it's in your power, with my help, to
+do that for both of us. Can't you see that? I want to save my business
+so then I can help you to save your name and money." He paused, hoping
+this had convinced Stener, but the latter was still shaking.
+
+"But what can I do, Frank?" he pleaded, weakly. "I can't go against
+Mollenhauer. They can prosecute me if I do that. They can do it, anyhow.
+I can't do that. I'm not strong enough. If they didn't know, if you
+hadn't told them, it might be different, but this way--" He shook his
+head sadly, his gray eyes filled with a pale distress.
+
+"George," replied Cowperwood, who realized now that only the sternest
+arguments would have any effect here, "don't talk about what I did. What
+I did I had to do. You're in danger of losing your head and your nerve
+and making a serious mistake here, and I don't want to see you make
+it. I have five hundred thousand of the city's money invested for
+you--partly for me, and partly for you, but more for you than for
+me"--which, by the way, was not true--"and here you are hesitating in
+an hour like this as to whether you will protect your interest or not.
+I can't understand it. This is a crisis, George. Stocks are tumbling on
+every side--everybody's stocks. You're not alone in this--neither am I.
+This is a panic, brought on by a fire, and you can't expect to come out
+of a panic alive unless you do something to protect yourself. You say
+you owe your place to Mollenhauer and that you're afraid of what he'll
+do. If you look at your own situation and mine, you'll see that it
+doesn't make much difference what he does, so long as I don't fail. If
+I fail, where are you? Who's going to save you from prosecution? Will
+Mollenhauer or any one else come forward and put five hundred thousand
+dollars in the treasury for you? He will not. If Mollenhauer and the
+others have your interests at heart, why aren't they helping me on
+'change today? I'll tell you why. They want your street-railway holdings
+and mine, and they don't care whether you go to jail afterward or
+not. Now if you're wise you will listen to me. I've been loyal to you,
+haven't I? You've made money through me--lots of it. If you're wise,
+George, you'll go to your office and write me your check for three
+hundred thousand dollars, anyhow, before you do a single other thing.
+Don't see anybody and don't do anything till you've done that. You can't
+be hung any more for a sheep than you can for a lamb. No one can prevent
+you from giving me that check. You're the city treasurer. Once I have
+that I can see my way out of this, and I'll pay it all back to you next
+week or the week after--this panic is sure to end in that time. With
+that put back in the treasury we can see them about the five hundred
+thousand a little later. In three months, or less, I can fix it so that
+you can put that back. As a matter of fact, I can do it in fifteen days
+once I am on my feet again. Time is all I want. You won't have lost
+your holdings and nobody will cause you any trouble if you put the
+money back. They don't care to risk a scandal any more than you do. Now
+what'll you do, George? Mollenhauer can't stop you from doing this any
+more than I can make you. Your life is in your own hands. What will you
+do?"
+
+Stener stood there ridiculously meditating when, as a matter of fact,
+his very financial blood was oozing away. Yet he was afraid to act. He
+was afraid of Mollenhauer, afraid of Cowperwood, afraid of life and of
+himself. The thought of panic, loss, was not so much a definite thing
+connected with his own property, his money, as it was with his social
+and political standing in the community. Few people have the sense of
+financial individuality strongly developed. They do not know what it
+means to be a controller of wealth, to have that which releases the
+sources of social action--its medium of exchange. They want money, but
+not for money's sake. They want it for what it will buy in the way
+of simple comforts, whereas the financier wants it for what it will
+control--for what it will represent in the way of dignity, force, power.
+Cowperwood wanted money in that way; Stener not. That was why he had
+been so ready to let Cowperwood act for him; and now, when he should
+have seen more clearly than ever the significance of what Cowperwood was
+proposing, he was frightened and his reason obscured by such things
+as Mollenhauer's probable opposition and rage, Cowperwood's possible
+failure, his own inability to face a real crisis. Cowperwood's innate
+financial ability did not reassure Stener in this hour. The banker was
+too young, too new. Mollenhauer was older, richer. So was Simpson; so
+was Butler. These men, with their wealth, represented the big forces,
+the big standards in his world. And besides, did not Cowperwood himself
+confess that he was in great danger--that he was in a corner. That was
+the worst possible confession to make to Stener--although under the
+circumstances it was the only one that could be made--for he had no
+courage to face danger.
+
+So it was that now, Stener stood by Cowperwood meditating--pale,
+flaccid; unable to see the main line of his interests quickly, unable
+to follow it definitely, surely, vigorously--while they drove to his
+office. Cowperwood entered it with him for the sake of continuing his
+plea.
+
+"Well, George," he said earnestly, "I wish you'd tell me. Time's short.
+We haven't a moment to lose. Give me the money, won't you, and I'll
+get out of this quick. We haven't a moment, I tell you. Don't let those
+people frighten you off. They're playing their own little game; you play
+yours."
+
+"I can't, Frank," said Stener, finally, very weakly, his sense of his
+own financial future, overcome for the time being by the thought of
+Mollenhauer's hard, controlling face. "I'll have to think. I can't do it
+right now. Strobik just left me before I saw you, and--"
+
+"Good God, George," exclaimed Cowperwood, scornfully, "don't talk about
+Strobik! What's he got to do with it? Think of yourself. Think of where
+you will be. It's your future--not Strobik's--that you have to think
+of."
+
+"I know, Frank," persisted Stener, weakly; "but, really, I don't see how
+I can. Honestly I don't. You say yourself you're not sure whether you
+can come out of things all right, and three hundred thousand more is
+three hundred thousand more. I can't, Frank. I really can't. It wouldn't
+be right. Besides, I want to talk to Mollenhauer first, anyhow."
+
+"Good God, how you talk!" exploded Cowperwood, angrily, looking at him
+with ill-concealed contempt. "Go ahead! See Mollenhauer! Let him tell
+you how to cut your own throat for his benefit. It won't be right to
+loan me three hundred thousand dollars more, but it will be right to let
+the five hundred thousand dollars you have loaned stand unprotected
+and lose it. That's right, isn't it? That's just what you propose to
+do--lose it, and everything else besides. I want to tell you what it
+is, George--you've lost your mind. You've let a single message from
+Mollenhauer frighten you to death, and because of that you're going to
+risk your fortune, your reputation, your standing--everything. Do you
+really realize what this means if I fail? You will be a convict, I tell
+you, George. You will go to prison. This fellow Mollenhauer, who is so
+quick to tell you what not to do now, will be the last man to turn a
+hand for you once you're down. Why, look at me--I've helped you, haven't
+I? Haven't I handled your affairs satisfactorily for you up to now? What
+in Heaven's name has got into you? What have you to be afraid of?"
+
+Stener was just about to make another weak rejoinder when the door
+from the outer office opened, and Albert Stires, Stener's chief clerk,
+entered. Stener was too flustered to really pay any attention to Stires
+for the moment; but Cowperwood took matters in his own hands.
+
+"What is it, Albert?" he asked, familiarly.
+
+"Mr. Sengstack from Mr. Mollenhauer to see Mr. Stener."
+
+At the sound of this dreadful name Stener wilted like a leaf. Cowperwood
+saw it. He realized that his last hope of getting the three hundred
+thousand dollars was now probably gone. Still he did not propose to give
+up as yet.
+
+"Well, George," he said, after Albert had gone out with instructions
+that Stener would see Sengstack in a moment. "I see how it is. This
+man has got you mesmerized. You can't act for yourself now--you're too
+frightened. I'll let it rest for the present; I'll come back. But for
+Heaven's sake pull yourself together. Think what it means. I'm telling
+you exactly what's going to happen if you don't. You'll be independently
+rich if you do. You'll be a convict if you don't."
+
+And deciding he would make one more effort in the street before seeing
+Butler again, he walked out briskly, jumped into his light spring
+runabout waiting outside--a handsome little yellow-glazed vehicle,
+with a yellow leather cushion seat, drawn by a young, high-stepping bay
+mare--and sent her scudding from door to door, throwing down the lines
+indifferently and bounding up the steps of banks and into office doors.
+
+But all without avail. All were interested, considerate; but things were
+very uncertain. The Girard National Bank refused an hour's grace, and he
+had to send a large bundle of his most valuable securities to cover
+his stock shrinkage there. Word came from his father at two that as
+president of the Third National he would have to call for his one
+hundred and fifty thousand dollars due there. The directors were
+suspicious of his stocks. He at once wrote a check against fifty
+thousand dollars of his deposits in that bank, took twenty-five thousand
+of his available office funds, called a loan of fifty thousand against
+Tighe & Co., and sold sixty thousand Green & Coates, a line he had been
+tentatively dabbling in, for one-third their value--and, combining the
+general results, sent them all to the Third National. His father was
+immensely relieved from one point of view, but sadly depressed from
+another. He hurried out at the noon-hour to see what his own holdings
+would bring. He was compromising himself in a way by doing it, but his
+parental heart, as well as is own financial interests, were involved.
+By mortgaging his house and securing loans on his furniture, carriages,
+lots, and stocks, he managed to raise one hundred thousand in cash, and
+deposited it in his own bank to Frank's credit; but it was a very light
+anchor to windward in this swirling storm, at that. Frank had been
+counting on getting all of his loans extended three or four days at
+least. Reviewing his situation at two o'clock of this Monday afternoon,
+he said to himself thoughtfully but grimly: "Well, Stener has to loan me
+three hundred thousand--that's all there is to it. And I'll have to see
+Butler now, or he'll be calling his loan before three."
+
+He hurried out, and was off to Butler's house, driving like mad.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVI
+
+
+Things had changed greatly since last Cowperwood had talked with Butler.
+Although most friendly at the time the proposition was made that he
+should combine with Mollenhauer and Simpson to sustain the market, alas,
+now on this Monday morning at nine o'clock, an additional complication
+had been added to the already tangled situation which had changed
+Butler's attitude completely. As he was leaving his home to enter his
+runabout, at nine o'clock in the morning of this same day in which
+Cowperwood was seeking Stener's aid, the postman, coming up, had handed
+Butler four letters, all of which he paused for a moment to glance at.
+One was from a sub-contractor by the name of O'Higgins, the second was
+from Father Michel, his confessor, of St. Timothy's, thanking him for
+a contribution to the parish poor fund; a third was from Drexel & Co.
+relating to a deposit, and the fourth was an anonymous communication, on
+cheap stationery from some one who was apparently not very literate--a
+woman most likely--written in a scrawling hand, which read:
+
+     DEAR SIR--This is to warn you that your daughter
+     Aileen is running around with a man that she shouldn't,
+     Frank A. Cowperwood, the banker.  If you don't believe
+     it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street.  Then you
+     can see for yourself.
+
+There was neither signature nor mark of any kind to indicate from whence
+it might have come. Butler got the impression strongly that it might
+have been written by some one living in the vicinity of the number
+indicated. His intuitions were keen at times. As a matter of fact, it
+was written by a girl, a member of St. Timothy's Church, who did live
+in the vicinity of the house indicated, and who knew Aileen by sight
+and was jealous of her airs and her position. She was a thin, anemic,
+dissatisfied creature who had the type of brain which can reconcile
+the gratification of personal spite with a comforting sense of having
+fulfilled a moral duty. Her home was some five doors north of the
+unregistered Cowperwood domicile on the opposite side of the street, and
+by degrees, in the course of time, she made out, or imagined that she
+had, the significance of this institution, piecing fact to fancy and
+fusing all with that keen intuition which is so closely related to fact.
+The result was eventually this letter which now spread clear and grim
+before Butler's eyes.
+
+The Irish are a philosophic as well as a practical race. Their first
+and strongest impulse is to make the best of a bad situation--to put a
+better face on evil than it normally wears. On first reading these
+lines the intelligence they conveyed sent a peculiar chill over Butler's
+sturdy frame. His jaw instinctively closed, and his gray eyes narrowed.
+Could this be true? If it were not, would the author of the letter say
+so practically, "If you don't believe it, watch the house at 931
+North Tenth Street"? Wasn't that in itself proof positive--the hard,
+matter-of-fact realism of it? And this was the man who had come to him
+the night before seeking aid--whom he had done so much to assist. There
+forced itself into his naturally slow-moving but rather accurate mind
+a sense of the distinction and charm of his daughter--a considerably
+sharper picture than he had ever had before, and at the same time a
+keener understanding of the personality of Frank Algernon Cowperwood.
+How was it he had failed to detect the real subtlety of this man? How
+was it he had never seen any sign of it, if there had been anything
+between Cowperwood and Aileen?
+
+Parents are frequently inclined, because of a time-flattered sense of
+security, to take their children for granted. Nothing ever has happened,
+so nothing ever will happen. They see their children every day, and
+through the eyes of affection; and despite their natural charm and
+their own strong parental love, the children are apt to become not only
+commonplaces, but ineffably secure against evil. Mary is naturally
+a good girl--a little wild, but what harm can befall her? John is a
+straight-forward, steady-going boy--how could he get into trouble? The
+astonishment of most parents at the sudden accidental revelation of evil
+in connection with any of their children is almost invariably pathetic.
+"My John! My Mary! Impossible!" But it is possible. Very possible.
+Decidedly likely. Some, through lack of experience or understanding,
+or both, grow hard and bitter on the instant. They feel themselves
+astonishingly abased in the face of notable tenderness and sacrifice.
+Others collapse before the grave manifestation of the insecurity and
+uncertainty of life--the mystic chemistry of our being. Still others,
+taught roughly by life, or endowed with understanding or intuition,
+or both, see in this the latest manifestation of that incomprehensible
+chemistry which we call life and personality, and, knowing that it is
+quite vain to hope to gainsay it, save by greater subtlety, put the best
+face they can upon the matter and call a truce until they can think. We
+all know that life is unsolvable--we who think. The remainder imagine a
+vain thing, and are full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
+
+So Edward Butler, being a man of much wit and hard, grim experience,
+stood there on his doorstep holding in his big, rough hand his thin
+slip of cheap paper which contained such a terrific indictment of his
+daughter. There came to him now a picture of her as she was when she was
+a very little girl--she was his first baby girl--and how keenly he had
+felt about her all these years. She had been a beautiful child--her
+red-gold hair had been pillowed on his breast many a time, and his hard,
+rough fingers had stroked her soft cheeks, lo, these thousands of times.
+Aileen, his lovely, dashing daughter of twenty-three! He was lost in
+dark, strange, unhappy speculations, without any present ability to
+think or say or do the right thing. He did not know what the right thing
+was, he finally confessed to himself. Aileen! Aileen! His Aileen! If her
+mother knew this it would break her heart. She mustn't! She mustn't! And
+yet mustn't she?
+
+The heart of a father! The world wanders into many strange by-paths of
+affection. The love of a mother for her children is dominant, leonine,
+selfish, and unselfish. It is concentric. The love of a husband for his
+wife, or of a lover for his sweetheart, is a sweet bond of agreement and
+exchange trade in a lovely contest. The love of a father for his son
+or daughter, where it is love at all, is a broad, generous, sad,
+contemplative giving without thought of return, a hail and farewell to a
+troubled traveler whom he would do much to guard, a balanced judgment of
+weakness and strength, with pity for failure and pride in achievement.
+It is a lovely, generous, philosophic blossom which rarely asks too
+much, and seeks only to give wisely and plentifully. "That my boy may
+succeed! That my daughter may be happy!" Who has not heard and dwelt
+upon these twin fervors of fatherly wisdom and tenderness?
+
+As Butler drove downtown his huge, slow-moving, in some respects chaotic
+mind turned over as rapidly as he could all of the possibilities in
+connection with this unexpected, sad, and disturbing revelation. Why had
+Cowperwood not been satisfied with his wife? Why should he enter
+into his (Butler's) home, of all places, to establish a clandestine
+relationship of this character? Was Aileen in any way to blame? She was
+not without mental resources of her own. She must have known what she
+was doing. She was a good Catholic, or, at least, had been raised
+so. All these years she had been going regularly to confession and
+communion. True, of late Butler had noticed that she did not care so
+much about going to church, would sometimes make excuses and stay at
+home on Sundays; but she had gone, as a rule. And now, now--his thoughts
+would come to the end of a blind alley, and then he would start back, as
+it were, mentally, to the center of things, and begin all over again.
+
+He went up the stairs to his own office slowly. He went in and sat down,
+and thought and thought. Ten o'clock came, and eleven. His son bothered
+him with an occasional matter of interest, but, finding him moody,
+finally abandoned him to his own speculations. It was twelve, and then
+one, and he was still sitting there thinking, when the presence of
+Cowperwood was announced.
+
+Cowperwood, on finding Butler not at home, and not encountering Aileen,
+had hurried up to the office of the Edward Butler Contracting Company,
+which was also the center of some of Butler's street-railway interests.
+The floor space controlled by the company was divided into the
+usual official compartments, with sections for the bookkeepers, the
+road-managers, the treasurer, and so on. Owen Butler, and his father
+had small but attractively furnished offices in the rear, where they
+transacted all the important business of the company.
+
+During this drive, curiously, by reason of one of those strange
+psychologic intuitions which so often precede a human difficulty of one
+sort or another, he had been thinking of Aileen. He was thinking of the
+peculiarity of his relationship with her, and of the fact that now he
+was running to her father for assistance. As he mounted the stairs he
+had a peculiar sense of the untoward; but he could not, in his view
+of life, give it countenance. One glance at Butler showed him that
+something had gone amiss. He was not so friendly; his glance was dark,
+and there was a certain sternness to his countenance which had never
+previously been manifested there in Cowperwood's memory. He perceived at
+once that here was something different from a mere intention to refuse
+him aid and call his loan. What was it? Aileen? It must be that.
+Somebody had suggested something. They had been seen together. Well,
+even so, nothing could be proved. Butler would obtain no sign from him.
+But his loan--that was to be called, surely. And as for an additional
+loan, he could see now, before a word had been said, that that thought
+was useless.
+
+"I came to see you about that loan of yours, Mr. Butler," he observed,
+briskly, with an old-time, jaunty air. You could not have told from his
+manner or his face that he had observed anything out of the ordinary.
+
+Butler, who was alone in the room--Owen having gone into an adjoining
+room--merely stared at him from under his shaggy brows.
+
+"I'll have to have that money," he said, brusquely, darkly.
+
+An old-time Irish rage suddenly welled up in his bosom as he
+contemplated this jaunty, sophisticated undoer of his daughter's virtue.
+He fairly glared at him as he thought of him and her.
+
+"I judged from the way things were going this morning that you might
+want it," Cowperwood replied, quietly, without sign of tremor. "The
+bottom's out, I see."
+
+"The bottom's out, and it'll not be put back soon, I'm thinkin'. I'll
+have to have what's belongin' to me to-day. I haven't any time to
+spare."
+
+"Very well," replied Cowperwood, who saw clearly how treacherous the
+situation was. The old man was in a dour mood. His presence was an
+irritation to him, for some reason--a deadly provocation. Cowperwood
+felt clearly that it must be Aileen, that he must know or suspect
+something.
+
+He must pretend business hurry and end this. "I'm sorry. I thought
+I might get an extension; but that's all right. I can get the money,
+though. I'll send it right over."
+
+He turned and walked quickly to the door.
+
+Butler got up. He had thought to manage this differently.
+
+He had thought to denounce or even assault this man. He was about to
+make some insinuating remark which would compel an answer, some direct
+charge; but Cowperwood was out and away as jaunty as ever.
+
+The old man was flustered, enraged, disappointed. He opened the small
+office door which led into the adjoining room, and called, "Owen!"
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+"Send over to Cowperwood's office and get that money."
+
+"You decided to call it, eh?"
+
+"I have."
+
+Owen was puzzled by the old man's angry mood. He wondered what it all
+meant, but thought he and Cowperwood might have had a few words. He went
+out to his desk to write a note and call a clerk. Butler went to the
+window and stared out. He was angry, bitter, brutal in his vein.
+
+"The dirty dog!" he suddenly exclaimed to himself, in a low voice. "I'll
+take every dollar he's got before I'm through with him. I'll send him to
+jail, I will. I'll break him, I will. Wait!"
+
+He clinched his big fists and his teeth.
+
+"I'll fix him. I'll show him. The dog! The damned scoundrel!"
+
+Never in his life before had he been so bitter, so cruel, so relentless
+in his mood.
+
+He walked his office floor thinking what he could do. Question
+Aileen--that was what he would do. If her face, or her lips, told him
+that his suspicion was true, he would deal with Cowperwood later. This
+city treasurer business, now. It was not a crime in so far as Cowperwood
+was concerned; but it might be made to be.
+
+So now, telling the clerk to say to Owen that he had gone down the
+street for a few moments, he boarded a street-car and rode out to his
+home, where he found his elder daughter just getting ready to go out.
+She wore a purple-velvet street dress edged with narrow, flat gilt
+braid, and a striking gold-and-purple turban. She had on dainty new
+boots of bronze kid and long gloves of lavender suede. In her ears was
+one of her latest affectations, a pair of long jet earrings. The old
+Irishman realized on this occasion, when he saw her, perhaps more
+clearly than he ever had in his life, that he had grown a bird of rare
+plumage.
+
+"Where are you going, daughter?" he asked, with a rather unsuccessful
+attempt to conceal his fear, distress, and smoldering anger.
+
+"To the library," she said easily, and yet with a sudden realization
+that all was not right with her father. His face was too heavy and gray.
+He looked tired and gloomy.
+
+"Come up to my office a minute," he said. "I want to see you before you
+go."
+
+Aileen heard this with a strange feeling of curiosity and wonder. It was
+not customary for her father to want to see her in his office just when
+she was going out; and his manner indicated, in this instance, that
+the exceptional procedure portended a strange revelation of some kind.
+Aileen, like every other person who offends against a rigid convention
+of the time, was conscious of and sensitive to the possible disastrous
+results which would follow exposure. She had often thought about what
+her family would think if they knew what she was doing; she had never
+been able to satisfy herself in her mind as to what they would do. Her
+father was a very vigorous man. But she had never known him to be cruel
+or cold in his attitude toward her or any other member of the family,
+and especially not toward her. Always he seemed too fond of her to be
+completely alienated by anything that might happen; yet she could not be
+sure.
+
+Butler led the way, planting his big feet solemnly on the steps as he
+went up. Aileen followed with a single glance at herself in the tall
+pier-mirror which stood in the hall, realizing at once how charming she
+looked and how uncertain she was feeling about what was to follow.
+What could her father want? It made the color leave her cheeks for the
+moment, as she thought what he might want.
+
+Butler strolled into his stuffy room and sat down in the big leather
+chair, disproportioned to everything else in the chamber, but which,
+nevertheless, accompanied his desk. Before him, against the light, was
+the visitor's chair, in which he liked to have those sit whose faces he
+was anxious to study. When Aileen entered he motioned her to it, which
+was also ominous to her, and said, "Sit down there."
+
+She took the seat, not knowing what to make of his procedure. On the
+instant her promise to Cowperwood to deny everything, whatever happened,
+came back to her. If her father was about to attack her on that score,
+he would get no satisfaction, she thought. She owed it to Frank. Her
+pretty face strengthened and hardened on the instant. Her small, white
+teeth set themselves in two even rows; and her father saw quite plainly
+that she was consciously bracing herself for an attack of some kind. He
+feared by this that she was guilty, and he was all the more distressed,
+ashamed, outraged, made wholly unhappy. He fumbled in the left-hand
+pocket of his coat and drew forth from among the various papers the
+fatal communication so cheap in its physical texture. His big fingers
+fumbled almost tremulously as he fished the letter-sheet out of the
+small envelope and unfolded it without saying a word. Aileen watched
+his face and his hands, wondering what it could be that he had here. He
+handed the paper over, small in his big fist, and said, "Read that."
+
+Aileen took it, and for a second was relieved to be able to lower her
+eyes to the paper. Her relief vanished in a second, when she realized
+how in a moment she would have to raise them again and look him in the
+face.
+
+     DEAR SIR--This is to warn you that your daughter
+     Aileen is running around with a man that she shouldn't,
+     Frank A. Cowperwood, the banker.  If you don't believe
+     it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street.  Then you
+     can see for yourself.
+
+In spite of herself the color fled from her cheeks instantly, only to
+come back in a hot, defiant wave.
+
+"Why, what a lie!" she said, lifting her eyes to her father's. "To think
+that any one should write such a thing of me! How dare they! I think
+it's a shame!"
+
+Old Butler looked at her narrowly, solemnly. He was not deceived to any
+extent by her bravado. If she were really innocent, he knew she would
+have jumped to her feet in her defiant way. Protest would have been
+written all over her. As it was, she only stared haughtily. He read
+through her eager defiance to the guilty truth.
+
+"How do ye know, daughter, that I haven't had the house watched?" he
+said, quizzically. "How do ye know that ye haven't been seen goin' in
+there?"
+
+Only Aileen's solemn promise to her lover could have saved her from
+this subtle thrust. As it was, she paled nervously; but she saw Frank
+Cowperwood, solemn and distinguished, asking her what she would say if
+she were caught.
+
+"It's a lie!" she said, catching her breath. "I wasn't at any house at
+that number, and no one saw me going in there. How can you ask me that,
+father?"
+
+In spite of his mixed feelings of uncertainty and yet unshakable
+belief that his daughter was guilty, he could not help admiring
+her courage--she was so defiant, as she sat there, so set in her
+determination to lie and thus defend herself. Her beauty helped her in
+his mood, raised her in his esteem. After all, what could you do with
+a woman of this kind? She was not a ten-year-old girl any more, as in a
+way he sometimes continued to fancy her.
+
+"Ye oughtn't to say that if it isn't true, Aileen," he said. "Ye
+oughtn't to lie. It's against your faith. Why would anybody write a
+letter like that if it wasn't so?"
+
+"But it's not so," insisted Aileen, pretending anger and outraged
+feeling, "and I don't think you have any right to sit there and say
+that to me. I haven't been there, and I'm not running around with Mr.
+Cowperwood. Why, I hardly know the man except in a social way."
+
+Butler shook his head solemnly.
+
+"It's a great blow to me, daughter. It's a great blow to me," he said.
+"I'm willing to take your word if ye say so; but I can't help thinkin'
+what a sad thing it would be if ye were lyin' to me. I haven't had the
+house watched. I only got this this mornin'. And what's written here may
+not be so. I hope it isn't. But we'll not say any more about that now.
+If there is anythin' in it, and ye haven't gone too far yet to save
+yourself, I want ye to think of your mother and your sister and your
+brothers, and be a good girl. Think of the church ye was raised in, and
+the name we've got to stand up for in the world. Why, if ye were doin'
+anything wrong, and the people of Philadelphy got a hold of it, the
+city, big as it is, wouldn't be big enough to hold us. Your brothers
+have got a reputation to make, their work to do here. You and your
+sister want to get married sometime. How could ye expect to look the
+world in the face and do anythin' at all if ye are doin' what this
+letter says ye are, and it was told about ye?"
+
+The old man's voice was thick with a strange, sad, alien emotion. He did
+not want to believe that his daughter was guilty, even though he knew
+she was. He did not want to face what he considered in his vigorous,
+religious way to be his duty, that of reproaching her sternly. There
+were some fathers who would have turned her out, he fancied. There were
+others who might possibly kill Cowperwood after a subtle investigation.
+That course was not for him. If vengeance he was to have, it must be
+through politics and finance--he must drive him out. But as for doing
+anything desperate in connection with Aileen, he could not think of it.
+
+"Oh, father," returned Aileen, with considerable histrionic ability in
+her assumption of pettishness, "how can you talk like this when you know
+I'm not guilty? When I tell you so?"
+
+The old Irishman saw through her make-believe with profound sadness--the
+feeling that one of his dearest hopes had been shattered. He had
+expected so much of her socially and matrimonially. Why, any one of a
+dozen remarkable young men might have married her, and she would have
+had lovely children to comfort him in his old age.
+
+"Well, we'll not talk any more about it now, daughter," he said,
+wearily. "Ye've been so much to me during all these years that I can
+scarcely belave anythin' wrong of ye. I don't want to, God knows. Ye're
+a grown woman, though, now; and if ye are doin' anythin' wrong I don't
+suppose I could do so much to stop ye. I might turn ye out, of course,
+as many a father would; but I wouldn't like to do anythin' like that.
+But if ye are doin' anythin' wrong"--and he put up his hand to stop a
+proposed protest on the part of Aileen--"remember, I'm certain to find
+it out in the long run, and Philadelphy won't be big enough to hold
+me and the man that's done this thing to me. I'll get him," he said,
+getting up dramatically. "I'll get him, and when I do--" He turned
+a livid face to the wall, and Aileen saw clearly that Cowperwood, in
+addition to any other troubles which might beset him, had her father
+to deal with. Was this why Frank had looked so sternly at her the night
+before?
+
+"Why, your mother would die of a broken heart if she thought there
+was anybody could say the least word against ye," pursued Butler, in a
+shaken voice. "This man has a family--a wife and children, Ye oughtn't
+to want to do anythin' to hurt them. They'll have trouble enough, if I'm
+not mistaken--facin' what's comin' to them in the future," and Butler's
+jaw hardened just a little. "Ye're a beautiful girl. Ye're young. Ye
+have money. There's dozens of young men'd be proud to make ye their
+wife. Whatever ye may be thinkin' or doin', don't throw away your life.
+Don't destroy your immortal soul. Don't break my heart entirely."
+
+Aileen, not ungenerous--fool of mingled affection and passion--could now
+have cried. She pitied her father from her heart; but her allegiance
+was to Cowperwood, her loyalty unshaken. She wanted to say something,
+to protest much more; but she knew that it was useless. Her father knew
+that she was lying.
+
+"Well, there's no use of my saying anything more, father," she said,
+getting up. The light of day was fading in the windows. The downstairs
+door closed with a light slam, indicating that one of the boys had come
+in. Her proposed trip to the library was now without interest to her.
+"You won't believe me, anyhow. I tell you, though, that I'm innocent
+just the same."
+
+Butler lifted his big, brown hand to command silence. She saw that this
+shameful relationship, as far as her father was concerned, had been
+made quite clear, and that this trying conference was now at an end. She
+turned and walked shamefacedly out. He waited until he heard her steps
+fading into faint nothings down the hall toward her room. Then he arose.
+Once more he clinched his big fists.
+
+"The scoundrel!" he said. "The scoundrel! I'll drive him out of
+Philadelphy, if it takes the last dollar I have in the world."
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVII
+
+
+For the first time in his life Cowperwood felt conscious of having been
+in the presence of that interesting social phenomenon--the outraged
+sentiment of a parent. While he had no absolute knowledge as to why
+Butler had been so enraged, he felt that Aileen was the contributing
+cause. He himself was a father. His boy, Frank, Jr., was to him not so
+remarkable. But little Lillian, with her dainty little slip of a body
+and bright-aureoled head, had always appealed to him. She was going to
+be a charming woman one day, he thought, and he was going to do much
+to establish her safely. He used to tell her that she had "eyes like
+buttons," "feet like a pussy-cat," and hands that were "just five cents'
+worth," they were so little. The child admired her father and would
+often stand by his chair in the library or the sitting-room, or his
+desk in his private office, or by his seat at the table, asking him
+questions.
+
+This attitude toward his own daughter made him see clearly how Butler
+might feel toward Aileen. He wondered how he would feel if it were his
+own little Lillian, and still he did not believe he would make much fuss
+over the matter, either with himself or with her, if she were as old as
+Aileen. Children and their lives were more or less above the willing
+of parents, anyhow, and it would be a difficult thing for any parent
+to control any child, unless the child were naturally docile-minded and
+willing to be controlled.
+
+It also made him smile, in a grim way, to see how fate was raining
+difficulties on him. The Chicago fire, Stener's early absence, Butler,
+Mollenhauer, and Simpson's indifference to Stener's fate and his. And
+now this probable revelation in connection with Aileen. He could not
+be sure as yet, but his intuitive instincts told him that it must be
+something like this.
+
+Now he was distressed as to what Aileen would do, say if suddenly she
+were confronted by her father. If he could only get to her! But if he
+was to meet Butler's call for his loan, and the others which would come
+yet to-day or on the morrow, there was not a moment to lose. If he did
+not pay he must assign at once. Butler's rage, Aileen, his own danger,
+were brushed aside for the moment. His mind concentrated wholly on how
+to save himself financially.
+
+He hurried to visit George Waterman; David Wiggin, his wife's brother,
+who was now fairly well to do; Joseph Zimmerman, the wealthy dry-goods
+dealer who had dealt with him in the past; Judge Kitchen, a private
+manipulator of considerable wealth; Frederick Van Nostrand, the State
+treasurer, who was interested in local street-railway stocks, and
+others. Of all those to whom he appealed one was actually not in
+a position to do anything for him; another was afraid; a third
+was calculating eagerly to drive a hard bargain; a fourth was too
+deliberate, anxious to have much time. All scented the true value of his
+situation, all wanted time to consider, and he had no time to consider.
+Judge Kitchen did agree to lend him thirty thousand dollars--a paltry
+sum. Joseph Zimmerman would only risk twenty-five thousand dollars. He
+could see where, all told, he might raise seventy-five thousand dollars
+by hypothecating double the amount in shares; but this was ridiculously
+insufficient. He had figured again, to a dollar, and he must have at
+least two hundred and fifty thousand dollars above all his present
+holdings, or he must close his doors. To-morrow at two o'clock he would
+know. If he didn't he would be written down as "failed" on a score of
+ledgers in Philadelphia.
+
+What a pretty pass for one to come to whose hopes had so recently run so
+high! There was a loan of one hundred thousand dollars from the Girard
+National Bank which he was particularly anxious to clear off. This bank
+was the most important in the city, and if he retained its good will
+by meeting this loan promptly he might hope for favors in the future
+whatever happened. Yet, at the moment, he did not see how he could do
+it. He decided, however, after some reflection, that he would deliver
+the stocks which Judge Kitchen, Zimmerman, and others had agreed to
+take and get their checks or cash yet this night. Then he would persuade
+Stener to let him have a check for the sixty thousand dollars' worth of
+city loan he had purchased this morning on 'change. Out of it he could
+take twenty-five thousand dollars to make up the balance due the bank,
+and still have thirty-five thousand for himself.
+
+The one unfortunate thing about such an arrangement was that by doing
+it he was building up a rather complicated situation in regard to these
+same certificates. Since their purchase in the morning, he had not
+deposited them in the sinking-fund, where they belonged (they had been
+delivered to his office by half past one in the afternoon), but, on the
+contrary, had immediately hypothecated them to cover another loan. It
+was a risky thing to have done, considering that he was in danger of
+failing and that he was not absolutely sure of being able to take them
+up in time.
+
+But, he reasoned, he had a working agreement with the city treasurer
+(illegal of course), which would make such a transaction rather
+plausible, and almost all right, even if he failed, and that was that
+none of his accounts were supposed necessarily to be put straight until
+the end of the month. If he failed, and the certificates were not in the
+sinking-fund, he could say, as was the truth, that he was in the habit
+of taking his time, and had forgotten. This collecting of a check,
+therefore, for these as yet undeposited certificates would be
+technically, if not legally and morally, plausible. The city would be
+out only an additional sixty thousand dollars--making five hundred and
+sixty thousand dollars all told, which in view of its probable loss of
+five hundred thousand did not make so much difference. But his caution
+clashed with his need on this occasion, and he decided that he would not
+call for the check unless Stener finally refused to aid him with three
+hundred thousand more, in which case he would claim it as his right. In
+all likelihood Stener would not think to ask whether the certificates
+were in the sinking-fund or not. If he did, he would have to lie--that
+was all.
+
+He drove rapidly back to his office, and, finding Butler's note, as
+he expected, wrote a check on his father's bank for the one hundred
+thousand dollars which had been placed to his credit by his loving
+parent, and sent it around to Butler's office. There was another note,
+from Albert Stires, Stener's secretary, advising him not to buy or sell
+any more city loan--that until further notice such transactions would
+not be honored. Cowperwood immediately sensed the source of this
+warning. Stener had been in conference with Butler or Mollenhauer, and
+had been warned and frightened. Nevertheless, he got in his buggy again
+and drove directly to the city treasurer's office.
+
+Since Cowperwood's visit Stener had talked still more with Sengstack,
+Strobik, and others, all sent to see that a proper fear of things
+financial had been put in his heart. The result was decidedly one which
+spelled opposition to Cowperwood.
+
+Strobik was considerably disturbed himself. He and Wycroft and Harmon
+had also been using money out of the treasury--much smaller sums, of
+course, for they had not Cowperwood's financial imagination--and were
+disturbed as to how they would return what they owed before the storm
+broke. If Cowperwood failed, and Stener was short in his accounts,
+the whole budget might be investigated, and then their loans would be
+brought to light. The thing to do was to return what they owed, and
+then, at least, no charge of malfeasance would lie against them.
+
+"Go to Mollenhauer," Strobik had advised Stener, shortly after
+Cowperwood had left the latter's office, "and tell him the whole story.
+He put you here. He was strong for your nomination. Tell him just where
+you stand and ask him what to do. He'll probably be able to tell you.
+Offer him your holdings to help you out. You have to. You can't help
+yourself. Don't loan Cowperwood another damned dollar, whatever you
+do. He's got you in so deep now you can hardly hope to get out. Ask
+Mollenhauer if he won't help you to get Cowperwood to put that money
+back. He may be able to influence him."
+
+There was more in this conversation to the same effect, and then Stener
+hurried as fast as his legs could carry him to Mollenhauer's office. He
+was so frightened that he could scarcely breathe, and he was quite ready
+to throw himself on his knees before the big German-American financier
+and leader. Oh, if Mr. Mollenhauer would only help him! If he could just
+get out of this without going to jail!
+
+"Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!" he repeated, over and over to himself,
+as he walked. "What shall I do?"
+
+The attitude of Henry A. Mollenhauer, grim, political boss that he
+was--trained in a hard school--was precisely the attitude of every such
+man in all such trying circumstances.
+
+He was wondering, in view of what Butler had told him, just how much he
+could advantage himself in this situation. If he could, he wanted to get
+control of whatever street-railway stock Stener now had, without in any
+way compromising himself. Stener's shares could easily be transferred on
+'change through Mollenhauer's brokers to a dummy, who would eventually
+transfer them to himself (Mollenhauer). Stener must be squeezed
+thoroughly, though, this afternoon, and as for his five hundred thousand
+dollars' indebtedness to the treasury, Mollenhauer did not see what
+could be done about that. If Cowperwood could not pay it, the city would
+have to lose it; but the scandal must be hushed up until after election.
+Stener, unless the various party leaders had more generosity than
+Mollenhauer imagined, would have to suffer exposure, arrest, trial,
+confiscation of his property, and possibly sentence to the penitentiary,
+though this might easily be commuted by the governor, once public
+excitement died down. He did not trouble to think whether Cowperwood was
+criminally involved or not. A hundred to one he was not. Trust a shrewd
+man like that to take care of himself. But if there was any way to
+shoulder the blame on to Cowperwood, and so clear the treasurer and the
+skirts of the party, he would not object to that. He wanted to hear the
+full story of Stener's relations with the broker first. Meanwhile, the
+thing to do was to seize what Stener had to yield.
+
+The troubled city treasurer, on being shown in Mr. Mollenhauer's
+presence, at once sank feebly in a chair and collapsed. He was entirely
+done for mentally. His nerve was gone, his courage exhausted like a
+breath.
+
+"Well, Mr. Stener?" queried Mr. Mollenhauer, impressively, pretending
+not to know what brought him.
+
+"I came about this matter of my loans to Mr. Cowperwood."
+
+"Well, what about them?"
+
+"Well, he owes me, or the city treasury rather, five hundred thousand
+dollars, and I understand that he is going to fail and that he can't pay
+it back."
+
+"Who told you that?"
+
+"Mr. Sengstack, and since then Mr. Cowperwood has been to see me. He
+tells me he must have more money or he will fail and he wants to borrow
+three hundred thousand dollars more. He says he must have it."
+
+"So!" said Mr. Mollenhauer, impressively, and with an air of
+astonishment which he did not feel. "You would not think of doing that,
+of course. You're too badly involved as it is. If he wants to know why,
+refer him to me. Don't advance him another dollar. If you do, and this
+case comes to trial, no court would have any mercy on you. It's going
+to be difficult enough to do anything for you as it is. However, if you
+don't advance him any more--we will see. It may be possible, I can't
+say, but at any rate, no more money must leave the treasury to bolster
+up this bad business. It's much too difficult as it now is." He stared
+at Stener warningly. And he, shaken and sick, yet because of the faint
+suggestion of mercy involved somewhere in Mollenhauer's remarks, now
+slipped from his chair to his knees and folded his hands in the uplifted
+attitude of a devotee before a sacred image.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Mollenhauer," he choked, beginning to cry, "I didn't mean to do
+anything wrong. Strobik and Wycroft told me it was all right. You sent
+me to Cowperwood in the first place. I only did what I thought the
+others had been doing. Mr. Bode did it, just like I have been doing.
+He dealt with Tighe and Company. I have a wife and four children, Mr.
+Mollenhauer. My youngest boy is only seven years old. Think of them, Mr.
+Mollenhauer! Think of what my arrest will mean to them! I don't want to
+go to jail. I didn't think I was doing anything very wrong--honestly I
+didn't. I'll give up all I've got. You can have all my stocks and houses
+and lots--anything--if you'll only get me out of this. You won't let 'em
+send me to jail, will you?"
+
+His fat, white lips were trembling--wabbling nervously--and big hot
+tears were coursing down his previously pale but now flushed cheeks.
+He presented one of those almost unbelievable pictures which are yet so
+intensely human and so true. If only the great financial and political
+giants would for once accurately reveal the details of their lives!
+
+Mollenhauer looked at him calmly, meditatively. How often had he seen
+weaklings no more dishonest than himself, but without his courage and
+subtlety, pleading to him in this fashion, not on their knees exactly,
+but intellectually so! Life to him, as to every other man of large
+practical knowledge and insight, was an inexplicable tangle. What were
+you going to do about the so-called morals and precepts of the world?
+This man Stener fancied that he was dishonest, and that he, Mollenhauer,
+was honest. He was here, self-convicted of sin, pleading to him,
+Mollenhauer, as he would to a righteous, unstained saint. As a matter
+of fact, Mollenhauer knew that he was simply shrewder, more far-seeing,
+more calculating, not less dishonest. Stener was lacking in force and
+brains--not morals. This lack was his principal crime. There were people
+who believed in some esoteric standard of right--some ideal of conduct
+absolutely and very far removed from practical life; but he had never
+seen them practice it save to their own financial (not moral--he would
+not say that) destruction. They were never significant, practical men
+who clung to these fatuous ideals. They were always poor, nondescript,
+negligible dreamers. He could not have made Stener understand all this
+if he had wanted to, and he certainly did not want to. It was too bad
+about Mrs. Stener and the little Steners. No doubt she had worked hard,
+as had Stener, to get up in the world and be something--just a little
+more than miserably poor; and now this unfortunate complication had to
+arise to undo them--this Chicago fire. What a curious thing that was!
+If any one thing more than another made him doubt the existence of a
+kindly, overruling Providence, it was the unheralded storms out of clear
+skies--financial, social, anything you choose--that so often brought
+ruin and disaster to so many.
+
+"Get Up, Stener," he said, calmly, after a few moments. "You mustn't
+give way to your feelings like this. You must not cry. These troubles
+are never unraveled by tears. You must do a little thinking for
+yourself. Perhaps your situation isn't so bad."
+
+As he was saying this Stener was putting himself back in his chair,
+getting out his handkerchief, and sobbing hopelessly in it.
+
+"I'll do what I can, Stener. I won't promise anything. I can't tell you
+what the result will be. There are many peculiar political forces in
+this city. I may not be able to save you, but I am perfectly willing to
+try. You must put yourself absolutely under my direction. You must not
+say or do anything without first consulting with me. I will send my
+secretary to you from time to time. He will tell you what to do. You
+must not come to me unless I send for you. Do you understand that
+thoroughly?"
+
+"Yes, Mr. Mollenhauer."
+
+"Well, now, dry your eyes. I don't want you to go out of this office
+crying. Go back to your office, and I will send Sengstack to see you.
+He will tell you what to do. Follow him exactly. And whenever I send for
+you come at once."
+
+He got up, large, self-confident, reserved. Stener, buoyed up by the
+subtle reassurance of his remarks, recovered to a degree his equanimity.
+Mr. Mollenhauer, the great, powerful Mr. Mollenhauer was going to help
+him out of his scrape. He might not have to go to jail after all.
+He left after a few moments, his face a little red from weeping, but
+otherwise free of telltale marks, and returned to his office.
+
+Three-quarters of an hour later, Sengstack called on him for the second
+time that day--Abner Sengstack, small, dark-faced, club-footed, a great
+sole of leather three inches thick under his short, withered right leg,
+his slightly Slavic, highly intelligent countenance burning with a pair
+of keen, piercing, inscrutable black eyes. Sengstack was a fit secretary
+for Mollenhauer. You could see at one glance that he would make Stener
+do exactly what Mollenhauer suggested. His business was to induce Stener
+to part with his street-railway holdings at once through Tighe & Co.,
+Butler's brokers, to the political sub-agent who would eventually
+transfer them to Mollenhauer. What little Stener received for them
+might well go into the treasury. Tighe & Co. would manage the "'change"
+subtleties of this without giving any one else a chance to bid, while at
+the same time making it appear an open-market transaction. At the same
+time Sengstack went carefully into the state of the treasurer's office
+for his master's benefit--finding out what it was that Strobik, Wycroft,
+and Harmon had been doing with their loans. Via another source they were
+ordered to disgorge at once or face prosecution. They were a part of
+Mollenhauer's political machine. Then, having cautioned Stener not to
+set over the remainder of his property to any one, and not to listen
+to any one, most of all to the Machiavellian counsel of Cowperwood,
+Sengstack left.
+
+Needless to say, Mollenhauer was greatly gratified by this turn of
+affairs. Cowperwood was now most likely in a position where he would
+have to come and see him, or if not, a good share of the properties he
+controlled were already in Mollenhauer's possession. If by some hook or
+crook he could secure the remainder, Simpson and Butler might well talk
+to him about this street-railway business. His holdings were now as
+large as any, if not quite the largest.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVIII
+
+
+It was in the face of this very altered situation that Cowperwood
+arrived at Stener's office late this Monday afternoon.
+
+Stener was quite alone, worried and distraught. He was anxious to see
+Cowperwood, and at the same time afraid.
+
+"George," began Cowperwood, briskly, on seeing him, "I haven't much time
+to spare now, but I've come, finally, to tell you that you'll have to
+let me have three hundred thousand more if you don't want me to fail.
+Things are looking very bad today. They've caught me in a corner on
+my loans; but this storm isn't going to last. You can see by the very
+character of it that it can't."
+
+He was looking at Stener's face, and seeing fear and a pained and
+yet very definite necessity for opposition written there. "Chicago is
+burning, but it will be built up again. Business will be all the better
+for it later on. Now, I want you to be reasonable and help me. Don't get
+frightened."
+
+Stener stirred uneasily. "Don't let these politicians scare you to
+death. It will all blow over in a few days, and then we'll be better off
+than ever. Did you see Mollenhauer?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, what did he have to say?"
+
+"He said just what I thought he'd say. He won't let me do this. I can't,
+Frank, I tell you!" exclaimed Stener, jumping up. He was so nervous
+that he had had a hard time keeping his seat during this short, direct
+conversation. "I can't! They've got me in a corner! They're after me!
+They all know what we've been doing. Oh, say, Frank"--he threw up his
+arms wildly--"you've got to get me out of this. You've got to let me
+have that five hundred thousand back and get me out of this. If you
+don't, and you should fail, they'll send me to the penitentiary. I've
+got a wife and four children, Frank. I can't go on in this. It's too big
+for me. I never should have gone in on it in the first place. I never
+would have if you hadn't persuaded me, in a way. I never thought when I
+began that I would ever get in as bad as all this. I can't go on, Frank.
+I can't! I'm willing you should have all my stock. Only give me back
+that five hundred thousand, and we'll call it even." His voice rose
+nervously as he talked, and he wiped his wet forehead with his hand and
+stared at Cowperwood pleadingly, foolishly.
+
+Cowperwood stared at him in return for a few moments with a cold, fishy
+eye. He knew a great deal about human nature, and he was ready for and
+expectant of any queer shift in an individual's attitude, particularly
+in time of panic; but this shift of Stener's was quite too much. "Whom
+else have you been talking to, George, since I saw you? Whom have you
+seen? What did Sengstack have to say?"
+
+"He says just what Mollenhauer does, that I mustn't loan any more money
+under any circumstances, and he says I ought to get that five hundred
+thousand back as quickly as possible."
+
+"And you think Mollenhauer wants to help you, do you?" inquired
+Cowperwood, finding it hard to efface the contempt which kept forcing
+itself into his voice.
+
+"I think he does, yes. I don't know who else will, Frank, if he don't.
+He's one of the big political forces in this town."
+
+"Listen to me," began Cowperwood, eyeing him fixedly. Then he paused.
+"What did he say you should do about your holdings?"
+
+"Sell them through Tighe & Company and put the money back in the
+treasury, if you won't take them."
+
+"Sell them to whom?" asked Cowperwood, thinking of Stener's last words.
+
+"To any one on 'change who'll take them, I suppose. I don't know."
+
+"I thought so," said Cowperwood, comprehendingly. "I might have known
+as much. They're working you, George. They're simply trying to get your
+stocks away from you. Mollenhauer is leading you on. He knows I can't do
+what you want--give you back the five hundred thousand dollars. He wants
+you to throw your stocks on the market so that he can pick them up.
+Depend on it, that's all arranged for already. When you do, he's got me
+in his clutches, or he thinks he has--he and Butler and Simpson. They
+want to get together on this local street-railway situation, and I know
+it, I feel it. I've felt it coming all along. Mollenhauer hasn't any
+more intention of helping you than he has of flying. Once you've sold
+your stocks he's through with you--mark my word. Do you think he'll
+turn a hand to keep you out of the penitentiary once you're out of this
+street-railway situation? He will not. And if you think so, you're a
+bigger fool than I take you to be, George. Don't go crazy. Don't lose
+your head. Be sensible. Look the situation in the face. Let me explain
+it to you. If you don't help me now--if you don't let me have three
+hundred thousand dollars by to-morrow noon, at the very latest, I'm
+through, and so are you. There is not a thing the matter with our
+situation. Those stocks of ours are as good to-day as they ever were.
+Why, great heavens, man, the railways are there behind them. They're
+paying. The Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line is earning one
+thousand dollars a day right now. What better evidence do you want than
+that? Green & Coates is earning five hundred dollars. You're frightened,
+George. These damned political schemers have scared you. Why, you've as
+good a right to loan that money as Bode and Murtagh had before you. They
+did it. You've been doing it for Mollenhauer and the others, only so
+long as you do it for them it's all right. What's a designated city
+depository but a loan?"
+
+Cowperwood was referring to the system under which certain portions of
+city money, like the sinking-fund, were permitted to be kept in certain
+banks at a low rate of interest or no rate--banks in which Mollenhauer
+and Butler and Simpson were interested. This was their safe graft.
+
+"Don't throw your chances away, George. Don't quit now. You'll be worth
+millions in a few years, and you won't have to turn a hand. All you will
+have to do will be to keep what you have. If you don't help me, mark my
+word, they'll throw you over the moment I'm out of this, and they'll let
+you go to the penitentiary. Who's going to put up five hundred thousand
+dollars for you, George? Where is Mollenhauer going to get it, or
+Butler, or anybody, in these times? They can't. They don't intend to.
+When I'm through, you're through, and you'll be exposed quicker than any
+one else. They can't hurt me, George. I'm an agent. I didn't ask you to
+come to me. You came to me in the first place of your own accord. If you
+don't help me, you're through, I tell you, and you're going to be sent
+to the penitentiary as sure as there are jails. Why don't you take a
+stand, George? Why don't you stand your ground? You have your wife and
+children to look after. You can't be any worse off loaning me three
+hundred thousand more than you are right now. What difference does it
+make--five hundred thousand or eight hundred thousand? It's all one and
+the same thing, if you're going to be tried for it. Besides, if you loan
+me this, there isn't going to be any trial. I'm not going to fail. This
+storm will blow over in a week or ten days, and we'll be rich again.
+For Heaven's sake, George, don't go to pieces this way! Be sensible! Be
+reasonable!"
+
+He paused, for Stener's face had become a jelly-like mass of woe.
+
+"I can't, Frank," he wailed. "I tell you I can't. They'll punish me
+worse than ever if I do that. They'll never let up on me. You don't know
+these people."
+
+In Stener's crumpling weakness Cowperwood read his own fate. What could
+you do with a man like that? How brace him up? You couldn't! And with a
+gesture of infinite understanding, disgust, noble indifference, he threw
+up his hands and started to walk out. At the door he turned.
+
+"George," he said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for you, not for myself. I'll
+come out of things all right, eventually. I'll be rich. But, George,
+you're making the one great mistake of your life. You'll be poor; you'll
+be a convict, and you'll have only yourself to blame. There isn't a
+thing the matter with this money situation except the fire. There isn't
+a thing wrong with my affairs except this slump in stocks--this panic.
+You sit there, a fortune in your hands, and you allow a lot of schemers,
+highbinders, who don't know any more of your affairs or mine than a
+rabbit, and who haven't any interest in you except to plan what they can
+get out of you, to frighten you and prevent you from doing the one thing
+that will save your life. Three hundred thousand paltry dollars that in
+three or four weeks from now I can pay back to you four and five
+times over, and for that you will see me go broke and yourself to the
+penitentiary. I can't understand it, George. You're out of your mind.
+You're going to rue this the longest day that you live."
+
+He waited a few moments to see if this, by any twist of chance, would
+have any effect; then, noting that Stener still remained a wilted,
+helpless mass of nothing, he shook his head gloomily and walked out.
+
+It was the first time in his life that Cowperwood had ever shown the
+least sign of weakening or despair. He had felt all along as though
+there were nothing to the Greek theory of being pursued by the furies.
+Now, however, there seemed an untoward fate which was pursuing him.
+It looked that way. Still, fate or no fate, he did not propose to be
+daunted. Even in this very beginning of a tendency to feel despondent he
+threw back his head, expanded his chest, and walked as briskly as ever.
+
+
+In the large room outside Stener's private office he encountered Albert
+Stires, Stener's chief clerk and secretary. He and Albert had exchanged
+many friendly greetings in times past, and all the little minor
+transactions in regard to city loan had been discussed between them, for
+Albert knew more of the intricacies of finance and financial bookkeeping
+than Stener would ever know.
+
+At the sight of Stires the thought in regard to the sixty thousand
+dollars' worth of city loan certificates, previously referred to,
+flashed suddenly through his mind. He had not deposited them in the
+sinking-fund, and did not intend to for the present--could not, unless
+considerable free money were to reach him shortly--for he had used them
+to satisfy other pressing demands, and had no free money to buy them
+back--or, in other words, release them. And he did not want to just at
+this moment. Under the law governing transactions of this kind with the
+city treasurer, he was supposed to deposit them at once to the credit of
+the city, and not to draw his pay therefor from the city treasurer until
+he had. To be very exact, the city treasurer, under the law, was not
+supposed to pay him for any transaction of this kind until he or his
+agents presented a voucher from the bank or other organization carrying
+the sinking-fund for the city showing that the certificates so purchased
+had actually been deposited there. As a matter of fact, under the custom
+which had grown up between him and Stener, the law had long been
+ignored in this respect. He could buy certificates of city loan for
+the sinking-fund up to any reasonable amount, hypothecate them where he
+pleased, and draw his pay from the city without presenting a voucher. At
+the end of the month sufficient certificates of city loan could usually
+be gathered from one source and another to make up the deficiency, or
+the deficiency could actually be ignored, as had been done on more than
+one occasion, for long periods of time, while he used money secured by
+hypothecating the shares for speculative purposes. This was actually
+illegal; but neither Cowperwood nor Stener saw it in that light or
+cared.
+
+The trouble with this particular transaction was the note that he had
+received from Stener ordering him to stop both buying and selling, which
+put his relations with the city treasury on a very formal basis. He
+had bought these certificates before receiving this note, but had not
+deposited them. He was going now to collect his check; but perhaps the
+old, easy system of balancing matters at the end of the month might not
+be said to obtain any longer. Stires might ask him to present a voucher
+of deposit. If so, he could not now get this check for sixty thousand
+dollars, for he did not have the certificates to deposit. If not, he
+might get the money; but, also, it might constitute the basis of
+some subsequent legal action. If he did not eventually deposit the
+certificates before failure, some charge such as that of larceny might
+be brought against him. Still, he said to himself, he might not really
+fail even yet. If any of his banking associates should, for any reason,
+modify their decision in regard to calling his loans, he would not.
+Would Stener make a row about this if he so secured this check? Would
+the city officials pay any attention to him if he did? Could you get any
+district attorney to take cognizance of such a transaction, if Stener
+did complain? No, not in all likelihood; and, anyhow, nothing would
+come of it. No jury would punish him in the face of the understanding
+existing between him and Stener as agent or broker and principal. And,
+once he had the money, it was a hundred to one Stener would think no
+more about it. It would go in among the various unsatisfied liabilities,
+and nothing more would be thought about it. Like lightning the entire
+situation hashed through his mind. He would risk it. He stopped before
+the chief clerk's desk.
+
+"Albert," he said, in a low voice, "I bought sixty thousand dollars'
+worth of city loan for the sinking-fund this morning. Will you give my
+boy a check for it in the morning, or, better yet, will you give it to
+me now? I got your note about no more purchases. I'm going back to
+the office. You can just credit the sinking-fund with eight hundred
+certificates at from seventy-five to eighty. I'll send you the itemized
+list later."
+
+"Certainly, Mr. Cowperwood, certainly," replied Albert, with alacrity.
+"Stocks are getting an awful knock, aren't they? I hope you're not very
+much troubled by it?"
+
+"Not very, Albert," replied Cowperwood, smiling, the while the chief
+clerk was making out his check. He was wondering if by any chance
+Stener would appear and attempt to interfere with this. It was a legal
+transaction. He had a right to the check provided he deposited the
+certificates, as was his custom, with the trustee of the fund. He waited
+tensely while Albert wrote, and finally, with the check actually in
+his hand, breathed a sigh of relief. Here, at least, was sixty thousand
+dollars, and to-night's work would enable him to cash the seventy-five
+thousand that had been promised him. To-morrow, once more he must see
+Leigh, Kitchen, Jay Cooke & Co., Edward Clark & Co.--all the long list
+of people to whom he owed loans and find out what could be done. If he
+could only get time! If he could get just a week!
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIX
+
+
+But time was not a thing to be had in this emergency. With the
+seventy-five thousand dollars his friends had extended to him, and sixty
+thousand dollars secured from Stires, Cowperwood met the Girard call and
+placed the balance, thirty-five thousand dollars, in a private safe in
+his own home. He then made a final appeal to the bankers and financiers,
+but they refused to help him. He did not, however, commiserate himself
+in this hour. He looked out of his office window into the little court,
+and sighed. What more could he do? He sent a note to his father, asking
+him to call for lunch. He sent a note to his lawyer, Harper Steger, a
+man of his own age whom he liked very much, and asked him to call
+also. He evolved in his own mind various plans of delay, addresses to
+creditors and the like, but alas! he was going to fail. And the worst
+of it was that this matter of the city treasurer's loans was bound to
+become a public, and more than a public, a political, scandal. And the
+charge of conniving, if not illegally, at least morally, at the misuse
+of the city's money was the one thing that would hurt him most.
+
+How industriously his rivals would advertise this fact! He might get
+on his feet again if he failed; but it would be uphill work. And his
+father! His father would be pulled down with him. It was probable
+that he would be forced out of the presidency of his bank. With these
+thoughts Cowperwood sat there waiting. As he did so Aileen Butler was
+announced by his office-boy, and at the same time Albert Stires.
+
+"Show in Miss Butler," he said, getting up. "Tell Mr. Stires to wait."
+Aileen came briskly, vigorously in, her beautiful body clothed as
+decoratively as ever. The street suit that she wore was of a light
+golden-brown broadcloth, faceted with small, dark-red buttons. Her head
+was decorated with a brownish-red shake of a type she had learned was
+becoming to her, brimless and with a trailing plume, and her throat was
+graced by a three-strand necklace of gold beads. Her hands were smoothly
+gloved as usual, and her little feet daintily shod. There was a look
+of girlish distress in her eyes, which, however, she was trying hard to
+conceal.
+
+"Honey," she exclaimed, on seeing him, her arms extended--"what is the
+trouble? I wanted so much to ask you the other night. You're not going
+to fail, are you? I heard father and Owen talking about you last night."
+
+"What did they say?" he inquired, putting his arm around her and looking
+quietly into her nervous eyes.
+
+"Oh, you know, I think papa is very angry with you. He suspects. Some
+one sent him an anonymous letter. He tried to get it out of me last
+night, but he didn't succeed. I denied everything. I was in here twice
+this morning to see you, but you were out. I was so afraid that he might
+see you first, and that you might say something."
+
+"Me, Aileen?"
+
+"Well, no, not exactly. I didn't think that. I don't know what I
+thought. Oh, honey, I've been so worried. You know, I didn't sleep at
+all. I thought I was stronger than that; but I was so worried about you.
+You know, he put me in a strong light by his desk, where he could see my
+face, and then he showed me the letter. I was so astonished for a moment
+I hardly know what I said or how I looked."
+
+"What did you say?"
+
+"Why, I said: 'What a shame! It isn't so!' But I didn't say it right
+away. My heart was going like a trip-hammer. I'm afraid he must have
+been able to tell something from my face. I could hardly get my breath."
+
+"He's a shrewd man, your father," he commented. "He knows something
+about life. Now you see how difficult these situations are. It's a
+blessing he decided to show you the letter instead of watching the
+house. I suppose he felt too bad to do that. He can't prove anything
+now. But he knows. You can't deceive him."
+
+"How do you know he knows?"
+
+"I saw him yesterday."
+
+"Did he talk to you about it?"
+
+"No; I saw his face. He simply looked at me."
+
+"Honey! I'm so sorry for him!"
+
+"I know you are. So am I. But it can't be helped now. We should have
+thought of that in the first place."
+
+"But I love you so. Oh, honey, he will never forgive me. He loves me so.
+He mustn't know. I won't admit anything. But, oh, dear!"
+
+She put her hands tightly together on his bosom, and he looked
+consolingly into her eyes. Her eyelids, were trembling, and her lips.
+She was sorry for her father, herself, Cowperwood. Through her he could
+sense the force of Butler's parental affection; the volume and danger of
+his rage. There were so many, many things as he saw it now converging to
+make a dramatic denouement.
+
+"Never mind," he replied; "it can't be helped now. Where is my strong,
+determined Aileen? I thought you were going to be so brave? Aren't you
+going to be? I need to have you that way now."
+
+"Do you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Are you in trouble?"
+
+"I think I am going to fail, dear."
+
+"Oh, no!"
+
+"Yes, honey. I'm at the end of my rope. I don't see any way out just at
+present. I've sent for my father and my lawyer. You mustn't stay
+here, sweet. Your father may come in here at any time. We must meet
+somewhere--to-morrow, say--to-morrow afternoon. You remember Indian
+Rock, out on the Wissahickon?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Could you be there at four?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Look out for who's following. If I'm not there by four-thirty, don't
+wait. You know why. It will be because I think some one is watching.
+There won't be, though, if we work it right. And now you must run,
+sweet. We can't use Nine-thirty-one any more. I'll have to rent another
+place somewhere else."
+
+"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."
+
+"Aren't you going to be strong and brave? You see, I need you to be."
+
+He was almost, for the first time, a little sad in his mood.
+
+"Yes, dear, yes," she declared, slipping her arms under his and pulling
+him tight. "Oh, yes! You can depend on me. Oh, Frank, I love you so!
+I'm so sorry. Oh, I do hope you don't fail! But it doesn't make any
+difference, dear, between you and me, whatever happens, does it? We will
+love each other just the same. I'll do anything for you, honey! I'll do
+anything you say. You can trust me. They sha'n't know anything from me."
+
+She looked at his still, pale face, and a sudden strong determination
+to fight for him welled up in her heart. Her love was unjust, illegal,
+outlawed; but it was love, just the same, and had much of the fiery
+daring of the outcast from justice.
+
+"I love you! I love you! I love you, Frank!" she declared. He unloosed
+her hands.
+
+"Run, sweet. To-morrow at four. Don't fail. And don't talk. And don't
+admit anything, whatever you do."
+
+"I won't."
+
+"And don't worry about me. I'll be all right."
+
+He barely had time to straighten his tie, to assume a nonchalant
+attitude by the window, when in hurried Stener's chief clerk--pale,
+disturbed, obviously out of key with himself.
+
+"Mr. Cowperwood! You know that check I gave you last night? Mr. Stener
+says it's illegal, that I shouldn't have given it to you, that he will
+hold me responsible. He says I can be arrested for compounding a felony,
+and that he will discharge me and have me sent to prison if I don't
+get it back. Oh, Mr. Cowperwood, I am only a young man! I'm just really
+starting out in life. I've got my wife and little boy to look after. You
+won't let him do that to me? You'll give me that check back, won't you?
+I can't go back to the office without it. He says you're going to fail,
+and that you knew it, and that you haven't any right to it."
+
+Cowperwood looked at him curiously. He was surprised at the variety and
+character of these emissaries of disaster. Surely, when troubles chose
+to multiply they had great skill in presenting themselves in rapid
+order. Stener had no right to make any such statement. The transaction
+was not illegal. The man had gone wild. True, he, Cowperwood, had
+received an order after these securities were bought not to buy or sell
+any more city loan, but that did not invalidate previous purchases.
+Stener was browbeating and frightening his poor underling, a better man
+than himself, in order to get back this sixty-thousand-dollar check.
+What a petty creature he was! How true it was, as somebody had remarked,
+that you could not possibly measure the petty meannesses to which a fool
+could stoop!
+
+"You go back to Mr. Stener, Albert, and tell him that it can't be done.
+The certificates of loan were purchased before his order arrived, and
+the records of the exchange will prove it. There is no illegality here.
+I am entitled to that check and could have collected it in any qualified
+court of law. The man has gone out of his head. I haven't failed yet.
+You are not in any danger of any legal proceedings; and if you are, I'll
+help defend you. I can't give you the check back because I haven't it to
+give; and if I had, I wouldn't. That would be allowing a fool to make a
+fool of me. I'm sorry, very, but I can't do anything for you."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Cowperwood!" Tears were in Stires's eyes. "He'll discharge me!
+He'll forfeit my sureties. I'll be turned out into the street. I have
+only a little property of my own--outside of my salary!"
+
+He wrung his hands, and Cowperwood shook his head sadly.
+
+"This isn't as bad as you think, Albert. He won't do what he says. He
+can't. It's unfair and illegal. You can bring suit and recover your
+salary. I'll help you in that as much as I'm able. But I can't give you
+back this sixty-thousand-dollar check, because I haven't it to give.
+I couldn't if I wanted to. It isn't here any more. I've paid for the
+securities I bought with it. The securities are not here. They're in the
+sinking-fund, or will be."
+
+He paused, wishing he had not mentioned that fact. It was a slip of the
+tongue, one of the few he ever made, due to the peculiar pressure of the
+situation. Stires pleaded longer. It was no use, Cowperwood told him.
+Finally he went away, crestfallen, fearsome, broken. There were tears
+of suffering in his eyes. Cowperwood was very sorry. And then his father
+was announced.
+
+The elder Cowperwood brought a haggard face. He and Frank had had a long
+conversation the evening before, lasting until early morning, but it had
+not been productive of much save uncertainty.
+
+"Hello, father!" exclaimed Cowperwood, cheerfully, noting his father's
+gloom. He was satisfied that there was scarcely a coal of hope to be
+raked out of these ashes of despair, but there was no use admitting it.
+
+"Well?" said his father, lifting his sad eyes in a peculiar way.
+
+"Well, it looks like stormy weather, doesn't it? I've decided to call a
+meeting of my creditors, father, and ask for time. There isn't anything
+else to do. I can't realize enough on anything to make it worth while
+talking about. I thought Stener might change his mind, but he's worse
+rather than better. His head bookkeeper just went out of here."
+
+"What did he want?" asked Henry Cowperwood.
+
+"He wanted me to give him back a check for sixty thousand that he paid
+me for some city loan I bought yesterday morning." Frank did not explain
+to his father, however, that he had hypothecated the certificates this
+check had paid for, and used the check itself to raise money enough to
+pay the Girard National Bank and to give himself thirty-five thousand in
+cash besides.
+
+"Well, I declare!" replied the old man. "You'd think he'd have better
+sense than that. That's a perfectly legitimate transaction. When did you
+say he notified you not to buy city loan?"
+
+"Yesterday noon."
+
+"He's out of his mind," Cowperwood, Sr., commented, laconically.
+
+"It's Mollenhauer and Simpson and Butler, I know. They want my
+street-railway lines. Well, they won't get them. They'll get them
+through a receivership, and after the panic's all over. Our creditors
+will have first chance at these. If they buy, they'll buy from them. If
+it weren't for that five-hundred-thousand-dollar loan I wouldn't think a
+thing of this. My creditors would sustain me nicely. But the moment that
+gets noised around!... And this election! I hypothecated those city loan
+certificates because I didn't want to get on the wrong side of Davison.
+I expected to take in enough by now to take them up. They ought to be in
+the sinking-fund, really."
+
+The old gentleman saw the point at once, and winced.
+
+"They might cause you trouble, there, Frank."
+
+"It's a technical question," replied his son. "I might have been
+intending to take them up. As a matter of fact, I will if I can before
+three. I've been taking eight and ten days to deposit them in the past.
+In a storm like this I'm entitled to move my pawns as best I can."
+
+Cowperwood, the father, put his hand over his mouth again. He felt very
+disturbed about this. He saw no way out, however. He was at the end
+of his own resources. He felt the side-whiskers on his left cheek. He
+looked out of the window into the little green court. Possibly it was a
+technical question, who should say. The financial relations of the city
+treasury with other brokers before Frank had been very lax. Every banker
+knew that. Perhaps precedent would or should govern in this case. He
+could not say. Still, it was dangerous--not straight. If Frank could get
+them out and deposit them it would be so much better.
+
+"I'd take them up if I were you and I could," he added.
+
+"I will if I can."
+
+"How much money have you?"
+
+"Oh, twenty thousand, all told. If I suspend, though, I'll have to have
+a little ready cash."
+
+"I have eight or ten thousand, or will have by night, I hope."
+
+He was thinking of some one who would give him a second mortgage on his
+house.
+
+Cowperwood looked quietly at him. There was nothing more to be said to
+his father. "I'm going to make one more appeal to Stener after you leave
+here," he said. "I'm going over there with Harper Steger when he comes.
+If he won't change I'll send out notice to my creditors, and notify
+the secretary of the exchange. I want you to keep a stiff upper lip,
+whatever happens. I know you will, though. I'm going into the thing head
+down. If Stener had any sense--" He paused. "But what's the use talking
+about a damn fool?"
+
+He turned to the window, thinking of how easy it would have been, if
+Aileen and he had not been exposed by this anonymous note, to have
+arranged all with Butler. Rather than injure the party, Butler, in
+extremis, would have assisted him. Now...!
+
+His father got up to go. He was as stiff with despair as though he were
+suffering from cold.
+
+"Well," he said, wearily.
+
+Cowperwood suffered intensely for him. What a shame! His father! He felt
+a great surge of sorrow sweep over him but a moment later mastered it,
+and settled to his quick, defiant thinking. As the old man went out,
+Harper Steger was brought in. They shook hands, and at once started
+for Stener's office. But Stener had sunk in on himself like an empty
+gas-bag, and no efforts were sufficient to inflate him. They went out,
+finally, defeated.
+
+"I tell you, Frank," said Steger, "I wouldn't worry. We can tie this
+thing up legally until election and after, and that will give all this
+row a chance to die down. Then you can get your people together and talk
+sense to them. They're not going to give up good properties like this,
+even if Stener does go to jail."
+
+Steger did not know of the sixty thousand dollars' worth of hypothecated
+securities as yet. Neither did he know of Aileen Butler and her father's
+boundless rage.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXX
+
+
+There was one development in connection with all of this of which
+Cowperwood was as yet unaware. The same day that brought Edward Butler
+the anonymous communication in regard to his daughter, brought almost a
+duplicate of it to Mrs. Frank Algernon Cowperwood, only in this case the
+name of Aileen Butler had curiously been omitted.
+
+Perhaps you don't know that your husband is running with another woman.
+If you don't believe it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood was in the conservatory watering some plants when this
+letter was brought by her maid Monday morning. She was most placid in
+her thoughts, for she did not know what all the conferring of the night
+before meant. Frank was occasionally troubled by financial storms, but
+they did not see to harm him.
+
+"Lay it on the table in the library, Annie. I'll get it."
+
+She thought it was some social note.
+
+In a little while (such was her deliberate way), she put down her
+sprinkling-pot and went into the library. There it was lying on the
+green leather sheepskin which constituted a part of the ornamentation
+of the large library table. She picked it up, glanced at it curiously
+because it was on cheap paper, and then opened it. Her face paled
+slightly as she read it; and then her hand trembled--not much. Hers
+was not a soul that ever loved passionately, hence she could not suffer
+passionately. She was hurt, disgusted, enraged for the moment, and
+frightened; but she was not broken in spirit entirely. Thirteen years
+of life with Frank Cowperwood had taught her a number of things. He was
+selfish, she knew now, self-centered, and not as much charmed by her as
+he had been. The fear she had originally felt as to the effect of her
+preponderance of years had been to some extent justified by the lapse
+of time. Frank did not love her as he had--he had not for some time; she
+had felt it. What was it?--she had asked herself at times--almost, who
+was it? Business was engrossing him so.
+
+Finance was his master. Did this mean the end of her regime, she
+queried. Would he cast her off? Where would she go? What would she do?
+She was not helpless, of course, for she had money of her own which
+he was manipulating for her. Who was this other woman? Was she young,
+beautiful, of any social position? Was it--? Suddenly she stopped. Was
+it? Could it be, by any chance--her mouth opened--Aileen Butler?
+
+She stood still, staring at this letter, for she could scarcely
+countenance her own thought. She had observed often, in spite of all
+their caution, how friendly Aileen had been to him and he to her. He
+liked her; he never lost a chance to defend her. Lillian had thought of
+them at times as being curiously suited to each other temperamentally.
+He liked young people. But, of course, he was married, and Aileen was
+infinitely beneath him socially, and he had two children and herself.
+And his social and financial position was so fixed and stable that he
+did not dare trifle with it. Still she paused; for forty years and two
+children, and some slight wrinkles, and the suspicion that we may be no
+longer loved as we once were, is apt to make any woman pause, even in
+the face of the most significant financial position. Where would she go
+if she left him? What would people think? What about the children?
+Could she prove this liaison? Could she entrap him in a compromising
+situation? Did she want to?
+
+She saw now that she did not love him as some women love their husbands.
+She was not wild about him. In a way she had been taking him for
+granted all these years, had thought that he loved her enough not to be
+unfaithful to her; at least fancied that he was so engrossed with the
+more serious things of life that no petty liaison such as this letter
+indicated would trouble him or interrupt his great career. Apparently
+this was not true. What should she do? What say? How act? Her none too
+brilliant mind was not of much service in this crisis. She did not know
+very well how either to plan or to fight.
+
+The conventional mind is at best a petty piece of machinery. It is
+oyster-like in its functioning, or, perhaps better, clam-like. It has
+its little siphon of thought-processes forced up or down into the mighty
+ocean of fact and circumstance; but it uses so little, pumps so faintly,
+that the immediate contiguity of the vast mass is not disturbed. Nothing
+of the subtlety of life is perceived. No least inkling of its storms
+or terrors is ever discovered except through accident. When some crude,
+suggestive fact, such as this letter proved to be, suddenly manifests
+itself in the placid flow of events, there is great agony or disturbance
+and clogging of the so-called normal processes. The siphon does not
+work right. It sucks in fear and distress. There is great grinding of
+maladjusted parts--not unlike sand in a machine--and life, as is so
+often the case, ceases or goes lamely ever after.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood was possessed of a conventional mind. She really knew
+nothing about life. And life could not teach her. Reaction in her from
+salty thought-processes was not possible. She was not alive in the
+sense that Aileen Butler was, and yet she thought that she was very
+much alive. All illusion. She wasn't. She was charming if you loved
+placidity. If you did not, she was not. She was not engaging, brilliant,
+or forceful. Frank Cowperwood might well have asked himself in the
+beginning why he married her. He did not do so now because he did
+not believe it was wise to question the past as to one's failures and
+errors. It was, according to him, most unwise to regret. He kept his
+face and thoughts to the future.
+
+But Mrs. Cowperwood was truly distressed in her way, and she went about
+the house thinking, feeling wretchedly. She decided, since the letter
+asked her to see for herself, to wait. She must think how she would
+watch this house, if at all. Frank must not know. If it were Aileen
+Butler by any chance--but surely not--she thought she would expose her
+to her parents. Still, that meant exposing herself. She determined to
+conceal her mood as best she could at dinner-time--but Cowperwood was
+not able to be there. He was so rushed, so closeted with individuals, so
+closely in conference with his father and others, that she scarcely saw
+him this Monday night, nor the next day, nor for many days.
+
+For on Tuesday afternoon at two-thirty he issued a call for a meeting of
+his creditors, and at five-thirty he decided to go into the hands of a
+receiver. And yet, as he stood before his principal creditors--a group
+of thirty men--in his office, he did not feel that his life was ruined.
+He was temporarily embarrassed. Certainly things looked very black. The
+city-treasurership deal would make a great fuss. Those hypothecated city
+loan certificates, to the extent of sixty thousand, would make another,
+if Stener chose. Still, he did not feel that he was utterly destroyed.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, in closing his address of explanation at the
+meeting, quite as erect, secure, defiant, convincing as he had ever
+been, "you see how things are. These securities are worth just as much
+as they ever were. There is nothing the matter with the properties
+behind them. If you will give me fifteen days or twenty, I am satisfied
+that I can straighten the whole matter out. I am almost the only one who
+can, for I know all about it. The market is bound to recover. Business
+is going to be better than ever. It's time I want. Time is the only
+significant factor in this situation. I want to know if you won't give
+me fifteen or twenty days--a month, if you can. That is all I want."
+
+He stepped aside and out of the general room, where the blinds were
+drawn, into his private office, in order to give his creditors an
+opportunity to confer privately in regard to his situation. He had
+friends in the meeting who were for him. He waited one, two, nearly
+three hours while they talked. Finally Walter Leigh, Judge Kitchen,
+Avery Stone, of Jay Cooke & Co., and several others came in. They were a
+committee appointed to gather further information.
+
+"Nothing more can be done to-day, Frank," Walter Leigh informed him,
+quietly. "The majority want the privilege of examining the books. There
+is some uncertainty about this entanglement with the city treasurer
+which you say exists. They feel that you'd better announce a temporary
+suspension, anyhow; and if they want to let you resume later they can do
+so."
+
+"I'm sorry for that, gentlemen," replied Cowperwood, the least bit
+depressed. "I would rather do anything than suspend for one hour, if I
+could help it, for I know just what it means. You will find assets
+here far exceeding the liabilities if you will take the stocks at their
+normal market value; but that won't help any if I close my doors. The
+public won't believe in me. I ought to keep open."
+
+"Sorry, Frank, old boy," observed Leigh, pressing his hand
+affectionately. "If it were left to me personally, you could have all
+the time you want. There's a crowd of old fogies out there that won't
+listen to reason. They're panic-struck. I guess they're pretty hard
+hit themselves. You can scarcely blame them. You'll come out all right,
+though I wish you didn't have to shut up shop. We can't do anything with
+them, however. Why, damn it, man, I don't see how you can fail, really.
+In ten days these stocks will be all right."
+
+Judge Kitchen commiserated with him also; but what good did that do? He
+was being compelled to suspend. An expert accountant would have to
+come in and go over his books. Butler might spread the news of this
+city-treasury connection. Stener might complain of this last city-loan
+transaction. A half-dozen of his helpful friends stayed with him until
+four o'clock in the morning; but he had to suspend just the same. And
+when he did that, he knew he was seriously crippled if not ultimately
+defeated in his race for wealth and fame.
+
+When he was really and finally quite alone in his private bedroom
+he stared at himself in the mirror. His face was pale and tired, he
+thought, but strong and effective. "Pshaw!" he said to himself, "I'm
+not whipped. I'm still young. I'll get out of this in some way yet.
+Certainly I will. I'll find some way out."
+
+And so, cogitating heavily, wearily, he began to undress. Finally he
+sank upon his bed, and in a little while, strange as it may seem, with
+all the tangle of trouble around him, slept. He could do that--sleep
+and gurgle most peacefully, the while his father paced the floor in his
+room, refusing to be comforted. All was dark before the older man--the
+future hopeless. Before the younger man was still hope.
+
+And in her room Lillian Cowperwood turned and tossed in the face of this
+new calamity. For it had suddenly appeared from news from her father and
+Frank and Anna and her mother-in-law that Frank was about to fail, or
+would, or had--it was almost impossible to say just how it was. Frank
+was too busy to explain. The Chicago fire was to blame. There was no
+mention as yet of the city treasurership. Frank was caught in a trap,
+and was fighting for his life.
+
+In this crisis, for the moment, she forgot about the note as to his
+infidelity, or rather ignored it. She was astonished, frightened,
+dumbfounded, confused. Her little, placid, beautiful world was going
+around in a dizzy ring. The charming, ornate ship of their fortune was
+being blown most ruthlessly here and there. She felt it a sort of duty
+to stay in bed and try to sleep; but her eyes were quite wide, and her
+brain hurt her. Hours before Frank had insisted that she should not
+bother about him, that she could do nothing; and she had left him,
+wondering more than ever what and where was the line of her duty. To
+stick by her husband, convention told her; and so she decided. Yes,
+religion dictated that, also custom. There were the children. They must
+not be injured. Frank must be reclaimed, if possible. He would get over
+this. But what a blow!
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXI
+
+
+The suspension of the banking house of Frank A. Cowperwood & Co.
+created a great stir on 'change and in Philadelphia generally. It was so
+unexpected, and the amount involved was comparatively so large. Actually
+he failed for one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars;
+and his assets, under the depressed condition of stock values, barely
+totaled seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. There had been
+considerable work done on the matter of his balance-sheet before it
+was finally given to the public; but when it was, stocks dropped an
+additional three points generally, and the papers the next day devoted
+notable headlines to it. Cowperwood had no idea of failing permanently;
+he merely wished to suspend temporarily, and later, if possible, to
+persuade his creditors to allow him to resume. There were only two
+things which stood in the way of this: the matter of the five hundred
+thousand dollars borrowed from the city treasury at a ridiculously low
+rate of interest, which showed plainer than words what had been going
+on, and the other, the matter of the sixty-thousand-dollar check. His
+financial wit had told him there were ways to assign his holdings in
+favor of his largest creditors, which would tend to help him later to
+resume; and he had been swift to act. Indeed, Harper Steger had drawn up
+documents which named Jay Cooke & Co., Edward Clark & Co., Drexel & Co.,
+and others as preferred. He knew that even though dissatisfied holders
+of smaller shares in his company brought suit and compelled readjustment
+or bankruptcy later, the intention shown to prefer some of his most
+influential aids was important. They would like it, and might help him
+later when all this was over. Besides, suits in plenty are an excellent
+way of tiding over a crisis of this kind until stocks and common sense
+are restored, and he was for many suits. Harper Steger smiled once
+rather grimly, even in the whirl of the financial chaos where smiles
+were few, as they were figuring it out.
+
+"Frank," he said, "you're a wonder. You'll have a network of suits
+spread here shortly, which no one can break through. They'll all be
+suing each other."
+
+Cowperwood smiled.
+
+"I only want a little time, that's all," he replied. Nevertheless,
+for the first time in his life he was a little depressed; for now this
+business, to which he had devoted years of active work and thought, was
+ended.
+
+The thing that was troubling him most in all of this was not the five
+hundred thousand dollars which was owing the city treasury, and which
+he knew would stir political and social life to the center once it
+was generally known--that was a legal or semi-legal transaction, at
+least--but rather the matter of the sixty thousand dollars' worth of
+unrestored city loan certificates which he had not been able to replace
+in the sinking-fund and could not now even though the necessary money
+should fall from heaven. The fact of their absence was a matter of
+source. He pondered over the situation a good deal. The thing to do, he
+thought, if he went to Mollenhauer or Simpson, or both (he had never
+met either of them, but in view of Butler's desertion they were his only
+recourse), was to say that, although he could not at present return the
+five hundred thousand dollars, if no action were taken against him now,
+which would prevent his resuming his business on a normal scale a little
+later, he would pledge his word that every dollar of the involved five
+hundred thousand dollars would eventually be returned to the treasury.
+If they refused, and injury was done him, he proposed to let them wait
+until he was "good and ready," which in all probability would be never.
+But, really, it was not quite clear how action against him was to be
+prevented--even by them. The money was down on his books as owing the
+city treasury, and it was down on the city treasury's books as owing
+from him. Besides, there was a local organization known as the Citizens'
+Municipal Reform Association which occasionally conducted investigations
+in connection with public affairs. His defalcation would be sure to come
+to the ears of this body and a public investigation might well follow.
+Various private individuals knew of it already. His creditors, for
+instance, who were now examining his books.
+
+This matter of seeing Mollenhauer or Simpson, or both, was important,
+anyhow, he thought; but before doing so he decided to talk it all over
+with Harper Steger. So several days after he had closed his doors, he
+sent for Steger and told him all about the transaction, except that he
+did not make it clear that he had not intended to put the certificates
+in the sinking-fund unless he survived quite comfortably.
+
+Harper Steger was a tall, thin, graceful, rather elegant man, of gentle
+voice and perfect manners, who walked always as though he were a cat,
+and a dog were prowling somewhere in the offing. He had a longish, thin
+face of a type that is rather attractive to women. His eyes were blue,
+his hair brown, with a suggestion of sandy red in it. He had a steady,
+inscrutable gaze which sometimes came to you over a thin, delicate hand,
+which he laid meditatively over his mouth. He was cruel to the limit
+of the word, not aggressively but indifferently; for he had no faith in
+anything. He was not poor. He had not even been born poor. He was just
+innately subtle, with the rather constructive thought, which was about
+the only thing that compelled him to work, that he ought to be richer
+than he was--more conspicuous. Cowperwood was an excellent avenue toward
+legal prosperity. Besides, he was a fascinating customer. Of all his
+clients, Steger admired Cowperwood most.
+
+"Let them proceed against you," he said on this occasion, his brilliant
+legal mind taking in all the phases of the situation at once. "I don't
+see that there is anything more here than a technical charge. If it
+ever came to anything like that, which I don't think it will, the charge
+would be embezzlement or perhaps larceny as bailee. In this instance,
+you were the bailee. And the only way out of that would be to swear that
+you had received the check with Stener's knowledge and consent. Then it
+would only be a technical charge of irresponsibility on your part, as I
+see it, and I don't believe any jury would convict you on the evidence
+of how this relationship was conducted. Still, it might; you never can
+tell what a jury is going to do. All this would have to come out at a
+trial, however. The whole thing, it seems to me, would depend on which
+of you two--yourself or Stener--the jury would be inclined to believe,
+and on how anxious this city crowd is to find a scapegoat for Stener.
+This coming election is the rub. If this panic had come at any other
+time--"
+
+Cowperwood waved for silence. He knew all about that. "It all depends
+on what the politicians decide to do. I'm doubtful. The situation is too
+complicated. It can't be hushed up." They were in his private office at
+his house. "What will be will be," he added.
+
+"What would that mean, Harper, legally, if I were tried on a charge of
+larceny as bailee, as you put it, and convicted? How many years in the
+penitentiary at the outside?"
+
+Steger thought a minute, rubbing his chin with his hand. "Let me see,"
+he said, "that is a serious question, isn't it? The law says one to
+five years at the outside; but the sentences usually average from one to
+three years in embezzlement cases. Of course, in this case--"
+
+"I know all about that," interrupted Cowperwood, irritably. "My case
+isn't any different from the others, and you know it. Embezzlement
+is embezzlement if the politicians want to have it so." He fell to
+thinking, and Steger got up and strolled about leisurely. He was
+thinking also.
+
+"And would I have to go to jail at any time during the
+proceedings--before a final adjustment of the case by the higher
+courts?" Cowperwood added, directly, grimly, after a time.
+
+"Yes, there is one point in all legal procedure of the kind," replied
+Steger, cautiously, now rubbing his ear and trying to put the matter as
+delicately as possible. "You can avoid jail sentences all through
+the earlier parts of a case like this; but if you are once tried and
+convicted it's pretty hard to do anything--as a matter of fact, it
+becomes absolutely necessary then to go to jail for a few days, five
+or so, pending the motion for a new trial and the obtaining of a
+certificate of reasonable doubt. It usually takes that long."
+
+The young banker sat there staring out of the window, and Steger
+observed, "It is a bit complicated, isn't it?"
+
+"Well, I should say so," returned Frank, and he added to himself:
+"Jail! Five days in prison!" That would be a terrific slap, all things
+considered. Five days in jail pending the obtaining of a certificate of
+reasonable doubt, if one could be obtained! He must avoid this! Jail!
+The penitentiary! His commercial reputation would never survive that.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXII
+
+
+The necessity of a final conference between Butler, Mollenhauer, and
+Simpson was speedily reached, for this situation was hourly growing more
+serious. Rumors were floating about in Third Street that in addition to
+having failed for so large an amount as to have further unsettled
+the already panicky financial situation induced by the Chicago fire,
+Cowperwood and Stener, or Stener working with Cowperwood, or the other
+way round, had involved the city treasury to the extent of five hundred
+thousand dollars. And the question was how was the matter to be kept
+quiet until after election, which was still three weeks away. Bankers
+and brokers were communicating odd rumors to each other about a check
+that had been taken from the city treasury after Cowperwood knew he was
+to fail, and without Stener's consent. Also that there was danger
+that it would come to the ears of that very uncomfortable political
+organization known as the Citizens' Municipal Reform Association,
+of which a well-known iron-manufacturer of great probity and moral
+rectitude, one Skelton C. Wheat, was president. Wheat had for years been
+following on the trail of the dominant Republican administration in a
+vain attempt to bring it to a sense of some of its political iniquities.
+He was a serious and austere man---one of those solemn, self-righteous
+souls who see life through a peculiar veil of duty, and who, undisturbed
+by notable animal passions of any kind, go their way of upholding the
+theory of the Ten Commandments over the order of things as they are.
+
+The committee in question had originally been organized to protest
+against some abuses in the tax department; but since then, from election
+to election, it had been drifting from one subject to another, finding
+an occasional evidence of its worthwhileness in some newspaper comment
+and the frightened reformation of some minor political official who
+ended, usually, by taking refuge behind the skirts of some higher
+political power--in the last reaches, Messrs. Butler, Mollenhauer, and
+Simpson. Just now it was without important fuel or ammunition; and this
+assignment of Cowperwood, with its attendant crime, so far as the city
+treasury was concerned, threatened, as some politicians and bankers saw
+it, to give it just the club it was looking for.
+
+However, the decisive conference took place between Cowperwood and the
+reigning political powers some five days after Cowperwood's failure, at
+the home of Senator Simpson, which was located in Rittenhouse Square--a
+region central for the older order of wealth in Philadelphia. Simpson
+was a man of no little refinement artistically, of Quaker extraction,
+and of great wealth-breeding judgment which he used largely to satisfy
+his craving for political predominance. He was most liberal where money
+would bring him a powerful or necessary political adherent. He fairly
+showered offices--commissionerships, trusteeships, judgeships, political
+nominations, and executive positions generally--on those who did his
+bidding faithfully and without question. Compared with Butler and
+Mollenhauer he was more powerful than either, for he represented the
+State and the nation. When the political authorities who were trying
+to swing a national election were anxious to discover what the State of
+Pennsylvania would do, so far as the Republican party was concerned, it
+was to Senator Simpson that they appealed. In the literal sense of
+the word, he knew. The Senator had long since graduated from State to
+national politics, and was an interesting figure in the United States
+Senate at Washington, where his voice in all the conservative and
+moneyed councils of the nation was of great weight.
+
+The house that he occupied, of Venetian design, and four stories in
+height, bore many architectural marks of distinction, such as the
+floriated window, the door with the semipointed arch, and medallions
+of colored marble set in the walls. The Senator was a great admirer of
+Venice. He had been there often, as he had to Athens and Rome, and had
+brought back many artistic objects representative of the civilizations
+and refinements of older days. He was fond, for one thing, of the stern,
+sculptured heads of the Roman emperors, and the fragments of gods and
+goddesses which are the best testimony of the artistic aspirations of
+Greece. In the entresol of this house was one of his finest treasures--a
+carved and floriated base bearing a tapering monolith some four feet
+high, crowned by the head of a peculiarly goatish Pan, by the side of
+which were the problematic remains of a lovely nude nymph--just the
+little feet broken off at the ankles. The base on which the feet of
+the nymph and the monolith stood was ornamented with carved ox-skulls
+intertwined with roses. In his reception hall were replicas of Caligula,
+Nero, and other Roman emperors; and on his stair-walls reliefs of
+dancing nymphs in procession, and priests bearing offerings of sheep and
+swine to the sacrificial altars. There was a clock in some corner of the
+house which chimed the quarter, the half, the three-quarters, and the
+hour in strange, euphonious, and pathetic notes. On the walls of the
+rooms were tapestries of Flemish origin, and in the reception-hall, the
+library, the living-room, and the drawing-room, richly carved furniture
+after the standards of the Italian Renaissance. The Senator's taste in
+the matter of paintings was inadequate, and he mistrusted it; but such
+as he had were of distinguished origin and authentic. He cared more for
+his curio-cases filled with smaller imported bronzes, Venetian glass,
+and Chinese jade. He was not a collector of these in any notable
+sense--merely a lover of a few choice examples. Handsome tiger and
+leopard skin rugs, the fur of a musk-ox for his divan, and tanned
+and brown-stained goat and kid skins for his tables, gave a sense
+of elegance and reserved profusion. In addition the Senator had a
+dining-room done after the Jacobean idea of artistic excellence, and
+a wine-cellar which the best of the local vintners looked after with
+extreme care. He was a man who loved to entertain lavishly; and when his
+residence was thrown open for a dinner, a reception, or a ball, the best
+of local society was to be found there.
+
+The conference was in the Senator's library, and he received his
+colleagues with the genial air of one who has much to gain and little
+to lose. There were whiskies, wines, cigars on the table, and while
+Mollenhauer and Simpson exchanged the commonplaces of the day awaiting
+the arrival of Butler, they lighted cigars and kept their inmost
+thoughts to themselves.
+
+It so happened that upon the previous afternoon Butler had
+learned from Mr. David Pettie, the district attorney, of the
+sixty-thousand-dollar-check transaction. At the same time the matter
+had been brought to Mollenhauer's attention by Stener himself. It was
+Mollenhauer, not Butler who saw that by taking advantage of Cowperwood's
+situation, he might save the local party from blame, and at the same
+time most likely fleece Cowperwood out of his street-railway shares
+without letting Butler or Simpson know anything about it. The thing to
+do was to terrorize him with a private threat of prosecution.
+
+Butler was not long in arriving, and apologized for the delay.
+Concealing his recent grief behind as jaunty an air as possible, he
+began with:
+
+"It's a lively life I'm leadin', what with every bank in the city
+wantin' to know how their loans are goin' to be taken care of." He took
+a cigar and struck a match.
+
+"It does look a little threatening," said Senator Simpson, smiling. "Sit
+down. I have just been talking with Avery Stone, of Jay Cooke & Company,
+and he tells me that the talk in Third Street about Stener's connection
+with this Cowperwood failure is growing very strong, and that the
+newspapers are bound to take up the matter shortly, unless something is
+done about it. I am sure that the news will also reach Mr. Wheat, of
+the Citizens' Reform Association, very shortly. We ought to decide now,
+gentlemen, what we propose to do. One thing, I am sure, is to eliminate
+Stener from the ticket as quietly as possible. This really looks to me
+as if it might become a very serious issue, and we ought to be doing
+what we can now to offset its effect later."
+
+Mollenhauer pulled a long breath through his cigar, and blew it out in
+a rolling steel-blue cloud. He studied the tapestry on the opposite wall
+but said nothing.
+
+"There is one thing sure," continued Senator Simpson, after a time,
+seeing that no one else spoke, "and that is, if we do not begin a
+prosecution on our own account within a reasonable time, some one else
+is apt to; and that would put rather a bad face on the matter. My own
+opinion would be that we wait until it is very plain that prosecution is
+going to be undertaken by some one else--possibly the Municipal Reform
+Association--but that we stand ready to step in and act in such a way
+as to make it look as though we had been planning to do it all the time.
+The thing to do is to gain time; and so I would suggest that it be
+made as difficult as possible to get at the treasurer's books.
+An investigation there, if it begins at all--as I think is very
+likely--should be very slow in producing the facts."
+
+The Senator was not at all for mincing words with his important
+confreres, when it came to vital issues. He preferred, in his
+grandiloquent way, to call a spade a spade.
+
+"Now that sounds like very good sense to me," said Butler, sinking a
+little lower in his chair for comfort's sake, and concealing his
+true mood in regard to all this. "The boys could easily make that
+investigation last three weeks, I should think. They're slow enough with
+everything else, if me memory doesn't fail me." At the same time he was
+cogitating as to how to inject the personality of Cowperwood and his
+speedy prosecution without appearing to be neglecting the general
+welfare of the local party too much.
+
+"Yes, that isn't a bad idea," said Mollenhauer, solemnly, blowing a ring
+of smoke, and thinking how to keep Cowperwood's especial offense from
+coming up at this conference and until after he had seen him.
+
+"We ought to map out our program very carefully," continued Senator
+Simpson, "so that if we are compelled to act we can do so very quickly.
+I believe myself that this thing is certain to come to an issue within
+a week, if not sooner, and we have no time to lose. If my advice were
+followed now, I should have the mayor write the treasurer a letter
+asking for information, and the treasurer write the mayor his answer,
+and also have the mayor, with the authority of the common council,
+suspend the treasurer for the time being--I think we have the authority
+to do that--or, at least, take over his principal duties but without for
+the time being, anyhow, making any of these transactions public--until
+we have to, of course. We ought to be ready with these letters to show
+to the newspapers at once, in case this action is forced upon us."
+
+"I could have those letters prepared, if you gentlemen have no
+objection," put in Mollenhauer, quietly, but quickly.
+
+"Well, that strikes me as sinsible," said Butler, easily. "It's about
+the only thing we can do under the circumstances, unless we could find
+some one else to blame it on, and I have a suggestion to make in that
+direction. Maybe we're not as helpless as we might be, all things
+considered."
+
+There was a slight gleam of triumph in his eye as he said this, at
+the same time that there was a slight shadow of disappointment in
+Mollenhauer's. So Butler knew, and probably Simpson, too.
+
+"Just what do you mean?" asked the Senator, looking at Butler
+interestedly. He knew nothing of the sixty-thousand-dollar check
+transaction. He had not followed the local treasury dealings very
+closely, nor had he talked to either of his confreres since the original
+conference between them. "There haven't been any outside parties mixed
+up with this, have there?" His own shrewd, political mind was working.
+
+"No-o. I wouldn't call him an outside party, exactly, Senator," went
+on Butler suavely. "It's Cowperwood himself I'm thinkin' of. There's
+somethin' that has come up since I saw you gentlemen last that makes me
+think that perhaps that young man isn't as innocent as he might be. It
+looks to me as though he was the ringleader in this business, as though
+he had been leadin' Stener on against his will. I've been lookin' into
+the matter on me own account, and as far as I can make out this man
+Stener isn't as much to blame as I thought. From all I can learn,
+Cowperwood's been threatenin' Stener with one thing and another if he
+didn't give him more money, and only the other day he got a big sum
+on false pretinses, which might make him equally guilty with Stener.
+There's sixty-thousand dollars of city loan certificates that has been
+paid for that aren't in the sinking-fund. And since the reputation of
+the party's in danger this fall, I don't see that we need to have any
+particular consideration for him." He paused, strong in the conviction
+that he had sent a most dangerous arrow flying in the direction of
+Cowperwood, as indeed he had. Yet at this moment, both the Senator and
+Mollenhauer were not a little surprised, seeing at their last meeting
+he had appeared rather friendly to the young banker, and this recent
+discovery seemed scarcely any occasion for a vicious attitude on his
+part. Mollenhauer in particular was surprised, for he had been looking
+on Butler's friendship for Cowperwood as a possible stumbling block.
+
+"Um-m, you don't tell me," observed Senator Simpson, thoughtfully,
+stroking his mouth with his pale hand.
+
+"Yes, I can confirm that," said Mollenhauer, quietly, seeing his own
+little private plan of browbeating Cowperwood out of his street-railway
+shares going glimmering. "I had a talk with Stener the other day about
+this very matter, and he told me that Cowperwood had been trying to
+force him to give him three hundred thousand dollars more, and that
+when he refused Cowperwood managed to get sixty thousand dollars further
+without his knowledge or consent."
+
+"How could he do that?" asked Senator Simpson, incredulously.
+Mollenhauer explained the transaction.
+
+"Oh," said the Senator, when Mollenhauer had finished, "that indicates
+a rather sharp person, doesn't it? And the certificates are not in the
+sinking-fund, eh?"
+
+"They're not," chimed in Butler, with considerable enthusiasm.
+
+"Well, I must say," said Simpson, rather relieved in his manner, "this
+looks like a rather good thing than not to me. A scapegoat possibly. We
+need something like this. I see no reason under the circumstances for
+trying to protect Mr. Cowperwood. We might as well try to make a point
+of that, if we have to. The newspapers might just as well talk loud
+about that as anything else. They are bound to talk; and if we give them
+the right angle, I think that the election might well come and go before
+the matter could be reasonably cleared up, even though Mr. Wheat does
+interfere. I will be glad to undertake to see what can be done with the
+papers."
+
+"Well, that bein' the case," said Butler, "I don't see that there's
+so much more we can do now; but I do think it will be a mistake if
+Cowperwood isn't punished with the other one. He's equally guilty
+with Stener, if not more so, and I for one want to see him get what he
+deserves. He belongs in the penitentiary, and that's where he'll go if
+I have my say." Both Mollenhauer and Simpson turned a reserved and
+inquiring eye on their usually genial associate. What could be the
+reason for his sudden determination to have Cowperwood punished?
+Cowperwood, as Mollenhauer and Simpson saw it, and as Butler would
+ordinarily have seen it, was well within his human, if not his strictly
+legal rights. They did not blame him half as much for trying to do what
+he had done as they blamed Stener for letting him do it. But, since
+Butler felt as he did, and there was an actual technical crime here,
+they were perfectly willing that the party should have the advantage of
+it, even if Cowperwood went to the penitentiary.
+
+"You may be right," said Senator Simpson, cautiously. "You might have
+those letters prepared, Henry; and if we have to bring any action at
+all against anybody before election, it would, perhaps, be advisable
+to bring it against Cowperwood. Include Stener if you have to but not
+unless you have to. I leave it to you two, as I am compelled to start
+for Pittsburg next Friday; but I know you will not overlook any point."
+
+The Senator arose. His time was always valuable. Butler was highly
+gratified by what he had accomplished. He had succeeded in putting the
+triumvirate on record against Cowperwood as the first victim, in case of
+any public disturbance or demonstration against the party. All that was
+now necessary was for that disturbance to manifest itself; and, from
+what he could see of local conditions, it was not far off. There was now
+the matter of Cowperwood's disgruntled creditors to look into; and if
+by buying in these he should succeed in preventing the financier from
+resuming business, he would have him in a very precarious condition
+indeed. It was a sad day for Cowperwood, Butler thought--the day he had
+first tried to lead Aileen astray--and the time was not far off when he
+could prove it to him.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIII
+
+
+In the meantime Cowperwood, from what he could see and hear, was
+becoming more and more certain that the politicians would try to make
+a scapegoat of him, and that shortly. For one thing, Stires had called
+only a few days after he closed his doors and imparted a significant bit
+of information. Albert was still connected with the city treasury, as
+was Stener, and engaged with Sengstack and another personal appointee of
+Mollenhauer's in going over the treasurer's books and explaining their
+financial significance. Stires had come to Cowperwood primarily to get
+additional advice in regard to the sixty-thousand-dollar check and his
+personal connection with it. Stener, it seemed, was now threatening to
+have his chief clerk prosecuted, saying that he was responsible for
+the loss of the money and that his bondsmen could be held responsible.
+Cowperwood had merely laughed and assured Stires that there was nothing
+to this.
+
+"Albert," he had said, smilingly, "I tell you positively, there's
+nothing in it. You're not responsible for delivering that check to me.
+I'll tell you what you do, now. Go and consult my lawyer--Steger. It
+won't cost you a cent, and he'll tell you exactly what to do. Now go on
+back and don't worry any more about it. I am sorry this move of mine has
+caused you so much trouble, but it's a hundred to one you couldn't have
+kept your place with a new city treasurer, anyhow, and if I see any
+place where you can possibly fit in later, I'll let you know."
+
+Another thing that made Cowperwood pause and consider at this time was
+a letter from Aileen, detailing a conversation which had taken place at
+the Butler dinner table one evening when Butler, the elder, was not
+at home. She related how her brother Owen in effect had stated that
+they--the politicians--her father, Mollenhauer, and Simpson, were going
+to "get him yet" (meaning Cowperwood), for some criminal financial
+manipulation of something--she could not explain what--a check
+or something. Aileen was frantic with worry. Could they mean the
+penitentiary, she asked in her letter? Her dear lover! Her beloved
+Frank! Could anything like this really happen to him?
+
+His brow clouded, and he set his teeth with rage when he read her
+letter. He would have to do something about this--see Mollenhauer or
+Simpson, or both, and make some offer to the city. He could not promise
+them money for the present--only notes--but they might take them. Surely
+they could not be intending to make a scapegoat of him over such a
+trivial and uncertain matter as this check transaction! When there was
+the five hundred thousand advanced by Stener, to say nothing of all
+the past shady transactions of former city treasurers! How rotten! How
+political, but how real and dangerous.
+
+But Simpson was out of the city for a period of ten days, and
+Mollenhauer, having in mind the suggestion made by Butler in regard to
+utilizing Cowperwood's misdeed for the benefit of the party, had already
+moved as they had planned. The letters were ready and waiting. Indeed,
+since the conference, the smaller politicians, taking their cue from
+the overlords, had been industriously spreading the story of the
+sixty-thousand-dollar check, and insisting that the burden of guilt
+for the treasury defalcation, if any, lay on the banker. The moment
+Mollenhauer laid eyes on Cowperwood he realized, however, that he had
+a powerful personality to deal with. Cowperwood gave no evidence of
+fright. He merely stated, in his bland way, that he had been in the
+habit of borrowing money from the city treasury at a low rate of
+interest, and that this panic had involved him so that he could not
+possibly return it at present.
+
+"I have heard rumors, Mr. Mollenhauer," he said, "to the effect that
+some charge is to be brought against me as a partner with Mr. Stener
+in this matter; but I am hoping that the city will not do that, and I
+thought I might enlist your influence to prevent it. My affairs are not
+in a bad way at all, if I had a little time to arrange matters. I am
+making all of my creditors an offer of fifty cents on the dollar now,
+and giving notes at one, two, and three years; but in this matter of the
+city treasury loans, if I could come to terms, I would be glad to make
+it a hundred cents--only I would want a little more time. Stocks are
+bound to recover, as you know, and, barring my losses at this time,
+I will be all right. I realize that the matter has gone pretty far
+already. The newspapers are likely to start talking at any time,
+unless they are stopped by those who can control them." (He looked at
+Mollenhauer in a complimentary way.) "But if I could be kept out of
+the general proceedings as much as possible, my standing would not be
+injured, and I would have a better chance of getting on my feet. It
+would be better for the city, for then I could certainly pay it what I
+owe it." He smiled his most winsome and engaging smile. And Mollenhauer
+seeing him for the first time, was not unimpressed. Indeed he looked at
+this young financial David with an interested eye. If he could have
+seen a way to accept this proposition of Cowperwood's, so that the money
+offered would have been eventually payable to him, and if Cowperwood had
+had any reasonable prospect of getting on his feet soon, he would have
+considered carefully what he had to say. For then Cowperwood could
+have assigned his recovered property to him. As it was, there was small
+likelihood of this situation ever being straightened out. The Citizens'
+Municipal Reform Association, from all he could hear, was already on the
+move--investigating, or about to, and once they had set their hands to
+this, would unquestionably follow it closely to the end.
+
+"The trouble with this situation, Mr. Cowperwood," he said, affably, "is
+that it has gone so far that it is practically out of my hands. I really
+have very little to do with it. I don't suppose, though, really, it is
+this matter of the five-hundred-thousand-dollar loan that is worrying
+you so much, as it is this other matter of the sixty-thousand-dollar
+check you received the other day. Mr. Stener insists that you secured
+that illegally, and he is very much wrought up about it. The mayor and
+the other city officials know of it now, and they may force some action.
+I don't know."
+
+Mollenhauer was obviously not frank in his attitude--a little bit
+evasive in his sly reference to his official tool, the mayor; and
+Cowperwood saw it. It irritated him greatly, but he was tactful enough
+to be quite suave and respectful.
+
+"I did get a check for sixty thousand dollars, that's true," he
+replied, with apparent frankness, "the day before I assigned. It was for
+certificates I had purchased, however, on Mr. Stener's order, and was
+due me. I needed the money, and asked for it. I don't see that there is
+anything illegal in that."
+
+"Not if the transaction was completed in all its details," replied
+Mollenhauer, blandly. "As I understand it, the certificates were bought
+for the sinking-fund, and they are not there. How do you explain that?"
+
+"An oversight, merely," replied Cowperwood, innocently, and quite as
+blandly as Mollenhauer. "They would have been there if I had not been
+compelled to assign so unexpectedly. It was not possible for me to
+attend to everything in person. It has not been our custom to deposit
+them at once. Mr. Stener will tell you that, if you ask him."
+
+"You don't say," replied Mollenhauer. "He did not give me that
+impression. However, they are not there, and I believe that that makes
+some difference legally. I have no interest in the matter one way or the
+other, more than that of any other good Republican. I don't see exactly
+what I can do for you. What did you think I could do?"
+
+"I don't believe you can do anything for me, Mr. Mollenhauer," replied
+Cowperwood, a little tartly, "unless you are willing to deal quite
+frankly with me. I am not a beginner in politics in Philadelphia. I know
+something about the powers in command. I thought that you could stop any
+plan to prosecute me in this matter, and give me time to get on my feet
+again. I am not any more criminally responsible for that sixty thousand
+dollars than I am for the five hundred thousand dollars that I had as
+loan before it--not as much so. I did not create this panic. I did not
+set Chicago on fire. Mr. Stener and his friends have been reaping some
+profit out of dealing with me. I certainly was entitled to make some
+effort to save myself after all these years of service, and I can't
+understand why I should not receive some courtesy at the hands of
+the present city administration, after I have been so useful to it. I
+certainly have kept city loan at par; and as for Mr. Stener's money, he
+has never wanted for his interest on that, and more than his interest."
+
+"Quite so," replied Mollenhauer, looking Cowperwood in the eye steadily
+and estimating the force and accuracy of the man at their real value. "I
+understand exactly how it has all come about, Mr. Cowperwood. No doubt
+Mr. Stener owes you a debt of gratitude, as does the remainder of the
+city administration. I'm not saying what the city administration ought
+or ought not do. All I know is that you find yourself wittingly or
+unwittingly in a dangerous situation, and that public sentiment in
+some quarters is already very strong against you. I personally have
+no feeling one way or the other, and if it were not for the situation
+itself, which looks to be out of hand, would not be opposed to assisting
+you in any reasonable way. But how? The Republican party is in a very
+bad position, so far as this election is concerned. In a way, however
+innocently, you have helped to put it there, Mr. Cowperwood. Mr. Butler,
+for some reason to which I am not a party, seems deeply and personally
+incensed. And Mr. Butler is a great power here--" (Cowperwood began
+to wonder whether by any chance Butler had indicated the nature of
+his social offense against himself, but he could not bring himself to
+believe that. It was not probable.) "I sympathize with you greatly, Mr.
+Cowperwood, but what I suggest is that you first See Mr. Butler and Mr.
+Simpson. If they agree to any program of aid, I will not be opposed to
+joining. But apart from that I do not know exactly what I can do. I am
+only one of those who have a slight say in the affairs of Philadelphia."
+
+At this point, Mollenhauer rather expected Cowperwood to make an offer
+of his own holdings, but he did not. Instead he said, "I'm very much
+obliged to you, Mr. Mollenhauer, for the courtesy of this interview. I
+believe you would help me if you could. I shall just have to fight it
+out the best way I can. Good day."
+
+And he bowed himself out. He saw clearly how hopeless was his quest.
+
+In the meanwhile, finding that the rumors were growing in volume and
+that no one appeared to be willing to take steps to straighten the
+matter out, Mr. Skelton C. Wheat, President of the Citizens' Municipal
+Reform Association, was, at last and that by no means against his will,
+compelled to call together the committee of ten estimable Philadelphians
+of which he was chairman, in a local committee-hall on Market Street,
+and lay the matter of the Cowperwood failure before it.
+
+"It strikes me, gentlemen," he announced, "that this is an occasion when
+this organization can render a signal service to the city and the people
+of Philadelphia, and prove the significance and the merit of the title
+originally selected for it, by making such a thoroughgoing investigation
+as will bring to light all the facts in this case, and then by standing
+vigorously behind them insist that such nefarious practices as we are
+informed were indulged in in this case shall cease. I know it may prove
+to be a difficult task. The Republican party and its local and State
+interests are certain to be against us. Its leaders are unquestionably
+most anxious to avoid comment and to have their ticket go through
+undisturbed, and they will not contemplate with any equanimity our
+opening activity in this matter; but if we persevere, great good will
+surely come of it. There is too much dishonesty in public life as it is.
+There is a standard of right in these matters which cannot permanently
+be ignored, and which must eventually be fulfilled. I leave this matter
+to your courteous consideration."
+
+Mr. Wheat sat down, and the body before him immediately took the
+matter which he proposed under advisement. It was decided to appoint a
+subcommittee "to investigate" (to quote the statement eventually given
+to the public) "the peculiar rumors now affecting one of the most
+important and distinguished offices of our municipal government," and to
+report at the next meeting, which was set for the following evening at
+nine o'clock. The meeting adjourned, and the following night at nine
+reassembled, four individuals of very shrewd financial judgment
+having meantime been about the task assigned them. They drew up a very
+elaborate statement, not wholly in accordance with the facts, but as
+nearly so as could be ascertained in so short a space of time.
+
+"It appears [read the report, after a preamble which explained why
+the committee had been appointed] that it has been the custom of city
+treasurers for years, when loans have been authorized by councils, to
+place them in the hands of some favorite broker for sale, the broker
+accounting to the treasurer for the moneys received by such sales at
+short periods, generally the first of each month. In the present
+case Frank A. Cowperwood has been acting as such broker for the city
+treasurer. But even this vicious and unbusiness-like system appears not
+to have been adhered to in the case of Mr. Cowperwood. The accident of
+the Chicago fire, the consequent depression of stock values, and the
+subsequent failure of Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood have so involved matters
+temporarily that the committee has not been able to ascertain with
+accuracy that regular accounts have been rendered; but from the manner
+in which Mr. Cowperwood has had possession of bonds (city loan) for
+hypothecation, etc., it would appear that he has been held to no
+responsibility in these matters, and that there have always been under
+his control several hundred thousand dollars of cash or securities
+belonging to the city, which he has manipulated for various purposes;
+but the details of the results of these transactions are not easily
+available.
+
+"Some of the operations consisted of hypothecation of large amounts of
+these loans before the certificates were issued, the lender seeing that
+the order for the hypothecated securities was duly made to him on the
+books of the treasurer. Such methods appear to have been occurring for
+a long time, and it being incredible that the city treasurer could
+be unaware of the nature of the business, there is indication of a
+complicity between him and Mr. Cowperwood to benefit by the use of the
+city credit, in violation of the law.
+
+"Furthermore, at the very time these hypothecations were being made, and
+the city paying interest upon such loans, the money representing them
+was in the hands of the treasurer's broker and bearing no interest to
+the city. The payment of municipal warrants was postponed, and they were
+being purchased at a discount in large amounts by Mr. Cowperwood with
+the very money that should have been in the city treasury. The bona fide
+holders of the orders for certificates of loans are now unable to obtain
+them, and thus the city's credit is injured to a greater extent than
+the present defalcation, which amounts to over five hundred thousand
+dollars. An accountant is now at work on the treasurer's books, and a
+few days should make clear the whole modus operandi. It is hoped that
+the publicity thus obtained will break up such vicious practices."
+
+There was appended to this report a quotation from the law governing the
+abuse of a public trust; and the committee went on to say that, unless
+some taxpayer chose to initiate proceedings for the prosecution of those
+concerned, the committee itself would be called upon to do so, although
+such action hardly came within the object for which it was formed.
+
+This report was immediately given to the papers. Though some sort of
+a public announcement had been anticipated by Cowperwood and the
+politicians, this was, nevertheless, a severe blow. Stener was
+beside himself with fear. He broke into a cold sweat when he saw the
+announcement which was conservatively headed, "Meeting of the Municipal
+Reform Association." All of the papers were so closely identified with
+the political and financial powers of the city that they did not dare to
+come out openly and say what they thought. The chief facts had already
+been in the hands of the various editors and publishers for a week and
+more, but word had gone around from Mollenhauer, Simpson, and Butler to
+use the soft pedal for the present. It was not good for Philadelphia,
+for local commerce, etc., to make a row. The fair name of the city would
+be smirched. It was the old story.
+
+At once the question was raised as to who was really guilty, the city
+treasurer or the broker, or both. How much money had actually been lost?
+Where had it gone? Who was Frank Algernon Cowperwood, anyway? Why was
+he not arrested? How did he come to be identified so closely with the
+financial administration of the city? And though the day of what later
+was termed "yellow journalism" had not arrived, and the local papers
+were not given to such vital personal comment as followed later, it
+was not possible, even bound as they were, hand and foot, by the local
+political and social magnates, to avoid comment of some sort. Editorials
+had to be written. Some solemn, conservative references to the shame and
+disgrace which one single individual could bring to a great city and a
+noble political party had to be ventured upon.
+
+That desperate scheme to cast the blame on Cowperwood temporarily, which
+had been concocted by Mollenhauer, Butler, and Simpson, to get the odium
+of the crime outside the party lines for the time being, was now lugged
+forth and put in operation. It was interesting and strange to note
+how quickly the newspapers, and even the Citizens' Municipal Reform
+Association, adopted the argument that Cowperwood was largely, if not
+solely, to blame. Stener had loaned him the money, it is true--had put
+bond issues in his hands for sale, it is true, but somehow every one
+seemed to gain the impression that Cowperwood had desperately misused
+the treasurer. The fact that he had taken a sixty-thousand-dollar check
+for certificates which were not in the sinking-fund was hinted at,
+though until they could actually confirm this for themselves both the
+newspapers and the committee were too fearful of the State libel laws to
+say so.
+
+In due time there were brought forth several noble municipal letters,
+purporting to be a stern call on the part of the mayor, Mr. Jacob
+Borchardt, on Mr. George W. Stener for an immediate explanation of
+his conduct, and the latter's reply, which were at once given to the
+newspapers and the Citizens' Municipal Reform Association. These letters
+were enough to show, so the politicians figured, that the Republican
+party was anxious to purge itself of any miscreant within its ranks, and
+they also helped to pass the time until after election.
+
+     OFFICE OF THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
+
+     GEORGE W. STENER, ESQ.,                      October 18,
+     1871. City Treasurer.
+
+     DEAR SIR,--Information has been given
+     me that certificates of city loan to a large amount, issued
+     by you for sale on account of the city, and, I presume,
+     after the usual requisition from the mayor of the city, have
+     passed out of your custody, and that the proceeds of the
+     sale of said certificates have not been paid into the city
+     treasury.
+
+     I have also been informed that a large amount of the city's
+     money has been permitted to pass into the hands of some one
+     or more brokers or bankers doing business on Third Street,
+     and that said brokers or bankers have since met with
+     financial difficulties, whereby, and by reason of the above
+     generally, the interests of the city are likely to be very
+     seriously affected.
+
+     I have therefore to request that you will promptly advise me
+     of the truth or falsity of these statements, so that such
+     duties as devolve upon me as the chief magistrate of the
+     city, in view of such facts, if they exist, may be
+     intelligently discharged. Yours respectfully,
+
+     JACOB BORCHARDT, Mayor of Philadelphia.
+
+
+     OFFICE OF THE TREASURER OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
+
+     HON. JACOB BORCHARDT.                 October 19, 1871.
+
+     DEAR SIR,--I have to acknowledge the receipt of your
+     communication of the 21st instant, and to express my regret
+     that I cannot at this time give you the information you ask.
+     There is undoubtedly an embarrassment in the city treasury,
+     owing to the delinquency of the broker who for several years
+     past has negotiated the city loans, and I have been, since
+     the discovery of this fact, and still am occupied in
+     endeavoring to avert or lessen the loss with which the city
+     is threatened. I am, very respectfully, GEORGE W. STENER.
+
+
+     OFFICE OF THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
+
+     GEORGE W. STENER, ESQ.,                 October 21, 1871.
+     City Treasurer.
+
+     DEAR SIR--Under the existing
+     circumstances you will consider this as a notice of
+     withdrawal and revocation of any requisition or authority by
+     me for the sale of loan, so far as the same has not been
+     fulfilled.  Applications for loans may for the present be
+     made at this office. Very respectfully,
+
+     JACOB BORCHARDT, Mayor of Philadelphia.
+
+And did Mr. Jacob Borchardt write the letters to which his name
+was attached? He did not. Mr. Abner Sengstack wrote them in Mr.
+Mollenhauer's office, and Mr. Mollenhauer's comment when he saw them was
+that he thought they would do--that they were very good, in fact. And
+did Mr. George W. Stener, city treasurer of Philadelphia, write that
+very politic reply? He did not. Mr. Stener was in a state of complete
+collapse, even crying at one time at home in his bathtub. Mr. Abner
+Sengstack wrote that also, and had Mr. Stener sign it. And Mr.
+Mollenhauer's comment on that, before it was sent, was that he thought
+it was "all right." It was a time when all the little rats and mice were
+scurrying to cover because of the presence of a great, fiery-eyed public
+cat somewhere in the dark, and only the older and wiser rats were able
+to act.
+
+Indeed, at this very time and for some days past now, Messrs.
+Mollenhauer, Butler, and Simpson were, and had been, considering
+with Mr. Pettie, the district attorney, just what could be done about
+Cowperwood, if anything, and in order to further emphasize the blame in
+that direction, and just what defense, if any, could be made for Stener.
+Butler, of course, was strong for Cowperwood's prosecution. Pettie did
+not see that any defense could be made for Stener, since various records
+of street-car stocks purchased for him were spread upon Cowperwood's
+books; but for Cowperwood--"Let me see," he said. They were speculating,
+first of all, as to whether it might not be good policy to arrest
+Cowperwood, and if necessary try him, since his mere arrest would seem
+to the general public, at least, positive proof of his greater guilt,
+to say nothing of the virtuous indignation of the administration, and in
+consequence might tend to divert attention from the evil nature of the
+party until after election.
+
+So finally, on the afternoon of October 26, 1871, Edward Strobik,
+president of the common council of Philadelphia, appeared before the
+mayor, as finally ordered by Mollenhauer, and charged by affidavit that
+Frank A. Cowperwood, as broker, employed by the treasurer to sell the
+bonds of the city, had committed embezzlement and larceny as bailee. It
+did not matter that he charged George W. Stener with embezzlement at the
+same time. Cowperwood was the scapegoat they were after.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIV
+
+
+The contrasting pictures presented by Cowperwood and Stener at this
+time are well worth a moment's consideration. Stener's face was
+grayish-white, his lips blue. Cowperwood, despite various solemn
+thoughts concerning a possible period of incarceration which this hue
+and cry now suggested, and what that meant to his parents, his wife
+and children, his business associates, and his friends, was as calm and
+collected as one might assume his great mental resources would permit
+him to be. During all this whirl of disaster he had never once lost his
+head or his courage. That thing conscience, which obsesses and rides
+some people to destruction, did not trouble him at all. He had no
+consciousness of what is currently known as sin. There were just two
+faces to the shield of life from the point of view of his peculiar
+mind-strength and weakness. Right and wrong? He did not know about
+those. They were bound up in metaphysical abstrusities about which he
+did not care to bother. Good and evil? Those were toys of clerics,
+by which they made money. And as for social favor or social ostracism
+which, on occasion, so quickly followed upon the heels of disaster of
+any kind, well, what was social ostracism? Had either he or his parents
+been of the best society as yet? And since not, and despite this present
+mix-up, might not the future hold social restoration and position for
+him? It might. Morality and immorality? He never considered them. But
+strength and weakness--oh, yes! If you had strength you could protect
+yourself always and be something. If you were weak--pass quickly to the
+rear and get out of the range of the guns. He was strong, and he knew
+it, and somehow he always believed in his star. Something--he could
+not say what--it was the only metaphysics he bothered about--was doing
+something for him. It had always helped him. It made things come out
+right at times. It put excellent opportunities in his way. Why had he
+been given so fine a mind? Why always favored financially, personally?
+He had not deserved it--earned it. Accident, perhaps, but somehow
+the thought that he would always be protected--these intuitions,
+the "hunches" to act which he frequently had--could not be so easily
+explained. Life was a dark, insoluble mystery, but whatever it was,
+strength and weakness were its two constituents. Strength would
+win--weakness lose. He must rely on swiftness of thought, accuracy,
+his judgment, and on nothing else. He was really a brilliant picture of
+courage and energy--moving about briskly in a jaunty, dapper way, his
+mustaches curled, his clothes pressed, his nails manicured, his face
+clean-shaven and tinted with health.
+
+In the meantime, Cowperwood had gone personally to Skelton C. Wheat and
+tried to explain his side of the situation, alleging that he had done no
+differently from many others before him, but Wheat was dubious. He
+did not see how it was that the sixty thousand dollars' worth of
+certificates were not in the sinking-fund. Cowperwood's explanation
+of custom did not avail. Nevertheless, Mr. Wheat saw that others in
+politics had been profiting quite as much as Cowperwood in other ways
+and he advised Cowperwood to turn state's evidence. This, however, he
+promptly refused to do--he was no "squealer," and indicated as much to
+Mr. Wheat, who only smiled wryly.
+
+Butler, Sr., was delighted (concerned though he was about party success
+at the polls), for now he had this villain in the toils and he would
+have a fine time getting out of this. The incoming district attorney to
+succeed David Pettie if the Republican party won would be, as was
+now planned, an appointee of Butler's--a young Irishman who had done
+considerable legal work for him--one Dennis Shannon. The other two party
+leaders had already promised Butler that. Shannon was a smart,
+athletic, good-looking fellow, all of five feet ten inches in height,
+sandy-haired, pink-cheeked, blue-eyed, considerable of an orator and a
+fine legal fighter. He was very proud to be in the old man's favor--to
+be promised a place on the ticket by him--and would, he said, if
+elected, do his bidding to the best of his knowledge and ability.
+
+There was only one fly in the ointment, so far as some of the
+politicians were concerned, and that was that if Cowperwood were
+convicted, Stener must needs be also. There was no escape in so far as
+any one could see for the city treasurer. If Cowperwood was guilty of
+securing by trickery sixty thousand dollars' worth of the city money,
+Stener was guilty of securing five hundred thousand dollars. The
+prison term for this was five years. He might plead not guilty, and by
+submitting as evidence that what he did was due to custom save himself
+from the odious necessity of pleading guilty; but he would be convicted
+nevertheless. No jury could get by the fact in regard to him. In spite
+of public opinion, when it came to a trial there might be considerable
+doubt in Cowperwood's case. There was none in Stener's.
+
+The practical manner in which the situation was furthered, after
+Cowperwood and Stener were formally charged may be quickly noted.
+Steger, Cowperwood's lawyer, learned privately beforehand that
+Cowperwood was to be prosecuted. He arranged at once to have his
+client appear before any warrant could be served, and to forestall the
+newspaper palaver which would follow it if he had to be searched for.
+
+The mayor issued a warrant for Cowperwood's arrest, and, in accordance
+with Steger's plan, Cowperwood immediately appeared before Borchardt in
+company with his lawyer and gave bail in twenty thousand dollars (W. C.
+Davison, president of the Girard National Bank, being his surety), for
+his appearance at the central police station on the following Saturday
+for a hearing. Marcus Oldslaw, a lawyer, had been employed by Strobik
+as president of the common council, to represent him in prosecuting the
+case for the city. The mayor looked at Cowperwood curiously, for he,
+being comparatively new to the political world of Philadelphia, was not
+so familiar with him as others were; and Cowperwood returned the look
+pleasantly enough.
+
+"This is a great dumb show, Mr. Mayor," he observed once to Borchardt,
+quietly, and the latter replied, with a smile and a kindly eye, that as
+far as he was concerned, it was a form of procedure which was absolutely
+unavoidable at this time.
+
+"You know how it is, Mr. Cowperwood," he observed. The latter smiled. "I
+do, indeed," he said.
+
+Later there followed several more or less perfunctory appearances in a
+local police court, known as the Central Court, where when arraigned he
+pleaded not guilty, and finally his appearance before the November grand
+jury, where, owing to the complicated nature of the charge drawn up
+against him by Pettie, he thought it wise to appear. He was properly
+indicted by the latter body (Shannon, the newly elected district
+attorney, making a demonstration in force), and his trial ordered for
+December 5th before a certain Judge Payderson in Part I of Quarter
+Sessions, which was the local branch of the State courts dealing with
+crimes of this character. His indictment did not occur, however, before
+the coming and going of the much-mooted fall election, which resulted,
+thanks to the clever political manipulations of Mollenhauer and Simpson
+(ballot-box stuffing and personal violence at the polls not barred), in
+another victory, by, however, a greatly reduced majority. The Citizens'
+Municipal Reform Association, in spite of a resounding defeat at the
+polls, which could not have happened except by fraud, continued to
+fire courageously away at those whom it considered to be the chief
+malefactors.
+
+Aileen Butler, during all this time, was following the trend of
+Cowperwood's outward vicissitudes as heralded by the newspapers and the
+local gossip with as much interest and bias and enthusiasm for him as
+her powerful physical and affectional nature would permit. She was no
+great reasoner where affection entered in, but shrewd enough without
+it; and, although she saw him often and he told her much--as much as his
+natural caution would permit--she yet gathered from the newspapers and
+private conversation, at her own family's table and elsewhere, that,
+as bad as they said he was, he was not as bad as he might be. One item
+only, clipped from the Philadelphia Public Ledger soon after Cowperwood
+had been publicly accused of embezzlement, comforted and consoled her.
+She cut it out and carried it in her bosom; for, somehow, it seemed to
+show that her adored Frank was far more sinned against than sinning.
+It was a part of one of those very numerous pronunciamientos or reports
+issued by the Citizens' Municipal Reform Association, and it ran:
+
+"The aspects of the case are graver than have yet been allowed to reach
+the public. Five hundred thousand dollars of the deficiency arises not
+from city bonds sold and not accounted for, but from loans made by the
+treasurer to his broker. The committee is also informed, on what it
+believes to be good authority, that the loans sold by the broker were
+accounted for in the monthly settlements at the lowest prices current
+during the month, and that the difference between this rate and that
+actually realized was divided between the treasurer and the broker, thus
+making it to the interest of both parties to 'bear' the market at some
+time during the month, so as to obtain a low quotation for settlement.
+Nevertheless, the committee can only regard the prosecution instituted
+against the broker, Mr. Cowperwood, as an effort to divert public
+attention from more guilty parties while those concerned may be able to
+'fix' matters to suit themselves."
+
+"There," thought Aileen, when she read it, "there you have it."
+These politicians--her father among them as she gathered after his
+conversation with her--were trying to put the blame of their own evil
+deeds on her Frank. He was not nearly as bad as he was painted. The
+report said so. She gloated over the words "an effort to divert public
+attention from more guilty parties." That was just what her Frank
+had been telling her in those happy, private hours when they had
+been together recently in one place and another, particularly the new
+rendezvous in South Sixth Street which he had established, since the
+old one had to be abandoned. He had stroked her rich hair, caressed her
+body, and told her it was all a prearranged political scheme to cast the
+blame as much as possible on him and make it as light as possible for
+Stener and the party generally. He would come out of it all right, he
+said, but he cautioned her not to talk. He did not deny his long and
+profitable relations with Stener. He told her exactly how it was. She
+understood, or thought she did. Anyhow, her Frank was telling her, and
+that was enough.
+
+As for the two Cowperwood households, so recently and pretentiously
+joined in success, now so gloomily tied in failure, the life was going
+out of them. Frank Algernon was that life. He was the courage and force
+of his father: the spirit and opportunity of his brothers, the hope of
+his children, the estate of his wife, the dignity and significance
+of the Cowperwood name. All that meant opportunity, force, emolument,
+dignity, and happiness to those connected with him, he was. And his
+marvelous sun was waning apparently to a black eclipse.
+
+Since the fatal morning, for instance, when Lillian Cowperwood had
+received that utterly destructive note, like a cannonball ripping
+through her domestic affairs, she had been walking like one in a trance.
+Each day now for weeks she had been going about her duties placidly
+enough to all outward seeming, but inwardly she was running with a
+troubled tide of thought. She was so utterly unhappy. Her fortieth year
+had come for her at a time when life ought naturally to stand fixed and
+firm on a solid base, and here she was about to be torn bodily from
+the domestic soil in which she was growing and blooming, and thrown out
+indifferently to wither in the blistering noonday sun of circumstance.
+
+As for Cowperwood, Senior, his situation at his bank and elsewhere was
+rapidly nearing a climax. As has been said, he had had tremendous
+faith in his son; but he could not help seeing that an error had been
+committed, as he thought, and that Frank was suffering greatly for it
+now. He considered, of course, that Frank had been entitled to try to
+save himself as he had; but he so regretted that his son should have put
+his foot into the trap of any situation which could stir up discussion
+of the sort that was now being aroused. Frank was wonderfully brilliant.
+He need never have taken up with the city treasurer or the politicians
+to have succeeded marvelously. Local street-railways and speculative
+politicians were his undoing. The old man walked the floor all of the
+days, realizing that his sun was setting, that with Frank's failure
+he failed, and that this disgrace--these public charges--meant his own
+undoing. His hair had grown very gray in but a few weeks, his step slow,
+his face pallid, his eyes sunken. His rather showy side-whiskers seemed
+now like flags or ornaments of a better day that was gone. His only
+consolation through it all was that Frank had actually got out of his
+relationship with the Third National Bank without owing it a single
+dollar. Still as he knew the directors of that institution could not
+possibly tolerate the presence of a man whose son had helped loot the
+city treasury, and whose name was now in the public prints in this
+connection. Besides, Cowperwood, Sr., was too old. He ought to retire.
+
+The crisis for him therefore came on the day when Frank was arrested
+on the embezzlement charge. The old man, through Frank, who had it from
+Steger, knew it was coming, still had the courage to go to the bank but
+it was like struggling under the weight of a heavy stone to do it. But
+before going, and after a sleepless night, he wrote his resignation to
+Frewen Kasson, the chairman of the board of directors, in order that
+he should be prepared to hand it to him, at once. Kasson, a stocky,
+well-built, magnetic man of fifty, breathed an inward sigh of relief at
+the sight of it.
+
+"I know it's hard, Mr. Cowperwood," he said, sympathetically. "We--and
+I can speak for the other members of the board--we feel keenly the
+unfortunate nature of your position. We know exactly how it is that your
+son has become involved in this matter. He is not the only banker who
+has been involved in the city's affairs. By no means. It is an old
+system. We appreciate, all of us, keenly, the services you have rendered
+this institution during the past thirty-five years. If there were any
+possible way in which we could help to tide you over the difficulties at
+this time, we would be glad to do so, but as a banker yourself you must
+realize just how impossible that would be. Everything is in a turmoil.
+If things were settled--if we knew how soon this would blow over--" He
+paused, for he felt that he could not go on and say that he or the bank
+was sorry to be forced to lose Mr. Cowperwood in this way at present.
+Mr. Cowperwood himself would have to speak.
+
+During all this Cowperwood, Sr., had been doing his best to pull himself
+together in order to be able to speak at all. He had gotten out a
+large white linen handkerchief and blown his nose, and had straightened
+himself in his chair, and laid his hands rather peacefully on his desk.
+Still he was intensely wrought up.
+
+"I can't stand this!" he suddenly exclaimed. "I wish you would leave me
+alone now."
+
+Kasson, very carefully dressed and manicured, arose and walked out of
+the room for a few moments. He appreciated keenly the intensity of the
+strain he had just witnessed. The moment the door was closed Cowperwood
+put his head in his hands and shook convulsively. "I never thought I'd
+come to this," he muttered. "I never thought it." Then he wiped away his
+salty hot tears, and went to the window to look out and to think of what
+else to do from now on.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXV
+
+
+As time went on Butler grew more and more puzzled and restive as to his
+duty in regard to his daughter. He was sure by her furtive manner and
+her apparent desire to avoid him, that she was still in touch with
+Cowperwood in some way, and that this would bring about a social
+disaster of some kind. He thought once of going to Mrs. Cowperwood and
+having her bring pressure to bear on her husband, but afterwards he
+decided that that would not do. He was not really positive as yet that
+Aileen was secretly meeting Cowperwood, and, besides, Mrs. Cowperwood
+might not know of her husband's duplicity. He thought also of going to
+Cowperwood personally and threatening him, but that would be a severe
+measure, and again, as in the other case, he lacked proof. He hesitated
+to appeal to a detective agency, and he did not care to take the other
+members of the family into his confidence. He did go out and scan the
+neighborhood of 931 North Tenth Street once, looking at the house;
+but that helped him little. The place was for rent, Cowperwood having
+already abandoned his connection with it.
+
+Finally he hit upon the plan of having Aileen invited to go somewhere
+some distance off--Boston or New Orleans, where a sister of his wife
+lived. It was a delicate matter to engineer, and in such matters he was
+not exactly the soul of tact; but he undertook it. He wrote personally
+to his wife's sister at New Orleans, and asked her if she would, without
+indicating in any way that she had heard from him, write his wife and
+ask if she would not permit Aileen to come and visit her, writing Aileen
+an invitation at the same time; but he tore the letter up. A little
+later he learned accidentally that Mrs. Mollenhauer and her three
+daughters, Caroline, Felicia, and Alta, were going to Europe early in
+December to visit Paris, the Riviera, and Rome; and he decided to ask
+Mollenhauer to persuade his wife to invite Norah and Aileen, or Aileen
+only, to go along, giving as an excuse that his own wife would not leave
+him, and that the girls ought to go. It would be a fine way of disposing
+of Aileen for the present. The party was to be gone six months.
+Mollenhauer was glad to do so, of course. The two families were fairly
+intimate. Mrs. Mollenhauer was willing--delighted from a politic point
+of view--and the invitation was extended. Norah was overjoyed. She
+wanted to see something of Europe, and had always been hoping for some
+such opportunity. Aileen was pleased from the point of view that Mrs.
+Mollenhauer should invite her. Years before she would have accepted in
+a flash. But now she felt that it only came as a puzzling interruption,
+one more of the minor difficulties that were tending to interrupt her
+relations with Cowperwood. She immediately threw cold water on the
+proposition, which was made one evening at dinner by Mrs. Butler, who
+did not know of her husband's share in the matter, but had received a
+call that afternoon from Mrs. Mollenhauer, when the invitation had been
+extended.
+
+"She's very anxious to have you two come along, if your father don't
+mind," volunteered the mother, "and I should think ye'd have a fine
+time. They're going to Paris and the Riveera."
+
+"Oh, fine!" exclaimed Norah. "I've always wanted to go to Paris. Haven't
+you, Ai? Oh, wouldn't that be fine?"
+
+"I don't know that I want to go," replied Aileen. She did not care to
+compromise herself by showing any interest at the start. "It's coming
+on winter, and I haven't any clothes. I'd rather wait and go some other
+time."
+
+"Oh, Aileen Butler!" exclaimed Norah. "How you talk! I've heard you say
+a dozen times you'd like to go abroad some winter. Now when the chance
+comes--besides you can get your clothes made over there."
+
+"Couldn't you get somethin' over there?" inquired Mrs. Butler. "Besides,
+you've got two or three weeks here yet."
+
+"They wouldn't want a man around as a sort of guide and adviser, would
+they, mother?" put in Callum.
+
+"I might offer my services in that capacity myself," observed Owen,
+reservedly.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know," returned Mrs. Butler, smiling, and at the same
+time chewing a lusty mouthful. "You'll have to ast 'em, my sons."
+
+Aileen still persisted. She did not want to go. It was too sudden. It
+was this. It was that. Just then old Butler came in and took his seat
+at the head of the table. Knowing all about it, he was most anxious to
+appear not to.
+
+"You wouldn't object, Edward, would you?" queried his wife, explaining
+the proposition in general.
+
+"Object!" he echoed, with a well simulated but rough attempt at gayety.
+"A fine thing I'd be doing for meself--objectin'. I'd be glad if I could
+get shut of the whole pack of ye for a time."
+
+"What talk ye have!" said his wife. "A fine mess you'd make of it livin'
+alone."
+
+"I'd not be alone, belave me," replied Butler. "There's many a place I'd
+be welcome in this town--no thanks to ye."
+
+"And there's many a place ye wouldn't have been if it hadn't been for
+me. I'm tellin' ye that," retorted Mrs. Butler, genially.
+
+"And that's not stretchin' the troot much, aither," he answered, fondly.
+
+Aileen was adamant. No amount of argument both on the part of Norah and
+her mother had any effect whatever. Butler witnessed the failure of his
+plan with considerable dissatisfaction, but he was not through. When he
+was finally convinced that there was no hope of persuading her to accept
+the Mollenhauer proposition, he decided, after a while, to employ a
+detective.
+
+At that time, the reputation of William A. Pinkerton, of detective fame,
+and of his agency was great. The man had come up from poverty through a
+series of vicissitudes to a high standing in his peculiar and, to many,
+distasteful profession; but to any one in need of such in themselves
+calamitous services, his very famous and decidedly patriotic connection
+with the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln was a recommendation. He, or
+rather his service, had guarded the latter all his stormy incumbency
+at the executive mansion. There were offices for the management of the
+company's business in Philadelphia, Washington, and New York, to say
+nothing of other places. Butler was familiar with the Philadelphia sign,
+but did not care to go to the office there. He decided, once his mind
+was made up on this score, that he would go over to New York, where he
+was told the principal offices were.
+
+He made the simple excuse one day of business, which was common enough
+in his case, and journeyed to New York--nearly five hours away as
+the trains ran then--arriving at two o'clock. At the offices on lower
+Broadway, he asked to see the manager, whom he found to be a large,
+gross-featured, heavy-bodied man of fifty, gray-eyed, gray-haired,
+puffily outlined as to countenance, but keen and shrewd, and with short,
+fat-fingered hands, which drummed idly on his desk as he talked. He
+was dressed in a suit of dark-brown wool cloth, which struck Butler as
+peculiarly showy, and wore a large horseshoe diamond pin. The old man
+himself invariably wore conservative gray.
+
+"How do you do?" said Butler, when a boy ushered him into the presence
+of this worthy, whose name was Martinson--Gilbert Martinson, of American
+and Irish extraction. The latter nodded and looked at Butler shrewdly,
+recognizing him at once as a man of force and probably of position. He
+therefore rose and offered him a chair.
+
+"Sit down," he said, studying the old Irishman from under thick, bushy
+eyebrows. "What can I do for you?"
+
+"You're the manager, are you?" asked Butler, solemnly, eyeing the man
+with a shrewd, inquiring eye.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Martinson, simply. "That's my position here."
+
+"This Mr. Pinkerton that runs this agency--he wouldn't be about this
+place, now, would he?" asked Butler, carefully. "I'd like to talk to him
+personally, if I might, meaning no offense to you."
+
+"Mr. Pinkerton is in Chicago at present," replied Mr. Martinson. "I
+don't expect him back for a week or ten days. You can talk to me,
+though, with the same confidence that you could to him. I'm the
+responsible head here. However, you're the best judge of that."
+
+Butler debated with himself in silence for a few moments, estimating the
+man before him. "Are you a family man yourself?" he asked, oddly.
+
+"Yes, sir, I'm married," replied Martinson, solemnly. "I have a wife and
+two children."
+
+Martinson, from long experience conceived that this must be a matter
+of family misconduct--a son, daughter, wife. Such cases were not
+infrequent.
+
+"I thought I would like to talk to Mr. Pinkerton himself, but if you're
+the responsible head--" Butler paused.
+
+"I am," replied Martinson. "You can talk to me with the same freedom
+that you could to Mr. Pinkerton. Won't you come into my private office?
+We can talk more at ease in there."
+
+He led the way into an adjoining room which had two windows looking down
+into Broadway; an oblong table, heavy, brown, smoothly polished; four
+leather-backed chairs; and some pictures of the Civil War battles in
+which the North had been victorious. Butler followed doubtfully. He
+hated very much to take any one into his confidence in regard to Aileen.
+He was not sure that he would, even now. He wanted to "look these fellys
+over," as he said in his mind. He would decide then what he wanted to
+do. He went to one of the windows and looked down into the street, where
+there was a perfect swirl of omnibuses and vehicles of all sorts. Mr.
+Martinson quietly closed the door.
+
+"Now then, if there's anything I can do for you," Mr. Martinson paused.
+He thought by this little trick to elicit Buder's real name--it often
+"worked"--but in this instance the name was not forthcoming. Butler was
+too shrewd.
+
+"I'm not so sure that I want to go into this," said the old man
+solemnly. "Certainly not if there's any risk of the thing not being
+handled in the right way. There's somethin' I want to find out
+about--somethin' that I ought to know; but it's a very private matter
+with me, and--" He paused to think and conjecture, looking at Mr.
+Martinson the while. The latter understood his peculiar state of mind.
+He had seen many such cases.
+
+"Let me say right here, to begin with, Mr.--"
+
+"Scanlon," interpolated Butler, easily; "that's as good a name as any if
+you want to use one. I'm keepin' me own to meself for the present."
+
+"Scanlon," continued Martinson, easily. "I really don't care whether
+it's your right name or not. I was just going to say that it might not
+be necessary to have your right name under any circumstances--it all
+depends upon what you want to know. But, so far as your private affairs
+are concerned, they are as safe with us, as if you had never told them
+to any one. Our business is built upon confidence, and we never betray
+it. We wouldn't dare. We have men and women who have been in our employ
+for over thirty years, and we never retire any one except for cause, and
+we don't pick people who are likely to need to be retired for cause.
+Mr. Pinkerton is a good judge of men. There are others here who consider
+that they are. We handle over ten thousand separate cases in all parts
+of the United States every year. We work on a case only so long as we
+are wanted. We try to find out only such things as our customers want.
+We do not pry unnecessarily into anybody's affairs. If we decide that we
+cannot find out what you want to know, we are the first to say so. Many
+cases are rejected right here in this office before we ever begin. Yours
+might be such a one. We don't want cases merely for the sake of having
+them, and we are frank to say so. Some matters that involve public
+policy, or some form of small persecution, we don't touch at all--we
+won't be a party to them. You can see how that is. You look to me to
+be a man of the world. I hope I am one. Does it strike you that an
+organization like ours would be likely to betray any one's confidence?"
+He paused and looked at Butler for confirmation of what he had just
+said.
+
+"It wouldn't seem likely," said the latter; "that's the truth. It's not
+aisy to bring your private affairs into the light of day, though," added
+the old man, sadly.
+
+They both rested.
+
+"Well," said Butler, finally, "you look to me to be all right, and I'd
+like some advice. Mind ye, I'm willing to pay for it well enough; and it
+isn't anything that'll be very hard to find out. I want to know whether
+a certain man where I live is goin' with a certain woman, and where. You
+could find that out aisy enough, I belave--couldn't you?"
+
+"Nothing easier," replied Martinson. "We are doing it all the time. Let
+me see if I can help you just a moment, Mr. Scanlon, in order to make it
+easier for you. It is very plain to me that you don't care to tell any
+more than you can help, and we don't care to have you tell any more
+than we absolutely need. We will have to have the name of the city, of
+course, and the name of either the man or the woman; but not necessarily
+both of them, unless you want to help us in that way. Sometimes if you
+give us the name of one party--say the man, for illustration--and the
+description of the woman--an accurate one--or a photograph, we can tell
+you after a little while exactly what you want to know. Of course, it's
+always better if we have full information. You suit yourself about that.
+Tell me as much or as little as you please, and I'll guarantee that
+we will do our best to serve you, and that you will be satisfied
+afterward."
+
+He smiled genially.
+
+"Well, that bein' the case," said Butler, finally taking the leap, with
+many mental reservations, however, "I'll be plain with you. My name's
+not Scanlon. It's Butler. I live in Philadelphy. There's a man there, a
+banker by the name of Cowperwood--Frank A. Cowperwood--"
+
+"Wait a moment," said Martinson, drawing an ample pad out of his pocket
+and producing a lead-pencil; "I want to get that. How do you spell it?"
+
+Butler told him.
+
+"Yes; now go on."
+
+"He has a place in Third Street--Frank A. Cowperwood--any one can show
+you where it is. He's just failed there recently."
+
+"Oh, that's the man," interpolated Martinson. "I've heard of him. He's
+mixed up in some city embezzlement case over there. I suppose the reason
+you didn't go to our Philadelphia office is because you didn't want our
+local men over there to know anything about it. Isn't that it?"
+
+"That's the man, and that's the reason," said Butler. "I don't care to
+have anything of this known in Philadelphy. That's why I'm here. This
+man has a house on Girard Avenue--Nineteen-thirty-seven. You can find
+that out, too, when you get over there."
+
+"Yes," agreed Mr. Martinson.
+
+"Well, it's him that I want to know about--him--and a certain woman,
+or girl, rather." The old man paused and winced at this necessity of
+introducing Aileen into the case. He could scarcely think of it--he was
+so fond of her. He had been so proud of Aileen. A dark, smoldering rage
+burned in his heart against Cowperwood.
+
+"A relative of yours--possibly, I suppose," remarked Martinson,
+tactfully. "You needn't tell me any more--just give me a description if
+you wish. We may be able to work from that." He saw quite clearly what a
+fine old citizen in his way he was dealing with here, and also that the
+man was greatly troubled. Butler's heavy, meditative face showed it.
+"You can be quite frank with me, Mr. Butler," he added; "I think I
+understand. We only want such information as we must have to help you,
+nothing more."
+
+"Yes," said the old man, dourly. "She is a relative. She's me daughter,
+in fact. You look to me like a sensible, honest man. I'm her father, and
+I wouldn't do anything for the world to harm her. It's tryin' to save
+her I am. It's him I want." He suddenly closed one big fist forcefully.
+
+Martinson, who had two daughters of his own, observed the suggestive
+movement.
+
+"I understand how you feel, Mr. Butler," he observed. "I am a father
+myself. We'll do all we can for you. If you can give me an accurate
+description of her, or let one of my men see her at your house or
+office, accidentally, of course, I think we can tell you in no time
+at all if they are meeting with any regularity. That's all you want to
+know, is it--just that?"
+
+"That's all," said Butler, solemnly.
+
+"Well, that oughtn't to take any time at all, Mr. Butler--three or four
+days possibly, if we have any luck--a week, ten days, two weeks. It
+depends on how long you want us to shadow him in case there is no
+evidence the first few days."
+
+"I want to know, however long it takes," replied Butler, bitterly. "I
+want to know, if it takes a month or two months or three to find out. I
+want to know." The old man got up as he said this, very positive, very
+rugged. "And don't send me men that haven't sinse--lots of it, plase. I
+want men that are fathers, if you've got 'em--and that have sinse enough
+to hold their tongues--not b'ys."
+
+"I understand, Mr. Butler," Martinson replied. "Depend on it, you'll
+have the best we have, and you can trust them. They'll be discreet. You
+can depend on that. The way I'll do will be to assign just one man to
+the case at first, some one you can see for yourself whether you like or
+not. I'll not tell him anything. You can talk to him. If you like him,
+tell him, and he'll do the rest. Then, if he needs any more help, he can
+get it. What is your address?"
+
+Butler gave it to him.
+
+"And there'll be no talk about this?"
+
+"None whatever--I assure you."
+
+"And when'll he be comin' along?"
+
+"To-morrow, if you wish. I have a man I could send to-night. He isn't
+here now or I'd have him talk with you. I'll talk to him, though, and
+make everything clear. You needn't worry about anything. Your daughter's
+reputation will be safe in his hands."
+
+"Thank you kindly," commented Butler, softening the least bit in a
+gingerly way. "I'm much obliged to you. I'll take it as a great favor,
+and pay you well."
+
+"Never mind about that, Mr. Butler," replied Martinson. "You're welcome
+to anything this concern can do for you at its ordinary rates."
+
+He showed Butler to the door, and the old man went out. He was feeling
+very depressed over this--very shabby. To think he should have to put
+detectives on the track of his Aileen, his daughter!
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVI
+
+
+The very next day there called at Butler's office a long,
+preternaturally solemn man of noticeable height and angularity,
+dark-haired, dark-eyed, sallow, with a face that was long and leathery,
+and particularly hawk-like, who talked with Butler for over an hour
+and then departed. That evening he came to the Butler house around
+dinner-time, and, being shown into Butler's room, was given a look at
+Aileen by a ruse. Butler sent for her, standing in the doorway just
+far enough to one side to yield a good view of her. The detective stood
+behind one of the heavy curtains which had already been put up for the
+winter, pretending to look out into the street.
+
+"Did any one drive Sissy this mornin'?" asked Butler of Aileen,
+inquiring after a favorite family horse. Butler's plan, in case the
+detective was seen, was to give the impression that he was a horseman
+who had come either to buy or to sell. His name was Jonas Alderson, and
+be looked sufficiently like a horsetrader to be one.
+
+"I don't think so, father," replied Aileen. "I didn't. I'll find out."
+
+"Never mind. What I want to know is did you intend using her to-morrow?"
+
+"No, not if you want her. Jerry suits me just as well."
+
+"Very well, then. Leave her in the stable." Butler quietly closed the
+door. Aileen concluded at once that it was a horse conference. She knew
+he would not dispose of any horse in which she was interested without
+first consulting her, and so she thought no more about it.
+
+After she was gone Alderson stepped out and declared that he was
+satisfied. "That's all I need to know," he said. "I'll let you know in a
+few days if I find out anything."
+
+He departed, and within thirty-six hours the house and office
+of Cowperwood, the house of Butler, the office of Harper Steger,
+Cowperwood's lawyer, and Cowperwood and Aileen separately and personally
+were under complete surveillance. It took six men to do it at first, and
+eventually a seventh, when the second meeting-place, which was located
+in South Sixth Street, was discovered. All the detectives were from New
+York. In a week all was known to Alderson. It bad been agreed between
+him and Butler that if Aileen and Cowperwood were discovered to have any
+particular rendezvous Butler was to be notified some time when she was
+there, so that he might go immediately and confront her in person, if
+he wished. He did not intend to kill Cowperwood--and Alderson would have
+seen to it that he did not in his presence at least, but he would give
+him a good tongue-lashing, fell him to the floor, in all likelihood,
+and march Aileen away. There would be no more lying on her part as to
+whether she was or was not going with Cowperwood. She would not be able
+to say after that what she would or would not do. Butler would lay down
+the law to her. She would reform, or he would send her to a reformatory.
+Think of her influence on her sister, or on any good girl--knowing what
+she knew, or doing what she was doing! She would go to Europe after
+this, or any place he chose to send her.
+
+In working out his plan of action it was necessary for Butler to
+take Alderson into his confidence and the detective made plain his
+determination to safeguard Cowperwood's person.
+
+"We couldn't allow you to strike any blows or do any violence," Alderson
+told Butler, when they first talked about it. "It's against the rules.
+You can go in there on a search-warrant, if we have to have one. I
+can get that for you without anybody's knowing anything about your
+connection with the case. We can say it's for a girl from New York. But
+you'll have to go in in the presence of my men. They won't permit any
+trouble. You can get your daughter all right--we'll bring her away, and
+him, too, if you say so; but you'll have to make some charge against
+him, if we do. Then there's the danger of the neighbors seeing. You
+can't always guarantee you won't collect a crowd that way." Butler had
+many misgivings about the matter. It was fraught with great danger of
+publicity. Still he wanted to know. He wanted to terrify Aileen if he
+could--to reform her drastically.
+
+
+Within a week Alderson learned that Aileen and Cowperwood were visiting
+an apparently private residence, which was anything but that. The house
+on South Sixth Street was one of assignation purely; but in its way it
+was superior to the average establishment of its kind--of red brick,
+white-stone trimmings, four stories high, and all the rooms, some
+eighteen in number, furnished in a showy but cleanly way. It's patronage
+was highly exclusive, only those being admitted who were known to the
+mistress, having been introduced by others. This guaranteed that privacy
+which the illicit affairs of this world so greatly required. The mere
+phrase, "I have an appointment," was sufficient, where either of
+the parties was known, to cause them to be shown to a private suite.
+Cowperwood had known of the place from previous experiences, and when
+it became necessary to abandon the North Tenth Street house, he had
+directed Aileen to meet him here.
+
+The matter of entering a place of this kind and trying to find any
+one was, as Alderson informed Butler on hearing of its character,
+exceedingly difficult. It involved the right of search, which was
+difficult to get. To enter by sheer force was easy enough in most
+instances where the business conducted was in contradistinction to the
+moral sentiment of the community; but sometimes one encountered violent
+opposition from the tenants themselves. It might be so in this case. The
+only sure way of avoiding such opposition would be to take the woman
+who ran the place into one's confidence, and by paying her sufficiently
+insure silence. "But I do not advise that in this instance," Alderson
+had told Butler, "for I believe this woman is particularly friendly
+to your man. It might be better, in spite of the risk, to take it by
+surprise." To do that, he explained, it would be necessary to have at
+least three men in addition to the leader--perhaps four, who, once one
+man had been able to make his entrance into the hallway, on the door
+being opened in response to a ring, would appear quickly and enter with
+and sustain him. Quickness of search was the next thing--the prompt
+opening of all doors. The servants, if any, would have to be overpowered
+and silenced in some way. Money sometimes did this; force accomplished
+it at other times. Then one of the detectives simulating a servant
+could tap gently at the different doors--Butler and the others standing
+by--and in case a face appeared identify it or not, as the case might
+be. If the door was not opened and the room was not empty, it could
+eventually be forced. The house was one of a solid block, so that there
+was no chance of escape save by the front and rear doors, which were
+to be safe-guarded. It was a daringly conceived scheme. In spite of all
+this, secrecy in the matter of removing Aileen was to be preserved.
+
+When Butler heard of this he was nervous about the whole terrible
+procedure. He thought once that without going to the house he would
+merely talk to his daughter declaring that he knew and that she could
+not possibly deny it. He would then give her her choice between going
+to Europe or going to a reformatory. But a sense of the raw brutality of
+Aileen's disposition, and something essentially coarse in himself, made
+him eventually adopt the other method. He ordered Alderson to perfect
+his plan, and once he found Aileen or Cowperwood entering the house to
+inform him quickly. He would then drive there, and with the assistance
+of these men confront her.
+
+It was a foolish scheme, a brutalizing thing to do, both from the point
+of view of affection and any corrective theory he might have had. No
+good ever springs from violence. But Butler did not see that. He wanted
+to frighten Aileen, to bring her by shock to a realization of the
+enormity of the offense she was committing. He waited fully a week after
+his word had been given; and then, one afternoon, when his nerves were
+worn almost thin from fretting, the climax came. Cowperwood had already
+been indicted, and was now awaiting trial. Aileen had been bringing him
+news, from time to time, of just how she thought her father was feeling
+toward him. She did not get this evidence direct from Butler, of
+course--he was too secretive, in so far as she was concerned, to let
+her know how relentlessly he was engineering Cowperwood's final
+downfall--but from odd bits confided to Owen, who confided them to
+Callum, who in turn, innocently enough, confided them to Aileen. For
+one thing, she had learned in this way of the new district attorney
+elect--his probable attitude--for he was a constant caller at the Butler
+house or office. Owen had told Callum that he thought Shannon was going
+to do his best to send Cowperwood "up"--that the old man thought he
+deserved it.
+
+In the next place she had learned that her father did not want
+Cowperwood to resume business--did not feel he deserved to be allowed
+to. "It would be a God's blessing if the community were shut of him,"
+he had said to Owen one morning, apropos of a notice in the papers of
+Cowperwood's legal struggles; and Owen had asked Callum why he thought
+the old man was so bitter. The two sons could not understand it.
+Cowperwood heard all this from her, and more--bits about Judge
+Payderson, the judge who was to try him, who was a friend of
+Butler's--also about the fact that Stener might be sent up for the full
+term of his crime, but that he would be pardoned soon afterward.
+
+Apparently Cowperwood was not very much frightened. He told her that
+he had powerful financial friends who would appeal to the governor to
+pardon him in case he was convicted; and, anyhow, that he did not think
+that the evidence was strong enough to convict him. He was merely a
+political scapegoat through public clamor and her father's influence;
+since the latter's receipt of the letter about them he had been the
+victim of Butler's enmity, and nothing more. "If it weren't for your
+father, honey," he declared, "I could have this indictment quashed in
+no time. Neither Mollenhauer nor Simpson has anything against me
+personally, I am sure. They want me to get out of the street-railway
+business here in Philadelphia, and, of course, they wanted to make
+things look better for Stener at first; but depend upon it, if your
+father hadn't been against me they wouldn't have gone to any such length
+in making me the victim. Your father has this fellow Shannon and these
+minor politicians just where he wants them, too. That's where the
+trouble lies. They have to go on."
+
+"Oh, I know," replied Aileen. "It's me, just me, that's all. If
+it weren't for me and what he suspects he'd help you in a minute.
+Sometimes, you know, I think I've been very bad for you. I don't know
+what I ought to do. If I thought it would help you any I'd not see you
+any more for a while, though I don't see what good that would do now.
+Oh, I love you, love you, Frank! I would do anything for you. I don't
+care what people think or say. I love you."
+
+"Oh, you just think you do," he replied, jestingly. "You'll get over it.
+There are others."
+
+"Others!" echoed Aileen, resentfully and contemptuously. "After you
+there aren't any others. I just want one man, my Frank. If you ever
+desert me, I'll go to hell. You'll see."
+
+"Don't talk like that, Aileen," he replied, almost irritated. "I don't
+like to hear you. You wouldn't do anything of the sort. I love you. You
+know I'm not going to desert you. It would pay you to desert me just
+now."
+
+"Oh, how you talk!" she exclaimed. "Desert you! It's likely, isn't it?
+But if ever you desert me, I'll do just what I say. I swear it."
+
+"Don't talk like that. Don't talk nonsense."
+
+"I swear it. I swear by my love. I swear by your success--my own
+happiness. I'll do just what I say. I'll go to hell."
+
+Cowperwood got up. He was a little afraid now of this deep-seated
+passion he had aroused. It was dangerous. He could not tell where it
+would lead.
+
+It was a cheerless afternoon in November, when Alderson, duly informed
+of the presence of Aileen and Cowperwood in the South Sixth Street
+house by the detective on guard drove rapidly up to Butler's office and
+invited him to come with him. Yet even now Butler could scarcely believe
+that he was to find his daughter there. The shame of it. The horror.
+What would he say to her? How reproach her? What would he do to
+Cowperwood? His large hands shook as he thought. They drove rapidly
+to within a few doors of the place, where a second detective on guard
+across the street approached. Butler and Alderson descended from the
+vehicle, and together they approached the door. It was now almost
+four-thirty in the afternoon. In a room within the house, Cowperwood,
+his coat and vest off, was listening to Aileen's account of her
+troubles.
+
+The room in which they were sitting at the time was typical of the
+rather commonplace idea of luxury which then prevailed. Most of the
+"sets" of furniture put on the market for general sale by the furniture
+companies were, when they approached in any way the correct idea of
+luxury, imitations of one of the Louis periods. The curtains were always
+heavy, frequently brocaded, and not infrequently red. The carpets were
+richly flowered in high colors with a thick, velvet nap. The furniture,
+of whatever wood it might be made, was almost invariably heavy,
+floriated, and cumbersome. This room contained a heavily constructed
+bed of walnut, with washstand, bureau, and wardrobe to match. A large,
+square mirror in a gold frame was hung over the washstand. Some poor
+engravings of landscapes and several nude figures were hung in
+gold frames on the wall. The gilt-framed chairs were upholstered in
+pink-and-white-flowered brocade, with polished brass tacks. The carpet
+was of thick Brussels, pale cream and pink in hue, with large blue
+jardinieres containing flowers woven in as ornaments. The general effect
+was light, rich, and a little stuffy.
+
+"You know I get desperately frightened, sometimes," said Aileen. "Father
+might be watching us, you know. I've often wondered what I'd do if he
+caught us. I couldn't lie out of this, could I?"
+
+"You certainly couldn't," said Cowperwood, who never failed to respond
+to the incitement of her charms. She had such lovely smooth arms, a
+full, luxuriously tapering throat and neck; her golden-red hair floated
+like an aureole about her head, and her large eyes sparkled. The
+wondrous vigor of a full womanhood was hers--errant, ill-balanced,
+romantic, but exquisite, "but you might as well not cross that bridge
+until you come to it," he continued. "I myself have been thinking that
+we had better not go on with this for the present. That letter ought to
+have been enough to stop us for the time."
+
+He came over to where she stood by the dressing-table, adjusting her
+hair.
+
+"You're such a pretty minx," he said. He slipped his arm about her
+and kissed her pretty mouth. "Nothing sweeter than you this side of
+Paradise," he whispered in her ear.
+
+While this was enacting, Butler and the extra detective had stepped out
+of sight, to one side of the front door of the house, while Alderson,
+taking the lead, rang the bell. A negro servant appeared.
+
+"Is Mrs. Davis in?" he asked, genially, using the name of the woman in
+control. "I'd like to see her."
+
+"Just come in," said the maid, unsuspectingly, and indicated a
+reception-room on the right. Alderson took off his soft, wide-brimmed
+hat and entered. When the maid went up-stairs he immediately returned to
+the door and let in Butler and two detectives. The four stepped into the
+reception-room unseen. In a few moments the "madam" as the current word
+characterized this type of woman, appeared. She was tall, fair, rugged,
+and not at all unpleasant to look upon. She had light-blue eyes and a
+genial smile. Long contact with the police and the brutalities of sex in
+her early life had made her wary, a little afraid of how the world would
+use her. This particular method of making a living being illicit, and
+she having no other practical knowledge at her command, she was as
+anxious to get along peacefully with the police and the public generally
+as any struggling tradesman in any walk of life might have been. She had
+on a loose, blue-flowered peignoir, or dressing-gown, open at the front,
+tied with blue ribbons and showing a little of her expensive underwear
+beneath. A large opal ring graced her left middle finger, and turquoises
+of vivid blue were pendent from her ears. She wore yellow silk slippers
+with bronze buckles; and altogether her appearance was not out of
+keeping with the character of the reception-room itself, which was a
+composite of gold-flowered wall-paper, blue and cream-colored Brussels
+carpet, heavily gold-framed engravings of reclining nudes, and a
+gilt-framed pier-glass, which rose from the floor to the ceiling.
+Needless to say, Butler was shocked to the soul of him by this
+suggestive atmosphere which was supposed to include his daughter in its
+destructive reaches.
+
+Alderson motioned one of his detectives to get behind the woman--between
+her and the door--which he did.
+
+"Sorry to trouble you, Mrs. Davis," he said, "but we are looking for a
+couple who are in your house here. We're after a runaway girl. We don't
+want to make any disturbance--merely to get her and take her away." Mrs.
+Davis paled and opened her mouth. "Now don't make any noise or try to
+scream, or we'll have to stop you. My men are all around the house.
+Nobody can get out. Do you know anybody by the name of Cowperwood?"
+
+Mrs. Davis, fortunately from one point of view, was not of a
+particularly nervous nor yet contentious type. She was more or less
+philosophic. She was not in touch with the police here in Philadelphia,
+hence subject to exposure. What good would it do to cry out? she
+thought. The place was surrounded. There was no one in the house at the
+time to save Cowperwood and Aileen. She did not know Cowperwood by his
+name, nor Aileen by hers. They were a Mr. and Mrs. Montague to her.
+
+"I don't know anybody by that name," she replied nervously.
+
+"Isn't there a girl here with red hair?" asked one of Alderson's
+assistants. "And a man with a gray suit and a light-brown mustache? They
+came in here half an hour ago. You remember them, don't you?"
+
+"There's just one couple in the house, but I'm not sure whether they're
+the ones you want. I'll ask them to come down if you wish. Oh, I wish
+you wouldn't make any disturbance. This is terrible."
+
+"We'll not make any disturbance," replied Alderson, "if you don't. Just
+you be quiet. We merely want to see the girl and take her away. Now, you
+stay where you are. What room are they in?"
+
+"In the second one in the rear up-stairs. Won't you let me go, though?
+It will be so much better. I'll just tap and ask them to come out."
+
+"No. We'll tend to that. You stay where you are. You're not going to get
+into any trouble. You just stay where you are," insisted Alderson.
+
+He motioned to Butler, who, however, now that he had embarked on his
+grim task, was thinking that he had made a mistake. What good would it
+do him to force his way in and make her come out, unless he intended
+to kill Cowperwood? If she were made to come down here, that would be
+enough. She would then know that he knew all. He did not care to quarrel
+with Cowperwood, in any public way, he now decided. He was afraid to. He
+was afraid of himself.
+
+"Let her go," he said grimly, doggedly referring to Mrs. Davis, "But
+watch her. Tell the girl to come down-stairs to me."
+
+Mrs. Davis, realizing on the moment that this was some family tragedy,
+and hoping in an agonized way that she could slip out of it peacefully,
+started upstairs at once with Alderson and his assistants who were close
+at his heels. Reaching the door of the room occupied by Cowperwood
+and Aileen, she tapped lightly. At the time Aileen and Cowperwood were
+sitting in a big arm-chair. At the first knock Aileen blanched and
+leaped to her feet. Usually not nervous, to-day, for some reason, she
+anticipated trouble. Cowperwood's eyes instantly hardened.
+
+"Don't be nervous," he said, "no doubt it's only the servant. I'll go."
+
+He started, but Aileen interfered. "Wait," she said. Somewhat reassured,
+she went to the closet, and taking down a dressing-gown, slipped it on.
+Meanwhile the tap came again. Then she went to the door and opened it
+the least bit.
+
+"Mrs. Montague," exclaimed Mrs. Davis, in an obviously nervous, forced
+voice, "there's a gentleman downstairs who wishes to see you."
+
+"A gentleman to see me!" exclaimed Aileen, astonished and paling. "Are
+you sure?"
+
+"Yes; he says he wants to see you. There are several other men with him.
+I think it's some one who belongs to you, maybe."
+
+Aileen realized on the instant, as did Cowperwood, what had in all
+likelihood happened. Butler or Mrs. Cowperwood had trailed them--in all
+probability her father. He wondered now what he should do to protect
+her, not himself. He was in no way deeply concerned for himself, even
+here. Where any woman was concerned he was too chivalrous to permit
+fear. It was not at all improbable that Butler might want to kill him;
+but that did not disturb him. He really did not pay any attention to
+that thought, and he was not armed.
+
+"I'll dress and go down," he said, when he saw Aileen's pale face.
+"You stay here. And don't you worry in any way for I'll get you out of
+this--now, don't worry. This is my affair. I got you in it and I'll get
+you out of it." He went for his hat and coat and added, as he did so,
+"You go ahead and dress; but let me go first."
+
+Aileen, the moment the door closed, had begun to put on her clothes
+swiftly and nervously. Her mind was working like a rapidly moving
+machine. She was wondering whether this really could be her father.
+Perhaps it was not. Might there be some other Mrs. Montague--a real one?
+Supposing it was her father--he had been so nice to her in not telling
+the family, in keeping her secret thus far. He loved her--she knew that.
+It makes all the difference in the world in a child's attitude on an
+occasion like this whether she has been loved and petted and spoiled, or
+the reverse. Aileen had been loved and petted and spoiled. She could not
+think of her father doing anything terrible physically to her or to any
+one else. But it was so hard to confront him--to look into his eyes.
+When she had attained a proper memory of him, her fluttering wits told
+her what to do.
+
+"No, Frank," she whispered, excitedly; "if it's father, you'd better let
+me go. I know how to talk to him. He won't say anything to me. You stay
+here. I'm not afraid--really, I'm not. If I want you, I'll call you."
+
+He had come over and taken her pretty chin in his hands, and was looking
+solemnly into her eyes.
+
+"You mustn't be afraid," he said. "I'll go down. If it's your father,
+you can go away with him. I don't think he'll do anything either to you
+or to me. If it is he, write me something at the office. I'll be there.
+If I can help you in any way, I will. We can fix up something. There's
+no use trying to explain this. Say nothing at all."
+
+He had on his coat and overcoat, and was standing with his hat in
+his hand. Aileen was nearly dressed, struggling with the row of red
+current-colored buttons which fastened her dress in the back. Cowperwood
+helped her. When she was ready--hat, gloves, and all--he said:
+
+"Now let me go first. I want to see."
+
+"No; please, Frank," she begged, courageously. "Let me, I know it's
+father. Who else could it be?" She wondered at the moment whether her
+father had brought her two brothers but would not now believe it. He
+would not do that, she knew. "You can come if I call." She went on.
+"Nothing's going to happen, though. I understand him. He won't do
+anything to me. If you go it will only make him angry. Let me go. You
+stand in the door here. If I don't call, it's all right. Will you?"
+
+She put her two pretty hands on his shoulders, and he weighed the matter
+very carefully. "Very well," he said, "only I'll go to the foot of the
+stairs with you."
+
+They went to the door and he opened it. Outside were Alderson with two
+other detectives and Mrs. Davis, standing perhaps five feet away.
+
+"Well," said Cowperwood, commandingly, looking at Alderson.
+
+"There's a gentleman down-stairs wishes to see the lady," said Alderson.
+"It's her father, I think," he added quietly.
+
+Cowperwood made way for Aileen, who swept by, furious at the presence of
+men and this exposure. Her courage had entirely returned. She was angry
+now to think her father would make a public spectacle of her. Cowperwood
+started to follow.
+
+"I'd advise you not to go down there right away," cautioned Alderson,
+sagely. "That's her father. Butler's her name, isn't it? He don't want
+you so much as he wants her."
+
+Cowperwood nevertheless walked slowly toward the head of the stairs,
+listening.
+
+"What made you come here, father?" he heard Aileen ask.
+
+Butler's reply he could not hear, but he was now at ease for he knew how
+much Butler loved his daughter.
+
+Confronted by her father, Aileen was now attempting to stare defiantly,
+to look reproachful, but Butler's deep gray eyes beneath their shaggy
+brows revealed such a weight of weariness and despair as even she, in
+her anger and defiance, could not openly flaunt. It was all too sad.
+
+"I never expected to find you in a place like this, daughter," he said.
+"I should have thought you would have thought better of yourself." His
+voice choked and he stopped.
+
+"I know who you're here with," he continued, shaking his head sadly.
+"The dog! I'll get him yet. I've had men watchin' you all the time. Oh,
+the shame of this day! The shame of this day! You'll be comin' home with
+me now."
+
+"That's just it, father," began Aileen. "You've had men watching me.
+I should have thought--" She stopped, because he put up his hand in a
+strange, agonized, and yet dominating way.
+
+"None of that! none of that!" he said, glowering under his strange, sad,
+gray brows. "I can't stand it! Don't tempt me! We're not out of this
+place yet. He's not! You'll come home with me now."
+
+Aileen understood. It was Cowperwood he was referring to. That
+frightened her.
+
+"I'm ready," she replied, nervously.
+
+The old man led the way broken-heartedly. He felt he would never live to
+forget the agony of this hour.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVII
+
+
+In spite of Butler's rage and his determination to do many things to the
+financier, if he could, he was so wrought up and shocked by the attitude
+of Aileen that he could scarcely believe he was the same man he had
+been twenty-four hours before. She was so nonchalant, so defiant. He
+had expected to see her wilt completely when confronted with her guilt.
+Instead, he found, to his despair, after they were once safely out of
+the house, that he had aroused a fighting quality in the girl which was
+not incomparable to his own. She had some of his own and Owen's grit.
+She sat beside him in the little runabout--not his own--in which he was
+driving her home, her face coloring and blanching by turns, as different
+waves of thought swept over her, determined to stand her ground now that
+her father had so plainly trapped her, to declare for Cowperwood and her
+love and her position in general. What did she care, she asked
+herself, what her father thought now? She was in this thing. She loved
+Cowperwood; she was permanently disgraced in her father's eyes. What
+difference could it all make now? He had fallen so low in his parental
+feeling as to spy on her and expose her before other men--strangers,
+detectives, Cowperwood. What real affection could she have for him after
+this? He had made a mistake, according to her. He had done a foolish and
+a contemptible thing, which was not warranted however bad her actions
+might have been. What could he hope to accomplish by rushing in on her
+in this way and ripping the veil from her very soul before these other
+men--these crude detectives? Oh, the agony of that walk from the
+bedroom to the reception-room! She would never forgive her father for
+this--never, never, never! He had now killed her love for him--that was
+what she felt. It was to be a battle royal between them from now on.
+As they rode--in complete silence for a while--her hands clasped
+and unclasped defiantly, her nails cutting her palms, and her mouth
+hardened.
+
+It is an open question whether raw opposition ever accomplishes anything
+of value in this world. It seems so inherent in this mortal scheme of
+things that it appears to have a vast validity. It is more than likely
+that we owe this spectacle called life to it, and that this can be
+demonstrated scientifically; but when that is said and done, what is the
+value? What is the value of the spectacle? And what the value of a scene
+such as this enacted between Aileen and her father?
+
+The old man saw nothing for it, as they rode on, save a grim contest
+between them which could end in what? What could he do with her? They
+were riding away fresh from this awful catastrophe, and she was not
+saying a word! She had even asked him why he had come there! How was he
+to subdue her, when the very act of trapping her had failed to do
+so? His ruse, while so successful materially, had failed so utterly
+spiritually. They reached the house, and Aileen got out. The old man,
+too nonplussed to wish to go further at this time, drove back to his
+office. He then went out and walked--a peculiar thing for him to do; he
+had done nothing like that in years and years--walking to think. Coming
+to an open Catholic church, he went in and prayed for enlightenment,
+the growing dusk of the interior, the single everlasting lamp before the
+repository of the chalice, and the high, white altar set with candles
+soothing his troubled feelings.
+
+He came out of the church after a time and returned home. Aileen did not
+appear at dinner, and he could not eat. He went into his private room
+and shut the door--thinking, thinking, thinking. The dreadful spectacle
+of Aileen in a house of ill repute burned in his brain. To think that
+Cowperwood should have taken her to such a place--his Aileen, his
+and his wife's pet. In spite of his prayers, his uncertainty, her
+opposition, the puzzling nature of the situation, she must be got out
+of this. She must go away for a while, give the man up, and then the law
+should run its course with him. In all likelihood Cowperwood would go to
+the penitentiary--if ever a man richly deserved to go, it was he. Butler
+would see that no stone was left unturned. He would make it a personal
+issue, if necessary. All he had to do was to let it be known in judicial
+circles that he wanted it so. He could not suborn a jury, that would
+be criminal; but he could see that the case was properly and forcefully
+presented; and if Cowperwood were convicted, Heaven help him. The appeal
+of his financial friends would not save him. The judges of the lower and
+superior courts knew on which side their bread was buttered. They would
+strain a point in favor of the highest political opinion of the day, and
+he certainly could influence that. Aileen meanwhile was contemplating
+the peculiar nature of her situation. In spite of their silence on the
+way home, she knew that a conversation was coming with her father.
+It had to be. He would want her to go somewhere. Most likely he would
+revive the European trip in some form--she now suspected the invitation
+of Mrs. Mollenhauer as a trick; and she had to decide whether she would
+go. Would she leave Cowperwood just when he was about to be tried? She
+was determined she would not. She wanted to see what was going to happen
+to him. She would leave home first--run to some relative, some friend,
+some stranger, if necessary, and ask to be taken in. She had some
+money--a little. Her father had always been very liberal with her. She
+could take a few clothes and disappear. They would be glad enough
+to send for her after she had been gone awhile. Her mother would be
+frantic; Norah and Callum and Owen would be beside themselves with
+wonder and worry; her father--she could see him. Maybe that would bring
+him to his senses. In spite of all her emotional vagaries, she was the
+pride and interest of this home, and she knew it.
+
+It was in this direction that her mind was running when her father, a
+few days after the dreadful exposure in the Sixth Street house, sent for
+her to come to him in his room. He had come home from his office very
+early in the afternoon, hoping to find Aileen there, in order that he
+might have a private interview with her, and by good luck found her in.
+She had had no desire to go out into the world these last few days--she
+was too expectant of trouble to come. She had just written Cowperwood
+asking for a rendezvous out on the Wissahickon the following afternoon,
+in spite of the detectives. She must see him. Her father, she said, had
+done nothing; but she was sure he would attempt to do something. She
+wanted to talk to Cowperwood about that.
+
+"I've been thinkin' about ye, Aileen, and what ought to be done in this
+case," began her father without preliminaries of any kind once they were
+in his "office room" in the house together. "You're on the road to ruin
+if any one ever was. I tremble when I think of your immortal soul. I
+want to do somethin' for ye, my child, before it's too late. I've been
+reproachin' myself for the last month and more, thinkin', perhaps, it
+was somethin' I had done, or maybe had failed to do, aither me or your
+mother, that has brought ye to the place where ye are to-day. Needless
+to say, it's on me conscience, me child. It's a heartbroken man you're
+lookin' at this day. I'll never be able to hold me head up again. Oh,
+the shame--the shame! That I should have lived to see it!"
+
+"But father," protested Aileen, who was a little distraught at the
+thought of having to listen to a long preachment which would relate to
+her duty to God and the Church and her family and her mother and him.
+She realized that all these were important in their way; but Cowperwood
+and his point of view had given her another outlook on life. They had
+discussed this matter of families--parents, children, husbands, wives,
+brothers, sisters--from almost every point of view. Cowperwood's
+laissez-faire attitude had permeated and colored her mind completely.
+She saw things through his cold, direct "I satisfy myself" attitude. He
+was sorry for all the little differences of personality that sprang
+up between people, causing quarrels, bickerings, oppositions, and
+separation; but they could not be helped. People outgrew each other.
+Their points of view altered at varying ratios--hence changes.
+Morals--those who had them had them; those who hadn't, hadn't. There was
+no explaining. As for him, he saw nothing wrong in the sex relationship.
+Between those who were mutually compatible it was innocent and
+delicious. Aileen in his arms, unmarried, but loved by him, and he by
+her, was as good and pure as any living woman--a great deal purer than
+most. One found oneself in a given social order, theory, or scheme
+of things. For purposes of social success, in order not to offend, to
+smooth one's path, make things easy, avoid useless criticism, and the
+like, it was necessary to create an outward seeming--ostensibly conform.
+Beyond that it was not necessary to do anything. Never fail, never get
+caught. If you did, fight your way out silently and say nothing. That
+was what he was doing in connection with his present financial troubles;
+that was what he had been ready to do the other day when they were
+caught. It was something of all this that was coloring Aileen's mood as
+she listened at present.
+
+"But father," she protested, "I love Mr. Cowperwood. It's almost the
+same as if I were married to him. He will marry me some day when he gets
+a divorce from Mrs. Cowperwood. You don't understand how it is. He's
+very fond of me, and I love him. He needs me."
+
+Butler looked at her with strange, non-understanding eyes. "Divorce,
+did you say," he began, thinking of the Catholic Church and its dogma in
+regard to that. "He'll divorce his own wife and children--and for you,
+will he? He needs you, does he?" he added, sarcastically. "What about
+his wife and children? I don't suppose they need him, do they? What talk
+have ye?"
+
+Aileen flung her head back defiantly. "It's true, nevertheless," she
+reiterated. "You just don't understand."
+
+Butler could scarcely believe his ears. He had never heard such talk
+before in his life from any one. It amazed and shocked him. He was
+quite aware of all the subtleties of politics and business, but these
+of romance were too much for him. He knew nothing about them. To think
+a daughter of his should be talking like this, and she a Catholic! He
+could not understand where she got such notions unless it was from the
+Machiavellian, corrupting brain of Cowperwood himself.
+
+"How long have ye had these notions, my child?" he suddenly asked,
+calmly and soberly. "Where did ye get them? Ye certainly never heard
+anything like that in this house, I warrant. Ye talk as though ye had
+gone out of yer mind."
+
+"Oh, don't talk nonsense, father," flared Aileen, angrily, thinking how
+hopeless it was to talk to her father about such things anyhow. "I'm
+not a child any more. I'm twenty-four years of age. You just don't
+understand. Mr. Cowperwood doesn't like his wife. He's going to get a
+divorce when he can, and will marry me. I love him, and he loves me, and
+that's all there is to it."
+
+"Is it, though?" asked Butler, grimly determined by hook or by crook, to
+bring this girl to her senses. "Ye'll be takin' no thought of his
+wife and children then? The fact that he's goin' to jail, besides,
+is nawthin' to ye, I suppose. Ye'd love him just as much in convict
+stripes, I suppose--more, maybe." (The old man was at his best, humanly
+speaking, when he was a little sarcastic.) "Ye'll have him that way,
+likely, if at all."
+
+Aileen blazed at once to a furious heat. "Yes, I know," she sneered.
+"That's what you would like. I know what you've been doing. Frank does,
+too. You're trying to railroad him to prison for something he didn't
+do--and all on account of me. Oh, I know. But you won't hurt him. You
+can't! He's bigger and finer than you think he is and you won't hurt
+him in the long run. He'll get out again. You want to punish him on my
+account; but he doesn't care. I'll marry him anyhow. I love him, and
+I'll wait for him and marry him, and you can do what you please. So
+there!"
+
+"Ye'll marry him, will you?" asked Butler, nonplussed and further
+astounded. "So ye'll wait for him and marry him? Ye'll take him away
+from his wife and children, where, if he were half a man, he'd be
+stayin' this minute instead of gallivantin' around with you. And marry
+him? Ye'd disgrace your father and yer mother and yer family? Ye'll
+stand here and say this to me, I that have raised ye, cared for ye, and
+made somethin' of ye? Where would you be if it weren't for me and your
+poor, hard-workin' mother, schemin' and plannin' for you year in and
+year out? Ye're smarter than I am, I suppose. Ye know more about the
+world than I do, or any one else that might want to say anythin' to ye.
+I've raised ye to be a fine lady, and this is what I get. Talk about me
+not bein' able to understand, and ye lovin' a convict-to-be, a robber,
+an embezzler, a bankrupt, a lyin', thavin'--"
+
+"Father!" exclaimed Aileen, determinedly. "I'll not listen to you
+talking that way. He's not any of the things that you say. I'll not stay
+here." She moved toward the door; but Butler jumped up now and stopped
+her. His face for the moment was flushed and swollen with anger.
+
+"But I'm not through with him yet," he went on, ignoring her desire to
+leave, and addressing her direct--confident now that she was as capable
+as another of understanding him. "I'll get him as sure as I have a name.
+There's law in this land, and I'll have it on him. I'll show him whether
+he'll come sneakin' into dacent homes and robbin' parents of their
+children."
+
+He paused after a time for want of breath and Aileen stared, her face
+tense and white. Her father could be so ridiculous. He was, contrasted
+with Cowperwood and his views, so old-fashioned. To think he could be
+talking of some one coming into their home and stealing her away from
+him, when she had been so willing to go. What silliness! And yet, why
+argue? What good could be accomplished, arguing with him here in this
+way? And so for the moment, she said nothing more--merely looked. But
+Butler was by no means done. His mood was too stormy even though he was
+doing his best now to subdue himself.
+
+"It's too bad, daughter," he resumed quietly, once he was satisfied that
+she was going to have little, if anything, to say. "I'm lettin' my anger
+get the best of me. It wasn't that I intended talkin' to ye about when
+I ast ye to come in. It's somethin' else I have on me mind. I was
+thinkin', perhaps, ye'd like to go to Europe for the time bein' to study
+music. Ye're not quite yourself just at present. Ye're needin' a rest.
+It would be good for ye to go away for a while. Ye could have a nice
+time over there. Norah could go along with ye, if you would, and
+Sister Constantia that taught you. Ye wouldn't object to havin' her, I
+suppose?"
+
+At the mention of this idea of a trip of Europe again, with Sister
+Constantia and music thrown in to give it a slightly new form, Aileen
+bridled, and yet half-smiled to herself now. It was so ridiculous--so
+tactless, really, for her father to bring up this now, and especially
+after denouncing Cowperwood and her, and threatening all the things he
+had. Had he no diplomacy at all where she was concerned? It was really
+too funny! But she restrained herself here again, because she felt as
+well as saw, that argument of this kind was all futile now.
+
+"I wish you wouldn't talk about that, father," she began, having
+softened under his explanation. "I don't want to go to Europe now. I
+don't want to leave Philadelphia. I know you want me to go; but I don't
+want to think of going now. I can't."
+
+Butler's brow darkened again. What was the use of all this opposition on
+her part? Did she really imagine that she was going to master him--her
+father, and in connection with such an issue as this? How impossible!
+But tempering his voice as much as possible, he went on, quite softly,
+in fact. "But it would be so fine for ye, Aileen. Ye surely can't expect
+to stay here after--" He paused, for he was going to say "what has
+happened." He knew she was very sensitive on that point. His own conduct
+in hunting her down had been such a breach of fatherly courtesy that he
+knew she felt resentful, and in a way properly so. Still, what could be
+greater than her own crime? "After," he concluded, "ye have made such
+a mistake ye surely wouldn't want to stay here. Ye won't be wantin' to
+keep up that--committin' a mortal sin. It's against the laws of God and
+man."
+
+He did so hope the thought of sin would come to Aileen--the enormity of
+her crime from a spiritual point of view--but Aileen did not see it at
+all.
+
+"You don't understand me, father," she exclaimed, hopelessly toward the
+end. "You can't. I have one idea, and you have another. But I don't seem
+to be able to make you understand now. The fact is, if you want to know
+it, I don't believe in the Catholic Church any more, so there."
+
+The moment Aileen had said this she wished she had not. It was a slip of
+the tongue. Butler's face took on an inexpressibly sad, despairing look.
+
+"Ye don't believe in the Church?" he asked.
+
+"No, not exactly--not like you do."
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"The harm that has come to yer soul!" he replied. "It's plain to me,
+daughter, that somethin' terrible has happened to ye. This man has
+ruined ye, body and soul. Somethin' must be done. I don't want to be
+hard on ye, but ye must leave Philadelphy. Ye can't stay here. I can't
+permit ye. Ye can go to Europe, or ye can go to yer aunt's in New
+Orleans; but ye must go somewhere. I can't have ye stayin' here--it's
+too dangerous. It's sure to be comin' out. The papers'll be havin' it
+next. Ye're young yet. Yer life is before you. I tremble for yer soul;
+but so long as ye're young and alive ye may come to yer senses. It's me
+duty to be hard. It's my obligation to you and the Church. Ye must quit
+this life. Ye must lave this man. Ye must never see him any more. I
+can't permit ye. He's no good. He has no intintion of marrying ye, and
+it would be a crime against God and man if he did. No, no! Never that!
+The man's a bankrupt, a scoundrel, a thafe. If ye had him, ye'd soon be
+the unhappiest woman in the world. He wouldn't be faithful to ye. No,
+he couldn't. He's not that kind." He paused, sick to the depths of his
+soul. "Ye must go away. I say it once and for all. I mane it kindly, but
+I want it. I have yer best interests at heart. I love ye; but ye must.
+I'm sorry to see ye go--I'd rather have ye here. No one will be sorrier;
+but ye must. Ye must make it all seem natcheral and ordinary to yer
+mother; but ye must go--d'ye hear? Ye must."
+
+He paused, looking sadly but firmly at Aileen under his shaggy eyebrows.
+She knew he meant this. It was his most solemn, his most religious
+expression. But she did not answer. She could not. What was the use?
+Only she was not going. She knew that--and so she stood there white and
+tense.
+
+"Now get all the clothes ye want," went on Butler, by no means grasping
+her true mood. "Fix yourself up in any way you plase. Say where ye want
+to go, but get ready."
+
+"But I won't, father," finally replied Aileen, equally solemnly, equally
+determinedly. "I won't go! I won't leave Philadelphia."
+
+"Ye don't mane to say ye will deliberately disobey me when I'm asking ye
+to do somethin' that's intended for yer own good, will ye daughter?"
+
+"Yes, I will," replied Aileen, determinedly. "I won't go! I'm sorry, but
+I won't!"
+
+"Ye really mane that, do ye?" asked Butler, sadly but grimly.
+
+"Yes, I do," replied Aileen, grimly, in return.
+
+"Then I'll have to see what I can do, daughter," replied the old man.
+"Ye're still my daughter, whatever ye are, and I'll not see ye come to
+wreck and ruin for want of doin' what I know to be my solemn duty. I'll
+give ye a few more days to think this over, but go ye must. There's an
+end of that. There are laws in this land still. There are things that
+can be done to those who won't obey the law. I found ye this time--much
+as it hurt me to do it. I'll find ye again if ye try to disobey me. Ye
+must change yer ways. I can't have ye goin' on as ye are. Ye understand
+now. It's the last word. Give this man up, and ye can have anything ye
+choose. Ye're my girl--I'll do everything I can in this world to make
+ye happy. Why, why shouldn't I? What else have I to live for but me
+children? It's ye and the rest of them that I've been workin' and
+plannin' for all these years. Come now, be a good girl. Ye love your old
+father, don't ye? Why, I rocked ye in my arms as a baby, Aileen. I've
+watched over ye when ye were not bigger than what would rest in me two
+fists here. I've been a good father to ye--ye can't deny that. Look at
+the other girls you've seen. Have any of them had more nor what ye have
+had? Ye won't go against me in this. I'm sure ye won't. Ye can't. Ye
+love me too much--surely ye do--don't ye?" His voice weakened. His eyes
+almost filled.
+
+He paused and put a big, brown, horny hand on Aileen's arm. She had
+listened to his plea not unmoved--really more or less softened--because
+of the hopelessness of it. She could not give up Cowperwood. Her father
+just did not understand. He did not know what love was. Unquestionably
+he had never loved as she had.
+
+She stood quite silent while Butler appealed to her.
+
+"I'd like to, father," she said at last and softly, tenderly. "Really
+I would. I do love you. Yes, I do. I want to please you; but I can't in
+this--I can't! I love Frank Cowperwood. You don't understand--really you
+don't!"
+
+At the repetition of Cowperwood's name Butler's mouth hardened. He could
+see that she was infatuated--that his carefully calculated plea had
+failed. So he must think of some other way.
+
+"Very well, then," he said at last and sadly, oh, so sadly, as Aileen
+turned away. "Have it yer own way, if ye will. Ye must go, though,
+willy-nilly. It can't be any other way. I wish to God it could."
+
+Aileen went out, very solemn, and Butler went over to his desk and sat
+down. "Such a situation!" he said to himself. "Such a complication!"
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVIII
+
+
+The situation which confronted Aileen was really a trying one. A girl of
+less innate courage and determination would have weakened and yielded.
+For in spite of her various social connections and acquaintances, the
+people to whom Aileen could run in an emergency of the present kind were
+not numerous. She could scarcely think of any one who would be likely
+to take her in for any lengthy period, without question. There were a
+number of young women of her own age, married and unmarried, who were
+very friendly to her, but there were few with whom she was really
+intimate. The only person who stood out in her mind, as having any real
+possibility of refuge for a period, was a certain Mary Calligan, better
+known as "Mamie" among her friends, who had attended school with Aileen
+in former years and was now a teacher in one of the local schools.
+
+The Calligan family consisted of Mrs. Katharine Calligan, the mother,
+a dressmaker by profession and a widow--her husband, a house-mover by
+trade, having been killed by a falling wall some ten years before--and
+Mamie, her twenty-three-year-old daughter. They lived in a small
+two-story brick house in Cherry Street, near Fifteenth. Mrs. Calligan
+was not a very good dressmaker, not good enough, at least, for the
+Butler family to patronize in their present exalted state. Aileen
+went there occasionally for gingham house-dresses, underwear, pretty
+dressing-gowns, and alterations on some of her more important clothing
+which was made by a very superior modiste in Chestnut Street. She
+visited the house largely because she had gone to school with Mamie
+at St. Agatha's, when the outlook of the Calligan family was much more
+promising. Mamie was earning forty dollars a month as the teacher of a
+sixth-grade room in one of the nearby public schools, and Mrs. Calligan
+averaged on the whole about two dollars a day--sometimes not so much.
+The house they occupied was their own, free and clear, and the furniture
+which it contained suggested the size of their joint income, which was
+somewhere near eighty dollars a month.
+
+Mamie Calligan was not good-looking, not nearly as good-looking as her
+mother had been before her. Mrs. Calligan was still plump, bright, and
+cheerful at fifty, with a fund of good humor. Mamie was somewhat duller
+mentally and emotionally. She was serious-minded--made so, perhaps, as
+much by circumstances as by anything else, for she was not at all vivid,
+and had little sex magnetism. Yet she was kindly, honest, earnest,
+a good Catholic, and possessed of that strangely excessive ingrowing
+virtue which shuts so many people off from the world--a sense of duty.
+To Mamie Calligan duty (a routine conformity to such theories and
+precepts as she had heard and worked by since her childhood) was the
+all-important thing, her principal source of comfort and relief; her
+props in a queer and uncertain world being her duty to her Church; her
+duty to her school; her duty to her mother; her duty to her friends,
+etc. Her mother often wished for Mamie's sake that she was less dutiful
+and more charming physically, so that the men would like her.
+
+In spite of the fact that her mother was a dressmaker, Mamie's clothes
+never looked smart or attractive--she would have felt out of keeping
+with herself if they had. Her shoes were rather large, and ill-fitting;
+her skirt hung in lifeless lines from her hips to her feet, of good
+material but seemingly bad design. At that time the colored "jersey,"
+so-called, was just coming into popular wear, and, being close-fitting,
+looked well on those of good form. Alas for Mamie Calligan! The mode of
+the time compelled her to wear one; but she had neither the arms nor the
+chest development which made this garment admirable. Her hat, by choice,
+was usually a pancake affair with a long, single feather, which somehow
+never seemed to be in exactly the right position, either to her hair
+or her face. At most times she looked a little weary; but she was not
+physically weary so much as she was bored. Her life held so little of
+real charm; and Aileen Butler was unquestionably the most significant
+element of romance in it.
+
+Mamie's mother's very pleasant social disposition, the fact that they
+had a very cleanly, if poor little home, that she could entertain
+them by playing on their piano, and that Mrs. Calligan took an adoring
+interest in the work she did for her, made up the sum and substance
+of the attraction of the Calligan home for Aileen. She went there
+occasionally as a relief from other things, and because Mamie Calligan
+had a compatible and very understanding interest in literature.
+Curiously, the books Aileen liked she liked--Jane Eyre, Kenelm
+Chillingly, Tricotrin, and A Bow of Orange Ribbon. Mamie occasionally
+recommended to Aileen some latest effusion of this character; and
+Aileen, finding her judgment good, was constrained to admire her.
+
+In this crisis it was to the home of the Calligans that Aileen turned in
+thought. If her father really was not nice to her, and she had to leave
+home for a time, she could go to the Calligans. They would receive her
+and say nothing. They were not sufficiently well known to the other
+members of the Butler family to have the latter suspect that she had
+gone there. She might readily disappear into the privacy of Cherry
+Street and not be seen or heard of for weeks. It is an interesting
+fact to contemplate that the Calligans, like the various members of the
+Butler family, never suspected Aileen of the least tendency toward a
+wayward existence. Hence her flight from her own family, if it ever
+came, would be laid more to the door of a temperamental pettishness than
+anything else.
+
+On the other hand, in so far as the Butler family as a unit was
+concerned, it needed Aileen more than she needed it. It needed the light
+of her countenance to keep it appropriately cheerful, and if she went
+away there would be a distinct gulf that would not soon be overcome.
+
+Butler, senior, for instance, had seen his little daughter grow into
+radiantly beautiful womanhood. He had seen her go to school and convent
+and learn to play the piano--to him a great accomplishment. Also he had
+seen her manner change and become very showy and her knowledge of life
+broaden, apparently, and become to him, at least, impressive. Her smart,
+dogmatic views about most things were, to him, at least, well worth
+listening to. She knew more about books and art than Owen or Callum,
+and her sense of social manners was perfect. When she came to the
+table--breakfast, luncheon, or dinner--she was to him always a charming
+object to see. He had produced Aileen--he congratulated himself. He had
+furnished her the money to be so fine. He would continue to do so. No
+second-rate upstart of a man should be allowed to ruin her life. He
+proposed to take care of her always--to leave her so much money in a
+legally involved way that a failure of a husband could not possibly
+affect her. "You're the charming lady this evenin', I'm thinkin'," was
+one of his pet remarks; and also, "My, but we're that fine!" At table
+almost invariably she sat beside him and looked out for him. That was
+what he wanted. He had put her there beside him at his meals years
+before when she was a child.
+
+Her mother, too, was inordinately fond of her, and Callum and Owen
+appropriately brotherly. So Aileen had thus far at least paid back with
+beauty and interest quite as much as she received, and all the family
+felt it to be so. When she was away for a day or two the house seemed
+glum--the meals less appetizing. When she returned, all were happy and
+gay again.
+
+Aileen understood this clearly enough in a way. Now, when it came to
+thinking of leaving and shifting for herself, in order to avoid a trip
+which she did not care to be forced into, her courage was based largely
+on this keen sense of her own significance to the family. She thought
+over what her father had said, and decided she must act at once. She
+dressed for the street the next morning, after her father had gone, and
+decided to step in at the Calligans' about noon, when Mamie would be at
+home for luncheon. Then she would take up the matter casually. If
+they had no objection, she would go there. She sometimes wondered why
+Cowperwood did not suggest, in his great stress, that they leave for
+some parts unknown; but she also felt that he must know best what he
+could do. His increasing troubles depressed her.
+
+Mrs. Calligan was alone when she arrived and was delighted to see her.
+After exchanging the gossip of the day, and not knowing quite how to
+proceed in connection with the errand which had brought her, she went to
+the piano and played a melancholy air.
+
+"Sure, it's lovely the way you play, Aileen," observed Mrs. Calligan who
+was unduly sentimental herself. "I love to hear you. I wish you'd come
+oftener to see us. You're so rarely here nowadays."
+
+"Oh, I've been so busy, Mrs. Calligan," replied Aileen. "I've had so
+much to do this fall, I just couldn't. They wanted me to go to Europe;
+but I didn't care to. Oh, dear!" she sighed, and in her playing swept
+off with a movement of sad, romantic significance. The door opened and
+Mamie came in. Her commonplace face brightened at the sight of Aileen.
+
+"Well, Aileen Butler!" she exclaimed. "Where did you come from? Where
+have you been keeping yourself so long?"
+
+Aileen rose to exchange kisses. "Oh, I've been very busy, Mamie. I've
+just been telling your mother. How are you, anyway? How are you getting
+along in your work?"
+
+Mamie recounted at once some school difficulties which were puzzling
+her--the growing size of classes and the amount of work expected. While
+Mrs. Calligan was setting the table Mamie went to her room and Aileen
+followed her.
+
+As she stood before her mirror arranging her hair Aileen looked at her
+meditatively.
+
+"What's the matter with you, Aileen, to-day?" Mamie asked. "You look
+so--" She stopped to give her a second glance.
+
+"How do I look?" asked Aileen.
+
+"Well, as if you were uncertain or troubled about something. I never saw
+you look that way before. What's the matter?"
+
+"Oh, nothing," replied Aileen. "I was just thinking." She went to one of
+the windows which looked into the little yard, meditating on whether she
+could endure living here for any length of time. The house was so small,
+the furnishings so very simple.
+
+"There is something the matter with you to-day, Aileen," observed Mamie,
+coming over to her and looking in her face. "You're not like yourself at
+all."
+
+"I've got something on my mind," replied Aileen--"something that's
+worrying me. I don't know just what to do--that's what's the matter."
+
+"Well, whatever can it be?" commented Mamie. "I never saw you act this
+way before. Can't you tell me? What is it?"
+
+"No, I don't think I can--not now, anyhow." Aileen paused. "Do you
+suppose your mother would object," she asked, suddenly, "if I came here
+and stayed a little while? I want to get away from home for a time for a
+certain reason."
+
+"Why, Aileen Butler, how you talk!" exclaimed her friend. "Object! You
+know she'd be delighted, and so would I. Oh, dear--can you come? But
+what makes you want to leave home?"
+
+"That's just what I can't tell you--not now, anyhow. Not you, so much,
+but your mother. You know, I'm afraid of what she'd think," replied
+Aileen. "But, you mustn't ask me yet, anyhow. I want to think. Oh, dear!
+But I want to come, if you'll let me. Will you speak to your mother, or
+shall I?"
+
+"Why, I will," said Mamie, struck with wonder at this remarkable
+development; "but it's silly to do it. I know what she'll say before I
+tell her, and so do you. You can just bring your things and come. That's
+all. She'd never say anything or ask anything, either, and you know
+that--if you didn't want her to." Mamie was all agog and aglow at the
+idea. She wanted the companionship of Aileen so much.
+
+Aileen looked at her solemnly, and understood well enough why she was
+so enthusiastic--both she and her mother. Both wanted her presence to
+brighten their world. "But neither of you must tell anybody that I'm
+here, do you hear? I don't want any one to know--particularly no one of
+my family. I've a reason, and a good one, but I can't tell you what it
+is--not now, anyhow. You'll promise not to tell any one."
+
+"Oh, of course," replied Mamie eagerly. "But you're not going to run
+away for good, are you, Aileen?" she concluded curiously and gravely.
+
+"Oh, I don't know; I don't know what I'll do yet. I only know that I
+want to get away for a while, just now--that's all." She paused, while
+Mamie stood before her, agape.
+
+"Well, of all things," replied her friend. "Wonders never cease, do
+they, Aileen? But it will be so lovely to have you here. Mama will be
+so pleased. Of course, we won't tell anybody if you don't want us to.
+Hardly any one ever comes here; and if they do, you needn't see them.
+You could have this big room next to me. Oh, wouldn't that be nice?
+I'm perfectly delighted." The young school-teacher's spirits rose to a
+decided height. "Come on, why not tell mama right now?"
+
+Aileen hesitated because even now she was not positive whether she
+should do this, but finally they went down the stairs together, Aileen
+lingering behind a little as they neared the bottom. Mamie burst in upon
+her mother with: "Oh, mama, isn't it lovely? Aileen's coming to stay
+with us for a while. She doesn't want any one to know, and she's coming
+right away." Mrs. Calligan, who was holding a sugarbowl in her hand,
+turned to survey her with a surprised but smiling face. She was
+immediately curious as to why Aileen should want to come--why leave
+home. On the other hand, her feeling for Aileen was so deep that she
+was greatly and joyously intrigued by the idea. And why not? Was not the
+celebrated Edward Butler's daughter a woman grown, capable of regulating
+her own affairs, and welcome, of course, as the honored member of so
+important a family. It was very flattering to the Calligans to think
+that she would want to come under any circumstances.
+
+"I don't see how your parents can let you go, Aileen; but you're
+certainly welcome here as long as you want to stay, and that's forever,
+if you want to." And Mrs. Calligan beamed on her welcomingly. The idea
+of Aileen Butler asking to be permitted to come here! And the hearty,
+comprehending manner in which she said this, and Mamie's enthusiasm,
+caused Aileen to breathe a sigh of relief. The matter of the expense of
+her presence to the Calligans came into her mind.
+
+"I want to pay you, of course," she said to Mrs. Calligan, "if I come."
+
+"The very idea, Aileen Butler!" exclaimed Mamie. "You'll do nothing of
+the sort. You'll come here and live with me as my guest."
+
+"No, I won't! If I can't pay I won't come," replied Aileen. "You'll have
+to let me do that." She knew that the Calligans could not afford to keep
+her.
+
+"Well, we'll not talk about that now, anyhow," replied Mrs. Calligan.
+"You can come when you like and stay as long as you like. Reach me
+some clean napkins, Mamie." Aileen remained for luncheon, and left soon
+afterward to keep her suggested appointment with Cowperwood, feeling
+satisfied that her main problem had been solved. Now her way was
+clear. She could come here if she wanted to. It was simply a matter of
+collecting a few necessary things or coming without bringing anything.
+Perhaps Frank would have something to suggest.
+
+In the meantime Cowperwood made no effort to communicate with Aileen
+since the unfortunate discovery of their meeting place, but had awaited
+a letter from her, which was not long in coming. And, as usual, it was a
+long, optimistic, affectionate, and defiant screed in which she related
+all that had occurred to her and her present plan of leaving home. This
+last puzzled and troubled him not a little.
+
+Aileen in the bosom of her family, smart and well-cared for, was one
+thing. Aileen out in the world dependent on him was another. He had
+never imagined that she would be compelled to leave before he was
+prepared to take her; and if she did now, it might stir up complications
+which would be anything but pleasant to contemplate. Still he was fond
+of her, very, and would do anything to make her happy. He could support
+her in a very respectable way even now, if he did not eventually go to
+prison, and even there he might manage to make some shift for her. It
+would be so much better, though, if he could persuade her to remain at
+home until he knew exactly what his fate was to be. He never doubted but
+that some day, whatever happened, within a reasonable length of time, he
+would be rid of all these complications and well-to-do again, in which
+case, if he could get a divorce, he wanted to marry Aileen. If not, he
+would take her with him anyhow, and from this point of view it might
+be just as well as if she broke away from her family now. But from the
+point of view of present complications--the search Butler would make--it
+might be dangerous. He might even publicly charge him with abduction. He
+therefore decided to persuade Aileen to stay at home, drop meetings and
+communications for the time being, and even go abroad. He would be all
+right until she came back and so would she--common sense ought to rule
+in this case.
+
+With all this in mind he set out to keep the appointment she suggested
+in her letter, nevertheless feeling it a little dangerous to do so.
+
+"Are you sure," he asked, after he had listened to her description of
+the Calligan homestead, "that you would like it there? It sounds rather
+poor to me."
+
+"Yes, but I like them so much," replied Aileen.
+
+"And you're sure they won't tell on you?"
+
+"Oh, no; never, never!"
+
+"Very well," he concluded. "You know what you're doing. I don't want
+to advise you against your will. If I were you, though, I'd take your
+father's advice and go away for a while. He'll get over this then, and
+I'll still be here. I can write you occasionally, and you can write me."
+
+The moment Cowperwood said this Aileen's brow clouded. Her love for him
+was so great that there was something like a knife thrust in the merest
+hint at an extended separation. Her Frank here and in trouble--on trial
+maybe and she away! Never! What could he mean by suggesting such a
+thing? Could it be that he didn't care for her as much as she did for
+him? Did he really love her? she asked herself. Was he going to desert
+her just when she was going to do the thing which would bring them
+nearer together? Her eyes clouded, for she was terribly hurt.
+
+"Why, how you talk!" she exclaimed. "You know I won't leave Philadelphia
+now. You certainly don't expect me to leave you."
+
+Cowperwood saw it all very clearly. He was too shrewd not to. He was
+immensely fond of her. Good heaven, he thought, he would not hurt her
+feelings for the world!
+
+"Honey," he said, quickly, when he saw her eyes, "you don't understand.
+I want you to do what you want to do. You've planned this out in order
+to be with me; so now you do it. Don't think any more about me or
+anything I've said. I was merely thinking that it might make matters
+worse for both of us; but I don't believe it will. You think your father
+loves you so much that after you're gone he'll change his mind. Very
+good; go. But we must be very careful, sweet--you and I--really we must.
+This thing is getting serious. If you should go and your father should
+charge me with abduction--take the public into his confidence and tell
+all about this, it would be serious for both of us--as much for you as
+for me, for I'd be convicted sure then, just on that account, if nothing
+else. And then what? You'd better not try to see me often for the
+present--not any oftener than we can possibly help. If we had used
+common sense and stopped when your father got that letter, this wouldn't
+have happened. But now that it has happened, we must be as wise as we
+can, don't you see? So, think it over, and do what you think best and
+then write me and whatever you do will be all right with me--do you
+hear?" He drew her to him and kissed her. "You haven't any money, have
+you?" he concluded wisely.
+
+Aileen, deeply moved by all he had just said, was none the less
+convinced once she had meditated on it a moment, that her course was
+best. Her father loved her too much. He would not do anything to hurt
+her publicly and so he would not attack Cowperwood through her openly.
+More than likely, as she now explained to Frank, he would plead with her
+to come back. And he, listening, was compelled to yield. Why argue? She
+would not leave him anyhow.
+
+He went down in his pocket for the first time since he had known Aileen
+and produced a layer of bills. "Here's two hundred dollars, sweet," he
+said, "until I see or hear from you. I'll see that you have whatever
+you need; and now don't think that I don't love you. You know I do. I'm
+crazy about you."
+
+Aileen protested that she did not need so much--that she did not really
+need any--she had some at home; but he put that aside. He knew that she
+must have money.
+
+"Don't talk, honey," he said. "I know what you need." She had been
+so used to receiving money from her father and mother in comfortable
+amounts from time to time that she thought nothing of it. Frank loved
+her so much that it made everything right between them. She softened
+in her mood and they discussed the matter of letters, reaching the
+conclusion that a private messenger would be safest. When finally they
+parted, Aileen, from being sunk in the depths by his uncertain attitude,
+was now once more on the heights. She decided that he did love her, and
+went away smiling. She had her Frank to fall back on--she would teach
+her father. Cowperwood shook his head, following her with his eyes. She
+represented an additional burden, but give her up, he certainly could
+not. Tear the veil from this illusion of affection and make her feel so
+wretched when he cared for her so much? No. There was really nothing for
+him to do but what he had done. After all, he reflected, it might not
+work out so badly. Any detective work that Butler might choose to do
+would prove that she had not run to him. If at any moment it became
+necessary to bring common sense into play to save the situation from
+a deadly climax, he could have the Butlers secretly informed as to
+Aileen's whereabouts. That would show he had little to do with it,
+and they could try to persuade Aileen to come home again. Good might
+result--one could not tell. He would deal with the evils as they arose.
+He drove quickly back to his office, and Aileen returned to her home
+determined to put her plan into action. Her father had given her some
+little time in which to decide--possibly he would give her longer--but
+she would not wait. Having always had her wish granted in everything,
+she could not understand why she was not to have her way this time. It
+was about five o'clock now. She would wait until all the members of the
+family were comfortably seated at the dinner-table, which would be about
+seven o'clock, and then slip out.
+
+On arriving home, however, she was greeted by an unexpected reason
+for suspending action. This was the presence of a certain Mr. and Mrs.
+Steinmetz--the former a well-known engineer who drew the plans for many
+of the works which Butler undertook. It was the day before Thanksgiving,
+and they were eager to have Aileen and Norah accompany them for
+a fortnight's stay at their new home in West Chester--a structure
+concerning the charm of which Aileen had heard much. They were
+exceedingly agreeable people--comparatively young and surrounded by a
+coterie of interesting friends. Aileen decided to delay her flight and
+go. Her father was most cordial. The presence and invitation of the
+Steinmetzes was as much a relief to him as it was to Aileen. West
+Chester being forty miles from Philadelphia, it was unlikely that Aileen
+would attempt to meet Cowperwood while there.
+
+She wrote Cowperwood of the changed condition and departed, and he
+breathed a sigh of relief, fancying at the time that this storm had
+permanently blown over.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIX
+
+
+In the meanwhile the day of Cowperwood's trial was drawing near. He was
+under the impression that an attempt was going to be made to convict him
+whether the facts warranted it or not. He did not see any way out of
+his dilemma, however, unless it was to abandon everything and leave
+Philadelphia for good, which was impossible. The only way to guard his
+future and retain his financial friends was to stand trial as quickly as
+possible, and trust them to assist him to his feet in the future in
+case he failed. He discussed the possibilities of an unfair trial with
+Steger, who did not seem to think that there was so much to that. In the
+first place, a jury could not easily be suborned by any one. In the next
+place, most judges were honest, in spite of their political cleavage,
+and would go no further than party bias would lead them in their rulings
+and opinions, which was, in the main, not so far. The particular judge
+who was to sit in this case, one Wilbur Payderson, of the Court of
+Quarter Sessions, was a strict party nominee, and as such beholden to
+Mollenhauer, Simpson, and Butler; but, in so far as Steger had ever
+heard, he was an honest man.
+
+"What I can't understand," said Steger, "is why these fellows should be
+so anxious to punish you, unless it is for the effect on the State at
+large. The election's over. I understand there's a movement on now to
+get Stener out in case he is convicted, which he will be. They have to
+try him. He won't go up for more than a year, or two or three, and if
+he does he'll be pardoned out in half the time or less. It would be the
+same in your case, if you were convicted. They couldn't keep you in and
+let him out. But it will never get that far--take my word for it. We'll
+win before a jury, or we'll reverse the judgment of conviction before
+the State Supreme Court, certain. Those five judges up there are not
+going to sustain any such poppycock idea as this."
+
+Steger actually believed what he said, and Cowperwood was pleased. Thus
+far the young lawyer had done excellently well in all of his cases.
+Still, he did not like the idea of being hunted down by Butler. It was a
+serious matter, and one of which Steger was totally unaware. Cowperwood
+could never quite forget that in listening to his lawyer's optimistic
+assurances.
+
+The actual beginning of the trial found almost all of the inhabitants
+of this city of six hundred thousand "keyed up." None of the women of
+Cowperwood's family were coming into court. He had insisted that there
+should be no family demonstration for the newspapers to comment upon.
+His father was coming, for he might be needed as a witness. Aileen
+had written him the afternoon before saying she had returned from West
+Chester and wishing him luck. She was so anxious to know what was
+to become of him that she could not stay away any longer and had
+returned--not to go to the courtroom, for he did not want her to do
+that, but to be as near as possible when his fate was decided, adversely
+or otherwise. She wanted to run and congratulate him if he won, or to
+console with him if he lost. She felt that her return would be likely to
+precipitate a collision with her father, but she could not help that.
+
+The position of Mrs. Cowperwood was most anomalous. She had to go
+through the formality of seeming affectionate and tender, even when she
+knew that Frank did not want her to be. He felt instinctively now that
+she knew of Aileen. He was merely awaiting the proper hour in which to
+spread the whole matter before her. She put her arms around him at the
+door on the fateful morning, in the somewhat formal manner into which
+they had dropped these later years, and for a moment, even though she
+was keenly aware of his difficulties, she could not kiss him. He did not
+want to kiss her, but he did not show it. She did kiss him, though, and
+added: "Oh, I do hope things come out all right."
+
+"You needn't worry about that, I think, Lillian," he replied, buoyantly.
+"I'll be all right."
+
+He ran down the steps and walked out on Girard Avenue to his former car
+line, where he boarded a car. He was thinking of Aileen and how keenly
+she was feeling for him, and what a mockery his married life now was,
+and whether he would face a sensible jury, and so on and so forth. If he
+didn't--if he didn't--this day was crucial!
+
+He stepped off the car at Third and Market and hurried to his office.
+Steger was already there. "Well, Harper," observed Cowperwood,
+courageously, "today's the day."
+
+The Court of Quarter Sessions, Part I, where this trial was to take
+place, was held in famous Independence Hall, at Sixth and Chestnut
+Streets, which was at this time, as it had been for all of a century
+before, the center of local executive and judicial life. It was a low
+two-story building of red brick, with a white wooden central tower of
+old Dutch and English derivation, compounded of the square, the circle,
+and the octagon. The total structure consisted of a central portion and
+two T-shaped wings lying to the right and left, whose small, oval-topped
+old-fashioned windows and doors were set with those many-paned sashes so
+much admired by those who love what is known as Colonial architecture.
+Here, and in an addition known as State House Row (since torn down),
+which extended from the rear of the building toward Walnut Street,
+were located the offices of the mayor, the chief of police, the city
+treasurer, the chambers of council, and all the other important and
+executive offices of the city, together with the four branches of
+Quarter Sessions, which sat to hear the growing docket of criminal
+cases. The mammoth city hall which was subsequently completed at Broad
+and Market Streets was then building.
+
+An attempt had been made to improve the reasonably large courtrooms by
+putting in them raised platforms of dark walnut surmounted by large,
+dark walnut desks, behind which the judges sat; but the attempt was not
+very successful. The desks, jury-boxes, and railings generally were
+made too large, and so the general effect was one of disproportion. A
+cream-colored wall had been thought the appropriate thing to go with
+black walnut furniture, but time and dust had made the combination
+dreary. There were no pictures or ornaments of any kind, save the
+stalky, over-elaborated gas-brackets which stood on his honor's desk,
+and the single swinging chandelier suspended from the center of the
+ceiling. Fat bailiffs and court officers, concerned only in holding
+their workless jobs, did not add anything to the spirit of the scene.
+Two of them in the particular court in which this trial was held
+contended hourly as to which should hand the judge a glass of water. One
+preceded his honor like a fat, stuffy, dusty majordomo to and from his
+dressing-room. His business was to call loudly, when the latter entered,
+"His honor the Court, hats off. Everybody please rise," while a second
+bailiff, standing at the left of his honor when he was seated, and
+between the jury-box and the witness-chair, recited in an absolutely
+unintelligible way that beautiful and dignified statement of collective
+society's obligation to the constituent units, which begins, "Hear ye!
+hear ye! hear ye!" and ends, "All those of you having just cause for
+complaint draw near and ye shall be heard." However, you would have
+thought it was of no import here. Custom and indifference had allowed it
+to sink to a mumble. A third bailiff guarded the door of the jury-room;
+and in addition to these there were present a court clerk--small,
+pale, candle-waxy, with colorless milk-and-water eyes, and thin,
+pork-fat-colored hair and beard, who looked for all the world like
+an Americanized and decidedly decrepit Chinese mandarin--and a court
+stenographer.
+
+Judge Wilbur Payderson, a lean herring of a man, who had sat in this
+case originally as the examining judge when Cowperwood had been indicted
+by the grand jury, and who had bound him over for trial at this term,
+was a peculiarly interesting type of judge, as judges go. He was so
+meager and thin-blooded that he was arresting for those qualities alone.
+Technically, he was learned in the law; actually, so far as life was
+concerned, absolutely unconscious of that subtle chemistry of things
+that transcends all written law and makes for the spirit and, beyond
+that, the inutility of all law, as all wise judges know. You could have
+looked at his lean, pedantic body, his frizzled gray hair, his fishy,
+blue-gray eyes, without any depth of speculation in them, and his
+nicely modeled but unimportant face, and told him that he was without
+imagination; but he would not have believed you--would have fined
+you for contempt of court. By the careful garnering of all his little
+opportunities, the furbishing up of every meager advantage; by listening
+slavishly to the voice of party, and following as nearly as he could the
+behests of intrenched property, he had reached his present state. It was
+not very far along, at that. His salary was only six thousand dollars
+a year. His little fame did not extend beyond the meager realm of local
+lawyers and judges. But the sight of his name quoted daily as being
+about his duties, or rendering such and such a decision, was a great
+satisfaction to him. He thought it made him a significant figure in
+the world. "Behold I am not as other men," he often thought, and this
+comforted him. He was very much flattered when a prominent case came to
+his calendar; and as he sat enthroned before the various litigants and
+lawyers he felt, as a rule, very significant indeed. Now and then some
+subtlety of life would confuse his really limited intellect; but in all
+such cases there was the letter of the law. He could hunt in the reports
+to find out what really thinking men had decided. Besides, lawyers
+everywhere are so subtle. They put the rules of law, favorable or
+unfavorable, under the judge's thumb and nose. "Your honor, in the
+thirty-second volume of the Revised Reports of Massachusetts, page so
+and so, line so and so, in Arundel versus Bannerman, you will find,
+etc." How often have you heard that in a court of law? The reasoning
+that is left to do in most cases is not much. And the sanctity of the
+law is raised like a great banner by which the pride of the incumbent is
+strengthened.
+
+Payderson, as Steger had indicated, could scarcely be pointed to as an
+unjust judge. He was a party judge--Republican in principle, or rather
+belief, beholden to the dominant party councils for his personal
+continuance in office, and as such willing and anxious to do whatever he
+considered that he reasonably could do to further the party welfare and
+the private interests of his masters. Most people never trouble to look
+into the mechanics of the thing they call their conscience too closely.
+Where they do, too often they lack the skill to disentangle the tangled
+threads of ethics and morals. Whatever the opinion of the time
+is, whatever the weight of great interests dictates, that they
+conscientiously believe. Some one has since invented the phrase "a
+corporation-minded judge." There are many such.
+
+Payderson was one. He fairly revered property and power. To him Butler
+and Mollenhauer and Simpson were great men--reasonably sure to be right
+always because they were so powerful. This matter of Cowperwood's and
+Stener's defalcation he had long heard of. He knew by associating with
+one political light and another just what the situation was. The
+party, as the leaders saw it, had been put in a very bad position by
+Cowperwood's subtlety. He had led Stener astray--more than an ordinary
+city treasurer should have been led astray--and, although Stener was
+primarily guilty as the original mover in the scheme, Cowperwood was
+more so for having led him imaginatively to such disastrous lengths.
+Besides, the party needed a scapegoat--that was enough for Payderson,
+in the first place. Of course, after the election had been won, and it
+appeared that the party had not suffered so much, he did not understand
+quite why it was that Cowperwood was still so carefully included in the
+Proceedings; but he had faith to believe that the leaders had some just
+grounds for not letting him off. From one source and another he learned
+that Butler had some private grudge against Cowperwood. What it was no
+one seemed to know exactly. The general impression was that Cowperwood
+had led Butler into some unwholesome financial transactions. Anyhow, it
+was generally understood that for the good of the party, and in order to
+teach a wholesome lesson to dangerous subordinates--it had been decided
+to allow these several indictments to take their course. Cowperwood was
+to be punished quite as severely as Stener for the moral effect on the
+community. Stener was to be sentenced the maximum sentence for his crime
+in order that the party and the courts should appear properly righteous.
+Beyond that he was to be left to the mercy of the governor, who could
+ease things up for him if he chose, and if the leaders wished. In the
+silly mind of the general public the various judges of Quarter Sessions,
+like girls incarcerated in boarding-schools, were supposed in their
+serene aloofness from life not to know what was going on in the
+subterranean realm of politics; but they knew well enough, and,
+knowing particularly well from whence came their continued position and
+authority, they were duly grateful.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XL
+
+
+When Cowperwood came into the crowded courtroom with his father
+and Steger, quite fresh and jaunty (looking the part of the shrewd
+financier, the man of affairs), every one stared. It was really too
+much to expect, most of them thought, that a man like this would be
+convicted. He was, no doubt, guilty; but, also, no doubt, he had ways
+and means of evading the law. His lawyer, Harper Steger, looked very
+shrewd and canny to them. It was very cold, and both men wore long,
+dark, bluish-gray overcoats, cut in the latest mode. Cowperwood was
+given to small boutonnieres in fair weather, but to-day he wore none.
+His tie, however, was of heavy, impressive silk, of lavender hue,
+set with a large, clear, green emerald. He wore only the thinnest of
+watch-chains, and no other ornament of any kind. He always looked jaunty
+and yet reserved, good-natured, and yet capable and self-sufficient.
+Never had he looked more so than he did to-day.
+
+He at once took in the nature of the scene, which had a peculiar
+interest for him. Before him was the as yet empty judge's rostrum, and
+at its right the empty jury-box, between which, and to the judge's left,
+as he sat facing the audience, stood the witness-chair where he must
+presently sit and testify. Behind it, already awaiting the arrival of
+the court, stood a fat bailiff, one John Sparkheaver whose business it
+was to present the aged, greasy Bible to be touched by the witnesses in
+making oath, and to say, "Step this way," when the testimony was over.
+There were other bailiffs--one at the gate giving into the railed space
+before the judge's desk, where prisoners were arraigned, lawyers sat
+or pleaded, the defendant had a chair, and so on; another in the aisle
+leading to the jury-room, and still another guarding the door by which
+the public entered. Cowperwood surveyed Stener, who was one of the
+witnesses, and who now, in his helpless fright over his own fate, was
+without malice toward any one. He had really never borne any. He wished
+if anything now that he had followed Cowperwood's advice, seeing where
+he now was, though he still had faith that Mollenhauer and the political
+powers represented by him would do something for him with the governor,
+once he was sentenced. He was very pale and comparatively thin. Already
+he had lost that ruddy bulk which had been added during the days of
+his prosperity. He wore a new gray suit and a brown tie, and was
+clean-shaven. When his eye caught Cowperwood's steady beam, it faltered
+and drooped. He rubbed his ear foolishly. Cowperwood nodded.
+
+"You know," he said to Steger, "I feel sorry for George. He's such a
+fool. Still I did all I could."
+
+Cowperwood also watched Mrs. Stener out of the tail of his eye--an
+undersized, peaked, and sallow little woman, whose clothes fitted her
+abominably. It was just like Stener to marry a woman like that, he
+thought. The scrubby matches of the socially unelect or unfit always
+interested, though they did not always amuse, him. Mrs. Stener had no
+affection for Cowperwood, of course, looking on him, as she did, as the
+unscrupulous cause of her husband's downfall. They were now quite poor
+again, about to move from their big house into cheaper quarters; and
+this was not pleasing for her to contemplate.
+
+Judge Payderson came in after a time, accompanied by his undersized but
+stout court attendant, who looked more like a pouter-pigeon than a human
+being; and as they came, Bailiff Sparkheaver rapped on the judge's desk,
+beside which he had been slumbering, and mumbled, "Please rise!" The
+audience arose, as is the rule of all courts. Judge Payderson stirred
+among a number of briefs that were lying on his desk, and asked,
+briskly, "What's the first case, Mr. Protus?" He was speaking to his
+clerk.
+
+During the long and tedious arrangement of the day's docket and while
+the various minor motions of lawyers were being considered, this
+courtroom scene still retained interest for Cowperwood. He was so eager
+to win, so incensed at the outcome of untoward events which had brought
+him here. He was always intensely irritated, though he did not show
+it, by the whole process of footing delays and queries and quibbles, by
+which legally the affairs of men were too often hampered. Law, if you
+had asked him, and he had accurately expressed himself, was a mist
+formed out of the moods and the mistakes of men, which befogged the sea
+of life and prevented plain sailing for the little commercial and social
+barques of men; it was a miasma of misinterpretation where the ills
+of life festered, and also a place where the accidentally wounded were
+ground between the upper and the nether millstones of force or chance;
+it was a strange, weird, interesting, and yet futile battle of wits
+where the ignorant and the incompetent and the shrewd and the angry and
+the weak were made pawns and shuttlecocks for men--lawyers, who were
+playing upon their moods, their vanities, their desires, and their
+necessities. It was an unholy and unsatisfactory disrupting and delaying
+spectacle, a painful commentary on the frailties of life, and men, a
+trick, a snare, a pit and gin. In the hands of the strong, like himself
+when he was at his best, the law was a sword and a shield, a trap to
+place before the feet of the unwary; a pit to dig in the path of those
+who might pursue. It was anything you might choose to make of it--a door
+to illegal opportunity; a cloud of dust to be cast in the eyes of
+those who might choose, and rightfully, to see; a veil to be dropped
+arbitrarily between truth and its execution, justice and its judgment,
+crime and punishment. Lawyers in the main were intellectual mercenaries
+to be bought and sold in any cause. It amused him to hear the ethical
+and emotional platitudes of lawyers, to see how readily they would
+lie, steal, prevaricate, misrepresent in almost any cause and for any
+purpose. Great lawyers were merely great unscrupulous subtleties,
+like himself, sitting back in dark, close-woven lairs like spiders and
+awaiting the approach of unwary human flies. Life was at best a dark,
+inhuman, unkind, unsympathetic struggle built of cruelties and the law,
+and its lawyers were the most despicable representatives of the whole
+unsatisfactory mess. Still he used law as he would use any other trap or
+weapon to rid him of a human ill; and as for lawyers, he picked them
+up as he would any club or knife wherewith to defend himself. He had no
+particular respect for any of them--not even Harper Steger, though he
+liked him. They were tools to be used--knives, keys, clubs, anything
+you will; but nothing more. When they were through they were paid
+and dropped--put aside and forgotten. As for judges, they were merely
+incompetent lawyers, at a rule, who were shelved by some fortunate turn
+of chance, and who would not, in all likelihood, be as efficient as the
+lawyers who pleaded before them if they were put in the same position.
+He had no respect for judges--he knew too much about them. He knew how
+often they were sycophants, political climbers, political hacks, tools,
+time-servers, judicial door-mats lying before the financially and
+politically great and powerful who used them as such. Judges were
+fools, as were most other people in this dusty, shifty world. Pah! His
+inscrutable eyes took them all in and gave no sign. His only safety lay,
+he thought, in the magnificent subtley of his own brain, and nowhere
+else. You could not convince Cowperwood of any great or inherent virtue
+in this mortal scheme of things. He knew too much; he knew himself.
+
+When the judge finally cleared away the various minor motions pending,
+he ordered his clerk to call the case of the City of Philadelphia
+versus Frank A. Cowperwood, which was done in a clear voice. Both Dennis
+Shannon, the new district attorney, and Steger, were on their feet at
+once. Steger and Cowperwood, together with Shannon and Strobik, who
+had now come in and was standing as the representative of the State of
+Pennsylvania--the complainant--had seated themselves at the long table
+inside the railing which inclosed the space before the judge's desk.
+Steger proposed to Judge Payderson, for effect's sake more than anything
+else, that this indictment be quashed, but was overruled.
+
+A jury to try the case was now quickly impaneled--twelve men out of
+the usual list called to serve for the month--and was then ready to be
+challenged by the opposing counsel. The business of impaneling a
+jury was a rather simple thing so far as this court was concerned. It
+consisted in the mandarin-like clerk taking the names of all the jurors
+called to serve in this court for the month--some fifty in all--and
+putting them, each written on a separate slip of paper, in a whirling
+drum, spinning it around a few times, and then lifting out the first
+slip which his hand encountered, thus glorifying chance and settling on
+who should be juror No. 1. His hand reaching in twelve times drew out
+the names of the twelve jurymen, who as their names were called, were
+ordered to take their places in the jury-box.
+
+Cowperwood observed this proceeding with a great deal of interest. What
+could be more important than the men who were going to try him? The
+process was too swift for accurate judgment, but he received a faint
+impression of middle-class men. One man in particular, however, an
+old man of sixty-five, with iron-gray hair and beard, shaggy eyebrows,
+sallow complexion, and stooped shoulders, struck him as having that
+kindness of temperament and breadth of experience which might under
+certain circumstances be argumentatively swayed in his favor. Another,
+a small, sharp-nosed, sharp-chinned commercial man of some kind, he
+immediately disliked.
+
+"I hope I don't have to have that man on my jury," he said to Steger,
+quietly.
+
+"You don't," replied Steger. "I'll challenge him. We have the right
+to fifteen peremptory challenges on a case like this, and so has the
+prosecution."
+
+When the jury-box was finally full, the two lawyers waited for the clerk
+to bring them the small board upon which slips of paper bearing the
+names of the twelve jurors were fastened in rows in order of their
+selection--jurors one, two, and three being in the first row; four,
+five, and six in the second, and so on. It being the prerogative of the
+attorney for the prosecution to examine and challenge the jurors first,
+Shannon arose, and, taking the board, began to question them as to their
+trades or professions, their knowledge of the case before the court, and
+their possible prejudice for or against the prisoner.
+
+It was the business of both Steger and Shannon to find men who knew a
+little something of finance and could understand a peculiar situation
+of this kind without any of them (looking at it from Steger's point of
+view) having any prejudice against a man's trying to assist himself by
+reasonable means to weather a financial storm or (looking at it from
+Shannon's point of view) having any sympathy with such means, if they
+bore about them the least suspicion of chicanery, jugglery, or dishonest
+manipulation of any kind. As both Shannon and Steger in due course
+observed for themselves in connection with this jury, it was composed of
+that assorted social fry which the dragnets of the courts, cast into the
+ocean of the city, bring to the surface for purposes of this sort.
+It was made up in the main of managers, agents, tradesmen, editors,
+engineers, architects, furriers, grocers, traveling salesmen, authors,
+and every other kind of working citizen whose experience had fitted
+him for service in proceedings of this character. Rarely would you have
+found a man of great distinction; but very frequently a group of men who
+were possessed of no small modicum of that interesting quality known as
+hard common sense.
+
+Throughout all this Cowperwood sat quietly examining the men. A young
+florist, with a pale face, a wide speculative forehead, and anemic
+hands, struck him as being sufficiently impressionable to his personal
+charm to be worth while. He whispered as much to Steger. There was a
+shrewd Jew, a furrier, who was challenged because he had read all of the
+news of the panic and had lost two thousand dollars in street-railway
+stocks. There was a stout wholesale grocer, with red cheeks, blue eyes,
+and flaxen hair, who Cowperwood said he thought was stubborn. He was
+eliminated. There was a thin, dapper manager of a small retail clothing
+store, very anxious to be excused, who declared, falsely, that he
+did not believe in swearing by the Bible. Judge Payderson, eyeing him
+severely, let him go. There were some ten more in all--men who knew
+of Cowperwood, men who admitted they were prejudiced, men who were
+hidebound Republicans and resentful of this crime, men who knew
+Stener--who were pleasantly eliminated.
+
+By twelve o'clock, however, a jury reasonably satisfactory to both sides
+had been chosen.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLI
+
+
+At two o'clock sharp Dennis Shannon, as district attorney, began his
+opening address. He stated in a very simple, kindly way--for he had a
+most engaging manner--that the indictment as here presented charged Mr.
+Frank A. Cowperwood, who was sitting at the table inside the jury-rail,
+first with larceny, second with embezzlement, third with larceny as
+bailee, and fourth with embezzlement of a certain sum of money--a
+specific sum, to wit, sixty thousand dollars--on a check given him
+(drawn to his order) October 9, 1871, which was intended to reimburse
+him for a certain number of certificates of city loan, which he as
+agent or bailee of the check was supposed to have purchased for the
+city sinking-fund on the order of the city treasurer (under some form of
+agreement which had been in existence between them, and which had
+been in force for some time)--said fund being intended to take up
+such certificates as they might mature in the hands of holders and be
+presented for payment--for which purpose, however, the check in question
+had never been used.
+
+"Now, gentlemen," said Mr. Shannon, very quietly, "before we go into
+this very simple question of whether Mr. Cowperwood did or did not on
+the date in question get from the city treasurer sixty thousand dollars,
+for which he made no honest return, let me explain to you just what
+the people mean when they charge him first with larceny, second with
+embezzlement, third with larceny as bailee, and fourth with embezzlement
+on a check. Now, as you see, there are four counts here, as we lawyers
+term them, and the reason there are four counts is as follows: A man may
+be guilty of larceny and embezzlement at the same time, or of larceny or
+embezzlement separately, and without being guilty of the other, and the
+district attorney representing the people might be uncertain, not that
+he was not guilty of both, but that it might not be possible to present
+the evidence under one count, so as to insure his adequate punishment
+for a crime which in a way involved both. In such cases, gentlemen, it
+is customary to indict a man under separate counts, as has been done
+in this case. Now, the four counts in this case, in a way, overlap and
+confirm each other, and it will be your duty, after we have explained
+their nature and character and presented the evidence, to say whether
+the defendant is guilty on one count or the other, or on two or three of
+the counts, or on all four, just as you see fit and proper--or, to put
+it in a better way, as the evidence warrants. Larceny, as you may or
+may not know, is the act of taking away the goods or chattels of another
+without his knowledge or consent, and embezzlement is the fraudulent
+appropriation to one's own use of what is intrusted to one's care and
+management, especially money. Larceny as bailee, on the other hand,
+is simply a more definite form of larceny wherein one fixes the act of
+carrying away the goods of another without his knowledge or consent on
+the person to whom the goods were delivered in trust that is, the agent
+or bailee. Embezzlement on a check, which constitutes the fourth charge,
+is simply a more definite form of fixing charge number two in an exact
+way and signifies appropriating the money on a check given for a certain
+definite purpose. All of these charges, as you can see, gentlemen, are
+in a way synonymous. They overlap and overlay each other. The people,
+through their representative, the district attorney, contend that Mr.
+Cowperwood, the defendant here, is guilty of all four charges. So now,
+gentlemen, we will proceed to the history of this crime, which proves to
+me as an individual that this defendant has one of the most subtle and
+dangerous minds of the criminal financier type, and we hope by witnesses
+to prove that to you, also."
+
+Shannon, because the rules of evidence and court procedure here admitted
+of no interruption of the prosecution in presenting a case, then went
+on to describe from his own point of view how Cowperwood had first
+met Stener; how he had wormed himself into his confidence; how little
+financial knowledge Stener had, and so forth; coming down finally to
+the day the check for sixty thousand dollars was given Cowperwood; how
+Stener, as treasurer, claimed that he knew nothing of its delivery,
+which constituted the base of the charge of larceny; how Cowperwood,
+having it, misappropriated the certificates supposed to have been
+purchased for the sinking-fund, if they were purchased at all--all of
+which Shannon said constituted the crimes with which the defendant was
+charged, and of which he was unquestionably guilty.
+
+"We have direct and positive evidence of all that we have thus far
+contended, gentlemen," Mr. Shannon concluded violently. "This is not a
+matter of hearsay or theory, but of fact. You will be shown by direct
+testimony which cannot be shaken just how it was done. If, after you
+have heard all this, you still think this man is innocent--that he did
+not commit the crimes with which he is charged--it is your business to
+acquit him. On the other hand, if you think the witnesses whom we shall
+put on the stand are telling the truth, then it is your business to
+convict him, to find a verdict for the people as against the defendant.
+I thank you for your attention."
+
+The jurors stirred comfortably and took positions of ease, in which they
+thought they were to rest for the time; but their idle comfort was of
+short duration for Shannon now called out the name of George W. Stener,
+who came hurrying forward very pale, very flaccid, very tired-looking.
+His eyes, as he took his seat in the witness-chair, laying his hand on
+the Bible and swearing to tell the truth, roved in a restless, nervous
+manner.
+
+His voice was a little weak as he started to give his testimony. He told
+first how he had met Cowperwood in the early months of 1866--he could
+not remember the exact day; it was during his first term as city
+treasurer--he had been elected to the office in the fall of 1864. He had
+been troubled about the condition of city loan, which was below par,
+and which could not be sold by the city legally at anything but par.
+Cowperwood had been recommended to him by some one--Mr. Strobik,
+he believed, though he couldn't be sure. It was the custom of city
+treasurers to employ brokers, or a broker, in a crisis of this kind,
+and he was merely following what had been the custom. He went on to
+describe, under steady promptings and questions from the incisive mind
+of Shannon, just what the nature of this first conversation was--he
+remembered it fairly well; how Mr. Cowperwood had said he thought he
+could do what was wanted; how he had gone away and drawn up a plan or
+thought one out; and how he had returned and laid it before Stener.
+Under Shannon's skillful guidance Stener elucidated just what this
+scheme was--which wasn't exactly so flattering to the honesty of men in
+general as it was a testimonial to their subtlety and skill.
+
+After much discussion of Stener's and Cowperwood's relations the
+story finally got down to the preceding October, when by reason
+of companionship, long business understanding, mutually prosperous
+relationship, etc., the place had been reached where, it was explained,
+Cowperwood was not only handling several millions of city loan annually,
+buying and selling for the city and trading in it generally, but in the
+bargain had secured one five hundred thousand dollars' worth of city
+money at an exceedingly low rate of interest, which was being invested
+for himself and Stener in profitable street-car ventures of one kind and
+another. Stener was not anxious to be altogether clear on this point;
+but Shannon, seeing that he was later to prosecute Stener himself for
+this very crime of embezzlement, and that Steger would soon follow in
+cross-examination, was not willing to let him be hazy. Shannon wanted to
+fix Cowperwood in the minds of the jury as a clever, tricky person, and
+by degrees he certainly managed to indicate a very subtle-minded man.
+Occasionally, as one sharp point after another of Cowperwood's skill was
+brought out and made moderately clear, one juror or another turned to
+look at Cowperwood. And he noting this and in order to impress them all
+as favorably as possible merely gazed Stenerward with a steady air of
+intelligence and comprehension.
+
+The examination now came down to the matter of the particular check for
+sixty thousand dollars which Albert Stires had handed Cowperwood on the
+afternoon--late--of October 9, 1871. Shannon showed Stener the check
+itself. Had he ever seen it? Yes. Where? In the office of District
+Attorney Pettie on October 20th, or thereabouts last. Was that the first
+time he had seen it? Yes. Had he ever heard about it before then? Yes.
+When? On October 10th last. Would he kindly tell the jury in his own way
+just how and under what circumstances he first heard of it then? Stener
+twisted uncomfortably in his chair. It was a hard thing to do. It was
+not a pleasant commentary on his own character and degree of moral
+stamina, to say the least. However, he cleared his throat again and
+began a description of that small but bitter section of his life's drama
+in which Cowperwood, finding himself in a tight place and about to
+fail, had come to him at his office and demanded that he loan him three
+hundred thousand dollars more in one lump sum.
+
+There was considerable bickering just at this point between Steger and
+Shannon, for the former was very anxious to make it appear that Stener
+was lying out of the whole cloth about this. Steger got in his objection
+at this point, and created a considerable diversion from the main theme,
+because Stener kept saying he "thought" or he "believed."
+
+"Object!" shouted Steger, repeatedly. "I move that that be stricken from
+the record as incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial. The witness is
+not allowed to say what he thinks, and the prosecution knows it very
+well."
+
+"Your honor," insisted Shannon, "I am doing the best I can to have the
+witness tell a plain, straightforward story, and I think that it is
+obvious that he is doing so."
+
+"Object!" reiterated Steger, vociferously. "Your honor, I insist that
+the district attorney has no right to prejudice the minds of the jury by
+flattering estimates of the sincerity of the witness. What he thinks of
+the witness and his sincerity is of no importance in this case. I must
+ask that your honor caution him plainly in this matter."
+
+"Objection sustained," declared Judge Payderson, "the prosecution will
+please be more explicit"; and Shannon went on with his case.
+
+Stener's testimony, in one respect, was most important, for it made
+plain what Cowperwood did not want brought out--namely, that he and
+Stener had had a dispute before this; that Stener had distinctly told
+Cowperwood that he would not loan him any more money; that Cowperwood
+had told Stener, on the day before he secured this check, and again on
+that very day, that he was in a very desperate situation financially,
+and that if he were not assisted to the extent of three hundred thousand
+dollars he would fail, and that then both he and Stener would be ruined.
+On the morning of this day, according to Stener, he had sent Cowperwood
+a letter ordering him to cease purchasing city loan certificates for the
+sinking-fund. It was after their conversation on the same afternoon that
+Cowperwood surreptitiously secured the check for sixty thousand
+dollars from Albert Stires without his (Stener's) knowledge; and it was
+subsequent to this latter again that Stener, sending Albert to demand
+the return of the check, was refused, though the next day at five
+o'clock in the afternoon Cowperwood made an assignment. And the
+certificates for which the check had been purloined were not in the
+sinking-fund as they should have been. This was dark testimony for
+Cowperwood.
+
+If any one imagines that all this was done without many vehement
+objections and exceptions made and taken by Steger, and subsequently
+when he was cross-examining Stener, by Shannon, he errs greatly. At
+times the chamber was coruscating with these two gentlemen's bitter
+wrangles, and his honor was compelled to hammer his desk with his gavel,
+and to threaten both with contempt of court, in order to bring them to a
+sense of order. Indeed while Payderson was highly incensed, the jury was
+amused and interested.
+
+"You gentlemen will have to stop this, or I tell you now that you will
+both be heavily fined. This is a court of law, not a bar-room. Mr.
+Steger, I expect you to apologize to me and your colleague at once. Mr.
+Shannon, I must ask that you use less aggressive methods. Your manner
+is offensive to me. It is not becoming to a court of law. I will not
+caution either of you again."
+
+Both lawyers apologized as lawyers do on such occasions, but it really
+made but little difference. Their individual attitudes and moods
+continued about as before.
+
+"What did he say to you," asked Shannon of Stener, after one of these
+troublesome interruptions, "on that occasion, October 9th last, when
+he came to you and demanded the loan of an additional three hundred
+thousand dollars? Give his words as near as you can remember--exactly,
+if possible."
+
+"Object!" interposed Steger, vigorously. "His exact words are not
+recorded anywhere except in Mr. Stener's memory, and his memory of
+them cannot be admitted in this case. The witness has testified to the
+general facts."
+
+Judge Payderson smiled grimly. "Objection overruled," he returned.
+
+"Exception!" shouted Steger.
+
+"He said, as near as I can remember," replied Stener, drumming on the
+arms of the witness-chair in a nervous way, "that if I didn't give him
+three hundred thousand dollars he was going to fail, and I would be poor
+and go to the penitentiary."
+
+"Object!" shouted Stager, leaping to his feet. "Your honor, I object
+to the whole manner in which this examination is being conducted by the
+prosecution. The evidence which the district attorney is here trying to
+extract from the uncertain memory of the witness is in defiance of all
+law and precedent, and has no definite bearing on the facts of the case,
+and could not disprove or substantiate whether Mr. Cowperwood thought
+or did not think that he was going to fail. Mr. Stener might give one
+version of this conversation or any conversation that took place at this
+time, and Mr. Cowperwood another. As a matter of fact, their versions
+are different. I see no point in Mr. Shannon's line of inquiry,
+unless it is to prejudice the jury's minds towards accepting certain
+allegations which the prosecution is pleased to make and which it cannot
+possibly substantiate. I think you ought to caution the witness to
+testify only in regard to things that he recalls exactly, not to what
+he thinks he remembers; and for my part I think that all that has been
+testified to in the last five minutes might be well stricken out."
+
+"Objection overruled," replied Judge Payderson, rather indifferently;
+and Steger who had been talking merely to overcome the weight of
+Stener's testimony in the minds of the jury, sat down.
+
+Shannon once more approached Stener.
+
+"Now, as near as you can remember, Mr. Stener, I wish you would tell
+the jury what else it was that Mr. Cowperwood said on that occasion. He
+certainly didn't stop with the remark that you would be ruined and go to
+the penitentiary. Wasn't there other language that was employed on that
+occasion?"
+
+"He said, as far as I can remember," replied Stener, "that there were
+a lot of political schemers who were trying to frighten me, that if I
+didn't give him three hundred thousand dollars we would both be ruined,
+and that I might as well be tried for stealing a sheep as a lamb."
+
+"Ha!" yelled Shannon. "He said that, did he?"
+
+"Yes, sir; he did," said Stener.
+
+"How did he say it, exactly? What were his exact words?" Shannon
+demanded, emphatically, pointing a forceful forefinger at Stener in
+order to key him up to a clear memory of what had transpired.
+
+"Well, as near as I can remember, he said just that," replied Stener,
+vaguely. "You might as well be tried for stealing a sheep as a lamb."
+
+"Exactly!" exclaimed Shannon, whirling around past the jury to look at
+Cowperwood. "I thought so."
+
+"Pure pyrotechnics, your honor," said Steger, rising to his feet on the
+instant. "All intended to prejudice the minds of the jury. Acting.
+I wish you would caution the counsel for the prosecution to confine
+himself to the evidence in hand, and not act for the benefit of his
+case."
+
+The spectators smiled; and Judge Payderson, noting it, frowned severely.
+"Do you make that as an objection, Mr. Steger?" he asked.
+
+"I certainly do, your honor," insisted Steger, resourcefully.
+
+"Objection overruled. Neither counsel for the prosecution nor for the
+defense is limited to a peculiar routine of expression."
+
+Steger himself was ready to smile, but he did not dare to.
+
+Cowperwood fearing the force of such testimony and regretting it, still
+looked at Stener, pityingly. The feebleness of the man; the weakness of
+the man; the pass to which his cowardice had brought them both!
+
+When Shannon was through bringing out this unsatisfactory data, Steger
+took Stener in hand; but he could not make as much out of him as he
+hoped. In so far as this particular situation was concerned, Stener
+was telling the exact truth; and it is hard to weaken the effect of the
+exact truth by any subtlety of interpretation, though it can, sometimes,
+be done. With painstaking care Steger went over all the ground of
+Stener's long relationship with Cowperwood, and tried to make it
+appear that Cowperwood was invariably the disinterested agent--not the
+ringleader in a subtle, really criminal adventure. It was hard to do,
+but he made a fine impression. Still the jury listened with skeptical
+minds. It might not be fair to punish Cowperwood for seizing with
+avidity upon a splendid chance to get rich quick, they thought; but it
+certainly was not worth while to throw a veil of innocence over such
+palpable human cupidity. Finally, both lawyers were through with Stener
+for the time being, anyhow, and then Albert Stires was called to the
+stand.
+
+He was the same thin, pleasant, alert, rather agreeable soul that he had
+been in the heyday of his clerkly prosperity--a little paler now, but
+not otherwise changed. His small property had been saved for him by
+Cowperwood, who had advised Steger to inform the Municipal Reform
+Association that Stires' bondsmen were attempting to sequestrate it for
+their own benefit, when actually it should go to the city if there
+were any real claim against him--which there was not. That watchful
+organization had issued one of its numerous reports covering this
+point, and Albert had had the pleasure of seeing Strobik and the others
+withdraw in haste. Naturally he was grateful to Cowperwood, even though
+once he had been compelled to cry in vain in his presence. He was
+anxious now to do anything he could to help the banker, but his
+naturally truthful disposition prevented him from telling anything
+except the plain facts, which were partly beneficial and partly not.
+
+Stires testified that he recalled Cowperwood's saying that he had
+purchased the certificates, that he was entitled to the money, that
+Stener was unduly frightened, and that no harm would come to him,
+Albert. He identified certain memoranda in the city treasurer's books,
+which were produced, as being accurate, and others in Cowperwood's
+books, which were also produced, as being corroborative. His testimony
+as to Stener's astonishment on discovering that his chief clerk had
+given Cowperwood a check was against the latter; but Cowperwood hoped to
+overcome the effect of this by his own testimony later.
+
+Up to now both Steger and Cowperwood felt that they were doing fairly
+well, and that they need not be surprised if they won their case.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLII
+
+
+The trial moved on. One witness for the prosecution after another
+followed until the State had built up an arraignment that satisfied
+Shannon that he had established Cowperwood's guilt, whereupon he
+announced that he rested. Steger at once arose and began a long argument
+for the dismissal of the case on the ground that there was no evidence
+to show this, that and the other, but Judge Payderson would have none of
+it. He knew how important the matter was in the local political world.
+
+"I don't think you had better go into all that now, Mr. Steger," he
+said, wearily, after allowing him to proceed a reasonable distance. "I
+am familiar with the custom of the city, and the indictment as here made
+does not concern the custom of the city. Your argument is with the jury,
+not with me. I couldn't enter into that now. You may renew your motion
+at the close of the defendants' case. Motion denied."
+
+District-Attorney Shannon, who had been listening attentively, sat down.
+Steger, seeing there was no chance to soften the judge's mind by any
+subtlety of argument, returned to Cowperwood, who smiled at the result.
+
+"We'll just have to take our chances with the jury," he announced.
+
+"I was sure of it," replied Cowperwood.
+
+Steger then approached the jury, and, having outlined the case briefly
+from his angle of observation, continued by telling them what he was
+sure the evidence would show from his point of view.
+
+"As a matter of fact, gentlemen, there is no essential difference in
+the evidence which the prosecution can present and that which we, the
+defense, can present. We are not going to dispute that Mr. Cowperwood
+received a check from Mr. Stener for sixty thousand dollars, or that
+he failed to put the certificate of city loan which that sum of money
+represented, and to which he was entitled in payment as agent, in the
+sinking-fund, as the prosecution now claims he should have done; but
+we are going to claim and prove also beyond the shadow of a reasonable
+doubt that he had a right, as the agent of the city, doing business with
+the city through its treasury department for four years, to withhold,
+under an agreement which he had with the city treasurer, all payments
+of money and all deposits of certificates in the sinking-fund until the
+first day of each succeeding month--the first month following any given
+transaction. As a matter of fact we can and will bring many traders and
+bankers who have had dealings with the city treasury in the past in just
+this way to prove this. The prosecution is going to ask you to believe
+that Mr. Cowperwood knew at the time he received this check that he was
+going to fail; that he did not buy the certificates, as he claimed, with
+the view of placing them in the sinking-fund; and that, knowing he
+was going to fail, and that he could not subsequently deposit them, he
+deliberately went to Mr. Albert Stires, Mr. Stener's secretary, told
+him that he had purchased such certificates, and on the strength of a
+falsehood, implied if not actually spoken, secured the check, and walked
+away.
+
+"Now, gentlemen, I am not going to enter into a long-winded discussion
+of these points at this time, since the testimony is going to show very
+rapidly what the facts are. We have a number of witnesses here, and
+we are all anxious to have them heard. What I am going to ask you to
+remember is that there is not one scintilla of testimony outside of that
+which may possibly be given by Mr. George W. Stener, which will show
+either that Mr. Cowperwood knew, at the time he called on the city
+treasurer, that he was going to fail, or that he had not purchased the
+certificates in question, or that he had not the right to withhold
+them from the sinking-fund as long as he pleased up to the first of
+the month, the time he invariably struck a balance with the city.
+Mr. Stener, the ex-city treasurer, may possibly testify one way. Mr.
+Cowperwood, on his own behalf, will testify another. It will then be for
+you gentlemen to decide between them, to decide which one you prefer
+to believe--Mr. George W. Stener, the ex-city treasurer, the former
+commercial associate of Mr. Cowperwood, who, after years and years of
+profit, solely because of conditions of financial stress, fire, and
+panic, preferred to turn on his one-time associate from whose labors he
+had reaped so much profit, or Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood, the well-known
+banker and financier, who did his best to weather the storm alone, who
+fulfilled to the letter every agreement he ever had with the city, who
+has even until this hour been busy trying to remedy the unfair financial
+difficulties forced upon him by fire and panic, and who only yesterday
+made an offer to the city that, if he were allowed to continue in
+uninterrupted control of his affairs he would gladly repay as quickly as
+possible every dollar of his indebtedness (which is really not all his),
+including the five hundred thousand dollars under discussion between him
+and Mr. Stener and the city, and so prove by his works, not talk, that
+there was no basis for this unfair suspicion of his motives. As you
+perhaps surmise, the city has not chosen to accept his offer, and I
+shall try and tell you why later, gentlemen. For the present we will
+proceed with the testimony, and for the defense all I ask is that you
+give very close attention to all that is testified to here to-day.
+Listen very carefully to Mr. W. C. Davison when he is put on the stand.
+Listen equally carefully to Mr. Cowperwood when we call him to testify.
+Follow the other testimony closely, and then you will be able to judge
+for yourselves. See if you can distinguish a just motive for this
+prosecution. I can't. I am very much obliged to you for listening to me,
+gentlemen, so attentively."
+
+He then put on Arthur Rivers, who had acted for Cowperwood on 'change
+as special agent during the panic, to testify to the large quantities
+of city loan he had purchased to stay the market; and then after him,
+Cowperwood's brothers, Edward and Joseph, who testified to instructions
+received from Rivers as to buying and selling city loan on that
+occasion--principally buying.
+
+The next witness was President W. C. Davison of the Girard National
+Bank. He was a large man physically, not so round of body as full and
+broad. His shoulders and chest were ample. He had a big blond head, with
+an ample breadth of forehead, which was high and sane-looking. He had
+a thick, squat nose, which, however, was forceful, and thin, firm, even
+lips. There was the faintest touch of cynical humor in his hard blue
+eyes at times; but mostly he was friendly, alert, placid-looking,
+without seeming in the least sentimental or even kindly. His business,
+as one could see plainly, was to insist on hard financial facts, and
+one could see also how he would naturally be drawn to Frank Algernon
+Cowperwood without being mentally dominated or upset by him. As he took
+the chair very quietly, and yet one might say significantly, it was
+obvious that he felt that this sort of legal-financial palaver was above
+the average man and beneath the dignity of a true financier--in other
+words, a bother. The drowsy Sparkheaver holding up a Bible beside him
+for him to swear by might as well have been a block of wood. His oath
+was a personal matter with him. It was good business to tell the truth
+at times. His testimony was very direct and very simple.
+
+He had known Mr. Frank Algernon Cowperwood for nearly ten years. He
+had done business with or through him nearly all of that time. He knew
+nothing of his personal relations with Mr. Stener, and did not know
+Mr. Stener personally. As for the particular check of sixty thousand
+dollars--yes, he had seen it before. It had come into the bank on
+October 10th along with other collateral to offset an overdraft on the
+part of Cowperwood & Co. It was placed to the credit of Cowperwood &
+Co. on the books of the bank, and the bank secured the cash through the
+clearing-house. No money was drawn out of the bank by Cowperwood & Co.
+after that to create an overdraft. The bank's account with Cowperwood
+was squared.
+
+Nevertheless, Mr. Cowperwood might have drawn heavily, and nothing would
+have been thought of it. Mr. Davison did not know that Mr. Cowperwood
+was going to fail--did not suppose that he could, so quickly. He had
+frequently overdrawn his account with the bank; as a matter of fact,
+it was the regular course of his business to overdraw it. It kept his
+assets actively in use, which was the height of good business. His
+overdrafts were protected by collateral, however, and it was his custom
+to send bundles of collateral or checks, or both, which were variously
+distributed to keep things straight. Mr. Cowperwood's account was the
+largest and most active in the bank, Mr. Davison kindly volunteered.
+When Mr. Cowperwood had failed there had been over ninety thousand
+dollars' worth of certificates of city loan in the bank's possession
+which Mr Cowperwood had sent there as collateral. Shannon, on
+cross-examination, tried to find out for the sake of the effect on the
+jury, whether Mr. Davison was not for some ulterior motive especially
+favorable to Cowperwood. It was not possible for him to do that. Steger
+followed, and did his best to render the favorable points made by Mr.
+Davison in Cowperwood's behalf perfectly clear to the jury by having him
+repeat them. Shannon objected, of course, but it was of no use. Steger
+managed to make his point.
+
+He now decided to have Cowperwood take the stand, and at the mention of
+his name in this connection the whole courtroom bristled.
+
+Cowperwood came forward briskly and quickly. He was so calm, so jaunty,
+so defiant of life, and yet so courteous to it. These lawyers, this
+jury, this straw-and-water judge, these machinations of fate, did not
+basically disturb or humble or weaken him. He saw through the mental
+equipment of the jury at once. He wanted to assist his counsel in
+disturbing and confusing Shannon, but his reason told him that only an
+indestructible fabric of fact or seeming would do it. He believed in the
+financial rightness of the thing he had done. He was entitled to do it.
+Life was war--particularly financial life; and strategy was its keynote,
+its duty, its necessity. Why should he bother about petty, picayune
+minds which could not understand this? He went over his history for
+Steger and the jury, and put the sanest, most comfortable light on it
+that he could. He had not gone to Mr. Stener in the first place, he
+said--he had been called. He had not urged Mr. Stener to anything. He
+had merely shown him and his friends financial possibilities which they
+were only too eager to seize upon. And they had seized upon them. (It
+was not possible for Shannon to discover at this period how subtly he
+had organized his street-car companies so that he could have "shaken
+out" Stener and his friends without their being able to voice a single
+protest, so he talked of these things as opportunities which he had made
+for Stener and others. Shannon was not a financier, neither was
+Steger. They had to believe in a way, though they doubted it,
+partly--particularly Shannon.) He was not responsible for the custom
+prevailing in the office of the city treasurer, he said. He was a banker
+and broker.
+
+The jury looked at him, and believed all except this matter of the
+sixty-thousand-dollar check. When it came to that he explained it all
+plausibly enough. When he had gone to see Stener those several last
+days, he had not fancied that he was really going to fail. He had
+asked Stener for some money, it is true--not so very much, all things
+considered--one hundred and fifty thousand dollars; but, as Stener
+should have testified, he (Cowperwood) was not disturbed in his manner.
+Stener had merely been one resource of his. He was satisfied at that
+time that he had many others. He had not used the forceful language or
+made the urgent appeal which Stener said he had, although he had pointed
+out to Stener that it was a mistake to become panic-stricken, also to
+withhold further credit. It was true that Stener was his easiest, his
+quickest resource, but not his only one. He thought, as a matter of
+fact, that his credit would be greatly extended by his principal money
+friends if necessary, and that he would have ample time to patch up his
+affairs and keep things going until the storm should blow over. He had
+told Stener of his extended purchase of city loan to stay the market on
+the first day of the panic, and of the fact that sixty thousand dollars
+was due him. Stener had made no objection. It was just possible that
+he was too mentally disturbed at the time to pay close attention. After
+that, to his, Cowperwood's, surprise, unexpected pressure on great
+financial houses from unexpected directions had caused them to be not
+willingly but unfortunately severe with him. This pressure, coming
+collectively the next day, had compelled him to close his doors, though
+he had not really expected to up to the last moment. His call for the
+sixty-thousand-dollar check at the time had been purely fortuitous. He
+needed the money, of course, but it was due him, and his clerks were
+all very busy. He merely asked for and took it personally to save time.
+Stener knew if it had been refused him he would have brought suit. The
+matter of depositing city loan certificates in the sinking-fund,
+when purchased for the city, was something to which he never gave any
+personal attention whatsoever. His bookkeeper, Mr. Stapley, attended to
+all that. He did not know, as a matter of fact, that they had not been
+deposited. (This was a barefaced lie. He did know.) As for the check
+being turned over to the Girard National Bank, that was fortuitous.
+It might just as well have been turned over to some other bank if the
+conditions had been different.
+
+Thus on and on he went, answering all of Steger's and Shannon's
+searching questions with the most engaging frankness, and you could have
+sworn from the solemnity with which he took it all--the serious business
+attention--that he was the soul of so-called commercial honor. And to
+say truly, he did believe in the justice as well as the necessity and
+the importance of all that he had done and now described. He wanted the
+jury to see it as he saw it--put itself in his place and sympathize with
+him.
+
+He was through finally, and the effect on the jury of his testimony and
+his personality was peculiar. Philip Moultrie, juror No. 1, decided that
+Cowperwood was lying. He could not see how it was possible that he could
+not know the day before that he was going to fail. He must have known,
+he thought. Anyhow, the whole series of transactions between him
+and Stener seemed deserving of some punishment, and all during this
+testimony he was thinking how, when he got in the jury-room, he would
+vote guilty. He even thought of some of the arguments he would use to
+convince the others that Cowperwood was guilty. Juror No. 2, on the
+contrary, Simon Glassberg, a clothier, thought he understood how it
+all came about, and decided to vote for acquittal. He did not think
+Cowperwood was innocent, but he did not think he deserved to be
+punished. Juror No. 3, Fletcher Norton, an architect, thought Cowperwood
+was guilty, but at the same time that he was too talented to be sent to
+prison. Juror No. 4, Charles Hillegan, an Irishman, a contractor, and
+a somewhat religious-minded person, thought Cowperwood was guilty and
+ought to be punished. Juror No. 5, Philip Lukash, a coal merchant,
+thought he was guilty. Juror No. 6, Benjamin Fraser, a mining expert,
+thought he was probably guilty, but he could not be sure. Uncertain
+what he would do, juror No. 7, J. J. Bridges, a broker in Third Street,
+small, practical, narrow, thought Cowperwood was shrewd and guilty and
+deserved to be punished. He would vote for his punishment. Juror No.
+8, Guy E. Tripp, general manager of a small steamboat company, was
+uncertain. Juror No. 9, Joseph Tisdale, a retired glue manufacturer,
+thought Cowperwood was probably guilty as charged, but to Tisdale it
+was no crime. Cowperwood was entitled to do as he had done under the
+circumstances. Tisdale would vote for his acquittal. Juror No. 10,
+Richard Marsh, a young florist, was for Cowperwood in a sentimental way.
+He had, as a matter of fact, no real convictions. Juror No. 11, Richard
+Webber, a grocer, small financially, but heavy physically, was for
+Cowperwood's conviction. He thought him guilty. Juror No. 12, Washington
+B. Thomas, a wholesale flour merchant, thought Cowperwood was guilty,
+but believed in a recommendation to mercy after pronouncing him so. Men
+ought to be reformed, was his slogan.
+
+So they stood, and so Cowperwood left them, wondering whether any of his
+testimony had had a favorable effect.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLIII
+
+
+Since it is the privilege of the lawyer for the defense to address the
+jury first, Steger bowed politely to his colleague and came forward.
+Putting his hands on the jury-box rail, he began in a very quiet,
+modest, but impressive way:
+
+"Gentlemen of the jury, my client, Mr. Frank Algernon Cowperwood, a
+well-known banker and financier of this city, doing business in Third
+Street, is charged by the State of Pennsylvania, represented by the
+district attorney of this district, with fraudulently transferring from
+the treasury of the city of Philadelphia to his own purse the sum of
+sixty thousand dollars, in the form of a check made out to his order,
+dated October 9, 1871, and by him received from one Albert Stires, the
+private secretary and head bookkeeper of the treasurer of this city,
+at the time in question. Now, gentlemen, what are the facts in this
+connection? You have heard the various witnesses and know the general
+outlines of the story. Take the testimony of George W. Stener, to begin
+with. He tells you that sometime back in the year 1866 he was greatly in
+need of some one, some banker or broker, who would tell him how to bring
+city loan, which was selling very low at the time, to par--who would not
+only tell him this, but proceed to demonstrate that his knowledge was
+accurate by doing it. Mr. Stener was an inexperienced man at the time
+in the matter of finance. Mr. Cowperwood was an active young man with
+an enviable record as a broker and a trader on 'change. He proceeded
+to demonstrate to Mr. Stener not only in theory, but in fact, how this
+thing of bringing city loan to par could be done. He made an arrangement
+at that time with Mr. Stener, the details of which you have heard from
+Mr. Stener himself, the result of which was that a large amount of city
+loan was turned over to Mr. Cowperwood by Mr. Stener for sale, and by
+adroit manipulation--methods of buying and selling which need not be
+gone into here, but which are perfectly sane and legitimate in the world
+in which Mr. Cowperwood operated, did bring that loan to par, and kept
+it there year after year as you have all heard here testified to.
+
+"Now what is the bone of contention here, gentlemen, the significant
+fact which brings Mr. Stener into this court at this time charging his
+old-time agent and broker with larceny and embezzlement, and alleging
+that he has transferred to his own use without a shadow of return sixty
+thousand dollars of the money which belongs to the city treasury? What
+is it? Is it that Mr. Cowperwood secretly, with great stealth, as it
+were, at some time or other, unknown to Mr. Stener or to his assistants,
+entered the office of the treasurer and forcibly, and with criminal
+intent, carried away sixty thousand dollars' worth of the city's money?
+Not at all. The charge is, as you have heard the district attorney
+explain, that Mr. Cowperwood came in broad daylight at between four and
+five o'clock of the afternoon preceeding the day of his assignment; was
+closeted with Mr. Stener for a half or three-quarters of an hour; came
+out; explained to Mr. Albert Stires that he had recently bought sixty
+thousand dollars' worth of city loan for the city sinking-fund, for
+which he had not been paid; asked that the amount be credited on the
+city's books to him, and that he be given a check, which was his due,
+and walked out. Anything very remarkable about that, gentlemen? Anything
+very strange? Has it been testified here to-day that Mr. Cowperwood was
+not the agent of the city for the transaction of just such business as
+he said on that occasion that he had transacted? Did any one say here on
+the witness-stand that he had not bought city loan as he said he had?
+
+"Why is it then that Mr. Stener charges Mr. Cowperwood with larcenously
+securing and feloniously disposing of a check for sixty thousand dollars
+for certificates which he had a right to buy, and which it has not been
+contested here that he did buy? The reason lies just here--listen--just
+here. At the time my client asked for the check and took it away with
+him and deposited it in his own bank to his own account, he failed, so
+the prosecution insists, to put the sixty thousand dollars' worth of
+certificates for which he had received the check, in the sinking-fund;
+and having failed to do that, and being compelled by the pressure of
+financial events the same day to suspend payment generally, he thereby,
+according to the prosecution and the anxious leaders of the
+Republican party in the city, became an embezzler, a thief, a this or
+that--anything you please so long as you find a substitute for George W.
+Stener and the indifferent leaders of the Republican party in the eyes
+of the people."
+
+And here Mr. Steger proceeded boldly and defiantly to outline the entire
+political situation as it had manifested itself in connection with the
+Chicago fire, the subsequent panic and its political consequences, and
+to picture Cowperwood as the unjustly maligned agent, who before the
+fire was valuable and honorable enough to suit any of the political
+leaders of Philadelphia, but afterward, and when political defeat
+threatened, was picked upon as the most available scapegoat anywhere
+within reach.
+
+And it took him a half hour to do that. And afterward but only after he
+had pointed to Stener as the true henchman and stalking horse, who had,
+in turn, been used by political forces above him to accomplish certain
+financial results, which they were not willing to have ascribed to
+themselves, he continued with:
+
+"But now, in the light of all this, only see how ridiculous all this is!
+How silly! Frank A. Cowperwood had always been the agent of the city in
+these matters for years and years. He worked under certain rules
+which he and Mr. Stener had agreed upon in the first place, and which
+obviously came from others, who were above Mr. Stener, since they were
+hold-over customs and rules from administrations, which had been long
+before Mr. Stener ever appeared on the scene as city treasurer. One of
+them was that he could carry all transactions over until the first of
+the month following before he struck a balance. That is, he need not pay
+any money over for anything to the city treasurer, need not send him any
+checks or deposit any money or certificates in the sinking-fund until
+the first of the month because--now listen to this carefully, gentlemen;
+it is important--because his transactions in connection with city loan
+and everything else that he dealt in for the city treasurer were so
+numerous, so swift, so uncalculated beforehand, that he had to have a
+loose, easy system of this kind in order to do his work properly--to
+do business at all. Otherwise he could not very well have worked to the
+best advantage for Mr. Stener, or for any one else. It would have meant
+too much bookkeeping for him--too much for the city treasurer. Mr.
+Stener has testified to that in the early part of his story. Albert
+Stires has indicated that that was his understanding of it. Well, then
+what? Why, just this. Would any jury suppose, would any sane business
+man believe that if such were the case Mr. Cowperwood would be running
+personally with all these items of deposit, to the different banks or
+the sinking-fund or the city treasurer's office, or would be saying to
+his head bookkeeper, 'Here, Stapley, here is a check for sixty thousand
+dollars. See that the certificates of loan which this represents are put
+in the sinking-fund to-day'? And why not? What a ridiculous supposition
+any other supposition is! As a matter of course and as had always been
+the case, Mr. Cowperwood had a system. When the time came, this check
+and these certificates would be automatically taken care of. He handed
+his bookkeeper the check and forgot all about it. Would you imagine a
+banker with a vast business of this kind doing anything else?"
+
+Mr. Steger paused for breath and inquiry, and then, having satisfied
+himself that his point had been sufficiently made, he continued:
+
+"Of course the answer is that he knew he was going to fail. Well, Mr.
+Cowperwood's reply is that he didn't know anything of the sort. He has
+personally testified here that it was only at the last moment before it
+actually happened that he either thought or knew of such an occurrence.
+Why, then, this alleged refusal to let him have the check to which he
+was legally entitled? I think I know. I think I can give a reason if you
+will hear me out."
+
+Steger shifted his position and came at the jury from another
+intellectual angle:
+
+"It was simply because Mr. George W. Stener at that time, owing to
+a recent notable fire and a panic, imagined for some reason--perhaps
+because Mr. Cowperwood cautioned him not to become frightened over
+local developments generally--that Mr. Cowperwood was going to close his
+doors; and having considerable money on deposit with him at a low rate
+of interest, Mr. Stener decided that Mr. Cowperwood must not have any
+more money--not even the money that was actually due him for services
+rendered, and that had nothing whatsoever to do with the money loaned
+him by Mr. Stener at two and one-half per cent. Now isn't that a
+ridiculous situation? But it was because Mr. George W. Stener was filled
+with his own fears, based on a fire and a panic which had absolutely
+nothing to do with Mr. Cowperwood's solvency in the beginning that he
+decided not to let Frank A. Cowperwood have the money that was actually
+due him, because he, Stener, was criminally using the city's money to
+further his own private interests (through Mr. Cowperwood as a broker),
+and in danger of being exposed and possibly punished. Now where, I ask
+you, does the good sense of that decision come in? Is it apparent to
+you, gentlemen? Was Mr. Cowperwood still an agent for the city at the
+time he bought the loan certificates as here testified? He certainly
+was. If so, was he entitled to that money? Who is going to stand up here
+and deny it? Where is the question then, as to his right or his honesty
+in this matter? How does it come in here at all? I can tell you. It
+sprang solely from one source and from nowhere else, and that is the
+desire of the politicians of this city to find a scapegoat for the
+Republican party.
+
+"Now you may think I am going rather far afield for an explanation of
+this very peculiar decision to prosecute Mr. Cowperwood, an agent of the
+city, for demanding and receiving what actually belonged to him. But
+I'm not. Consider the position of the Republican party at that time.
+Consider the fact that an exposure of the truth in regard to the
+details of a large defalcation in the city treasury would have a very
+unsatisfactory effect on the election about to be held. The Republican
+party had a new city treasurer to elect, a new district attorney. It
+had been in the habit of allowing its city treasurers the privilege of
+investing the funds in their possession at a low rate of interest for
+the benefit of themselves and their friends. Their salaries were small.
+They had to have some way of eking out a reasonable existence. Was Mr.
+George Stener responsible for this custom of loaning out the city money?
+Not at all. Was Mr. Cowperwood? Not at all. The custom had been in vogue
+long before either Mr. Cowperwood or Mr. Stener came on the scene. Why,
+then, this great hue and cry about it now? The entire uproar sprang
+solely from the fear of Mr. Stener at this juncture, the fear of the
+politicians at this juncture, of public exposure. No city treasurer had
+ever been exposed before. It was a new thing to face exposure, to face
+the risk of having the public's attention called to a rather nefarious
+practice of which Mr. Stener was taking advantage, that was all. A great
+fire and a panic were endangering the security and well-being of many
+a financial organization in the city--Mr. Cowperwood's among others.
+It meant many possible failures, and many possible failures meant one
+possible failure. If Frank A. Cowperwood failed, he would fail owing the
+city of Philadelphia five hundred thousand dollars, borrowed from the
+city treasurer at the very low rate of interest of two and one-half per
+cent. Anything very detrimental to Mr. Cowperwood in that? Had he gone
+to the city treasurer and asked to be loaned money at two and one-half
+per cent.? If he had, was there anything criminal in it from a business
+point of view? Isn't a man entitled to borrow money from any source he
+can at the lowest possible rate of interest? Did Mr. Stener have to loan
+it to Mr. Cowperwood if he did not want to? As a matter of fact didn't
+he testify here to-day that he personally had sent for Mr. Cowperwood
+in the first place? Why, then, in Heaven's name, this excited charge of
+larceny, larceny as bailee, embezzlement, embezzlement on a check, etc.,
+etc.?
+
+"Once more, gentlemen, listen. I'll tell you why. The men who stood
+behind Stener, and whose bidding he was doing, wanted to make a
+political scapegoat of some one--of Frank Algernon Cowperwood, if they
+couldn't get any one else. That's why. No other reason under God's blue
+sky, not one. Why, if Mr. Cowperwood needed more money just at that time
+to tide him over, it would have been good policy for them to have given
+it to him and hushed this matter up. It would have been illegal--though
+not any more illegal than anything else that has ever been done in this
+connection--but it would have been safer. Fear, gentlemen, fear, lack of
+courage, inability to meet a great crisis when a great crisis appears,
+was all that really prevented them from doing this. They were afraid to
+place confidence in a man who had never heretofore betrayed their trust
+and from whose loyalty and great financial ability they and the city
+had been reaping large profits. The reigning city treasurer of the time
+didn't have the courage to go on in the face of fire and panic and the
+rumors of possible failure, and stick by his illegal guns; and so
+he decided to draw in his horns as testified here to-day--to ask Mr.
+Cowperwood to return all or at least a big part of the five hundred
+thousand dollars he had loaned him, and which Cowperwood had been
+actually using for his, Stener's benefit, and to refuse him in addition
+the money that was actually due him for an authorized purchase of city
+loan. Was Cowperwood guilty as an agent in any of these transactions?
+Not in the least. Was there any suit pending to make him return the five
+hundred thousand dollars of city money involved in his present failure?
+Not at all. It was simply a case of wild, silly panic on the part of
+George W. Stener, and a strong desire on the part of the Republican
+party leaders, once they discovered what the situation was, to find some
+one outside of Stener, the party treasurer, upon whom they could blame
+the shortage in the treasury. You heard what Mr. Cowperwood testified to
+here in this case to-day--that he went to Mr. Stener to forfend against
+any possible action of this kind in the first place. And it was because
+of this very warning that Mr. Stener became wildly excited, lost his
+head, and wanted Mr. Cowperwood to return him all his money, all the
+five hundred thousand dollars he had loaned him at two and one-half per
+cent. Isn't that silly financial business at the best? Wasn't that a
+fine time to try to call a perfectly legal loan?
+
+"But now to return to this particular check of sixty thousand dollars.
+When Mr. Cowperwood called that last afternoon before he failed, Mr.
+Stener testified that he told him that he couldn't have any more money,
+that it was impossible, and that then Mr. Cowperwood went out into his
+general office and without his knowledge or consent persuaded his chief
+clerk and secretary, Mr. Albert Stires, to give him a check for sixty
+thousand dollars, to which he was not entitled and on which he, Stener,
+would have stopped payment if he had known.
+
+"What nonsense! Why didn't he know? The books were there, open to him.
+Mr. Stires told him the first thing the next morning. Mr. Cowperwood
+thought nothing of it, for he was entitled to it, and could collect it
+in any court of law having jurisdiction in such cases, failure or
+no failure. It is silly for Mr. Stener to say he would have stopped
+payment. Such a claim was probably an after-thought of the next morning
+after he had talked with his friends, the politicians, and was all a
+part, a trick, a trap, to provide the Republican party with a scapegoat
+at this time. Nothing more and nothing less; and you may be sure no
+one knew it better than the people who were most anxious to see Mr.
+Cowperwood convicted."
+
+Steger paused and looked significantly at Shannon.
+
+"Gentlemen of the jury [he finally concluded, quietly and earnestly],
+you are going to find, when you think it over in the jury-room this
+evening, that this charge of larceny and larceny as bailee, and
+embezzlement of a check for sixty thousand dollars, which are contained
+in this indictment, and which represent nothing more than the eager
+effort of the district attorney to word this one act in such a way that
+it will look like a crime, represents nothing more than the excited
+imagination of a lot of political refugees who are anxious to protect
+their own skirts at the expense of Mr. Cowperwood, and who care for
+nothing--honor, fair play, or anything else, so long as they are let off
+scot-free. They don't want the Republicans of Pennsylvania to think too
+ill of the Republican party management and control in this city. They
+want to protect George W. Stener as much as possible and to make a
+political scapegoat of my client. It can't be done, and it won't be
+done. As honorable, intelligent men you won't permit it to be done. And
+I think with that thought I can safely leave you."
+
+Steger suddenly turned from the jury-box and walked to his seat beside
+Cowperwood, while Shannon arose, calm, forceful, vigorous, much younger.
+
+As between man and man, Shannon was not particularly opposed to the case
+Steger had made out for Cowperwood, nor was he opposed to Cowperwood's
+having made money as he did. As a matter of fact, Shannon actually
+thought that if he had been in Cowperwood's position he would have
+done exactly the same thing. However, he was the newly elected district
+attorney. He had a record to make; and, besides, the political powers
+who were above him were satisfied that Cowperwood ought to be convicted
+for the looks of the thing. Therefore he laid his hands firmly on the
+rail at first, looked the jurors steadily in the eyes for a time, and,
+having framed a few thoughts in his mind began:
+
+"Now, gentlemen of the jury, it seems to me that if we all pay strict
+attention to what has transpired here to-day, we will have no difficulty
+in reaching a conclusion; and it will be a very satisfactory one, if
+we all try to interpret the facts correctly. This defendant, Mr.
+Cowperwood, comes into this court to-day charged, as I have stated to
+you before, with larceny, with larceny as bailee, with embezzlement,
+and with embezzlement of a specific check--namely, one dated October 9,
+1871, drawn to the order of Frank A. Cowperwood & Company for the sum
+of sixty thousand dollars by the secretary of the city treasurer for the
+city treasurer, and by him signed, as he had a perfect right to sign it,
+and delivered to the said Frank A. Cowperwood, who claims that he was
+not only properly solvent at the time, but had previously purchased
+certificates of city loan to the value of sixty thousand dollars, and
+had at that time or would shortly thereafter, as was his custom, deposit
+them to the credit of the city in the city sinking-fund, and thus close
+what would ordinarily be an ordinary transaction--namely, that of Frank
+A. Cowperwood & Company as bankers and brokers for the city buying city
+loan for the city, depositing it in the sinking-fund, and being promptly
+and properly reimbursed. Now, gentlemen, what are the actual facts
+in this case? Was the said Frank A. Cowperwood & Company--there is no
+company, as you well know, as you have heard testified here to-day, only
+Frank A. Cowperwood--was the said Frank A. Cowperwood a fit person to
+receive the check at this time in the manner he received it--that is,
+was he authorized agent of the city at the time, or was he not? Was he
+solvent? Did he actually himself think he was going to fail, and was
+this sixty-thousand-dollar check a last thin straw which he was grabbing
+at to save his financial life regardless of what it involved legally,
+morally, or otherwise; or had he actually purchased certificates of city
+loan to the amount he said he had in the way he said he had, at the
+time he said he had, and was he merely collecting his honest due? Did he
+intend to deposit these certificates of loans in the city sinking-fund,
+as he said he would--as it was understood naturally and normally that
+he would--or did he not? Were his relations with the city treasurer as
+broker and agent the same as they had always been on the day that he
+secured this particular check for sixty thousand dollars, or were they
+not? Had they been terminated by a conversation fifteen minutes before
+or two days before or two weeks before--it makes no difference when, so
+long as they had been properly terminated--or had they not? A business
+man has a right to abrogate an agreement at any time where there is
+no specific form of contract and no fixed period of operation entered
+into--as you all must know. You must not forget that in considering the
+evidence in this case. Did George W. Stener, knowing or suspecting that
+Frank A. Cowperwood was in a tight place financially, unable to fulfill
+any longer properly and honestly the duties supposedly devolving on
+him by this agreement, terminate it then and there on October 9, 1871,
+before this check for sixty thousand dollars was given, or did he not?
+Did Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood then and there, knowing that he was no
+longer an agent of the city treasurer and the city, and knowing also
+that he was insolvent (having, as Mr. Stener contends, admitted to him
+that he was so), and having no intention of placing the certificates
+which he subsequently declared he had purchased in the sinking-fund, go
+out into Mr. Stener's general office, meet his secretary, tell him he
+had purchased sixty thousand dollars' worth of city loan, ask for the
+check, get it, put it in his pocket, walk off, and never make any
+return of any kind in any manner, shape, or form to the city, and then,
+subsequently, twenty-four hours later, fail, owing this and five hundred
+thousand dollars more to the city treasury, or did he not? What are
+the facts in this case? What have the witnesses testified to? What has
+George W. Stener testified to, Albert Stires, President Davison, Mr.
+Cowperwood himself? What are the interesting, subtle facts in this case,
+anyhow? Gentlemen, you have a very curious problem to decide."
+
+He paused and gazed at the jury, adjusting his sleeves as he did so,
+and looking as though he knew for certain that he was on the trail of a
+slippery, elusive criminal who was in a fair way to foist himself upon
+an honorable and decent community and an honorable and innocent jury as
+an honest man.
+
+Then he continued:
+
+"Now, gentlemen, what are the facts? You can see for yourselves exactly
+how this whole situation has come about. You are sensible men. I don't
+need to tell you. Here are two men, one elected treasurer of the city of
+Philadelphia, sworn to guard the interests of the city and to manipulate
+its finances to the best advantage, and the other called in at a time
+of uncertain financial cogitation to assist in unraveling a possibly
+difficult financial problem; and then you have a case of a quiet,
+private financial understanding being reached, and of subsequent illegal
+dealings in which one man who is shrewder, wiser, more versed in
+the subtle ways of Third Street leads the other along over seemingly
+charming paths of fortunate investment into an accidental but none the
+less criminal mire of failure and exposure and public calumny and what
+not. And then they get to the place where the more vulnerable individual
+of the two--the man in the most dangerous position, the city treasurer
+of Philadelphia, no less--can no longer reasonably or, let us say,
+courageously, follow the other fellow; and then you have such a
+spectacle as was described here this afternoon in the witness-chair by
+Mr. Stener--that is, you have a vicious, greedy, unmerciful financial
+wolf standing over a cowering, unsophisticated commercial lamb, and
+saying to him, his white, shiny teeth glittering all the while, 'If you
+don't advance me the money I ask for--the three hundred thousand dollars
+I now demand--you will be a convict, your children will be thrown in the
+street, you and your wife and your family will be in poverty again, and
+there will be no one to turn a hand for you.' That is what Mr. Stener
+says Mr. Cowperwood said to him. I, for my part, haven't a doubt in the
+world that he did. Mr. Steger, in his very guarded references to his
+client, describes him as a nice, kind, gentlemanly agent, a broker
+merely on whom was practically forced the use of five hundred thousand
+dollars at two and a half per cent. when money was bringing from ten to
+fifteen per cent. in Third Street on call loans, and even more. But I
+for one don't choose to believe it. The thing that strikes me as
+strange in all of this is that if he was so nice and kind and gentle and
+remote--a mere hired and therefore subservient agent--how is it that
+he could have gone to Mr. Stener's office two or three days before the
+matter of this sixty-thousand-dollar check came up and say to him, as
+Mr. Stener testifies under oath that he did say to him, 'If you don't
+give me three hundred thousand dollars' worth more of the city's money
+at once, to-day, I will fail, and you will be a convict. You will go
+to the penitentiary.'? That's what he said to him. 'I will fail and you
+will be a convict. They can't touch me, but they will arrest you. I
+am an agent merely.' Does that sound like a nice, mild, innocent,
+well-mannered agent, a hired broker, or doesn't it sound like a hard,
+defiant, contemptuous master--a man in control and ready to rule and win
+by fair means or foul?
+
+"Gentlemen, I hold no brief for George W. Stener. In my judgment he is
+as guilty as his smug co-partner in crime--if not more so--this oily
+financier who came smiling and in sheep's clothing, pointing out subtle
+ways by which the city's money could be made profitable for both; but
+when I hear Mr. Cowperwood described as I have just heard him described,
+as a nice, mild, innocent agent, my gorge rises. Why, gentlemen, if you
+want to get a right point of view on this whole proposition you will
+have to go back about ten or twelve years and see Mr. George W. Stener
+as he was then, a rather poverty-stricken beginner in politics, and
+before this very subtle and capable broker and agent came along and
+pointed out ways and means by which the city's money could be made
+profitable; George W. Stener wasn't very much of a personage then, and
+neither was Frank A. Cowperwood when he found Stener newly elected to
+the office of city treasurer. Can't you see him arriving at that time
+nice and fresh and young and well dressed, as shrewd as a fox, and
+saying: 'Come to me. Let me handle city loan. Loan me the city's money
+at two per cent. or less.' Can't you hear him suggesting this? Can't you
+see him?
+
+"George W. Stener was a poor man, comparatively a very poor man, when
+he first became city treasurer. All he had was a small real-estate
+and insurance business which brought him in, say, twenty-five hundred
+dollars a year. He had a wife and four children to support, and he had
+never had the slightest taste of what for him might be called luxury or
+comfort. Then comes Mr. Cowperwood--at his request, to be sure, but on
+an errand which held no theory of evil gains in Mr. Stener's mind at the
+time--and proposes his grand scheme of manipulating all the city loan
+to their mutual advantage. Do you yourselves think, gentlemen, from what
+you have seen of George W. Stener here on the witness-stand, that it was
+he who proposed this plan of ill-gotten wealth to that gentleman over
+there?"
+
+He pointed to Cowperwood.
+
+"Does he look to you like a man who would be able to tell that gentleman
+anything about finance or this wonderful manipulation that followed?
+I ask you, does he look clever enough to suggest all the subtleties by
+which these two subsequently made so much money? Why, the statement of
+this man Cowperwood made to his creditors at the time of his failure
+here a few weeks ago showed that he considered himself to be worth over
+one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and he is only a
+little over thirty-four years old to-day. How much was he worth at the
+time he first entered business relations with the ex-city treasurer?
+Have you any idea? I can tell. I had the matter looked up almost a month
+ago on my accession to office. Just a little over two hundred thousand
+dollars, gentlemen--just a little over two hundred thousand dollars.
+Here is an abstract from the files of Dun & Company for that year. Now
+you can see how rapidly our Caesar has grown in wealth since then.
+You can see how profitable these few short years have been to him. Was
+George W. Stener worth any such sum up to the time he was removed from
+his office and indicted for embezzlement? Was he? I have here a schedule
+of his liabilities and assets made out at the time. You can see it for
+yourselves, gentlemen. Just two hundred and twenty thousand dollars
+measured the sum of all his property three weeks ago; and it is an
+accurate estimate, as I have reason to know. Why was it, do you suppose,
+that Mr. Cowperwood grew so fast in wealth and Mr. Stener so slowly?
+They were partners in crime. Mr. Stener was loaning Mr. Cowperwood vast
+sums of the city's money at two per cent. when call-rates for money in
+Third Street were sometimes as high as sixteen and seventeen per cent.
+Don't you suppose that Mr. Cowperwood sitting there knew how to use this
+very cheaply come-by money to the very best advantage? Does he look to
+you as though he didn't? You have seen him on the witness-stand. You
+have heard him testify. Very suave, very straightforward-seeming, very
+innocent, doing everything as a favor to Mr. Stener and his friends, of
+course, and yet making a million in a little over six years and allowing
+Mr. Stener to make one hundred and sixty thousand dollars or less,
+for Mr. Stener had some little money at the time this partnership was
+entered into--a few thousand dollars."
+
+Shannon now came to the vital transaction of October 9th, when
+Cowperwood called on Stener and secured the check for sixty thousand
+dollars from Albert Stires. His scorn for this (as he appeared to think)
+subtle and criminal transaction was unbounded. It was plain larceny,
+stealing, and Cowperwood knew it when he asked Stires for the check.
+
+"Think of it! [Shannon exclaimed, turning and looking squarely at
+Cowperwood, who faced him quite calmly, undisturbed and unashamed.]
+Think of it! Think of the colossal nerve of the man--the Machiavellian
+subtlety of his brain. He knew he was going to fail. He knew after
+two days of financial work--after two days of struggle to offset the
+providential disaster which upset his nefarious schemes--that he had
+exhausted every possible resource save one, the city treasury, and that
+unless he could compel aid there he was going to fail. He already owed
+the city treasury five hundred thousand dollars. He had already used the
+city treasurer as a cat's-paw so much, had involved him so deeply, that
+the latter, because of the staggering size of the debt, was becoming
+frightened. Did that deter Mr. Cowperwood? Not at all."
+
+He shook his finger ominously in Cowperwood's face, and the latter
+turned irritably away. "He is showing off for the benefit of his
+future," he whispered to Steger. "I wish you could tell the jury that."
+
+"I wish I could," replied Steger, smiling scornfully, "but my hour is
+over."
+
+"Why [continued Mr. Shannon, turning once more to the jury], think of
+the colossal, wolfish nerve that would permit a man to say to Albert
+Stires that he had just purchased sixty thousand dollars' worth
+additional of city loan, and that he would then and there take the check
+for it! Had he actually purchased this city loan as he said he had?
+Who can tell? Could any human being wind through all the mazes of the
+complicated bookkeeping system which he ran, and actually tell? The best
+answer to that is that if he did purchase the certificates he intended
+that it should make no difference to the city, for he made no effort
+to put the certificates in the sinking-fund, where they belonged. His
+counsel says, and he says, that he didn't have to until the first of
+the month, although the law says that he must do it at once, and he knew
+well enough that legally he was bound to do it. His counsel says, and he
+says, that he didn't know he was going to fail. Hence there was no need
+of worrying about it. I wonder if any of you gentlemen really believed
+that? Had he ever asked for a check like that so quick before in his
+life? In all the history of these nefarious transactions was there
+another incident like that? You know there wasn't. He had never before,
+on any occasion, asked personally for a check for anything in this
+office, and yet on this occasion he did it. Why? Why should he ask for
+it this time? A few hours more, according to his own statement, wouldn't
+have made any difference one way or the other, would it? He could have
+sent a boy for it, as usual. That was the way it had always been done
+before. Why anything different now? I'll tell you why! [Shannon suddenly
+shouted, varying his voice tremendously.] I'll tell you why! He knew
+that he was a ruined man! He knew that his last semi-legitimate avenue
+of escape--the favor of George W. Stener--had been closed to him! He
+knew that honestly, by open agreement, he could not extract another
+single dollar from the treasury of the city of Philadelphia. He knew
+that if he left the office without this check and sent a boy for it, the
+aroused city treasurer would have time to inform his clerks, and
+that then no further money could be obtained. That's why! That's why,
+gentlemen, if you really want to know.
+
+"Now, gentlemen of the jury, I am about done with my arraignment of this
+fine, honorable, virtuous citizen whom the counsel for the defense,
+Mr. Steger, tells you you cannot possibly convict without doing a
+great injustice. All I have to say is that you look to me like sane,
+intelligent men--just the sort of men that I meet everywhere in the
+ordinary walks of life, doing an honorable American business in
+an honorable American way. Now, gentlemen of the jury [he was very
+soft-spoken now], all I have to say is that if, after all you have heard
+and seen here to-day, you still think that Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood is
+an honest, honorable man--that he didn't steal, willfully and knowingly,
+sixty thousand dollars from the Philadelphia city treasury; that he had
+actually bought the certificates he said he had, and had intended to put
+them in the sinking-fund, as he said he did, then don't you dare to do
+anything except turn him loose, and that speedily, so that he can go
+on back to-day into Third Street, and start to straighten out his
+much-entangled financial affairs. It is the only thing for honest,
+conscientious men to do--to turn him instantly loose into the heart of
+this community, so that some of the rank injustice that my opponent, Mr.
+Steger, alleges has been done him will be a little made up to him. You
+owe him, if that is the way you feel, a prompt acknowledgment of his
+innocence. Don't worry about George W. Stener. His guilt is established
+by his own confession. He admits he is guilty. He will be sentenced
+without trial later on. But this man--he says he is an honest, honorable
+man. He says he didn't think he was going to fail. He says he used all
+that threatening, compelling, terrifying language, not because he was
+in danger of failing, but because he didn't want the bother of looking
+further for aid. What do you think? Do you really think that he
+had purchased sixty thousand dollars more of certificates for the
+sinking-fund, and that he was entitled to the money? If so, why didn't
+he put them in the sinking-fund? They're not there now, and the sixty
+thousand dollars is gone. Who got it? The Girard National Bank, where he
+was overdrawn to the extent of one hundred thousand dollars! Did it get
+it and forty thousand dollars more in other checks and certificates?
+Certainly. Why? Do you suppose the Girard National Bank might be in any
+way grateful for this last little favor before he closed his doors? Do
+you think that President Davison, whom you saw here testifying so kindly
+in this case feels at all friendly, and that that may possibly--I
+don't say that it does--explain his very kindly interpretation of Mr.
+Cowperwood's condition? It might be. You can think as well along that
+line as I can. Anyhow, gentlemen, President Davison says Mr. Cowperwood
+is an honorable, honest man, and so does his counsel, Mr. Steger. You
+have heard the testimony. Now you think it over. If you want to turn him
+loose--turn him loose. [He waved his hand wearily.] You're the judges.
+I wouldn't; but then I am merely a hard-working lawyer--one person, one
+opinion. You may think differently--that's your business. [He waved his
+hand suggestively, almost contemptuously.] However, I'm through, and I
+thank you for your courtesy. Gentlemen, the decision rests with you."
+
+He turned away grandly, and the jury stirred--so did the idle spectators
+in the court. Judge Payderson sighed a sigh of relief. It was now quite
+dark, and the flaring gas forms in the court were all brightly lighted.
+Outside one could see that it was snowing. The judge stirred among his
+papers wearily, and turning to the jurors solemnly, began his customary
+explanation of the law, after which they filed out to the jury-room.
+
+Cowperwood turned to his father who now came over across the
+fast-emptying court, and said:
+
+"Well, we'll know now in a little while."
+
+"Yes," replied Cowperwood, Sr., a little wearily. "I hope it comes out
+right. I saw Butler back there a little while ago."
+
+"Did you?" queried Cowperwood, to whom this had a peculiar interest.
+
+"Yes," replied his father. "He's just gone."
+
+So, Cowperwood thought, Butler was curious enough as to his fate to want
+to come here and watch him tried. Shannon was his tool. Judge Payderson
+was his emissary, in a way. He, Cowperwood, might defeat him in the
+matter of his daughter, but it was not so easy to defeat him here
+unless the jury should happen to take a sympathetic attitude. They might
+convict him, and then Butler's Judge Payderson would have the privilege
+of sentencing him--giving him the maximum sentence. That would not be so
+nice--five years! He cooled a little as he thought of it, but there was
+no use worrying about what had not yet happened. Steger came forward and
+told him that his bail was now ended--had been the moment the jury left
+the room--and that he was at this moment actually in the care of
+the sheriff, of whom he knew--Sheriff Adlai Jaspers. Unless he were
+acquitted by the jury, Steger added, he would have to remain in the
+sheriff's care until an application for a certificate of reasonable
+doubt could be made and acted upon.
+
+"It would take all of five days, Frank," Steger said, "but Jaspers isn't
+a bad sort. He'd be reasonable. Of course if we're lucky you won't have
+to visit him. You will have to go with this bailiff now, though. Then if
+things come out right we'll go home. Say, I'd like to win this case,"
+he said. "I'd like to give them the laugh and see you do it. I consider
+you've been pretty badly treated, and I think I made that perfectly
+clear. I can reverse this verdict on a dozen grounds if they happen to
+decide against you."
+
+He and Cowperwood and the latter's father now stalked off with the
+sheriff's subordinate--a small man by the name of "Eddie" Zanders, who
+had approached to take charge. They entered a small room called the pen
+at the back of the court, where all those on trial whose liberty had
+been forfeited by the jury's leaving the room had to wait pending its
+return. It was a dreary, high-ceiled, four-square place, with a window
+looking out into Chestnut Street, and a second door leading off into
+somewhere--one had no idea where. It was dingy, with a worn wooden
+floor, some heavy, plain, wooden benches lining the four sides, no
+pictures or ornaments of any kind. A single two-arm gas-pipe descended
+from the center of the ceiling. It was permeated by a peculiarly stale
+and pungent odor, obviously redolent of all the flotsam and jetsam of
+life--criminal and innocent--that had stood or sat in here from time to
+time, waiting patiently to learn what a deliberating fate held in store.
+
+Cowperwood was, of course, disgusted; but he was too self-reliant
+and capable to show it. All his life he had been immaculate, almost
+fastidious in his care of himself. Here he was coming, perforce, in
+contact with a form of life which jarred upon him greatly. Steger, who
+was beside him, made some comforting, explanatory, apologetic remarks.
+
+"Not as nice as it might be," he said, "but you won't mind waiting a
+little while. The jury won't be long, I fancy."
+
+"That may not help me," he replied, walking to the window. Afterward he
+added: "What must be, must be."
+
+His father winced. Suppose Frank was on the verge of a long prison term,
+which meant an atmosphere like this? Heavens! For a moment, he trembled,
+then for the first time in years he made a silent prayer.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLIV
+
+
+Meanwhile the great argument had been begun in the jury-room, and all
+the points that had been meditatively speculated upon in the jury-box
+were now being openly discussed.
+
+It is amazingly interesting to see how a jury will waver and speculate
+in a case like this--how curious and uncertain is the process by which
+it makes up its so-called mind. So-called truth is a nebulous thing at
+best; facts are capable of such curious inversion and interpretation,
+honest and otherwise. The jury had a strongly complicated problem before
+it, and it went over it and over it.
+
+Juries reach not so much definite conclusions as verdicts, in a curious
+fashion and for curious reasons. Very often a jury will have concluded
+little so far as its individual members are concerned and yet it will
+have reached a verdict. The matter of time, as all lawyers know, plays
+a part in this. Juries, speaking of the members collectively and
+frequently individually, object to the amount of time it takes to decide
+a case. They do not enjoy sitting and deliberating over a problem unless
+it is tremendously fascinating. The ramifications or the mystery of a
+syllogism can become a weariness and a bore. The jury-room itself may
+and frequently does become a dull agony.
+
+On the other hand, no jury contemplates a disagreement with any degree
+of satisfaction. There is something so inherently constructive in the
+human mind that to leave a problem unsolved is plain misery. It haunts
+the average individual like any other important task left unfinished.
+Men in a jury-room, like those scientifically demonstrated atoms of a
+crystal which scientists and philosophers love to speculate upon, like
+finally to arrange themselves into an orderly and artistic whole, to
+present a compact, intellectual front, to be whatever they have set out
+to be, properly and rightly--a compact, sensible jury. One sees this
+same instinct magnificently displayed in every other phase of nature--in
+the drifting of sea-wood to the Sargasso Sea, in the geometric
+interrelation of air-bubbles on the surface of still water, in the
+marvelous unreasoned architecture of so many insects and atomic forms
+which make up the substance and the texture of this world. It would seem
+as though the physical substance of life--this apparition of form which
+the eye detects and calls real were shot through with some vast subtlety
+that loves order, that is order. The atoms of our so-called being, in
+spite of our so-called reason--the dreams of a mood--know where to go
+and what to do. They represent an order, a wisdom, a willing that is not
+of us. They build orderly in spite of us. So the subconscious spirit
+of a jury. At the same time, one does not forget the strange hypnotic
+effect of one personality on another, the varying effects of varying
+types on each other, until a solution--to use the word in its purely
+chemical sense--is reached. In a jury-room the thought or determination
+of one or two or three men, if it be definite enough, is likely to
+pervade the whole room and conquer the reason or the opposition of the
+majority. One man "standing out" for the definite thought that is in him
+is apt to become either the triumphant leader of a pliant mass or the
+brutally battered target of a flaming, concentrated intellectual fire.
+Men despise dull opposition that is without reason. In a jury-room, of
+all places, a man is expected to give a reason for the faith that is in
+him--if one is demanded. It will not do to say, "I cannot agree." Jurors
+have been known to fight. Bitter antagonisms lasting for years have been
+generated in these close quarters. Recalcitrant jurors have been hounded
+commercially in their local spheres for their unreasoned oppositions or
+conclusions.
+
+After reaching the conclusion that Cowperwood unquestionably deserved
+some punishment, there was wrangling as to whether the verdict should be
+guilty on all four counts, as charged in the indictment. Since they did
+not understand how to differentiate between the various charges very
+well, they decided it should be on all four, and a recommendation to
+mercy added. Afterward this last was eliminated, however; either he was
+guilty or he was not. The judge could see as well as they could all the
+extenuating circumstances--perhaps better. Why tie his hands? As a rule
+no attention was paid to such recommendations, anyhow, and it only made
+the jury look wabbly.
+
+So, finally, at ten minutes after twelve that night, they were ready to
+return a verdict; and Judge Payderson, who, because of his interest in
+the case and the fact that he lived not so far away, had decided to wait
+up this long, was recalled. Steger and Cowperwood were sent for.
+The court-room was fully lighted. The bailiff, the clerk, and the
+stenographer were there. The jury filed in, and Cowperwood, with Steger
+at his right, took his position at the gate which gave into the railed
+space where prisoners always stand to hear the verdict and listen to any
+commentary of the judge. He was accompanied by his father, who was very
+nervous.
+
+For the first time in his life he felt as though he were walking in
+his sleep. Was this the real Frank Cowperwood of two months before--so
+wealthy, so progressive, so sure? Was this only December 5th or 6th now
+(it was after midnight)? Why was it the jury had deliberated so long?
+What did it mean? Here they were now, standing and gazing solemnly
+before them; and here now was Judge Payderson, mounting the steps of his
+rostrum, his frizzled hair standing out in a strange, attractive
+way, his familiar bailiff rapping for order. He did not look at
+Cowperwood--it would not be courteous--but at the jury, who gazed at him
+in return. At the words of the clerk, "Gentlemen of the jury, have you
+agreed upon a verdict?" the foreman spoke up, "We have."
+
+"Do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty?"
+
+"We find the defendant guilty as charged in the indictment."
+
+How had they come to do this? Because he had taken a check for sixty
+thousand dollars which did not belong to him? But in reality it did.
+Good Lord, what was sixty thousand dollars in the sum total of all the
+money that had passed back and forth between him and George W. Stener?
+Nothing, nothing! A mere bagatelle in its way; and yet here it had
+risen up, this miserable, insignificant check, and become a mountain of
+opposition, a stone wall, a prison-wall barring his further progress. It
+was astonishing. He looked around him at the court-room. How large and
+bare and cold it was! Still he was Frank A. Cowperwood. Why should he
+let such queer thoughts disturb him? His fight for freedom and privilege
+and restitution was not over yet. Good heavens! It had only begun. In
+five days he would be out again on bail. Steger would take an appeal.
+He would be out, and he would have two long months in which to make an
+additional fight. He was not down yet. He would win his liberty. This
+jury was all wrong. A higher court would say so. It would reverse their
+verdict, and he knew it. He turned to Steger, where the latter was
+having the clerk poll the jury, in the hope that some one juror had been
+over-persuaded, made to vote against his will.
+
+"Is that your verdict?" he heard the clerk ask of Philip Moultrie, juror
+No. 1.
+
+"It is," replied that worthy, solemnly.
+
+"Is that your verdict?" The clerk was pointing to Simon Glassberg.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Is that your verdict?" He pointed to Fletcher Norton.
+
+"Yes."
+
+So it went through the whole jury. All the men answered firmly and
+clearly, though Steger thought it might barely be possible that one
+would have changed his mind. The judge thanked them and told them that
+in view of their long services this night, they were dismissed for the
+term. The only thing remaining to be done now was for Steger to persuade
+Judge Payderson to grant a stay of sentence pending the hearing of a
+motion by the State Supreme Court for a new trial.
+
+The Judge looked at Cowperwood very curiously as Steger made this
+request in proper form, and owing to the importance of the case and
+the feeling he had that the Supreme Court might very readily grant
+a certificate of reasonable doubt in this case, he agreed. There was
+nothing left, therefore, but for Cowperwood to return at this late hour
+with the deputy sheriff to the county jail, where he must now remain for
+five days at least--possibly longer.
+
+The jail in question, which was known locally as Moyamensing Prison,
+was located at Tenth and Reed Streets, and from an architectural and
+artistic point of view was not actually displeasing to the eye. It
+consisted of a central portion--prison, residence for the sheriff or
+what you will--three stories high, with a battlemented cornice and a
+round battlemented tower about one-third as high as the central portion
+itself, and two wings, each two stories high, with battlemented turrets
+at either end, giving it a highly castellated and consequently, from the
+American point of view, a very prison-like appearance. The facade of the
+prison, which was not more than thirty-five feet high for the central
+portion, nor more than twenty-five feet for the wings, was set back at
+least a hundred feet from the street, and was continued at either end,
+from the wings to the end of the street block, by a stone wall all of
+twenty feet high. The structure was not severely prison-like, for the
+central portion was pierced by rather large, unbarred apertures hung on
+the two upper stories with curtains, and giving the whole front a
+rather pleasant and residential air. The wing to the right, as one stood
+looking in from the street, was the section known as the county jail
+proper, and was devoted to the care of prisoners serving short-term
+sentences on some judicial order. The wing to the left was devoted
+exclusively to the care and control of untried prisoners. The whole
+building was built of a smooth, light-colored stone, which on a snowy
+night like this, with the few lamps that were used in it glowing
+feebly in the dark, presented an eery, fantastic, almost supernatural
+appearance.
+
+It was a rough and blowy night when Cowperwood started for this
+institution under duress. The wind was driving the snow before it in
+curious, interesting whirls. Eddie Zanders, the sheriff's deputy on
+guard at the court of Quarter Sessions, accompanied him and his father
+and Steger. Zanders was a little man, dark, with a short, stubby
+mustache, and a shrewd though not highly intelligent eye. He was anxious
+first to uphold his dignity as a deputy sheriff, which was a very
+important position in his estimation, and next to turn an honest penny
+if he could. He knew little save the details of his small world, which
+consisted of accompanying prisoners to and from the courts and the
+jails, and seeing that they did not get away. He was not unfriendly to
+a particular type of prisoner--the well-to-do or moderately
+prosperous--for he had long since learned that it paid to be so.
+To-night he offered a few sociable suggestions--viz., that it was rather
+rough, that the jail was not so far but that they could walk, and that
+Sheriff Jaspers would, in all likelihood, be around or could be aroused.
+Cowperwood scarcely heard. He was thinking of his mother and his wife
+and of Aileen.
+
+When the jail was reached he was led to the central portion, as it was
+here that the sheriff, Adlai Jaspers, had his private office. Jaspers
+had recently been elected to office, and was inclined to conform to all
+outward appearances, in so far as the proper conduct of his office was
+concerned, without in reality inwardly conforming. Thus it was generally
+known among the politicians that one way he had of fattening his rather
+lean salary was to rent private rooms and grant special privileges to
+prisoners who had the money to pay for the same. Other sheriffs had done
+it before him. In fact, when Jaspers was inducted into office, several
+prisoners were already enjoying these privileges, and it was not a part
+of his scheme of things to disturb them. The rooms that he let to the
+"right parties," as he invariably put it, were in the central portion
+of the jail, where were his own private living quarters. They were
+unbarred, and not at all cell-like. There was no particular danger of
+escape, for a guard stood always at his private door instructed "to
+keep an eye" on the general movements of all the inmates. A prisoner so
+accommodated was in many respects quite a free person. His meals were
+served to him in his room, if he wished. He could read or play cards, or
+receive guests; and if he had any favorite musical instrument, that was
+not denied him. There was just one rule that had to be complied with. If
+he were a public character, and any newspaper men called, he had to be
+brought down-stairs into the private interviewing room in order that
+they might not know that he was not confined in a cell like any other
+prisoner.
+
+Nearly all of these facts had been brought to Cowperwood's attention
+beforehand by Steger; but for all that, when he crossed the threshold of
+the jail a peculiar sensation of strangeness and defeat came over him.
+He and his party were conducted to a little office to the left of
+the entrance, where were only a desk and a chair, dimly lighted by
+a low-burning gas-jet. Sheriff Jaspers, rotund and ruddy, met them,
+greeting them in quite a friendly way. Zanders was dismissed, and went
+briskly about his affairs.
+
+"A bad night, isn't it?" observed Jaspers, turning up the gas and
+preparing to go through the routine of registering his prisoner. Steger
+came over and held a short, private conversation with him in his corner,
+over his desk which resulted presently in the sheriff's face lighting
+up.
+
+"Oh, certainly, certainly! That's all right, Mr. Steger, to be sure!
+Why, certainly!"
+
+Cowperwood, eyeing the fat sheriff from his position, understood what
+it was all about. He had regained completely his critical attitude, his
+cool, intellectual poise. So this was the jail, and this was the fat
+mediocrity of a sheriff who was to take care of him. Very good. He
+would make the best of it. He wondered whether he was to be
+searched--prisoners usually were--but he soon discovered that he was not
+to be.
+
+"That's all right, Mr. Cowperwood," said Jaspers, getting up. "I guess
+I can make you comfortable, after a fashion. We're not running a hotel
+here, as you know"--he chuckled to himself--"but I guess I can make you
+comfortable. John," he called to a sleepy factotum, who appeared from
+another room, rubbing his eyes, "is the key to Number Six down here?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Let me have it."
+
+John disappeared and returned, while Steger explained to Cowperwood that
+anything he wanted in the way of clothing, etc., could be brought in.
+Steger himself would stop round next morning and confer with him, as
+would any of the members of Cowperwood's family whom he wished to see.
+Cowperwood immediately explained to his father his desire for as little
+of this as possible. Joseph or Edward might come in the morning and
+bring a grip full of underwear, etc.; but as for the others, let them
+wait until he got out or had to remain permanently. He did think of
+writing Aileen, cautioning her to do nothing; but the sheriff now
+beckoned, and he quietly followed. Accompanied by his father and Steger,
+he ascended to his new room.
+
+It was a simple, white-walled chamber fifteen by twenty feet in size,
+rather high-ceiled, supplied with a high-backed, yellow wooden bed,
+a yellow bureau, a small imitation-cherry table, three very ordinary
+cane-seated chairs with carved hickory-rod backs, cherry-stained also,
+and a wash-stand of yellow-stained wood to match the bed, containing
+a washbasin, a pitcher, a soap-dish, uncovered, and a small, cheap,
+pink-flowered tooth and shaving brush mug, which did not match the
+other ware and which probably cost ten cents. The value of this room
+to Sheriff Jaspers was what he could get for it in cases like
+this--twenty-five to thirty-five dollars a week. Cowperwood would pay
+thirty-five.
+
+Cowperwood walked briskly to the window, which gave out on the lawn in
+front, now embedded in snow, and said he thought this was all right.
+Both his father and Steger were willing and anxious to confer with him
+for hours, if he wished; but there was nothing to say. He did not wish
+to talk.
+
+"Let Ed bring in some fresh linen in the morning and a couple of suits
+of clothes, and I will be all right. George can get my things together."
+He was referring to a family servant who acted as valet and in other
+capacities. "Tell Lillian not to worry. I'm all right. I'd rather she
+would not come here so long as I'm going to be out in five days. If I'm
+not, it will be time enough then. Kiss the kids for me." And he smiled
+good-naturedly.
+
+After his unfulfilled predictions in regard to the result of this
+preliminary trial Steger was almost afraid to suggest confidently
+what the State Supreme Court would or would not do; but he had to say
+something.
+
+"I don't think you need worry about what the outcome of my appeal will
+be, Frank. I'll get a certificate of reasonable doubt, and that's as
+good as a stay of two months, perhaps longer. I don't suppose the bail
+will be more than thirty thousand dollars at the outside. You'll be out
+again in five or six days, whatever happens."
+
+Cowperwood said that he hoped so, and suggested that they drop matters
+for the night. After a few fruitless parleys his father and Steger
+finally said good night, leaving him to his own private reflections. He
+was tired, however, and throwing off his clothes, tucked himself in his
+mediocre bed, and was soon fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLV
+
+
+Say what one will about prison life in general, modify it ever so much
+by special chambers, obsequious turnkeys, a general tendency to make one
+as comfortable as possible, a jail is a jail, and there is no getting
+away from that. Cowperwood, in a room which was not in any way inferior
+to that of the ordinary boarding-house, was nevertheless conscious of
+the character of that section of this real prison which was not yet his
+portion. He knew that there were cells there, probably greasy and smelly
+and vermin-infested, and that they were enclosed by heavy iron bars,
+which would have as readily clanked on him as on those who were now
+therein incarcerated if he had not had the price to pay for something
+better. So much for the alleged equality of man, he thought, which gave
+to one man, even within the grim confines of the machinery of justice,
+such personal liberty as he himself was now enjoying, and to another,
+because he chanced to lack wit or presence or friends or wealth, denied
+the more comfortable things which money would buy.
+
+The morning after the trial, on waking, he stirred curiously, and
+then it suddenly came to him that he was no longer in the free and
+comfortable atmosphere of his own bedroom, but in a jail-cell, or rather
+its very comfortable substitute, a sheriff's rented bedroom. He got up
+and looked out the window. The ground outside and Passayunk Avenue
+were white with snow. Some wagons were silently lumbering by. A few
+Philadelphians were visible here and there, going to and fro on morning
+errands. He began to think at once what he must do, how he must act
+to carry on his business, to rehabilitate himself; and as he did so he
+dressed and pulled the bell-cord, which had been indicated to him, and
+which would bring him an attendant who would build him a fire and later
+bring him something to eat. A shabby prison attendant in a blue uniform,
+conscious of Cowperwood's superiority because of the room he occupied,
+laid wood and coal in the grate and started a fire, and later brought
+him his breakfast, which was anything but prison fare, though poor
+enough at that.
+
+After that he was compelled to wait in patience several hours, in spite
+of the sheriff's assumption of solicitous interest, before his brother
+Edward was admitted with his clothes. An attendant, for a consideration,
+brought him the morning papers, and these, except for the financial
+news, he read indifferently. Late in the afternoon Steger arrived,
+saying he had been busy having certain proceedings postponed, but that
+he had arranged with the sheriff for Cowperwood to be permitted to see
+such of those as had important business with him.
+
+By this time, Cowperwood had written Aileen under no circumstances to
+try to see him, as he would be out by the tenth, and that either that
+day, or shortly after, they would meet. As he knew, she wanted greatly
+to see him, but he had reason to believe she was under surveillance by
+detectives employed by her father. This was not true, but it was preying
+on her fancy, and combined with some derogatory remarks dropped by Owen
+and Callum at the dinner table recently, had proved almost too much for
+her fiery disposition. But, because of Cowperwood's letter reaching her
+at the Calligans', she made no move until she read on the morning of the
+tenth that Cowperwood's plea for a certificate of reasonable doubt had
+been granted, and that he would once more, for the time being at least,
+be a free man. This gave her courage to do what she had long wanted to
+do, and that was to teach her father that she could get along without
+him and that he could not make her do anything she did not want to do.
+She still had the two hundred dollars Cowperwood had given her and some
+additional cash of her own--perhaps three hundred and fifty dollars in
+all. This she thought would be sufficient to see her to the end of her
+adventure, or at least until she could make some other arrangement for
+her personal well-being. From what she knew of the feeling of her family
+for her, she felt that the agony would all be on their side, not hers.
+Perhaps when her father saw how determined she was he would decide to
+let her alone and make peace with her. She was determined to try it,
+anyhow, and immediately sent word to Cowperwood that she was going to
+the Calligans and would welcome him to freedom.
+
+In a way, Cowperwood was rather gratified by Aileen's message, for
+he felt that his present plight, bitter as it was, was largely due to
+Butler's opposition and he felt no compunction in striking him through
+his daughter. His former feeling as to the wisdom of not enraging Butler
+had proved rather futile, he thought, and since the old man could not be
+placated it might be just as well to have Aileen demonstrate to him that
+she was not without resources of her own and could live without him. She
+might force him to change his attitude toward her and possibly even to
+modify some of his political machinations against him, Cowperwood. Any
+port in a storm--and besides, he had now really nothing to lose, and
+instinct told him that her move was likely to prove more favorable than
+otherwise--so he did nothing to prevent it.
+
+She took her jewels, some underwear, a couple of dresses which she
+thought would be serviceable, and a few other things, and packed them
+in the most capacious portmanteau she had. Shoes and stockings came into
+consideration, and, despite her efforts, she found that she could not
+get in all that she wished. Her nicest hat, which she was determined to
+take, had to be carried outside. She made a separate bundle of it,
+which was not pleasant to contemplate. Still she decided to take it.
+She rummaged in a little drawer where she kept her money and jewels, and
+found the three hundred and fifty dollars and put it in her purse. It
+wasn't much, as Aileen could herself see, but Cowperwood would help
+her. If he did not arrange to take care of her, and her father would not
+relent, she would have to get something to do. Little she knew of the
+steely face the world presents to those who have not been practically
+trained and are not economically efficient. She did not understand the
+bitter reaches of life at all. She waited, humming for effect, until she
+heard her father go downstairs to dinner on this tenth day of December,
+then leaned over the upper balustrade to make sure that Owen, Callum,
+Norah, and her mother were at the table, and that Katy, the housemaid,
+was not anywhere in sight. Then she slipped into her father's den, and,
+taking a note from inside her dress, laid it on his desk, and went out.
+It was addressed to "Father," and read:
+
+     Dear Father,--I just cannot do what you want me to.  I have
+     made up my mind that I love Mr. Cowperwood too much, so I am
+     going away.  Don't look for me with him.  You won't find me
+     where you think.  I am not going to him; I will not be
+     there.  I am going to try to get along by myself for a
+     while, until he wants me and can marry me.  I'm terribly
+     sorry; but I just can't do what you want.  I can't ever
+     forgive you for the way you acted to me. Tell mama and Norah
+     and the boys good-by for me.
+
+     Aileen
+
+To insure its discovery, she picked up Butler's heavy-rimmed spectacles
+which he employed always when reading, and laid them on it. For a moment
+she felt very strange, somewhat like a thief--a new sensation for
+her. She even felt a momentary sense of ingratitude coupled with pain.
+Perhaps she was doing wrong. Her father had been very good to her. Her
+mother would feel so very bad. Norah would be sorry, and Callum and
+Owen. Still, they did not understand her any more. She was resentful of
+her father's attitude. He might have seen what the point was; but no, he
+was too old, too hidebound in religion and conventional ideas--he never
+would. He might never let her come back. Very well, she would get along
+somehow. She would show him. She might get a place as a school-teacher,
+and live with the Calligans a long while, if necessary, or teach music.
+
+She stole downstairs and out into the vestibule, opening the outer door
+and looking out into the street. The lamps were already flaring in the
+dark, and a cool wind was blowing. Her portmanteau was heavy, but she
+was quite strong. She walked briskly to the corner, which was some fifty
+feet away, and turned south, walking rather nervously and irritably, for
+this was a new experience for her, and it all seemed so undignified, so
+unlike anything she was accustomed to doing. She put her bag down on
+a street corner, finally, to rest. A boy whistling in the distance
+attracted her attention, and as he drew near she called to him: "Boy!
+Oh, boy!"
+
+He came over, looking at her curiously.
+
+"Do you want to earn some money?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," he replied politely, adjusting a frowsy cap over one ear.
+
+"Carry this bag for me," said Aileen, and he picked it up and marched
+off.
+
+In due time she arrived at the Calligans', and amid much excitement was
+installed in the bosom of her new home. She took her situation with
+much nonchalance, once she was properly placed, distributing her toilet
+articles and those of personal wear with quiet care. The fact that she
+was no longer to have the services of Kathleen, the maid who had served
+her and her mother and Norah jointly, was odd, though not trying. She
+scarcely felt that she had parted from these luxuries permanently, and
+so made herself comfortable.
+
+Mamie Calligan and her mother were adoring slaveys, so she was not
+entirely out of the atmosphere which she craved and to which she was
+accustomed.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLVI
+
+
+Meanwhile, in the Butler home the family was assembling for dinner. Mrs.
+Butler was sitting in rotund complacency at the foot of the table, her
+gray hair combed straight back from her round, shiny forehead. She had
+on a dark-gray silk dress, trimmed with gray-and-white striped ribbon.
+It suited her florid temperament admirably. Aileen had dictated her
+mother's choice, and had seen that it had been properly made. Norah was
+refreshingly youthful in a pale-green dress, with red-velvet cuffs and
+collar. She looked young, slender, gay. Her eyes, complexion and hair
+were fresh and healthy. She was trifling with a string of coral beads
+which her mother had just given her.
+
+"Oh, look, Callum," she said to her brother opposite her, who was
+drumming idly on the table with his knife and fork. "Aren't they lovely?
+Mama gave them to me."
+
+"Mama does more for you than I would. You know what you'd get from me,
+don't you?"
+
+"What?"
+
+He looked at her teasingly. For answer Norah made a face at him. Just
+then Owen came in and took his place at the table. Mrs. Butler saw
+Norah's grimace.
+
+"Well, that'll win no love from your brother, ye can depend on that,"
+she commented.
+
+"Lord, what a day!" observed Owen, wearily, unfolding his napkin. "I've
+had my fill of work for once."
+
+"What's the trouble?" queried his mother, feelingly.
+
+"No real trouble, mother," he replied. "Just everything--ducks and
+drakes, that's all."
+
+"Well, ye must ate a good, hearty meal now, and that'll refresh ye,"
+observed his mother, genially and feelingly. "Thompson"--she was
+referring to the family grocer--"brought us the last of his beans. You
+must have some of those."
+
+"Sure, beans'll fix it, whatever it is, Owen," joked Callum. "Mother's
+got the answer."
+
+"They're fine, I'd have ye know," replied Mrs. Butler, quite unconscious
+of the joke.
+
+"No doubt of it, mother," replied Callum. "Real brain-food. Let's feed
+some to Norah."
+
+"You'd better eat some yourself, smarty. My, but you're gay! I suppose
+you're going out to see somebody. That's why."
+
+"Right you are, Norah. Smart girl, you. Five or six. Ten to fifteen
+minutes each. I'd call on you if you were nicer."
+
+"You would if you got the chance," mocked Norah. "I'd have you know I
+wouldn't let you. I'd feel very bad if I couldn't get somebody better
+than you."
+
+"As good as, you mean," corrected Callum.
+
+"Children, children!" interpolated Mrs. Butler, calmly, looking about
+for old John, the servant. "You'll be losin' your tempers in a minute.
+Hush now. Here comes your father. Where's Aileen?"
+
+Butler walked heavily in and took his seat.
+
+John, the servant, appeared bearing a platter of beans among other
+things, and Mrs. Butler asked him to send some one to call Aileen.
+
+"It's gettin' colder, I'm thinkin'," said Butler, by way of
+conversation, and eyeing Aileen's empty chair. She would come soon
+now--his heavy problem. He had been very tactful these last two
+months--avoiding any reference to Cowperwood in so far as he could help
+in her presence.
+
+"It's colder," remarked Owen, "much colder. We'll soon see real winter
+now."
+
+Old John began to offer the various dishes in order; but when all had
+been served Aileen had not yet come.
+
+"See where Aileen is, John," observed Mrs. Butler, interestedly. "The
+meal will be gettin' cold."
+
+Old John returned with the news that Aileen was not in her room.
+
+"Sure she must be somewhere," commented Mrs. Butler, only slightly
+perplexed. "She'll be comin', though, never mind, if she wants to. She
+knows it's meal-time."
+
+The conversation drifted from a new water-works that was being planned
+to the new city hall, then nearing completion; Cowperwood's financial
+and social troubles, and the state of the stock market generally; a new
+gold-mine in Arizona; the departure of Mrs. Mollenhauer the following
+Tuesday for Europe, with appropriate comments by Norah and Callum; and a
+Christmas ball that was going to be given for charity.
+
+"Aileen'll be wantin' to go to that," commented Mrs. Butler.
+
+"I'm going, you bet," put in Norah.
+
+"Who's going to take you?" asked Callum.
+
+"That's my affair, mister," she replied, smartly.
+
+The meal was over, and Mrs. Butler strolled up to Aileen's room to see
+why she had not come down to dinner. Butler entered his den, wishing so
+much that he could take his wife into his confidence concerning all that
+was worrying him. On his desk, as he sat down and turned up the light,
+he saw the note. He recognized Aileen's handwriting at once. What could
+she mean by writing him? A sense of the untoward came to him, and
+he tore it open slowly, and, putting on his glasses, contemplated it
+solemnly.
+
+So Aileen was gone. The old man stared at each word as if it had been
+written in fire. She said she had not gone with Cowperwood. It was
+possible, just the same, that he had run away from Philadelphia and
+taken her with him. This was the last straw. This ended it. Aileen
+lured away from home--to where--to what? Butler could scarcely believe,
+though, that Cowperwood had tempted her to do this. He had too much at
+stake; it would involve his own and Butler's families. The papers would
+be certain to get it quickly. He got up, crumpling the paper in his
+hand, and turned about at a noise. His wife was coming in. He pulled
+himself together and shoved the letter in his pocket.
+
+"Aileen's not in her room," she said, curiously. "She didn't say
+anything to you about going out, did she?"
+
+"No," he replied, truthfully, wondering how soon he should have to tell
+his wife.
+
+"That's odd," observed Mrs. Butler, doubtfully. "She must have gone out
+after somethin'. It's a wonder she wouldn't tell somebody."
+
+Butler gave no sign. He dared not. "She'll be back," he said, more in
+order to gain time than anything else. He was sorry to have to pretend.
+Mrs. Butler went out, and he closed the door. Then he took out
+the letter and read it again. The girl was crazy. She was doing an
+absolutely wild, inhuman, senseless thing. Where could she go, except
+to Cowperwood? She was on the verge of a public scandal, and this would
+produce it. There was just one thing to do as far as he could see.
+Cowperwood, if he were still in Philadelphia, would know. He would go to
+him--threaten, cajole, actually destroy him, if necessary. Aileen must
+come back. She need not go to Europe, perhaps, but she must come back
+and behave herself at least until Cowperwood could legitimately marry
+her. That was all he could expect now. She would have to wait, and some
+day perhaps he could bring himself to accept her wretched proposition.
+Horrible thought! It would kill her mother, disgrace her sister. He got
+up, took down his hat, put on his overcoat, and started out.
+
+Arriving at the Cowperwood home he was shown into the reception-room.
+Cowperwood at the time was in his den looking over some private papers.
+When the name of Butler was announced he immediately went down-stairs.
+It was characteristic of the man that the announcement of Butler's
+presence created no stir in him whatsoever. So Butler had come. That
+meant, of course, that Aileen had gone. Now for a battle, not of words,
+but of weights of personalities. He felt himself to be intellectually,
+socially, and in every other way the more powerful man of the two. That
+spiritual content of him which we call life hardened to the texture of
+steel. He recalled that although he had told his wife and his father
+that the politicians, of whom Butler was one, were trying to make a
+scapegoat of him, Butler, nevertheless, was not considered to be wholly
+alienated as a friend, and civility must prevail. He would like very
+much to placate him if he could, to talk out the hard facts of life in a
+quiet and friendly way. But this matter of Aileen had to be adjusted now
+once and for all. And with that thought in his mind he walked quickly
+into Butler's presence.
+
+The old man, when he learned that Cowperwood was in and would see him,
+determined to make his contact with the financier as short and effective
+as possible. He moved the least bit when he heard Cowperwood's step, as
+light and springy as ever.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Butler," said Cowperwood, cheerfully, when he saw
+him, extending his hand. "What can I do for you?"
+
+"Ye can take that away from in front of me, for one thing," said Butler,
+grimly referring to his hand. "I have no need of it. It's my daughter
+I've come to talk to ye about, and I want plain answers. Where is she?"
+
+"You mean Aileen?" said Cowperwood, looking at him with steady, curious,
+unrevealing eyes, and merely interpolating this to obtain a moment for
+reflection. "What can I tell you about her?"
+
+"Ye can tell me where she is, that I know. And ye can make her come back
+to her home, where she belongs. It was bad fortune that ever brought ye
+across my doorstep; but I'll not bandy words with ye here. Ye'll tell me
+where my daughter is, and ye'll leave her alone from now, or I'll--" The
+old man's fists closed like a vise, and his chest heaved with suppressed
+rage. "Ye'll not be drivin' me too far, man, if ye're wise," he added,
+after a time, recovering his equanimity in part. "I want no truck with
+ye. I want my daughter."
+
+"Listen, Mr. Butler," said Cowperwood, quite calmly, relishing the
+situation for the sheer sense of superiority it gave him. "I want to
+be perfectly frank with you, if you will let me. I may know where your
+daughter is, and I may not. I may wish to tell you, and I may not. She
+may not wish me to. But unless you wish to talk with me in a civil way
+there is no need of our going on any further. You are privileged to do
+what you like. Won't you come up-stairs to my room? We can talk more
+comfortably there."
+
+Butler looked at his former protege in utter astonishment. He had
+never before in all his experience come up against a more ruthless
+type--suave, bland, forceful, unterrified. This man had certainly
+come to him as a sheep, and had turned out to be a ravening wolf. His
+incarceration had not put him in the least awe.
+
+"I'll not come up to your room," Butler said, "and ye'll not get out of
+Philadelphy with her if that's what ye're plannin'. I can see to that.
+Ye think ye have the upper hand of me, I see, and ye're anxious to make
+something of it. Well, ye're not. It wasn't enough that ye come to me
+as a beggar, cravin' the help of me, and that I took ye in and helped ye
+all I could--ye had to steal my daughter from me in the bargain. If it
+wasn't for the girl's mother and her sister and her brothers--dacenter
+men than ever ye'll know how to be--I'd brain ye where ye stand. Takin'
+a young, innocent girl and makin' an evil woman out of her, and ye a
+married man! It's a God's blessin' for ye that it's me, and not one of
+me sons, that's here talkin' to ye, or ye wouldn't be alive to say what
+ye'd do."
+
+The old man was grim but impotent in his rage.
+
+"I'm sorry, Mr. Butler," replied Cowperwood, quietly. "I'm willing to
+explain, but you won't let me. I'm not planning to run away with your
+daughter, nor to leave Philadelphia. You ought to know me well enough to
+know that I'm not contemplating anything of that kind; my interests are
+too large. You and I are practical men. We ought to be able to talk
+this matter over together and reach an understanding. I thought once
+of coming to you and explaining this; but I was quite sure you wouldn't
+listen to me. Now that you are here I would like to talk to you. If you
+will come up to my room I will be glad to--otherwise not. Won't you come
+up?"
+
+Butler saw that Cowperwood had the advantage. He might as well go up.
+Otherwise it was plain he would get no information.
+
+"Very well," he said.
+
+Cowperwood led the way quite amicably, and, having entered his private
+office, closed the door behind him.
+
+"We ought to be able to talk this matter over and reach an
+understanding," he said again, when they were in the room and he had
+closed the door. "I am not as bad as you think, though I know I appear
+very bad." Butler stared at him in contempt. "I love your daughter, and
+she loves me. I know you are asking yourself how I can do this while
+I am still married; but I assure you I can, and that I do. I am not
+happily married. I had expected, if this panic hadn't come along, to
+arrange with my wife for a divorce and marry Aileen. My intentions are
+perfectly good. The situation which you can complain of, of course, is
+the one you encountered a few weeks ago. It was indiscreet, but it was
+entirely human. Your daughter does not complain--she understands." At
+the mention of his daughter in this connection Butler flushed with rage
+and shame, but he controlled himself.
+
+"And ye think because she doesn't complain that it's all right, do ye?"
+he asked, sarcastically.
+
+"From my point of view, yes; from yours no. You have one view of life,
+Mr. Butler, and I have another."
+
+"Ye're right there," put in Butler, "for once, anyhow."
+
+"That doesn't prove that either of us is right or wrong. In my judgment
+the present end justifies the means. The end I have in view is to marry
+Aileen. If I can possibly pull myself out of this financial scrape that
+I am in I will do so. Of course, I would like to have your consent
+for that--so would Aileen; but if we can't, we can't." (Cowperwood was
+thinking that while this might not have a very soothing effect on the
+old contractor's point of view, nevertheless it must make some appeal to
+his sense of the possible or necessary. Aileen's present situation
+was quite unsatisfactory without marriage in view. And even if he,
+Cowperwood, was a convicted embezzler in the eyes of the public, that
+did not make him so. He might get free and restore himself--would
+certainly--and Aileen ought to be glad to marry him if she could
+under the circumstances. He did not quite grasp the depth of Butler's
+religious and moral prejudices.) "Lately," he went on, "you have been
+doing all you can, as I understand it, to pull me down, on account of
+Aileen, I suppose; but that is simply delaying what I want to do."
+
+"Ye'd like me to help ye do that, I suppose?" suggested Butler, with
+infinite disgust and patience.
+
+"I want to marry Aileen," Cowperwood repeated, for emphasis' sake. "She
+wants to marry me. Under the circumstances, however you may feel, you
+can have no real objection to my doing that, I am sure; yet you go on
+fighting me--making it hard for me to do what you really know ought to
+be done."
+
+"Ye're a scoundrel," said Butler, seeing through his motives quite
+clearly. "Ye're a sharper, to my way of thinkin', and it's no child of
+mine I want connected with ye. I'm not sayin', seein' that things are
+as they are, that if ye were a free man it wouldn't be better that she
+should marry ye. It's the one dacent thing ye could do--if ye would,
+which I doubt. But that's nayther here nor there now. What can ye want
+with her hid away somewhere? Ye can't marry her. Ye can't get a divorce.
+Ye've got your hands full fightin' your lawsuits and kapin' yourself out
+of jail. She'll only be an added expense to ye, and ye'll be wantin' all
+the money ye have for other things, I'm thinkin'. Why should ye want to
+be takin' her away from a dacent home and makin' something out of her
+that ye'd be ashamed to marry if you could? The laist ye could do, if
+ye were any kind of a man at all, and had any of that thing that ye're
+plased to call love, would be to lave her at home and keep her as
+respectable as possible. Mind ye, I'm not thinkin' she isn't ten
+thousand times too good for ye, whatever ye've made of her. But if ye
+had any sinse of dacency left, ye wouldn't let her shame her family and
+break her old mother's heart, and that for no purpose except to make
+her worse than she is already. What good can ye get out of it, now? What
+good can ye expect to come of it? Be hivins, if ye had any sinse at all
+I should think ye could see that for yerself. Ye're only addin' to your
+troubles, not takin' away from them--and she'll not thank ye for that
+later on."
+
+He stopped, rather astonished that he should have been drawn into an
+argument. His contempt for this man was so great that he could
+scarcely look at him, but his duty and his need was to get Aileen back.
+Cowperwood looked at him as one who gives serious attention to another.
+He seemed to be thinking deeply over what Butler had said.
+
+"To tell you the truth, Mr. Butler," he said, "I did not want Aileen to
+leave your home at all; and she will tell you so, if you ever talk
+to her about it. I did my best to persuade her not to, and when she
+insisted on going the only thing I could do was to be sure she would
+be comfortable wherever she went. She was greatly outraged to think you
+should have put detectives on her trail. That, and the fact that you
+wanted to send her away somewhere against her will, was the principal
+reasons for her leaving. I assure you I did not want her to go. I think
+you forget sometimes, Mr. Butler, that Aileen is a grown woman, and
+that she has a will of her own. You think I control her to her great
+disadvantage. As a matter of fact, I am very much in love with her, and
+have been for three or four years; and if you know anything about love
+you know that it doesn't always mean control. I'm not doing Aileen any
+injustice when I say that she has had as much influence on me as I have
+had on her. I love her, and that's the cause of all the trouble. You
+come and insist that I shall return your daughter to you. As a matter of
+fact, I don't know whether I can or not. I don't know that she would go
+if I wanted her to. She might turn on me and say that I didn't care for
+her any more. That is not true, and I would not want her to feel that
+way. She is greatly hurt, as I told you, by what you did to her, and
+the fact that you want her to leave Philadelphia. You can do as much to
+remedy that as I can. I could tell you where she is, but I do not know
+that I want to. Certainly not until I know what your attitude toward her
+and this whole proposition is to be."
+
+He paused and looked calmly at the old contractor, who eyed him grimly
+in return.
+
+"What proposition are ye talkin' about?" asked Butler, interested by
+the peculiar developments of this argument. In spite of himself he was
+getting a slightly different angle on the whole situation. The scene
+was shifting to a certain extent. Cowperwood appeared to be reasonably
+sincere in the matter. His promises might all be wrong, but perhaps he
+did love Aileen; and it was possible that he did intend to get a divorce
+from his wife some time and marry her. Divorce, as Butler knew, was
+against the rules of the Catholic Church, which he so much revered. The
+laws of God and any sense of decency commanded that Cowperwood should
+not desert his wife and children and take up with another woman--not
+even Aileen, in order to save her. It was a criminal thing to plan,
+sociologically speaking, and showed what a villain Cowperwood inherently
+was; but, nevertheless, Cowperwood was not a Catholic, his views of life
+were not the same as his own, Butler's, and besides and worst of all (no
+doubt due in part to Aileen's own temperament), he had compromised her
+situation very materially. She might not easily be restored to a sense
+of the normal and decent, and so the matter was worth taking into
+thought. Butler knew that ultimately he could not countenance any such
+thing--certainly not, and keep his faith with the Church--but he was
+human enough none the less to consider it. Besides, he wanted Aileen to
+come back; and Aileen from now on, he knew, would have some say as to
+what her future should be.
+
+"Well, it's simple enough," replied Cowperwood. "I should like to have
+you withdraw your opposition to Aileen's remaining in Philadelphia, for
+one thing; and for another, I should like you to stop your attacks
+on me." Cowperwood smiled in an ingratiating way. He hoped really
+to placate Butler in part by his generous attitude throughout this
+procedure. "I can't make you do that, of course, unless you want to. I
+merely bring it up, Mr. Butler, because I am sure that if it hadn't been
+for Aileen you would not have taken the course you have taken toward me.
+I understood you received an anonymous letter, and that afternoon you
+called your loan with me. Since then I have heard from one source and
+another that you were strongly against me, and I merely wish to say that
+I wish you wouldn't be. I am not guilty of embezzling any sixty thousand
+dollars, and you know it. My intentions were of the best. I did not
+think I was going to fail at the time I used those certificates, and
+if it hadn't been for several other loans that were called I would have
+gone on to the end of the month and put them back in time, as I always
+had. I have always valued your friendship very highly, and I am very
+sorry to lose it. Now I have said all I am going to say."
+
+Butler looked at Cowperwood with shrewd, calculating eyes. The man had
+some merit, but much unconscionable evil in him. Butler knew very well
+how he had taken the check, and a good many other things in connection
+with it. The manner in which he had played his cards to-night was on a
+par with the way he had run to him on the night of the fire. He was just
+shrewd and calculating and heartless.
+
+"I'll make ye no promise," he said. "Tell me where my daughter is, and
+I'll think the matter over. Ye have no claim on me now, and I owe ye no
+good turn. But I'll think it over, anyhow."
+
+"That's quite all right," replied Cowperwood. "That's all I can expect.
+But what about Aileen? Do you expect her to leave Philadelphia?"
+
+"Not if she settles down and behaves herself: but there must be an end
+of this between you and her. She's disgracin' her family and ruinin' her
+soul in the bargain. And that's what you are doin' with yours. It'll
+be time enough to talk about anything else when you're a free man. More
+than that I'll not promise."
+
+Cowperwood, satisfied that this move on Aileen's part had done her a
+real service if it had not aided him especially, was convinced that it
+would be a good move for her to return to her home at once. He could
+not tell how his appeal to the State Supreme Court would eventuate. His
+motion for a new trial which was now to be made under the privilege of
+the certificate of reasonable doubt might not be granted, in which case
+he would have to serve a term in the penitentiary. If he were compelled
+to go to the penitentiary she would be safer--better off in the bosom of
+her family. His own hands were going to be exceedingly full for the
+next two months until he knew how his appeal was coming out. And after
+that--well, after that he would fight on, whatever happened.
+
+During all the time that Cowperwood had been arguing his case in this
+fashion he had been thinking how he could adjust this compromise so as
+to retain the affection of Aileen and not offend her sensibilities by
+urging her to return. He knew that she would not agree to give up seeing
+him, and he was not willing that she should. Unless he had a good and
+sufficient reason, he would be playing a wretched part by telling Butler
+where she was. He did not intend to do so until he saw exactly how to do
+it--the way that would make it most acceptable to Aileen. He knew that
+she would not long be happy where she was. Her flight was due in part to
+Butler's intense opposition to himself and in part to his determination
+to make her leave Philadelphia and behave; but this last was now in part
+obviated. Butler, in spite of his words, was no longer a stern Nemesis.
+He was a melting man--very anxious to find his daughter, very willing
+to forgive her. He was whipped, literally beaten, at his own game, and
+Cowperwood could see it in the old man's eyes. If he himself could talk
+to Aileen personally and explain just how things were, he felt sure he
+could make her see that it would be to their mutual advantage, for the
+present at least, to have the matter amicably settled. The thing to do
+was to make Butler wait somewhere--here, possibly--while he went and
+talked to her. When she learned how things were she would probably
+acquiesce.
+
+"The best thing that I can do under the circumstances," he said, after a
+time, "would be to see Aileen in two or three days, and ask her what she
+wishes to do. I can explain the matter to her, and if she wants to go
+back, she can. I will promise to tell her anything that you say."
+
+"Two or three days!" exclaimed Butler, irritably. "Two or three
+fiddlesticks! She must come home to-night. Her mother doesn't know she's
+left the place yet. To-night is the time! I'll go and fetch her meself
+to-night."
+
+"No, that won't do," said Cowperwood. "I shall have to go myself. If you
+wish to wait here I will see what can be done, and let you know."
+
+"Very well," grunted Butler, who was now walking up and down with his
+hands behind his back. "But for Heaven's sake be quick about it. There's
+no time to lose." He was thinking of Mrs. Butler. Cowperwood called the
+servant, ordered his runabout, and told George to see that his private
+office was not disturbed. Then, as Butler strolled to and fro in this,
+to him, objectionable room, Cowperwood drove rapidly away.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLVII
+
+
+Although it was nearly eleven o'clock when he arrived at the Calligans',
+Aileen was not yet in bed. In her bedroom upstairs she was confiding
+to Mamie and Mrs. Calligan some of her social experiences when the bell
+rang, and Mrs. Calligan went down and opened the door to Cowperwood.
+
+"Miss Butler is here, I believe," he said. "Will you tell her that there
+is some one here from her father?" Although Aileen had instructed that
+her presence here was not to be divulged even to the members of her
+family the force of Cowperwood's presence and the mention of Butler's
+name cost Mrs. Calligan her presence of mind. "Wait a moment," she said;
+"I'll see."
+
+She stepped back, and Cowperwood promptly stepped in, taking off his hat
+with the air of one who was satisfied that Aileen was there. "Say to her
+that I only want to speak to her for a few moments," he called, as Mrs.
+Calligan went up-stairs, raising his voice in the hope that Aileen might
+hear. She did, and came down promptly. She was very much astonished
+to think that he should come so soon, and fancied, in her vanity, that
+there must be great excitement in her home. She would have greatly
+grieved if there had not been.
+
+The Calligans would have been pleased to hear, but Cowperwood was
+cautious. As she came down the stairs he put his finger to his lips in
+sign for silence, and said, "This is Miss Butler, I believe."
+
+"Yes," replied Aileen, with a secret smile. Her one desire was to kiss
+him. "What's the trouble darling?" she asked, softly.
+
+"You'll have to go back, dear, I'm afraid," whispered Cowperwood.
+"You'll have everything in a turmoil if you don't. Your mother doesn't
+know yet, it seems, and your father is over at my place now, waiting for
+you. It may be a good deal of help to me if you do. Let me tell you--"
+He went off into a complete description of his conversation with Butler
+and his own views in the matter. Aileen's expression changed from time
+to time as the various phases of the matter were put before her; but,
+persuaded by the clearness with which he put the matter, and by
+his assurance that they could continue their relations as before
+uninterrupted, once this was settled, she decided to return. In a way,
+her father's surrender was a great triumph. She made her farewells to
+the Calligans, saying, with a smile, that they could not do without her
+at home, and that she would send for her belongings later, and returned
+with Cowperwood to his own door. There he asked her to wait in the
+runabout while he sent her father down.
+
+"Well?" said Butler, turning on him when he opened the door, and not
+seeing Aileen.
+
+"You'll find her outside in my runabout," observed Cowperwood. "You may
+use that if you choose. I will send my man for it."
+
+"No, thank you; we'll walk," said Butler.
+
+Cowperwood called his servant to take charge of the vehicle, and Butler
+stalked solemnly out.
+
+He had to admit to himself that the influence of Cowperwood over his
+daughter was deadly, and probably permanent. The best he could do would
+be to keep her within the precincts of the home, where she might still,
+possibly, be brought to her senses. He held a very guarded conversation
+with her on his way home, for fear that she would take additional
+offense. Argument was out of the question.
+
+"Ye might have talked with me once more, Aileen," he said, "before ye
+left. Yer mother would be in a terrible state if she knew ye were gone.
+She doesn't know yet. Ye'll have to say ye stayed somewhere to dinner."
+
+"I was at the Calligans," replied Aileen. "That's easy enough. Mama
+won't think anything about it."
+
+"It's a sore heart I have, Aileen. I hope ye'll think over your ways and
+do better. I'll not say anythin' more now."
+
+Aileen returned to her room, decidedly triumphant in her mood for the
+moment, and things went on apparently in the Butler household as before.
+But those who imagine that this defeat permanently altered the attitude
+of Butler toward Cowperwood are mistaken.
+
+In the meanwhile between the day of his temporary release and the
+hearing of his appeal which was two months off, Cowperwood was going on
+doing his best to repair his shattered forces. He took up his work
+where he left off; but the possibility of reorganizing his business
+was distinctly modified since his conviction. Because of his action in
+trying to protect his largest creditors at the time of his failure, he
+fancied that once he was free again, if ever he got free, his credit,
+other things being equal, would be good with those who could help
+him most--say, Cooke & Co., Clark & Co., Drexel & Co., and the Girard
+National Bank--providing his personal reputation had not been too badly
+injured by his sentence. Fortunately for his own hopefulness of mind,
+he failed fully to realize what a depressing effect a legal decision of
+this character, sound or otherwise, had on the minds of even his most
+enthusiastic supporters.
+
+His best friends in the financial world were by now convinced that his
+was a sinking ship. A student of finance once observed that nothing is
+so sensitive as money, and the financial mind partakes largely of the
+quality of the thing in which it deals. There was no use trying to
+do much for a man who might be going to prison for a term of years.
+Something might be done for him possibly in connection with the
+governor, providing he lost his case before the Supreme Court and was
+actually sentenced to prison; but that was two months off, or more, and
+they could not tell what the outcome of that would be. So Cowperwood's
+repeated appeals for assistance, extension of credit, or the acceptance
+of some plan he had for his general rehabilitation, were met with the
+kindly evasions of those who were doubtful. They would think it over.
+They would see about it. Certain things were standing in the way. And
+so on, and so forth, through all the endless excuses of those who do
+not care to act. In these days he went about the money world in his
+customary jaunty way, greeting all those whom he had known there many
+years and pretending, when asked, to be very hopeful, to be doing very
+well; but they did not believe him, and he really did not care whether
+they did or not. His business was to persuade or over-persuade any one
+who could really be of assistance to him, and at this task he worked
+untiringly, ignoring all others.
+
+"Why, hello, Frank," his friends would call, on seeing him. "How are you
+getting on?"
+
+"Fine! Fine!" he would reply, cheerfully. "Never better," and he would
+explain in a general way how his affairs were being handled. He conveyed
+much of his own optimism to all those who knew him and were interested
+in his welfare, but of course there were many who were not.
+
+In these days also, he and Steger were constantly to be met with in
+courts of law, for he was constantly being reexamined in some petition
+in bankruptcy. They were heartbreaking days, but he did not flinch. He
+wanted to stay in Philadelphia and fight the thing to a finish--putting
+himself where he had been before the fire; rehabilitating himself in
+the eyes of the public. He felt that he could do it, too, if he were
+not actually sent to prison for a long term; and even then, so naturally
+optimistic was his mood, when he got out again. But, in so far as
+Philadelphia was concerned, distinctly he was dreaming vain dreams.
+
+One of the things militating against him was the continued opposition
+of Butler and the politicians. Somehow--no one could have said exactly
+why--the general political feeling was that the financier and the former
+city treasurer would lose their appeals and eventually be sentenced
+together. Stener, in spite of his original intention to plead guilty and
+take his punishment without comment, had been persuaded by some of his
+political friends that it would be better for his future's sake to plead
+not guilty and claim that his offense had been due to custom, rather
+than to admit his guilt outright and so seem not to have had
+any justification whatsoever. This he did, but he was convicted
+nevertheless. For the sake of appearances, a trumped-up appeal was made
+which was now before the State Supreme Court.
+
+Then, too, due to one whisper and another, and these originating with
+the girl who had written Butler and Cowperwood's wife, there was at this
+time a growing volume of gossip relating to the alleged relations of
+Cowperwood with Butler's daughter, Aileen. There had been a house in
+Tenth Street. It had been maintained by Cowperwood for her. No wonder
+Butler was so vindictive. This, indeed, explained much. And even in the
+practical, financial world, criticism was now rather against Cowperwood
+than his enemies. For, was it not a fact, that at the inception of his
+career, he had been befriended by Butler? And what a way to reward that
+friendship! His oldest and firmest admirers wagged their heads. For
+they sensed clearly that this was another illustration of that innate "I
+satisfy myself" attitude which so regulated Cowperwood's conduct. He was
+a strong man, surely--and a brilliant one. Never had Third Street seen a
+more pyrotechnic, and yet fascinating and financially aggressive, and
+at the same time, conservative person. Yet might one not fairly tempt
+Nemesis by a too great daring and egotism? Like Death, it loves a
+shining mark. He should not, perhaps, have seduced Butler's daughter;
+unquestionably he should not have so boldly taken that check, especially
+after his quarrel and break with Stener. He was a little too aggressive.
+Was it not questionable whether--with such a record--he could be
+restored to his former place here? The bankers and business men who were
+closest to him were decidedly dubious.
+
+But in so far as Cowperwood and his own attitude toward life was
+concerned, at this time--the feeling he had--"to satisfy myself"--when
+combined with his love of beauty and love and women, still made him
+ruthless and thoughtless. Even now, the beauty and delight of a girl
+like Aileen Butler were far more important to him than the good-will of
+fifty million people, if he could evade the necessity of having their
+good-will. Previous to the Chicago fire and the panic, his star had been
+so rapidly ascending that in the helter-skelter of great and favorable
+events he had scarcely taken thought of the social significance of the
+thing he was doing. Youth and the joy of life were in his blood. He felt
+so young, so vigorous, so like new grass looks and feels. The freshness
+of spring evenings was in him, and he did not care. After the
+crash, when one might have imagined he would have seen the wisdom of
+relinquishing Aileen for the time being, anyhow, he did not care to. She
+represented the best of the wonderful days that had gone before. She was
+a link between him and the past and a still-to-be triumphant future.
+
+His worst anxiety was that if he were sent to the penitentiary, or
+adjudged a bankrupt, or both, he would probably lose the privilege of
+a seat on 'change, and that would close to him the most distinguished
+avenue of his prosperity here in Philadelphia for some time, if not
+forever. At present, because of his complications, his seat had been
+attached as an asset, and he could not act. Edward and Joseph, almost
+the only employees he could afford, were still acting for him in a small
+way; but the other members on 'change naturally suspected his brothers
+as his agents, and any talk that they might raise of going into business
+for themselves merely indicated to other brokers and bankers that
+Cowperwood was contemplating some concealed move which would not
+necessarily be advantageous to his creditors, and against the law
+anyhow. Yet he must remain on 'change, whatever happened, potentially if
+not actively; and so in his quick mental searchings he hit upon the idea
+that in order to forfend against the event of his being put into prison
+or thrown into bankruptcy, or both, he ought to form a subsidiary silent
+partnership with some man who was or would be well liked on 'change, and
+whom he could use as a cat's-paw and a dummy.
+
+Finally he hit upon a man who he thought would do. He did not amount to
+much--had a small business; but he was honest, and he liked Cowperwood.
+His name was Wingate--Stephen Wingate--and he was eking out a not too
+robust existence in South Third Street as a broker. He was forty-five
+years of age, of medium height, fairly thick-set, not at all
+unprepossessing, and rather intelligent and active, but not too forceful
+and pushing in spirit. He really needed a man like Cowperwood to make
+him into something, if ever he was to be made. He had a seat on 'change,
+and was well thought of; respected, but not so very prosperous. In times
+past he had asked small favors of Cowperwood--the use of small loans at
+a moderate rate of interest, tips, and so forth; and Cowperwood, because
+he liked him and felt a little sorry for him, had granted them. Now
+Wingate was slowly drifting down toward a none too successful old age,
+and was as tractable as such a man would naturally be. No one for the
+time being would suspect him of being a hireling of Cowperwood's, and
+the latter could depend on him to execute his orders to the letter. He
+sent for him and had a long conversation with him. He told him just what
+the situation was, what he thought he could do for him as a partner, how
+much of his business he would want for himself, and so on, and found him
+agreeable.
+
+"I'll be glad to do anything you say, Mr. Cowperwood," he assured the
+latter. "I know whatever happens that you'll protect me, and there's
+nobody in the world I would rather work with or have greater respect
+for. This storm will all blow over, and you'll be all right. We can try
+it, anyhow. If it don't work out you can see what you want to do about
+it later."
+
+And so this relationship was tentatively entered into and Cowperwood
+began to act in a small way through Wingate.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLVIII
+
+
+By the time the State Supreme Court came to pass upon Cowperwood's plea
+for a reversal of the lower court and the granting of a new trial, the
+rumor of his connection with Aileen had spread far and wide. As has been
+seen, it had done and was still doing him much damage. It confirmed the
+impression, which the politicians had originally tried to create,
+that Cowperwood was the true criminal and Stener the victim. His
+semi-legitimate financial subtlety, backed indeed by his financial
+genius, but certainly on this account not worse than that being
+practiced in peace and quiet and with much applause in many other
+quarters--was now seen to be Machiavellian trickery of the most
+dangerous type. He had a wife and two children; and without knowing what
+his real thoughts had been the fruitfully imaginative public jumped
+to the conclusion that he had been on the verge of deserting them,
+divorcing Lillian, and marrying Aileen. This was criminal enough
+in itself, from the conservative point of view; but when taken in
+connection with his financial record, his trial, conviction, and general
+bankruptcy situation, the public was inclined to believe that he was all
+the politicians said he was. He ought to be convicted. The Supreme
+Court ought not to grant his prayer for a new trial. It is thus that
+our inmost thoughts and intentions burst at times via no known material
+agency into public thoughts. People know, when they cannot
+apparently possibly know why they know. There is such a thing as
+thought-transference and transcendentalism of ideas.
+
+It reached, for one thing, the ears of the five judges of the State
+Supreme Court and of the Governor of the State.
+
+During the four weeks Cowperwood had been free on a certificate of
+reasonable doubt both Harper Steger and Dennis Shannon appeared before
+the judges of the State Supreme Court, and argued pro and con as to the
+reasonableness of granting a new trial. Through his lawyer, Cowperwood
+made a learned appeal to the Supreme Court judges, showing how he
+had been unfairly indicted in the first place, how there was no real
+substantial evidence on which to base a charge of larceny or anything
+else. It took Steger two hours and ten minutes to make his argument,
+and District-Attorney Shannon longer to make his reply, during which the
+five judges on the bench, men of considerable legal experience but no
+great financial understanding, listened with rapt attention. Three of
+them, Judges Smithson, Rainey, and Beckwith, men most amenable to the
+political feeling of the time and the wishes of the bosses, were little
+interested in this story of Cowperwood's transaction, particularly since
+his relations with Butler's daughter and Butler's consequent opposition
+to him had come to them. They fancied that in a way they were
+considering the whole matter fairly and impartially; but the manner in
+which Cowperwood had treated Butler was never out of their minds. Two of
+them, Judges Marvin and Rafalsky, who were men of larger sympathies
+and understanding, but of no greater political freedom, did feel that
+Cowperwood had been badly used thus far, but they did not see what they
+could do about it. He had put himself in a most unsatisfactory position,
+politically and socially. They understood and took into consideration
+his great financial and social losses which Steger described accurately;
+and one of them, Judge Rafalsky, because of a similar event in his own
+life in so far as a girl was concerned, was inclined to argue strongly
+against the conviction of Cowperwood; but, owing to his political
+connections and obligations, he realized that it would not be wise
+politically to stand out against what was wanted. Still, when he and
+Marvin learned that Judges Smithson, Rainey, and Beckwith were inclined
+to convict Cowperwood without much argument, they decided to hand down a
+dissenting opinion. The point involved was a very knotty one. Cowperwood
+might carry it to the Supreme Court of the United States on some
+fundamental principle of liberty of action. Anyhow, other judges in
+other courts in Pennsylvania and elsewhere would be inclined to examine
+the decision in this case, it was so important. The minority decided
+that it would not do them any harm to hand down a dissenting
+opinion. The politicians would not mind as long as Cowperwood was
+convicted--would like it better, in fact. It looked fairer. Besides,
+Marvin and Rafalsky did not care to be included, if they could help
+it, with Smithson, Rainey, and Beckwith in a sweeping condemnation of
+Cowperwood. So all five judges fancied they were considering the
+whole matter rather fairly and impartially, as men will under such
+circumstances. Smithson, speaking for himself and Judges Rainey and
+Beckwith on the eleventh of February, 1872, said:
+
+"The defendant, Frank A. Cowperwood, asks that the finding of the jury
+in the lower court (the State of Pennsylvania vs. Frank A. Cowperwood)
+be reversed and a new trial granted. This court cannot see that any
+substantial injustice has been done the defendant. [Here followed
+a rather lengthy resume of the history of the case, in which it was
+pointed out that the custom and precedent of the treasurer's office, to
+say nothing of Cowperwood's easy method of doing business with the city
+treasury, could have nothing to do with his responsibility for failure
+to observe both the spirit and the letter of the law.] The obtaining of
+goods under color of legal process [went on Judge Smithson, speaking
+for the majority] may amount to larceny. In the present case it was
+the province of the jury to ascertain the felonious intent. They have
+settled that against the defendant as a question of fact, and the
+court cannot say that there was not sufficient evidence to sustain the
+verdict. For what purpose did the defendant get the check? He was upon
+the eve of failure. He had already hypothecated for his own debts
+the loan of the city placed in his hands for sale--he had unlawfully
+obtained five hundred thousand dollars in cash as loans; and it is
+reasonable to suppose that he could obtain nothing more from the city
+treasury by any ordinary means. Then it is that he goes there, and,
+by means of a falsehood implied if not actual, obtains sixty thousand
+dollars more. The jury has found the intent with which this was done."
+
+It was in these words that Cowperwood's appeal for a new trial was
+denied by the majority.
+
+For himself and Judge Rafalsky, Judge Marvin, dissenting, wrote:
+
+"It is plain from the evidence in the case that Mr. Cowperwood did not
+receive the check without authority as agent to do so, and it has not
+been clearly demonstrated that within his capacity as agent he did not
+perform or intend to perform the full measure of the obligation which
+the receipt of this check implied. It was shown in the trial that as a
+matter of policy it was understood that purchases for the sinking-fund
+should not be known or understood in the market or by the public in that
+light, and that Mr. Cowperwood as agent was to have an absolutely
+free hand in the disposal of his assets and liabilities so long as the
+ultimate result was satisfactory. There was no particular time when the
+loan was to be bought, nor was there any particular amount mentioned at
+any time to be purchased. Unless the defendant intended at the time
+he received the check fraudulently to appropriate it he could not be
+convicted even on the first count. The verdict of the jury does not
+establish this fact; the evidence does not show conclusively that it
+could be established; and the same jury, upon three other counts, found
+the defendant guilty without the semblance of shadow of evidence. How
+can we say that their conclusions upon the first count are unerring when
+they so palpably erred on the other counts? It is the opinion of the
+minority that the verdict of the jury in charging larceny on the first
+count is not valid, and that that verdict should be set aside and a new
+trial granted."
+
+Judge Rafalsky, a meditative and yet practical man of Jewish extraction
+but peculiarly American appearance, felt called upon to write a third
+opinion which should especially reflect his own cogitation and be
+a criticism on the majority as well as a slight variation from and
+addition to the points on which he agreed with Judge Marvin. It was
+a knotty question, this, of Cowperwood's guilt, and, aside from the
+political necessity of convicting him, nowhere was it more clearly shown
+than in these varying opinions of the superior court. Judge Rafalsky
+held, for instance, that if a crime had been committed at all, it was
+not that known as larceny, and he went on to add:
+
+"It is impossible, from the evidence, to come to the conclusion either
+that Cowperwood did not intend shortly to deliver the loan or that
+Albert Stires, the chief clerk, or the city treasurer did not intend
+to part not only with the possession, but also and absolutely with the
+property in the check and the money represented by it. It was testified
+by Mr. Stires that Mr. Cowperwood said he had bought certificates of
+city loan to this amount, and it has not been clearly demonstrated that
+he had not. His non-placement of the same in the sinking-fund must in
+all fairness, the letter of the law to the contrary notwithstanding, be
+looked upon and judged in the light of custom. Was it his custom so to
+do? In my judgment the doctrine now announced by the majority of the
+court extends the crime of constructive larceny to such limits that any
+business man who engages in extensive and perfectly legitimate stock
+transactions may, before he knows it, by a sudden panic in the market
+or a fire, as in this instance, become a felon. When a principle is
+asserted which establishes such a precedent, and may lead to such
+results, it is, to say the least, startling."
+
+While he was notably comforted by the dissenting opinions of the judges
+in minority, and while he had been schooling himself to expect the worst
+in this connection and had been arranging his affairs as well as he
+could in anticipation of it, Cowperwood was still bitterly disappointed.
+It would be untrue to say that, strong and self-reliant as he normally
+was, he did not suffer. He was not without sensibilities of the highest
+order, only they were governed and controlled in him by that cold iron
+thing, his reason, which never forsook him. There was no further appeal
+possible save to the United States Supreme Court, as Steger pointed out,
+and there only on the constitutionality of some phase of the decision
+and his rights as a citizen, of which the Supreme Court of the United
+States must take cognizance. This was a tedious and expensive thing to
+do. It was not exactly obvious at the moment on what point he could make
+an appeal. It would involve a long delay--perhaps a year and a half,
+perhaps longer, at the end of which period he might have to serve his
+prison term anyhow, and pending which he would certainly have to undergo
+incarceration for a time.
+
+Cowperwood mused speculatively for a few moments after hearing Steger's
+presentation of the case. Then he said: "Well, it looks as if I have to
+go to jail or leave the country, and I've decided on jail. I can fight
+this out right here in Philadelphia in the long run and win. I can get
+that decision reversed in the Supreme Court, or I can get the Governor
+to pardon me after a time, I think. I'm not going to run away, and
+everybody knows I'm not. These people who think they have me down
+haven't got one corner of me whipped. I'll get out of this thing after
+a while, and when I do I'll show some of these petty little politicians
+what it means to put up a real fight. They'll never get a damned dollar
+out of me now--not a dollar! I did intend to pay that five hundred
+thousand dollars some time if they had let me go. Now they can whistle!"
+
+He set his teeth and his gray eyes fairly snapped their determination.
+
+"Well, I've done all I can, Frank," pleaded Steger, sympathetically.
+"You'll do me the justice to say that I put up the best fight I knew
+how. I may not know how--you'll have to answer for that--but within my
+limits I've done the best I can. I can do a few things more to carry
+this thing on, if you want me to, but I'm going to leave it to you now.
+Whatever you say goes."
+
+"Don't talk nonsense at this stage, Harper," replied Cowperwood almost
+testily. "I know whether I'm satisfied or not, and I'd soon tell you if
+I wasn't. I think you might as well go on and see if you can find some
+definite grounds for carrying it to the Supreme Court, but meanwhile
+I'll begin my sentence. I suppose Payderson will be naming a day to have
+me brought before him now shortly."
+
+"It depends on how you'd like to have it, Frank. I could get a stay
+of sentence for a week maybe, or ten days, if it will do you any good.
+Shannon won't make any objection to that, I'm sure. There's only one
+hitch. Jaspers will be around here tomorrow looking for you. It's his
+duty to take you into custody again, once he's notified that your appeal
+has been denied. He'll be wanting to lock you up unless you pay him,
+but we can fix that. If you do want to wait, and want any time off,
+I suppose he'll arrange to let you out with a deputy; but I'm afraid
+you'll have to stay there nights. They're pretty strict about that since
+that Albertson case of a few years ago."
+
+Steger referred to the case of a noted bank cashier who, being let out
+of the county jail at night in the alleged custody of a deputy, was
+permitted to escape. There had been emphatic and severe condemnation of
+the sheriff's office at the time, and since then, repute or no repute,
+money or no money, convicted criminals were supposed to stay in the
+county jail at night at least.
+
+Cowperwood meditated this calmly, looking out of the lawyer's window
+into Second Street. He did not much fear anything that might happen
+to him in Jaspers's charge since his first taste of that gentleman's
+hospitality, although he did object to spending nights in the county
+jail when his general term of imprisonment was being reduced no whit
+thereby. All that he could do now in connection with his affairs, unless
+he could have months of freedom, could be as well adjusted from a prison
+cell as from his Third Street office--not quite, but nearly so. Anyhow,
+why parley? He was facing a prison term, and he might as well accept it
+without further ado. He might take a day or two finally to look after
+his affairs; but beyond that, why bother?
+
+"When, in the ordinary course of events, if you did nothing at all,
+would I come up for sentence?"
+
+"Oh, Friday or Monday, I fancy," replied Steger. "I don't know what move
+Shannon is planning to make in this matter. I thought I'd walk around
+and see him in a little while."
+
+"I think you'd better do that," replied Cowperwood. "Friday or Monday
+will suit me, either way. I'm really not particular. Better make it
+Monday if you can. You don't suppose there is any way you can induce
+Jaspers to keep his hands off until then? He knows I'm perfectly
+responsible."
+
+"I don't know, Frank, I'm sure; I'll see. I'll go around and talk to him
+to-night. Perhaps a hundred dollars will make him relax the rigor of his
+rules that much."
+
+Cowperwood smiled grimly.
+
+"I fancy a hundred dollars would make Jaspers relax a whole lot of
+rules," he replied, and he got up to go.
+
+Steger arose also. "I'll see both these people, and then I'll call
+around at your house. You'll be in, will you, after dinner?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+They slipped on their overcoats and went out into the cold February day,
+Cowperwood back to his Third Street office, Steger to see Shannon and
+Jaspers.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLIX
+
+
+The business of arranging Cowperwood's sentence for Monday was soon
+disposed of through Shannon, who had no personal objection to any
+reasonable delay.
+
+Steger next visited the county jail, close on to five o'clock, when
+it was already dark. Sheriff Jaspers came lolling out from his private
+library, where he had been engaged upon the work of cleaning his pipe.
+
+"How are you, Mr. Steger?" he observed, smiling blandly. "How are you?
+Glad to see you. Won't you sit down? I suppose you're round here again
+on that Cowperwood matter. I just received word from the district
+attorney that he had lost his case."
+
+"That's it, Sheriff," replied Steger, ingratiatingly. "He asked me
+to step around and see what you wanted him to do in the matter. Judge
+Payderson has just fixed the sentence time for Monday morning at ten
+o'clock. I don't suppose you'll be much put out if he doesn't show up
+here before Monday at eight o'clock, will you, or Sunday night, anyhow?
+He's perfectly reliable, as you know." Steger was sounding Jaspers
+out, politely trying to make the time of Cowperwood's arrival a trivial
+matter in order to avoid paying the hundred dollars, if possible. But
+Jaspers was not to be so easily disposed of. His fat face lengthened
+considerably. How could Steger ask him such a favor and not even suggest
+the slightest form of remuneration?
+
+"It's ag'in' the law, Mr. Steger, as you know," he began, cautiously
+and complainingly. "I'd like to accommodate him, everything else being
+equal, but since that Albertson case three years ago we've had to run
+this office much more careful, and--"
+
+"Oh, I know, Sheriff," interrupted Steger, blandly, "but this isn't an
+ordinary case in any way, as you can see for yourself. Mr. Cowperwood is
+a very important man, and he has a great many things to attend to. Now
+if it were only a mere matter of seventy-five or a hundred dollars
+to satisfy some court clerk with, or to pay a fine, it would be easy
+enough, but--" He paused and looked wisely away, and Mr. Jaspers's face
+began to relax at once. The law against which it was ordinarily so hard
+to offend was not now so important. Steger saw that it was needless to
+introduce any additional arguments.
+
+"It's a very ticklish business, this, Mr. Steger," put in the sheriff,
+yieldingly, and yet with a slight whimper in his voice. "If anything
+were to happen, it would cost me my place all right. I don't like to do
+it under any circumstances, and I wouldn't, only I happen to know both
+Mr. Cowperwood and Mr. Stener, and I like 'em both. I don' think
+they got their rights in this matter, either. I don't mind making an
+exception in this case if Mr. Cowperwood don't go about too publicly. I
+wouldn't want any of the men in the district attorney's office to know
+this. I don't suppose he'll mind if I keep a deputy somewhere near all
+the time for looks' sake. I have to, you know, really, under the law.
+He won't bother him any. Just keep on guard like." Jaspers looked at
+Mr. Steger very flatly and wisely--almost placatingly under the
+circumstances--and Steger nodded.
+
+"Quite right, Sheriff, quite right. You're quite right," and he drew out
+his purse while the sheriff led the way very cautiously back into his
+library.
+
+"I'd like to show you the line of law-books I'm fixing up for myself
+in here, Mr. Steger," he observed, genially, but meanwhile closing his
+fingers gently on the small roll of ten-dollar bills Steger was handing
+him. "We have occasional use for books of that kind here, as you see. I
+thought it a good sort of thing to have them around." He waved one arm
+comprehensively at the line of State reports, revised statutes, prison
+regulations, etc., the while he put the money in his pocket and Steger
+pretended to look.
+
+"A good idea, I think, Sheriff. Very good, indeed. So you think if Mr.
+Cowperwood gets around here very early Monday morning, say eight or
+eight-thirty, that it will be all right?"
+
+"I think so," replied the sheriff, curiously nervous, but agreeable,
+anxious to please. "I don't think that anything will come up that will
+make me want him earlier. If it does I'll let you know, and you can
+produce him. I don't think so, though, Mr. Steger; I think everything
+will be all right." They were once more in the main hall now. "Glad to
+have seen you again, Mr. Steger--very glad," he added. "Call again some
+day."
+
+Waving the sheriff a pleasant farewell, he hurried on his way to
+Cowperwood's house.
+
+You would not have thought, seeing Cowperwood mount the front steps of
+his handsome residence in his neat gray suit and well-cut overcoat on
+his return from his office that evening, that he was thinking that this
+might be his last night here. His air and walk indicated no weakening
+of spirit. He entered the hall, where an early lamp was aglow, and
+encountered "Wash" Sims, an old negro factotum, who was just coming up
+from the basement, carrying a bucket of coal for one of the fireplaces.
+
+"Mahty cold out, dis evenin', Mistah Coppahwood," said Wash, to whom
+anything less than sixty degrees was very cold. His one regret was that
+Philadelphia was not located in North Carolina, from whence he came.
+
+"'Tis sharp, Wash," replied Cowperwood, absentmindedly. He was thinking
+for the moment of the house and how it had looked, as he came toward it
+west along Girard Avenue--what the neighbors were thinking of him, too,
+observing him from time to time out of their windows. It was clear and
+cold. The lamps in the reception-hall and sitting-room had been lit, for
+he had permitted no air of funereal gloom to settle down over this
+place since his troubles had begun. In the far west of the street a last
+tingling gleam of lavender and violet was showing over the cold white
+snow of the roadway. The house of gray-green stone, with its lighted
+windows, and cream-colored lace curtains, had looked especially
+attractive. He had thought for the moment of the pride he had taken in
+putting all this here, decorating and ornamenting it, and whether, ever,
+he could secure it for himself again. "Where is your mistress?" he added
+to Wash, when he bethought himself.
+
+"In the sitting-room, Mr. Coppahwood, ah think."
+
+Cowperwood ascended the stairs, thinking curiously that Wash would soon
+be out of a job now, unless Mrs. Cowperwood, out of all the wreck of
+other things, chose to retain him, which was not likely. He entered the
+sitting-room, and there sat his wife by the oblong center-table, sewing
+a hook and eye on one of Lillian, second's, petticoats. She looked
+up, at his step, with the peculiarly uncertain smile she used these
+days--indication of her pain, fear, suspicion--and inquired, "Well, what
+is new with you, Frank?" Her smile was something like a hat or belt or
+ornament which one puts on or off at will.
+
+"Nothing in particular," he replied, in his offhand way, "except that I
+understand I have lost that appeal of mine. Steger is coming here in
+a little while to let me know. I had a note from him, and I fancy it's
+about that."
+
+He did not care to say squarely that he had lost. He knew that she was
+sufficiently distressed as it was, and he did not care to be too abrupt
+just now.
+
+"You don't say!" replied Lillian, with surprise and fright in her voice,
+and getting up.
+
+She had been so used to a world where prisons were scarcely thought of,
+where things went on smoothly from day to day without any noticeable
+intrusion of such distressing things as courts, jails, and the like,
+that these last few months had driven her nearly mad. Cowperwood had so
+definitely insisted on her keeping in the background--he had told her
+so very little that she was all at sea anyhow in regard to the whole
+procedure. Nearly all that she had had in the way of intelligence had
+been from his father and mother and Anna, and from a close and almost
+secret scrutiny of the newspapers.
+
+At the time he had gone to the county jail she did not even know
+anything about it until his father had come back from the court-room and
+the jail and had broken the news to her. It had been a terrific blow to
+her. Now to have this thing suddenly broken to her in this offhand way,
+even though she had been expecting and dreading it hourly, was too much.
+
+She was still a decidedly charming-looking woman as she stood holding
+her daughter's garment in her hand, even if she was forty years old to
+Cowperwood's thirty-five. She was robed in one of the creations of their
+late prosperity, a cream-colored gown of rich silk, with dark brown
+trimmings--a fetching combination for her. Her eyes were a little
+hollow, and reddish about the rims, but otherwise she showed no sign of
+her keen mental distress. There was considerable evidence of the former
+tranquil sweetness that had so fascinated him ten years before.
+
+"Isn't that terrible?" she said, weakly, her hands trembling in a
+nervous way. "Isn't it dreadful? Isn't there anything more you can do,
+truly? You won't really have to go to prison, will you?" He objected
+to her distress and her nervous fears. He preferred a stronger, more
+self-reliant type of woman, but still she was his wife, and in his day
+he had loved her much.
+
+"It looks that way, Lillian," he said, with the first note of real
+sympathy he had used in a long while, for he felt sorry for her now. At
+the same time he was afraid to go any further along that line, for fear
+it might give her a false sense as to his present attitude toward her
+which was one essentially of indifference. But she was not so dull but
+what she could see that the consideration in his voice had been brought
+about by his defeat, which meant hers also. She choked a little--and
+even so was touched. The bare suggestion of sympathy brought back the
+old days so definitely gone forever. If only they could be brought back!
+
+"I don't want you to feel distressed about me, though," he went on,
+before she could say anything to him. "I'm not through with my fighting.
+I'll get out of this. I have to go to prison, it seems, in order to get
+things straightened out properly. What I would like you to do is to keep
+up a cheerful appearance in front of the rest of the family--father and
+mother particularly. They need to be cheered up." He thought once of
+taking her hand, then decided not. She noted mentally his hesitation,
+the great difference between his attitude now and that of ten or twelve
+years before. It did not hurt her now as much as she once would have
+thought. She looked at him, scarcely knowing what to say. There was
+really not so much to say.
+
+"Will you have to go soon, if you do have to go?" she ventured, wearily.
+
+"I can't tell yet. Possibly to-night. Possibly Friday. Possibly not
+until Monday. I'm waiting to hear from Steger. I expect him here any
+minute."
+
+To prison! To prison! Her Frank Cowperwood, her husband--the substance
+of their home here--and all their soul destruction going to prison. And
+even now she scarcely grasped why! She stood there wondering what she
+could do.
+
+"Is there anything I can get for you?" she asked, starting forward as if
+out of a dream. "Do you want me to do anything? Don't you think perhaps
+you had better leave Philadelphia, Frank? You needn't go to prison
+unless you want to."
+
+She was a little beside herself, for the first time in her life shocked
+out of a deadly calm.
+
+He paused and looked at her for a moment in his direct, examining way,
+his hard commercial business judgment restored on the instant.
+
+"That would be a confession of guilt, Lillian, and I'm not guilty,"
+he replied, almost coldly. "I haven't done anything that warrants my
+running away or going to prison, either. I'm merely going there to save
+time at present. I can't be litigating this thing forever. I'll get
+out--be pardoned out or sued out in a reasonable length of time. Just
+now it's better to go, I think. I wouldn't think of running away from
+Philadelphia. Two of five judges found for me in the decision. That's
+pretty fair evidence that the State has no case against me."
+
+His wife saw she had made a mistake. It clarified her judgment on
+the instant. "I didn't mean in that way, Frank," she replied,
+apologetically. "You know I didn't. Of course I know you're not guilty.
+Why should I think you were, of all people?"
+
+She paused, expecting some retort, some further argument--a kind word
+maybe. A trace of the older, baffling love, but he had quietly turned to
+his desk and was thinking of other things.
+
+At this point the anomaly of her own state came over her again. It was
+all so sad and so hopeless. And what was she to do in the future? And
+what was he likely to do? She paused half trembling and yet decided,
+because of her peculiarly nonresisting nature--why trespass on his time?
+Why bother? No good would really come of it. He really did not care for
+her any more--that was it. Nothing could make him, nothing could bring
+them together again, not even this tragedy. He was interested in another
+woman--Aileen--and so her foolish thoughts and explanations, her fear,
+sorrow, distress, were not important to him. He could take her agonized
+wish for his freedom as a comment on his probable guilt, a doubt of
+his innocence, a criticism of him! She turned away for a minute, and he
+started to leave the room.
+
+"I'll be back again in a few moments," he volunteered. "Are the children
+here?"
+
+"Yes, they're up in the play-room," she answered, sadly, utterly
+nonplussed and distraught.
+
+"Oh, Frank!" she had it on her lips to cry, but before she could utter
+it he had bustled down the steps and was gone. She turned back to the
+table, her left hand to her mouth, her eyes in a queer, hazy, melancholy
+mist. Could it be, she thought, that life could really come to
+this--that love could so utterly, so thoroughly die? Ten years
+before--but, oh, why go back to that? Obviously it could, and thoughts
+concerning that would not help now. Twice now in her life her affairs
+had seemed to go to pieces--once when her first husband had died, and
+now when her second had failed her, had fallen in love with another and
+was going to be sent off to prison. What was it about her that caused
+such things? Was there anything wrong with her? What was she going to
+do? Where go? She had no idea, of course, for how long a term of years
+he would be sent away. It might be one year or it might be five years,
+as the papers had said. Good heavens! The children could almost come to
+forget him in five years. She put her other hand to her mouth, also, and
+then to her forehead, where there was a dull ache. She tried to think
+further than this, but somehow, just now, there was no further thought.
+Suddenly quite outside of her own volition, with no thought that she
+was going to do such a thing, her bosom began to heave, her throat
+contracted in four or five short, sharp, aching spasms, her eyes burned,
+and she shook in a vigorous, anguished, desperate, almost one might have
+said dry-eyed, cry, so hot and few were the tears. She could not stop
+for the moment, just stood there and shook, and then after a while a
+dull ache succeeded, and she was quite as she had been before.
+
+"Why cry?" she suddenly asked herself, fiercely--for her. "Why break
+down in this stormy, useless way? Would it help?"
+
+But, in spite of her speculative, philosophic observations to herself,
+she still felt the echo, the distant rumble, as it were, of the storm in
+her own soul. "Why cry? Why not cry?" She might have said--but wouldn't,
+and in spite of herself and all her logic, she knew that this tempest
+which had so recently raged over her was now merely circling around her
+soul's horizon and would return to break again.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter L
+
+
+The arrival of Steger with the information that no move of any kind
+would be made by the sheriff until Monday morning, when Cowperwood could
+present himself, eased matters. This gave him time to think--to adjust
+home details at his leisure. He broke the news to his father and mother
+in a consoling way and talked with his brothers and father about getting
+matters immediately adjusted in connection with the smaller houses to
+which they were now shortly to be compelled to move. There was much
+conferring among the different members of this collapsing organization
+in regard to the minor details; and what with his conferences with
+Steger, his seeing personally Davison, Leigh, Avery Stone, of Jay Cooke
+& Co., George Waterman (his old-time employer Henry was dead),
+ex-State Treasurer Van Nostrand, who had gone out with the last State
+administration, and others, he was very busy. Now that he was really
+going into prison, he wanted his financial friends to get together and
+see if they could get him out by appealing to the Governor. The division
+of opinion among the judges of the State Supreme Court was his excuse
+and strong point. He wanted Steger to follow this up, and he spared no
+pains in trying to see all and sundry who might be of use to him--Edward
+Tighe, of Tighe & Co., who was still in business in Third Street; Newton
+Targool; Arthur Rivers; Joseph Zimmerman, the dry-goods prince, now a
+millionaire; Judge Kitchen; Terrence Relihan, the former representative
+of the money element at Harrisburg; and many others.
+
+Cowperwood wanted Relihan to approach the newspapers and see if he could
+not readjust their attitude so as to work to get him out, and he wanted
+Walter Leigh to head the movement of getting up a signed petition which
+should contain all the important names of moneyed people and others,
+asking the Governor to release him. Leigh agreed to this heartily, as
+did Relihan, and many others.
+
+And, afterwards there was really nothing else to do, unless it was to
+see Aileen once more, and this, in the midst of his other complications
+and obligations, seemed all but impossible at times--and yet he did
+achieve that, too--so eager was he to be soothed and comforted by the
+ignorant and yet all embracing volume of her love. Her eyes these days!
+The eager, burning quest of him and his happiness that blazed in
+them. To think that he should be tortured so--her Frank! Oh, she
+knew--whatever he said, and however bravely and jauntily he talked. To
+think that her love for him should have been the principal cause of his
+being sent to jail, as she now believed. And the cruelty of her father!
+And the smallness of his enemies--that fool Stener, for instance, whose
+pictures she had seen in the papers. Actually, whenever in the presence
+of her Frank, she fairly seethed in a chemic agony for him--her strong,
+handsome lover--the strongest, bravest, wisest, kindest, handsomest man
+in the world. Oh, didn't she know! And Cowperwood, looking in her eyes
+and realizing this reasonless, if so comforting fever for him, smiled
+and was touched. Such love! That of a dog for a master; that of a mother
+for a child. And how had he come to evoke it? He could not say, but it
+was beautiful.
+
+And so, now, in these last trying hours, he wished to see her much--and
+did--meeting her at least four times in the month in which he had been
+free, between his conviction and the final dismissal of his appeal. He
+had one last opportunity of seeing her--and she him--just before his
+entrance into prison this last time--on the Saturday before the Monday
+of his sentence. He had not come in contact with her since the decision
+of the Supreme Court had been rendered, but he had had a letter from her
+sent to a private mail-box, and had made an appointment for Saturday at
+a small hotel in Camden, which, being across the river, was safer, in
+his judgment, than anything in Philadelphia. He was a little uncertain
+as to how she would take the possibility of not seeing him soon again
+after Monday, and how she would act generally once he was where she
+could not confer with him as often as she chose. And in consequence, he
+was anxious to talk to her. But on this occasion, as he anticipated, and
+even feared, so sorry for her was he, she was not less emphatic in her
+protestations than she had ever been; in fact, much more so. When she
+saw him approaching in the distance, she went forward to meet him in
+that direct, forceful way which only she could attempt with him, a sort
+of mannish impetuosity which he both enjoyed and admired, and slipping
+her arms around his neck, said: "Honey, you needn't tell me. I saw it
+in the papers the other morning. Don't you mind, honey. I love you.
+I'll wait for you. I'll be with you yet, if it takes a dozen years of
+waiting. It doesn't make any difference to me if it takes a hundred,
+only I'm so sorry for you, sweetheart. I'll be with you every day
+through this, darling, loving you with all my might."
+
+She caressed him while he looked at her in that quiet way which
+betokened at once his self-poise and yet his interest and satisfaction
+in her. He couldn't help loving Aileen, he thought who could? She was
+so passionate, vibrant, desireful. He couldn't help admiring her
+tremendously, now more than ever, because literally, in spite of all his
+intellectual strength, he really could not rule her. She went at him,
+even when he stood off in a calm, critical way, as if he were
+her special property, her toy. She would talk to him always, and
+particularly when she was excited, as if he were just a baby, her pet;
+and sometimes he felt as though she would really overcome him mentally,
+make him subservient to her, she was so individual, so sure of her
+importance as a woman.
+
+Now on this occasion she went babbling on as if he were broken-hearted,
+in need of her greatest care and tenderness, although he really wasn't
+at all; and for the moment she actually made him feel as though he was.
+
+"It isn't as bad as that, Aileen," he ventured to say, eventually; and
+with a softness and tenderness almost unusual for him, even where she
+was concerned, but she went on forcefully, paying no heed to him.
+
+"Oh, yes, it is, too, honey. I know. Oh, my poor Frank! But I'll see
+you. I know how to manage, whatever happens. How often do they let
+visitors come out to see the prisoners there?"
+
+"Only once in three months, pet, so they say, but I think we can fix
+that after I get there; only do you think you had better try to come
+right away, Aileen? You know what the feeling now is. Hadn't you better
+wait a while? Aren't you in danger of stirring up your father? He might
+cause a lot of trouble out there if he were so minded."
+
+"Only once in three months!" she exclaimed, with rising emphasis, as
+he began this explanation. "Oh, Frank, no! Surely not! Once in three
+months! Oh, I can't stand that! I won't! I'll go and see the warden
+myself. He'll let me see you. I'm sure he will, if I talk to him."
+
+She fairly gasped in her excitement, not willing to pause in her tirade,
+but Cowperwood interposed with her, "You're not thinking what you're
+saying, Aileen. You're not thinking. Remember your father! Remember your
+family! Your father may know the warden out there. You don't want it to
+get all over town that you're running out there to see me, do you? Your
+father might cause you trouble. Besides you don't know the small party
+politicians as I do. They gossip like a lot of old women. You'll have to
+be very careful what you do and how you do it. I don't want to lose you.
+I want to see you. But you'll have to mind what you're doing. Don't try
+to see me at once. I want you to, but I want to find out how the land
+lies, and I want you to find out too. You won't lose me. I'll be there,
+well enough."
+
+He paused as he thought of the long tier of iron cells which must be
+there, one of which would be his--for how long?--and of Aileen seeing
+him through the door of it or in it. At the same time he was thinking,
+in spite of all his other calculations, how charming she was looking
+to-day. How young she kept, and how forceful! While he was nearing his
+full maturity she was a comparatively young girl, and as beautiful as
+ever. She was wearing a black-and-white-striped silk in the curious
+bustle style of the times, and a set of sealskin furs, including a
+little sealskin cap set jauntily on top her red-gold hair.
+
+"I know, I know," replied Aileen, firmly. "But think of three months!
+Honey, I can't! I won't! It's nonsense. Three months! I know that
+my father wouldn't have to wait any three months if he wanted to see
+anybody out there, nor anybody else that he wanted to ask favors for.
+And I won't, either. I'll find some way."
+
+Cowperwood had to smile. You could not defeat Aileen so easily.
+
+"But you're not your father, honey; and you don't want him to know."
+
+"I know I don't, but they don't need to know who I am. I can go heavily
+veiled. I don't think that the warden knows my father. He may. Anyhow,
+he doesn't know me; and he wouldn't tell on me if he did if I talked to
+him."
+
+Her confidence in her charms, her personality, her earthly privileges
+was quite anarchistic. Cowperwood shook his head.
+
+"Honey, you're about the best and the worst there is when it comes to a
+woman," he observed, affectionately, pulling her head down to kiss
+her, "but you'll have to listen to me just the same. I have a lawyer,
+Steger--you know him. He's going to take up this matter with the warden
+out there--is doing it today. He may be able to fix things, and he may
+not. I'll know to-morrow or Sunday, and I'll write you. But don't go and
+do anything rash until you hear. I'm sure I can cut that visiting limit
+in half, and perhaps down to once a month or once in two weeks even.
+They only allow me to write one letter in three months"--Aileen exploded
+again--"and I'm sure I can have that made different--some; but don't
+write me until you hear, or at least don't sign any name or put any
+address in. They open all mail and read it. If you see me or write me
+you'll have to be cautious, and you're not the most cautious person in
+the world. Now be good, will you?"
+
+They talked much more--of his family, his court appearance Monday,
+whether he would get out soon to attend any of the suits still pending,
+or be pardoned. Aileen still believed in his future. She had read the
+opinions of the dissenting judges in his favor, and that of the
+three agreed judges against him. She was sure his day was not over in
+Philadelphia, and that he would some time reestablish himself and then
+take her with him somewhere else. She was sorry for Mrs. Cowperwood, but
+she was convinced that she was not suited to him--that Frank needed some
+one more like herself, some one with youth and beauty and force--her, no
+less. She clung to him now in ecstatic embraces until it was time to go.
+So far as a plan of procedure could have been adjusted in a situation so
+incapable of accurate adjustment, it had been done. She was desperately
+downcast at the last moment, as was he, over their parting; but she
+pulled herself together with her usual force and faced the dark future
+with a steady eye.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LI
+
+
+Monday came and with it his final departure. All that could be done had
+been done. Cowperwood said his farewells to his mother and father,
+his brothers and sister. He had a rather distant but sensible and
+matter-of-fact talk with his wife. He made no special point of saying
+good-by to his son or his daughter; when he came in on Thursday, Friday,
+Saturday, and Sunday evenings, after he had learned that he was to
+depart Monday, it was with the thought of talking to them a little in
+an especially affectionate way. He realized that his general moral or
+unmoral attitude was perhaps working them a temporary injustice. Still
+he was not sure. Most people did fairly well with their lives, whether
+coddled or deprived of opportunity. These children would probably do as
+well as most children, whatever happened--and then, anyhow, he had no
+intention of forsaking them financially, if he could help it. He did
+not want to separate his wife from her children, nor them from her. She
+should keep them. He wanted them to be comfortable with her. He would
+like to see them, wherever they were with her, occasionally. Only
+he wanted his own personal freedom, in so far as she and they were
+concerned, to go off and set up a new world and a new home with Aileen.
+So now on these last days, and particularly this last Sunday night, he
+was rather noticeably considerate of his boy and girl, without being too
+openly indicative of his approaching separation from them.
+
+"Frank," he said to his notably lackadaisical son on this occasion,
+"aren't you going to straighten up and be a big, strong, healthy fellow?
+You don't play enough. You ought to get in with a gang of boys and be a
+leader. Why don't you fit yourself up a gymnasium somewhere and see how
+strong you can get?"
+
+They were in the senior Cowperwood's sitting-room, where they had all
+rather consciously gathered on this occasion.
+
+Lillian, second, who was on the other side of the big library table from
+her father, paused to survey him and her brother with interest. Both
+had been carefully guarded against any real knowledge of their father's
+affairs or his present predicament. He was going away on a journey for
+about a month or so they understood. Lillian was reading in a Chatterbox
+book which had been given her the previous Christmas.
+
+"He won't do anything," she volunteered, looking up from her reading in
+a peculiarly critical way for her. "Why, he won't ever run races with me
+when I want him to."
+
+"Aw, who wants to run races with you, anyhow?" returned Frank, junior,
+sourly. "You couldn't run if I did want to run with you."
+
+"Couldn't I?" she replied. "I could beat you, all right."
+
+"Lillian!" pleaded her mother, with a warning sound in her voice.
+
+Cowperwood smiled, and laid his hand affectionately on his son's head.
+"You'll be all right, Frank," he volunteered, pinching his ear lightly.
+"Don't worry--just make an effort."
+
+The boy did not respond as warmly as he hoped. Later in the evening Mrs.
+Cowperwood noticed that her husband squeezed his daughter's slim little
+waist and pulled her curly hair gently. For the moment she was jealous
+of her daughter.
+
+"Going to be the best kind of a girl while I'm away?" he said to her,
+privately.
+
+"Yes, papa," she replied, brightly.
+
+"That's right," he returned, and leaned over and kissed her mouth
+tenderly. "Button Eyes," he said.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood sighed after he had gone. "Everything for the children,
+nothing for me," she thought, though the children had not got so vastly
+much either in the past.
+
+Cowperwood's attitude toward his mother in this final hour was about
+as tender and sympathetic as any he could maintain in this world. He
+understood quite clearly the ramifications of her interests, and how she
+was suffering for him and all the others concerned. He had not forgotten
+her sympathetic care of him in his youth; and if he could have done
+anything to have spared her this unhappy breakdown of her fortunes in
+her old age, he would have done so. There was no use crying over spilled
+milk. It was impossible at times for him not to feel intensely in
+moments of success or failure; but the proper thing to do was to bear
+up, not to show it, to talk little and go your way with an air not so
+much of resignation as of self-sufficiency, to whatever was awaiting
+you. That was his attitude on this morning, and that was what he
+expected from those around him--almost compelled, in fact, by his own
+attitude.
+
+"Well, mother," he said, genially, at the last moment--he would not let
+her nor his wife nor his sister come to court, maintaining that it would
+make not the least difference to him and would only harrow their own
+feelings uselessly--"I'm going now. Don't worry. Keep up your spirits."
+
+He slipped his arm around his mother's waist, and she gave him a long,
+unrestrained, despairing embrace and kiss.
+
+"Go on, Frank," she said, choking, when she let him go. "God bless you.
+I'll pray for you." He paid no further attention to her. He didn't dare.
+
+"Good-by, Lillian," he said to his wife, pleasantly, kindly. "I'll be
+back in a few days, I think. I'll be coming out to attend some of these
+court proceedings."
+
+To his sister he said: "Good-by, Anna. Don't let the others get too
+down-hearted."
+
+"I'll see you three afterward," he said to his father and brothers; and
+so, dressed in the very best fashion of the time, he hurried down into
+the reception-hall, where Steger was waiting, and was off. His family,
+hearing the door close on him, suffered a poignant sense of desolation.
+They stood there for a moment, his mother crying, his father looking
+as though he had lost his last friend but making a great effort to seem
+self-contained and equal to his troubles, Anna telling Lillian not to
+mind, and the latter staring dumbly into the future, not knowing what
+to think. Surely a brilliant sun had set on their local scene, and in a
+very pathetic way.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LII
+
+
+When Cowperwood reached the jail, Jaspers was there, glad to see him but
+principally relieved to feel that nothing had happened to mar his
+own reputation as a sheriff. Because of the urgency of court matters
+generally, it was decided to depart for the courtroom at nine o'clock.
+Eddie Zanders was once more delegated to see that Cowperwood was brought
+safely before Judge Payderson and afterward taken to the penitentiary.
+All of the papers in the case were put in his care to be delivered to
+the warden.
+
+"I suppose you know," confided Sheriff Jaspers to Steger, "that Stener
+is here. He ain't got no money now, but I gave him a private room just
+the same. I didn't want to put a man like him in no cell." Sheriff
+Jaspers sympathized with Stener.
+
+"That's right. I'm glad to hear that," replied Steger, smiling to
+himself.
+
+"I didn't suppose from what I've heard that Mr. Cowperwood would want to
+meet Stener here, so I've kept 'em apart. George just left a minute ago
+with another deputy."
+
+"That's good. That's the way it ought to be," replied Steger. He was
+glad for Cowperwood's sake that the sheriff had so much tact. Evidently
+George and the sheriff were getting along in a very friendly way, for
+all the former's bitter troubles and lack of means.
+
+The Cowperwood party walked, the distance not being great, and as they
+did so they talked of rather simple things to avoid the more serious.
+
+"Things aren't going to be so bad," Edward said to his father. "Steger
+says the Governor is sure to pardon Stener in a year or less, and if he
+does he's bound to let Frank out too."
+
+Cowperwood, the elder, had heard this over and over, but he was never
+tired of hearing it. It was like some simple croon with which babies are
+hushed to sleep. The snow on the ground, which was enduring remarkably
+well for this time of year, the fineness of the day, which had started
+out to be clear and bright, the hope that the courtroom might not be
+full, all held the attention of the father and his two sons. Cowperwood,
+senior, even commented on some sparrows fighting over a piece of
+bread, marveling how well they did in winter, solely to ease his
+mind. Cowperwood, walking on ahead with Steger and Zanders, talked of
+approaching court proceedings in connection with his business and what
+ought to be done.
+
+When they reached the court the same little pen in which Cowperwood had
+awaited the verdict of his jury several months before was waiting to
+receive him.
+
+Cowperwood, senior, and his other sons sought places in the courtroom
+proper. Eddie Zanders remained with his charge. Stener and a deputy by
+the name of Wilkerson were in the room; but he and Cowperwood pretended
+now not to see each other. Frank had no objection to talking to his
+former associate, but he could see that Stener was diffident and
+ashamed. So he let the situation pass without look or word of any kind.
+After some three-quarters of an hour of dreary waiting the door leading
+into the courtroom proper opened and a bailiff stepped in.
+
+"All prisoners up for sentence," he called.
+
+There were six, all told, including Cowperwood and Stener. Two of them
+were confederate housebreakers who had been caught red-handed at their
+midnight task.
+
+Another prisoner was no more and no less than a plain horse-thief, a
+young man of twenty-six, who had been convicted by a jury of stealing
+a grocer's horse and selling it. The last man was a negro, a tall,
+shambling, illiterate, nebulous-minded black, who had walked off with
+an apparently discarded section of lead pipe which he had found in a
+lumber-yard. His idea was to sell or trade it for a drink. He really
+did not belong in this court at all; but, having been caught by an
+undersized American watchman charged with the care of the property, and
+having at first refused to plead guilty, not quite understanding what
+was to be done with him, he had been perforce bound over to this court
+for trial. Afterward he had changed his mind and admitted his guilt, so
+he now had to come before Judge Payderson for sentence or dismissal.
+The lower court before which he had originally been brought had lost
+jurisdiction by binding him over to to higher court for trial.
+Eddie Zanders, in his self-appointed position as guide and mentor to
+Cowperwood, had confided nearly all of this data to him as he stood
+waiting.
+
+The courtroom was crowded. It was very humiliating to Cowperwood to have
+to file in this way along the side aisle with these others, followed by
+Stener, well dressed but sickly looking and disconsolate.
+
+The negro, Charles Ackerman, was the first on the list.
+
+"How is it this man comes before me?" asked Payderson, peevishly, when
+he noted the value of the property Ackerman was supposed to have stolen.
+
+"Your honor," the assistant district attorney explained, promptly,
+"this man was before a lower court and refused, because he was drunk,
+or something, to plead guilty. The lower court, because the complainant
+would not forego the charge, was compelled to bind him over to this
+court for trial. Since then he has changed his mind and has admitted
+his guilt to the district attorney. He would not be brought before you
+except we have no alternative. He has to be brought here now in order to
+clear the calendar."
+
+Judge Payderson stared quizzically at the negro, who, obviously not very
+much disturbed by this examination, was leaning comfortably on the gate
+or bar before which the average criminal stood erect and terrified.
+He had been before police-court magistrates before on one charge and
+another--drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and the like--but his whole
+attitude was one of shambling, lackadaisical, amusing innocence.
+
+"Well, Ackerman," inquired his honor, severely, "did you or did you not
+steal this piece of lead pipe as charged here--four dollars and eighty
+cents' worth?"
+
+"Yassah, I did," he began. "I tell you how it was, jedge. I was a-comin'
+along past dat lumber-yard one Saturday afternoon, and I hadn't been
+wuckin', an' I saw dat piece o' pipe thoo de fence, lyin' inside, and I
+jes' reached thoo with a piece o' boad I found dey and pulled it over
+to me an' tuck it. An' aftahwahd dis Mistah Watchman man"--he waved his
+hand oratorically toward the witness-chair, where, in case the judge
+might wish to ask him some questions, the complainant had taken his
+stand--"come around tuh where I live an' accused me of done takin' it."
+
+"But you did take it, didn't you?"
+
+"Yassah, I done tuck it."
+
+"What did you do with it?"
+
+"I traded it foh twenty-five cents."
+
+"You mean you sold it," corrected his honor.
+
+"Yassah, I done sold it."
+
+"Well, don't you know it's wrong to do anything like that? Didn't you
+know when you reached through that fence and pulled that pipe over to
+you that you were stealing? Didn't you?"
+
+"Yassah, I knowed it was wrong," replied Ackerman, sheepishly. "I didn'
+think 'twuz stealin' like zackly, but I done knowed it was wrong. I done
+knowed I oughtn' take it, I guess."
+
+"Of course you did. Of course you did. That's just it. You knew you were
+stealing, and still you took it. Has the man to whom this negro sold
+the lead pipe been apprehended yet?" the judge inquired sharply of the
+district attorney. "He should be, for he's more guilty than this negro,
+a receiver of stolen goods."
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the assistant. "His case is before Judge Yawger."
+
+"Quite right. It should be," replied Payderson, severely. "This matter
+of receiving stolen property is one of the worst offenses, in my
+judgment."
+
+He then turned his attention to Ackerman again. "Now, look here,
+Ackerman," he exclaimed, irritated at having to bother with such a
+pretty case, "I want to say something to you, and I want you to pay
+strict attention to me. Straighten up, there! Don't lean on that gate!
+You are in the presence of the law now." Ackerman had sprawled himself
+comfortably down on his elbows as he would have if he had been leaning
+over a back-fence gate talking to some one, but he immediately drew
+himself straight, still grinning foolishly and apologetically, when he
+heard this. "You are not so dull but that you can understand what I am
+going to say to you. The offense you have committed--stealing a piece
+of lead pipe--is a crime. Do you hear me? A criminal offense--one that I
+could punish you very severely for. I could send you to the penitentiary
+for one year if I chose--the law says I may--one year at hard labor for
+stealing a piece of lead pipe. Now, if you have any sense you will pay
+strict attention to what I am going to tell you. I am not going to send
+you to the penitentiary right now. I'm going to wait a little while. I
+am going to sentence you to one year in the penitentiary--one year.
+Do you understand?" Ackerman blanched a little and licked his lips
+nervously. "And then I am going to suspend that sentence--hold it over
+your head, so that if you are ever caught taking anything else you will
+be punished for this offense and the next one also at one and the same
+time. Do you understand that? Do you know what I mean? Tell me. Do you?"
+
+"Yessah! I does, sir," replied the negro. "You'se gwine to let me go
+now--tha's it."
+
+The audience grinned, and his honor made a wry face to prevent his own
+grim grin.
+
+"I'm going to let you go only so long as you don't steal anything else,"
+he thundered. "The moment you steal anything else, back you come to this
+court, and then you go to the penitentiary for a year and whatever
+more time you deserve. Do you understand that? Now, I want you to
+walk straight out of this court and behave yourself. Don't ever steal
+anything. Get something to do! Don't steal, do you hear? Don't touch
+anything that doesn't belong to you! Don't come back here! If you do,
+I'll send you to the penitentiary, sure."
+
+"Yassah! No, sah, I won't," replied Ackerman, nervously. "I won't take
+nothin' more that don't belong tuh me."
+
+He shuffled away, after a moment, urged along by the guiding hand of a
+bailiff, and was put safely outside the court, amid a mixture of smiles
+and laughter over his simplicity and Payderson's undue severity of
+manner. But the next case was called and soon engrossed the interest of
+the audience.
+
+It was that of the two housebreakers whom Cowperwood had been and was
+still studying with much curiosity. In all his life before he had never
+witnessed a sentencing scene of any kind. He had never been in police
+or criminal courts of any kind--rarely in any of the civil ones. He
+was glad to see the negro go, and gave Payderson credit for having some
+sense and sympathy--more than he had expected.
+
+He wondered now whether by any chance Aileen was here. He had objected
+to her coming, but she might have done so. She was, as a matter of fact,
+in the extreme rear, pocketed in a crowd near the door, heavily veiled,
+but present. She had not been able to resist the desire to know quickly
+and surely her beloved's fate--to be near him in his hour of real
+suffering, as she thought. She was greatly angered at seeing him brought
+in with a line of ordinary criminals and made to wait in this, to her,
+shameful public manner, but she could not help admiring all the more the
+dignity and superiority of his presence even here. He was not even pale,
+as she saw, just the same firm, calm soul she had always known him to
+be. If he could only see her now; if he would only look so she could
+lift her veil and smile! He didn't, though; he wouldn't. He didn't want
+to see her here. But she would tell him all about it when she saw him
+again just the same.
+
+The two burglars were quickly disposed of by the judge, with a sentence
+of one year each, and they were led away, uncertain, and apparently not
+knowing what to think of their crime or their future.
+
+When it came to Cowperwood's turn to be called, his honor himself
+stiffened and straightened up, for this was a different type of man and
+could not be handled in the usual manner. He knew exactly what he
+was going to say. When one of Mollenhauer's agents, a close friend of
+Butler's, had suggested that five years for both Cowperwood and Stener
+would be about right, he knew exactly what to do. "Frank Algernon
+Cowperwood," called the clerk.
+
+Cowperwood stepped briskly forward, sorry for himself, ashamed of his
+position in a way, but showing it neither in look nor manner. Payderson
+eyed him as he had the others.
+
+"Name?" asked the bailiff, for the benefit of the court stenographer.
+
+"Frank Algernon Cowperwood."
+
+"Residence?"
+
+"1937 Girard Avenue."
+
+"Occupation?"
+
+"Banker and broker."
+
+Steger stood close beside him, very dignified, very forceful, ready to
+make a final statement for the benefit of the court and the public when
+the time should come. Aileen, from her position in the crowd near the
+door, was for the first time in her life biting her fingers nervously
+and there were great beads of perspiration on her brow. Cowperwood's
+father was tense with excitement and his two brothers looked quickly
+away, doing their best to hide their fear and sorrow.
+
+"Ever convicted before?"
+
+"Never," replied Steger for Cowperwood, quietly.
+
+"Frank Algernon Cowperwood," called the clerk, in his nasal, singsong
+way, coming forward, "have you anything to say why judgment should not
+now be pronounced upon you? If so, speak."
+
+Cowperwood started to say no, but Steger put up his hand.
+
+"If the court pleases, my client, Mr. Cowperwood, the prisoner at the
+bar, is neither guilty in his own estimation, nor in that of two-fifths
+of the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court--the court of last resort in
+this State," he exclaimed, loudly and clearly, so that all might hear.
+
+One of the interested listeners and spectators at this point was Edward
+Malia Butler, who had just stepped in from another courtroom where he
+had been talking to a judge. An obsequious court attendant had warned
+him that Cowperwood was about to be sentenced. He had really come here
+this morning in order not to miss this sentence, but he cloaked his
+motive under the guise of another errand. He did not know that Aileen
+was there, nor did he see her.
+
+"As he himself testified at the time of his trial," went on Steger, "and
+as the evidence clearly showed, he was never more than an agent for the
+gentleman whose offense was subsequently adjudicated by this court;
+and as an agent he still maintains, and two-fifths of the State Supreme
+Court agree with him, that he was strictly within his rights and
+privileges in not having deposited the sixty thousand dollars' worth of
+city loan certificates at the time, and in the manner which the people,
+acting through the district attorney, complained that he should have. My
+client is a man of rare financial ability. By the various letters which
+have been submitted to your honor in his behalf, you will see that he
+commands the respect and the sympathy of a large majority of the
+most forceful and eminent men in his particular world. He is a man of
+distinguished social standing and of notable achievements. Only the
+most unheralded and the unkindest thrust of fortune has brought him
+here before you today--a fire and its consequent panic which involved a
+financial property of the most thorough and stable character. In spite
+of the verdict of the jury and the decision of three-fifths of the State
+Supreme Court, I maintain that my client is not an embezzler, that he
+has not committed larceny, that he should never have been convicted,
+and that he should not now be punished for something of which he is not
+guilty.
+
+"I trust that your honor will not misunderstand me or my motives when I
+point out in this situation that what I have said is true. I do not wish
+to cast any reflection on the integrity of the court, nor of any court,
+nor of any of the processes of law. But I do condemn and deplore the
+untoward chain of events which has built up a seeming situation,
+not easily understood by the lay mind, and which has brought my
+distinguished client within the purview of the law. I think it is but
+fair that this should be finally and publicly stated here and now. I
+ask that your honor be lenient, and that if you cannot conscientiously
+dismiss this charge you will at least see that the facts, as I have
+indicated them, are given due weight in the measure of the punishment
+inflicted."
+
+Steger stepped back and Judge Payderson nodded, as much as to say he had
+heard all the distinguished lawyer had to say, and would give it such
+consideration as it deserved--no more. Then he turned to Cowperwood,
+and, summoning all his judicial dignity to his aid, he began:
+
+"Frank Algernon Cowperwood, you have been convicted by a jury of your
+own selection of the offense of larceny. The motion for a new trial,
+made in your behalf by your learned counsel, has been carefully
+considered and overruled, the majority of the court being entirely
+satisfied with the propriety of the conviction, both upon the law and
+the evidence. Your offense was one of more than usual gravity, the more
+so that the large amount of money which you obtained belonged to the
+city. And it was aggravated by the fact that you had in addition thereto
+unlawfully used and converted to your own use several hundred thousand
+dollars of the loan and money of the city. For such an offense
+the maximum punishment affixed by the law is singularly merciful.
+Nevertheless, the facts in connection with your hitherto distinguished
+position, the circumstances under which your failure was brought about,
+and the appeals of your numerous friends and financial associates, will
+be given due consideration by this court. It is not unmindful of any
+important fact in your career." Payderson paused as if in doubt,
+though he knew very well how he was about to proceed. He knew what his
+superiors expected of him.
+
+"If your case points no other moral," he went on, after a moment, toying
+with the briefs, "it will at least teach the lesson much needed at the
+present time, that the treasury of the city is not to be invaded
+and plundered with impunity under the thin disguise of a business
+transaction, and that there is still a power in the law to vindicate
+itself and to protect the public.
+
+"The sentence of the court," he added, solemnly, the while Cowperwood
+gazed unmoved, "is, therefore, that you pay a fine of five thousand
+dollars to the commonwealth for the use of the county, that you pay the
+costs of prosecution, and that you undergo imprisonment in the
+State Penitentiary for the Eastern District by separate or solitary
+confinement at labor for a period of four years and three months, and
+that you stand committed until this sentence is complied with."
+
+Cowperwood's father, on hearing this, bowed his head to hide his tears.
+Aileen bit her lower lip and clenched her hands to keep down her rage
+and disappointment and tears. Four years and three months! That would
+make a terrible gap in his life and hers. Still, she could wait. It was
+better than eight or ten years, as she had feared it might be. Perhaps
+now, once this was really over and he was in prison, the Governor would
+pardon him.
+
+The judge now moved to pick up the papers in connection with Stener's
+case, satisfied that he had given the financiers no chance to say he had
+not given due heed to their plea in Cowperwood's behalf and yet certain
+that the politicians would be pleased that he had so nearly given
+Cowperwood the maximum while appearing to have heeded the pleas for
+mercy. Cowperwood saw through the trick at once, but it did not disturb
+him. It struck him as rather weak and contemptible. A bailiff came
+forward and started to hurry him away.
+
+"Allow the prisoner to remain for a moment," called the judge.
+
+The name, of George W. Stener had been called by the clerk and
+Cowperwood did not quite understand why he was being detained, but he
+soon learned. It was that he might hear the opinion of the court in
+connection with his copartner in crime. The latter's record was taken.
+Roger O'Mara, the Irish political lawyer who had been his counsel all
+through his troubles, stood near him, but had nothing to say beyond
+asking the judge to consider Stener's previously honorable career.
+
+"George W. Stener," said his honor, while the audience, including
+Cowperwood, listened attentively. "The motion for a new trial as well as
+an arrest of judgment in your case having been overruled, it remains
+for the court to impose such sentence as the nature of your offense
+requires. I do not desire to add to the pain of your position by any
+extended remarks of my own; but I cannot let the occasion pass without
+expressing my emphatic condemnation of your offense. The misapplication
+of public money has become the great crime of the age. If not promptly
+and firmly checked, it will ultimately destroy our institutions. When
+a republic becomes honeycombed with corruption its vitality is gone. It
+must crumble upon the first pressure.
+
+"In my opinion, the public is much to blame for your offense and others
+of a similar character. Heretofore, official fraud has been regarded
+with too much indifference. What we need is a higher and purer political
+morality--a state of public opinion which would make the improper use of
+public money a thing to be execrated. It was the lack of this which made
+your offense possible. Beyond that I see nothing of extenuation in your
+case." Judge Payderson paused for emphasis. He was coming to his finest
+flight, and he wanted it to sink in.
+
+"The people had confided to you the care of their money," he went on,
+solemnly. "It was a high, a sacred trust. You should have guarded the
+door of the treasury even as the cherubim protected the Garden of Eden,
+and should have turned the flaming sword of impeccable honesty
+against every one who approached it improperly. Your position as the
+representative of a great community warranted that.
+
+"In view of all the facts in your case the court can do no less than
+impose a major penalty. The seventy-fourth section of the Criminal
+Procedure Act provides that no convict shall be sentenced by the court
+of this commonwealth to either of the penitentiaries thereof, for
+any term which shall expire between the fifteenth of November and the
+fifteenth day of February of any year, and this provision requires me to
+abate three months from the maximum of time which I would affix in your
+case--namely, five years. The sentence of the court is, therefore, that
+you pay a fine of five thousand dollars to the commonwealth for the use
+of the county"--Payderson knew well enough that Stener could never pay
+that sum--"and that you undergo imprisonment in the State Penitentiary
+for the Eastern District, by separate and solitary confinement at
+labor, for the period of four years and nine months, and that you stand
+committed until this sentence is complied with." He laid down the briefs
+and rubbed his chin reflectively while both Cowperwood and Stener were
+hurried out. Butler was the first to leave after the sentence--quite
+satisfied. Seeing that all was over so far as she was concerned, Aileen
+stole quickly out; and after her, in a few moments, Cowperwood's father
+and brothers. They were to await him outside and go with him to the
+penitentiary. The remaining members of the family were at home eagerly
+awaiting intelligence of the morning's work, and Joseph Cowperwood was
+at once despatched to tell them.
+
+The day had now become cloudy, lowery, and it looked as if there might
+be snow. Eddie Zanders, who had been given all the papers in the case,
+announced that there was no need to return to the county jail. In
+consequence the five of them--Zanders, Steger, Cowperwood, his father,
+and Edward--got into a street-car which ran to within a few blocks of
+the prison. Within half an hour they were at the gates of the Eastern
+Penitentiary.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LIII
+
+
+The Eastern District Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, standing at Fairmount
+Avenue and Twenty-first Street in Philadelphia, where Cowperwood was
+now to serve his sentence of four years and three months, was a large,
+gray-stone structure, solemn and momentous in its mien, not at all
+unlike the palace of Sforzas at Milan, although not so distinguished.
+It stretched its gray length for several blocks along four different
+streets, and looked as lonely and forbidding as a prison should. The
+wall which inclosed its great area extending over ten acres and gave it
+so much of its solemn dignity was thirty-five feet high and some seven
+feet thick. The prison proper, which was not visible from the outside,
+consisted of seven arms or corridors, ranged octopus-like around a
+central room or court, and occupying in their sprawling length about
+two-thirds of the yard inclosed within the walls, so that there was but
+little space for the charm of lawn or sward. The corridors, forty-two
+feet wide from outer wall to outer wall, were one hundred and eighty
+feet in length, and in four instances two stories high, and extended
+in their long reach in every direction. There were no windows in the
+corridors, only narrow slits of skylights, three and one-half feet long
+by perhaps eight inches wide, let in the roof; and the ground-floor
+cells were accompanied in some instances by a small yard ten by
+sixteen--the same size as the cells proper--which was surrounded by a
+high brick wall in every instance. The cells and floors and roofs were
+made of stone, and the corridors, which were only ten feet wide between
+the cells, and in the case of the single-story portion only fifteen
+feet high, were paved with stone. If you stood in the central room, or
+rotunda, and looked down the long stretches which departed from you
+in every direction, you had a sense of narrowness and confinement
+not compatible with their length. The iron doors, with their outer
+accompaniment of solid wooden ones, the latter used at times to shut the
+prisoner from all sight and sound, were grim and unpleasing to behold.
+The halls were light enough, being whitewashed frequently and set with
+the narrow skylights, which were closed with frosted glass in winter;
+but they were, as are all such matter-of-fact arrangements for
+incarceration, bare--wearisome to look upon. Life enough there was in
+all conscience, seeing that there were four hundred prisoners here at
+that time, and that nearly every cell was occupied; but it was a life of
+which no one individual was essentially aware as a spectacle. He was of
+it; but he was not. Some of the prisoners, after long service, were used
+as "trusties" or "runners," as they were locally called; but not many.
+There was a bakery, a machine-shop, a carpenter-shop, a store-room,
+a flour-mill, and a series of gardens, or truck patches; but the
+manipulation of these did not require the services of a large number.
+
+The prison proper dated from 1822, and it had grown, wing by wing, until
+its present considerable size had been reached. Its population consisted
+of individuals of all degrees of intelligence and crime, from murderers
+to minor practitioners of larceny. It had what was known as the
+"Pennsylvania System" of regulation for its inmates, which was nothing
+more nor less than solitary confinement for all concerned--a life of
+absolute silence and separate labor in separate cells.
+
+Barring his comparatively recent experience in the county jail, which
+after all was far from typical, Cowperwood had never been in a prison in
+his life. Once, when a boy, in one of his perambulations through several
+of the surrounding towns, he had passed a village "lock-up," as the
+town prisons were then called--a small, square, gray building with long
+iron-barred windows, and he had seen, at one of these rather depressing
+apertures on the second floor, a none too prepossessing drunkard or town
+ne'er-do-well who looked down on him with bleary eyes, unkempt hair, and
+a sodden, waxy, pallid face, and called--for it was summer and the jail
+window was open:
+
+"Hey, sonny, get me a plug of tobacco, will you?"
+
+Cowperwood, who had looked up, shocked and disturbed by the man's
+disheveled appearance, had called back, quite without stopping to think:
+
+"Naw, I can't."
+
+"Look out you don't get locked up yourself sometime, you little runt,"
+the man had replied, savagely, only half recovered from his debauch of
+the day before.
+
+He had not thought of this particular scene in years, but now suddenly
+it came back to him. Here he was on his way to be locked up in this
+dull, somber prison, and it was snowing, and he was being cut out of
+human affairs as much as it was possible for him to be cut out.
+
+No friends were permitted to accompany him beyond the outer gate--not
+even Steger for the time being, though he might visit him later in
+the day. This was an inviolable rule. Zanders being known to the
+gate-keeper, and bearing his commitment paper, was admitted at once. The
+others turned solemnly away. They bade a gloomy if affectionate farewell
+to Cowperwood, who, on his part, attempted to give it all an air of
+inconsequence--as, in part and even here, it had for him.
+
+"Well, good-by for the present," he said, shaking hands. "I'll be all
+right and I'll get out soon. Wait and see. Tell Lillian not to worry."
+
+He stepped inside, and the gate clanked solemnly behind him. Zanders led
+the way through a dark, somber hall, wide and high-ceiled, to a farther
+gate, where a second gateman, trifling with a large key, unlocked a
+barred door at his bidding. Once inside the prison yard, Zanders turned
+to the left into a small office, presenting his prisoner before a small,
+chest-high desk, where stood a prison officer in uniform of blue.
+The latter, the receiving overseer of the prison--a thin, practical,
+executive-looking person with narrow gray eyes and light hair, took the
+paper which the sheriff's deputy handed him and read it. This was his
+authority for receiving Cowperwood. In his turn he handed Zanders a
+slip, showing that he had so received the prisoner; and then Zanders
+left, receiving gratefully the tip which Cowperwood pressed in his hand.
+
+"Well, good-by, Mr. Cowperwood," he said, with a peculiar twist of his
+detective-like head. "I'm sorry. I hope you won't find it so bad here."
+
+He wanted to impress the receiving overseer with his familiarity with
+this distinguished prisoner, and Cowperwood, true to his policy of
+make-believe, shook hands with him cordially.
+
+"I'm much obliged to you for your courtesy, Mr. Zanders," he said, then
+turned to his new master with the air of a man who is determined to make
+a good impression. He was now in the hands of petty officials, he knew,
+who could modify or increase his comfort at will. He wanted to impress
+this man with his utter willingness to comply and obey--his sense of
+respect for his authority--without in any way demeaning himself. He
+was depressed but efficient, even here in the clutch of that eventual
+machine of the law, the State penitentiary, which he had been struggling
+so hard to evade.
+
+The receiving overseer, Roger Kendall, though thin and clerical, was
+a rather capable man, as prison officials go--shrewd, not particularly
+well educated, not over-intelligent naturally, not over-industrious,
+but sufficiently energetic to hold his position. He knew something about
+convicts--considerable--for he had been dealing with them for nearly
+twenty-six years. His attitude toward them was cold, cynical, critical.
+
+He did not permit any of them to come into personal contact with
+him, but he saw to it that underlings in his presence carried out the
+requirements of the law.
+
+When Cowperwood entered, dressed in his very good clothing--a dark
+gray-blue twill suit of pure wool, a light, well-made gray overcoat, a
+black derby hat of the latest shape, his shoes new and of good leather,
+his tie of the best silk, heavy and conservatively colored, his hair and
+mustache showing the attention of an intelligent barber, and his hands
+well manicured--the receiving overseer saw at once that he was in the
+presence of some one of superior intelligence and force, such a man as
+the fortune of his trade rarely brought into his net.
+
+Cowperwood stood in the middle of the room without apparently looking at
+any one or anything, though he saw all. "Convict number 3633," Kendall
+called to a clerk, handing him at the same time a yellow slip of paper
+on which was written Cowperwood's full name and his record number,
+counting from the beginning of the penitentiary itself.
+
+The underling, a convict, took it and entered it in a book, reserving
+the slip at the same time for the penitentiary "runner" or "trusty," who
+would eventually take Cowperwood to the "manners" gallery.
+
+"You will have to take off your clothes and take a bath," said Kendall
+to Cowperwood, eyeing him curiously. "I don't suppose you need one, but
+it's the rule."
+
+"Thank you," replied Cowperwood, pleased that his personality was
+counting for something even here. "Whatever the rules are, I want to
+obey."
+
+When he started to take off his coat, however, Kendall put up his hand
+delayingly and tapped a bell. There now issued from an adjoining room
+an assistant, a prison servitor, a weird-looking specimen of the genus
+"trusty." He was a small, dark, lopsided individual, one leg being
+slightly shorter, and therefore one shoulder lower, than the other. He
+was hollow-chested, squint-eyed, and rather shambling, but spry enough
+withal. He was dressed in a thin, poorly made, baggy suit of striped
+jeans, the prison stripes of the place, showing a soft roll-collar shirt
+underneath, and wearing a large, wide-striped cap, peculiarly offensive
+in its size and shape to Cowperwood. He could not help thinking how
+uncanny the man's squint eyes looked under its straight outstanding
+visor. The trusty had a silly, sycophantic manner of raising one hand
+in salute. He was a professional "second-story man," "up" for ten years,
+but by dint of good behavior he had attained to the honor of working
+about this office without the degrading hood customary for prisoners to
+wear over the cap. For this he was properly grateful. He now considered
+his superior with nervous dog-like eyes, and looked at Cowperwood with a
+certain cunning appreciation of his lot and a show of initial mistrust.
+
+One prisoner is as good as another to the average convict; as a matter
+of fact, it is their only consolation in their degradation that all who
+come here are no better than they. The world may have misused them; but
+they misuse their confreres in their thoughts. The "holier than thou"
+attitude, intentional or otherwise, is quite the last and most deadly
+offense within prison walls. This particular "trusty" could no more
+understand Cowperwood than could a fly the motions of a fly-wheel; but
+with the cocky superiority of the underling of the world he did not
+hesitate to think that he could. A crook was a crook to him--Cowperwood
+no less than the shabbiest pickpocket. His one feeling was that he would
+like to demean him, to pull him down to his own level.
+
+"You will have to take everything you have out of your pockets," Kendall
+now informed Cowperwood. Ordinarily he would have said, "Search the
+prisoner."
+
+Cowperwood stepped forward and laid out a purse with twenty-five dollars
+in it, a pen-knife, a lead-pencil, a small note-book, and a little
+ivory elephant which Aileen had given him once, "for luck," and which
+he treasured solely because she gave it to him. Kendall looked at
+the latter curiously. "Now you can go on," he said to the "trusty,"
+referring to the undressing and bathing process which was to follow.
+
+"This way," said the latter, addressing Cowperwood, and preceding him
+into an adjoining room, where three closets held three old-fashioned,
+iron-bodied, wooden-top bath-tubs, with their attendant shelves for
+rough crash towels, yellow soap, and the like, and hooks for clothes.
+
+"Get in there," said the trusty, whose name was Thomas Kuby, pointing to
+one of the tubs.
+
+Cowperwood realized that this was the beginning of petty official
+supervision; but he deemed it wise to appear friendly even here.
+
+"I see," he said. "I will."
+
+"That's right," replied the attendant, somewhat placated. "What did you
+bring?"
+
+Cowperwood looked at him quizzically. He did not understand. The prison
+attendant realized that this man did not know the lingo of the place.
+"What did you bring?" he repeated. "How many years did you get?"
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Cowperwood, comprehendingly. "I understand. Four and
+three months."
+
+He decided to humor the man. It would probably be better so.
+
+"What for?" inquired Kuby, familiarly.
+
+Cowperwood's blood chilled slightly. "Larceny," he said.
+
+"Yuh got off easy," commented Kuby. "I'm up for ten. A rube judge did
+that to me."
+
+Kuby had never heard of Cowperwood's crime. He would not have understood
+its subtleties if he had. Cowperwood did not want to talk to this
+man; he did not know how. He wished he would go away; but that was not
+likely. He wanted to be put in his cell and let alone.
+
+"That's too bad," he answered; and the convict realized clearly that
+this man was really not one of them, or he would not have said anything
+like that. Kuby went to the two hydrants opening into the bath-tub and
+turned them on. Cowperwood had been undressing the while, and now stood
+naked, but not ashamed, in front of this eighth-rate intelligence.
+
+"Don't forget to wash your head, too," said Kuby, and went away.
+
+Cowperwood stood there while the water ran, meditating on his fate. It
+was strange how life had dealt with him of late--so severely. Unlike
+most men in his position, he was not suffering from a consciousness
+of evil. He did not think he was evil. As he saw it, he was merely
+unfortunate. To think that he should be actually in this great, silent
+penitentiary, a convict, waiting here beside this cheap iron bathtub,
+not very sweet or hygienic to contemplate, with this crackbrained
+criminal to watch over him!
+
+He stepped into the tub and washed himself briskly with the biting
+yellow soap, drying himself on one of the rough, only partially bleached
+towels. He looked for his underwear, but there was none. At this point
+the attendant looked in again. "Out here," he said, inconsiderately.
+
+Cowperwood followed, naked. He was led through the receiving overseer's
+office into a room, where were scales, implements of measurement, a
+record-book, etc. The attendant who stood guard at the door now came
+over, and the clerk who sat in a corner automatically took down a
+record-blank. Kendall surveyed Cowperwood's decidedly graceful figure,
+already inclining to a slight thickening around the waist, and approved
+of it as superior to that of most who came here. His skin, as he
+particularly noted, was especially white.
+
+"Step on the scale," said the attendant, brusquely.
+
+Cowperwood did so, The former adjusted the weights and scanned the
+record carefully.
+
+"Weight, one hundred and seventy-five," he called. "Now step over here."
+
+He indicated a spot in the side wall where was fastened in a thin
+slat--which ran from the floor to about seven and one half feet above,
+perpendicularly--a small movable wooden indicator, which, when a man was
+standing under it, could be pressed down on his head. At the side of
+the slat were the total inches of height, laid off in halves, quarters,
+eighths, and so on, and to the right a length measurement for the arm.
+Cowperwood understood what was wanted and stepped under the indicator,
+standing quite straight.
+
+"Feet level, back to the wall," urged the attendant. "So. Height, five
+feet nine and ten-sixteenths," he called. The clerk in the corner noted
+it. He now produced a tape-measure and began measuring Cowperwood's
+arms, legs, chest, waist, hips, etc. He called out the color of his
+eyes, his hair, his mustache, and, looking into his mouth, exclaimed,
+"Teeth, all sound."
+
+After Cowperwood had once more given his address, age, profession,
+whether he knew any trade, etc.--which he did not--he was allowed
+to return to the bathroom, and put on the clothing which the prison
+provided for him--first the rough, prickly underwear, then the cheap
+soft roll-collar, white-cotton shirt, then the thick bluish-gray cotton
+socks of a quality such as he had never worn in his life, and over these
+a pair of indescribable rough-leather clogs, which felt to his feet as
+though they were made of wood or iron--oily and heavy. He then drew on
+the shapeless, baggy trousers with their telltale stripes, and over his
+arms and chest the loose-cut shapeless coat and waistcoat. He felt and
+knew of course that he looked very strange, wretched. And as he stepped
+out into the overseer's room again he experienced a peculiar sense of
+depression, a gone feeling which before this had not assailed him and
+which now he did his best to conceal. This, then, was what society did
+to the criminal, he thought to himself. It took him and tore away from
+his body and his life the habiliments of his proper state and left him
+these. He felt sad and grim, and, try as he would--he could not help
+showing it for a moment. It was always his business and his intention
+to conceal his real feelings, but now it was not quite possible. He felt
+degraded, impossible, in these clothes, and he knew that he looked
+it. Nevertheless, he did his best to pull himself together and look
+unconcerned, willing, obedient, considerate of those above him. After
+all, he said to himself, it was all a play of sorts, a dream even, if
+one chose to view it so, a miasma even, from which, in the course of
+time and with a little luck one might emerge safely enough. He hoped so.
+It could not last. He was only acting a strange, unfamiliar part on the
+stage, this stage of life that he knew so well.
+
+Kendall did not waste any time looking at him, however. He merely said
+to his assistant, "See if you can find a cap for him," and the latter,
+going to a closet containing numbered shelves, took down a cap--a
+high-crowned, straight-visored, shabby, striped affair which Cowperwood
+was asked to try on. It fitted well enough, slipping down close over his
+ears, and he thought that now his indignities must be about complete.
+What could be added? There could be no more of these disconcerting
+accoutrements. But he was mistaken. "Now, Kuby, you take him to Mr.
+Chapin," said Kendall.
+
+Kuby understood. He went back into the wash-room and produced what
+Cowperwood had heard of but never before seen--a blue-and-white-striped
+cotton bag about half the length of an ordinary pillow-case and half
+again as wide, which Kuby now unfolded and shook out as he came toward
+him. It was a custom. The use of this hood, dating from the earliest
+days of the prison, was intended to prevent a sense of location and
+direction and thereby obviate any attempt to escape. Thereafter during
+all his stay he was not supposed to walk with or talk to or see another
+prisoner--not even to converse with his superiors, unless addressed. It
+was a grim theory, and yet one definitely enforced here, although as he
+was to learn later even this could be modified here.
+
+"You'll have to put this on," Kuby said, and opened it in such a way
+that it could be put over Cowperwood's head.
+
+Cowperwood understood. He had heard of it in some way, in times past. He
+was a little shocked--looked at it first with a touch of real surprise,
+but a moment after lifted his hands and helped pull it down.
+
+"Never mind," cautioned the guard, "put your hands down. I'll get it
+over."
+
+Cowperwood dropped his arms. When it was fully on, it came to about his
+chest, giving him little means of seeing anything. He felt very strange,
+very humiliated, very downcast. This simple thing of a blue-and-white
+striped bag over his head almost cost him his sense of self-possession.
+Why could not they have spared him this last indignity, he thought?
+
+"This way," said his attendant, and he was led out to where he could not
+say.
+
+"If you hold it out in front you can see to walk," said his guide; and
+Cowperwood pulled it out, thus being able to discern his feet and a
+portion of the floor below. He was thus conducted--seeing nothing in his
+transit--down a short walk, then through a long corridor, then through a
+room of uniformed guards, and finally up a narrow flight of iron steps,
+leading to the overseer's office on the second floor of one of the
+two-tier blocks. There, he heard the voice of Kuby saying: "Mr. Chapin,
+here's another prisoner for you from Mr. Kendall."
+
+"I'll be there in a minute," came a peculiarly pleasant voice from the
+distance. Presently a big, heavy hand closed about his arm, and he was
+conducted still further.
+
+"You hain't got far to go now," the voice said, "and then I'll take
+that bag off," and Cowperwood felt for some reason a sense of sympathy,
+perhaps--as though he would choke. The further steps were not many.
+
+A cell door was reached and unlocked by the inserting of a great iron
+key. It was swung open, and the same big hand guided him through. A
+moment later the bag was pulled easily from his head, and he saw that he
+was in a narrow, whitewashed cell, rather dim, windowless, but lighted
+from the top by a small skylight of frosted glass three and one half
+feet long by four inches wide. For a night light there was a tin-bodied
+lamp swinging from a hook near the middle of one of the side walls. A
+rough iron cot, furnished with a straw mattress and two pairs of dark
+blue, probably unwashed blankets, stood in one corner. There was a
+hydrant and small sink in another. A small shelf occupied the wall
+opposite the bed. A plain wooden chair with a homely round back stood at
+the foot of the bed, and a fairly serviceable broom was standing in one
+corner. There was an iron stool or pot for excreta, giving, as he could
+see, into a large drain-pipe which ran along the inside wall, and which
+was obviously flushed by buckets of water being poured into it. Rats
+and other vermin infested this, and it gave off an unpleasant odor which
+filled the cell. The floor was of stone. Cowperwood's clear-seeing
+eyes took it all in at a glance. He noted the hard cell door, which was
+barred and cross-barred with great round rods of steel, and fastened
+with a thick, highly polished lock. He saw also that beyond this was a
+heavy wooden door, which could shut him in even more completely than the
+iron one. There was no chance for any clear, purifying sunlight here.
+Cleanliness depended entirely on whitewash, soap and water and sweeping,
+which in turn depended on the prisoners themselves.
+
+He also took in Chapin, the homely, good-natured, cell overseer whom he
+now saw for the first time--a large, heavy, lumbering man, rather dusty
+and misshapen-looking, whose uniform did not fit him well, and whose
+manner of standing made him look as though he would much prefer to sit
+down. He was obviously bulky, but not strong, and his kindly face was
+covered with a short growth of grayish-brown whiskers. His hair was cut
+badly and stuck out in odd strings or wisps from underneath his big cap.
+Nevertheless, Cowperwood was not at all unfavorably impressed--quite the
+contrary--and he felt at once that this man might be more considerate of
+him than the others had been. He hoped so, anyhow. He did not know that
+he was in the presence of the overseer of the "manners squad," who would
+have him in charge for two weeks only, instructing him in the rules of
+the prison, and that he was only one of twenty-six, all told, who were
+in Chapin's care.
+
+That worthy, by way of easy introduction, now went over to the bed
+and seated himself on it. He pointed to the hard wooden chair, which
+Cowperwood drew out and sat on.
+
+"Well, now you're here, hain't yuh?" he asked, and answered himself
+quite genially, for he was an unlettered man, generously disposed, of
+long experience with criminals, and inclined to deal kindly with kindly
+temperament and a form of religious belief--Quakerism--had inclined him
+to be merciful, and yet his official duties, as Cowperwood later found
+out, seemed to have led him to the conclusion that most criminals
+were innately bad. Like Kendall, he regarded them as weaklings and
+ne'er-do-wells with evil streaks in them, and in the main he was not
+mistaken. Yet he could not help being what he was, a fatherly, kindly
+old man, having faith in those shibboleths of the weak and inexperienced
+mentally--human justice and human decency.
+
+"Yes, I'm here, Mr. Chapin," Cowperwood replied, simply, remembering his
+name from the attendant, and flattering the keeper by the use of it.
+
+To old Chapin the situation was more or less puzzling. This was the
+famous Frank A. Cowperwood whom he had read about, the noted banker and
+treasury-looter. He and his co-partner in crime, Stener, were destined
+to serve, as he had read, comparatively long terms here. Five hundred
+thousand dollars was a large sum of money in those days, much more
+than five million would have been forty years later. He was awed by the
+thought of what had become of it--how Cowperwood managed to do all
+the things the papers had said he had done. He had a little formula of
+questions which he usually went through with each new prisoner--asking
+him if he was sorry now for the crime he had committed, if he meant to
+do better with a new chance, if his father and mother were alive,
+etc.; and by the manner in which they answered these questions--simply,
+regretfully, defiantly, or otherwise--he judged whether they were being
+adequately punished or not. Yet he could not talk to Cowperwood as
+he now saw or as he would to the average second-story burglar,
+store-looter, pickpocket, and plain cheap thief and swindler. And yet he
+scarcely knew how else to talk.
+
+"Well, now," he went on, "I don't suppose you ever thought you'd get to
+a place like this, did you, Mr. Cowperwood?"
+
+"I never did," replied Frank, simply. "I wouldn't have believed it a few
+months ago, Mr. Chapin. I don't think I deserve to be here now, though
+of course there is no use of my telling you that."
+
+He saw that old Chapin wanted to moralize a little, and he was only too
+glad to fall in with his mood. He would soon be alone with no one to
+talk to perhaps, and if a sympathetic understanding could be reached
+with this man now, so much the better. Any port in a storm; any straw to
+a drowning man.
+
+"Well, no doubt all of us makes mistakes," continued Mr. Chapin,
+superiorly, with an amusing faith in his own value as a moral guide and
+reformer. "We can't just always tell how the plans we think so fine are
+coming out, can we? You're here now, an' I suppose you're sorry certain
+things didn't come out just as you thought; but if you had a chance I
+don't suppose you'd try to do just as you did before, now would yuh?"
+
+"No, Mr. Chapin, I wouldn't, exactly," said Cowperwood, truly enough,
+"though I believed I was right in everything I did. I don't think legal
+justice has really been done me."
+
+"Well, that's the way," continued Chapin, meditatively, scratching his
+grizzled head and looking genially about. "Sometimes, as I allers says
+to some of these here young fellers that comes in here, we don't know as
+much as we thinks we does. We forget that others are just as smart as we
+are, and that there are allers people that are watchin' us all the time.
+These here courts and jails and detectives--they're here all the time,
+and they get us. I gad"--Chapin's moral version of "by God"--"they do,
+if we don't behave."
+
+"Yes," Cowperwood replied, "that's true enough, Mr. Chapin."
+
+"Well," continued the old man after a time, after he had made a few more
+solemn, owl-like, and yet well-intentioned remarks, "now here's your
+bed, and there's your chair, and there's your wash-stand, and there's
+your water-closet. Now keep 'em all clean and use 'em right." (You would
+have thought he was making Cowperwood a present of a fortune.) "You're
+the one's got to make up your bed every mornin' and keep your floor
+swept and your toilet flushed and your cell clean. There hain't anybody
+here'll do that for yuh. You want to do all them things the first thing
+in the mornin' when you get up, and afterward you'll get sumpin' to eat,
+about six-thirty. You're supposed to get up at five-thirty."
+
+"Yes, Mr. Chapin," Cowperwood said, politely. "You can depend on me to
+do all those things promptly."
+
+"There hain't so much more," added Chapin. "You're supposed to wash
+yourself all over once a week an' I'll give you a clean towel for that.
+Next you gotta wash this floor up every Friday mornin'." Cowperwood
+winced at that. "You kin have hot water for that if you want it. I'll
+have one of the runners bring it to you. An' as for your friends and
+relations"--he got up and shook himself like a big Newfoundland dog.
+"You gotta wife, hain't you?"
+
+"Yes," replied Cowperwood.
+
+"Well, the rules here are that your wife or your friends kin come to see
+you once in three months, and your lawyer--you gotta lawyer hain't yuh?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Cowperwood, amused.
+
+"Well, he kin come every week or so if he likes--every day, I
+guess--there hain't no rules about lawyers. But you kin only write one
+letter once in three months yourself, an' if you want anything like
+tobaccer or the like o' that, from the store-room, you gotta sign an
+order for it, if you got any money with the warden, an' then I can git
+it for you."
+
+The old man was really above taking small tips in the shape of money.
+He was a hold-over from a much more severe and honest regime, but
+subsequent presents or constant flattery were not amiss in making him
+kindly and generous. Cowperwood read him accurately.
+
+"Very well, Mr. Chapin; I understand," he said, getting up as the old
+man did.
+
+"Then when you have been here two weeks," added Chapin, rather
+ruminatively (he had forgot to state this to Cowperwood before), "the
+warden 'll come and git yuh and give yuh yer regular cell summers
+down-stairs. Yuh kin make up yer mind by that time what y'u'd like tuh
+do, what y'u'd like to work at. If you behave yourself proper, more'n
+like they'll give yuh a cell with a yard. Yuh never can tell."
+
+He went out, locking the door with a solemn click; and Cowperwood stood
+there, a little more depressed than he had been, because of this latest
+intelligence. Only two weeks, and then he would be transferred from this
+kindly old man's care to another's, whom he did not know and with whom
+he might not fare so well.
+
+"If ever you want me for anything--if ye're sick or sumpin' like that,"
+Chapin now returned to say, after he had walked a few paces away, "we
+have a signal here of our own. Just hang your towel out through these
+here bars. I'll see it, and I'll stop and find out what yuh want, when
+I'm passin'."
+
+Cowperwood, whose spirits had sunk, revived for the moment.
+
+"Yes, sir," he replied; "thank you, Mr. Chapin."
+
+The old man walked away, and Cowperwood heard his steps dying down
+the cement-paved hall. He stood and listened, his ears being greeted
+occasionally by a distant cough, a faint scraping of some one's feet,
+the hum or whir of a machine, or the iron scratch of a key in a lock.
+None of the noises was loud. Rather they were all faint and far away.
+He went over and looked at the bed, which was not very clean and without
+linen, and anything but wide or soft, and felt it curiously. So here
+was where he was to sleep from now on--he who so craved and appreciated
+luxury and refinement. If Aileen or some of his rich friends should see
+him here. Worse, he was sickened by the thought of possible vermin.
+How could he tell? How would he do? The one chair was abominable. The
+skylight was weak. He tried to think of himself as becoming accustomed
+to the situation, but he re-discovered the offal pot in one corner, and
+that discouraged him. It was possible that rats might come up here--it
+looked that way. No pictures, no books, no scene, no person, no space to
+walk--just the four bare walls and silence, which he would be shut into
+at night by the thick door. What a horrible fate!
+
+He sat down and contemplated his situation. So here he was at last in
+the Eastern Penitentiary, and doomed, according to the judgment of the
+politicians (Butler among others), to remain here four long years and
+longer. Stener, it suddenly occurred to him, was probably being put
+through the same process he had just gone through. Poor old Stener!
+What a fool he had made of himself. But because of his foolishness he
+deserved all he was now getting. But the difference between himself and
+Stener was that they would let Stener out. It was possible that already
+they were easing his punishment in some way that he, Cowperwood, did not
+know. He put his hand to his chin, thinking--his business, his house,
+his friends, his family, Aileen. He felt for his watch, but remembered
+that they had taken that. There was no way of telling the time. Neither
+had he any notebook, pen, or pencil with which to amuse or interest
+himself. Besides he had had nothing to eat since morning. Still, that
+mattered little. What did matter was that he was shut up here away from
+the world, quite alone, quite lonely, without knowing what time it
+was, and that he could not attend to any of the things he ought to
+be attending to--his business affairs, his future. True, Steger would
+probably come to see him after a while. That would help a little. But
+even so--think of his position, his prospects up to the day of the fire
+and his state now. He sat looking at his shoes; his suit. God! He got
+up and walked to and fro, to and fro, but his own steps and movements
+sounded so loud. He walked to the cell door and looked out through the
+thick bars, but there was nothing to see--nothing save a portion of two
+cell doors opposite, something like his own. He came back and sat in his
+single chair, meditating, but, getting weary of that finally, stretched
+himself on the dirty prison bed to try it. It was not uncomfortable
+entirely. He got up after a while, however, and sat, then walked,
+then sat. What a narrow place to walk, he thought. This was
+horrible--something like a living tomb. And to think he should be here
+now, day after day and day after day, until--until what? Until
+the Governor pardoned him or his time was up, or his fortune eaten
+away--or--
+
+So he cogitated while the hours slipped by. It was nearly five o'clock
+before Steger was able to return, and then only for a little while.
+He had been arranging for Cowperwood's appearance on the following
+Thursday, Friday, and Monday in his several court proceedings. When he
+was gone, however, and the night fell and Cowperwood had to trim his
+little, shabby oil-lamp and to drink the strong tea and eat the rough,
+poor bread made of bran and white flour, which was shoved to him
+through the small aperture in the door by the trencher trusty, who was
+accompanied by the overseer to see that it was done properly, he really
+felt very badly. And after that the center wooden door of his cell was
+presently closed and locked by a trusty who slammed it rudely and said
+no word. Nine o'clock would be sounded somewhere by a great bell, he
+understood, when his smoky oil-lamp would have to be put out promptly
+and he would have to undress and go to bed. There were punishments,
+no doubt, for infractions of these rules--reduced rations, the
+strait-jacket, perhaps stripes--he scarcely knew what. He felt
+disconsolate, grim, weary. He had put up such a long, unsatisfactory
+fight. After washing his heavy stone cup and tin plate at the hydrant,
+he took off the sickening uniform and shoes and even the drawers of
+the scratching underwear, and stretched himself wearily on the bed. The
+place was not any too warm, and he tried to make himself comfortable
+between the blankets--but it was of little use. His soul was cold.
+
+"This will never do," he said to himself. "This will never do. I'm not
+sure whether I can stand much of this or not." Still he turned his face
+to the wall, and after several hours sleep eventually came.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LIV
+
+
+Those who by any pleasing courtesy of fortune, accident of birth,
+inheritance, or the wisdom of parents or friends, have succeeded in
+avoiding making that anathema of the prosperous and comfortable, "a
+mess of their lives," will scarcely understand the mood of Cowperwood,
+sitting rather gloomily in his cell these first days, wondering what, in
+spite of his great ingenuity, was to become of him. The strongest have
+their hours of depression. There are times when life to those endowed
+with the greatest intelligence--perhaps mostly to those--takes on a
+somber hue. They see so many phases of its dreary subtleties. It is
+only when the soul of man has been built up into some strange
+self-confidence, some curious faith in its own powers, based, no doubt,
+on the actual presence of these same powers subtly involved in the body,
+that it fronts life unflinchingly. It would be too much to say that
+Cowperwood's mind was of the first order. It was subtle enough in all
+conscience--and involved, as is common with the executively great, with
+a strong sense of personal advancement. It was a powerful mind, turning,
+like a vast searchlight, a glittering ray into many a dark corner; but
+it was not sufficiently disinterested to search the ultimate dark.
+He realized, in a way, what the great astronomers, sociologists,
+philosophers, chemists, physicists, and physiologists were meditating;
+but he could not be sure in his own mind that, whatever it was, it was
+important for him. No doubt life held many strange secrets. Perhaps it
+was essential that somebody should investigate them. However that might
+be, the call of his own soul was in another direction. His business was
+to make money--to organize something which would make him much money,
+or, better yet, save the organization he had begun.
+
+But this, as he now looked upon it, was almost impossible. It had been
+too disarranged and complicated by unfortunate circumstances. He might,
+as Steger pointed out to him, string out these bankruptcy proceedings
+for years, tiring out one creditor and another, but in the meantime the
+properties involved were being seriously damaged. Interest charges
+on his unsatisfied loans were making heavy inroads; court costs were
+mounting up; and, to cap it all, he had discovered with Steger that
+there were a number of creditors--those who had sold out to Butler, and
+incidentally to Mollenhauer--who would never accept anything except the
+full value of their claims. His one hope now was to save what he could
+by compromise a little later, and to build up some sort of profitable
+business through Stephen Wingate. The latter was coming in a day or two,
+as soon as Steger had made some working arrangement for him with
+Warden Michael Desmas who came the second day to have a look at the new
+prisoner.
+
+Desmas was a large man physically--Irish by birth, a politician by
+training--who had been one thing and another in Philadelphia from a
+policeman in his early days and a corporal in the Civil War to a
+ward captain under Mollenhauer. He was a canny man, tall, raw-boned,
+singularly muscular-looking, who for all his fifty-seven years looked
+as though he could give a splendid account of himself in a physical
+contest. His hands were large and bony, his face more square than
+either round or long, and his forehead high. He had a vigorous growth
+of short-clipped, iron-gray hair, and a bristly iron-gray mustache,
+very short, keen, intelligent blue-gray eyes; a florid complexion;
+and even-edged, savage-looking teeth, which showed the least bit in
+a slightly wolfish way when he smiled. However, he was not as cruel a
+person as he looked to be; temperamental, to a certain extent hard, and
+on occasions savage, but with kindly hours also. His greatest weakness
+was that he was not quite mentally able to recognize that there were
+mental and social differences between prisoners, and that now and then
+one was apt to appear here who, with or without political influences,
+was eminently worthy of special consideration. What he could recognize
+was the differences pointed out to him by the politicians in special
+cases, such as that of Stener--not Cowperwood. However, seeing that
+the prison was a public institution apt to be visited at any time by
+lawyers, detectives, doctors, preachers, propagandists, and the public
+generally, and that certain rules and regulations had to be enforced (if
+for no other reason than to keep a moral and administrative control over
+his own help), it was necessary to maintain--and that even in the face
+of the politician--a certain amount of discipline, system, and order,
+and it was not possible to be too liberal with any one. There were,
+however, exceptional cases--men of wealth and refinement, victims
+of those occasional uprisings which so shocked the political leaders
+generally--who had to be looked after in a friendly way.
+
+Desmas was quite aware, of course, of the history of Cowperwood and
+Stener. The politicians had already given him warning that Stener,
+because of his past services to the community, was to be treated with
+special consideration. Not so much was said about Cowperwood, although
+they did admit that his lot was rather hard. Perhaps he might do a
+little something for him but at his own risk.
+
+"Butler is down on him," Strobik said to Desmas, on one occasion. "It's
+that girl of his that's at the bottom of it all. If you listened to
+Butler you'd feed him on bread and water, but he isn't a bad fellow.
+As a matter of fact, if George had had any sense Cowperwood wouldn't be
+where he is to-day. But the big fellows wouldn't let Stener alone. They
+wouldn't let him give Cowperwood any money."
+
+Although Strobik had been one of those who, under pressure from
+Mollenhauer, had advised Stener not to let Cowperwood have any more
+money, yet here he was pointing out the folly of the victim's course.
+The thought of the inconsistency involved did not trouble him in the
+least.
+
+Desmas decided, therefore, that if Cowperwood were persona non grata to
+the "Big Three," it might be necessary to be indifferent to him, or at
+least slow in extending him any special favors. For Stener a good chair,
+clean linen, special cutlery and dishes, the daily papers, privileges
+in the matter of mail, the visits of friends, and the like. For
+Cowperwood--well, he would have to look at Cowperwood and see what he
+thought. At the same time, Steger's intercessions were not without their
+effect on Desmas. So the morning after Cowperwood's entrance the warden
+received a letter from Terrence Relihan, the Harrisburg potentate,
+indicating that any kindness shown to Mr. Cowperwood would be duly
+appreciated by him. Upon the receipt of this letter Desmas went up and
+looked through Cowperwood's iron door. On the way he had a brief talk
+with Chapin, who told him what a nice man he thought Cowperwood was.
+
+Desmas had never seen Cowperwood before, but in spite of the shabby
+uniform, the clog shoes, the cheap shirt, and the wretched cell, he was
+impressed. Instead of the weak, anaemic body and the shifty eyes of the
+average prisoner, he saw a man whose face and form blazed energy and
+power, and whose vigorous erectness no wretched clothes or conditions
+could demean. He lifted his head when Desmas appeared, glad that any
+form should have appeared at his door, and looked at him with large,
+clear, examining eyes--those eyes that in the past had inspired so
+much confidence and surety in all those who had known him. Desmas was
+stirred. Compared with Stener, whom he knew in the past and whom he had
+met on his entry, this man was a force. Say what you will, one vigorous
+man inherently respects another. And Desmas was vigorous physically. He
+eyed Cowperwood and Cowperwood eyed him. Instinctively Desmas liked him.
+He was like one tiger looking at another.
+
+Instinctively Cowperwood knew that he was the warden. "This is Mr.
+Desmas, isn't it?" he asked, courteously and pleasantly.
+
+"Yes, sir, I'm the man," replied Desmas interestedly. "These rooms are
+not as comfortable as they might be, are they?" The warden's even teeth
+showed in a friendly, yet wolfish, way.
+
+"They certainly are not, Mr. Desmas," replied Cowperwood, standing
+very erect and soldier-like. "I didn't imagine I was coming to a hotel,
+however." He smiled.
+
+"There isn't anything special I can do for you, is there, Mr.
+Cowperwood?" began Desmas curiously, for he was moved by a thought that
+at some time or other a man such as this might be of service to him.
+"I've been talking to your lawyer." Cowperwood was intensely gratified
+by the Mr. So that was the way the wind was blowing. Well, then, within
+reason, things might not prove so bad here. He would see. He would sound
+this man out.
+
+"I don't want to be asking anything, Warden, which you cannot reasonably
+give," he now returned politely. "But there are a few things, of course,
+that I would change if I could. I wish I might have sheets for my bed,
+and I could afford better underwear if you would let me wear it. This
+that I have on annoys me a great deal."
+
+"They're not the best wool, that's true enough," replied Desmas,
+solemnly. "They're made for the State out here in Pennsylvania
+somewhere. I suppose there's no objection to your wearing your own
+underwear if you want to. I'll see about that. And the sheets, too. We
+might let you use them if you have them. We'll have to go a little slow
+about this. There are a lot of people that take a special interest in
+showing the warden how to tend to his business."
+
+"I can readily understand that, Warden," went on Cowperwood briskly,
+"and I'm certainly very much obliged to you. You may be sure that
+anything you do for me here will be appreciated, and not misused, and
+that I have friends on the outside who can reciprocate for me in the
+course of time." He talked slowly and emphatically, looking Desmas
+directly in the eye all of the time. Desmas was very much impressed.
+
+"That's all right," he said, now that he had gone so far as to be
+friendly. "I can't promise much. Prison rules are prison rules. But
+there are some things that can be done, because it's the rule to do them
+for other men when they behave themselves. You can have a better chair
+than that, if you want it, and something to read too. If you're in
+business yet, I wouldn't want to do anything to stop that. We can't have
+people running in and out of here every fifteen minutes, and you can't
+turn a cell into a business office--that's not possible. It would break
+up the order of the place. Still, there's no reason why you shouldn't
+see some of your friends now and then. As for your mail--well, that will
+have to be opened in the ordinary way for the time being, anyhow. I'll
+have to see about that. I can't promise too much. You'll have to wait
+until you come out of this block and down-stairs. Some of the cells
+have a yard there; if there are any empty--" The warden cocked his eye
+wisely, and Cowperwood saw that his tot was not to be as bad as he
+had anticipated--though bad enough. The warden spoke to him about the
+different trades he might follow, and asked him to think about the one
+he would prefer. "You want to have something to keep your hands busy,
+whatever else you want. You'll find you'll need that. Everybody here
+wants to work after a time. I notice that."
+
+Cowperwood understood and thanked Desmas profusely. The horror of
+idleness in silence and in a cell scarcely large enough to turn around
+in comfortably had already begun to creep over him, and the thought of
+being able to see Wingate and Steger frequently, and to have his mail
+reach him, after a time, untampered with, was a great relief. He was
+to have his own underwear, silk and wool--thank God!--and perhaps
+they would let him take off these shoes after a while. With these
+modifications and a trade, and perhaps the little yard which Desmas had
+referred to, his life would be, if not ideal, at least tolerable. The
+prison was still a prison, but it looked as though it might not be so
+much of a terror to him as obviously it must be to many.
+
+During the two weeks in which Cowperwood was in the "manners squad,"
+in care of Chapin, he learned nearly as much as he ever learned of the
+general nature of prison life; for this was not an ordinary penitentiary
+in the sense that the prison yard, the prison squad, the prison
+lock-step, the prison dining-room, and prison associated labor make the
+ordinary penitentiary. There was, for him and for most of those confined
+there, no general prison life whatsoever. The large majority were
+supposed to work silently in their cells at the particular tasks
+assigned them, and not to know anything of the remainder of the life
+which went on around them, the rule of this prison being solitary
+confinement, and few being permitted to work at the limited number of
+outside menial tasks provided. Indeed, as he sensed and as old Chapin
+soon informed him, not more than seventy-five of the four hundred
+prisoners confined here were so employed, and not all of these
+regularly--cooking, gardening in season, milling, and general cleaning
+being the only avenues of escape from solitude. Even those who so worked
+were strictly forbidden to talk, and although they did not have to wear
+the objectionable hood when actually employed, they were supposed
+to wear it in going to and from their work. Cowperwood saw them
+occasionally tramping by his cell door, and it struck him as strange,
+uncanny, grim. He wished sincerely at times since old Chapin was so
+genial and talkative that he were to be under him permanently; but it
+was not to be.
+
+His two weeks soon passed--drearily enough in all conscience but
+they passed, interlaced with his few commonplace tasks of bed-making,
+floor-sweeping, dressing, eating, undressing, rising at five-thirty, and
+retiring at nine, washing his several dishes after each meal, etc. He
+thought he would never get used to the food. Breakfast, as has been
+said, was at six-thirty, and consisted of coarse black bread made of
+bran and some white flour, and served with black coffee. Dinner was at
+eleven-thirty, and consisted of bean or vegetable soup, with some coarse
+meat in it, and the same bread. Supper was at six, of tea and bread,
+very strong tea and the same bread--no butter, no milk, no sugar.
+Cowperwood did not smoke, so the small allowance of tobacco which was
+permitted was without value to him. Steger called in every day for two
+or three weeks, and after the second day, Stephen Wingate, as his new
+business associate, was permitted to see him also--once every day, if he
+wished, Desmas stated, though the latter felt he was stretching a point
+in permitting this so soon. Both of these visits rarely occupied more
+than an hour, or an hour and a half, and after that the day was long. He
+was taken out on several days on a court order, between nine and five,
+to testify in the bankruptcy proceedings against him, which caused the
+time in the beginning to pass quickly.
+
+It was curious, once he was in prison, safely shut from the world for
+a period of years apparently, how quickly all thought of assisting him
+departed from the minds of those who had been most friendly. He was
+done, so most of them thought. The only thing they could do now would
+be to use their influence to get him out some time; how soon, they could
+not guess. Beyond that there was nothing. He would really never be of
+any great importance to any one any more, or so they thought. It was
+very sad, very tragic, but he was gone--his place knew him not.
+
+"A bright young man, that," observed President Davison of the Girard
+National, on reading of Cowperwood's sentence and incarceration. "Too
+bad! Too bad! He made a great mistake."
+
+Only his parents, Aileen, and his wife--the latter with mingled feelings
+of resentment and sorrow--really missed him. Aileen, because of her
+great passion for him, was suffering most of all. Four years and three
+months; she thought. If he did not get out before then she would be
+nearing twenty-nine and he would be nearing forty. Would he want her
+then? Would she be so attractive? And would nearly five years change his
+point of view? He would have to wear a convict suit all that time, and
+be known as a convict forever after. It was hard to think about, but
+only made her more than ever determined to cling to him, whatever
+happened, and to help him all she could.
+
+Indeed the day after his incarceration she drove out and looked at the
+grim, gray walls of the penitentiary. Knowing nothing absolutely of the
+vast and complicated processes of law and penal servitude, it seemed
+especially terrible to her. What might not they be doing to her Frank?
+Was he suffering much? Was he thinking of her as she was of him? Oh, the
+pity of it all! The pity! The pity of herself--her great love for him!
+She drove home, determined to see him; but as he had originally told
+her that visiting days were only once in three months, and that he would
+have to write her when the next one was, or when she could come, or when
+he could see her on the outside, she scarcely knew what to do. Secrecy
+was the thing.
+
+The next day, however, she wrote him just the same, describing the drive
+she had taken on the stormy afternoon before--the terror of the
+thought that he was behind those grim gray walls--and declaring
+her determination to see him soon. And this letter, under the new
+arrangement, he received at once. He wrote her in reply, giving the
+letter to Wingate to mail. It ran:
+
+My sweet girl:--I fancy you are a little downhearted to think I cannot
+be with you any more soon, but you mustn't be. I suppose you read
+all about the sentence in the paper. I came out here the same
+morning--nearly noon. If I had time, dearest, I'd write you a long
+letter describing the situation so as to ease your mind; but I haven't.
+It's against the rules, and I am really doing this secretly. I'm here,
+though, safe enough, and wish I were out, of course. Sweetest, you must
+be careful how you try to see me at first. You can't do me much service
+outside of cheering me up, and you may do yourself great harm. Besides,
+I think I have done you far more harm than I can ever make up to you and
+that you had best give me up, although I know you do not think so, and
+I would be sad, if you did. I am to be in the Court of Special Pleas,
+Sixth and Chestnut, on Friday at two o'clock; but you cannot see me
+there. I'll be out in charge of my counsel. You must be careful. Perhaps
+you'll think better, and not come here.
+
+This last touch was one of pure gloom, the first Cowperwood had ever
+introduced into their relationship but conditions had changed him.
+Hitherto he had been in the position of the superior being, the one
+who was being sought--although Aileen was and had been well worth
+seeking--and he had thought that he might escape unscathed, and so grow
+in dignity and power until she might not possibly be worthy of him
+any longer. He had had that thought. But here, in stripes, it was a
+different matter. Aileen's position, reduced in value as it was by her
+long, ardent relationship with him, was now, nevertheless, superior to
+his--apparently so. For after all, was she not Edward Butler's daughter,
+and might she, after she had been away from him a while, wish to become
+a convict's bride. She ought not to want to, and she might not want to,
+for all he knew; she might change her mind. She ought not to wait
+for him. Her life was not yet ruined. The public did not know, so he
+thought--not generally anyhow--that she had been his mistress. She might
+marry. Why not, and so pass out of his life forever. And would not that
+be sad for him? And yet did he not owe it to her, to a sense of fair
+play in himself to ask her to give him up, or at least think over the
+wisdom of doing so?
+
+He did her the justice to believe that she would not want to give him
+up; and in his position, however harmful it might be to her, it was an
+advantage, a connecting link with the finest period of his past life,
+to have her continue to love him. He could not, however, scribbling this
+note in his cell in Wingate's presence, and giving it to him to mail
+(Overseer Chapin was kindly keeping a respectful distance, though he was
+supposed to be present), refrain from adding, at the last moment, this
+little touch of doubt which, when she read it, struck Aileen to the
+heart. She read it as gloom on his part--as great depression. Perhaps,
+after all, the penitentiary and so soon, was really breaking his spirit,
+and he had held up so courageously so long. Because of this, now she was
+madly eager to get to him, to console him, even though it was difficult,
+perilous. She must, she said.
+
+In regard to visits from the various members of his family--his mother
+and father, his brother, his wife, and his sister--Cowperwood made
+it plain to them on one of the days on which he was out attending a
+bankruptcy hearing, that even providing it could be arranged he did
+not think they should come oftener than once in three months, unless he
+wrote them or sent word by Steger. The truth was that he really did not
+care to see much of any of them at present. He was sick of the whole
+social scheme of things. In fact he wanted to be rid of the turmoil he
+had been in, seeing it had proved so useless. He had used nearly fifteen
+thousand dollars thus far in defending himself--court costs, family
+maintenance, Steger, etc.; but he did not mind that. He expected to make
+some little money working through Wingate. His family were not utterly
+without funds, sufficient to live on in a small way. He had advised them
+to remove into houses more in keeping with their reduced circumstances,
+which they had done--his mother and father and brothers and sister to
+a three-story brick house of about the caliber of the old Buttonwood
+Street house, and his wife to a smaller, less expensive two-story one on
+North Twenty-first Street, near the penitentiary, a portion of the money
+saved out of the thirty-five thousand dollars extracted from Stener
+under false pretenses aiding to sustain it. Of course all this was
+a terrible descent from the Girard Avenue mansion for the elder
+Cowperwood; for here was none of the furniture which characterized
+the other somewhat gorgeous domicile--merely store-bought, ready-made
+furniture, and neat but cheap hangings and fixtures generally. The
+assignees, to whom all Cowperwood's personal property belonged, and to
+whom Cowperwood, the elder, had surrendered all his holdings, would not
+permit anything of importance to be removed. It had all to be sold for
+the benefit of creditors. A few very small things, but only a few, had
+been kept, as everything had been inventoried some time before. One of
+the things which old Cowperwood wanted was his own desk which Frank had
+had designed for him; but as it was valued at five hundred dollars and
+could not be relinquished by the sheriff except on payment of that sum,
+or by auction, and as Henry Cowperwood had no such sum to spare, he had
+to let the desk go. There were many things they all wanted, and Anna
+Adelaide had literally purloined a few though she did not admit the fact
+to her parents until long afterward.
+
+There came a day when the two houses in Girard Avenue were the scene
+of a sheriffs sale, during which the general public, without let or
+hindrance, was permitted to tramp through the rooms and examine the
+pictures, statuary, and objects of art generally, which were
+auctioned off to the highest bidder. Considerable fame had attached to
+Cowperwood's activities in this field, owing in the first place to the
+real merit of what he had brought together, and in the next place to the
+enthusiastic comment of such men as Wilton Ellsworth, Fletcher Norton,
+Gordon Strake--architects and art dealers whose judgment and taste were
+considered important in Philadelphia. All of the lovely things by which
+he had set great store--small bronzes, representative of the best
+period of the Italian Renaissance; bits of Venetian glass which he had
+collected with great care--a full curio case; statues by Powers, Hosmer,
+and Thorwaldsen--things which would be smiled at thirty years later,
+but which were of high value then; all of his pictures by representative
+American painters from Gilbert to Eastman Johnson, together with a few
+specimens of the current French and English schools, went for a song.
+Art judgment in Philadelphia at this time was not exceedingly high;
+and some of the pictures, for lack of appreciative understanding, were
+disposed of at much too low a figure. Strake, Norton, and Ellsworth
+were all present and bought liberally. Senator Simpson, Mollenhauer, and
+Strobik came to see what they could see. The small-fry politicians
+were there, en masse. But Simpson, calm judge of good art, secured
+practically the best of all that was offered. To him went the curio
+case of Venetian glass; one pair of tall blue-and-white Mohammedan
+cylindrical vases; fourteen examples of Chinese jade, including several
+artists' water-dishes and a pierced window-screen of the faintest tinge
+of green. To Mollenhauer went the furniture and decorations of the
+entry-hall and reception-room of Henry Cowperwood's house, and to Edward
+Strobik two of Cowperwood's bird's-eye maple bedroom suites for the most
+modest of prices. Adam Davis was present and secured the secretaire of
+buhl which the elder Cowperwood prized so highly. To Fletcher Norton
+went the four Greek vases--a kylix, a water-jar, and two amphorae--which
+he had sold to Cowperwood and which he valued highly. Various objects
+of art, including a Sevres dinner set, a Gobelin tapestry, Barye bronzes
+and pictures by Detaille, Fortuny, and George Inness, went to Walter
+Leigh, Arthur Rivers, Joseph Zimmerman, Judge Kitchen, Harper Steger,
+Terrence Relihan, Trenor Drake, Mr. and Mrs. Simeon Jones, W. C.
+Davison, Frewen Kasson, Fletcher Norton, and Judge Rafalsky.
+
+Within four days after the sale began the two houses were bare of their
+contents. Even the objects in the house at 931 North Tenth Street had
+been withdrawn from storage where they had been placed at the time it
+was deemed advisable to close this institution, and placed on sale with
+the other objects in the two homes. It was at this time that the senior
+Cowperwoods first learned of something which seemed to indicate a
+mystery which had existed in connection with their son and his wife.
+No one of all the Cowperwoods was present during all this gloomy
+distribution; and Aileen, reading of the disposition of all the wares,
+and knowing their value to Cowperwood, to say nothing of their charm for
+her, was greatly depressed; yet she was not long despondent, for she was
+convinced that Cowperwood would some day regain his liberty and attain a
+position of even greater significance in the financial world. She could
+not have said why but she was sure of it.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LV
+
+
+In the meanwhile Cowperwood had been transferred to a new overseer and a
+new cell in Block 3 on the ground door, which was like all the others
+in size, ten by sixteen, but to which was attached the small yard
+previously mentioned. Warden Desmas came up two days before he was
+transferred, and had another short conversation with him through his
+cell door.
+
+"You'll be transferred on Monday," he said, in his reserved, slow way.
+"They'll give you a yard, though it won't be much good to you--we
+only allow a half-hour a day in it. I've told the overseer about your
+business arrangements. He'll treat you right in that matter. Just be
+careful not to take up too much time that way, and things will work out.
+I've decided to let you learn caning chairs. That'll be the best for
+you. It's easy, and it'll occupy your mind."
+
+The warden and some allied politicians made a good thing out of this
+prison industry. It was really not hard labor--the tasks set were simple
+and not oppressive, but all of the products were promptly sold, and
+the profits pocketed. It was good, therefore, to see all the prisoners
+working, and it did them good. Cowperwood was glad of the chance to
+do something, for he really did not care so much for books, and his
+connection with Wingate and his old affairs were not sufficient to
+employ his mind in a satisfactory way. At the same time, he could not
+help thinking, if he seemed strange to himself, now, how much stranger
+he would seem then, behind these narrow bars working at so commonplace a
+task as caning chairs. Nevertheless, he now thanked Desmas for this,
+as well as for the sheets and the toilet articles which had just been
+brought in.
+
+"That's all right," replied the latter, pleasantly and softly, by now
+much intrigued by Cowperwood. "I know that there are men and men here,
+the same as anywhere. If a man knows how to use these things and wants
+to be clean, I wouldn't be one to put anything in his way."
+
+The new overseer with whom Cowperwood had to deal was a very different
+person from Elias Chapin. His name was Walter Bonhag, and he was not
+more than thirty-seven years of age--a big, flabby sort of person with a
+crafty mind, whose principal object in life was to see that this prison
+situation as he found it should furnish him a better income than his
+normal salary provided. A close study of Bonhag would have seemed to
+indicate that he was a stool-pigeon of Desmas, but this was really not
+true except in a limited way. Because Bonhag was shrewd and
+sycophantic, quick to see a point in his or anybody else's favor, Desmas
+instinctively realized that he was the kind of man who could be trusted
+to be lenient on order or suggestion. That is, if Desmas had the least
+interest in a prisoner he need scarcely say so much to Bonhag; he might
+merely suggest that this man was used to a different kind of life, or
+that, because of some past experience, it might go hard with him if he
+were handled roughly; and Bonhag would strain himself to be pleasant.
+The trouble was that to a shrewd man of any refinement his attentions
+were objectionable, being obviously offered for a purpose, and to a poor
+or ignorant man they were brutal and contemptuous. He had built up an
+extra income for himself inside the prison by selling the prisoners
+extra allowances of things which he secretly brought into the prison. It
+was strictly against the rules, in theory at least, to bring in anything
+which was not sold in the store-room--tobacco, writing paper, pens,
+ink, whisky, cigars, or delicacies of any kind. On the other hand, and
+excellently well for him, it was true that tobacco of an inferior
+grade was provided, as well as wretched pens, ink and paper, so that no
+self-respecting man, if he could help it, would endure them. Whisky
+was not allowed at all, and delicacies were abhorred as indicating rank
+favoritism; nevertheless, they were brought in. If a prisoner had the
+money and was willing to see that Bonhag secured something for his
+trouble, almost anything would be forthcoming. Also the privilege of
+being sent into the general yard as a "trusty," or being allowed to stay
+in the little private yard which some cells possessed, longer than the
+half-hour ordinarily permitted, was sold.
+
+One of the things curiously enough at this time, which worked in
+Cowperwood's favor, was the fact that Bonhag was friendly with the
+overseer who had Stener in charge, and Stener, because of his political
+friends, was being liberally treated, and Bonhag knew of this. He was
+not a careful reader of newspapers, nor had he any intellectual grasp
+of important events; but he knew by now that both Stener and Cowperwood
+were, or had been, individuals of great importance in the community;
+also that Cowperwood had been the more important of the two. Better yet,
+as Bonhag now heard, Cowperwood still had money. Some prisoner, who was
+permitted to read the paper, told him so. And so, entirely aside
+from Warden Desmas's recommendation, which was given in a very quiet,
+noncommittal way, Bonhag was interested to see what he could do for
+Cowperwood for a price.
+
+The day Cowperwood was installed in his new cell, Bonhag lolled up to
+the door, which was open, and said, in a semi-patronizing way, "Got
+all your things over yet?" It was his business to lock the door once
+Cowperwood was inside it.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Cowperwood, who had been shrewd enough to get the
+new overseer's name from Chapin; "this is Mr. Bonhag, I presume?"
+
+"That's me," replied Bonhag, not a little flattered by the recognition,
+but still purely interested by the practical side of this encounter. He
+was anxious to study Cowperwood, to see what type of man he was.
+
+"You'll find it a little different down here from up there," observed
+Bonhag. "It ain't so stuffy. These doors out in the yards make a
+difference."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Cowperwood, observantly and shrewdly, "that is the yard
+Mr. Desmas spoke of."
+
+At the mention of the magic name, if Bonhag had been a horse, his ears
+would have been seen to lift. For, of course, if Cowperwood was so
+friendly with Desmas that the latter had described to him the type of
+cell he was to have beforehand, it behooved Bonhag to be especially
+careful.
+
+"Yes, that's it, but it ain't much," he observed. "They only allow a
+half-hour a day in it. Still it would be all right if a person could
+stay out there longer."
+
+This was his first hint at graft, favoritism; and Cowperwood distinctly
+caught the sound of it in his voice.
+
+"That's too bad," he said. "I don't suppose good conduct helps a person
+to get more." He waited to hear a reply, but instead Bonhag continued
+with: "I'd better teach you your new trade now. You've got to learn to
+cane chairs, so the warden says. If you want, we can begin right away."
+But without waiting for Cowperwood to acquiesce, he went off, returning
+after a time with three unvarnished frames of chairs and a bundle
+of cane strips or withes, which he deposited on the floor. Having so
+done--and with a flourish--he now continued: "Now I'll show you if
+you'll watch me," and he began showing Cowperwood how the strips were
+to be laced through the apertures on either side, cut, and fastened
+with little hickory pegs. This done, he brought a forcing awl, a small
+hammer, a box of pegs, and a pair of clippers. After several brief
+demonstrations with different strips, as to how the geometric forms were
+designed, he allowed Cowperwood to take the matter in hand, watching
+over his shoulder. The financier, quick at anything, manual or mental,
+went at it in his customary energetic fashion, and in five minutes
+demonstrated to Bonhag that, barring skill and speed, which could only
+come with practice, he could do it as well as another. "You'll make out
+all right," said Bonhag. "You're supposed to do ten of those a day. We
+won't count the next few days, though, until you get your hand in. After
+that I'll come around and see how you're getting along. You understand
+about the towel on the door, don't you?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Chapin explained that to me," replied Cowperwood. "I think I
+know what most of the rules are now. I'll try not to break any of them."
+
+The days which followed brought a number of modifications of his prison
+lot, but not sufficient by any means to make it acceptable to him.
+Bonhag, during the first few days in which he trained Cowperwood in the
+art of caning chairs, managed to make it perfectly clear that there were
+a number of things he would be willing to do for him. One of the things
+that moved him to this, was that already he had been impressed by the
+fact that Stener's friends were coming to see him in larger numbers than
+Cowperwood's, sending him an occasional basket of fruit, which he
+gave to the overseers, and that his wife and children had been already
+permitted to visit him outside the regular visiting-day. This was a
+cause for jealousy on Bonhag's part. His fellow-overseer was lording it
+over him--telling him, as it were, of the high jinks in Block 4.
+Bonhag really wanted Cowperwood to spruce up and show what he could do,
+socially or otherwise.
+
+And so now he began with: "I see you have your lawyer and your partner
+here every day. There ain't anybody else you'd like to have visit you,
+is there? Of course, it's against the rules to have your wife or sister
+or anybody like that, except on visiting days--" And here he paused
+and rolled a large and informing eye on Cowperwood--such an eye as was
+supposed to convey dark and mysterious things. "But all the rules ain't
+kept around here by a long shot."
+
+Cowperwood was not the man to lose a chance of this kind. He smiled a
+little--enough to relieve himself, and to convey to Bonhag that he was
+gratified by the information, but vocally he observed: "I'll tell you
+how it is, Mr. Bonhag. I believe you understand my position better than
+most men would, and that I can talk to you. There are people who would
+like to come here, but I have been afraid to let them come. I did
+not know that it could be arranged. If it could be, I would be very
+grateful. You and I are practical men--I know that if any favors are
+extended some of those who help to bring them about must be looked
+after. If you can do anything to make it a little more comfortable for
+me here I will show you that I appreciate it. I haven't any money on my
+person, but I can always get it, and I will see that you are properly
+looked after."
+
+Bonhag's short, thick ears tingled. This was the kind of talk he liked
+to hear. "I can fix anything like that, Mr. Cowperwood," he replied,
+servilely. "You leave it to me. If there's any one you want to see at
+any time, just let me know. Of course I have to be very careful, and so
+do you, but that's all right, too. If you want to stay out in that yard
+a little longer in the mornings or get out there afternoons or evenings,
+from now on, why, go ahead. It's all right. I'll just leave the door
+open. If the warden or anybody else should be around, I'll just scratch
+on your door with my key, and you come in and shut it. If there's
+anything you want from the outside I can get it for you--jelly or eggs
+or butter or any little thing like that. You might like to fix up your
+meals a little that way."
+
+"I'm certainly most grateful, Mr. Bonhag," returned Cowperwood in his
+grandest manner, and with a desire to smile, but he kept a straight
+face.
+
+"In regard to that other matter," went on Bonhag, referring to the
+matter of extra visitors, "I can fix that any time you want to. I know
+the men out at the gate. If you want anybody to come here, just write
+'em a note and give it to me, and tell 'em to ask for me when they come.
+That'll get 'em in all right. When they get here you can talk to 'em
+in your cell. See! Only when I tap they have to come out. You want to
+remember that. So just you let me know."
+
+Cowperwood was exceedingly grateful. He said so in direct, choice
+language. It occurred to him at once that this was Aileen's opportunity,
+and that he could now notify her to come. If she veiled herself
+sufficiently she would probably be safe enough. He decided to write her,
+and when Wingate came he gave him a letter to mail.
+
+Two days later, at three o'clock in the afternoon--the time appointed
+by him--Aileen came to see him. She was dressed in gray broadcloth
+with white-velvet trimmings and cut-steel buttons which glistened like
+silver, and wore, as additional ornaments, as well as a protection
+against the cold, a cap, stole, and muff of snow-white ermine. Over
+this rather striking costume she had slipped a long dark circular cloak,
+which she meant to lay off immediately upon her arrival. She had made
+a very careful toilet as to her shoes, gloves, hair, and the gold
+ornaments which she wore. Her face was concealed by a thick green veil,
+as Cowperwood had suggested; and she arrived at an hour when, as near as
+he had been able to prearrange, he would be alone. Wingate usually came
+at four, after business, and Steger in the morning, when he came at all.
+She was very nervous over this strange adventure, leaving the street-car
+in which she had chosen to travel some distance away and walking up a
+side street. The cold weather and the gray walls under a gray sky gave
+her a sense of defeat, but she had worked very hard to look nice in
+order to cheer her lover up. She knew how readily he responded to the
+influence of her beauty when properly displayed.
+
+Cowperwood, in view of her coming, had made his cell as acceptable as
+possible. It was clean, because he had swept it himself and made his own
+bed; and besides he had shaved and combed his hair, and otherwise put
+himself to rights. The caned chairs on which he was working had been put
+in the corner at the end of the bed. His few dishes were washed and
+hung up, and his clogs brushed with a brush which he now kept for the
+purpose. Never before, he thought to himself, with a peculiar feeling
+of artistic degradation, had Aileen seen him like this. She had always
+admired his good taste in clothes, and the way he carried himself in
+them; and now she was to see him in garments which no dignity of body
+could make presentable. Only a stoic sense of his own soul-dignity aided
+him here. After all, as he now thought, he was Frank A. Cowperwood,
+and that was something, whatever he wore. And Aileen knew it. Again,
+he might be free and rich some day, and he knew that she believed that.
+Best of all, his looks under these or any other circumstances, as he
+knew, would make no difference to Aileen. She would only love him the
+more. It was her ardent sympathy that he was afraid of. He was so glad
+that Bonhag had suggested that she might enter the cell, for it would be
+a grim procedure talking to her through a barred door.
+
+When Aileen arrived she asked for Mr. Bonhag, and was permitted to go to
+the central rotunda, where he was sent for. When he came she murmured:
+"I wish to see Mr. Cowperwood, if you please"; and he exclaimed, "Oh,
+yes, just come with me." As he came across the rotunda floor from his
+corridor he was struck by the evident youth of Aileen, even though he
+could not see her face. This now was something in accordance with
+what he had expected of Cowperwood. A man who could steal five hundred
+thousand dollars and set a whole city by the ears must have wonderful
+adventures of all kinds, and Aileen looked like a true adventure. He led
+her to the little room where he kept his desk and detained visitors, and
+then bustled down to Cowperwood's cell, where the financier was working
+on one of his chairs and scratching on the door with his key, called:
+"There's a young lady here to see you. Do you want to let her come
+inside?"
+
+"Thank you, yes," replied Cowperwood; and Bonhag hurried away,
+unintentionally forgetting, in his boorish incivility, to unlock the
+cell door, so that he had to open it in Aileen's presence. The long
+corridor, with its thick doors, mathematically spaced gratings and
+gray-stone pavement, caused Aileen to feel faint at heart. A prison,
+iron cells! And he was in one of them. It chilled her usually courageous
+spirit. What a terrible place for her Frank to be! What a horrible thing
+to have put him here! Judges, juries, courts, laws, jails seemed like so
+many foaming ogres ranged about the world, glaring down upon her and
+her love-affair. The clank of the key in the lock, and the heavy outward
+swinging of the door, completed her sense of the untoward. And then she
+saw Cowperwood.
+
+Because of the price he was to receive, Bonhag, after admitting her,
+strolled discreetly away. Aileen looked at Cowperwood from behind
+her veil, afraid to speak until she was sure Bonhag had gone. And
+Cowperwood, who was retaining his self-possession by an effort, signaled
+her but with difficulty after a moment or two. "It's all right," he
+said. "He's gone away." She lifted her veil, removed her cloak, and took
+in, without seeming to, the stuffy, narrow thickness of the room, his
+wretched shoes, the cheap, misshapen suit, the iron door behind him
+leading out into the little yard attached to his cell. Against such a
+background, with his partially caned chairs visible at the end of the
+bed, he seemed unnatural, weird even. Her Frank! And in this condition.
+She trembled and it was useless for her to try to speak. She could only
+put her arms around him and stroke his head, murmuring: "My poor boy--my
+darling. Is this what they have done to you? Oh, my poor darling." She
+held his head while Cowperwood, anxious to retain his composure, winced
+and trembled, too. Her love was so full--so genuine. It was so soothing
+at the same time that it was unmanning, as now he could see, making of
+him a child again. And for the first time in his life, some inexplicable
+trick of chemistry--that chemistry of the body, of blind forces which so
+readily supersedes reason at times--he lost his self-control. The
+depth of Aileen's feelings, the cooing sound of her voice, the velvety
+tenderness of her hands, that beauty that had drawn him all the
+time--more radiant here perhaps within these hard walls, and in the
+face of his physical misery, than it had ever been before--completely
+unmanned him. He did not understand how it could; he tried to defy the
+moods, but he could not. When she held his head close and caressed it,
+of a sudden, in spite of himself, his breast felt thick and stuffy, and
+his throat hurt him. He felt, for him, an astonishingly strange feeling,
+a desire to cry, which he did his best to overcome; it shocked him so.
+There then combined and conspired to defeat him a strange, rich picture
+of the great world he had so recently lost, of the lovely, magnificent
+world which he hoped some day to regain. He felt more poignantly at this
+moment than ever he had before the degradation of the clog shoes, the
+cotton shirt, the striped suit, the reputation of a convict, permanent
+and not to be laid aside. He drew himself quickly away from her, turned
+his back, clinched his hands, drew his muscles taut; but it was too
+late. He was crying, and he could not stop.
+
+"Oh, damn it!" he exclaimed, half angrily, half self-commiseratingly, in
+combined rage and shame. "Why should I cry? What the devil's the matter
+with me, anyhow?"
+
+Aileen saw it. She fairly flung herself in front of him, seized his head
+with one hand, his shabby waist with the other, and held him tight in a
+grip that he could not have readily released.
+
+"Oh, honey, honey, honey!" she exclaimed, pityingly feverishly. "I love
+you, I adore you. They could cut my body into bits if it would do you
+any good. To think that they should make you cry! Oh, my sweet, my
+sweet, my darling boy!"
+
+She pulled his still shaking body tighter, and with her free hand
+caressed his head. She kissed his eyes, his hair, his cheeks. He pulled
+himself loose again after a moment, exclaiming, "What the devil's got
+into me?" but she drew him back.
+
+"Never mind, honey darling, don't you be ashamed to cry. Cry here on my
+shoulder. Cry here with me. My baby--my honey pet!"
+
+He quieted down after a few moments, cautioning her against Bonhag, and
+regaining his former composure, which he was so ashamed to have lost.
+
+"You're a great girl, pet," he said, with a tender and yet apologetic
+smile. "You're all right--all that I need--a great help to me; but don't
+worry any longer about me, dear. I'm all right. It isn't as bad as you
+think. How are you?"
+
+Aileen on her part was not to be soothed so easily. His many woes,
+including his wretched position here, outraged her sense of justice and
+decency. To think her fine, wonderful Frank should be compelled to come
+to this--to cry. She stroked his head, tenderly, while wild, deadly,
+unreasoning opposition to life and chance and untoward opposition surged
+in her brain. Her father--damn him! Her family--pooh! What did she
+care? Her Frank--her Frank. How little all else mattered where he was
+concerned. Never, never, never would she desert him--never--come what
+might. And now she clung to him in silence while she fought in her
+brain an awful battle with life and law and fate and circumstance.
+Law--nonsense! People--they were brutes, devils, enemies, hounds! She
+was delighted, eager, crazy to make a sacrifice of herself. She would go
+anywhere for or with her Frank now. She would do anything for him.
+Her family was nothing--life nothing, nothing, nothing. She would do
+anything he wished, nothing more, nothing less; anything she could do to
+save him, to make his life happier, but nothing for any one else.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LVI
+
+
+The days passed. Once the understanding with Bonhag was reached,
+Cowperwood's wife, mother and sister were allowed to appear on
+occasions. His wife and the children were now settled in the little
+home for which he was paying, and his financial obligations to her were
+satisfied by Wingate, who paid her one hundred and twenty five dollars
+a month for him. He realized that he owed her more, but he was sailing
+rather close to the wind financially, these days. The final collapse of
+his old interests had come in March, when he had been legally declared a
+bankrupt, and all his properties forfeited to satisfy the claims against
+him. The city's claim of five hundred thousand dollars would have eaten
+up more than could have been realized at the time, had not a pro rata
+payment of thirty cents on the dollar been declared. Even then the city
+never received its due, for by some hocus-pocus it was declared to have
+forfeited its rights. Its claims had not been made at the proper time in
+the proper way. This left larger portions of real money for the others.
+
+Fortunately by now Cowperwood had begun to see that by a little
+experimenting his business relations with Wingate were likely to
+prove profitable. The broker had made it clear that he intended to be
+perfectly straight with him. He had employed Cowperwood's two brothers,
+at very moderate salaries--one to take care of the books and look after
+the office, and the other to act on 'change with him, for their seats in
+that organization had never been sold. And also, by considerable effort,
+he had succeeded in securing Cowperwood, Sr., a place as a clerk in a
+bank. For the latter, since the day of his resignation from the Third
+National had been in a deep, sad quandary as to what further to do with
+his life. His son's disgrace! The horror of his trial and incarceration.
+Since the day of Frank's indictment and more so, since his sentence and
+commitment to the Eastern Penitentiary, he was as one who walked in a
+dream. That trial! That charge against Frank! His own son, a convict in
+stripes--and after he and Frank had walked so proudly in the front rank
+of the successful and respected here. Like so many others in his hour of
+distress, he had taken to reading the Bible, looking into its pages for
+something of that mind consolation that always, from youth up, although
+rather casually in these latter years, he had imagined was to be found
+there. The Psalms, Isaiah, the Book of Job, Ecclesiastes. And for
+the most part, because of the fraying nature of his present ills, not
+finding it.
+
+But day after day secreting himself in his room--a little hall-bedroom
+office in his newest home, where to his wife, he pretended that he
+had some commercial matters wherewith he was still concerned--and once
+inside, the door locked, sitting and brooding on all that had befallen
+him--his losses; his good name. Or, after months of this, and because of
+the new position secured for him by Wingate--a bookkeeping job in one
+of the outlying banks--slipping away early in the morning, and returning
+late at night, his mind a gloomy epitome of all that had been or yet
+might be.
+
+To see him bustling off from his new but very much reduced home at half
+after seven in the morning in order to reach the small bank, which was
+some distance away and not accessible by street-car line, was one of
+those pathetic sights which the fortunes of trade so frequently offer.
+He carried his lunch in a small box because it was inconvenient to
+return home in the time allotted for this purpose, and because his new
+salary did not permit the extravagance of a purchased one. It was his
+one ambition now to eke out a respectable but unseen existence until he
+should die, which he hoped would not be long. He was a pathetic
+figure with his thin legs and body, his gray hair, and his snow-white
+side-whiskers. He was very lean and angular, and, when confronted by a
+difficult problem, a little uncertain or vague in his mind. An old habit
+which had grown on him in the years of his prosperity of putting his
+hand to his mouth and of opening his eyes in an assumption of surprise,
+which had no basis in fact, now grew upon him. He really degenerated,
+although he did not know it, into a mere automaton. Life strews its
+shores with such interesting and pathetic wrecks.
+
+One of the things that caused Cowperwood no little thought at this time,
+and especially in view of his present extreme indifference to her, was
+how he would bring up this matter of his indifference to his wife and
+his desire to end their relationship. Yet apart from the brutality of
+the plain truth, he saw no way. As he could plainly see, she was now
+persisting in her pretense of devotion, uncolored, apparently, by any
+suspicion of what had happened. Yet since his trial and conviction, she
+had been hearing from one source and another that he was still intimate
+with Aileen, and it was only her thought of his concurrent woes, and the
+fact that he might possibly be spared to a successful financial life,
+that now deterred her from speaking. He was shut up in a cell, she said
+to herself, and she was really very sorry for him, but she did not love
+him as she once had. He was really too deserving of reproach for his
+general unseemly conduct, and no doubt this was what was intended, as
+well as being enforced, by the Governing Power of the world.
+
+One can imagine how much such an attitude as this would appeal to
+Cowperwood, once he had detected it. By a dozen little signs, in spite
+of the fact that she brought him delicacies, and commiserated on his
+fate, he could see that she felt not only sad, but reproachful, and if
+there was one thing that Cowperwood objected to at all times it was
+the moral as well as the funereal air. Contrasted with the cheerful
+combative hopefulness and enthusiasm of Aileen, the wearied uncertainty
+of Mrs. Cowperwood was, to say the least, a little tame. Aileen, after
+her first burst of rage over his fate, which really did not develop any
+tears on her part, was apparently convinced that he would get out and
+be very successful again. She talked success and his future all the time
+because she believed in it. Instinctively she seemed to realize that
+prison walls could not make a prison for him. Indeed, on the first day
+she left she handed Bonhag ten dollars, and after thanking him in her
+attractive voice--without showing her face, however--for his obvious
+kindness to her, bespoke his further favor for Cowperwood--"a very great
+man," as she described him, which sealed that ambitious materialist's
+fate completely. There was nothing the overseer would not do for the
+young lady in the dark cloak. She might have stayed in Cowperwood's cell
+for a week if the visiting-hours of the penitentiary had not made it
+impossible.
+
+The day that Cowperwood decided to discuss with his wife the weariness
+of his present married state and his desire to be free of it was some
+four months after he had entered the prison. By that time he had become
+inured to his convict life. The silence of his cell and the menial tasks
+he was compelled to perform, which had at first been so distressing,
+banal, maddening, in their pointless iteration, had now become merely
+commonplace--dull, but not painful. Furthermore he had learned many of
+the little resources of the solitary convict, such as that of using his
+lamp to warm up some delicacy which he had saved from a previous meal or
+from some basket which had been sent him by his wife or Aileen. He had
+partially gotten rid of the sickening odor of his cell by persuading
+Bonhag to bring him small packages of lime; which he used with great
+freedom. Also he succeeded in defeating some of the more venturesome
+rats with traps; and with Bonhag's permission, after his cell door had
+been properly locked at night, and sealed with the outer wooden door, he
+would take his chair, if it were not too cold, out into the little back
+yard of his cell and look at the sky, where, when the nights were clear,
+the stars were to be seen. He had never taken any interest in astronomy
+as a scientific study, but now the Pleiades, the belt of Orion, the Big
+Dipper and the North Star, to which one of its lines pointed, caught his
+attention, almost his fancy. He wondered why the stars of the belt of
+Orion came to assume the peculiar mathematical relation to each other
+which they held, as far as distance and arrangement were concerned,
+and whether that could possibly have any intellectual significance. The
+nebulous conglomeration of the suns in Pleiades suggested a soundless
+depth of space, and he thought of the earth floating like a little ball
+in immeasurable reaches of ether. His own life appeared very trivial
+in view of these things, and he found himself asking whether it was all
+really of any significance or importance. He shook these moods off with
+ease, however, for the man was possessed of a sense of grandeur,
+largely in relation to himself and his affairs; and his temperament was
+essentially material and vital. Something kept telling him that whatever
+his present state he must yet grow to be a significant personage, one
+whose fame would be heralded the world over--who must try, try, try. It
+was not given all men to see far or to do brilliantly; but to him it
+was given, and he must be what he was cut out to be. There was no more
+escaping the greatness that was inherent in him than there was for so
+many others the littleness that was in them.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood came in that afternoon quite solemnly, bearing several
+changes of linen, a pair of sheets, some potted meat and a pie. She was
+not exactly doleful, but Cowperwood thought that she was tending toward
+it, largely because of her brooding over his relationship to Aileen,
+which he knew that she knew. Something in her manner decided him to
+speak before she left; and after asking her how the children were, and
+listening to her inquiries in regard to the things that he needed, he
+said to her, sitting on his single chair while she sat on his bed:
+
+"Lillian, there's something I've been wanting to talk with you about
+for some time. I should have done it before, but it's better late than
+never. I know that you know that there is something between Aileen
+Butler and me, and we might as well have it open and aboveboard. It's
+true I am very fond of her and she is very devoted to me, and if ever I
+get out of here I want to arrange it so that I can marry her. That means
+that you will have to give me a divorce, if you will; and I want to talk
+to you about that now. This can't be so very much of a surprise to you,
+because you must have seen this long while that our relationship hasn't
+been all that it might have been, and under the circumstances this can't
+prove such a very great hardship to you--I am sure." He paused, waiting,
+for Mrs. Cowperwood at first said nothing.
+
+Her thought, when he first broached this, was that she ought to make
+some demonstration of astonishment or wrath: but when she looked into
+his steady, examining eyes, so free from the illusion of or interest in
+demonstrations of any kind, she realized how useless it would be. He was
+so utterly matter-of-fact in what seemed to her quite private and secret
+affairs--very shameless. She had never been able to understand quite how
+he could take the subtleties of life as he did, anyhow. Certain things
+which she always fancied should be hushed up he spoke of with the
+greatest nonchalance. Her ears tingled sometimes at his frankness
+in disposing of a social situation; but she thought this must be
+characteristic of notable men, and so there was nothing to be said about
+it. Certain men did as they pleased; society did not seem to be able to
+deal with them in any way. Perhaps God would, later--she was not sure.
+Anyhow, bad as he was, direct as he was, forceful as he was, he was far
+more interesting than most of the more conservative types in whom the
+social virtues of polite speech and modest thoughts were seemingly
+predominate.
+
+"I know," she said, rather peacefully, although with a touch of anger
+and resentment in her voice. "I've known all about it all this time. I
+expected you would say something like this to me some day. It's a nice
+reward for all my devotion to you; but it's just like you, Frank. When
+you are set on something, nothing can stop you. It wasn't enough that
+you were getting along so nicely and had two children whom you ought to
+love, but you had to take up with this Butler creature until her name
+and yours are a by-word throughout the city. I know that she comes
+to this prison. I saw her out here one day as I was coming in, and I
+suppose every one else knows it by now. She has no sense of decency and
+she does not care--the wretched, vain thing--but I would have thought
+that you would be ashamed, Frank, to go on the way that you have, when
+you still have me and the children and your father and mother and when
+you are certain to have such a hard fight to get yourself on your feet,
+as it is. If she had any sense of decency she would not have anything to
+do with you--the shameless thing."
+
+Cowperwood looked at his wife with unflinching eyes. He read in her
+remarks just what his observation had long since confirmed--that she was
+sympathetically out of touch with him. She was no longer so attractive
+physically, and intellectually she was not Aileen's equal. Also that
+contact with those women who had deigned to grace his home in his
+greatest hour of prosperity had proved to him conclusively she was
+lacking in certain social graces. Aileen was by no means so vastly
+better, still she was young and amenable and adaptable, and could still
+be improved. Opportunity as he now chose to think, might make Aileen,
+whereas for Lillian--or at least, as he now saw it--it could do nothing.
+
+"I'll tell you how it is, Lillian," he said; "I'm not sure that you
+are going to get what I mean exactly, but you and I are not at all well
+suited to each other any more."
+
+"You didn't seem to think that three or four years ago," interrupted his
+wife, bitterly.
+
+"I married you when I was twenty-one," went on Cowperwood, quite
+brutally, not paying any attention to her interruption, "and I was
+really too young to know what I was doing. I was a mere boy. It doesn't
+make so much difference about that. I am not using that as an excuse.
+The point that I am trying to make is this--that right or wrong,
+important or not important, I have changed my mind since. I don't love
+you any more, and I don't feel that I want to keep up a relationship,
+however it may look to the public, that is not satisfactory to me. You
+have one point of view about life, and I have another. You think your
+point of view is the right one, and there are thousands of people who
+will agree with you; but I don't think so. We have never quarreled about
+these things, because I didn't think it was important to quarrel about
+them. I don't see under the circumstances that I am doing you any great
+injustice when I ask you to let me go. I don't intend to desert you or
+the children--you will get a good living-income from me as long as I
+have the money to give it to you--but I want my personal freedom when
+I come out of here, if ever I do, and I want you to let me have it. The
+money that you had and a great deal more, once I am out of here, you
+will get back when I am on my feet again. But not if you oppose me--only
+if you help me. I want, and intend to help you always--but in my way."
+
+He smoothed the leg of his prison trousers in a thoughtful way, and
+plucked at the sleeve of his coat. Just now he looked very much like
+a highly intelligent workman as he sat here, rather than like the
+important personage that he was. Mrs. Cowperwood was very resentful.
+
+"That's a nice way to talk to me, and a nice way to treat me!" she
+exclaimed dramatically, rising and walking the short space--some two
+steps--that lay between the wall and the bed. "I might have known that
+you were too young to know your own mind when you married me. Money,
+of course, that's all you think of and your own gratification. I don't
+believe you have any sense of justice in you. I don't believe you ever
+had. You only think of yourself, Frank. I never saw such a man as you.
+You have treated me like a dog all through this affair; and all the
+while you have been running with that little snip of an Irish thing,
+and telling her all about your affairs, I suppose. You let me go on
+believing that you cared for me up to the last moment, and then you
+suddenly step up and tell me that you want a divorce. I'll not do it.
+I'll not give you a divorce, and you needn't think it."
+
+Cowperwood listened in silence. His position, in so far as this marital
+tangle was concerned, as he saw, was very advantageous. He was a
+convict, constrained by the exigencies of his position to be out of
+personal contact with his wife for a long period of time to come, which
+should naturally tend to school her to do without him. When he came
+out, it would be very easy for her to get a divorce from a convict,
+particularly if she could allege misconduct with another woman, which he
+would not deny. At the same time, he hoped to keep Aileen's name out of
+it. Mrs. Cowperwood, if she would, could give any false name if he made
+no contest. Besides, she was not a very strong person, intellectually
+speaking. He could bend her to his will. There was no need of saying
+much more now; the ice had been broken, the situation had been put
+before her, and time should do the rest.
+
+"Don't be dramatic, Lillian," he commented, indifferently. "I'm not such
+a loss to you if you have enough to live on. I don't think I want to
+live in Philadelphia if ever I come out of here. My idea now is to go
+west, and I think I want to go alone. I sha'n't get married right away
+again even if you do give me a divorce. I don't care to take anybody
+along. It would be better for the children if you would stay here and
+divorce me. The public would think better of them and you."
+
+"I'll not do it," declared Mrs. Cowperwood, emphatically. "I'll never
+do it, never; so there! You can say what you choose. You owe it to me to
+stick by me and the children after all I've done for you, and I'll not
+do it. You needn't ask me any more; I'll not do it."
+
+"Very well," replied Cowperwood, quietly, getting up. "We needn't talk
+about it any more now. Your time is nearly up, anyhow." (Twenty minutes
+was supposed to be the regular allotment for visitors.) "Perhaps you'll
+change your mind sometime."
+
+She gathered up her muff and the shawl-strap in which she had carried
+her gifts, and turned to go. It had been her custom to kiss Cowperwood
+in a make-believe way up to this time, but now she was too angry to make
+this pretense. And yet she was sorry, too--sorry for herself and, she
+thought, for him.
+
+"Frank," she declared, dramatically, at the last moment, "I never saw
+such a man as you. I don't believe you have any heart. You're not worthy
+of a good wife. You're worthy of just such a woman as you're getting.
+The idea!" Suddenly tears came to her eyes, and she flounced scornfully
+and yet sorrowfully out.
+
+Cowperwood stood there. At least there would be no more useless kissing
+between them, he congratulated himself. It was hard in a way, but purely
+from an emotional point of view. He was not doing her any essential
+injustice, he reasoned--not an economic one--which was the important
+thing. She was angry to-day, but she would get over it, and in time
+might come to see his point of view. Who could tell? At any rate he had
+made it plain to her what he intended to do and that was something as he
+saw it. He reminded one of nothing so much, as he stood there, as of
+a young chicken picking its way out of the shell of an old estate.
+Although he was in a cell of a penitentiary, with nearly four years more
+to serve, yet obviously he felt, within himself, that the whole world
+was still before him. He could go west if he could not reestablish
+himself in Philadelphia; but he must stay here long enough to win the
+approval of those who had known him formerly--to obtain, as it were, a
+letter of credit which he could carry to other parts.
+
+"Hard words break no bones," he said to himself, as his wife went out.
+"A man's never done till he's done. I'll show some of these people yet."
+Of Bonhag, who came to close the cell door, he asked whether it was
+going to rain, it looked so dark in the hall.
+
+"It's sure to before night," replied Bonhag, who was always wondering
+over Cowperwood's tangled affairs as he heard them retailed here and
+there.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LVII
+
+
+The time that Cowperwood spent in the Eastern Penitentiary of
+Pennsylvania was exactly thirteen months from the day of his entry
+to his discharge. The influences which brought about this result were
+partly of his willing, and partly not. For one thing, some six months
+after his incarceration, Edward Malia Butler died, expired sitting in
+his chair in his private office at his home. The conduct of Aileen had
+been a great strain on him. From the time Cowperwood had been sentenced,
+and more particularly after the time he had cried on Aileen's shoulder
+in prison, she had turned on her father in an almost brutal way. Her
+attitude, unnatural for a child, was quite explicable as that of a
+tortured sweetheart. Cowperwood had told her that he thought Butler was
+using his influence to withhold a pardon for him, even though one were
+granted to Stener, whose life in prison he had been following with
+considerable interest; and this had enraged her beyond measure. She lost
+no chance of being practically insulting to her father, ignoring him on
+every occasion, refusing as often as possible to eat at the same table,
+and when she did, sitting next her mother in the place of Norah, with
+whom she managed to exchange. She refused to sing or play any more
+when he was present, and persistently ignored the large number of young
+political aspirants who came to the house, and whose presence in a way
+had been encouraged for her benefit. Old Butler realized, of course,
+what it was all about. He said nothing. He could not placate her.
+
+Her mother and brothers did not understand it at all at first. (Mrs.
+Butler never understood.) But not long after Cowperwood's incarceration
+Callum and Owen became aware of what the trouble was. Once, when Owen
+was coming away from a reception at one of the houses where his growing
+financial importance made him welcome, he heard one of two men whom he
+knew casually, say to the other, as they stood at the door adjusting
+their coats, "You saw where this fellow Cowperwood got four years,
+didn't you?"
+
+"Yes," replied the other. "A clever devil that--wasn't he? I knew that
+girl he was in with, too--you know who I mean. Miss Butler--wasn't that
+her name?"
+
+Owen was not sure that he had heard right. He did not get the connection
+until the other guest, opening the door and stepping out, remarked:
+"Well, old Butler got even, apparently. They say he sent him up."
+
+Owen's brow clouded. A hard, contentious look came into his eyes. He had
+much of his father's force. What in the devil were they talking about?
+What Miss Butler did they have in mind? Could this be Aileen or Norah,
+and how could Cowperwood come to be in with either of them? It could
+not possibly be Norah, he reflected; she was very much infatuated with a
+young man whom he knew, and was going to marry him. Aileen had been
+most friendly with the Cowperwoods, and had often spoken well of the
+financier. Could it be she? He could not believe it. He thought once of
+overtaking the two acquaintances and demanding to know what they meant,
+but when he came out on the step they were already some distance down
+the street and in the opposite direction from that in which he wished to
+go. He decided to ask his father about this.
+
+On demand, old Butler confessed at once, but insisted that his son keep
+silent about it.
+
+"I wish I'd have known," said Owen, grimly. "I'd have shot the dirty
+dog."
+
+"Aisy, aisy," said Butler. "Yer own life's worth more than his, and ye'd
+only be draggin' the rest of yer family in the dirt with him. He's had
+somethin' to pay him for his dirty trick, and he'll have more. Just ye
+say nothin' to no one. Wait. He'll be wantin' to get out in a year or
+two. Say nothin' to her aither. Talkin' won't help there. She'll come
+to her sinses when he's been away long enough, I'm thinkin'." Owen had
+tried to be civil to his sister after that, but since he was a stickler
+for social perfection and advancement, and so eager to get up in the
+world himself, he could not understand how she could possibly have done
+any such thing. He resented bitterly the stumbling-block she had put in
+his path. Now, among other things, his enemies would have this to throw
+in his face if they wanted to--and they would want to, trust life for
+that.
+
+Callum reached his knowledge of the matter in quite another manner, but
+at about the same time. He was a member of an athletic club which had an
+attractive building in the city, and a fine country club, where he went
+occasionally to enjoy the swimming-pool and the Turkish bath connected
+with it. One of his friends approached him there in the billiard-room
+one evening and said, "Say, Butler, you know I'm a good friend of yours,
+don't you?"
+
+"Why, certainly, I know it," replied Callum. "What's the matter?"
+
+"Well, you know," said the young individual, whose name was Richard
+Pethick, looking at Callum with a look of almost strained affection,
+"I wouldn't come to you with any story that I thought would hurt your
+feelings or that you oughtn't to know about, but I do think you ought to
+know about this." He pulled at a high white collar which was choking his
+neck.
+
+"I know you wouldn't, Pethick," replied Callum; very much interested.
+"What is it? What's the point?"
+
+"Well, I don't like to say anything," replied Pethick, "but that fellow
+Hibbs is saying things around here about your sister."
+
+"What's that?" exclaimed Callum, straightening up in the most dynamic
+way and bethinking him of the approved social procedure in all such
+cases. He should be very angry. He should demand and exact proper
+satisfaction in some form or other--by blows very likely if his honor
+had been in any way impugned. "What is it he says about my sister? What
+right has he to mention her name here, anyhow? He doesn't know her."
+
+Pethick affected to be greatly concerned lest he cause trouble between
+Callum and Hibbs. He protested that he did not want to, when, in
+reality, he was dying to tell. At last he came out with, "Why, he's
+circulated the yarn that your sister had something to do with this man
+Cowperwood, who was tried here recently, and that that's why he's just
+gone to prison."
+
+"What's that?" exclaimed Callum, losing the make-believe of the
+unimportant, and taking on the serious mien of some one who feels
+desperately. "He says that, does he? Where is he? I want to see if he'll
+say that to me."
+
+Some of the stern fighting ability of his father showed in his slender,
+rather refined young face.
+
+"Now, Callum," insisted Pethick, realizing the genuine storm he had
+raised, and being a little fearful of the result, "do be careful what
+you say. You mustn't have a row in here. You know it's against the
+rules. Besides he may be drunk. It's just some foolish talk he's heard,
+I'm sure. Now, for goodness' sake, don't get so excited." Pethick,
+having evoked the storm, was not a little nervous as to its results in
+his own case. He, too, as well as Callum, himself as the tale-bearer,
+might now be involved.
+
+But Callum by now was not so easily restrained. His face was quite
+pale, and he was moving toward the old English grill-room, where Hibbs
+happened to be, consuming a brandy-and-soda with a friend of about his
+own age. Callum entered and called him.
+
+"Oh, Hibbs!" he said.
+
+Hibbs, hearing his voice and seeing him in the door, arose and came
+over. He was an interesting youth of the collegiate type, educated
+at Princeton. He had heard the rumor concerning Aileen from various
+sources--other members of the club, for one--and had ventured to repeat
+it in Pethick's presence.
+
+"What's that you were just saying about my sister?" asked Callum,
+grimly, looking Hibbs in the eye.
+
+"Why--I--" hesitated Hibbs, who sensed trouble and was eager to
+avoid it. He was not exceptionally brave and looked it. His hair was
+straw-colored, his eyes blue, and his cheeks pink. "Why--nothing in
+particular. Who said I was talking about her?" He looked at Pethick,
+whom he knew to be the tale-bearer, and the latter exclaimed, excitedly:
+
+"Now don't you try to deny it, Hibbs. You know I heard you?"
+
+"Well, what did I say?" asked Hibbs, defiantly.
+
+"Well, what did you say?" interrupted Callum, grimly, transferring the
+conversation to himself. "That's just what I want to know."
+
+"Why," stammered Hibbs, nervously, "I don't think I've said anything
+that anybody else hasn't said. I just repeated that some one said that
+your sister had been very friendly with Mr. Cowperwood. I didn't say any
+more than I have heard other people say around here."
+
+"Oh, you didn't, did you?" exclaimed Callum, withdrawing his hand from
+his pocket and slapping Hibbs in the face. He repeated the blow with his
+left hand, fiercely. "Perhaps that'll teach you to keep my sister's name
+out of your mouth, you pup!"
+
+Hibbs's arms flew up. He was not without pugilistic training, and he
+struck back vigorously, striking Callum once in the chest and once in
+the neck. In an instant the two rooms of this suite were in an uproar.
+Tables and chairs were overturned by the energy of men attempting to get
+to the scene of action. The two combatants were quickly separated; sides
+were taken by the friends of each, excited explanations attempted and
+defied. Callum was examining the knuckles of his left hand, which were
+cut from the blow he had delivered. He maintained a gentlemanly calm.
+Hibbs, very much flustered and excited, insisted that he had been most
+unreasonably used. The idea of attacking him here. And, anyhow, as he
+maintained now, Pethick had been both eavesdropping and lying about him.
+Incidentally, the latter was protesting to others that he had done
+the only thing which an honorable friend could do. It was a nine days'
+wonder in the club, and was only kept out of the newspapers by the most
+strenuous efforts on the part of the friends of both parties. Callum was
+so outraged on discovering that there was some foundation for the rumor
+at the club in a general rumor which prevailed that he tendered his
+resignation, and never went there again.
+
+"I wish to heaven you hadn't struck that fellow," counseled Owen, when
+the incident was related to him. "It will only make more talk. She ought
+to leave this place; but she won't. She's struck on that fellow yet, and
+we can't tell Norah and mother. We will never hear the last of this, you
+and I--believe me."
+
+"Damn it, she ought to be made to go," exclaimed Callum.
+
+"Well, she won't," replied Owen. "Father has tried making her, and
+she won't go. Just let things stand. He's in the penitentiary now, and
+that's probably the end of him. The public seem to think that father put
+him there, and that's something. Maybe we can persuade her to go after
+a while. I wish to God we had never had sight of that fellow. If ever he
+comes out, I've a good notion to kill him."
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't do anything like that," replied Callum. "It's useless.
+It would only stir things up afresh. He's done for, anyhow."
+
+They planned to urge Norah to marry as soon as possible. And as for
+their feelings toward Aileen, it was a very chilly atmosphere which
+Mrs. Butler contemplated from now on, much to her confusion, grief, and
+astonishment.
+
+In this divided world it was that Butler eventually found himself, all
+at sea as to what to think or what to do. He had brooded so long now,
+for months, and as yet had found no solution. And finally, in a form of
+religious despair, sitting at his desk, in his business chair, he had
+collapsed--a weary and disconsolate man of seventy. A lesion of the
+left ventricle was the immediate physical cause, although brooding over
+Aileen was in part the mental one. His death could not have been laid to
+his grief over Aileen exactly, for he was a very large man--apoplectic
+and with sclerotic veins and arteries. For a great many years now he
+had taken very little exercise, and his digestion had been considerably
+impaired thereby. He was past seventy, and his time had been reached.
+They found him there the next morning, his hands folded in his lap, his
+head on his bosom, quite cold.
+
+He was buried with honors out of St. Timothy's Church, the funeral
+attended by a large body of politicians and city officials, who
+discussed secretly among themselves whether his grief over his daughter
+had anything to do with his end. All his good deeds were remembered,
+of course, and Mollenhauer and Simpson sent great floral emblems in
+remembrance. They were very sorry that he was gone, for they had been
+a cordial three. But gone he was, and that ended their interest in the
+matter. He left all of his property to his wife in one of the shortest
+wills ever recorded locally.
+
+"I give and bequeath to my beloved wife, Norah, all my property of
+whatsoever kind to be disposed of as she may see fit."
+
+There was no misconstruing this. A private paper drawn secretly for her
+sometime before by Butler, explained how the property should be disposed
+of by her at her death. It was Butler's real will masquerading as hers,
+and she would not have changed it for worlds; but he wanted her left
+in undisturbed possession of everything until she should die. Aileen's
+originally assigned portion had never been changed. According to her
+father's will, which no power under the sun could have made Mrs. Butler
+alter, she was left $250,000 to be paid at Mrs. Butler's death. Neither
+this fact nor any of the others contained in the paper were communicated
+by Mrs. Butler, who retained it to be left as her will. Aileen often
+wondered, but never sought to know, what had been left her. Nothing she
+fancied--but felt that she could not help this.
+
+Butler's death led at once to a great change in the temper of the
+home. After the funeral the family settled down to a seemingly peaceful
+continuance of the old life; but it was a matter of seeming merely. The
+situation stood with Callum and Owen manifesting a certain degree of
+contempt for Aileen, which she, understanding, reciprocated. She was
+very haughty. Owen had plans of forcing her to leave after Butler's
+death, but he finally asked himself what was the use. Mrs. Butler, who
+did not want to leave the old home, was very fond of Aileen, so therein
+lay a reason for letting her remain. Besides, any move to force her out
+would have entailed an explanation to her mother, which was not deemed
+advisable. Owen himself was interested in Caroline Mollenhauer, whom he
+hoped some day to marry--as much for her prospective wealth as for any
+other reason, though he was quite fond of her. In the January following
+Butler's death, which occurred in August, Norah was married very
+quietly, and the following spring Callum embarked on a similar venture.
+
+In the meanwhile, with Butler's death, the control of the political
+situation had shifted considerably. A certain Tom Collins, formerly one
+of Butler's henchmen, but latterly a power in the First, Second, Third,
+and Fourth Wards, where he had numerous saloons and control of other
+forms of vice, appeared as a claimant for political recognition.
+Mollenhauer and Simpson had to consult him, as he could make very
+uncertain the disposition of some hundred and fifteen thousand votes,
+a large number of which were fraudulent, but which fact did not modify
+their deadly character on occasion. Butler's sons disappeared as
+possible political factors, and were compelled to confine themselves to
+the street-railway and contracting business. The pardon of Cowperwood
+and Stener, which Butler would have opposed, because by keeping Stener
+in he kept Cowperwood in, became a much easier matter. The scandal of
+the treasury defalcation was gradually dying down; the newspapers had
+ceased to refer to it in any way. Through Steger and Wingate, a large
+petition signed by all important financiers and brokers had been sent
+to the Governor pointing out that Cowperwood's trial and conviction had
+been most unfair, and asking that he be pardoned. There was no need
+of any such effort, so far as Stener was concerned; whenever the time
+seemed ripe the politicians were quite ready to say to the Governor
+that he ought to let him go. It was only because Butler had opposed
+Cowperwood's release that they had hesitated. It was really not possible
+to let out the one and ignore the other; and this petition, coupled with
+Butler's death, cleared the way very nicely.
+
+Nevertheless, nothing was done until the March following Butler's death,
+when both Stener and Cowperwood had been incarcerated thirteen months--a
+length of time which seemed quite sufficient to appease the anger of
+the public at large. In this period Stener had undergone a considerable
+change physically and mentally. In spite of the fact that a number of
+the minor aldermen, who had profited in various ways by his largess,
+called to see him occasionally, and that he had been given, as it
+were, almost the liberty of the place, and that his family had not
+been allowed to suffer, nevertheless he realized that his political and
+social days were over. Somebody might now occasionally send him a basket
+of fruit and assure him that he would not be compelled to suffer much
+longer; but when he did get out, he knew that he had nothing to depend
+on save his experience as an insurance agent and real-estate dealer.
+That had been precarious enough in the days when he was trying to get
+some small political foothold. How would it be when he was known only as
+the man who had looted the treasury of five hundred thousand dollars
+and been sent to the penitentiary for five years? Who would lend him
+the money wherewith to get a little start, even so much as four or five
+thousand dollars? The people who were calling to pay their respects now
+and then, and to assure him that he had been badly treated? Never. All
+of them could honestly claim that they had not so much to spare. If he
+had good security to offer--yes; but if he had good security he would
+not need to go to them at all. The man who would have actually helped
+him if he had only known was Frank A. Cowperwood. Stener could have
+confessed his mistake, as Cowperwood saw it, and Cowperwood would have
+given him the money gladly, without any thought of return. But by his
+poor understanding of human nature, Stener considered that Cowperwood
+must be an enemy of his, and he would not have had either the courage or
+the business judgment to approach him.
+
+During his incarceration Cowperwood had been slowly accumulating a
+little money through Wingate. He had paid Steger considerable sums from
+time to time, until that worthy finally decided that it would not be
+fair to take any more.
+
+"If ever you get on your feet, Frank," he said, "you can remember me
+if you want to, but I don't think you'll want to. It's been nothing
+but lose, lose, lose for you through me. I'll undertake this matter
+of getting that appeal to the Governor without any charge on my part.
+Anything I can do for you from now on is free gratis for nothing."
+
+"Oh, don't talk nonsense, Harper," replied Cowperwood. "I don't know of
+anybody that could have done better with my case. Certainly there isn't
+anybody that I would have trusted as much. I don't like lawyers you
+know."
+
+"Yes--well," said Steger, "they've got nothing on financiers, so we'll
+call it even." And they shook hands.
+
+So when it was finally decided to pardon Stener, which was in the early
+part of March, 1873--Cowperwood's pardon was necessarily but gingerly
+included. A delegation, consisting of Strobik, Harmon, and Winpenny,
+representing, as it was intended to appear, the unanimous wishes of the
+council and the city administration, and speaking for Mollenhauer and
+Simpson, who had given their consent, visited the Governor at Harrisburg
+and made the necessary formal representations which were intended to
+impress the public. At the same time, through the agency of Steger,
+Davison, and Walter Leigh, the appeal in behalf of Cowperwood was made.
+The Governor, who had had instructions beforehand from sources quite
+superior to this committee, was very solemn about the whole procedure.
+He would take the matter under advisement. He would look into the
+history of the crimes and the records of the two men. He could make no
+promises--he would see. But in ten days, after allowing the petitions to
+gather considerable dust in one of his pigeonholes and doing absolutely
+nothing toward investigating anything, he issued two separate pardons in
+writing. One, as a matter of courtesy, he gave into the hands of Messrs.
+Strobik, Harmon, and Winpenny, to bear personally to Mr. Stener, as they
+desired that he should. The other, on Steger's request, he gave to him.
+The two committees which had called to receive them then departed; and
+the afternoon of that same day saw Strobik, Harmon, and Winpenny arrive
+in one group, and Steger, Wingate, and Walter Leigh in another, at the
+prison gate, but at different hours.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LVIII
+
+
+This matter of the pardon of Cowperwood, the exact time of it, was kept
+a secret from him, though the fact that he was to be pardoned soon,
+or that he had a very excellent chance of being, had not been
+denied--rather had been made much of from time to time. Wingate had kept
+him accurately informed as to the progress being made, as had Steger;
+but when it was actually ascertained, from the Governor's private
+secretary, that a certain day would see the pardon handed over to them,
+Steger, Wingate, and Walter Leigh had agreed between themselves that
+they would say nothing, taking Cowperwood by surprise. They even went so
+far--that is, Steger and Wingate did--as to indicate to Cowperwood that
+there was some hitch to the proceedings and that he might not now get
+out so soon. Cowperwood was somewhat depressed, but properly stoical;
+he assured himself that he could wait, and that he would be all right
+sometime. He was rather surprised therefore, one Friday afternoon, to
+see Wingate, Steger, and Leigh appear at his cell door, accompanied by
+Warden Desmas.
+
+The warden was quite pleased to think that Cowperwood should finally
+be going out--he admired him so much--and decided to come along to
+the cell, to see how he would take his liberation. On the way Desmas
+commented on the fact that he had always been a model prisoner. "He kept
+a little garden out there in that yard of his," he confided to Walter
+Leigh. "He had violets and pansies and geraniums out there, and they did
+very well, too."
+
+Leigh smiled. It was like Cowperwood to be industrious and tasteful,
+even in prison. Such a man could not be conquered. "A very remarkable
+man, that," he remarked to Desmas.
+
+"Very," replied the warden. "You can tell that by looking at him."
+
+The four looked in through the barred door where he was working, without
+being observed, having come up quite silently.
+
+"Hard at it, Frank?" asked Steger.
+
+Cowperwood glanced over his shoulder and got up. He had been thinking,
+as always these days, of what he would do when he did get out.
+
+"What is this," he asked--"a political delegation?" He suspected
+something on the instant. All four smiled cheeringly, and Bonhag
+unlocked the door for the warden.
+
+"Nothing very much, Frank," replied Stager, gleefully, "only you're
+a free man. You can gather up your traps and come right along, if you
+wish."
+
+Cowperwood surveyed his friends with a level gaze. He had not expected
+this so soon after what had been told him. He was not one to be very
+much interested in the practical joke or the surprise, but this pleased
+him--the sudden realization that he was free. Still, he had anticipated
+it so long that the charm of it had been discounted to a certain extent.
+He had been unhappy here, and he had not. The shame and humiliation of
+it, to begin with, had been much. Latterly, as he had become inured to
+it all, the sense of narrowness and humiliation had worn off. Only the
+consciousness of incarceration and delay irked him. Barring his intense
+desire for certain things--success and vindication, principally--he
+found that he could live in his narrow cell and be fairly comfortable.
+He had long since become used to the limy smell (used to defeat a
+more sickening one), and to the numerous rats which he quite regularly
+trapped. He had learned to take an interest in chair-caning, having
+become so proficient that he could seat twenty in a day if he chose,
+and in working in the little garden in spring, summer, and fall. Every
+evening he had studied the sky from his narrow yard, which resulted
+curiously in the gift in later years of a great reflecting telescope
+to a famous university. He had not looked upon himself as an ordinary
+prisoner, by any means--had not felt himself to be sufficiently punished
+if a real crime had been involved. From Bonhag he had learned the
+history of many criminals here incarcerated, from murderers up and down,
+and many had been pointed out to him from time to time. He had been
+escorted into the general yard by Bonhag, had seen the general food of
+the place being prepared, had heard of Stener's modified life here, and
+so forth. It had finally struck him that it was not so bad, only that
+the delay to an individual like himself was wasteful. He could do so
+much now if he were out and did not have to fight court proceedings.
+Courts and jails! He shook his head when he thought of the waste
+involved in them.
+
+"That's all right," he said, looking around him in an uncertain way.
+"I'm ready."
+
+He stepped out into the hall, with scarcely a farewell glance, and
+to Bonhag, who was grieving greatly over the loss of so profitable a
+customer, he said: "I wish you would see that some of these things are
+sent over to my house, Walter. You're welcome to the chair, that clock,
+this mirror, those pictures--all of these things in fact, except my
+linen, razors, and so forth."
+
+The last little act of beneficence soothed Bonhag's lacerated soul
+a little. They went out into the receiving overseer's office, where
+Cowperwood laid aside his prison suit and the soft shirt with a
+considerable sense of relief. The clog shoes had long since been
+replaced by a better pair of his own. He put on the derby hat and gray
+overcoat he had worn the year before, on entering, and expressed himself
+as ready. At the entrance of the prison he turned and looked back--one
+last glance--at the iron door leading into the garden.
+
+"You don't regret leaving that, do you, Frank?" asked Steger, curiously.
+
+"I do not," replied Cowperwood. "It wasn't that I was thinking of. It
+was just the appearance of it, that's all."
+
+In another minute they were at the outer gate, where Cowperwood shook
+the warden finally by the hand. Then entering a carriage outside the
+large, impressive, Gothic entrance, the gates were locked behind them
+and they were driven away.
+
+"Well, there's an end of that, Frank," observed Steger, gayly; "that
+will never bother you any more."
+
+"Yes," replied Cowperwood. "It's worse to see it coming than going."
+
+"It seems to me we ought to celebrate this occasion in some way,"
+observed Walter Leigh. "It won't do just to take Frank home. Why don't
+we all go down to Green's? That's a good idea."
+
+"I'd rather not, if you don't mind," replied Cowperwood, feelingly.
+"I'll get together with you all, later. Just now I'd like to go home and
+change these clothes."
+
+He was thinking of Aileen and his children and his mother and father and
+of his whole future. Life was going to broaden out for him considerably
+from now on, he was sure of it. He had learned so much about taking care
+of himself in those thirteen months. He was going to see Aileen, and
+find how she felt about things in general, and then he was going to
+resume some such duties as he had had in his own concern, with Wingate &
+Co. He was going to secure a seat on 'change again, through his friends;
+and, to escape the effect of the prejudice of those who might not
+care to do business with an ex-convict, he was going to act as general
+outside man, and floor man on 'charge, for Wingate & Co. His practical
+control of that could not be publicly proved. Now for some important
+development in the market--some slump or something. He would show the
+world whether he was a failure or not.
+
+They let him down in front of his wife's little cottage, and he entered
+briskly in the gathering gloom.
+
+On September 18, 1873, at twelve-fifteen of a brilliant autumn day, in
+the city of Philadelphia, one of the most startling financial tragedies
+that the world has ever seen had its commencement. The banking house of
+Jay Cooke & Co., the foremost financial organization of America, doing
+business at Number 114 South Third Street in Philadelphia, and with
+branches in New York, Washington, and London, closed its doors. Those
+who know anything about the financial crises of the United States know
+well the significance of the panic which followed. It is spoken of in
+all histories as the panic of 1873, and the widespread ruin and disaster
+which followed was practically unprecedented in American history.
+
+At this time Cowperwood, once more a broker--ostensibly a broker's
+agent--was doing business in South Third Street, and representing
+Wingate & Co. on 'change. During the six months which had elapsed
+since he had emerged from the Eastern Penitentiary he had been quietly
+resuming financial, if not social, relations with those who had known
+him before.
+
+Furthermore, Wingate & Co. were prospering, and had been for some time,
+a fact which redounded to his credit with those who knew. Ostensibly he
+lived with his wife in a small house on North Twenty-first Street. In
+reality he occupied a bachelor apartment on North Fifteenth Street, to
+which Aileen occasionally repaired. The difference between himself and
+his wife had now become a matter of common knowledge in the family, and,
+although there were some faint efforts made to smooth the matter over,
+no good resulted. The difficulties of the past two years had so inured
+his parents to expect the untoward and exceptional that, astonishing as
+this was, it did not shock them so much as it would have years before.
+They were too much frightened by life to quarrel with its weird
+developments. They could only hope and pray for the best.
+
+The Butler family, on the other hand, what there was of it, had become
+indifferent to Aileen's conduct. She was ignored by her brothers and
+Norah, who now knew all; and her mother was so taken up with religious
+devotions and brooding contemplation of her loss that she was not as
+active in her observation of Aileen's life as she might have been.
+Besides, Cowperwood and his mistress were more circumspect in their
+conduct than they had ever been before. Their movements were more
+carefully guarded, though the result was the same. Cowperwood was
+thinking of the West--of reaching some slight local standing here in
+Philadelphia, and then, with perhaps one hundred thousand dollars in
+capital, removing to the boundless prairies of which he had heard
+so much--Chicago, Fargo, Duluth, Sioux City, places then heralded in
+Philadelphia and the East as coming centers of great life--and taking
+Aileen with him. Although the problem of marriage with her was
+insoluble unless Mrs. Cowperwood should formally agree to give him up--a
+possibility which was not manifest at this time, neither he nor Aileen
+were deterred by that thought. They were going to build a future
+together--or so they thought, marriage or no marriage. The only thing
+which Cowperwood could see to do was to take Aileen away with him, and
+to trust to time and absence to modify his wife's point of view.
+
+This particular panic, which was destined to mark a notable change
+in Cowperwood's career, was one of those peculiar things which
+spring naturally out of the optimism of the American people and
+the irrepressible progress of the country. It was the result, to
+be accurate, of the prestige and ambition of Jay Cooke, whose early
+training and subsequent success had all been acquired in Philadelphia,
+and who had since become the foremost financial figure of his day.
+It would be useless to attempt to trace here the rise of this man to
+distinction; it need only be said that by suggestions which he made and
+methods which he devised the Union government, in its darkest hours, was
+able to raise the money wherewith to continue the struggle against
+the South. After the Civil War this man, who had built up a tremendous
+banking business in Philadelphia, with great branches in New York and
+Washington, was at a loss for some time for some significant thing to
+do, some constructive work which would be worthy of his genius. The war
+was over; the only thing which remained was the finances of peace, and
+the greatest things in American financial enterprise were those related
+to the construction of transcontinental railway lines. The Union
+Pacific, authorized in 1860, was already building; the Northern Pacific
+and the Southern Pacific were already dreams in various pioneer minds.
+The great thing was to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific by steel,
+to bind up the territorially perfected and newly solidified Union, or
+to enter upon some vast project of mining, of which gold and silver were
+the most important. Actually railway-building was the most significant
+of all, and railroad stocks were far and away the most valuable and
+important on every exchange in America. Here in Philadelphia, New York
+Central, Rock Island, Wabash, Central Pacific, St. Paul, Hannibal & St.
+Joseph, Union Pacific, and Ohio & Mississippi were freely traded in.
+There were men who were getting rich and famous out of handling these
+things; and such towering figures as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould,
+Daniel Drew, James Fish, and others in the East, and Fair, Crocker, W.
+R. Hearst, and Collis P. Huntington, in the West, were already raising
+their heads like vast mountains in connection with these enterprises.
+Among those who dreamed most ardently on this score was Jay Cooke, who
+without the wolfish cunning of a Gould or the practical knowledge of a
+Vanderbilt, was ambitious to thread the northern reaches of America with
+a band of steel which should be a permanent memorial to his name.
+
+The project which fascinated him most was one that related to the
+development of the territory then lying almost unexplored between the
+extreme western shore of Lake Superior, where Duluth now stands,
+and that portion of the Pacific Ocean into which the Columbia River
+empties--the extreme northern one-third of the United States. Here, if a
+railroad were built, would spring up great cities and prosperous towns.
+There were, it was suspected, mines of various metals in the region of
+the Rockies which this railroad would traverse, and untold wealth to be
+reaped from the fertile corn and wheat lands. Products brought only so
+far east as Duluth could then be shipped to the Atlantic, via the Great
+Lakes and the Erie Canal, at a greatly reduced cost. It was a vision of
+empire, not unlike the Panama Canal project of the same period, and one
+that bade fair apparently to be as useful to humanity. It had aroused
+the interest and enthusiasm of Cooke. Because of the fact that the
+government had made a grant of vast areas of land on either side of the
+proposed track to the corporation that should seriously undertake it
+and complete it within a reasonable number of years, and because of the
+opportunity it gave him of remaining a distinguished public figure, he
+had eventually shouldered the project. It was open to many objections
+and criticisms; but the genius which had been sufficient to finance
+the Civil War was considered sufficient to finance the Northern Pacific
+Railroad. Cooke undertook it with the idea of being able to put the
+merits of the proposition before the people direct--not through the
+agency of any great financial corporation--and of selling to the
+butcher, the baker, and the candlestick-maker the stock or shares that
+he wished to dispose of.
+
+It was a brilliant chance. His genius had worked out the sale of great
+government loans during the Civil War to the people direct in this
+fashion. Why not Northern Pacific certificates? For several years he
+conducted a pyrotechnic campaign, surveying the territory in question,
+organizing great railway-construction corps, building hundreds of miles
+of track under most trying conditions, and selling great blocks of his
+stock, on which interest of a certain percentage was guaranteed. If it
+had not been that he knew little of railroad-building, personally, and
+that the project was so vast that it could not well be encompassed by
+one man, even so great a man it might have proved successful, as under
+subsequent management it did. However, hard times, the war between
+France and Germany, which tied up European capital for the time being
+and made it indifferent to American projects, envy, calumny, a certain
+percentage of mismanagement, all conspired to wreck it. On September 18,
+1873, at twelve-fifteen noon, Jay Cooke & Co. failed for approximately
+eight million dollars and the Northern Pacific for all that had been
+invested in it--some fifty million dollars more.
+
+One can imagine what the result was--the most important financier and
+the most distinguished railway enterprise collapsing at one and the same
+time. "A financial thunderclap in a clear sky," said the Philadelphia
+Press. "No one could have been more surprised," said the Philadelphia
+Inquirer, "if snow had fallen amid the sunshine of a summer noon." The
+public, which by Cooke's previous tremendous success had been lulled
+into believing him invincible, could not understand it. It was beyond
+belief. Jay Cooke fail? Impossible, or anything connected with him.
+Nevertheless, he had failed; and the New York Stock Exchange, after
+witnessing a number of crashes immediately afterward, closed for eight
+days. The Lake Shore Railroad failed to pay a call-loan of one million
+seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and the Union Trust Company,
+allied to the Vanderbilt interests, closed its doors after withstanding
+a prolonged run. The National Trust Company of New York had eight
+hundred thousand dollars of government securities in its vaults, but not
+a dollar could be borrowed upon them; and it suspended. Suspicion was
+universal, rumor affected every one.
+
+In Philadelphia, when the news reached the stock exchange, it came first
+in the form of a brief despatch addressed to the stock board from the
+New York Stock Exchange--"Rumor on street of failure of Jay Cooke & Co.
+Answer." It was not believed, and so not replied to. Nothing was
+thought of it. The world of brokers paid scarcely any attention to
+it. Cowperwood, who had followed the fortunes of Jay Cooke & Co. with
+considerable suspicion of its president's brilliant theory of vending
+his wares direct to the people--was perhaps the only one who had
+suspicions. He had once written a brilliant criticism to some inquirer,
+in which he had said that no enterprise of such magnitude as the
+Northern Pacific had ever before been entirely dependent upon one house,
+or rather upon one man, and that he did not like it. "I am not sure that
+the lands through which the road runs are so unparalleled in climate,
+soil, timber, minerals, etc., as Mr. Cooke and his friends would have
+us believe. Neither do I think that the road can at present, or for many
+years to come, earn the interest which its great issues of stock call
+for. There is great danger and risk there." So when the notice was
+posted, he looked at it, wondering what the effect would be if by any
+chance Jay Cooke & Co. should fail.
+
+He was not long in wonder. A second despatch posted on 'change read:
+"New York, September 18th. Jay Cooke & Co. have suspended."
+
+Cowperwood could not believe it. He was beside himself with the thought
+of a great opportunity. In company with every other broker, he hurried
+into Third Street and up to Number 114, where the famous old banking
+house was located, in order to be sure. Despite his natural dignity and
+reserve, he did not hesitate to run. If this were true, a great hour had
+struck. There would be wide-spread panic and disaster. There would be a
+terrific slump in prices of all stocks. He must be in the thick of it.
+Wingate must be on hand, and his two brothers. He must tell them how to
+sell and when and what to buy. His great hour had come!
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LIX
+
+
+The banking house of Jay Cooke & Co., in spite of its tremendous
+significance as a banking and promoting concern, was a most
+unpretentious affair, four stories and a half in height of gray stone
+and red brick. It had never been deemed a handsome or comfortable
+banking house. Cowperwood had been there often. Wharf-rats as long as
+the forearm of a man crept up the culverted channels of Dock Street
+to run through the apartments at will. Scores of clerks worked under
+gas-jets, where light and air were not any too abundant, keeping track
+of the firm's vast accounts. It was next door to the Girard National
+Bank, where Cowperwood's friend Davison still flourished, and where the
+principal financial business of the street converged. As Cowperwood ran
+he met his brother Edward, who was coming to the stock exchange with
+some word for him from Wingate.
+
+"Run and get Wingate and Joe," he said. "There's something big on this
+afternoon. Jay Cooke has failed."
+
+Edward waited for no other word, but hurried off as directed.
+
+Cowperwood reached Cooke & Co. among the earliest. To his utter
+astonishment, the solid brown-oak doors, with which he was familiar,
+were shut, and a notice posted on them, which he quickly read, ran:
+
+     September 18, 1873.
+     To the Public--
+
+     We regret to be obliged to announce that, owing to
+     unexpected demands on us, our firm has been obliged to
+     suspend payment.  In a few days we will be able to present a
+     statement to our creditors. Until which time we must ask
+     their patient consideration. We believe our assets to be
+     largely in excess of our liabilities.
+
+     Jay Cooke & Co.
+
+A magnificent gleam of triumph sprang into Cowperwood's eye. In company
+with many others he turned and ran back toward the exchange, while a
+reporter, who had come for information knocked at the massive doors
+of the banking house, and was told by a porter, who peered out of a
+diamond-shaped aperture, that Jay Cooke had gone home for the day and
+was not to be seen.
+
+"Now," thought Cowperwood, to whom this panic spelled opportunity, not
+ruin, "I'll get my innings. I'll go short of this--of everything."
+
+Before, when the panic following the Chicago fire had occurred, he had
+been long--had been compelled to stay long of many things in order to
+protect himself. To-day he had nothing to speak of--perhaps a paltry
+seventy-five thousand dollars which he had managed to scrape together.
+Thank God! he had only the reputation of Wingate's old house to lose, if
+he lost, which was nothing. With it as a trading agency behind him--with
+it as an excuse for his presence, his right to buy and sell--he had
+everything to gain. Where many men were thinking of ruin, he was
+thinking of success. He would have Wingate and his two brothers under
+him to execute his orders exactly. He could pick up a fourth and a fifth
+man if necessary. He would give them orders to sell--everything--ten,
+fifteen, twenty, thirty points off, if necessary, in order to trap the
+unwary, depress the market, frighten the fearsome who would think he was
+too daring; and then he would buy, buy, buy, below these figures as much
+as possible, in order to cover his sales and reap a profit.
+
+His instinct told him how widespread and enduring this panic would be.
+The Northern Pacific was a hundred-million-dollar venture. It involved
+the savings of hundreds of thousands of people--small bankers,
+tradesmen, preachers, lawyers, doctors, widows, institutions all over
+the land, and all resting on the faith and security of Jay Cooke. Once,
+not unlike the Chicago fire map, Cowperwood had seen a grand prospectus
+and map of the location of the Northern Pacific land-grant which Cooke
+had controlled, showing a vast stretch or belt of territory extending
+from Duluth--"The Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas," as Proctor Knott,
+speaking in the House of Representatives, had sarcastically called
+it--through the Rockies and the headwaters of the Missouri to the
+Pacific Ocean. He had seen how Cooke had ostensibly managed to get
+control of this government grant, containing millions upon millions of
+acres and extending fourteen hundred miles in length; but it was only a
+vision of empire. There might be silver and gold and copper mines there.
+The land was usable--would some day be usable. But what of it now? It
+would do to fire the imaginations of fools with--nothing more. It was
+inaccessible, and would remain so for years to come. No doubt thousands
+had subscribed to build this road; but, too, thousands would now fail
+if it had failed. Now the crash had come. The grief and the rage of the
+public would be intense. For days and days and weeks and months, normal
+confidence and courage would be gone. This was his hour. This was his
+great moment. Like a wolf prowling under glittering, bitter stars in
+the night, he was looking down into the humble folds of simple men and
+seeing what their ignorance and their unsophistication would cost them.
+
+He hurried back to the exchange, the very same room in which only two
+years before he had fought his losing fight, and, finding that his
+partner and his brother had not yet come, began to sell everything in
+sight. Pandemonium had broken loose. Boys and men were fairly tearing in
+from all sections with orders from panic-struck brokers to sell, sell,
+sell, and later with orders to buy; the various trading-posts were
+reeling, swirling masses of brokers and their agents. Outside in the
+street in front of Jay Cooke & Co., Clark & Co., the Girard National
+Bank, and other institutions, immense crowds were beginning to form.
+They were hurrying here to learn the trouble, to withdraw their
+deposits, to protect their interests generally. A policeman arrested a
+boy for calling out the failure of Jay Cooke & Co., but nevertheless the
+news of the great disaster was spreading like wild-fire.
+
+Among these panic-struck men Cowperwood was perfectly calm, deadly cold,
+the same Cowperwood who had pegged solemnly at his ten chairs each day
+in prison, who had baited his traps for rats, and worked in the little
+garden allotted him in utter silence and loneliness. Now he was vigorous
+and energetic. He had been just sufficiently about this exchange floor
+once more to have made his personality impressive and distinguished.
+He forced his way into the center of swirling crowds of men already
+shouting themselves hoarse, offering whatever was being offered in
+quantities which were astonishing, and at prices which allured the few
+who were anxious to make money out of the tumbling prices to buy.
+New York Central had been standing at 104 7/8 when the failure was
+announced; Rhode Island at 108 7/8; Western Union at 92 1/2; Wabash at
+70 1/4; Panama at 117 3/8; Central Pacific at 99 5/8; St. Paul at 51;
+Hannibal & St. Joseph at 48; Northwestern at 63; Union Pacific at 26
+3/4; Ohio and Mississippi at 38 3/4. Cowperwood's house had scarcely any
+of the stocks on hand. They were not carrying them for any customers,
+and yet he sold, sold, sold, to whoever would take, at prices which he
+felt sure would inspire them.
+
+"Five thousand of New York Central at ninety-nine, ninety-eight,
+ninety-seven, ninety-six, ninety-five, ninety-four, ninety-three,
+ninety-two, ninety-one, ninety, eighty-nine," you might have heard him
+call; and when his sales were not sufficiently brisk he would turn to
+something else--Rock Island, Panama, Central Pacific, Western Union,
+Northwestern, Union Pacific. He saw his brother and Wingate hurrying in,
+and stopped in his work long enough to instruct them. "Sell everything
+you can," he cautioned them quietly, "at fifteen points off if you have
+to--no lower than that now--and buy all you can below it. Ed, you see
+if you cannot buy up some local street-railways at fifteen off. Joe, you
+stay near me and buy when I tell you."
+
+The secretary of the board appeared on his little platform.
+
+"E. W. Clark & Company," he announced, at one-thirty, "have just closed
+their doors."
+
+"Tighe & Company," he called at one-forty-five, "announce that they are
+compelled to suspend."
+
+"The First National Bank of Philadelphia," he called, at two o'clock,
+"begs to state that it cannot at present meet its obligations."
+
+After each announcement, always, as in the past, when the gong had
+compelled silence, the crowd broke into an ominous "Aw, aw, aw."
+
+"Tighe & Company," thought Cowperwood, for a single second, when he
+heard it. "There's an end of him." And then he returned to his task.
+
+When the time for closing came, his coat torn, his collar twisted
+loose, his necktie ripped, his hat lost, he emerged sane, quiet,
+steady-mannered.
+
+"Well, Ed," he inquired, meeting his brother, "how'd you make out?" The
+latter was equally torn, scratched, exhausted.
+
+"Christ," he replied, tugging at his sleeves, "I never saw such a place
+as this. They almost tore my clothes off."
+
+"Buy any local street-railways?"
+
+"About five thousand shares."
+
+"We'd better go down to Green's," Frank observed, referring to the lobby
+of the principal hotel. "We're not through yet. There'll be more trading
+there."
+
+He led the way to find Wingate and his brother Joe, and together they
+were off, figuring up some of the larger phases of their purchases and
+sales as they went.
+
+And, as he predicted, the excitement did not end with the coming of the
+night. The crowd lingered in front of Jay Cooke & Co.'s on Third
+Street and in front of other institutions, waiting apparently for some
+development which would be favorable to them. For the initiated the
+center of debate and agitation was Green's Hotel, where on the evening
+of the eighteenth the lobby and corridors were crowded with bankers,
+brokers, and speculators. The stock exchange had practically adjourned
+to that hotel en masse. What of the morrow? Who would be the next to
+fail? From whence would money be forthcoming? These were the topics from
+each mind and upon each tongue. From New York was coming momentarily
+more news of disaster. Over there banks and trust companies were falling
+like trees in a hurricane. Cowperwood in his perambulations, seeing what
+he could see and hearing what he could hear, reaching understandings
+which were against the rules of the exchange, but which were
+nevertheless in accord with what every other person was doing, saw
+about him men known to him as agents of Mollenhauer and Simpson, and
+congratulated himself that he would have something to collect from them
+before the week was over. He might not own a street-railway, but he
+would have the means to. He learned from hearsay, and information which
+had been received from New York and elsewhere, that things were as bad
+as they could be, and that there was no hope for those who expected a
+speedy return of normal conditions. No thought of retiring for the night
+entered until the last man was gone. It was then practically morning.
+
+The next day was Friday, and suggested many ominous things. Would it be
+another Black Friday? Cowperwood was at his office before the street
+was fairly awake. He figured out his program for the day to a nicety,
+feeling strangely different from the way he had felt two years before
+when the conditions were not dissimilar. Yesterday, in spite of the
+sudden onslaught, he had made one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
+and he expected to make as much, if not more, to-day. There was no
+telling what he could make, he thought, if he could only keep his small
+organization in perfect trim and get his assistants to follow his orders
+exactly. Ruin for others began early with the suspension of Fisk &
+Hatch, Jay Cooke's faithful lieutenants during the Civil War. They had
+calls upon them for one million five hundred thousand dollars in the
+first fifteen minutes after opening the doors, and at once closed them
+again, the failure being ascribed to Collis P. Huntington's Central
+Pacific Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio. There was a long-continued
+run on the Fidelity Trust Company. News of these facts, and of failures
+in New York posted on 'change, strengthened the cause Cowperwood was so
+much interested in; for he was selling as high as he could and buying
+as low as he could on a constantly sinking scale. By twelve o'clock he
+figured with his assistants that he had cleared one hundred thousand
+dollars; and by three o'clock he had two hundred thousand dollars more.
+That afternoon between three and seven he spent adjusting his trades,
+and between seven and one in the morning, without anything to eat, in
+gathering as much additional information as he could and laying his
+plans for the future. Saturday morning came, and he repeated his
+performance of the day before, following it up with adjustments on
+Sunday and heavy trading on Monday. By Monday afternoon at three o'clock
+he figured that, all losses and uncertainties to one side, he was once
+more a millionaire, and that now his future lay clear and straight
+before him.
+
+As he sat at his desk late that afternoon in his office looking out
+into Third Street, where a hurrying of brokers, messengers, and
+anxious depositors still maintained, he had the feeling that so far as
+Philadelphia and the life here was concerned, his day and its day with
+him was over. He did not care anything about the brokerage business here
+any more or anywhere. Failures such as this, and disasters such as the
+Chicago fire, that had overtaken him two years before, had cured him of
+all love of the stock exchange and all feeling for Philadelphia. He had
+been very unhappy here in spite of all his previous happiness; and
+his experience as a convict had made, him, he could see quite plainly,
+unacceptable to the element with whom he had once hoped to associate.
+There was nothing else to do, now that he had reestablished himself as
+a Philadelphia business man and been pardoned for an offense which
+he hoped to make people believe he had never committed, but to leave
+Philadelphia to seek a new world.
+
+"If I get out of this safely," he said to himself, "this is the end. I
+am going West, and going into some other line of business." He thought
+of street-railways, land speculation, some great manufacturing project
+of some kind, even mining, on a legitimate basis.
+
+"I have had my lesson," he said to himself, finally getting up and
+preparing to leave. "I am as rich as I was, and only a little older.
+They caught me once, but they will not catch me again." He talked to
+Wingate about following up the campaign on the lines in which he had
+started, and he himself intended to follow it up with great energy; but
+all the while his mind was running with this one rich thought: "I am a
+millionaire. I am a free man. I am only thirty-six, and my future is all
+before me."
+
+It was with this thought that he went to visit Aileen, and to plan for
+the future.
+
+It was only three months later that a train, speeding through the
+mountains of Pennsylvania and over the plains of Ohio and Indiana, bore
+to Chicago and the West the young financial aspirant who, in spite of
+youth and wealth and a notable vigor of body, was a solemn, conservative
+speculator as to what his future might be. The West, as he had carefully
+calculated before leaving, held much. He had studied the receipts of the
+New York Clearing House recently and the disposition of bank-balances
+and the shipment of gold, and had seen that vast quantities of the
+latter metal were going to Chicago. He understood finance accurately.
+The meaning of gold shipments was clear. Where money was going trade
+was--a thriving, developing life. He wished to see clearly for himself
+what this world had to offer.
+
+Two years later, following the meteoric appearance of a young speculator
+in Duluth, and after Chicago had seen the tentative opening of a
+grain and commission company labeled Frank A. Cowperwood & Co., which
+ostensibly dealt in the great wheat crops of the West, a quiet divorce
+was granted Mrs. Frank A. Cowperwood in Philadelphia, because apparently
+she wished it. Time had not seemingly dealt badly with her. Her
+financial affairs, once so bad, were now apparently all straightened
+out, and she occupied in West Philadelphia, near one of her sisters, a
+new and interesting home which was fitted with all the comforts of an
+excellent middle-class residence. She was now quite religious once more.
+The two children, Frank and Lillian, were in private schools, returning
+evenings to their mother. "Wash" Sims was once more the negro general
+factotum. Frequent visitors on Sundays were Mr. and Mrs. Henry
+Worthington Cowperwood, no longer distressed financially, but subdued
+and wearied, the wind completely gone from their once much-favored
+sails. Cowperwood, senior, had sufficient money wherewith to sustain
+himself, and that without slaving as a petty clerk, but his social joy
+in life was gone. He was old, disappointed, sad. He could feel that with
+his quondam honor and financial glory, he was the same--and he was not.
+His courage and his dreams were gone, and he awaited death.
+
+Here, too, came Anna Adelaide Cowperwood on occasion, a clerk in the
+city water office, who speculated much as to the strange vicissitudes of
+life. She had great interest in her brother, who seemed destined by fate
+to play a conspicuous part in the world; but she could not understand
+him. Seeing that all those who were near to him in any way seemed to
+rise or fall with his prosperity, she did not understand how justice and
+morals were arranged in this world. There seemed to be certain general
+principles--or people assumed there were--but apparently there were
+exceptions. Assuredly her brother abided by no known rule, and yet
+he seemed to be doing fairly well once more. What did this mean? Mrs.
+Cowperwood, his former wife, condemned his actions, and yet accepted of
+his prosperity as her due. What were the ethics of that?
+
+Cowperwood's every action was known to Aileen Butler, his present
+whereabouts and prospects. Not long after his wife's divorce, and after
+many trips to and from this new world in which he was now living, these
+two left Philadelphia together one afternoon in the winter. Aileen
+explained to her mother, who was willing to go and live with Norah, that
+she had fallen in love with the former banker and wished to marry
+him. The old lady, gathering only a garbled version of it at first,
+consented.
+
+Thus ended forever for Aileen this long-continued relationship with this
+older world. Chicago was before her--a much more distinguished career,
+Frank told her, than ever they could have had in Philadelphia.
+
+"Isn't it nice to be finally going?" she commented.
+
+"It is advantageous, anyhow," he said.
+
+
+
+
+Concerning Mycteroperca Bonaci
+
+There is a certain fish, the scientific name of which is Mycteroperca
+Bonaci, its common name Black Grouper, which is of considerable value
+as an afterthought in this connection, and which deserves to be better
+known. It is a healthy creature, growing quite regularly to a weight of
+two hundred and fifty pounds, and lives a comfortable, lengthy existence
+because of its very remarkable ability to adapt itself to conditions.
+That very subtle thing which we call the creative power, and which
+we endow with the spirit of the beatitudes, is supposed to build this
+mortal life in such fashion that only honesty and virtue shall prevail.
+Witness, then, the significant manner in which it has fashioned
+the black grouper. One might go far afield and gather less forceful
+indictments--the horrific spider spinning his trap for the unthinking
+fly; the lovely Drosera (Sundew) using its crimson calyx for a
+smothering-pit in which to seal and devour the victim of its beauty;
+the rainbow-colored jellyfish that spreads its prismed tentacles like
+streamers of great beauty, only to sting and torture all that falls
+within their radiant folds. Man himself is busy digging the pit and
+fashioning the snare, but he will not believe it. His feet are in the
+trap of circumstance; his eyes are on an illusion.
+
+Mycteroperca moving in its dark world of green waters is as fine
+an illustration of the constructive genius of nature, which is
+not beatific, as any which the mind of man may discover. Its great
+superiority lies in an almost unbelievable power of simulation, which
+relates solely to the pigmentation of its skin. In electrical mechanics
+we pride ourselves on our ability to make over one brilliant scene into
+another in the twinkling of an eye, and flash before the gaze of an
+onlooker picture after picture, which appear and disappear as we look.
+The directive control of Mycteroperca over its appearance is much more
+significant. You cannot look at it long without feeling that you are
+witnessing something spectral and unnatural, so brilliant is its power
+to deceive. From being black it can become instantly white; from being
+an earth-colored brown it can fade into a delightful water-colored
+green. Its markings change as the clouds of the sky. One marvels at the
+variety and subtlety of its power.
+
+Lying at the bottom of a bay, it can simulate the mud by which it is
+surrounded. Hidden in the folds of glorious leaves, it is of the same
+markings. Lurking in a flaw of light, it is like the light itself
+shining dimly in water. Its power to elude or strike unseen is of the
+greatest.
+
+What would you say was the intention of the overruling, intelligent,
+constructive force which gives to Mycteroperca this ability? To fit it
+to be truthful? To permit it to present an unvarying appearance which
+all honest life-seeking fish may know? Or would you say that subtlety,
+chicanery, trickery, were here at work? An implement of illusion one
+might readily suspect it to be, a living lie, a creature whose business
+it is to appear what it is not, to simulate that with which it has
+nothing in common, to get its living by great subtlety, the power of its
+enemies to forefend against which is little. The indictment is fair.
+
+Would you say, in the face of this, that a beatific, beneficent
+creative, overruling power never wills that which is either tricky or
+deceptive? Or would you say that this material seeming in which we dwell
+is itself an illusion? If not, whence then the Ten Commandments and the
+illusion of justice? Why were the Beatitudes dreamed of and how do they
+avail?
+
+
+
+
+The Magic Crystal
+
+If you had been a mystic or a soothsayer or a member of that mysterious
+world which divines by incantations, dreams, the mystic bowl, or the
+crystal sphere, you might have looked into their mysterious depths at
+this time and foreseen a world of happenings which concerned these
+two, who were now apparently so fortunately placed. In the fumes of
+the witches' pot, or the depths of the radiant crystal, might have been
+revealed cities, cities, cities; a world of mansions, carriages, jewels,
+beauty; a vast metropolis outraged by the power of one man; a great
+state seething with indignation over a force it could not control; vast
+halls of priceless pictures; a palace unrivaled for its magnificence; a
+whole world reading with wonder, at times, of a given name. And sorrow,
+sorrow, sorrow.
+
+The three witches that hailed Macbeth upon the blasted heath might in
+turn have called to Cowperwood, "Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood, master
+of a great railway system! Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood, builder of
+a priceless mansion! Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood, patron of arts and
+possessor of endless riches! You shall be famed hereafter." But like the
+Weird Sisters, they would have lied, for in the glory was also the ashes
+of Dead Sea fruit--an understanding that could neither be inflamed by
+desire nor satisfied by luxury; a heart that was long since wearied by
+experience; a soul that was as bereft of illusion as a windless moon.
+And to Aileen, as to Macduff, they might have spoken a more pathetic
+promise, one that concerned hope and failure. To have and not to have!
+All the seeming, and yet the sorrow of not having! Brilliant society
+that shone in a mirage, yet locked its doors; love that eluded as a
+will-o'-the-wisp and died in the dark. "Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood,
+master and no master, prince of a world of dreams whose reality was
+disillusion!" So might the witches have called, the bowl have danced
+with figures, the fumes with vision, and it would have been true. What
+wise man might not read from such a beginning, such an end?
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Financier, by Theodore Dreiser
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FINANCIER ***
+
+***** This file should be named 1840.txt or 1840.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/4/1840/
+
+Produced by Kirk Pearson and David Widger
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/1840.zip b/1840.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e708d12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/1840.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dcc459e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #1840 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1840)
diff --git a/old/tfncr10.txt b/old/tfncr10.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1acfcde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/tfncr10.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,21246 @@
+The Project Gutenberg Etext:  The Financier, by Theodore Dreiser
+#2 in our series by Theodore Dreiser
+
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check
+the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!!
+
+Please take a look at the important information in this header.
+We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an
+electronic path open for the next readers.  Do not remove this.
+
+
+**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
+
+**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
+
+*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations*
+
+Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and
+further information is included below.  We need your donations.
+
+
+The Financier
+
+by Theodore Dreiser
+
+August, 1999  [Etext #1840]
+
+
+The Project Gutenberg Etext:  The Financier, by Theodore Dreiser
+******This file should be named tfncr10.txt or tfncr10.zip******
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, tfncr11.txt
+VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, tfncr10a.txt
+
+Prepared by Kirk Pearson <Kirk.Pearson@Central.Sun.COM>
+
+
+Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions,
+all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a
+copyright notice is included.  Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any
+of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance
+of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing.
+
+Please note:  neither this list nor its contents are final till
+midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
+The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at
+Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.  A
+preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
+and editing by those who wish to do so.  To be sure you have an
+up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes
+in the first week of the next month.  Since our ftp program has
+a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a
+look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a
+new copy has at least one byte more or less.
+
+
+Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)
+
+We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.  The
+time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours
+to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
+searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.  This
+projected audience is one hundred million readers.  If our value
+per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2
+million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-six text
+files per month, or 432 more Etexts in 1999 for a total of 2000+
+If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the
+total should reach over 200 billion Etexts given away this year.
+
+The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext
+Files by December 31, 2001.  [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion]
+This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
+which is only ~5% of the present number of computer users.
+
+At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third
+of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we
+manage to get some real funding; currently our funding is mostly
+from Michael Hart's salary at Carnegie-Mellon University, and an
+assortment of sporadic gifts; this salary is only good for a few
+more years, so we are looking for something to replace it, as we
+don't want Project Gutenberg to be so dependent on one person.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+
+All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are
+tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.  (CMU = Carnegie-
+Mellon University).
+
+For these and other matters, please mail to:
+
+Project Gutenberg
+P. O. Box  2782
+Champaign, IL 61825
+
+When all other email fails. . .try our Executive Director:
+Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com>
+hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org
+if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if
+it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . .
+
+We would prefer to send you this information by email.
+
+******
+
+To access Project Gutenberg etexts, use any Web browser
+to view http://promo.net/pg.  This site lists Etexts by
+author and by title, and includes information about how
+to get involved with Project Gutenberg.  You could also
+download our past Newsletters, or subscribe here.  This
+is one of our major sites, please email hart@pobox.com,
+for a more complete list of our various sites.
+
+To go directly to the etext collections, use FTP or any
+Web browser to visit a Project Gutenberg mirror (mirror
+sites are available on 7 continents; mirrors are listed
+at http://promo.net/pg).
+
+Mac users, do NOT point and click, typing works better.
+
+Example FTP session:
+
+ftp sunsite.unc.edu
+login: anonymous
+password: your@login
+cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg
+cd etext90 through etext99
+dir [to see files]
+get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files]
+GET GUTINDEX.??  [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99]
+GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books]
+
+***
+
+**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor**
+
+(Three Pages)
+
+
+***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START***
+Why is this "Small Print!" statement here?  You know: lawyers.
+They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
+your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from
+someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
+fault.  So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
+disclaims most of our liability to you.  It also tells you how
+you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to.
+
+*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT
+By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
+this "Small Print!" statement.  If you do not, you can receive
+a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by
+sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
+you got it from.  If you received this etext on a physical
+medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.
+
+ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS
+This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-
+tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor
+Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at
+Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project").  Among other
+things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright
+on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
+distribute it in the United States without permission and
+without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules, set forth
+below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext
+under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.
+
+To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable
+efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
+works.  Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any
+medium they may be on may contain "Defects".  Among other
+things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
+disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer
+codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
+But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
+[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this
+etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
+legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
+UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
+INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
+OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
+POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
+
+If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of
+receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
+you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
+time to the person you received it from.  If you received it
+on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
+such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
+copy.  If you received it electronically, such person may
+choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
+receive it electronically.
+
+THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS".  NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
+TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
+PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
+the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
+above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
+may have other legal rights.
+
+INDEMNITY
+You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors,
+officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost
+and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or
+indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause:
+[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification,
+or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect.
+
+DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
+You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by
+disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
+"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
+or:
+
+[1]  Only give exact copies of it.  Among other things, this
+     requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
+     etext or this "small print!" statement.  You may however,
+     if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable
+     binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
+     including any form resulting from conversion by word pro-
+     cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as
+     *EITHER*:
+
+     [*]  The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
+          does *not* contain characters other than those
+          intended by the author of the work, although tilde
+          (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
+          be used to convey punctuation intended by the
+          author, and additional characters may be used to
+          indicate hypertext links; OR
+
+     [*]  The etext may be readily converted by the reader at
+          no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
+          form by the program that displays the etext (as is
+          the case, for instance, with most word processors);
+          OR
+
+     [*]  You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
+          no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
+          etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
+          or other equivalent proprietary form).
+
+[2]  Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this
+     "Small Print!" statement.
+
+[3]  Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the
+     net profits you derive calculated using the method you
+     already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  If you
+     don't derive profits, no royalty is due.  Royalties are
+     payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon
+     University" within the 60 days following each
+     date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare)
+     your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return.
+
+WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
+The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time,
+scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty
+free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution
+you can think of.  Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg
+Association / Carnegie-Mellon University".
+
+*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*
+
+
+
+
+
+Prepared by Kirk Pearson <Kirk.Pearson@Central.Sun.COM>
+
+
+
+
+
+The Financier
+by Theodore Dreiser
+
+
+Chapter I
+
+The Philadelphia into which Frank Algernon Cowperwood was born
+was a city of two hundred and fifty thousand and more.  It was
+set with handsome parks, notable buildings, and crowded with
+historic memories.  Many of the things that we and he knew later
+were not then in existence--the telegraph, telephone, express
+company, ocean steamer, city delivery of mails.  There were no
+postage-stamps or registered letters.  The street car had not
+arrived.  In its place were hosts of omnibuses, and for longer
+travel the slowly developing railroad system still largely
+connected by canals.
+
+Cowperwood's father was a bank clerk at the time of Frank's birth,
+but ten years later, when the boy was already beginning to turn a
+very sensible, vigorous eye on the world, Mr. Henry Worthington
+Cowperwood, because of the death of the bank's president and the
+consequent moving ahead of the other officers, fell heir to the
+place vacated by the promoted teller, at the, to him, munificent
+salary of thirty-five hundred dollars a year.  At once he decided,
+as he told his wife joyously, to remove his family from 21
+Buttonwood Street to 124 New Market Street, a much better
+neighborhood, where there was a nice brick house of three stories
+in height as opposed to their present two-storied domicile.  There
+was the probability that some day they would come into something
+even better, but for the present this was sufficient.  He was
+exceedingly grateful.
+
+Henry Worthington Cowperwood was a man who believed only what he
+saw and was content to be what he was--a banker, or a prospective
+one.  He was at this time a significant figure--tall, lean,
+inquisitorial, clerkly--with nice, smooth, closely-cropped side
+whiskers coming to almost the lower lobes of his ears.  His upper
+lip was smooth and curiously long, and he had a long, straight
+nose and a chin that tended to be pointed.  His eyebrows were
+bushy, emphasizing vague, grayish-green eyes, and his hair was
+short and smooth and nicely parted.  He wore a frock-coat always--
+it was quite the thing in financial circles in those days--and a
+high hat.  And he kept his hands and nails immaculately clean.
+His manner might have been called severe, though really it was
+more cultivated than austere.
+
+Being ambitious to get ahead socially and financially, he was
+very careful of whom or with whom he talked.  He was as much
+afraid of expressing a rabid or unpopular political or social
+opinion as he was of being seen with an evil character, though
+he had really no opinion of great political significance to
+express.  He was neither anti- nor pro-slavery, though the air
+was stormy with abolition sentiment and its opposition.  He
+believed sincerely that vast fortunes were to be made out of
+railroads if one only had the capital and that curious thing, a
+magnetic personality--the ability to win the confidence of others.
+He was sure that Andrew Jackson was all wrong in his opposition
+to Nicholas Biddle and the United States Bank, one of the great
+issues of the day; and he was worried, as he might well be, by the
+perfect storm of wildcat money which was floating about and which
+was constantly coming to his bank--discounted, of course, and
+handed out again to anxious borrowers at a profit.  His bank was
+the Third National of Philadelphia, located in that center of all
+Philadelphia and indeed, at that time, of practically all national
+finance--Third Street--and its owners conducted a brokerage
+business as a side line.  There was a perfect plague of State
+banks, great and small, in those days, issuing notes practically
+without regulation upon insecure and unknown assets and failing
+and suspending with astonishing rapidity; and a knowledge of all
+these was an important requirement of Mr. Cowperwood's position.
+As a result, he had become the soul of caution.  Unfortunately,
+for him, he lacked in a great measure the two things that are
+necessary for distinction in any field--magnetism and vision.  He
+was not destined to be a great financier, though he was marked
+out to be a moderately successful one.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood was of a religious temperament--a small woman,
+with light-brown hair and clear, brown eyes, who had been very
+attractive in her day, but had become rather prim and matter-of-fact
+and inclined to take very seriously the maternal care of her three
+sons and one daughter.  The former, captained by Frank, the eldest,
+were a source of considerable annoyance to her, for they were
+forever making expeditions to different parts of the city, getting
+in with bad boys, probably, and seeing and hearing things they
+should neither see nor hear.
+
+Frank Cowperwood, even at ten, was a natural-born leader.  At the
+day school he attended, and later at the Central High School, he
+was looked upon as one whose common sense could unquestionably be
+trusted in all cases.  He was a sturdy youth, courageous and
+defiant.  From the very start of his life, he wanted to know about
+economics and politics.  He cared nothing for books.  He was a
+clean, stalky, shapely boy, with a bright, clean-cut, incisive
+face; large, clear, gray eyes; a wide forehead; short, bristly,
+dark-brown hair.  He had an incisive, quick-motioned, self-sufficient
+manner, and was forever asking questions with a keen desire for an
+intelligent reply.  He never had an ache or pain, ate his food with
+gusto, and ruled his brothers with a rod of iron.  "Come on, Joe!"
+"Hurry, Ed!" These commands were issued in no rough but always a
+sure way, and Joe and Ed came.  They looked up to Frank from the
+first as a master, and what he had to say was listened to eagerly.
+
+He was forever pondering, pondering--one fact astonishing him quite
+as much as another--for he could not figure out how this thing he
+had come into--this life--was organized.  How did all these people
+get into the world? What were they doing here? Who started things,
+anyhow? His mother told him the story of Adam and Eve, but he
+didn't believe it.  There was a fish-market not so very far from
+his home, and there, on his way to see his father at the bank, or
+conducting his brothers on after-school expeditions, he liked to
+look at a certain tank in front of one store where were kept odd
+specimens of sea-life brought in by the Delaware Bay fishermen.
+He saw once there a sea-horse--just a queer little sea-animal that
+looked somewhat like a horse--and another time he saw an electric
+eel which Benjamin Franklin's discovery had explained.  One day he
+saw a squid and a lobster put in the tank, and in connection with
+them was witness to a tragedy which stayed with him all his life
+and cleared things up considerably intellectually.  The lobster,
+it appeared from the talk of the idle bystanders, was offered no
+food, as the squid was considered his rightful prey.  He lay at
+the bottom of the clear glass tank on the yellow sand, apparently
+seeing nothing--you could not tell in which way his beady, black
+buttons of eyes were looking--but apparently they were never off
+the body of the squid.  The latter, pale and waxy in texture,
+looking very much like pork fat or jade, moved about in torpedo
+fashion; but his movements were apparently never out of the eyes
+of his enemy, for by degrees small portions of his body began to
+disappear, snapped off by the relentless claws of his pursuer.
+The lobster would leap like a catapult to where the squid was
+apparently idly dreaming, and the squid, very alert, would dart
+away, shooting out at the same time a cloud of ink, behind which
+it would disappear.  It was not always completely successful,
+however.  Small portions of its body or its tail were frequently
+left in the claws of the monster below.  Fascinated by the drama,
+young Cowperwood came daily to watch.
+
+One morning he stood in front of the tank, his nose almost pressed
+to the glass.  Only a portion of the squid remained, and his
+ink-bag was emptier than ever.  In the corner of the tank sat the
+lobster, poised apparently for action.
+
+The boy stayed as long as he could, the bitter struggle fascinating
+him.  Now, maybe, or in an hour or a day, the squid might die,
+slain by the lobster, and the lobster would eat him.  He looked
+again at the greenish-copperish engine of destruction in the corner
+and wondered when this would be.  To-night, maybe.  He would come
+back to-night.
+
+He returned that night, and lo! the expected had happened.  There
+was a little crowd around the tank.  The lobster was in the corner.
+Before him was the squid cut in two and partially devoured.
+
+"He got him at last," observed one bystander.  "I was standing
+right here an hour ago, and up he leaped and grabbed him.  The
+squid was too tired.  He wasn't quick enough.  He did back up, but
+that lobster he calculated on his doing that.  He's been figuring
+on his movements for a long time now.  He got him to-day."
+
+Frank only stared.  Too bad he had missed this.  The least touch
+of sorrow for the squid came to him as he stared at it slain.
+Then he gazed at the victor.
+
+"That's the way it has to be, I guess," he commented to himself.
+"That squid wasn't quick enough."  He figured it out.
+
+"The squid couldn't kill the lobster--he had no weapon.  The
+lobster could kill the squid--he was heavily armed.  There was
+nothing for the squid to feed on; the lobster had the squid as
+prey.  What was the result to be? What else could it be? He didn't
+have a chance," he concluded finally, as he trotted on homeward.
+
+The incident made a great impression on him.  It answered in a
+rough way that riddle which had been annoying him so much in the
+past: "How is life organized?" Things lived on each other--that
+was it.  Lobsters lived on squids and other things.  What lived
+on lobsters? Men, of course! Sure, that was it! And what lived on
+men? he asked himself.  Was it other men? Wild animals lived on
+men.  And there were Indians and cannibals.  And some men were
+killed by storms and accidents.  He wasn't so sure about men living
+on men; but men did kill each other.  How about wars and street
+fights and mobs? He had seen a mob once.  It attacked the Public
+Ledger building as he was coming home from school.  His father had
+explained why.  It was about the slaves.  That was it! Sure, men
+lived on men.  Look at the slaves.  They were men.  That's what
+all this excitement was about these days.  Men killing other men--
+negroes.
+
+He went on home quite pleased with himself at his solution.
+
+"Mother!" he exclaimed, as he entered the house, "he finally got
+him!"
+
+"Got who? What got what?" she inquired in amazement.  "Go wash
+your hands."
+
+"Why, that lobster got that squid I was telling you and pa about
+the other day."
+
+"Well, that's too bad.  What makes you take any interest in such
+things? Run, wash your hands."
+
+"Well, you don't often see anything like that.  I never did."  He
+went out in the back yard, where there was a hydrant and a post
+with a little table on it, and on that a shining tin-pan and a
+bucket of water.  Here he washed his face and hands.
+
+"Say, papa," he said to his father, later, "you know that squid?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, he's dead.  The lobster got him."
+
+His father continued reading.  "Well, that's too bad," he said,
+indifferently.
+
+But for days and weeks Frank thought of this and of the life he
+was tossed into, for he was already pondering on what he should
+be in this world, and how he should get along.  From seeing his
+father count money, he was sure that he would like banking; and
+Third Street, where his father's office was, seemed to him the
+cleanest, most fascinating street in the world.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II
+
+
+
+
+The growth of young Frank Algernon Cowperwood was through years
+of what might be called a comfortable and happy family existence.
+Buttonwood Street, where he spent the first ten years of his life,
+was a lovely place for a boy to live.  It contained mostly small
+two and three-story red brick houses, with small white marble steps
+leading up to the front door, and thin, white marble trimmings
+outlining the front door and windows.  There were trees in the
+street--plenty of them.  The road pavement was of big, round
+cobblestones, made bright and clean by the rains; and the sidewalks
+were of red brick, and always damp and cool.  In the rear was a
+yard, with trees and grass and sometimes flowers, for the lots were
+almost always one hundred feet deep, and the house-fronts, crowding
+close to the pavement in front, left a comfortable space in the
+rear.
+
+The Cowperwoods, father and mother, were not so lean and narrow
+that they could not enter into the natural tendency to be happy and
+joyous with their children; and so this family, which increased at
+the rate of a child every two or three years after Frank's birth
+until there were four children, was quite an interesting affair
+when he was ten and they were ready to move into the New Market
+Street home.  Henry Worthington Cowperwood's connections were
+increased as his position grew more responsible, and gradually he
+was becoming quite a personage.  He already knew a number of the
+more prosperous merchants who dealt with his bank, and because as
+a clerk his duties necessitated his calling at other banking-houses,
+he had come to be familiar with and favorably known in the Bank of
+the United States, the Drexels, the Edwards, and others.  The
+brokers knew him as representing a very sound organization, and
+while he was not considered brilliant mentally, he was known as a
+most reliable and trustworthy individual.
+
+In this progress of his father young Cowperwood definitely shared.
+He was quite often allowed to come to the bank on Saturdays, when
+he would watch with great interest the deft exchange of bills at
+the brokerage end of the business.  He wanted to know where all the
+types of money came from, why discounts were demanded and received,
+what the men did with all the money they received.  His father,
+pleased at his interest, was glad to explain so that even at this
+early age--from ten to fifteen--the boy gained a wide knowledge of
+the condition of the country financially--what a State bank was
+and what a national one; what brokers did; what stocks were, and
+why they fluctuated in value.  He began to see clearly what was
+meant by money as a medium of exchange, and how all values were
+calculated according to one primary value, that of gold.  He was
+a financier by instinct, and all the knowledge that pertained to
+that great art was as natural to him as the emotions and subtleties
+of life are to a poet.  This medium of exchange, gold, interested
+him intensely.  When his father explained to him how it was mined,
+he dreamed that he owned a gold mine and waked to wish that he did.
+He was likewise curious about stocks and bonds and he learned that
+some stocks and bonds were not worth the paper they were written
+on, and that others were worth much more than their face value
+indicated.
+
+"There, my son," said his father to him one day, "you won't often
+see a bundle of those around this neighborhood."  He referred to
+a series of shares in the British East India Company, deposited
+as collateral at two-thirds of their face value for a loan of one
+hundred thousand dollars.  A Philadelphia magnate had hypothecated
+them for the use of the ready cash.  Young Cowperwood looked at
+them curiously.  "They don't look like much, do they?" he commented.
+
+"They are worth just four times their face value," said his father,
+archly.
+
+Frank reexamined them.  "The British East India Company," he read.
+"Ten pounds--that's pretty near fifty dollars."
+
+"Forty-eight, thirty-five," commented his father, dryly.  "Well,
+if we had a bundle of those we wouldn't need to work very hard.
+You'll notice there are scarcely any pin-marks on them.  They
+aren't sent around very much.  I don't suppose these have ever
+been used as collateral before."
+
+Young Cowperwood gave them back after a time, but not without a
+keen sense of the vast ramifications of finance.  What was the
+East India Company? What did it do? His father told him.
+
+At home also he listened to considerable talk of financial
+investment and adventure.  He heard, for one thing, of a curious
+character by the name of Steemberger, a great beef speculator
+from Virginia, who was attracted to Philadelphia in those days by
+the hope of large and easy credits.  Steemberger, so his father
+said, was close to Nicholas Biddle, Lardner, and others of the
+United States Bank, or at least friendly with them, and seemed to
+be able to obtain from that organization nearly all that he asked
+for.  His operations in the purchase of cattle in Virginia, Ohio,
+and other States were vast, amounting, in fact, to an entire
+monopoly of the business of supplying beef to Eastern cities.  He
+was a big man, enormous, with a face, his father said, something
+like that of a pig; and he wore a high beaver hat and a long
+frock-coat which hung loosely about his big chest and stomach.
+He had managed to force the price of beef up to thirty cents a
+pound, causing all the retailers and consumers to rebel, and this
+was what made him so conspicuous.  He used to come to the brokerage
+end of the elder Cowperwood's bank, with as much as one hundred
+thousand or two hundred thousand dollars, in twelve months--
+post-notes of the United States Bank in denominations of one
+thousand, five thousand, and ten thousand dollars.  These he would
+cash at from ten to twelve per cent. under their face value, having
+previously given the United States Bank his own note at four months
+for the entire amount.  He would take his pay from the Third
+National brokerage counter in packages of Virginia, Ohio, and
+western Pennsylvania bank-notes at par, because he made his
+disbursements principally in those States.  The Third National
+would in the first place realize a profit of from four to five per
+cent. on the original transaction; and as it took the Western
+bank-notes at a discount, it also made a profit on those.
+
+There was another man his father talked about--one Francis J.
+Grund, a famous newspaper correspondent and lobbyist at Washington,
+who possessed the faculty of unearthing secrets of every kind,
+especially those relating to financial legislation.  The secrets
+of the President and the Cabinet, as well as of the Senate and the
+House of Representatives, seemed to be open to him.  Grund had been
+about, years before, purchasing through one or two brokers large
+amounts of the various kinds of Texas debt certificates and bonds.
+The Republic of Texas, in its struggle for independence from Mexico,
+had issued bonds and certificates in great variety, amounting in
+value to ten or fifteen million dollars.  Later, in connection
+with the scheme to make Texas a State of the Union, a bill was
+passed providing a contribution on the part of the United States
+of five million dollars, to be applied to the extinguishment of
+this old debt.  Grund knew of this, and also of the fact that some
+of this debt, owing to the peculiar conditions of issue, was to be
+paid in full, while other portions were to be scaled down, and
+there was to be a false or pre-arranged failure to pass the bill
+at one session in order to frighten off the outsiders who might
+have heard and begun to buy the old certificates for profit.  He
+acquainted the Third National Bank with this fact, and of course
+the information came to Cowperwood as teller.  He told his wife
+about it, and so his son, in this roundabout way, heard it, and
+his clear, big eyes glistened.  He wondered why his father did not
+take advantage of the situation and buy some Texas certificates for
+himself.  Grund, so his father said, and possibly three or four
+others, had made over a hundred thousand dollars apiece.  It wasn't
+exactly legitimate, he seemed to think, and yet it was, too.  Why
+shouldn't such inside information be rewarded?  Somehow, Frank
+realized that his father was too honest, too cautious, but when he
+grew up, he told himself, he was going to be a broker, or a
+financier, or a banker, and do some of these things.
+
+Just at this time there came to the Cowperwoods an uncle who had
+not previously appeared in the life of the family.  He was a
+brother of Mrs. Cowperwood's--Seneca Davis by name--solid,
+unctuous, five feet ten in height, with a big, round body, a
+round, smooth head rather bald, a clear, ruddy complexion, blue
+eyes, and what little hair he had of a sandy hue.  He was
+exceedingly well dressed according to standards prevailing in
+those days, indulging in flowered waistcoats, long, light-colored
+frock-coats, and the invariable (for a fairly prosperous man) high
+hat.  Frank was fascinated by him at once.  He had been a planter
+in Cuba and still owned a big ranch there and could tell him tales
+of Cuban life--rebellions, ambuscades, hand-to-hand fighting with
+machetes on his own plantation, and things of that sort.  He
+brought with him a collection of Indian curies, to say nothing of
+an independent fortune and several slaves--one, named Manuel, a
+tall, raw-boned black, was his constant attendant, a bodyservant,
+as it were.  He shipped raw sugar from his plantation in boat-loads
+to the Southwark wharves in Philadelphia.  Frank liked him because
+he took life in a hearty, jovial way, rather rough and offhand for
+this somewhat quiet and reserved household.
+
+"Why, Nancy Arabella," he said to Mrs Cowperwood on arriving one
+Sunday afternoon, and throwing the household into joyous astonishment
+at his unexpected and unheralded appearance, "you haven't grown an
+inch! I thought when you married old brother Hy here that you were
+going to fatten up like your brother.  But look at you! I swear to
+Heaven you don't weigh five pounds."  And he jounced her up and
+down by the waist, much to the perturbation of the children, who
+had never before seen their mother so familiarly handled.
+
+Henry Cowperwood was exceedingly interested in and pleased at the
+arrival of this rather prosperous relative; for twelve years
+before, when he was married, Seneca Davis had not taken much notice
+of him.
+
+"Look at these little putty-faced Philadelphians," he continued,
+"They ought to come down to my ranch in Cuba and get tanned up.
+That would take away this waxy look."  And he pinched the cheek
+of Anna Adelaide, now five years old.  "I tell you, Henry, you
+have a rather nice place here."  And he looked at the main room
+of the rather conventional three-story house with a critical eye.
+
+Measuring twenty by twenty-four and finished in imitation cherry,
+with a set of new Sheraton parlor furniture it presented a
+quaintly harmonious aspect.  Since Henry had become teller the
+family had acquired a piano--a decided luxury in those days--
+brought from Europe; and it was intended that Anna Adelaide, when
+she was old enough, should learn to play.  There were a few
+uncommon ornaments in the room--a gas chandelier for one thing, a
+glass bowl with goldfish in it, some rare and highly polished
+shells, and a marble Cupid bearing a basket of flowers.  It was
+summer time, the windows were open, and the trees outside, with
+their widely extended green branches, were pleasantly visible
+shading the brick sidewalk.  Uncle Seneca strolled out into the
+back yard.
+
+"Well, this is pleasant enough," he observed, noting a large elm
+and seeing that the yard was partially paved with brick and
+enclosed within brick walls, up the sides of which vines were
+climbing.  "Where's your hammock? Don't you string a hammock here
+in summer? Down on my veranda at San Pedro I have six or seven."
+
+"We hadn't thought of putting one up because of the neighbors,
+but it would be nice," agreed Mrs. Cowperwood.  "Henry will have
+to get one."
+
+"I have two or three in my trunks over at the hotel.  My niggers
+make 'em down there.  I'll send Manuel over with them in the
+morning."
+
+He plucked at the vines, tweaked Edward's ear, told Joseph, the
+second boy, he would bring him an Indian tomahawk, and went back
+into the house.
+
+"This is the lad that interests me," he said, after a time, laying
+a hand on the shoulder of Frank.  "What did you name him in full,
+Henry?"
+
+"Frank Algernon."
+
+"Well, you might have named him after me.  There's something to
+this boy.  How would you like to come down to Cuba and be a planter,
+my boy?"
+
+"I'm not so sure that I'd like to," replied the eldest.
+
+"Well, that's straight-spoken.  What have you against it?"
+
+"Nothing, except that I don't know anything about it."
+
+"What do you know?"
+
+The boy smiled wisely.  "Not very much, I guess."
+
+"Well, what are you interested in?"
+
+"Money!"
+
+"Aha! What's bred in the bone, eh? Get something of that from
+your father, eh? Well, that's a good trait.  And spoken like a
+man, too! We'll hear more about that later.  Nancy, you're
+breeding a financier here, I think.  He talks like one."
+
+He looked at Frank carefully now.  There was real force in that
+sturdy young body--no doubt of it.  Those large, clear gray eyes
+were full of intelligence.  They indicated much and revealed
+nothing.
+
+"A smart boy!" he said to Henry, his brother-in-law.  "I like
+his get-up.  You have a bright family."
+
+Henry Cowperwood smiled dryly.  This man, if he liked Frank,
+might do much for the boy.  He might eventually leave him some of
+his fortune.  He was wealthy and single.
+
+Uncle Seneca became a frequent visitor to the house--he and his
+negro body-guard, Manuel, who spoke both English and Spanish,
+much to the astonishment of the children; and he took an increasing
+interest in Frank.
+
+"When that boy gets old enough to find out what he wants to do, I
+think I'll help him to do it," he observed to his sister one day;
+and she told him she was very grateful.  He talked to Frank about
+his studies, and found that he cared little for books or most of
+the study he was compelled to pursue.  Grammar was an abomination.
+Literature silly.  Latin was of no use.  History--well, it was
+fairly interesting.
+
+"I like bookkeeping and arithmetic," he observed.  "I want to get
+out and get to work, though.  That's what I want to do."
+
+"You're pretty young, my son," observed his uncle.  "You're only how
+old now? Fourteen?"
+
+"Thirteen."
+
+"Well, you can't leave school much before sixteen.  You'll do
+better if you stay until seventeen or eighteen.  It can't do you
+any harm.  You won't be a boy again."
+
+"I don't want to be a boy. I want to get to work."
+
+"Don't go too fast, son.  You'll be a man soon enough.  You want
+to be a banker, do you?"
+
+"Yes, sir!"
+
+"Well, when the time comes, if everything is all right and you've
+behaved yourself and you still want to, I'll help you get a start
+in business.  If I were you and were going to be a banker, I'd
+first spend a year or so in some good grain and commission house.
+There's good training to be had there.  You'll learn a lot that
+you ought to know.  And, meantime, keep your health and learn all
+you can.  Wherever I am, you let me know, and I'll write and find
+out how you've been conducting yourself."
+
+He gave the boy a ten-dollar gold piece with which to start a
+bank-account.  And, not strange to say, he liked the whole
+Cowperwood household much better for this dynamic, self-sufficient,
+sterling youth who was an integral part of it.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III
+
+
+
+
+It was in his thirteenth year that young Cowperwood entered into
+his first business venture.  Walking along Front Street one day,
+a street of importing and wholesale establishments, he saw an
+auctioneer's flag hanging out before a wholesale grocery and from
+the interior came the auctioneer's voice: "What am I bid for this
+exceptional lot of Java coffee, twenty-two bags all told, which
+is now selling in the market for seven dollars and thirty-two
+cents a bag wholesale? What am I bid? What am I bid? The whole
+lot must go as one.  What am I bid?"
+
+"Eighteen dollars," suggested a trader standing near the door,
+more to start the bidding than anything else.  Frank paused.
+
+"Twenty-two!" called another.
+
+"Thirty!" a third.  "Thirty-five!" a fourth, and so up to
+seventy-five, less than half of what it was worth.
+
+"I'm bid seventy-five! I'm bid seventy-five!" called the auctioneer,
+loudly.  "Any other offers? Going once at seventy-five; am I offered
+eighty? Going twice at seventy-five, and"--he paused, one hand
+raised dramatically.  Then he brought it down with a slap in the
+palm of the other--"sold to Mr. Silas Gregory for seventy-five.
+Make a note of that, Jerry," he called to his red-haired,
+freckle-faced clerk beside him.  Then he turned to another lot
+of grocery staples--this time starch, eleven barrels of it.
+
+Young Cowperwood was making a rapid calculation.  If, as the
+auctioneer said, coffee was worth seven dollars and thirty-two
+cents a bag in the open market, and this buyer was getting this
+coffee for seventy-five dollars, he was making then and there
+eighty-six dollars and four cents, to say nothing of what his
+profit would be if he sold it at retail.  As he recalled, his
+mother was paying twenty-eight cents a pound.  He drew nearer,
+his books tucked under his arm, and watched these operations
+closely.  The starch, as he soon heard, was valued at ten dollars
+a barrel, and it only brought six.  Some kegs of vinegar were
+knocked down at one-third their value, and so on.  He began to
+wish he could bid; but he had no money, just a little pocket
+change.  The auctioneer noticed him standing almost directly
+under his nose, and was impressed with the stolidity--solidity--of
+the boy's expression.
+
+"I am going to offer you now a fine lot of Castile soap--seven
+cases, no less--which, as you know, if you know anything about
+soap, is now selling at fourteen cents a bar.  This soap is worth
+anywhere at this moment eleven dollars and seventy-five cents a
+case.  What am I bid? What am I bid? What am I bid?" He was talking
+fast in the usual style of auctioneers, with much unnecessary
+emphasis; but Cowperwood was not unduly impressed.  He was already
+rapidly calculating for himself.  Seven cases at eleven dollars
+and seventy-five cents would be worth just eighty-two dollars and
+twenty-five cents; and if it went at half--if it went at half--
+
+"Twelve dollars," commented one bidder.
+
+"Fifteen," bid another.
+
+"Twenty," called a third.
+
+"Twenty-five," a fourth.
+
+Then it came to dollar raises, for Castile soap was not such a
+vital commodity.  "Twenty-six."  "Twenty-seven."  "Twenty-eight."
+"Twenty-nine."  There was a pause.  "Thirty," observed young
+Cowperwood, decisively.
+
+The auctioneer, a short lean faced, spare man with bushy hair and
+an incisive eye, looked at him curiously and almost incredulously
+but without pausing.  He had, somehow, in spite of himself, been
+impressed by the boy's peculiar eye; and now he felt, without
+knowing why, that the offer was probably legitimate enough, and
+that the boy had the money.  He might be the son of a grocer.
+
+"I'm bid thirty! I'm bid thirty! I'm bid thirty for this fine lot
+of Castile soap.  It's a fine lot.  It's worth fourteen cents a
+bar.  Will any one bid thirty-one? Will any one bid thirty-one?
+Will any one bid thirty-one?"
+
+"Thirty-one," said a voice.
+
+"Thirty-two," replied Cowperwood.  The same process was repeated.
+
+"I'm bid thirty-two! I'm bid thirty-two! I'm bid thirty-two! Will
+anybody bid thirty-three? It's fine soap.  Seven cases of fine
+Castile soap.  Will anybody bid thirty-three?"
+
+Young Cowperwood's mind was working.  He had no money with him;
+but his father was teller of the Third National Bank, and he could
+quote him as reference.  He could sell all of his soap to the family
+grocer, surely; or, if not, to other grocers.  Other people were
+anxious to get this soap at this price.  Why not he?
+
+The auctioneer paused.
+
+"Thirty-two once! Am I bid thirty-three? Thirty-two twice! Am I bid
+thirty-three? Thirty-two three times! Seven fine cases of soap.
+Am I bid anything more?" Once, twice! Three times! Am I bid anything
+more?"--his hand was up again--"and sold to Mr.--?" He leaned over
+and looked curiously into the face of his young bidder.
+
+"Frank Cowperwood, son of the teller of the Third National Bank,"
+replied the boy, decisively.
+
+"Oh, yes," said the man, fixed by his glance.
+
+"Will you wait while I run up to the bank and get the money?"
+
+"Yes.  Don't be gone long.  If you're not here in an hour I'll
+sell it again."
+
+Young Cowperwood made no reply.  He hurried out and ran fast; first,
+to his mother's grocer, whose store was within a block of his home.
+
+Thirty feet from the door he slowed up, put on a nonchalant air,
+and strolling in, looked about for Castile soap.  There it was,
+the same kind, displayed in a box and looking just as his soap
+looked.
+
+"How much is this a bar, Mr. Dalrymple?" he inquired.
+
+"Sixteen cents," replied that worthy.
+
+"If I could sell you seven boxes for sixty-two dollars just like
+this, would you take them?"
+
+"The same soap?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+Mr. Dalrymple calculated a moment.
+
+"Yes, I think I would," he replied, cautiously.
+
+"Would you pay me to-day?"
+
+"I'd give you my note for it.  Where is the soap?"
+
+He was perplexed and somewhat astonished by this unexpected
+proposition on the part of his neighbor's son.  He knew Mr.
+Cowperwood well--and Frank also.
+
+"Will you take it if I bring it to you to-day?"
+
+"Yes, I will," he replied.  "Are you going into the soap business?"
+
+"No.  But I know where I can get some of that soap cheap."
+
+He hurried out again and ran to his father's bank.  It was after
+banking hours; but he knew how to get in, and he knew that his
+father would be glad to see him make thirty dollars.  He only
+wanted to borrow the money for a day.
+
+"What's the trouble, Frank?" asked his father, looking up from his
+desk when he appeared, breathless and red faced.
+
+"I want you to loan me thirty-two dollars! Will you?"
+
+"Why, yes, I might.  What do you want to do with it?"
+
+"I want to buy some soap--seven boxes of Castile soap.  I know
+where I can get it and sell it.  Mr. Dalrymple will take it.  He's
+already offered me sixty-two for it.  I can get it for thirty-two.
+Will you let me have the money?  I've got to run back and pay the
+auctioneer."
+
+His father smiled.  This was the most business-like attitude he
+had seen his son manifest.  He was so keen, so alert for a boy of
+thirteen.
+
+"Why, Frank," he said, going over to a drawer where some bills were,
+"are you going to become a financier already? You're sure you're
+not going to lose on this? You know what you're doing, do you?"
+
+"You let me have the money, father, will you?" he pleaded.  "I'll
+show you in a little bit.  Just let me have it.  You can trust me."
+
+He was like a young hound on the scent of game.  His father could
+not resist his appeal.
+
+"Why, certainly, Frank," he replied.  "I'll trust you."  And he
+counted out six five-dollar certificates of the Third National's
+own issue and two ones.  "There you are."
+
+Frank ran out of the building with a briefly spoken thanks and
+returned to the auction room as fast as his legs would carry him.
+When he came in, sugar was being auctioned.  He made his way to
+the auctioneer's clerk.
+
+"I want to pay for that soap," he suggested.
+
+"Now?"
+
+"Yes.  Will you give me a receipt?"
+
+"Yep."
+
+"Do you deliver this?"
+
+"No.  No delivery.  You have to take it away in twenty-four hours."
+
+That difficulty did not trouble him.
+
+"All right," he said, and pocketed his paper testimony of purchase.
+
+The auctioneer watched him as he went out.  In half an hour he was
+back with a drayman--an idle levee-wharf hanger-on who was waiting
+for a job.
+
+Frank had bargained with him to deliver the soap for sixty cents.
+In still another half-hour he was before the door of the astonished
+Mr. Dalrymple whom he had come out and look at the boxes before
+attempting to remove them.  His plan was to have them carried on
+to his own home if the operation for any reason failed to go
+through.  Though it was his first great venture, he was cool as
+glass.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Dalrymple, scratching his gray head reflectively.
+"Yes, that's the same soap.  I'll take it.  I'll be as good as my
+word.  Where'd you get it, Frank?"
+
+"At Bixom's auction up here," he replied, frankly and blandly.
+
+Mr. Dalrymple had the drayman bring in the soap; and after some
+formality--because the agent in this case was a boy--made out his
+note at thirty days and gave it to him.
+
+Frank thanked him and pocketed the note.  He decided to go back
+to his father's bank and discount it, as he had seen others doing,
+thereby paying his father back and getting his own profit in ready
+money.  It couldn't be done ordinarily on any day after business
+hours; but his father would make an exception in his case.
+
+He hurried back, whistling; and his father glanced up smiling when
+he came in.
+
+"Well, Frank, how'd you make out?" he asked.
+
+"Here's a note at thirty days," he said, producing the paper
+Dalrymple had given him.  "Do you want to discount that for me? You
+can take your thirty-two out of that."
+
+His father examined it closely.  "Sixty-two dollars!" he observed.
+"Mr. Dalrymple! That's good paper! Yes, I can.  It will cost you
+ten per cent.," he added, jestingly.  "Why don't you just hold it,
+though? I'll let you have the thirty-two dollars until the end of
+the month."
+
+"Oh, no," said his son, "you discount it and take your money.  I
+may want mine."
+
+His father smiled at his business-like air.  "All right," he said.
+"I'll fix it to-morrow.  Tell me just how you did this."  And his
+son told him.
+
+At seven o'clock that evening Frank's mother heard about it, and
+in due time Uncle Seneca.
+
+"What'd I tell you, Cowperwood?" he asked.  "He has stuff in him,
+that youngster.  Look out for him."
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood looked at her boy curiously at dinner.  Was this
+the son she had nursed at her bosom not so very long before? Surely
+he was developing rapidly.
+
+"Well, Frank, I hope you can do that often," she said.
+
+"I hope so, too, ma," was his rather noncommittal reply.
+
+Auction sales were not to be discovered every day, however, and
+his home grocer was only open to one such transaction in a
+reasonable period of time, but from the very first young Cowperwood
+knew how to make money.  He took subscriptions for a boys' paper;
+handled the agency for the sale of a new kind of ice-skate, and
+once organized a band of neighborhood youths into a union for the
+purpose of purchasing their summer straw hats at wholesale.  It
+was not his idea that he could get rich by saving.  From the first
+he had the notion that liberal spending was better, and that
+somehow he would get along.
+
+It was in this year, or a little earlier, that he began to take
+an interest in girls.  He had from the first a keen eye for the
+beautiful among them; and, being good-looking and magnetic himself,
+it was not difficult for him to attract the sympathetic interest
+of those in whom he was interested.  A twelve-year old girl,
+Patience Barlow, who lived further up the street, was the first
+to attract his attention or be attracted by him.  Black hair and
+snapping black eyes were her portion, with pretty pigtails down
+her back, and dainty feet and ankles to match a dainty figure.
+She was a Quakeress, the daughter of Quaker parents, wearing a
+demure little bonnet.  Her disposition, however, was vivacious,
+and she liked this self-reliant, self-sufficient, straight-spoken
+boy.  One day, after an exchange of glances from time to time, he
+said, with a smile and the courage that was innate in him: "You
+live up my way, don't you?"
+
+"Yes," she replied, a little flustered--this last manifested in a
+nervous swinging of her school-bag--"I live at number one-forty-one."
+
+"I know the house," he said.  "I've seen you go in there.  You go
+to the same school my sister does, don't you? Aren't you Patience
+Barlow?" He had heard some of the boys speak her name.  "Yes.  How
+do you know?"
+
+"Oh, I've heard," he smiled.  "I've seen you.  Do you like licorice?"
+
+He fished in his coat and pulled out some fresh sticks that were
+sold at the time.
+
+"Thank you," she said, sweetly, taking one.
+
+"It isn't very good.  I've been carrying it a long time.  I had some
+taffy the other day."
+
+"Oh, it's all right," she replied, chewing the end of hers.
+
+"Don't you know my sister, Anna Cowperwood?" he recurred, by way
+of self-introduction.  "She's in a lower grade than you are, but I
+thought maybe you might have seen her."
+
+"I think I know who she is.  I've seen her coming home from school."
+
+"I live right over there," he confided, pointing to his own home
+as he drew near to it, as if she didn't know.  "I'll see you around
+here now, I guess."
+
+"Do you know Ruth Merriam?" she asked, when he was about ready to
+turn off into the cobblestone road to reach his own door.
+
+"No, why?"
+
+"She's giving a party next Tuesday," she volunteered, seemingly
+pointlessly, but only seemingly.
+
+"Where does she live?"
+
+"There in twenty-eight."
+
+"I'd like to go," he affirmed, warmly, as he swung away from her.
+
+"Maybe she'll ask you," she called back, growing more courageous
+as the distance between them widened.  "I'll ask her."
+
+"Thanks," he smiled.
+
+And she began to run gayly onward.
+
+He looked after her with a smiling face.  She was very pretty.
+He felt a keen desire to kiss her, and what might transpire at
+Ruth Merriam's party rose vividly before his eyes.
+
+This was just one of the early love affairs, or puppy loves, that
+held his mind from time to time in the mixture of after events.
+Patience Barlow was kissed by him in secret ways many times before
+he found another girl.  She and others of the street ran out to
+play in the snow of a winter's night, or lingered after dusk before
+her own door when the days grew dark early.  It was so easy to catch
+and kiss her then, and to talk to her foolishly at parties.  Then
+came Dora Fitler, when he was sixteen years old and she was fourteen;
+and Marjorie Stafford, when he was seventeen and she was fifteen.
+Dora Fitter was a brunette, and Marjorie Stafford was as fair as
+the morning, with bright-red cheeks, bluish-gray eyes, and flaxen
+hair, and as plump as a partridge.
+
+It was at seventeen that he decided to leave school.  He had not
+graduated.  He had only finished the third year in high school;
+but he had had enough.  Ever since his thirteenth year his mind
+had been on finance; that is, in the form in which he saw it
+manifested in Third Street.  There had been odd things which he
+had been able to do to earn a little money now and then.  His
+Uncle Seneca had allowed him to act as assistant weigher at the
+sugar-docks in Southwark, where three-hundred-pound bags were
+weighed into the government bonded warehouses under the eyes of
+United States inspectors.  In certain emergencies he was called
+to assist his father, and was paid for it.  He even made an
+arrangement with Mr. Dalrymple to assist him on Saturdays; but
+when his father became cashier of his bank, receiving an income
+of four thousand dollars a year, shortly after Frank had reached
+his fifteenth year, it was self-evident that Frank could no longer
+continue in such lowly employment.
+
+Just at this time his Uncle Seneca, again back in Philadelphia
+and stouter and more domineering than ever, said to him one day:
+
+"Now, Frank, if you're ready for it, I think I know where there's
+a good opening for you.  There won't be any salary in it for the
+first year, but if you mind your p's and q's, they'll probably
+give you something as a gift at the end of that time.  Do you know
+of Henry Waterman & Company down in Second Street?"
+
+"I've seen their place."
+
+"Well, they tell me they might make a place for you as a bookkeeper.
+They're brokers in a way--grain and commission men.  You say you
+want to get in that line.  When school's out, you go down and see
+Mr. Waterman--tell him I sent you, and he'll make a place for you,
+I think.  Let me know how you come out."
+
+Uncle Seneca was married now, having, because of his wealth,
+attracted the attention of a poor but ambitious Philadelphia
+society matron; and because of this the general connections of
+the Cowperwoods were considered vastly improved.  Henry Cowperwood
+was planning to move with his family rather far out on North Front
+Street, which commanded at that time a beautiful view of the river
+and was witnessing the construction of some charming dwellings.
+His four thousand dollars a year in these pre-Civil-War times was
+considerable.  He was making what he considered judicious and
+conservative investments and because of his cautious, conservative,
+clock-like conduct it was thought he might reasonably expect some
+day to be vice-president and possibly president, of his bank.
+
+This offer of Uncle Seneca to get him in with Waterman & Company
+seemed to Frank just the thing to start him off right.  So he
+reported to that organization at 74 South Second Street one day
+in June, and was cordially received by Mr. Henry Waterman, Sr.
+There was, he soon learned, a Henry Waterman, Jr., a young man of
+twenty-five, and a George Waterman, a brother, aged fifty, who
+was the confidential inside man.  Henry Waterman, Sr., a man of
+fifty-five years of age, was the general head of the organization,
+inside and out--traveling about the nearby territory to see
+customers when that was necessary, coming into final counsel in
+cases where his brother could not adjust matters, suggesting and
+advising new ventures which his associates and hirelings carried
+out.  He was, to look at, a phlegmatic type of man--short, stout,
+wrinkled about the eyes, rather protuberant as to stomach,
+red-necked, red-faced, the least bit popeyed, but shrewd, kindly,
+good-natured, and witty.  He had, because of his naturally
+common-sense ideas and rather pleasing disposition built up a
+sound and successful business here.  He was getting strong in
+years and would gladly have welcomed the hearty cooperation of his
+son, if the latter had been entirely suited to the business.
+
+He was not, however.  Not as democratic, as quick-witted, or as
+pleased with the work in hand as was his father, the business
+actually offended him.  And if the trade had been left to his
+care, it would have rapidly disappeared.  His father foresaw this,
+was grieved, and was hoping some young man would eventually appear
+who would be interested in the business, handle it in the same
+spirit in which it had been handled, and who would not crowd his
+son out.
+
+Then came young Cowperwood, spoken of to him by Seneca Davis.  He
+looked him over critically.  Yes, this boy might do, he thought.
+There was something easy and sufficient about him.  He did not
+appear to be in the least flustered or disturbed.  He knew how to
+keep books, he said, though he knew nothing of the details of the
+grain and commission business.  It was interesting to him.  He
+would like to try it.
+
+"I like that fellow," Henry Waterman confided to his brother the
+moment Frank had gone with instructions to report the following
+morning.  "There's something to him.  He's the cleanest, briskest,
+most alive thing that's walked in here in many a day."
+
+"Yes," said George, a much leaner and slightly taller man, with
+dark, blurry, reflective eyes and a thin, largely vanished growth
+of brownish-black hair which contrasted strangely with the egg-shaped
+whiteness of his bald head.  "Yes, he's a nice young man.  It's a
+wonder his father don't take him in his bank."
+
+"Well, he may not be able to," said his brother.  "He's only the
+cashier there."
+
+"That's right."
+
+"Well, we'll give him a trial.  I bet anything he makes good.  He's
+a likely-looking youth."
+
+Henry got up and walked out into the main entrance looking into
+Second Street.  The cool cobble pavements, shaded from the eastern
+sun by the wall of buildings on the east--of which his was a part--
+the noisy trucks and drays, the busy crowds hurrying to and fro,
+pleased him.  He looked at the buildings over the way--all three
+and four stories, and largely of gray stone and crowded with life--
+and thanked his stars that he had originally located in so prosperous
+a neighborhood.  If he had only brought more property at the time he
+bought this!
+
+"I wish that Cowperwood boy would turn out to be the kind of man
+I want," he observed to himself, meditatively.  "He could save me a
+lot of running these days."
+
+Curiously, after only three or four minutes of conversation with the
+boy, he sensed this marked quality of efficiency.  Something told
+him he would do well.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV
+
+
+
+
+The appearance of Frank Cowperwood at this time was, to say the
+least, prepossessing and satisfactory.  Nature had destined him
+to be about five feet ten inches tall.  His head was large, shapely,
+notably commercial in aspect, thickly covered with crisp, dark-brown
+hair and fixed on a pair of square shoulders and a stocky body.
+Already his eyes had the look that subtle years of thought bring.
+They were inscrutable.  You could tell nothing by his eyes.  He
+walked with a light, confident, springy step.  Life had given him
+no severe shocks nor rude awakenings.  He had not been compelled
+to suffer illness or pain or deprivation of any kind.  He saw
+people richer than himself, but he hoped to be rich.  His family
+was respected, his father well placed.  He owed no man anything.
+Once he had let a small note of his become overdue at the bank,
+but his father raised such a row that he never forgot it.  "I
+would rather crawl on my hands and knees than let my paper go to
+protest," the old gentleman observed; and this fixed in his mind
+what scarcely needed to be so sharply emphasized--the significance
+of credit.  No paper of his ever went to protest or became overdue
+after that through any negligence of his.
+
+He turned out to be the most efficient clerk that the house of
+Waterman & Co. had ever known.  They put him on the books at
+first as assistant bookkeeper, vice Mr. Thomas Trixler, dismissed,
+and in two weeks George said: "Why don't we make Cowperwood head
+bookkeeper? He knows more in a minute than that fellow Sampson
+will ever know."
+
+"All right, make the transfer, George, but don't fuss so.  "He
+won't be a bookkeeper long, though.  I want to see if he can't
+handle some of these transfers for me after a bit."
+
+The books of Messrs. Waterman & Co., though fairly complicated,
+were child's play to Frank.  He went through them with an ease
+and rapidity which surprised his erstwhile superior, Mr. Sampson.
+
+"Why, that fellow," Sampson told another clerk on the first day
+he had seen Cowperwood work, "he's too brisk.  He's going to make
+a bad break.  I know that kind.  Wait a little bit until we get
+one of those rush credit and transfer days."  But the bad break Mr.
+Sampson anticipated did not materialize.  In less than a week
+Cowperwood knew the financial condition of the Messrs. Waterman as
+well as they did--better--to a dollar.  He knew how their accounts
+were distributed; from what section they drew the most business;
+who sent poor produce and good--the varying prices for a year told
+that.  To satisfy himself he ran back over certain accounts in the
+ledger, verifying his suspicions.  Bookkeeping did not interest
+him except as a record, a demonstration of a firm's life.  He knew
+he would not do this long.  Something else would happen; but he
+saw instantly what the grain and commission business was--every
+detail of it.  He saw where, for want of greater activity in
+offering the goods consigned--quicker communication with shippers
+and buyers, a better working agreement with surrounding commission
+men--this house, or, rather, its customers, for it had nothing,
+endured severe losses.  A man would ship a tow-boat or a car-load
+of fruit or vegetables against a supposedly rising or stable
+market; but if ten other men did the same thing at the same time,
+or other commission men were flooded with fruit or vegetables,
+and there was no way of disposing of them within a reasonable
+time, the price had to fall.  Every day was bringing its special
+consignments.  It instantly occurred to him that he would be of
+much more use to the house as an outside man disposing of heavy
+shipments, but he hesitated to say anything so soon.  More than
+likely, things would adjust themselves shortly.
+
+The Watermans, Henry and George, were greatly pleased with the
+way he handled their accounts.  There was a sense of security in
+his very presence.  He soon began to call Brother George's
+attention to the condition of certain accounts, making suggestions
+as to their possible liquidation or discontinuance, which pleased
+that individual greatly.  He saw a way of lightening his own labors
+through the intelligence of this youth; while at the same time
+developing a sense of pleasant companionship with him.
+
+Brother Henry was for trying him on the outside.  It was not always
+possible to fill the orders with the stock on hand, and somebody
+had to go into the street or the Exchange to buy and usually he
+did this.  One morning, when way-bills indicated a probable glut
+of flour and a shortage of grain--Frank saw it first--the elder
+Waterman called him into his office and said:
+
+"Frank, I wish you would see what you can do with this condition
+that confronts us on the street.  By to-morrow we're going to be
+overcrowded with flour.  We can't be paying storage charges, and
+our orders won't eat it up.  We're short on grain.  Maybe you could
+trade out the flour to some of those brokers and get me enough
+grain to fill these orders."
+
+"I'd like to try," said his employee.
+
+He knew from his books where the various commission-houses were.
+He knew what the local merchants' exchange, and the various
+commission-merchants who dealt in these things, had to offer.
+This was the thing he liked to do--adjust a trade difficulty of
+this nature.  It was pleasant to be out in the air again, to be
+going from door to door.  He objected to desk work and pen work
+and poring over books.  As he said in later years, his brain was
+his office.  He hurried to the principal commission-merchants,
+learning what the state of the flour market was, and offering his
+surplus at the very rate he would have expected to get for it if
+there had been no prospective glut.  Did they want to buy for
+immediate delivery (forty-eight hours being immediate) six hundred
+barrels of prime flour?  He would offer it at nine dollars straight,
+in the barrel.  They did not.  He offered it in fractions, and some
+agreed to take one portion, and some another.  In about an hour he
+was all secure on this save one lot of two hundred barrels, which
+he decided to offer in one lump to a famous operator named
+Genderman with whom his firm did no business.  The latter, a big
+man with curly gray hair, a gnarled and yet pudgy face, and little
+eyes that peeked out shrewdly through fat eyelids, looked at
+Cowperwood curiously when he came in.
+
+"What's your name, young man?" he asked, leaning back in his wooden
+chair.
+
+"Cowperwood."
+
+"So you work for Waterman & Company?  You want to make a record, no
+doubt.  That's why you came to me?"
+
+Cowperwood merely smiled.
+
+"Well, I'll take your flour.  I need it.  Bill it to me."
+
+Cowperwood hurried out.  He went direct to a firm of brokers in
+Walnut Street, with whom his firm dealt, and had them bid in the
+grain he needed at prevailing rates.  Then he returned to the
+office.
+
+"Well," said Henry Waterman, when he reported, "you did that quick.
+Sold old Genderman two hundred barrels direct, did you? That's
+doing pretty well.  He isn't on our books, is he?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"I thought not.  Well, if you can do that sort of work on the
+street you won't be on the books long."
+
+Thereafter, in the course of time, Frank became a familiar figure
+in the commission district and on 'change (the Produce Exchange),
+striking balances for his employer, picking up odd lots of things
+they needed, soliciting new customers, breaking gluts by disposing
+of odd lots in unexpected quarters.  Indeed the Watermans were
+astonished at his facility in this respect.  He had an uncanny
+faculty for getting appreciative hearings, making friends, being
+introduced into new realms.  New life began to flow through the
+old channels of the Waterman company.  Their customers were better
+satisfied.  George was for sending him out into the rural districts
+to drum up trade, and this was eventually done.
+
+Near Christmas-time Henry said to George: "We'll have to make
+Cowperwood a liberal present.  He hasn't any salary.  How would
+five hundred dollars do?"
+
+"That's pretty much, seeing the way times are, but I guess he's
+worth it.  He's certainly done everything we've expected, and more.
+He's cut out for this business."
+
+"What does he say about it? Do you ever hear him say whether he's
+satisfied?"
+
+"Oh, he likes it pretty much, I guess.  You see him as much as I
+do."
+
+"Well, we'll make it five hundred.  That fellow wouldn't make a
+bad partner in this business some day.  He has the real knack for
+it.  You see that he gets the five hundred dollars with a word
+from both of us."
+
+So the night before Christmas, as Cowperwood was looking over some
+way-bills and certificates of consignment preparatory to leaving
+all in order for the intervening holiday, George Waterman came to
+his desk.
+
+"Hard at it," he said, standing under the flaring gaslight and
+looking at his brisk employee with great satisfaction.
+
+It was early evening, and the snow was making a speckled pattern
+through the windows in front.
+
+"Just a few points before I wind up," smiled Cowperwood.
+
+"My brother and I have been especially pleased with the way you
+have handled the work here during the past six months.  We wanted
+to make some acknowledgment, and we thought about five hundred
+dollars would be right.  Beginning January first we'll give you a
+regular salary of thirty dollars a week."
+
+"I'm certainly much obliged to you," said Frank.  "I didn't expect
+that much.  It's a good deal.  I've learned considerable here that
+I'm glad to know."
+
+"Oh, don't mention it.  We know you've earned it.  You can stay
+with us as long as you like.  We're glad to have you with us."
+
+Cowperwood smiled his hearty, genial smile.  He was feeling very
+comfortable under this evidence of approval.  He looked bright
+and cheery in his well-made clothes of English tweed.
+
+On the way home that evening he speculated as to the nature of
+this business.  He knew he wasn't going to stay there long, even
+in spite of this gift and promise of salary.  They were grateful,
+of course; but why shouldn't they be? He was efficient, he knew
+that; under him things moved smoothly.  It never occurred to him
+that he belonged in the realm of clerkdom.  Those people were the
+kind of beings who ought to work for him, and who would.  There
+was nothing savage in his attitude, no rage against fate, no dark
+fear of failure.  These two men he worked for were already nothing
+more than characters in his eyes--their business significated
+itself.  He could see their weaknesses and their shortcomings as
+a much older man might have viewed a boy's.
+
+After dinner that evening, before leaving to call on his girl,
+Marjorie Stafford, he told his father of the gift of five hundred
+dollars and the promised salary.
+
+"That's splendid," said the older man.  "You're doing better than
+I thought.  I suppose you'll stay there."
+
+"No, I won't.  I think I'll quit sometime next year."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Well, it isn't exactly what I want to do.  It's all right, but
+I'd rather try my hand at brokerage, I think.  That appeals to me."
+
+"Don't you think you are doing them an injustice not to tell them?"
+
+"Not at all.  They need me."  All the while surveying himself in
+a mirror, straightening his tie and adjusting his coat.
+
+"Have you told your mother?"
+
+"No.  I'm going to do it now."
+
+He went out into the dining-room, where his mother was, and slipping
+his arms around her little body, said: "What do you think, Mammy?"
+
+"Well, what?" she asked, looking affectionately into his eyes.
+
+"I got five hundred dollars to-night, and I get thirty a week next
+year.  What do you want for Christmas?"
+
+"You don't say! Isn't that nice! Isn't that fine! They must like
+you.  You're getting to be quite a man, aren't you?"
+
+"What do you want for Christmas?"
+
+"Nothing.  I don't want anything.  I have my children."
+
+He smiled.  "All right.  Then nothing it is."
+
+But she knew he would buy her something.
+
+He went out, pausing at the door to grab playfully at his sister's
+waist, and saying that he'd be back about midnight, hurried to
+Marjorie's house, because he had promised to take her to a show.
+
+"Anything you want for Christmas this year, Margy?" he asked, after
+kissing her in the dimly-lighted hall.  "I got five hundred
+to-night."
+
+She was an innocent little thing, only fifteen, no guile, no
+shrewdness.
+
+"Oh, you needn't get me anything."
+
+"Needn't I?" he asked, squeezing her waist and kissing her mouth
+again.
+
+It was fine to be getting on this way in the world and having such
+a good time.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V
+
+
+
+
+The following October, having passed his eighteenth year by nearly
+six months, and feeling sure that he would never want anything to
+do with the grain and commission business as conducted by the
+Waterman Company, Cowperwood decided to sever his relations with
+them and enter the employ of Tighe & Company, bankers and brokers.
+
+Cowperwood's meeting with Tighe & Company had come about in the
+ordinary pursuance of his duties as outside man for Waterman &
+Company.  From the first Mr. Tighe took a keen interest in this
+subtle young emissary.
+
+"How's business with you people?" he would ask, genially; or,
+"Find that you're getting many I.O.U.'s these days?"
+
+Because of the unsettled condition of the country, the over-inflation
+of securities, the slavery agitation, and so forth, there were
+prospects of hard times.  And Tighe--he could not have told you
+why--was convinced that this young man was worth talking to in
+regard to all this.  He was not really old enough to know, and yet
+he did know.
+
+"Oh, things are going pretty well with us, thank you, Mr. Tighe,"
+Cowperwood would answer.
+
+"I tell you," he said to Cowperwood one morning, "this slavery
+agitation, if it doesn't stop, is going to cause trouble."
+
+A negro slave belonging to a visitor from Cuba had just been
+abducted and set free, because the laws of Pennsylvania made freedom
+the right of any negro brought into the state, even though in
+transit only to another portion of the country, and there was
+great excitement because of it.  Several persons had been arrested,
+and the newspapers were discussing it roundly.
+
+"I don't think the South is going to stand for this thing.  It's
+making trouble in our business, and it must be doing the same
+thing for others.  We'll have secession here, sure as fate, one of
+these days."  He talked with the vaguest suggestion of a brogue.
+
+"It's coming, I think," said Cowperwood, quietly.  "It can't be
+healed, in my judgment.  The negro isn't worth all this excitement,
+but they'll go on agitating for him--emotional people always do
+this.  They haven't anything else to do.  It's hurting our Southern
+trade."
+
+"I thought so. That's what people tell me."
+
+He turned to a new customer as young Cowperwood went out, but again
+the boy struck him as being inexpressibly sound and deep-thinking
+on financial matters.  "If that young fellow wanted a place, I'd
+give it to him," he thought.
+
+Finally, one day he said to him: "How would you like to try your
+hand at being a floor man for me in 'change? I need a young man
+here.  One of my clerks is leaving."
+
+"I'd like it," replied Cowperwood, smiling and looking intensely
+gratified.  "I had thought of speaking to you myself some time."
+
+"Well, if you're ready and can make the change, the place is open.
+Come any time you like."
+
+"I'll have to give a reasonable notice at the other place,"
+Cowperwood said, quietly.  "Would you mind waiting a week or two?"
+
+"Not at all.  It isn't as important as that.  Come as soon as you
+can straighten things out.  I don't want to inconvenience your
+employers."
+
+It was only two weeks later that Frank took his departure from
+Waterman & Company, interested and yet in no way flustered by his
+new prospects.  And great was the grief of Mr. George Waterman.
+As for Mr. Henry Waterman, he was actually irritated by this
+defection.
+
+"Why, I thought," he exclaimed, vigorously, when informed by
+Cowperwood of his decision, "that you liked the business.  Is it
+a matter of salary?"
+
+"No, not at all, Mr. Waterman.  It's just that I want to get into
+the straight-out brokerage business."
+
+"Well, that certainly is too bad.  I'm sorry.  I don't want to
+urge you against your own best interests.  You know what you are
+doing.  But George and I had about agreed to offer you an interest
+in this thing after a bit.  Now you're picking up and leaving.
+Why, damn it, man, there's good money in this business."
+
+"I know it," smiled Cowperwood, "but I don't like it.  I have
+other plans in view.  I'll never be a grain and commission man."
+Mr. Henry Waterman could scarcely understand why obvious success
+in this field did not interest him.  He feared the effect of his
+departure on the business.
+
+And once the change was made Cowperwood was convinced that this
+new work was more suited to him in every way--as easy and more
+profitable, of course.  In the first place, the firm of Tighe &
+Co., unlike that of Waterman & Co., was located in a handsome
+green-gray stone building at 66 South Third Street, in what was
+then, and for a number of years afterward, the heart of the
+financial district.  Great institutions of national and international
+import and repute were near at hand--Drexel & Co., Edward Clark &
+Co., the Third National Bank, the First National Bank, the Stock
+Exchange, and similar institutions.  Almost a score of smaller
+banks and brokerage firms were also in the vicinity.  Edward
+Tighe, the head and brains of this concern, was a Boston Irishman,
+the son of an immigrant who had flourished and done well in that
+conservative city.  He had come to Philadelphia to interest himself
+in the speculative life there.  "Sure, it's a right good place for
+those of us who are awake," he told his friends, with a slight
+Irish accent, and he considered himself very much awake.  He was a
+medium-tall man, not very stout, slightly and prematurely gray,
+and with a manner which was as lively and good-natured as it was
+combative and self-reliant.  His upper lip was ornamented by a
+short, gray mustache.
+
+"May heaven preserve me," he said, not long after he came there,
+"these Pennsylvanians never pay for anything they can issue bonds
+for."  It was the period when Pennsylvania's credit, and for that
+matter Philadelphia's, was very bad in spite of its great wealth.
+"If there's ever a war there'll be battalions of Pennsylvanians
+marching around offering notes for their meals.  If I could just
+live long enough I could get rich buyin' up Pennsylvania notes and
+bonds.  I think they'll pay some time; but, my God, they're mortal
+slow! I'll be dead before the State government will ever catch up
+on the interest they owe me now."
+
+It was true.  The condition of the finances of the state and city
+was most reprehensible.  Both State and city were rich enough; but
+there were so many schemes for looting the treasury in both
+instances that when any new work had to be undertaken bonds were
+necessarily issued to raise the money.  These bonds, or warrants,
+as they were called, pledged interest at six per cent.; but when
+the interest fell due, instead of paying it, the city or State
+treasurer, as the case might be, stamped the same with the date
+of presentation, and the warrant then bore interest for not only
+its original face value, but the amount then due in interest.  In
+other words, it was being slowly compounded.  But this did not help
+the man who wanted to raise money, for as security they could not
+be hypothecated for more than seventy per cent. of their market
+value, and they were not selling at par, but at ninety.  A man might
+buy or accept them in foreclosure, but he had a long wait.  Also,
+in the final payment of most of them favoritism ruled, for it was
+only when the treasurer knew that certain warrants were in the hands
+of "a friend" that he would advertise that such and such warrants--
+those particular ones that he knew about--would be paid.
+
+What was more, the money system of the United States was only then
+beginning slowly to emerge from something approximating chaos to
+something more nearly approaching order.  The United States Bank,
+of which Nicholas Biddle was the progenitor, had gone completely
+in 1841, and the United States Treasury with its subtreasury system
+had come in 1846; but still there were many, many wildcat banks,
+sufficient in number to make the average exchange-counter broker
+a walking encyclopedia of solvent and insolvent institutions.
+Still, things were slowly improving, for the telegraph had facilitated
+stock-market quotations, not only between New York, Boston, and
+Philadelphia, but between a local broker's office in Philadelphia
+and his stock exchange.  In other words, the short private wire
+had been introduced.  Communication was quicker and freer, and
+daily grew better.
+
+Railroads had been built to the South, East, North, and West.
+There was as yet no stock-ticker and no telephone, and the
+clearing-house had only recently been thought of in New York,
+and had not yet been introduced in Philadelphia.  Instead of a
+clearing-house service, messengers ran daily between banks and
+brokerage firms, balancing accounts on pass-books, exchanging
+bills, and, once a week, transferring the gold coin, which was
+the only thing that could be accepted for balances due, since
+there was no stable national currency.  "On 'change," when the
+gong struck announcing the close of the day's business, a company
+of young men, known as "settlement clerks," after a system borrowed
+from London, gathered in the center of the room and compared or
+gathered the various trades of the day in a ring, thus eliminating
+all those sales and resales between certain firms which naturally
+canceled each other.  They carried long account books, and called
+out the transactions--"Delaware and Maryland sold to Beaumont and
+Company," "Delware and Maryland sold to Tighe and Company," and so
+on.  This simplified the bookkeeping of the various firms, and
+made for quicker and more stirring commercial transactions.
+
+Seats "on 'change" sold for two thousand dollars each.  The members
+of the exchange had just passed rules limiting the trading to the
+hours between ten and three (before this they had been any time
+between morning and midnight), and had fixed the rates at which
+brokers could do business, in the face of cut-throat schemes which
+had previously held.  Severe penalties were fixed for those who
+failed to obey.  In other words, things were shaping up for a
+great 'change business, and Edward Tighe felt, with other brokers,
+that there was a great future ahead.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI
+
+
+
+
+The Cowperwood family was by this time established in its new and
+larger and more tastefully furnished house on North Front Street,
+facing the river.  The house was four stories tall and stood
+twenty-five feet on the street front, without a yard.
+
+Here the family began to entertain in a small way, and there came
+to see them, now and then, representatives of the various interests
+that Henry Cowperwood had encountered in his upward climb to the
+position of cashier.  It was not a very distinguished company, but
+it included a number of people who were about as successful as
+himself--heads of small businesses who traded at his bank, dealers
+in dry-goods, leather, groceries (wholesale), and grain.  The
+children had come to have intimacies of their own.  Now and then,
+because of church connections, Mrs. Cowperwood ventured to have
+an afternoon tea or reception, at which even Cowperwood attempted
+the gallant in so far as to stand about in a genially foolish way
+and greet those whom his wife had invited.  And so long as he could
+maintain his gravity very solemnly and greet people without being
+required to say much, it was not too painful for him.  Singing
+was indulged in at times, a little dancing on occasion, and there
+was considerably more "company to dinner," informally, than there
+had been previously.
+
+And here it was, during the first year of the new life in this
+house, that Frank met a certain Mrs. Semple, who interested him
+greatly.  Her husband had a pretentious shoe store on Chestnut
+Street, near Third, and was planning to open a second one farther
+out on the same street.
+
+The occasion of the meeting was an evening call on the part of
+the Semples, Mr. Semple being desirous of talking with Henry
+Cowperwood concerning a new transportation feature which was then
+entering the world--namely, street-cars.  A tentative line,
+incorporated by the North Pennsylvania Railway Company, had been
+put into operation on a mile and a half of tracks extending from
+Willow Street along Front to Germantown Road, and thence by various
+streets to what was then known as the Cohocksink Depot; and it was
+thought that in time this mode of locomotion might drive out the
+hundreds of omnibuses which now crowded and made impassable the
+downtown streets.  Young Cowperwood had been greatly interested
+from the start.  Railway transportation, as a whole, interested
+him, anyway, but this particular phase was most fascinating.  It
+was already creating widespread discussion, and he, with others,
+had gone to see it.  A strange but interesting new type of car,
+fourteen feet long, seven feet wide, and nearly the same height,
+running on small iron car-wheels, was giving great satisfaction as
+being quieter and easier-riding than omnibuses; and Alfred Semple
+was privately considering investing in another proposed line which,
+if it could secure a franchise from the legislature, was to run on
+Fifth and Sixth streets.
+
+Cowperwood, Senior, saw a great future for this thing; but he did
+not see as yet how the capital was to be raised for it.  Frank
+believed that Tighe & Co. should attempt to become the selling
+agents of this new stock of the Fifth and Sixth Street Company in
+the event it succeeded in getting a franchise.  He understood that
+a company was already formed, that a large amount of stock was to
+be issued against the prospective franchise, and that these shares
+were to be sold at five dollars, as against an ultimate par value
+of one hundred.  He wished he had sufficient money to take a large
+block of them.
+
+Meanwhile, Lillian Semple caught and held his interest.  Just what
+it was about her that attracted him at this age it would be hard
+to say, for she was really not suited to him emotionally,
+intellectually, or otherwise.  He was not without experience with
+women or girls, and still held a tentative relationship with Marjorie
+Stafford; but Lillian Semple, in spite of the fact that she was
+married and that he could have legitimate interest in her, seemed
+not wiser and saner, but more worth while.  She was twenty-four as
+opposed to Frank's nineteen, but still young enough in her thoughts
+and looks to appear of his own age.  She was slightly taller than
+he--though he was now his full height (five feet ten and one-half
+inches)--and, despite her height, shapely, artistic in form and
+feature, and with a certain unconscious placidity of soul, which
+came more from lack of understanding than from force of character.
+Her hair was the color of a dried English walnut, rich and plentiful,
+and her complexion waxen--cream wax---with lips of faint pink, and
+eyes that varied from gray to blue and from gray to brown, according
+to the light in which you saw them.  Her hands were thin and
+shapely, her nose straight, her face artistically narrow.  She was
+not brilliant, not active, but rather peaceful and statuesque
+without knowing it.  Cowperwood was carried away by her appearance.
+Her beauty measured up to his present sense of the artistic.  She
+was lovely, he thought--gracious, dignified.  If he could have his
+choice of a wife, this was the kind of a girl he would like to have.
+
+As yet, Cowperwood's judgment of women was temperamental rather
+than intellectual.  Engrossed as he was by his desire for wealth,
+prestige, dominance, he was confused, if not chastened by
+considerations relating to position, presentability and the like.
+None the less, the homely woman meant nothing to him.  And the
+passionate woman meant much.  He heard family discussions of this
+and that sacrificial soul among women, as well as among men--women
+who toiled and slaved for their husbands or children, or both, who
+gave way to relatives or friends in crises or crucial moments,
+because it was right and kind to do so--but somehow these stories
+did not appeal to him.  He preferred to think of people--even
+women--as honestly, frankly self-interested.  He could not have
+told you why.  People seemed foolish, or at the best very unfortunate
+not to know what to do in all circumstances and how to protect
+themselves.  There was great talk concerning morality, much praise
+of virtue and decency, and much lifting of hands in righteous
+horror at people who broke or were even rumored to have broken
+the Seventh Commandment.  He did not take this talk seriously.
+Already he had broken it secretly many times.  Other young men did.
+Yet again, he was a little sick of the women of the streets and the
+bagnio.  There were too many coarse, evil features in connection
+with such contacts.  For a little while, the false tinsel-glitter
+of the house of ill repute appealed to him, for there was a certain
+force to its luxury--rich, as a rule, with red-plush furniture,
+showy red hangings, some coarse but showily-framed pictures, and,
+above all, the strong-bodied or sensuously lymphatic women who
+dwelt there, to (as his mother phrased it) prey on men.  The strength
+of their bodies, the lust of their souls, the fact that they could,
+with a show of affection or good-nature, receive man after man,
+astonished and later disgusted him.  After all, they were not smart.
+There was no vivacity of thought there.  All that they could do,
+in the main, he fancied, was this one thing.  He pictured to himself
+the dreariness of the mornings after, the stale dregs of things
+when only sleep and thought of gain could aid in the least; and
+more than once, even at his age, he shook his head.  He wanted
+contact which was more intimate, subtle, individual, personal.
+
+So came Lillian Semple, who was nothing more to him than the shadow
+of an ideal.  Yet she cleared up certain of his ideas in regard to
+women.  She was not physically as vigorous or brutal as those other
+women whom he had encountered in the lupanars, thus far--raw,
+unashamed contraveners of accepted theories and notions--and for
+that very reason he liked her.  And his thoughts continued to dwell
+on her, notwithstanding the hectic days which now passed like
+flashes of light in his new business venture.  For this stock
+exchange world in which he now found himself, primitive as it
+would seem to-day, was most fascinating to Cowperwood.  The room
+that he went to in Third Street, at Dock, where the brokers or
+their agents and clerks gathered one hundred and fifty strong,
+was nothing to speak of artistically--a square chamber sixty by
+sixty, reaching from the second floor to the roof of a four-story
+building; but it was striking to him.  The windows were high and
+narrow; a large-faced clock faced the west entrance of the room
+where you came in from the stairs; a collection of telegraph
+instruments, with their accompanying desks and chairs, occupied
+the northeast corner.  On the floor, in the early days of the
+exchange, were rows of chairs where the brokers sat while various
+lots of stocks were offered to them.  Later in the history of the
+exchange the chairs were removed and at different points posts or
+floor-signs indicating where certain stocks were traded in were
+introduced.  Around these the men who were interested gathered to
+do their trading.  From a hall on the third floor a door gave
+entrance to a visitor's gallery, small and poorly furnished; and
+on the west wall a large blackboard carried current quotations in
+stocks as telegraphed from New York and Boston.  A wicket-like
+fence in the center of the room surrounded the desk and chair of
+the official recorder; and a very small gallery opening from the
+third floor on the west gave place for the secretary of the board,
+when he had any special announcement to make.  There was a room
+off the southwest corner, where reports and annual compendiums of
+chairs were removed and at different signs indicating where certain
+stocks of various kinds were kept and were available for the use of
+members.
+
+Young Cowperwood would not have been admitted at all, as either a
+broker or broker's agent or assistant, except that Tighe, feeling
+that he needed him and believing that he would be very useful,
+bought him a seat on 'change--charging the two thousand dollars it
+cost as a debt and then ostensibly taking him into partnership.
+It was against the rules of the exchange to sham a partnership in
+this way in order to put a man on the floor, but brokers did it.
+These men who were known to be minor partners and floor assistants
+were derisively called "eighth chasers" and "two-dollar brokers,"
+because they were always seeking small orders and were willing to
+buy or sell for anybody on their commission, accounting, of course,
+to their firms for their work.  Cowperwood, regardless of his
+intrinsic merits, was originally counted one of their number, and
+he was put under the direction of Mr. Arthur Rivers, the regular
+floor man of Tighe & Company.
+
+Rivers was an exceedingly forceful man of thirty-five, well-dressed,
+well-formed, with a hard, smooth, evenly chiseled face, which was
+ornamented by a short, black mustache and fine, black, clearly
+penciled eyebrows.  His hair came to an odd point at the middle of
+his forehead, where he divided it, and his chin was faintly and
+attractively cleft.  He had a soft voice, a quiet, conservative
+manner, and both in and out of this brokerage and trading world
+was controlled by good form.  Cowperwood wondered at first why
+Rivers should work for Tighe--he appeared almost as able--but
+afterward learned that he was in the company.  Tighe was the
+organizer and general hand-shaker, Rivers the floor and outside
+man.
+
+It was useless, as Frank soon found, to try to figure out exactly
+why stocks rose and fell.  Some general reasons there were, of
+course, as he was told by Tighe, but they could not always be
+depended on.
+
+"Sure, anything can make or break a market"--Tighe explained in
+his delicate brogue--"from the failure of a bank to the rumor that
+your second cousin's grandmother has a cold.  It's a most unusual
+world, Cowperwood.  No man can explain it.  I've seen breaks in
+stocks that you could never explain at all--no one could.  It
+wouldn't be possible to find out why they broke.  I've seen rises
+the same way.  My God, the rumors of the stock exchange! They beat
+the devil.  If they're going down in ordinary times some one is
+unloading, or they're rigging the market.  If they're going up--
+God knows times must be good or somebody must be buying--that's
+sure.  Beyond that--well, ask Rivers to show you the ropes.  Don't
+you ever lose for me, though.  That's the cardinal sin in this
+office."  He grinned maliciously, even if kindly, at that.
+
+Cowperwood understood--none better.  This subtle world appealed
+to him.  It answered to his temperament.
+
+There were rumors, rumors, rumors--of great railway and street-car
+undertakings, land developments, government revision of the tariff,
+war between France and Turkey, famine in Russia or Ireland, and
+so on.  The first Atlantic cable had not been laid as yet, and
+news of any kind from abroad was slow and meager.  Still there
+were great financial figures in the held, men who, like Cyrus
+Field, or William H. Vanderbilt, or F. X. Drexel, were doing
+marvelous things, and their activities and the rumors concerning
+them counted for much.
+
+Frank soon picked up all of the technicalities of the situation.
+A "bull," he learned, was one who bought in anticipation of a higher
+price to come; and if he was "loaded up" with a "line" of stocks
+he was said to be "long."  He sold to "realize" his profit, or if
+his margins were exhausted he was "wiped out."  A "bear" was one
+who sold stocks which most frequently he did not have, in
+anticipation of a lower price, at which he could buy and satisfy
+his previous sales.  He was "short" when he had sold what he did
+not own, and he "covered" when he bought to satisfy his sales and
+to realize his profits or to protect himself against further loss
+in case prices advanced instead of declining.  He was in a "corner"
+when he found that he could not buy in order to make good the
+stock he had borrowed for delivery and the return of which had
+been demanded.  He was then obliged to settle practically at a
+price fixed by those to whom he and other "shorts" had sold.
+
+He smiled at first at the air of great secrecy and wisdom on the
+part of the younger men.  They were so heartily and foolishly
+suspicious.  The older men, as a rule, were inscrutable.  They
+pretended indifference, uncertainty.  They were like certain fish
+after a certain kind of bait, however.  Snap! and the opportunity
+was gone.  Somebody else had picked up what you wanted.  All had
+their little note-books.  All had their peculiar squint of eye or
+position or motion which meant "Done! I take you!" Sometimes they
+seemed scarcely to confirm their sales or purchases--they knew
+each other so well--but they did.  If the market was for any reason
+active, the brokers and their agents were apt to be more numerous
+than if it were dull and the trading indifferent.  A gong sounded
+the call to trading at ten o'clock, and if there was a noticeable
+rise or decline in a stock or a group of stocks, you were apt to
+witness quite a spirited scene.  Fifty to a hundred men would
+shout, gesticulate, shove here and there in an apparently aimless
+marmer; endeavoring to take advantage of the stock offered or called
+for.
+
+"Five-eighths for five hundred P. and W.," some one would call--
+Rivers or Cowperwood, or any other broker.
+
+Five hundred at three-fourths," would come the reply from some
+one else, who either had an order to sell the stock at that price
+or who was willing to sell it short, hoping to pick up enough of
+the stock at a lower figure later to fill his order and make a
+little something besides.  If the supply of stock at that figure
+was large Rivers would probably continue to bid five-eighths.  If,
+on the other hand, he noticed an increasing demand, he would
+probably pay three-fourths for it.  If the professional traders
+believed Rivers had a large buying order, they would probably try
+to buy the stock before he could at three-fourths, believing they
+could sell it out to him at a slightly higher price.  The
+professional traders were, of course, keen students of psychology;
+and their success depended on their ability to guess whether or
+not a broker representing a big manipulator, like Tighe, had an
+order large enough to affect the market sufficiently to give them
+an opportunity to "get in and out," as they termed it, at a profit
+before he had completed the execution of his order.  They were
+like hawks watching for an opportunity to snatch their prey from
+under the very claws of their opponents.
+
+Four, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and
+sometimes the whole company would attempt to take advantage of the
+given rise of a given stock by either selling or offering to buy,
+in which case the activity and the noise would become deafening.
+Given groups might be trading in different things; but the large
+majority of them would abandon what they were doing in order to
+take advantage of a speciality.  The eagerness of certain young
+brokers or clerks to discover all that was going on, and to take
+advantage of any given rise or fall, made for quick physical action,
+darting to and fro, the excited elevation of explanatory fingers.
+Distorted faces were shoved over shoulders or under arms.  The
+most ridiculous grimaces were purposely or unconsciously indulged
+in.  At times there were situations in which some individual was
+fairly smothered with arms, faces, shoulders, crowded toward him
+when he manifested any intention of either buying or selling at a
+profitable rate.  At first it seemed quite a wonderful thing to
+young Cowperwood--the very physical face of it--for he liked human
+presence and activity; but a little later the sense of the thing
+as a picture or a dramatic situation, of which he was a part faded,
+and he came down to a clearer sense of the intricacies of the
+problem before him.  Buying and selling stocks, as he soon learned,
+was an art, a subtlety, almost a psychic emotion.  Suspicion,
+intuition, feeling--these were the things to be "long" on.
+
+Yet in time he also asked himself, who was it who made the real
+money--the stock-brokers? Not at all.  Some of them were making
+money, but they were, as he quickly saw, like a lot of gulls or
+stormy petrels, hanging on the lee of the wind, hungry and anxious
+to snap up any unwary fish.  Back of them were other men, men with
+shrewd ideas, subtle resources.  Men of immense means whose
+enterprise and holdings these stocks represented, the men who
+schemed out and built the railroads, opened the mines, organized
+trading enterprises, and built up immense manufactories.  They might
+use brokers or other agents to buy and sell on 'change; but this
+buying and selling must be, and always was, incidental to the
+actual fact--the mine, the railroad, the wheat crop, the flour
+mill, and so on.  Anything less than straight-out sales to realize
+quickly on assets, or buying to hold as an investment, was gambling
+pure and simple, and these men were gamblers.  He was nothing more
+than a gambler's agent.  It was not troubling him any just at this
+moment, but it was not at all a mystery now, what he was.  As in
+the case of Waterman & Company, he sized up these men shrewdly,
+judging some to be weak, some foolish, some clever, some slow, but
+in the main all small-minded or deficient because they were agents,
+tools, or gamblers.  A man, a real man, must never be an agent, a
+tool, or a gambler--acting for himself or for others--he must employ
+such.  A real man--a financier--was never a tool.  He used tools.
+He created.  He led.
+
+Clearly, very clearly, at nineteen, twenty, and twenty-one years
+of age, he saw all this, but he was not quite ready yet to do
+anything about it.  He was certain, however, that his day would
+come.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VII
+
+
+
+
+In the meantime, his interest in Mrs. Semple had been secretly
+and strangely growing.  When he received an invitation to call at
+the Semple home, he accepted with a great deal of pleasure.  Their
+house was located not so very far from his own, on North Front
+Street, in the neighborhood of what is now known as No. 956.  It
+had, in summer, quite a wealth of green leaves and vines.  The
+little side porch which ornamented its south wall commanded a
+charming view of the river, and all the windows and doors were
+topped with lunettes of small-paned glass.  The interior of the
+house was not as pleasing as he would have had it.  Artistic
+impressiveness, as to the furniture at least, was wanting, although
+it was new and good.  The pictures were--well, simply pictures.
+There were no books to speak of--the Bible, a few current novels,
+some of the more significant histories, and a collection of
+antiquated odds and ends in the shape of books inherited from
+relatives.  The china was good--of a delicate pattern.  The carpets
+and wall-paper were too high in key.  So it went.  Still, the
+personality of Lillian Semple was worth something, for she was
+really pleasing to look upon, making a picture wherever she stood
+or sat.
+
+There were no children--a dispensation of sex conditions which had
+nothing to do with her, for she longed to have them.  She was
+without any notable experience in social life, except such as had
+come to the Wiggin family, of which she was a member--relatives and
+a few neighborhood friends visiting.  Lillian Wiggin, that was her
+maiden name--had two brothers and one sister, all living in
+Philadelphia and all married at this time.  They thought she had
+done very well in her marriage.
+
+It could not be said that she had wildly loved Mr. Semple at any
+time.  Although she had cheerfully married him, he was not the kind
+of man who could arouse a notable passion in any woman.  He was
+practical, methodic, orderly.  His shoe store was a good one--
+well-stocked with styles reflecting the current tastes and a model
+of cleanliness and what one might term pleasing brightness.  He
+loved to talk, when he talked at all, of shoe manufacturing, the
+development of lasts and styles.  The ready-made shoe--machine-made
+to a certain extent--was just coming into its own slowly, and
+outside of these, supplies of which he kept, he employed bench-making
+shoemakers, satisfying his customers with personal measurements
+and making the shoes to order.
+
+Mrs. Semple read a little--not much.  She had a habit of sitting
+and apparently brooding reflectively at times, but it was not based
+on any deep thought.  She had that curious beauty of body, though,
+that made her somewhat like a figure on an antique vase, or out of
+a Greek chorus.  It was in this light, unquestionably, that
+Cowperwood saw her, for from the beginning he could not keep his
+eyes off her.  In a way, she was aware of this but she did not
+attach any significance to it.  Thoroughly conventional, satisfied
+now that her life was bound permanently with that of her husband,
+she had settled down to a staid and quiet existence.
+
+At first, when Frank called, she did not have much to say.  She was
+gracious, but the burden of conversation fell on her husband.
+Cowperwood watched the varying expression of her face from time
+to time, and if she had been at all psychic she must have felt
+something.  Fortunately she was not.  Semple talked to him
+pleasantly, because in the first place Frank was becoming
+financially significant, was suave and ingratiating, and in the
+next place he was anxious to get richer and somehow Frank represented
+progress to him in that line.  One spring evening they sat on the
+porch and talked--nothing very important--slavery, street-cars,
+the panic--it was on then, that of 1857--the development of the
+West.  Mr. Semple wanted to know all about the stock exchange.  In
+return Frank asked about the shoe business, though he really did
+not care.  All the while, inoffensively, he watched Mrs. Semple.
+Her manner, he thought, was soothing, attractive, delightful.  She
+served tea and cake for them.  They went inside after a time to
+avoid the mosquitoes.  She played the piano.  At ten o'clock he
+left.
+
+Thereafter, for a year or so, Cowperwood bought his shoes of Mr.
+Semple.  Occasionally also he stopped in the Chestnut Street store
+to exchange the time of the day.  Semple asked his opinion as to
+the advisability of buying some shares in the Fifth and Sixth
+Street line, which, having secured a franchise, was creating
+great excitement.  Cowperwood gave him his best judgment.  It was
+sure to be profitable.  He himself had purchased one hundred shares
+at five dollars a share, and urged Semple to do so.  But he was
+not interested in him personally.  He liked Mrs. Semple, though
+he did not see her very often.
+
+About a year later, Mr. Semple died.  It was an untimely death,
+one of those fortuitous and in a way insignificant episodes which
+are, nevertheless, dramatic in a dull way to those most concerned.
+He was seized with a cold in the chest late in the fall--one of
+those seizures ordinarily attributed to wet feet or to going out
+on a damp day without an overcoat--and had insisted on going to
+business when Mrs. Semple urged him to stay at home and recuperate.
+He was in his way a very determined person, not obstreperously so,
+but quietly and under the surface.  Business was a great urge.  He
+saw himself soon to be worth about fifty thousand dollars.  Then
+this cold--nine more days of pneumonia--and he was dead.  The shoe
+store was closed for a few days; the house was full of sympathetic
+friends and church people.  There was a funeral, with burial
+service in the Callowhill Presbyterian Church, to which they
+belonged, and then he was buried.  Mrs. Semple cried bitterly.
+The shock of death affected her greatly and left her for a time in
+a depressed state.  A brother of hers, David Wiggin, undertook for
+the time being to run the shoe business for her.  There was no
+will, but in the final adjustment, which included the sale of the
+shoe business, there being no desire on anybody's part to contest
+her right to all the property, she received over eighteen thousand
+dollars.  She continued to reside in the Front Street house, and
+was considered a charming and interesting widow.
+
+Throughout this procedure young Cowperwood, only twenty years of
+age, was quietly manifest.  He called during the illness.  He
+attended the funeral.  He helped her brother, David Wiggin, dispose
+of the shoe business.  He called once or twice after the funeral,
+then stayed away for a considerable time.  In five months he
+reappeared, and thereafter he was a caller at stated intervals--
+periods of a week or ten days.
+
+Again, it would be hard to say what he saw in Semple.  Her prettiness,
+wax-like in its quality, fascinated him; her indifference aroused
+perhaps his combative soul.  He could not have explained why, but
+he wanted her in an urgent, passionate way.  He could not think of
+her reasonably, and he did not talk of her much to any one.  His
+family knew that he went to see her, but there had grown up in the
+Cowperwood family a deep respect for the mental force of Frank.
+He was genial, cheerful, gay at most times, without being talkative,
+and he was decidedly successful.  Everybody knew he was making
+money now.  His salary was fifty dollars a week, and he was certain
+soon to get more.  Some lots of his in West Philadelphia, bought
+three years before, had increased notably in value.  His street-car
+holdings, augmented by still additional lots of fifty and one
+hundred and one hundred and fifty shares in new lines incorporated,
+were slowly rising, in spite of hard times, from the initiative
+five dollars in each case to ten, fifteen, and twenty-five dollars
+a share--all destined to go to par.  He was liked in the financial
+district and he was sure that he had a successful future.  Because
+of his analysis of the brokerage situation he had come to the
+conclusion that he did not want to be a stock gambler.  Instead,
+he was considering the matter of engaging in bill-brokering, a
+business which he had observed to be very profitable and which
+involved no risk as long as one had capital.  Through his work and
+his father's connections he had met many people--merchants, bankers,
+traders.  He could get their business, or a part of it, he knew.
+People in Drexel & Co. and Clark & Co. were friendly to him.  Jay
+Cooke, a rising banking personality, was a personal friend of his.
+
+Meanwhile he called on Mrs. Semple, and the more he called the
+better he liked her.  There was no exchange of brilliant ideas
+between them; but he had a way of being comforting and social when
+he wished.  He advised her about her business affairs in so
+intelligent a way that even her relatives approved of it.  She
+came to like him, because he was so considerate, quiet, reassuring,
+and so ready to explain over and over until everything was quite
+plain to her.  She could see that he was looking on her affairs
+quite as if they were his own, trying to make them safe and secure.
+
+"You're so very kind, Frank," she said to him, one night.  "I'm
+awfully grateful.  I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't
+been for you."
+
+She looked at his handsome face, which was turned to hers, with
+child-like simplicity.
+
+"Not at all.  Not at all.  I want to do it.  I wouldn't have been
+happy if I couldn't."
+
+His eyes had a peculiar, subtle ray in them--not a gleam.  She
+felt warm toward him, sympathetic, quite satisfied that she could
+lean on him.
+
+"Well, I am very grateful just the same.  You've been so good.
+Come out Sunday again, if you want to, or any evening.  I'll be
+home."
+
+It was while he was calling on her in this way that his Uncle
+Seneca died in Cuba and left him fifteen thousand dollars.  This
+money made him worth nearly twenty-five thousand dollars in his
+own right, and he knew exactly what to do with it.  A panic had
+come since Mr. Semple had died, which had illustrated to him very
+clearly what an uncertain thing the brokerage business was.  There
+was really a severe business depression.  Money was so scarce that
+it could fairly be said not to exist at all.  Capital, frightened
+by uncertain trade and money conditions, everywhere, retired to
+its hiding-places in banks, vaults, tea-kettles, and stockings.
+The country seemed to be going to the dogs.  War with the South
+or secession was vaguely looming up in the distance.  The temper
+of the whole nation was nervous.  People dumped their holdings on
+the market in order to get money.  Tighe discharged three of his
+clerks.  He cut down his expenses in every possible way, and used
+up all his private savings to protect his private holdings.  He
+mortgaged his house, his land holdings--everything; and in many
+instances young Cowperwood was his intermediary, carrying blocks
+of shares to different banks to get what he could on them.
+
+"See if your father's bank won't loan me fifteen thousand on these,"
+he said to Frank, one day, producing a bundle of Philadelphia &
+Wilmington shares.  Frank had heard his father speak of them in
+times past as excellent.
+
+"They ought to be good," the elder Cowperwood said, dubiously,
+when shown the package of securities.  "At any other time they
+would be.  But money is so tight.  We find it awfully hard these
+days to meet our own obligations.  I'll talk to Mr. Kugel."  Mr.
+Kugel was the president.
+
+There was a long conversation--a long wait.  His father came back
+to say it was doubtful whether they could make the loan.  Eight
+per cent., then being secured for money, was a small rate of
+interest, considering its need.  For ten per cent. Mr. Kugel might
+make a call-loan.  Frank went back to his employer, whose commercial
+choler rose at the report.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, is there no money at all in the town?" he
+demanded, contentiously.  "Why, the interest they want is ruinous!
+I can't stand that.  Well, take 'em back and bring me the money.
+Good God, this'll never do at all, at all!"
+
+Frank went back.  "He'll pay ten per cent.," he said, quietly.
+
+Tighe was credited with a deposit of fifteen thousand dollars,
+with privilege to draw against it at once.  He made out a check
+for the total fifteen thousand at once to the Girard National
+Bank to cover a shrinkage there.  So it went.
+
+During all these days young Cowperwood was following these financial
+complications with interest.  He was not disturbed by the cause of
+slavery, or the talk of secession, or the general progress or
+decline of the country, except in so far as it affected his immediate
+interests.  He longed to become a stable financier; but, now that
+he saw the inside of the brokerage business, he was not so sure
+that he wanted to stay in it.  Gambling in stocks, according to
+conditions produced by this panic, seemed very hazardous.  A number
+of brokers failed.  He saw them rush in to Tighe with anguished
+faces and ask that certain trades be canceled.  Their very homes
+were in danger, they said.  They would be wiped out, their wives
+and children put out on the street.
+
+This panic, incidentally, only made Frank more certain as to what
+he really wanted to do--now that he had this free money, he would
+go into business for himself.  Even Tighe's offer of a minor
+partnership failed to tempt him.
+
+"I think you have a nice business," he explained, in refusing,
+"but I want to get in the note-brokerage business for myself.  I
+don't trust this stock game.  I'd rather have a little business
+of my own than all the floor work in this world."
+
+"But you're pretty young, Frank," argued his employer.  "You have
+lots of time to work for yourself."  In the end he parted friends
+with both Tighe and Rivers.  "That's a smart young fellow,"
+observed Tighe, ruefully.
+
+"He'll make his mark," rejoined Rivers.  "He's the shrewdest boy
+of his age I ever saw."
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VIII
+
+
+
+
+Cowperwood's world at this time was of roseate hue.  He was in love
+and had money of his own to start his new business venture.  He
+could take his street-car stocks, which were steadily increasing
+in value, and raise seventy per cent. of their market value.  He
+could put a mortgage on his lots and get money there, if necessary.
+He had established financial relations with the Girard National
+Bank--President Davison there having taken a fancy to him--and he
+proposed to borrow from that institution some day.  All he wanted
+was suitable investments--things in which he could realize surely,
+quickly.  He saw fine prospective profits in the street-car lines,
+which were rapidly developing into local ramifications.
+
+He purchased a horse and buggy about this time--the most
+attractive-looking animal and vehicle he could find--the combination
+cost him five hundred dollars--and invited Mrs. Semple to drive
+with him.  She refused at first, but later consented.  He had told
+her of his success, his prospects, his windfall of fifteen thousand
+dollars, his intention of going into the note-brokerage business.
+She knew his father was likely to succeed to the position of
+vice-president in the Third National Bank, and she liked the
+Cowperwoods.  Now she began to realize that there was something
+more than mere friendship here.  This erstwhile boy was a man, and
+he was calling on her.  It was almost ridiculous in the face of
+things--her seniority, her widowhood, her placid, retiring
+disposition--but the sheer, quiet, determined force of this young
+man made it plain that he was not to be balked by her sense of
+convention.
+
+Cowperwood did not delude himself with any noble theories of conduct
+in regard to her.  She was beautiful, with a mental and physical
+lure for him that was irresistible, and that was all he desired to
+know.  No other woman was holding him like that.  It never occurred
+to him that he could not or should not like other women at the same
+time.  There was a great deal of palaver about the sanctity of the
+home.  It rolled off his mental sphere like water off the feathers
+of a duck.  He was not eager for her money, though he was well aware
+of it.  He felt that he could use it to her advantage.  He wanted
+her physically.  He felt a keen, primitive interest in the children
+they would have.  He wanted to find out if he could make her love
+him vigorously and could rout out the memory of her former life.
+Strange ambition.  Strange perversion, one might almost say.
+
+In spite of her fears and her uncertainty, Lillian Semple accepted
+his attentions and interest because, equally in spite of herself,
+she was drawn to him.  One night, when she was going to bed, she
+stopped in front of her dressing table and looked at her face and
+her bare neck and arms.  They were very pretty.  A subtle something
+came over her as she surveyed her long, peculiarly shaded hair.
+She thought of young Cowperwood, and then was chilled and shamed
+by the vision of the late Mr. Semple and the force and quality of
+public opinion.
+
+"Why do you come to see me so often?" she asked him when he called
+the following evening.
+
+"Oh, don't you know?" he replied, looking at her in an interpretive
+way.
+
+"No."
+
+"Sure you don't?"
+
+"Well, I know you liked Mr. Semple, and I always thought you liked
+me as his wife.  He's gone, though, now."
+
+"And you're here," he replied.
+
+"And I'm here?"
+
+"Yes.  I like you.  I like to be with you.  Don't you like me that
+way?"
+
+"Why, I've never thought of it.  You're so much younger.  I'm five
+years older than you are."
+
+"In years," he said, "certainly.  That's nothing.  I'm fifteen
+years older than you are in other ways.  I know more about life
+in some ways than you can ever hope to learn--don't you think so?"
+he added, softly, persuasively.
+
+"Well, that's true.  But I know a lot of things you don't know."
+She laughed softly, showing her pretty teeth.
+
+It was evening.  They were on the side porch.  The river was before
+them.
+
+"Yes, but that's only because you're a woman.  A man can't hope to
+get a woman's point of view exactly.  But I'm talking about practical
+affairs of this world.  You're not as old that way as I am."
+
+"Well, what of it?"
+
+"Nothing.  You asked why I came to see you.  That's why.  Partly."
+
+He relapsed into silence and stared at the water.
+
+She looked at him.  His handsome body, slowly broadening, was nearly
+full grown.  His face, because of its full, clear, big, inscrutable
+eyes, had an expression which was almost babyish.  She could not
+have guessed the depths it veiled.  His cheeks were pink, his hands
+not large, but sinewy and strong.  Her pale, uncertain, lymphatic
+body extracted a form of dynamic energy from him even at this range.
+
+"I don't think you ought to come to see me so often.  People won't
+think well of it."  She ventured to take a distant, matronly air--
+the air she had originally held toward him.
+
+"People," he said, "don't worry about people.  People think what
+you want them to think.  I wish you wouldn't take that distant air
+toward me."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I like you."
+
+"But you mustn't like me.  It's wrong.  I can't ever marry you.
+You're too young.  I'm too old."
+
+"Don't say that!" he said, imperiously.  "There's nothing to it.
+I want you to marry me.  You know I do.  Now, when will it be?"
+
+"Why, how silly! I never heard of such a thing!" she exclaimed.
+"It will never be, Frank.  It can't be!"
+
+"Why can't it?" he asked.
+
+"Because--well, because I'm older.  People would think it strange.
+I'm not long enough free."
+
+"Oh, long enough nothing!" he exclaimed, irritably.  "That's the one
+thing I have against you--you are so worried about what people think.
+They don't make your life.  They certainly don't make mine.  Think of
+yourself first.  You have your own life to make.  Are you going to
+let what other people think stand in the way of what you want to do?"
+
+"But I don't want to," she smiled.
+
+He arose and came over to her, looking into her eyes.
+
+"Well?" she asked, nervously, quizzically.
+
+He merely looked at her.
+
+"Well?" she queried, more flustered.
+
+He stooped down to take her arms, but she got up.
+
+"Now you must not come near me," she pleaded, determinedly.  "I'll
+go in the house, and I'll not let you come any more.  It's terrible!
+You're silly! You mustn't interest yourself in me."
+
+She did show a good deal of determination, and he desisted.  But
+for the time being only.  He called again and again.  Then one
+night, when they had gone inside because of the mosquitoes, and
+when she had insisted that he must stop coming to see her, that
+his attentions were noticeable to others, and that she would be
+disgraced, he caught her, under desperate protest, in his arms.
+
+"Now, see here!" she exclaimed.  "I told you! It's silly! You
+mustn't kiss me! How dare you! Oh! oh! oh!--"
+
+She broke away and ran up the near-by stairway to her room.
+Cowperwood followed her swiftly.  As she pushed the door to he
+forced it open and recaptured her.  He lifted her bodily from her
+feet and held her crosswise, lying in his arms.
+
+"Oh, how could you!" she exclaimed.  "I will never speak to you
+any more.  I will never let you come here any more if you don't
+put me down this minute.  Put me down!"
+
+"I'll put you down, sweet," he said.  "I'll take you down," at
+the same time pulling her face to him and kissing her.  He was
+very much aroused, excited.
+
+While she was twisting and protesting, he carried her down the
+stairs again into the living-room, and seated himself in the great
+armchair, still holding her tight in his arms.
+
+"Oh!" she sighed, falling limp on his shoulder when he refused to
+let her go.  Then, because of the set determination of his face,
+some intense pull in him, she smiled.  "How would I ever explain
+if I did marry you?" she asked, weakly.  "Your father! Your mother!"
+
+"You don't need to explain.  I'll do that.  And you needn't worry
+about my family.  They won't care."
+
+"But mine," she recoiled.
+
+"Don't worry about yours.  I'm not marrying your family.  I'm
+marrying you.  We have independent means."
+
+She relapsed into additional protests; but he kissed her the more.
+There was a deadly persuasion to his caresses.  Mr. Semple had
+never displayed any such fire.  He aroused a force of feeling in
+her which had not previously been there.  She was afraid of it and
+ashamed.
+
+"Will you marry me in a month?" he asked, cheerfully, when she paused.
+
+"You know I won't!" she exclaimed, nervously.  "The idea! Why do
+you ask?"
+
+"What difference does it make? We're going to get married eventually."
+He was thinking how attractive he could make her look in other
+surroundings.  Neither she nor his family knew how to live.
+
+"Well, not in a month.  Wait a little while.  I will marry you after
+a while--after you see whether you want me."
+
+He caught her tight. "I'll show you," he said.
+
+"Please stop.  You hurt me."
+
+"How about it? Two months?"
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"Three?"
+
+"Well, maybe."
+
+"No maybe in that case.  We marry."
+
+"But you're only a boy."
+
+"Don't worry about me.  You'll find out how much of a boy I am."
+
+He seemed of a sudden to open up a new world to her, and she
+realized that she had never really lived before.  This man
+represented something bigger and stronger than ever her husband
+had dreamed of.  In his young way he was terrible, irresistible.
+
+"Well, in three months then," she whispered, while he rocked her
+cozily in his arms.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IX
+
+
+
+
+Cowperwood started in the note brokerage business with a small
+office at No. 64 South Third Street, where he very soon had the
+pleasure of discovering that his former excellent business
+connections remembered him.  He would go to one house, where he
+suspected ready money might be desirable, and offer to negotiate
+their notes or any paper they might issue bearing six per cent.
+interest for a commission and then he would sell the paper for a
+small commission to some one who would welcome a secure investment.
+Sometimes his father, sometimes other people, helped him with
+suggestions as to when and how.  Between the two ends he might
+make four and five per cent. on the total transaction.  In the
+first year he cleared six thousand dollars over and above all
+expenses.  That wasn't much, but he was augmenting it in another
+way which he believed would bring great profit in the future.
+
+Before the first street-car line, which was a shambling affair,
+had been laid on Front Street, the streets of Philadelphia had
+been crowded with hundreds of springless omnibuses rattling over
+rough, hard, cobblestones.  Now, thanks to the idea of John
+Stephenson, in New York, the double rail track idea had come, and
+besides the line on Fifth and Sixth Streets (the cars running out
+one street and back on another) which had paid splendidly from the
+start, there were many other lines proposed or under way.  The
+city was as eager to see street-cars replace omnibuses as it was
+to see railroads replace canals.  There was opposition, of course.
+There always is in such cases.  The cry of probable monopoly was
+raised.  Disgruntled and defeated omnibus owners and drivers groaned
+aloud.
+
+Cowperwood had implicit faith in the future of the street railway.
+In support of this belief he risked all he could spare on new
+issues of stock shares in new companies.  He wanted to be on the
+inside wherever possible, always, though this was a little difficult
+in the matter of the street-railways, he having been so young when
+they started and not having yet arranged his financial connections
+to make them count for much.  The Fifth and Sixth Street line,
+which had been but recently started, was paying six hundred dollars
+a day.  A project for a West Philadelphia line (Walnut and Chestnut)
+was on foot, as were lines to occupy Second and Third Streets,
+Race and Vine, Spruce and Pine, Green and Coates, Tenth and
+Eleventh, and so forth.  They were engineered and backed by some
+powerful capitalists who had influence with the State legislature
+and could, in spite of great public protest, obtain franchises.
+Charges of corruption were in the air.  It was argued that the
+streets were valuable, and that the companies should pay a road tax
+of a thousand dollars a mile.  Somehow, however, these splendid
+grants were gotten through, and the public, hearing of the Fifth
+and Sixth Street line profits, was eager to invest.  Cowperwood
+was one of these, and when the Second and Third Street line was
+engineered, he invested in that and in the Walnut and Chestnut
+Street line also.  He began to have vague dreams of controlling a
+line himself some day, but as yet he did not see exactly how it
+was to be done, since his business was far from being a bonanza.
+
+In the midst of this early work he married Mrs. Semple.  There was
+no vast to-do about it, as he did not want any and his bride-to-be
+was nervous, fearsome of public opinion.  His family did not
+entirely approve.  She was too old, his mother and father thought,
+and then Frank, with his prospects, could have done much better.
+His sister Anna fancied that Mrs. Semple was designing, which was,
+of course, not true.  His brothers, Joseph and Edward, were
+interested, but not certain as to what they actually thought,
+since Mrs. Semple was good-looking and had some money.
+
+It was a warm October day when he and Lillian went to the altar,
+in the First Presbyterian Church of Callowhill Street.  His bride,
+Frank was satisfied, looked exquisite in a trailing gown of cream
+lace--a creation that had cost months of labor.  His parents, Mrs.
+Seneca Davis, the Wiggin family, brothers and sisters, and some
+friends were present.  He was a little opposed to this idea, but
+Lillian wanted it.  He stood up straight and correct in black
+broadcloth for the wedding ceremony--because she wished it, but
+later changed to a smart business suit for traveling.  He had
+arranged his affairs for a two weeks' trip to New York and Boston.
+They took an afternoon train for New York, which required five
+hours to reach.  When they were finally alone in the Astor House,
+New York, after hours of make-believe and public pretense of
+indifference, he gathered her in his arms.
+
+"Oh, it's delicious," he exclaimed, "to have you all to myself."
+
+She met his eagerness with that smiling, tantalizing passivity
+which he had so much admired but which this time was tinged strongly
+with a communicated desire.  He thought he should never have enough
+of her, her beautiful face, her lovely arms, her smooth, lymphatic
+body.  They were like two children, billing and cooing, driving,
+dining, seeing the sights.  He was curious to visit the financial
+sections of both cities.  New York and Boston appealed to him as
+commercially solid.  He wondered, as he observed the former, whether
+he should ever leave Philadelphia.  He was going to be very happy
+there now, he thought, with Lillian and possibly a brood of young
+Cowperwoods.  He was going to work hard and make money.  With his
+means and hers now at his command, he might become, very readily,
+notably wealthy.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter X
+
+
+
+
+The home atmosphere which they established when they returned
+from their honeymoon was a great improvement in taste over that
+which had characterized the earlier life of Mrs. Cowperwood as
+Mrs. Semple.  They had decided to occupy her house, on North Front
+Street, for a while at least.  Cowperwood, aggressive in his
+current artistic mood, had objected at once after they were engaged
+to the spirit of the furniture and decorations, or lack of them,
+and had suggested that he be allowed to have it brought more in
+keeping with his idea of what was appropriate.  During the years
+in which he had been growing into manhood he had come instinctively
+into sound notions of what was artistic and refined.  He had seen
+so many homes that were more distinguished and harmonious than his
+own.  One could not walk or drive about Philadelphia without seeing
+and being impressed with the general tendency toward a more
+cultivated and selective social life.  Many excellent and expensive
+houses were being erected.  The front lawn, with some attempt at
+floral gardening, was achieving local popularity.  In the homes of
+the Tighes, the Leighs, Arthur Rivers, and others, he had noticed
+art objects of some distinction--bronzes, marbles, hangings,
+pictures, clocks, rugs.
+
+It seemed to him now that his comparatively commonplace house could
+be made into something charming and for comparatively little money.
+The dining-room for instance which, through two plain windows set
+in a hat side wall back of the veranda, looked south over a stretch
+of grass and several trees and bushes to a dividing fence where
+the Semple property ended and a neighbor's began, could be made
+so much more attractive.  That fence--sharp-pointed, gray palings--
+could be torn away and a hedge put in its place.  The wall which
+divided the dining-room from the parlor could be knocked through
+and a hanging of some pleasing character put in its place.  A
+bay-window could be built to replace the two present oblong
+windows--a bay which would come down to the floor and open out on
+the lawn via swiveled, diamond-shaped, lead-paned frames.  All this
+shabby, nondescript furniture, collected from heaven knows where--
+partly inherited from the Semples and the Wiggins and partly
+bought--could be thrown out or sold and something better and more
+harmonious introduced.  He knew a young man by the name of Ellsworth,
+an architect newly graduated from a local school, with whom he had
+struck up an interesting friendship--one of those inexplicable
+inclinations of temperament.  Wilton Ellsworth was an artist in
+spirit, quiet, meditative, refined.  From discussing the quality
+of a certain building on Chestnut Street which was then being
+erected, and which Ellsworth pronounced atrocious, they had fallen
+to discussing art in general, or the lack of it, in America.  And
+it occurred to him that Ellsworth was the man to carry out his
+decorative views to a nicety.  When he suggested the young man to
+Lillian, she placidly agreed with him and also with his own ideas
+of how the house could be revised.
+
+So while they were gone on their honeymoon Ellsworth began the
+revision on an estimated cost of three thousand dollars, including
+the furniture.  It was not completed for nearly three weeks after
+their return; but when finished made a comparatively new house.
+The dining-room bay hung low over the grass, as Frank wished, and
+the windows were diamond-paned and leaded, swiveled on brass rods.
+The parlor and dining-room were separated by sliding doors; but
+the intention was to hang in this opening a silk hanging depicting
+a wedding scene in Normandy.  Old English oak was used in the
+dining-room, an American imitation of Chippendale and Sheraton for
+the sitting-room and the bedrooms.  There were a few simple
+water-colors hung here and there, some bronzes of Hosmer and Powers,
+a marble venus by Potter, a now forgotten sculptor, and other
+objects of art--nothing of any distinction.  Pleasing, appropriately
+colored rugs covered the floor.  Mrs. Cowperwood was shocked by
+the nudity of the Venus which conveyed an atmosphere of European
+freedom not common to America; but she said nothing. It was all
+harmonious and soothing, and she did not feel herself capable to
+judge.  Frank knew about these things so much better than she did.
+Then with a maid and a man of all work installed, a program of
+entertaining was begun on a small scale.
+
+Those who recall the early years of their married life can best
+realize the subtle changes which this new condition brought to
+Frank, for, like all who accept the hymeneal yoke, he was influenced
+to a certain extent by the things with which he surrounded himself.
+Primarily, from certain traits of his character, one would have
+imagined him called to be a citizen of eminent respectability and
+worth.  He appeared to be an ideal home man.  He delighted to return
+to his wife in the evenings, leaving the crowded downtown section
+where traffic clamored and men hurried.  Here he could feel that he
+was well-stationed and physically happy in life.  The thought of
+the dinner-table with candles upon it (his idea); the thought of
+Lillian in a trailing gown of pale-blue or green silk--he liked her
+in those colors; the thought of a large fireplace flaming with
+solid lengths of cord-wood, and Lillian snuggling in his arms,
+gripped his immature imagination.  As has been said before, he
+cared nothing for books, but life, pictures, trees, physical
+contact--these, in spite of his shrewd and already gripping
+financial calculations, held him.  To live richly, joyously,
+fully--his whole nature craved that.
+
+And Mrs. Cowperwood, in spite of the difference in their years,
+appeared to be a fit mate for him at this time.  She was once
+awakened, and for the time being, clinging, responsive, dreamy.
+His mood and hers was for a baby, and in a little while that
+happy expectation was whispered to him by her.  She had half
+fancied that her previous barrenness was due to herself, and was
+rather surprised and delighted at the proof that it was not so.
+It opened new possibilities--a seemingly glorious future of which
+she was not afraid.  He liked it, the idea of self-duplication.
+It was almost acquisitive, this thought.  For days and weeks and
+months and years, at least the first four or five, he took a keen
+satisfaction in coming home evenings, strolling about the yard,
+driving with his wife, having friends in to dinner, talking over
+with her in an explanatory way the things he intended to do.  She
+did not understand his financial abstrusities, and he did not
+trouble to make them clear.
+
+But love, her pretty body, her lips, her quiet manner--the lure
+of all these combined, and his two children, when they came--two
+in four years--held him.  He would dandle Frank, Jr., who was the
+first to arrive, on his knee, looking at his chubby feet, his
+kindling eyes, his almost formless yet bud-like mouth, and wonder
+at the process by which children came into the world.  There was
+so much to think of in this connection--the spermatozoic beginning,
+the strange period of gestation in women, the danger of disease
+and delivery.  He had gone through a real period of strain when
+Frank, Jr., was born, for Mrs. Cowperwood was frightened.  He
+feared for the beauty of her body--troubled over the danger of
+losing her; and he actually endured his first worry when he stood
+outside the door the day the child came.  Not much--he was too
+self-sufficient, too resourceful; and yet he worried, conjuring
+up thoughts of death and the end of their present state.  Then
+word came, after certain piercing, harrowing cries, that all was
+well, and he was permitted to look at the new arrival.  The
+experience broadened his conception of things, made him more solid
+in his judgment of life.  That old conviction of tragedy underlying
+the surface of things, like wood under its veneer, was emphasized.
+Little Frank, and later Lillian, blue-eyed and golden-haired,
+touched his imagination for a while.  There was a good deal to
+this home idea, after all.  That was the way life was organized,
+and properly so--its cornerstone was the home.
+
+It would be impossible to indicate fully how subtle were the
+material changes which these years involved--changes so gradual
+that they were, like the lap of soft waters, unnoticeable.
+Considerable--a great deal, considering how little he had to
+begin with--wealth was added in the next five years.  He came, in
+his financial world, to know fairly intimately, as commercial
+relationships go, some of the subtlest characters of the steadily
+enlarging financial world.  In his days at Tighe's and on the
+exchange, many curious figures had been pointed out to him--State
+and city officials of one grade and another who were "making
+something out of politics," and some national figures who came
+from Washington to Philadelphia at times to see Drexel & Co.,
+Clark & Co., and even Tighe & Co.  These men, as he learned, had
+tips or advance news of legislative or economic changes which were
+sure to affect certain stocks or trade opportunities.  A young
+clerk had once pulled his sleeve at Tighe's.
+
+"See that man going in to see Tighe?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"That's Murtagh, the city treasurer.  Say, he don't do anything
+but play a fine game.  All that money to invest, and he don't have
+to account for anything except the principal.  The interest goes
+to him."
+
+Cowperwood understood.  All these city and State officials
+speculated.  They had a habit of depositing city and State funds
+with certain bankers and brokers as authorized agents or designated
+State depositories.  The banks paid no interest--save to the
+officials personally.  They loaned it to certain brokers on the
+officials' secret order, and the latter invested it in "sure winners."
+The bankers got the free use of the money a part of the time, the
+brokers another part: the officials made money, and the brokers
+received a fat commission.  There was a political ring in
+Philadelphia in which the mayor, certain members of the council,
+the treasurer, the chief of police, the commissioner of public
+works, and others shared.  It was a case generally of "You scratch
+my back and I'll scratch yours."  Cowperwood thought it rather
+shabby work at first, but many men were rapidly getting rich and no
+one seemed to care.  The newspapers were always talking about
+civic patriotism and pride but never a word about these things.
+And the men who did them were powerful and respected.
+
+There were many houses, a constantly widening circle, that found
+him a very trustworthy agent in disposing of note issues or note
+payment.  He seemed to know so quickly where to go to get the
+money.  From the first he made it a principle to keep twenty
+thousand dollars in cash on hand in order to be able to take up a
+proposition instantly and without discussion.  So, often he was
+able to say, "Why, certainly, I can do that," when otherwise, on
+the face of things, he would not have been able to do so.  He was
+asked if he would not handle certain stock transactions on 'change.
+He had no seat, and he intended not to take any at first; but now
+he changed his mind, and bought one, not only in Philadelphia, but
+in New York also.  A certain Joseph Zimmerman, a dry-goods man for
+whom he had handled various note issues, suggested that he
+undertake operating in street-railway shares for him, and this was
+the beginning of his return to the floor.
+
+In the meanwhile his family life was changing--growing, one might
+have said, finer and more secure.  Mrs. Cowperwood had, for
+instance, been compelled from time to time to make a subtle
+readjustment of her personal relationship with people, as he had
+with his.  When Mr. Semple was alive she had been socially connected
+with tradesmen principally--retailers and small wholesalers--a
+very few.  Some of the women of her own church, the First
+Presbyterian, were friendly with her.  There had been church teas
+and sociables which she and Mr. Semple attended, and dull visits
+to his relatives and hers.  The Cowperwoods, the Watermans, and a
+few families of that caliber, had been the notable exceptions.
+Now all this was changed.  Young Cowperwood did not care very much
+for her relatives, and the Semples had been alienated by her second,
+and to them outrageous, marriage.  His own family was closely
+interested by ties of affection and mutual prosperity, but, better
+than this, he was drawing to himself some really significant
+personalities.  He brought home with him, socially--not to talk
+business, for he disliked that idea--bankers, investors, customers
+and prospective customers.  Out on the Schuylkill, the Wissahickon,
+and elsewhere, were popular dining places where one could drive on
+Sunday.  He and Mrs. Cowperwood frequently drove out to Mrs. Seneca
+Davis's, to Judge Kitchen's, to the home of Andrew Sharpless, a
+lawyer whom he knew, to the home of Harper Steger, his own lawyer,
+and others.  Cowperwood had the gift of geniality.  None of these
+men or women suspected the depth of his nature--he was thinking,
+thinking, thinking, but enjoyed life as he went.
+
+One of his earliest and most genuine leanings was toward paintings.
+He admired nature, but somehow, without knowing why, he fancied
+one could best grasp it through the personality of some interpreter,
+just as we gain our ideas of law and politics through individuals.
+Mrs. Cowperwood cared not a whit one way or another, but she
+accompanied him to exhibitions, thinking all the while that Frank
+was a little peculiar.  He tried, because he loved her, to interest
+her in these things intelligently, but while she pretended slightly,
+she could not really see or care, and it was very plain that she
+could not.
+
+The children took up a great deal of her time.  However, Cowperwood
+was not troubled about this.  It struck him as delightful and
+exceedingly worth while that she should be so devoted.  At the same
+time, her lethargic manner, vague smile and her sometimes seeming
+indifference, which sprang largely from a sense of absolute
+security, attracted him also.  She was so different from him! She
+took her second marriage quite as she had taken her first--a solemn
+fact which contained no possibility of mental alteration.  As for
+himself, however, he was bustling about in a world which, financially
+at least, seemed all alteration--there were so many sudden and
+almost unheard-of changes.  He began to look at her at times, with
+a speculative eye--not very critically, for he liked her--but with
+an attempt to weigh her personality.  He had known her five years
+and more now.  What did he know about her? The vigor of youth--those
+first years--had made up for so many things, but now that he had
+her safely...
+
+There came in this period the slow approach, and finally the
+declaration, of war between the North and the South, attended
+with so much excitement that almost all current minds were
+notably colored by it.  It was terrific.  Then came meetings,
+public and stirring, and riots; the incident of John Brown's body;
+the arrival of Lincoln, the great commoner, on his way from
+Springfield, Illinois, to Washington via Philadelphia, to take
+the oath of office; the battle of Bull Run; the battle of Vicksburg;
+the battle of Gettysburg, and so on.  Cowperwood was only
+twenty-five at the time, a cool, determined youth, who thought the
+slave agitation might be well founded in human rights--no doubt was
+--but exceedingly dangerous to trade.  He hoped the North would win;
+but it might go hard with him personally and other financiers.  He
+did not care to fight.  That seemed silly for the individual man
+to do.  Others might--there were many poor, thin-minded, half-baked
+creatures who would put themselves up to be shot; but they were
+only fit to be commanded or shot down.  As for him, his life was
+sacred to himself and his family and his personal interests.  He
+recalled seeing, one day, in one of the quiet side streets, as
+the working-men were coming home from their work, a small enlisting
+squad of soldiers in blue marching enthusiastically along, the
+Union flag flying, the drummers drumming, the fifes blowing, the
+idea being, of course, to so impress the hitherto indifferent or
+wavering citizen, to exalt him to such a pitch, that he would lose
+his sense of proportion, of self-interest, and, forgetting all--
+wife, parents, home, and children--and seeing only the great need
+of the country, fall in behind and enlist.  He saw one workingman
+swinging his pail, and evidently not contemplating any such
+denouement to his day's work, pause, listen as the squad approached,
+hesitate as it drew close, and as it passed, with a peculiar look
+of uncertainty or wonder in his eyes, fall in behind and march
+solemnly away to the enlisting quarters.  What was it that had
+caught this man, Frank asked himself.  How was he overcome so
+easily? He had not intended to go.  His face was streaked with
+the grease and dirt of his work--he looked like a foundry man or
+machinist, say twenty-five years of age.  Frank watched the little
+squad disappear at the end of the street round the corner under
+the trees.
+
+This current war-spirit was strange.  The people seemed to him
+to want to hear nothing but the sound of the drum and fife, to
+see nothing but troops, of which there were thousands now passing
+through on their way to the front, carrying cold steel in the
+shape of guns at their shoulders, to hear of war and the rumors
+of war.  It was a thrilling sentiment, no doubt, great but
+unprofitable.  It meant self-sacrifice, and he could not see that.
+If he went he might be shot, and what would his noble emotion
+amount to then? He would rather make money, regulate current
+political, social and financial affairs.  The poor fool who fell
+in behind the enlisting squad--no, not fool, he would not call
+him that--the poor overwrought working-man--well, Heaven pity him!
+Heaven pity all of them! They really did not know what they were
+doing.
+
+One day he saw Lincoln--a tall, shambling man, long, bony, gawky,
+but tremendously impressive.  It was a raw, slushy morning of a
+late February day, and the great war President was just through
+with his solemn pronunciamento in regard to the bonds that might
+have been strained but must not be broken.  As he issued from the
+doorway of Independence Hall, that famous birthplace of liberty,
+his face was set in a sad, meditative calm.  Cowperwood looked
+at him fixedly as he issued from the doorway surrounded by chiefs
+of staff, local dignitaries, detectives, and the curious,
+sympathetic faces of the public.  As he studied the strangely
+rough-hewn countenance a sense of the great worth and dignity of
+the man came over him.
+
+"A real man, that," he thought; "a wonderful temperament."  His
+every gesture came upon him with great force.  He watched him enter
+his carriage, thinking "So that is the railsplitter, the country
+lawyer.  Well, fate has picked a great man for this crisis."
+
+For days the face of Lincoln haunted him, and very often during
+the war his mind reverted to that singular figure.  It seemed to
+him unquestionable that fortuitously he had been permitted to
+look upon one of the world's really great men.  War and statesmanship
+were not for him; but he knew how important those things were--at
+times.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XI
+
+
+
+
+It was while the war was on, and after it was perfectly plain
+that it was not to be of a few days' duration, that Cowperwood's
+first great financial opportunity came to him.  There was a
+strong demand for money at the time on the part of the nation,
+the State, and the city.  In July, 1861, Congress had authorized
+a loan of fifty million dollars, to be secured by twenty-year
+bonds with interest not to exceed seven per cent., and the State
+authorized a loan of three millions on much the same security,
+the first being handled by financiers of Boston, New York, and
+Philadelphia, the second by Philadelphia financiers alone.
+Cowperwood had no hand in this.  He was not big enough.  He read
+in the papers of gatherings of men whom he knew personally or by
+reputation, "to consider the best way to aid the nation or the
+State"; but he was not included.  And yet his soul yearned to be
+of them.  He noticed how often a rich man's word sufficed--no
+money, no certificates, no collateral, no anything--just his word.
+If Drexel & Co., or Jay Cooke & Co., or Gould & Fiske were rumored
+to be behind anything, how secure it was! Jay Cooke, a young man
+in Philadelphia, had made a great strike taking this State loan
+in company with Drexel & Co., and selling it at par.  The general
+opinion was that it ought to be and could only be sold at ninety.
+Cooke did not believe this.  He believed that State pride and
+State patriotism would warrant offering the loan to small banks
+and private citizens, and that they would subscribe it fully and
+more.  Events justified Cooke magnificently, and his public
+reputation was assured.  Cowperwood wished he could make some
+such strike; but he was too practical to worry over anything save
+the facts and conditions that were before him.
+
+His chance came about six months later, when it was found that the
+State would have to have much more money.  Its quota of troops
+would have to be equipped and paid.  There were measures of defense
+to be taken, the treasury to be replenished.  A call for a loan
+of twenty-three million dollars was finally authorized by the
+legislature and issued.  There was great talk in the street as to
+who was to handle it--Drexel & Co. and Jay Cooke & Co., of course.
+
+Cowperwood pondered over this.  If he could handle a fraction of
+this great loan now--he could not possibly handle the whole of
+it, for he had not the necessary connections--he could add
+considerably to his reputation as a broker while making a tidy
+sum.  How much could he handle? That was the question.  Who would
+take portions of it? His father's bank? Probably.  Waterman & Co.?
+A little.  Judge Kitchen? A small fraction.  The Mills-David
+Company? Yes.  He thought of different individuals and concerns
+who, for one reason and another--personal friendship, good-nature,
+gratitude for past favors, and so on--would take a percentage of
+the seven-percent. bonds through him.  He totaled up his
+possibilities, and discovered that in all likelihood, with a
+little preliminary missionary work, he could dispose of one million
+dollars if personal influence, through local political figures,
+could bring this much of the loan his way.
+
+One man in particular had grown strong in his estimation as having
+some subtle political connection not visible on the surface, and
+this was Edward Malia Butler.  Butler was a contractor, undertaking
+the construction of sewers, water-mains, foundations for buildings,
+street-paving, and the like.  In the early days, long before
+Cowperwood had known him, he had been a garbage-contractor on his
+own account.  The city at that time had no extended street-cleaning
+service, particularly in its outlying sections and some of the
+older, poorer regions.  Edward Butler, then a poor young Irishman,
+had begun by collecting and hauling away the garbage free of
+charge, and feeding it to his pigs and cattle.  Later he discovered
+that some people were willing to pay a small charge for this
+service.  Then a local political character, a councilman friend of
+his--they were both Catholics--saw a new point in the whole thing.
+Butler could be made official garbage-collector.  The council could
+vote an annual appropriation for this service.  Butler could employ
+more wagons than he did now--dozens of them, scores.  Not only
+that, but no other garbage-collector would be allowed.  There were
+others, but the official contract awarded him would also,
+officially, be the end of the life of any and every disturbing
+rival.  A certain amount of the profitable proceeds would have to be
+set aside to assuage the feelings of those who were not contractors.
+Funds would have to be loaned at election time to certain individuals
+and organizations--but no matter.  The amount would be small.  So
+Butler and Patrick Gavin Comiskey, the councilman (the latter
+silently) entered into business relations.  Butler gave up driving
+a wagon himself.  He hired a young man, a smart Irish boy of his
+neighborhood, Jimmy Sheehan, to be his assistant, superintendent,
+stableman, bookkeeper, and what not.  Since he soon began to make
+between four and five thousand a year, where before he made two
+thousand, he moved into a brick house in an outlying section of
+the south side, and sent his children to school.  Mrs. Butler gave
+up making soap and feeding pigs.  And since then times had been
+exceedingly good with Edward Butler.
+
+He could neither read nor write at first; but now he knew how, of
+course.  He had learned from association with Mr. Comiskey that
+there were other forms of contracting--sewers, water-mains,
+gas-mains, street-paving, and the like.  Who better than Edward
+Butler to do it? He knew the councilmen, many of them.  Het met
+them in the back rooms of saloons, on Sundays and Saturdays at
+political picnics, at election councils and conferences, for as a
+beneficiary of the city's largess he was expected to contribute
+not only money, but advice.  Curiously he had developed a strange
+political wisdom.  He knew a successful man or a coming man when
+he saw one.  So many of his bookkeepers, superintendents,
+time-keepers had graduated into councilmen and state legislators.
+His nominees--suggested to political conferences--were so often
+known to make good.  First he came to have influence in his
+councilman's ward, then in his legislative district, then in the
+city councils of his party--Whig, of course--and then he was
+supposed to have an organization.
+
+Mysterious forces worked for him in council.  He was awarded
+significant contracts, and he always bid.  The garbage business
+was now a thing of the past.  His eldest boy, Owen, was a member
+of the State legislature and a partner in his business affairs.
+His second son, Callum, was a clerk in the city water department
+and an assistant to his father also.  Aileen, his eldest daughter,
+fifteen years of age, was still in St. Agatha's, a convent school
+in Germantown.  Norah, his second daughter and youngest child,
+thirteen years old, was in attendance at a local private school
+conducted by a Catholic sisterhood.  The Butler family had moved
+away from South Philadelphia into Girard Avenue, near the twelve
+hundreds, where a new and rather interesting social life was
+beginning.  They were not of it, but Edward Butler, contractor,
+now fifty-five years of age, worth, say, five hundred thousand
+dollars, had many political and financial friends.  No longer a
+"rough neck," but a solid, reddish-faced man, slightly tanned,
+with broad shoulders and a solid chest, gray eyes, gray hair, a
+typically Irish face made wise and calm and undecipherable by
+much experience.  His big hands and feet indicated a day when he
+had not worn the best English cloth suits and tanned leather, but
+his presence was not in any way offensive--rather the other way
+about.  Though still possessed of a brogue, he was soft-spoken,
+winning, and persuasive.
+
+He had been one of the first to become interested in the development
+of the street-car system and had come to the conclusion, as had
+Cowperwood and many others, that it was going to be a great thing.
+The money returns on the stocks or shares he had been induced to
+buy had been ample evidence of that, He had dealt through one
+broker and another, having failed to get in on the original
+corporate organizations.  He wanted to pick up such stock as he
+could in one organization and another, for he believed they all
+had a future, and most of all he wanted to get control of a line
+or two.  In connection with this idea he was looking for some
+reliable young man, honest and capable, who would work under his
+direction and do what he said.  Then he learned of Cowperwood,
+and one day sent for him and asked him to call at his house.
+
+Cowperwood responded quickly, for he knew of Butler, his rise, his
+connections, his force.  He called at the house as directed, one
+cold, crisp February morning.  He remembered the appearance of the
+street afterward--broad, brick-paved sidewalks, macadamized
+roadway, powdered over with a light snow and set with young,
+leafless, scrubby trees and lamp-posts.  Butler's house was not
+new--he had bought and repaired it--but it was not an unsatisfactory
+specimen of the architecture of the time.  It was fifty feet wide,
+four stories tall, of graystone and with four wide, white stone
+steps leading up to the door.  The window arches, framed in white,
+had U-shaped keystones.  There were curtains of lace and a glimpse
+of red plush through the windows, which gleamed warm against the
+cold and snow outside.  A trim Irish maid came to the door and he
+gave her his card and was invited into the house.
+
+"Is Mr. Butler home?"
+
+"I'm not sure, sir.  I'll find out. He may have gone out."
+
+In a little while he was asked to come upstairs, where he found
+Butler in a somewhat commercial-looking room.  It had a desk, an
+office chair, some leather furnishings, and a bookcase, but no
+completeness or symmetry as either an office or a living room.
+There were several pictures on the wall--an impossible oil painting,
+for one thing, dark and gloomy; a canal and barge scene in pink
+and nile green for another; some daguerreotypes of relatives and
+friends which were not half bad.  Cowperwood noticed one of two
+girls, one with reddish-gold hair, another with what appeared to be
+silky brown.  The beautiful silver effect of the daguerreotype
+had been tinted.  They were pretty girls, healthy, smiling, Celtic,
+their heads close together, their eyes looking straight out at you.
+He admired them casually, and fancied they must be Butler's daughters.
+
+"Mr. Cowperwood?" inquired Butler, uttering the name fully with a
+peculiar accent on the vowels.  (He was a slow-moving man, solemn
+and deliberate.)  Cowperwood noticed that his body was hale and
+strong like seasoned hickory, tanned by wind and rain.  The flesh
+of his cheeks was pulled taut and there was nothing soft or flabby
+about him.
+
+"I'm that man."
+
+"I have a little matter of stocks to talk over with you" ("matter"
+almost sounded like "mather"), "and I thought you'd better come
+here rather than that I should come down to your office.  We can
+be more private-like, and, besides, I'm not as young as I used to
+be."
+
+He allowed a semi-twinkle to rest in his eye as he looked his
+visitor over.
+
+Cowperwood smiled.
+
+"Well, I hope I can be of service to you," he said, genially.
+
+"I happen to be interested just at present in pickin' up certain
+street-railway stocks on 'change.  I'll tell you about them
+later.  Won't you have somethin' to drink? It's a cold morning."
+
+"No, thanks; I never drink."
+
+"Never? That's a hard word when it comes to whisky.  Well, no
+matter.  It's a good rule.  My boys don't touch anything, and I'm
+glad of it.  As I say, I'm interested in pickin' up a few stocks
+on 'change; but, to tell you the truth, I'm more interested in
+findin' some clever young felly like yourself through whom I can
+work.  One thing leads to another, you know, in this world."  And
+he looked at his visitor non-committally, and yet with a genial
+show of interest.
+
+"Quite so," replied Cowperwood, with a friendly gleam in return.
+
+"Well," Butler meditated, half to himself, half to Cowperwood,
+"there are a number of things that a bright young man could do
+for me in the street if he were so minded.  I have two bright
+boys of my own, but I don't want them to become stock-gamblers,
+and I don't know that they would or could if I wanted them to.
+But this isn't a matter of stock-gambling.  I'm pretty busy as
+it is, and, as I said awhile ago, I'm getting along.  I'm not
+as light on my toes as I once was.  But if I had the right sort
+of a young man--I've been looking into your record, by the way,
+never fear--he might handle a number of little things--investments
+and loans--which might bring us each a little somethin'.  Sometimes
+the young men around town ask advice of me in one way and another--
+they have a little somethin' to invest, and so--"
+
+He paused and looked tantalizingly out of the window, knowing full
+well Cowperwood was greatly interested, and that this talk of
+political influence and connections could only whet his appetite.
+Butler wanted him to see clearly that fidelity was the point in
+this case--fidelity, tact, subtlety, and concealment.
+
+"Well, if you have been looking into my record," observed Cowperwood,
+with his own elusive smile, leaving the thought suspended.
+
+Butler felt the force of the temperament and the argument.  He
+liked the young man's poise and balance.  A number of people had
+spoken of Cowperwood to him.  (It was now Cowperwood & Co.  The
+company was fiction purely.)  He asked him something about the
+street; how the market was running; what he knew about
+street-railways.  Finally he outlined his plan of buying all he
+could of the stock of two given lines--the Ninth and Tenth and
+the Fifteenth and Sixteenth--without attracting any attention,
+if possible.  It was to be done slowly, part on 'change, part
+from individual holders.  He did not tell him that there was a
+certain amount of legislative pressure he hoped to bring to bear
+to get him franchises for extensions in the regions beyond where
+the lines now ended, in order that when the time came for them to
+extend their facilities they would have to see him or his sons,
+who might be large minority stockholders in these very concerns.
+It was a far-sighted plan, and meant that the lines would eventually
+drop into his or his sons' basket.
+
+"I'll be delighted to work with you, Mr. Butler, in any way that
+you may suggest," observed Cowperwood.  "I can't say that I have
+so much of a business as yet--merely prospects.  But my connections
+are good.  I am now a member of the New York and Philadelphia
+exchanges.  Those who have dealt with me seem to like the results
+I get."
+
+"I know a little something about your work already," reiterated
+Butler, wisely.
+
+"Very well, then; whenever you have a commission you can call at
+my office, or write, or I will call here.  I will give you my secret
+operating code, so that anything you say will be strictly confidential."
+
+"Well, we'll not say anything more now.  In a few days I'll have
+somethin' for you.  When I do, you can draw on my bank for what you
+need, up to a certain amount."  He got up and looked out into the
+street, and Cowperwood also arose.
+
+"It's a fine day now, isn't it?"
+
+"It surely is."
+
+"Well, we'll get to know each other better, I'm sure."
+
+He held out his hand.
+
+"I hope so."
+
+Cowperwood went out, Butler accompanying him to the door.  As he
+did so a young girl bounded in from the street, red-cheeked,
+blue-eyed, wearing a scarlet cape with the peaked hood thrown over
+her red-gold hair.
+
+"Oh, daddy, I almost knocked you down."
+
+She gave her father, and incidentally Cowperwood, a gleaming,
+radiant, inclusive smile.  Her teeth were bright and small, and
+her lips bud-red.
+
+"You're home early.  I thought you were going to stay all day?"
+
+"I was, but I changed my mind."
+
+She passed on in, swinging her arms.
+
+"Yes, well--" Butler continued, when she had gone.  "Then well
+leave it for a day or two.  Good day."
+
+"Good day."
+
+Cowperwood, warm with this enhancing of his financial prospects,
+went down the steps; but incidentally he spared a passing thought
+for the gay spirit of youth that had manifested itself in this
+red-cheeked maiden.  What a bright, healthy, bounding girl! Her
+voice had the subtle, vigorous ring of fifteen or sixteen.  She
+was all vitality.  What a fine catch for some young fellow some
+day, and her father would make him rich, no doubt, or help to.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XII
+
+
+
+
+It was to Edward Malia Butler that Cowperwood turned now, some
+nineteen months later when he was thinking of the influence that
+might bring him an award of a portion of the State issue of bonds.
+Butler could probably be interested to take some of them himself,
+or could help him place some.  He had come to like Cowperwood very
+much and was now being carried on the latter's books as a
+prospective purchaser of large blocks of stocks.  And Cowperwood
+liked this great solid Irishman.  He liked his history.  He had
+met Mrs. Butler, a rather fat and phlegmatic Irish woman with a
+world of hard sense who cared nothing at all for show and who still
+liked to go into the kitchen and superintend the cooking.  He had
+met Owen and Callum Butler, the boys, and Aileen and Norah, the
+girls.  Aileen was the one who had bounded up the steps the first
+day he had called at the Butler house several seasons before.
+
+There was a cozy grate-fire burning in Butler's improvised
+private office when Cowperwood called.  Spring was coming on, but
+the evenings were cool.  The older man invited Cowperwood to make
+himself comfortable in one of the large leather chairs before the
+fire and then proceeded to listen to his recital of what he hoped
+to accomplish.
+
+"Well, now, that isn't so easy," he commented at the end.  "You
+ought to know more about that than I do.  I'm not a financier, as
+you well know."  And he grinned apologetically.
+
+"It's a matter of influence," went on Cowperwood.  "And favoritism.
+That I know.  Drexel & Company and Cooke & Company have connections
+at Harrisburg.  They have men of their own looking after their
+interests.  The attorney-general and the State treasurer are hand
+in glove with them.  Even if I put in a bid, and can demonstrate
+that I can handle the loan, it won't help me to get it.  Other
+people have done that.  I have to have friends--influence.  You
+know how it is."
+
+"Them things," Butler said, "is easy enough if you know the right
+parties to approach.  Now there's Jimmy Oliver--he ought to know
+something about that."  Jimmy Oliver was the whilom district
+attorney serving at this time, and incidentally free adviser to Mr.
+Butler in many ways.  He was also, accidentally, a warm personal
+friend of the State treasurer.
+
+"How much of the loan do you want?"
+
+"Five million."
+
+"Five million!" Butler sat up.  "Man, what are you talking about?
+That's a good deal of money.  Where are you going to sell all that?"
+
+"I want to bid for five million," assuaged Cowperwood, softly.  "I
+only want one million but I want the prestige of putting in a bona
+fide bid for five million.  It will do me good on the street."
+
+Butler sank back somewhat relieved.
+
+"Five million! Prestige! You want one million.  Well, now, that's
+different.  That's not such a bad idea.  We ought to be able to
+get that."
+
+He rubbed his chin some more and stared into the fire.
+
+And Cowperwood felt confident when he left the house that evening
+that Butler would not fail him but would set the wheels working.
+Therefore, he was not surprised, and knew exactly what it meant,
+when a few days later he was introduced to City Treasurer Julian
+Bode, who promised to introduce him to State Treasurer Van Nostrand
+and to see that his claims to consideration were put before the
+people.  "Of course, you know," he said to Cowperwood, in the
+presence of Butler, for it was at the latter's home that the
+conference took place, "this banking crowd is very powerful.  You
+know who they are.  They don't want any interference in this bond
+issue business.  I was talking to Terrence Relihan, who represents
+them up there"--meaning Harrisburg, the State capital--"and he
+says they won't stand for it at all.  You may have trouble right
+here in Philadelphia after you get it--they're pretty powerful,
+you know.  Are you sure just where you can place it?"
+
+"Yes, I'm sure," replied Cowperwood.
+
+"Well, the best thing in my judgment is not to say anything at
+all.  Just put in your bid.  Van Nostrand, with the governor's
+approval, will make the award.  We can fix the governor, I think.
+After you get it they may talk to you personally, but that's your
+business."
+
+Cowperwood smiled his inscrutable smile.  There were so many ins
+and outs to this financial life.  It was an endless network of
+underground holes, along which all sorts of influences were moving.
+A little wit, a little nimbleness, a little luck-time and
+opportunity--these sometimes availed.  Here he was, through his
+ambition to get on, and nothing else, coming into contact with the
+State treasurer and the governor.  They were going to consider his
+case personally, because he demanded that it be considered--nothing
+more.  Others more influential than himself had quite as much right
+to a share, but they didn't take it.  Nerve, ideas, aggressiveness,
+how these counted when one had luck!
+
+He went away thinking how surprised Drexel & Co. and Cooke & Co.
+would be to see him appearing in the field as a competitor.  In
+his home, in a little room on the second floor next his bedroom,
+which he had fixed up as an office with a desk, a safe, and a
+leather chair, he consulted his resources.  There were so many
+things to think of.  He went over again the list of people whom
+he had seen and whom he could count on to subscribe, and in so
+far as that was concerned--the award of one million dollars--he
+was safe.  He figured to make two per cent. on the total
+transaction, or twenty thousand dollars.  If he did he was going
+to buy a house out on Girard Avenue beyond the Butlers', or, better
+yet, buy a piece of ground and erect one; mortgaging house and
+property so to do.  His father was prospering nicely.  He might
+want to build a house next to him, and they could live side by
+side.  His own business, aside from this deal, would yield him ten
+thousand dollars this year.  His street-car investments, aggregating
+fifty thousand, were paying six per cent.  His wife's property,
+represented by this house, some government bonds, and some real
+estate in West Philadelphia amounted to forty thousand more.
+Between them they were rich; but he expected to be much richer.
+All he needed now was to keep cool.  If he succeeded in this
+bond-issue matter, he could do it again and on a larger scale.
+There would be more issues.  He turned out the light after a while
+and went into his wife's boudoir, where she was sleeping.  The
+nurse and the children were in a room beyond.
+
+"Well, Lillian," he observed, when she awoke and turned over toward
+him, "I think I have that bond matter that I was telling you about
+arranged at last.  I think I'll get a million of it, anyhow.
+That'll mean twenty thousand.  If I do we'll build out on Girard
+Avenue.  That's going to be the street.  The college is making that
+neighborhood."
+
+"That'll be fine, won't it, Frank!" she observed, and rubbed his
+arm as he sat on the side of the bed.
+
+Her remark was vaguely speculative.
+
+"We'll have to show the Butlers some attention from now on.  He's
+been very nice to me and he's going to be useful--I can see that.
+He asked me to bring you over some time.  We must go.  Be nice to
+his wife.  He can do a lot for me if he wants to.  He has two
+daughters, too.  We'll have to have them over here."
+
+"I'll have them to dinner sometime," she agreed cheerfully and
+helpfully, "and I'll stop and take Mrs. Butler driving if she'll
+go, or she can take me."
+
+She had already learned that the Butlers were rather showy--the
+younger generation--that they were sensitive as to their lineage,
+and that money in their estimation was supposed to make up for
+any deficiency in any other respect.  "Butler himself is a very
+presentable man," Cowperwood had once remarked to her, "but Mrs.
+Butler--well, she's all right, but she's a little commonplace.
+She's a fine woman, though, I think, good-natured and good-hearted."
+He cautioned her not to overlook Aileen and Norah, because the
+Butlers, mother and father, were very proud of them.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood at this time was thirty-two years old; Cowperwood
+twenty-seven.  The birth and care of two children had made some
+difference in her looks.  She was no longer as softly pleasing,
+more angular.  Her face was hollow-cheeked, like so many of
+Rossetti's and Burne-Jones's women.  Her health was really not
+as good as it had been--the care of two children and a late
+undiagnosed tendency toward gastritis having reduced her.  In
+short she was a little run down nervously and suffered from fits
+of depression.  Cowperwood had noticed this.  He tried to be
+gentle and considerate, but he was too much of a utilitarian and
+practical-minded observer not to realize that he was likely to
+have a sickly wife on his hands later.  Sympathy and affection
+were great things, but desire and charm must endure or one was
+compelled to be sadly conscious of their loss.  So often now he
+saw young girls who were quite in his mood, and who were exceedingly
+robust and joyous.  It was fine, advisable, practical, to adhere
+to the virtues as laid down in the current social lexicon, but if
+you had a sickly wife--  And anyhow, was a man entitled to only
+one wife? Must he never look at another woman? Supposing he found
+some one? He pondered those things between hours of labor, and
+concluded that it did not make so much difference.  If a man could,
+and not be exposed, it was all right.  He had to be careful,
+though.  Tonight, as he sat on the side of his wife's bed, he was
+thinking somewhat of this, for he had seen Aileen Butler again,
+playing and singing at her piano as he passed the parlor door.
+She was like a bright bird radiating health and enthusiasm--a
+reminder of youth in general.
+
+"It's a strange world," he thought; but his thoughts were his own,
+and he didn't propose to tell any one about them.
+
+The bond issue, when it came, was a curious compromise; for,
+although it netted him his twenty thousand dollars and more and
+served to introduce him to the financial notice of Philadelphia
+and the State of Pennsylvania, it did not permit him to manipulate
+the subscriptions as he had planned.  The State treasurer was seen
+by him at the office of a local lawyer of great repute, where he
+worked when in the city.  He was gracious to Cowperwood, because
+he had to be.  He explained to him just how things were regulated
+at Harrisburg.  The big financiers were looked to for campaign
+funds.  They were represented by henchmen in the State assembly
+and senate.  The governor and the treasurer were foot-free; but
+there were other influences--prestige, friendship, social power,
+political ambitions, etc.  The big men might constitute a close
+corporation, which in itself was unfair; but, after all, they were
+the legitimate sponsors for big money loans of this kind.  The State
+had to keep on good terms with them, especially in times like these.
+Seeing that Mr. Cowperwood was so well able to dispose of the
+million he expected to get, it would be perfectly all right to award
+it to him; but Van Nostrand had a counter-proposition to make.
+Would Cowperwood, if the financial crowd now handling the matter so
+desired, turn over his award to them for a consideration--a sum
+equal to what he expected to make--in the event the award was made
+to him? Certain financiers desired this.  It was dangerous to oppose
+them.  They were perfectly willing he should put in a bid for five
+million and get the prestige of that; to have him awarded one
+million and get the prestige of that was well enough also, but
+they desired to handle the twenty-three million dollars in an
+unbroken lot.  It looked better.  He need not be advertised as
+having withdrawn.  They would be content to have him achieve the
+glory of having done what he started out to do.  Just the same the
+example was bad.  Others might wish to imitate him.  If it were known
+in the street privately that he had been coerced, for a consideration,
+into giving up, others would be deterred from imitating him in the
+future.  Besides, if he refused, they could cause him trouble.  His
+loans might be called.  Various banks might not be so friendly in
+the future.  His constituents might be warned against him in one
+way or another.
+
+Cowperwood saw the point.  He acquiesced.  It was something to have
+brought so many high and mighties to their knees.  So they knew of
+him! They were quite well aware of him! Well and good.  He would
+take the award and twenty thousand or thereabouts and withdraw.
+The State treasurer was delighted.  It solved a ticklish proposition
+for him.
+
+"I'm glad to have seen you," he said.  "I'm glad we've met.  I'll
+drop in and talk with you some time when I'm down this way.  We'll
+have lunch together."
+
+The State treasurer, for some odd reason, felt that Mr. Cowperwood
+was a man who could make him some money.  His eye was so keen;
+his expression was so alert, and yet so subtle.  He told the
+governor and some other of his associates about him.
+
+So the award was finally made; Cowperwood, after some private
+negotiations in which he met the officers of Drexel & Co., was
+paid his twenty thousand dollars and turned his share of the
+award over to them.  New faces showed up in his office now from
+time to time--among them that of Van Nostrand and one Terrence
+Relihan, a representative of some other political forces at
+Harrisburg.  He was introduced to the governor one day at lunch.
+His name was mentioned in the papers, and his prestige grew rapidly.
+
+Immediately he began working on plans with young Ellsworth for his
+new house.  He was going to build something exceptional this time,
+he told Lillian.  They were going to have to do some entertaining--
+entertaining on a larger scale than ever.  North Front Street was
+becoming too tame.  He put the house up for sale, consulted with
+his father and found that he also was willing to move.  The son's
+prosperity had redounded to the credit of the father.  The
+directors of the bank were becoming much more friendly to the old
+man.  Next year President Kugel was going to retire.  Because of
+his son's noted coup, as well as his long service, he was going to
+be made president.  Frank was a large borrower from his father's
+bank.  By the same token he was a large depositor.  His connection
+with Edward Butler was significant.  He sent his father's bank
+certain accounts which it otherwise could not have secured.  The
+city treasurer became interested in it, and the State treasurer.
+Cowperwood, Sr., stood to earn twenty thousand a year as president,
+and he owed much of it to his son.  The two families were now on
+the best of terms.  Anna, now twenty-one, and Edward and Joseph
+frequently spent the night at Frank's house.  Lillian called almost
+daily at his mother's.  There was much interchange of family gossip,
+and it was thought well to build side by side.  So Cowperwood, Sr.,
+bought fifty feet of ground next to his son's thirty-five, and
+together they commenced the erection of two charming, commodious
+homes, which were to be connected by a covered passageway, or
+pergola, which could be inclosed with glass in winter.
+
+The most popular local stone, a green granite was chosen; but
+Mr. Ellsworth promised to present it in such a way that it would
+be especially pleasing.  Cowperwood, Sr., decided that he could
+afford to spent seventy-five thousand dollars--he was now worth
+two hundred and fifty thousand; and Frank decided that he could
+risk fifty, seeing that he could raise money on a mortgage.  He
+planned at the same time to remove his office farther south on
+Third Street and occupy a building of his own.  He knew where an
+option was to be had on a twenty-five-foot building, which, though
+old, could be given a new brownstone front and made very significant.
+He saw in his mind's eye a handsome building, fitted with an immense
+plate-glass window; inside his hardwood fixtures visible; and over
+the door, or to one side of it, set in bronze letters, Cowperwood
+& Co.  Vaguely but surely he began to see looming before him, like
+a fleecy tinted cloud on the horizon, his future fortune.  He was
+to be rich, very, very rich.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIII
+
+
+
+
+During all the time that Cowperwood had been building himself up
+thus steadily the great war of the rebellion had been fought
+almost to its close.  It was now October, 1864.  The capture of
+Mobile and the Battle of the Wilderness were fresh memories.
+Grant was now before Petersburg, and the great general of the
+South, Lee, was making that last brilliant and hopeless display
+of his ability as a strategist and a soldier.  There had been
+times--as, for instance, during the long, dreary period in which
+the country was waiting for Vicksburg to fall, for the Army of
+the Potomac to prove victorious, when Pennsylvania was invaded
+by Lee--when stocks fell and commercial conditions were very bad
+generally.  In times like these Cowperwood's own manipulative
+ability was taxed to the utmost, and he had to watch every hour
+to see that his fortune was not destroyed by some unexpected and
+destructive piece of news.
+
+His personal attitude toward the war, however, and aside from
+his patriotic feeling that the Union ought to be maintained, was
+that it was destructive and wasteful.  He was by no means so
+wanting in patriotic emotion and sentiment but that he could
+feel that the Union, as it had now come to be, spreading its great
+length from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the snows of
+Canada to the Gulf, was worth while.  Since his birth in 1837 he
+had seen the nation reach that physical growth--barring Alaska--
+which it now possesses.  Not so much earlier than his youth Florida
+had been added to the Union by purchase from Spain; Mexico, after
+the unjust war of 1848, had ceded Texas and the territory to the
+West.  The boundary disputes between England and the United States
+in the far Northwest had been finally adjusted.  To a man with
+great social and financial imagination, these facts could not help
+but be significant; and if they did nothing more, they gave him
+a sense of the boundless commercial possibilities which existed
+potentially in so vast a realm.  His was not the order of speculative
+financial enthusiasm which, in the type known as the "promoter,"
+sees endless possibilities for gain in every unexplored rivulet
+and prairie reach; but the very vastness of the country suggested
+possibilities which he hoped might remain undisturbed.  A territory
+covering the length of a whole zone and between two seas, seemed
+to him to possess potentialities which it could not retain if the
+States of the South were lost.
+
+At the same time, the freedom of the negro was not a significant
+point with him.  He had observed that race from his boyhood with
+considerable interest, and had been struck with virtues and
+defects which seemed inherent and which plainly, to him, conditioned
+their experiences.
+
+He was not at all sure, for instance, that the negroes could be
+made into anything much more significant than they were.  At any
+rate, it was a long uphill struggle for them, of which many future
+generations would not witness the conclusion.  He had no particular
+quarrel with the theory that they should be free; he saw no
+particular reason why the South should not protest vigorously
+against the destruction of their property and their system.  It
+was too bad that the negroes as slaves should be abused in some
+instances.  He felt sure that that ought to be adjusted in some
+way; but beyond that he could not see that there was any great
+ethical basis for the contentions of their sponsors.  The vast
+majority of men and women, as he could see, were not essentially
+above slavery, even when they had all the guarantees of a
+constitution formulated to prevent it.  There was mental slavery,
+the slavery of the weak mind and the weak body.  He followed the
+contentions of such men as Sumner, Garrison, Phillips, and Beecher,
+with considerable interest; but at no time could he see that the
+problem was a vital one for him.  He did not care to be a soldier
+or an officer of soldiers; he had no gift for polemics; his mind
+was not of the disputatious order--not even in the realm of finance.
+He was concerned only to see what was of vast advantage to him,
+and to devote all his attention to that.  This fratricidal war in
+the nation could not help him.  It really delayed, he thought,
+the true commercial and financial adjustment of the country, and
+he hoped that it would soon end.  He was not of those who complained
+bitterly of the excessive war taxes, though he knew them to be
+trying to many.  Some of the stories of death and disaster moved
+him greatly; but, alas, they were among the unaccountable fortunes
+of life, and could not be remedied by him.  So he had gone his way
+day by day, watching the coming in and the departing of troops,
+seeing the bands of dirty, disheveled, gaunt, sickly men returning
+from the fields and hospitals; and all he could do was to feel
+sorry.  This war was not for him.  He had taken no part in it,
+and he felt sure that he could only rejoice in its conclusion--not
+as a patriot, but as a financier.  It was wasteful, pathetic,
+unfortunate.
+
+The months proceeded apace.  A local election intervened and there
+was a new city treasurer, a new assessor of taxes, and a new mayor;
+but Edward Malia Butler continued to have apparently the same
+influence as before.  The Butlers and the Cowperwoods had become
+quite friendly.  Mrs. Butler rather liked Lillian, though they
+were of different religious beliefs; and they went driving or
+shopping together, the younger woman a little critical and ashamed
+of the elder because of her poor grammar, her Irish accent, her
+plebeian tastes--as though the Wiggins had not been as plebeian
+as any.  On the other hand the old lady, as she was compelled to
+admit, was good-natured and good-hearted.  She loved to give,
+since she had plenty, and sent presents here and there to Lillian,
+the children, and others.  "Now youse must come over and take
+dinner with us"--the Butlers had arrived at the evening-dinner
+period--or "Youse must come drive with me to-morrow."
+
+"Aileen, God bless her, is such a foine girl," or "Norah, the
+darlin', is sick the day."
+
+But Aileen, her airs, her aggressive disposition, her love of
+attention, her vanity, irritated and at times disgusted Mrs.
+Cowperwood.  She was eighteen now, with a figure which was subtly
+provocative.  Her manner was boyish, hoydenish at times, and
+although convent-trained, she was inclined to balk at restraint
+in any form.  But there was a softness lurking in her blue eyes
+that was most sympathetic and human.
+
+St. Timothy's and the convent school in Germantown had been the
+choice of her parents for her education--what they called a good
+Catholic education.  She had learned a great deal about the theory
+and forms of the Catholic ritual, but she could not understand
+them.  The church, with its tall, dimly radiant windows, its high,
+white altar, its figure of St. Joseph on one side and the Virgin
+Mary on the other, clothed in golden-starred robes of blue, wearing
+haloes and carrying scepters, had impressed her greatly.  The
+church as a whole--any Catholic church--was beautiful to look at--
+soothing.  The altar, during high mass, lit with a half-hundred
+or more candles, and dignified and made impressive by the rich,
+lacy vestments of the priests and the acolytes, the impressive
+needlework and gorgeous colorings of the amice, chasuble, cope,
+stole, and maniple, took her fancy and held her eye.  Let us say
+there was always lurking in her a sense of grandeur coupled with
+a love of color and a love of love.  From the first she was
+somewhat sex-conscious.  She had no desire for accuracy, no desire
+for precise information.  Innate sensuousness rarely has.  It
+basks in sunshine, bathes in color, dwells in a sense of the
+impressive and the gorgeous, and rests there.  Accuracy is not
+necessary except in the case of aggressive, acquisitive natures,
+when it manifests itself in a desire to seize.  True controlling
+sensuousness cannot be manifested in the most active dispositions,
+nor again in the most accurate.
+
+There is need of defining these statements in so far as they apply
+to Aileen.  It would scarcely be fair to describe her nature as
+being definitely sensual at this time.  It was too rudimentary.
+Any harvest is of long growth.  The confessional, dim on Friday
+and Saturday evenings, when the church was lighted by but a few
+lamps, and the priest's warnings, penances, and ecclesiastical
+forgiveness whispered through the narrow lattice, moved her as
+something subtly pleasing.  She was not afraid of her sins.  Hell,
+so definitely set forth, did not frighten her.  Really, it had
+not laid hold on her conscience.  The old women and old men
+hobbling into church, bowed in prayer, murmuring over their beads,
+were objects of curious interest like the wood-carvings in the
+peculiar array of wood-reliefs emphasizing the Stations of the
+Cross.  She herself had liked to confess, particularly when she
+was fourteen and fifteen, and to listen to the priest's voice as
+he admonished her with, "Now, my dear child."  A particularly old
+priest, a French father, who came to hear their confessions at
+school, interested her as being kind and sweet.  His forgiveness
+and blessing seemed sincere--better than her prayers, which she
+went through perfunctorily.  And then there was a young priest
+at St. Timothy's, Father David, hale and rosy, with a curl of
+black hair over his forehead, and an almost jaunty way of wearing
+his priestly hat, who came down the aisle Sundays sprinkling holy
+water with a definite, distinguished sweep of the hand, who took
+her fancy.  He heard confessions and now and then she liked to
+whisper her strange thoughts to him while she actually speculated
+on what he might privately be thinking.  She could not, if she
+tried, associate him with any divine authority.  He was too young,
+too human.  There was something a little malicious, teasing, in
+the way she delighted to tell him about herself, and then walk
+demurely, repentantly out.  At St. Agatha's she had been rather a
+difficult person to deal with.  She was, as the good sisters of
+the school had readily perceived, too full of life, too active,
+to be easily controlled.  "That Miss Butler," once observed Sister
+Constantia, the Mother Superior, to Sister Sempronia, Aileen's
+immediate mentor, "is a very spirited girl, you may have a great
+deal of trouble with her unless you use a good deal of tact.  You
+may have to coax her with little gifts.  You will get on better."
+So Sister Sempronia had sought to find what Aileen was most
+interested in, and bribe her therewith.  Being intensely conscious
+of her father's competence, and vain of her personal superiority,
+it was not so easy to do.  She had wanted to go home occasionally,
+though; she had wanted to be allowed to wear the sister's rosary
+of large beads with its pendent cross of ebony and its silver
+Christ, and this was held up as a great privilege.  For keeping
+quiet in class, walking softly, and speaking softly--as much as
+it was in her to do--for not stealing into other girl's rooms
+after lights were out, and for abandoning crushes on this and
+that sympathetic sister, these awards and others, such as walking
+out in the grounds on Saturday afternoons, being allowed to have
+all the flowers she wanted, some extra dresses, jewels, etc.,
+were offered.  She liked music and the idea of painting, though
+she had no talent in that direction; and books, novels, interested
+her, but she could not get them.  The rest--grammar, spelling,
+sewing, church and general history--she loathed.  Deportment--well,
+there was something in that.  She had liked the rather exaggerated
+curtsies they taught her, and she had often reflected on how she
+would use them when she reached home.
+
+When she came out into life the little social distinctions which
+have been indicated began to impress themselves on her, and she
+wished sincerely that her father would build a better home--a
+mansion--such as those she saw elsewhere, and launch her properly
+in society.  Failing in that, she could think of nothing save
+clothes, jewels, riding-horses, carriages, and the appropriate
+changes of costume which were allowed her for these.  Her family
+could not entertain in any distinguished way where they were, and
+so already, at eighteen, she was beginning to feel the sting of a
+blighted ambition.  She was eager for life.  How was she to get it?
+
+Her room was a study in the foibles of an eager and ambitious mind.
+It was full of clothes, beautiful things for all occasions--
+jewelry--which she had small opportunity to wear--shoes, stockings,
+lingerie, laces.  In a crude way she had made a study of perfumes
+and cosmetics, though she needed the latter not at all, and these
+were present in abundance.  She was not very orderly, and she loved
+lavishness of display; and her curtains, hangings, table ornaments,
+and pictures inclined to gorgeousness, which did not go well with
+the rest of the house.
+
+Aileen always reminded Cowperwood of a high-stepping horse without
+a check-rein.  He met her at various times, shopping with her
+mother, out driving with her father, and he was always interested
+and amused at the affected, bored tone she assumed before him--the
+"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Life is so tiresome, don't you know," when,
+as a matter of fact, every moment of it was of thrilling interest
+to her.  Cowperwood took her mental measurement exactly.  A girl
+with a high sense of life in her, romantic, full of the thought
+of love and its possibilities.  As he looked at her he had the
+sense of seeing the best that nature can do when she attempts to
+produce physical perfection.  The thought came to him that some
+lucky young dog would marry her pretty soon and carry her away;
+but whoever secured her would have to hold her by affection and
+subtle flattery and attention if he held her at all.
+
+"The little snip"--she was not at all--"she thinks the sun rises
+and sets in her father's pocket," Lillian observed one day to her
+husband.  "To hear her talk, you'd think they were descended from
+Irish kings.  Her pretended interest in art and music amuses me."
+
+"Oh, don't be too hard on her," coaxed Cowperwood diplomatically.
+He already liked Aileen very much.  "She plays very well, and she
+has a good voice."
+
+"Yes, I know; but she has no real refinement.  How could she have?
+Look at her father and mother."
+
+"I don't see anything so very much the matter with her," insisted
+Cowperwood.  "She's bright and good-looking.  Of course, she's
+only a girl, and a little vain, but she'll come out of that.  She
+isn't without sense and force, at that."
+
+Aileen, as he knew, was most friendly to him.  She liked him.  She
+made a point of playing the piano and singing for him in his home,
+and she sang only when he was there.  There was something about
+his steady, even gait, his stocky body and handsome head, which
+attracted her.  In spite of her vanity and egotism, she felt a
+little overawed before him at times--keyed up.  She seemed to
+grow gayer and more brilliant in his presence.
+
+The most futile thing in this world is any attempt, perhaps, at
+exact definition of character.  All individuals are a bundle of
+contradictions--none more so than the most capable.
+
+In the case of Aileen Butler it would be quite impossible to give
+an exact definition.  Intelligence, of a raw, crude order she had
+certainly--also a native force, tamed somewhat by the doctrines
+and conventions of current society, still showed clear at times
+in an elemental and not entirely unattractive way.  At this time
+she was only eighteen years of age--decidedly attractive from the
+point of view of a man of Frank Cowperwood's temperament.  She
+supplied something he had not previously known or consciously
+craved.  Vitality and vivacity.  No other woman or girl whom he
+had ever known had possessed so much innate force as she.  Her
+red-gold hair--not so red as decidedly golden with a suggestion
+of red in it--looped itself in heavy folds about her forehead
+and sagged at the base of her neck.  She had a beautiful nose,
+not sensitive, but straight-cut with small nostril openings, and
+eyes that were big and yet noticeably sensuous.  They were, to
+him, a pleasing shade of blue-gray-blue, and her toilet, due to
+her temperament, of course, suggested almost undue luxury, the
+bangles, anklets, ear-rings, and breast-plates of the odalisque,
+and yet, of course, they were not there.  She confessed to him
+years afterward that she would have loved to have stained her
+nails and painted the palms of her hands with madder-red.  Healthy
+and vigorous, she was chronically interested in men--what they
+would think of her--and how she compared with other women.
+
+The fact that she could ride in a carriage, live in a fine home
+on Girard Avenue, visit such homes as those of the Cowperwoods
+and others, was of great weight; and yet, even at this age, she
+realized that life was more than these things.  Many did not have
+them and lived.
+
+But these facts of wealth and advantage gripped her; and when she
+sat at the piano and played or rode in her carriage or walked or
+stood before her mirror, she was conscious of her figure, her
+charms, what they meant to men, how women envied her.  Sometimes
+she looked at poor, hollow-chested or homely-faced girls and felt
+sorry for them; at other times she flared into inexplicable
+opposition to some handsome girl or woman who dared to brazen her
+socially or physically.  There were such girls of the better
+families who, in Chestnut Street, in the expensive shops, or on
+the drive, on horseback or in carriages, tossed their heads and
+indicated as well as human motions can that they were better-bred
+and knew it.  When this happened each stared defiantly at the
+other.  She wanted ever so much to get up in the world, and yet
+namby-pamby men of better social station than herself did not
+attract her at all.  She wanted a man.  Now and then there was
+one "something like," but not entirely, who appealed to her, but
+most of them were politicians or legislators, acquaintances of her
+father, and socially nothing at all--and so they wearied and
+disappointed her.  Her father did not know the truly elite.  But
+Mr. Cowperwood--he seemed so refined, so forceful, and so reserved.
+She often looked at Mrs. Cowperwood and thought how fortunate she
+was.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIV
+
+
+
+
+The development of Cowperwood as Cowperwood & Co. following his
+arresting bond venture, finally brought him into relationship with
+one man who was to play an important part in his life, morally,
+financially, and in other ways.  This was George W. Stener, the
+new city treasurer-elect, who, to begin with, was a puppet in the
+hands of other men, but who, also in spite of this fact, became a
+personage of considerable importance, for the simple reason that
+he was weak.  Stener had been engaged in the real estate and
+insurance business in a small way before he was made city treasurer.
+He was one of those men, of whom there are so many thousands in
+every large community, with no breadth of vision, no real subtlety,
+no craft, no great skill in anything.  You would never hear a new
+idea emanating from Stener.  He never had one in his life.  On the
+other hand, he was not a bad fellow.  He had a stodgy, dusty,
+commonplace look to him which was more a matter of mind than of
+body.  His eye was of vague gray-blue; his hair a dusty light-brown
+and thin.  His mouth--there was nothing impressive there.  He was
+quite tall, nearly six feet, with moderately broad shoulders, but
+his figure was anything but shapely.  He seemed to stoop a little,
+his stomach was the least bit protuberant, and he talked commonplaces
+--the small change of newspaper and street and business gossip.
+People liked him in his own neighborhood.  He was thought to be
+honest and kindly; and he was, as far as he knew.  His wife and
+four children were as average and insignificant as the wives and
+children of such men usually are.
+
+Just the same, and in spite of, or perhaps, politically speaking,
+because of all this, George W. Stener was brought into temporary
+public notice by certain political methods which had existed in
+Philadelphia practically unmodified for the previous half hundred
+years.  First, because he was of the same political faith as the
+dominant local political party, he had become known to the local
+councilman and ward-leader of his ward as a faithful soul--one
+useful in the matter of drumming up votes.  And next--although
+absolutely without value as a speaker, for he had no ideas--you
+could send him from door to door, asking the grocer and the
+blacksmith and the butcher how he felt about things and he would
+make friends, and in the long run predict fairly accurately the
+probable vote.  Furthermore, you could dole him out a few platitudes
+and he would repeat them.  The Republican party, which was the
+new-born party then, but dominant in Philadelphia, needed your
+vote; it was necessary to keep the rascally Democrats out--he could
+scarcely have said why.  They had been for slavery.  They were for
+free trade.  It never once occurred to him that these things had
+nothing to do with the local executive and financial administration
+of Philadelphia.  Supposing they didn't? What of it?
+
+In Philadelphia at this time a certain United States Senator, one
+Mark Simpson, together with Edward Malia Butler and Henry A.
+Mollenhauer, a rich coal dealer and investor, were supposed to,
+and did, control jointly the political destiny of the city.  They
+had representatives, benchmen, spies, tools--a great company.  Among
+them was this same Stener--a minute cog in the silent machinery of
+their affairs.
+
+In scarcely any other city save this, where the inhabitants were
+of a deadly average in so far as being commonplace was concerned,
+could such a man as Stener have been elected city treasurer.  The
+rank and file did not, except in rare instances, make up their
+political program.  An inside ring had this matter in charge.
+Certain positions were allotted to such and such men or to such
+and such factions of the party for such and such services rendered
+--but who does not know politics?
+
+In due course of time, therefore, George W. Stener had become
+persona grata to Edward Strobik, a quondam councilman who afterward
+became ward leader and still later president of council, and who,
+in private life was a stone-dealer and owner of a brickyard.
+Strobik was a benchman of Henry A. Mollenhauer, the hardest and
+coldest of all three of the political leaders.  The latter had
+things to get from council, and Strobik was his tool.  He had Stener
+elected; and because he was faithful in voting as he was told the
+latter was later made an assistant superintendent of the highways
+department.
+
+Here he came under the eyes of Edward Malia Butler, and was slightly
+useful to him.  Then the central political committee, with Butler
+in charge, decided that some nice, docile man who would at the
+same time be absolutely faithful was needed for city treasurer, and
+Stener was put on the ticket.  He knew little of finance, but was
+an excellent bookkeeper; and, anyhow, was not corporation counsel
+Regan, another political tool of this great triumvirate, there to
+advise him at all times? He was.  It was a very simple matter.
+Being put on the ticket was equivalent to being elected, and so,
+after a few weeks of exceedingly trying platform experiences, in
+which he had stammered through platitudinous declarations that the
+city needed to be honestly administered, he was inducted into
+office; and there you were.
+
+Now it wouldn't have made so much difference what George W.
+Stener's executive and financial qualifications for the position
+were, but at this time the city of Philadelphia was still hobbling
+along under perhaps as evil a financial system, or lack of it, as
+any city ever endured--the assessor and the treasurer being
+allowed to collect and hold moneys belonging to the city, outside
+of the city's private vaults, and that without any demand on the
+part of anybody that the same be invested by them at interest for
+the city's benefit.  Rather, all they were expected to do,
+apparently, was to restore the principal and that which was with
+them when they entered or left office.  It was not understood or
+publicly demanded that the moneys so collected, or drawn from any
+source, be maintained intact in the vaults of the city treasury.
+They could be loaned out, deposited in banks or used to further
+private interests of any one, so long as the principal was returned,
+and no one was the wiser.  Of course, this theory of finance was
+not publicly sanctioned, but it was known politically and
+journalistically, and in high finance.  How were you to stop it?
+
+Cowperwood, in approaching Edward Malia Butler, had been
+unconsciously let in on this atmosphere of erratic and unsatisfactory
+speculation without really knowing it.  When he had left the
+office of Tighe & Co., seven years before, it was with the idea
+that henceforth and forever he would have nothing to do with the
+stock-brokerage proposition; but now behold him back in it again,
+with more vim than he had ever displayed, for now he was working
+for himself, the firm of Cowperwood & Co., and he was eager to
+satisfy the world of new and powerful individuals who by degrees
+were drifting to him.  All had a little money.  All had tips, and
+they wanted him to carry certain lines of stock on margin for them,
+because he was known to other political men, and because he was
+safe.  And this was true.  He was not, or at least up to this time
+had not been, a speculator or a gambler on his own account.  In
+fact he often soothed himself with the thought that in all these
+years he had never gambled for himself, but had always acted
+strictly for others instead.  But now here was George W. Stener
+with a proposition which was not quite the same thing as
+stock-gambling, and yet it was.
+
+During a long period of years preceding the Civil War, and through
+it, let it here be explained and remembered, the city of Philadelphia
+had been in the habit, as a corporation, when there were no available
+funds in the treasury, of issuing what were known as city warrants,
+which were nothing more than notes or I.O.U.'s bearing six per cent.
+interest, and payable sometimes in thirty days, sometimes in three,
+sometimes in six months--all depending on the amount and how soon
+the city treasurer thought there would be sufficient money in the
+treasury to take them up and cancel them.  Small tradesmen and
+large contractors were frequently paid in this way; the small
+tradesman who sold supplies to the city institutions, for instance,
+being compelled to discount his notes at the bank, if he needed
+ready money, usually for ninety cents on the dollar, while the
+large contractor could afford to hold his and wait.  It can readily
+be seen that this might well work to the disadvantage of the small
+dealer and merchant, and yet prove quite a fine thing for a large
+contractor or note-broker, for the city was sure to pay the warrants
+at some time, and six per cent. interest was a fat rate, considering
+the absolute security.  A banker or broker who gathered up these
+things from small tradesmen at ninety cents on the dollar made a
+fine thing of it all around if he could wait.
+
+Originally, in all probability, there was no intention on the part
+of the city treasurer to do any one an injustice, and it is likely
+that there really were no funds to pay with at the time.  However
+that may have been, there was later no excuse for issuing the
+warrants, seeing that the city might easily have been managed much
+more economically.  But these warrants, as can readily be imagined,
+had come to be a fine source of profit for note-brokers, bankers,
+political financiers, and inside political manipulators generally
+and so they remained a part of the city's fiscal policy.
+
+There was just one drawback to all this.  In order to get the full
+advantage of this condition the large banker holding them must be
+an "inside banker," one close to the political forces of the city,
+for if he was not and needed money and he carried his warrants to
+the city treasurer, he would find that he could not get cash for
+them.  But if he transferred them to some banker or note-broker
+who was close to the political force of the city, it was quite
+another matter.  The treasury would find means to pay.  Or, if so
+desired by the note-broker or banker--the right one--notes which
+were intended to be met in three months, and should have been
+settled at that time, were extended to run on years and years,
+drawing interest at six per cent. even when the city had ample
+funds to meet them.  Yet this meant, of course, an illegal
+interest drain on the city, but that was all right also.  "No
+funds" could cover that.  The general public did not know.  It
+could not find out.  The newspapers were not at all vigilant,
+being pro-political.  There were no persistent, enthusiastic
+reformers who obtained any political credence.  During the war,
+warrants outstanding in this manner arose in amount to much over
+two million dollars, all drawing six per cent. interest, but
+then, of course, it began to get a little scandalous.  Besides,
+at least some of the investors began to want their money back.
+
+In order, therefore, to clear up this outstanding indebtedness
+and make everything shipshape again, it was decided that the city
+must issue a loan, say for two million dollars--no need to be
+exact about the amount.  And this loan must take the shape of
+interest-bearing certificates of a par value of one hundred dollars,
+redeemable in six, twelve, or eighteen months, as the case may be.
+These certificates of loan were then ostensibly to be sold in the
+open market, a sinking-fund set aside for their redemption, and the
+money so obtained used to take up the long-outstanding warrants
+which were now such a subject of public comment.
+
+It is obvious that this was merely a case of robbing Peter to pay
+Paul.  There was no real clearing up of the outstanding debt.  It
+was the intention of the schemers to make it possible for the
+financial politicians on the inside to reap the same old harvest
+by allowing the certificates to be sold to the right parties for
+ninety or less, setting up the claim that there was no market for
+them, the credit of the city being bad.  To a certain extent this
+was true.  The war was just over.  Money was high.  Investors
+could get more than six per cent. elsewhere unless the loan was
+sold at ninety.  But there were a few watchful politicians not in
+the administration, and some newspapers and non-political financiers
+who, because of the high strain of patriotism existing at the time,
+insisted that the loan should be sold at par.  Therefore a clause
+to that effect had to be inserted in the enabling ordinance.
+
+This, as one might readily see, destroyed the politicians' little
+scheme to get this loan at ninety.  Nevertheless since they
+desired that the money tied up in the old warrants and now not
+redeemable because of lack of funds should be paid them, the only
+way this could be done would be to have some broker who knew the
+subtleties of the stock market handle this new city loan on 'change
+in such a way that it would be made to seem worth one hundred and
+to be sold to outsiders at that figure.  Afterward, if, as it was
+certain to do, it fell below that, the politicians could buy as
+much of it as they pleased, and eventually have the city redeem it
+at par.
+
+George W. Stener, entering as city treasurer at this time, and
+bringing no special financial intelligence to the proposition,
+was really troubled.  Henry A. Mollenhauer, one of the men who
+had gathered up a large amount of the old city warrants, and who
+now wanted his money, in order to invest it in bonanza offers in
+the West, called on Stener, and also on the mayor.  He with
+Simpson and Butler made up the Big Three.
+
+"I think something ought to be done about these warrants that
+are outstanding," he explained.  "I am carrying a large amount
+of them, and there are others.  We have helped the city a long
+time by saying nothing; but now I think that something ought to
+be done.  Mr. Butler and Mr. Simpson feel the same way.  Couldn't
+these new loan certificates be listed on the stock exchange and
+the money raised that way? Some clever broker could bring them
+to par."
+
+Stener was greatly flattered by the visit from Mollenhauer.
+Rarely did he trouble to put in a personal appearance, and then
+only for the weight and effect his presence would have.  He called
+on the mayor and the president of council, much as he called on
+Stener, with a lofty, distant, inscrutable air.  They were as
+office-boys to him.
+
+In order to understand exactly the motive for Mollenhauer's
+interest in Stener, and the significance of this visit and Stener's
+subsequent action in regard to it, it will be necessary to scan
+the political horizon for some little distance back.  Although
+George W. Stener was in a way a political henchman and appointee
+of Mollenhauer's, the latter was only vaguely acquainted with him.
+He had seen him before; knew of him; had agreed that his name
+should be put on the local slate largely because he had been
+assured by those who were closest to him and who did his bidding
+that Stener was "all right," that he would do as he was told, that
+he would cause no one any trouble, etc.  In fact, during several
+previous administrations, Mollenhauer had maintained a subsurface
+connection with the treasury, but never so close a one as could
+easily be traced.  He was too conspicuous a man politically and
+financially for that.  But he was not above a plan, in which Simpson
+if not Butler shared, of using political and commercial stool-pigeons
+to bleed the city treasury as much as possible without creating a
+scandal.  In fact, for some years previous to this, various agents
+had already been employed--Edward Strobik, president of council,
+Asa Conklin, the then incumbent of the mayor's chair, Thomas
+Wycroft, alderman, Jacob Harmon, alderman, and others--to organize
+dummy companies under various names, whose business it was to deal
+in those things which the city needed--lumber, stone, steel, iron,
+cement--a long list--and of course, always at a fat profit to
+those ultimately behind the dummy companies, so organized.  It saved
+the city the trouble of looking far and wide for honest and
+reasonable dealers.
+
+Since the action of at least three of these dummies will have
+something to do with the development of Cowperwood's story, they
+may be briefly described.  Edward Strobik, the chief of them, and
+the one most useful to Mollenhauer, in a minor way, was a very
+spry person of about thirty-five at this time--lean and somewhat
+forceful, with black hair, black eyes, and an inordinately large
+black mustache.  He was dapper, inclined to noticeable clothing--
+a pair of striped trousers, a white vest, a black cutaway coat
+and a high silk hat.  His markedly ornamental shoes were always
+polished to perfection, and his immaculate appearance gave him the
+nickname of "The Dude" among some.  Nevertheless he was quite able
+on a small scale, and was well liked by many.
+
+His two closest associates, Messrs. Thomas Wycroft and Jacob Harmon,
+were rather less attractive and less brilliant.  Jacob Harmon was
+a thick wit socially, but no fool financially.  He was big and
+rather doleful to look upon, with sandy brown hair and brown
+eyes, but fairly intelligent, and absolutely willing to approve
+anything which was not too broad in its crookedness and which
+would afford him sufficient protection to keep him out of the
+clutches of the law.  He was really not so cunning as dull and
+anxious to get along.
+
+Thomas Wycroft, the last of this useful but minor triumvirate,
+was a tall, lean man, candle-waxy, hollow-eyed, gaunt of face,
+pathetic to look at physically, but shrewd.  He was an iron-molder
+by trade and had gotten into politics much as Stener had--because
+he was useful; and he had managed to make some money--via this
+triumvirate of which Strobik was the ringleader, and which was
+engaged in various peculiar businesses which will now be indicated.
+
+The companies which these several henchmen had organized under
+previous administrations, and for Mollenhauer, dealt in meat,
+building material, lamp-posts, highway supplies, anything you
+will, which the city departments or its institutions needed.  A
+city contract once awarded was irrevocable, but certain councilmen
+had to be fixed in advance and it took money to do that.  The
+company so organized need not actually slaughter any cattle or
+mold lamp-posts.  All it had to do was to organize to do that,
+obtain a charter, secure a contract for supplying such material
+to the city from the city council (which Strobik, Harmon, and
+Wycroft would attend to), and then sublet this to some actual
+beef-slaughterer or iron-founder, who would supply the material
+and allow them to pocket their profit which in turn was divided
+or paid for to Mollenhauer and Simpson in the form of political
+donations to clubs or organizations.  It was so easy and in a way
+so legitimate.  The particular beef-slaughterer or iron-founder
+thus favored could not hope of his own ability thus to obtain a
+contract.  Stener, or whoever was in charge of the city treasury
+at the time, for his services in loaning money at a low rate of
+interest to be used as surety for the proper performance of
+contract, and to aid in some instances the beef-killer or
+iron-founder to carry out his end, was to be allowed not only the
+one or two per cent. which he might pocket (other treasurers had),
+but a fair proportion of the profits.  A complacent, confidential
+chief clerk who was all right would be recommended to him.  It did
+not concern Stener that Strobik, Harmon, and Wycroft, acting for
+Mollenhauer, were incidentally planning to use a little of the
+money loaned for purposes quite outside those indicated.  It was
+his business to loan it.
+
+However, to be going on.  Some time before he was even nominated,
+Stener had learned from Strobik, who, by the way, was one of his
+sureties as treasurer (which suretyship was against the law, as
+were those of Councilmen Wycroft and Harmon, the law of
+Pennsylvania stipulating that one political servant might not
+become surety for another), that those who had brought about this
+nomination and election would by no means ask him to do anything
+which was not perfectly legal, but that he must be complacent and
+not stand in the way of big municipal perquisites nor bite the
+hands that fed him.  It was also made perfectly plain to him, that
+once he was well in office a little money for himself was to be
+made.  As has been indicated, he had always been a poor man.  He
+had seen all those who had dabbled in politics to any extent about
+him heretofore do very well financially indeed, while he pegged
+along as an insurance and real-estate agent.  He had worked hard
+as a small political henchman.  Other politicians were building
+themselves nice homes in newer portions of the city.  They were
+going off to New York or Harrisburg or Washington on jaunting
+parties.  They were seen in happy converse at road-houses or
+country hotels in season with their wives or their women favorites,
+and he was not, as yet, of this happy throng.  Naturally now that
+he was promised something, he was interested and compliant.  What
+might he not get?
+
+When it came to this visit from Mollenhauer, with its suggestion
+in regard to bringing city loan to par, although it bore no obvious
+relation to Mollenhauer's subsurface connection with Stener, through
+Strobik and the others, Stener did definitely recognize his own
+political subservience--his master's stentorian voice--and
+immediately thereafter hurried to Strobik for information.
+
+"Just what would you do about this?" he asked of Strobik, who
+knew of Mollenhauer's visit before Stener told him, and was waiting
+for Stener to speak to him.  "Mr. Mollenhauer talks about having
+this new loan listed on 'change and brought to par so that it
+will sell for one hundred."
+
+Neither Strobik, Harmon, nor Wycroft knew how the certificates of
+city loan, which were worth only ninety on the open market, were
+to be made to sell for one hundred on 'change, but Mollenhauer's
+secretary, one Abner Sengstack, had suggested to Strobik that,
+since Butler was dealing with young Cowperwood and Mollenhauer did
+not care particularly for his private broker in this instance, it
+might be as well to try Cowperwood.
+
+
+So it was that Cowperwood was called to Stener's office.  And once
+there, and not as yet recognizing either the hand of Mollenhauer
+or Simpson in this, merely looked at the peculiarly shambling,
+heavy-cheeked, middle-class man before him without either interest
+or sympathy, realizing at once that he had a financial baby to deal
+with.  If he could act as adviser to this man--be his sole counsel
+for four years!
+
+"How do you do, Mr. Stener?" he said in his soft, ingratiating voice,
+as the latter held out his hand.  "I am glad to meet you.  I have
+heard of you before, of course."
+
+Stener was long in explaining to Cowperwood just what his difficulty
+was.  He went at it in a clumsy fashion, stumbling through the
+difficulties of the situation he was suffered to meet.
+
+"The main thing, as I see it, is to make these certificates sell
+at par.  I can issue them in any sized lots you like, and as often
+as you like.  I want to get enough now to clear away two hundred
+thousand dollars' worth of the outstanding warrants, and as much
+more as I can get later."
+
+Cowperwood felt like a physician feeling a patient's pulse--a
+patient who is really not sick at all but the reassurance of
+whom means a fat fee.  The abstrusities of the stock exchange
+were as his A B C's to him.  He knew if he could have this loan
+put in his hands--all of it, if he could have the fact kept dark
+that he was acting for the city, and that if Stener would allow
+him to buy as a "bull" for the sinking-fund while selling
+judiciously for a rise, he could do wonders even with a big issue.
+He had to have all of it, though, in order that he might have
+agents under him.  Looming up in his mind was a scheme whereby
+he could make a lot of the unwary speculators about 'change go
+short of this stock or loan under the impression, of course, that
+it was scattered freely in various persons' hands, and that they
+could buy as much of it as they wanted.  Then they would wake to
+find that they could not get it; that he had it all.  Only he would
+not risk his secret that far.  Not he, oh, no.  But he would drive
+the city loan to par and then sell.  And what a fat thing for
+himself among others in so doing.  Wisely enough he sensed that
+there was politics in all this--shrewder and bigger men above and
+behind Stener.  But what of that? And how slyly and shrewdly they
+were sending Stener to him.  It might be that his name was becoming
+very potent in their political world here.  And what might that
+not mean!
+
+"I tell you what I'd like to do, Mr. Stener," he said, after he had
+listened to his explanation and asked how much of the city loan he
+would like to sell during the coming year.  "I'll be glad to
+undertake it.  But I'd like to have a day or two in which to think
+it over."
+
+"Why, certainly, certainly, Mr. Cowperwood," replied Stener,
+genially.  "That's all right.  Take your time.  If you know how
+it can be done, just show me when you're ready.  By the way, what
+do you charge?"
+
+"Well, the stock exchange has a regular scale of charges which
+we brokers are compelled to observe.  It's one-fourth of one per
+cent. on the par value of bonds and loans.  Of course, I may hav
+to add a lot of fictitious selling--I'll explain that to you later--
+but I won't charge you anything for that so long as it is a secret
+between us.  I'll give you the best service I can, Mr. Stener.
+You can depend on that.  Let me have a day or two to think it over,
+though."
+
+He shook hands with Stener, and they parted.  Cowperwood was
+satisfied that he was on the verge of a significant combination,
+and Stener that he had found someone on whom he could lean.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XV
+
+
+
+
+The plan Cowperwood developed after a few days' meditation will
+be plain enough to any one who knows anything of commercial and
+financial manipulation, but a dark secret to those who do not.  In
+the first place, the city treasurer was to use his (Cowperwood's)
+office as a bank of deposit.  He was to turn over to him, actually,
+or set over to his credit on the city's books, subject to his order,
+certain amounts of city loans--two hundred thousand dollars at
+first, since that was the amount it was desired to raise quickly--
+and he would then go into the market and see what could be done to
+have it brought to par.  The city treasurer was to ask leave of
+the stock exchange at once to have it listed as a security.
+Cowperwood would then use his influence to have this application
+acted upon quickly.  Stener was then to dispose of all city loan
+certificates through him, and him only.  He was to allow him to
+buy for the sinking-fund, supposedly, such amounts as he might
+have to buy in order to keep the price up to par.  To do this,
+once a considerable number of the loan certificates had been
+unloaded on the public, it might be necessary to buy back a great
+deal.  However, these would be sold again.  The law concerning
+selling only at par would have to be abrogated to this extent--
+i.e., that the wash sales and preliminary sales would have to be
+considered no sales until par was reached.
+
+There was a subtle advantage here, as Cowperwood pointed out to
+Stener.  In the first place, since the certificates were going
+ultimately to reach par anyway, there was no objection to Stener
+or any one else buying low at the opening price and holding for
+a rise.  Cowperwood would be glad to carry him on his books for
+any amount, and he would settle at the end of each month.  He
+would not be asked to buy the certificates outright.  He could be
+carried on the books for a certain reasonable margin, say ten
+points.  The money was as good as made for Stener now.  In the
+next place, in buying for the sinking-fund it would be possible
+to buy these certificates very cheap, for, having the new and
+reserve issue entirely in his hands, Cowperwood could throw such
+amounts as he wished into the market at such times as he wished
+to buy, and consequently depress the market.  Then he could buy,
+and, later, up would go the price.  Having the issues totally in
+his hands to boost or depress the market as he wished, there was
+no reason why the city should not ultimately get par for all its
+issues, and at the same time considerable money be made out of
+the manufactured fluctuations.  He, Cowperwood, would be glad to
+make most of his profit that way.  The city should allow him his
+normal percentage on all his actual sales of certificates for the
+city at par (he would have to have that in order to keep straight
+with the stock exchange); but beyond that, and for all the other
+necessary manipulative sales, of which there would be many, he
+would depend on his knowledge of the stock market to reimburse him.
+And if Stener wanted to speculate with him--well.
+
+Dark as this transaction may seem to the uninitiated, it will
+appear quite clear to those who know.  Manipulative tricks have
+always been worked in connection with stocks of which one man or
+one set of men has had complete control.  It was no different from
+what subsequently was done with Erie, Standard Oil, Copper, Sugar,
+Wheat, and what not.  Cowperwood was one of the first and one of
+the youngest to see how it could be done.  When he first talked to
+Stener he was twenty-eight years of age.  When he last did business
+with him he was thirty-four.
+
+The houses and the bank-front of Cowperwood & Co. had been proceeding
+apace.  The latter was early Florentine in its decorations with
+windows which grew narrower as they approached the roof, and a door
+of wrought iron set between delicately carved posts, and a straight
+lintel of brownstone.  It was low in height and distinguished in
+appearance.  In the center panel had been hammered a hand, delicately
+wrought, thin and artistic, holding aloft a flaming brand.  Ellsworth
+informed him that this had formerly been a money-changer's sign
+used in old Venice, the significance of which had long been
+forgotten.
+
+The interior was finished in highly-polished hardwood, stained in
+imitation of the gray lichens which infest trees.  Large sheets of
+clear, beveled glass were used, some oval, some oblong, some square,
+and some circular, following a given theory of eye movement.  The
+fixtures for the gas-jets were modeled after the early Roman
+flame-brackets, and the office safe was made an ornament, raised
+on a marble platform at the back of the office and lacquered a
+silver-gray, with Cowperwood & Co. lettered on it in gold.  One
+had a sense of reserve and taste pervading the place, and yet it
+was also inestimably prosperous, solid and assuring.  Cowperwood,
+when he viewed it at its completion, complimented Ellsworth
+cheerily.  "I like this.  It is really beautiful.  It will be a
+pleasure to work here.  If those houses are going to be anything
+like this, they will be perfect."
+
+"Wait till you see them.  I think you will be pleased, Mr.
+Cowperwood.  I am taking especial pains with yours because it is
+smaller.  It is really easier to treat your father's.  But yours--"
+He went off into a description of the entrance-hall, reception-room
+and parlor, which he was arranging and decorating in such a way
+as to give an effect of size and dignity not really conformable
+to the actual space.
+
+And when the houses were finished, they were effective and
+arresting--quite different from the conventional residences of the
+street.  They were separated by a space of twenty feet, laid out
+as greensward.  The architect had borrowed somewhat from the Tudor
+school, yet not so elaborated as later became the style in many of
+the residences in Philadelphia and elsewhere.  The most striking
+features were rather deep-recessed doorways under wide, low,
+slightly floriated arches, and three projecting windows of rich
+form, one on the second floor of Frank's house, two on the facade
+of his father's.  There were six gables showing on the front of the
+two houses, two on Frank's and four on his father's.  In the front
+of each house on the ground floor was a recessed window unconnected
+with the recessed doorways, formed by setting the inner external
+wall back from the outer face of the building.  This window looked
+out through an arched opening to the street, and was protected by
+a dwarf parapet or balustrade.  It was possible to set potted vines
+and flowers there, which was later done, giving a pleasant sense
+of greenery from the street, and to place a few chairs there,
+which were reached via heavily barred French casements.
+
+On the ground floor of each house was placed a conservatory of
+flowers, facing each other, and in the yard, which was jointly used,
+a pool of white marble eight feet in diameter, with a marble Cupid
+upon which jets of water played.  The yard which was enclosed by
+a high but pierced wall of green-gray brick, especially burnt for
+the purpose the same color as the granite of the house, and surmounted
+by a white marble coping which was sown to grass and had a lovely,
+smooth, velvety appearance.  The two houses, as originally planned,
+were connected by a low, green-columned pergola which could be
+enclosed in glass in winter.
+
+The rooms, which were now slowly being decorated and furnished in
+period styles were very significant in that they enlarged and
+strengthened Frank Cowperwood's idea of the world of art in general.
+It was an enlightening and agreeable experience--one which made for
+artistic and intellectual growth--to hear Ellsworth explain at length
+the styles and types of architecture and furniture, the nature of
+woods and ornaments employed, the qualities and peculiarities of
+hangings, draperies, furniture panels, and door coverings.  Ellsworth
+was a student of decoration as well as of architecture, and interested
+in the artistic taste of the American people, which he fancied would
+some day have a splendid outcome.  He was wearied to death of the
+prevalent Romanesque composite combinations of country and suburban
+villa.  The time was ripe for something new.  He scarcely knew what
+it would be; but this that he had designed for Cowperwood and his
+father was at least different, as he said, while at the same time
+being reserved, simple, and pleasing.  It was in marked contrast to
+the rest of the architecture of the street.  Cowperwood's dining-room,
+reception-room, conservatory, and butler's pantry he had put on
+the first floor, together with the general entry-hall, staircase,
+and coat-room under the stairs.  For the second floor he had reserved
+the library, general living-room, parlor, and a small office for
+Cowperwood, together with a boudoir for Lillian, connected with a
+dressing-room and bath.
+
+On the third floor, neatly divided and accommodated with baths and
+dressing-rooms, were the nursery, the servants' quarters, and
+several guest-chambers.
+
+Ellsworth showed Cowperwood books of designs containing furniture,
+hangings, etageres, cabinets, pedestals, and some exquisite piano
+forms.  He discussed woods with him--rosewood, mahogany, walnut,
+English oak, bird's-eye maple, and the manufactured effects such
+as ormolu, marquetry, and Boule, or buhl.  He explained the latter--
+how difficult it was to produce, how unsuitable it was in some
+respects for this climate, the brass and tortoise-shell inlay
+coming to swell with the heat or damp, and so bulging or breaking.
+He told of the difficulties and disadvantages of certain finishes,
+but finally recommended ormolu furniture for the reception room,
+medallion tapestry for the parlor, French renaissance for the
+dining-room and library, and bird's-eye maple (dyed blue in one
+instance, and left its natural color in another) and a rather
+lightly constructed and daintily carved walnut for the other rooms.
+The hangings, wall-paper, and floor coverings were to harmonize--
+not match--and the piano and music-cabinet for the parlor, as well
+as the etagere, cabinets, and pedestals for the reception-rooms,
+were to be of buhl or marquetry, if Frank cared to stand the
+expense.
+
+Ellsworth advised a triangular piano--the square shapes were so
+inexpressibly wearisome to the initiated.  Cowperwood listened
+fascinated.  He foresaw a home which would be chaste, soothing,
+and delightful to look upon.  If he hung pictures, gilt frames
+were to be the setting, large and deep; and if he wished a
+picture-gallery, the library could be converted into that, and
+the general living-room, which lay between the library and the
+parlor on the second-floor, could be turned into a combination
+library and living-room.  This was eventually done; but not until
+his taste for pictures had considerably advanced.
+
+It was now that he began to take a keen interest in objects of
+art, pictures, bronzes, little carvings and figurines, for his
+cabinets, pedestals, tables, and etageres.  Philadelphia did not
+offer much that was distinguished in this realm--certainly not
+in the open market.  There were many private houses which were
+enriched by travel; but his connection with the best families was
+as yet small.  There were then two famous American sculptors,
+Powers and Hosmer, of whose work he had examples; but Ellsworth
+told him that they were not the last word in sculpture and that
+he should look into the merits of the ancients.  He finally secured
+a head of David, by Thorwaldsen, which delighted him, and some
+landscapes by Hunt, Sully, and Hart, which seemed somewhat in the
+spirit of his new world.
+
+The effect of a house of this character on its owner is unmistakable.
+We think we are individual, separate, above houses and material
+objects generally; but there is a subtle connection which makes
+them reflect us quite as much as we reflect them.  They lend dignity,
+subtlety, force, each to the other, and what beauty, or lack of
+it, there is, is shot back and forth from one to the other as a
+shuttle in a loom, weaving, weaving.  Cut the thread, separate a
+man from that which is rightfully his own, characteristic of him,
+and you have a peculiar figure, half success, half failure, much
+as a spider without its web, which will never be its whole self
+again until all its dignities and emoluments are restored.
+
+The sight of his new house going up made Cowperwood feel of more
+weight in the world, and the possession of his suddenly achieved
+connection with the city treasurer was as though a wide door had
+been thrown open to the Elysian fields of opportunity.  He rode
+about the city those days behind a team of spirited bays, whose
+glossy hides and metaled harness bespoke the watchful care of
+hostler and coachman.  Ellsworth was building an attractive stable
+in the little side street back of the houses, for the joint use
+of both families.  He told Mrs. Cowperwood that he intended to buy
+her a victoria--as the low, open, four-wheeled coach was then known--
+as soon as they were well settled in their new home, and that they
+were to go out more.  There was some talk about the value of
+entertaining--that he would have to reach out socially for certain
+individuals who were not now known to him.  Together with Anna,
+his sister, and his two brothers, Joseph and Edward, they could
+use the two houses jointly.  There was no reason why Anna should
+not make a splendid match.  Joe and Ed might marry well, since they
+were not destined to set the world on fire in commerce.  At least
+it would not hurt them to try.
+
+"Don't you think you will like that?" he asked his wife, referring
+to his plans for entertaining.
+
+She smiled wanly. "I suppose so," she said.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVI
+
+
+
+
+It was not long after the arrangement between Treasurer Stener
+and Cowperwood had been made that the machinery for the carrying
+out of that political-financial relationship was put in motion.
+The sum of two hundred and ten thousand dollars in six per cent.
+interest-bearing certificates, payable in ten years, was set over
+to the credit of Cowperwood & Co. on the books of the city, subject
+to his order.  Then, with proper listing, he began to offer it in
+small amounts at more than ninety, at the same time creating the
+impression that it was going to be a prosperous investment.  The
+certificates gradually rose and were unloaded in rising amounts
+until one hundred was reached, when all the two hundred thousand
+dollars' worth--two thousand certificates in all--was fed out in
+small lots.  Stener was satisfied.  Two hundred shares had been
+carried for him and sold at one hundred, which netted him two
+thousand dollars.  It was illegitimate gain, unethical; but his
+conscience was not very much troubled by that.  He had none, truly.
+He saw visions of a halcyon future.
+
+It is difficult to make perfectly clear what a subtle and significant
+power this suddenly placed in the hands of Cowperwood.  Consider
+that he was only twenty-eight--nearing twenty-nine.  Imagine yourself
+by nature versed in the arts of finance, capable of playing with
+sums of money in the forms of stocks, certificates, bonds, and cash,
+as the ordinary man plays with checkers or chess.  Or, better yet,
+imagine yourself one of those subtle masters of the mysteries of
+the higher forms of chess--the type of mind so well illustrated by
+the famous and historic chess-players, who could sit with their
+backs to a group of rivals playing fourteen men at once, calling
+out all the moves in turn, remembering all the positions of all
+the men on all the boards, and winning.  This, of course, would be
+an overstatement of the subtlety of Cowperwood at this time, and
+yet it would not be wholly out of bounds.  He knew instinctively
+what could be done with a given sum of money--how as cash it could
+be deposited in one place, and yet as credit and the basis of moving
+checks, used in not one but many other places at the same time.
+When properly watched and followed this manipulation gave him the
+constructive and purchasing power of ten and a dozen times as much
+as his original sum might have represented.  He knew instinctively
+the principles of "pyramiding" and "kiting."  He could see exactly
+not only how he could raise and lower the value of these certificates
+of loan, day after day and year after year--if he were so fortunate
+as to retain his hold on the city treasurer--but also how this would
+give him a credit with the banks hitherto beyond his wildest dreams.
+His father's bank was one of the first to profit by this and to
+extend him loans.  The various local politicians and bosses--
+Mollenhauer, Butler, Simpson, and others--seeing the success of his
+efforts in this direction, speculated in city loan.  He became known
+to Mollenhauer and Simpson, by reputation, if not personally, as
+the man who was carrying this city loan proposition to a successful
+issue.  Stener was supposed to have done a clever thing in finding
+him.  The stock exchange stipulated that all trades were to be
+compared the same day and settled before the close of the next;
+but this working arrangement with the new city treasurer gave
+Cowperwood much more latitude, and now he had always until the first
+of the month, or practically thirty days at times, in which to
+render an accounting for all deals connected with the loan issue.
+
+And, moreover, this was really not an accounting in the sense of
+removing anything from his hands.  Since the issue was to be so
+large, the sum at his disposal would always be large, and
+so-called transfers and balancing at the end of the month would
+be a mere matter of bookkeeping.  He could use these city loan
+certificates deposited with him for manipulative purposes,
+deposit them at any bank as collateral for a loan, quite as if
+they were his own, thus raising seventy per cent. of their actual
+value in cash, and he did not hesitate to do so.  He could take
+this cash, which need not be accounted for until the end of the
+month, and cover other stock transactions, on which he could
+borrow again.  There was no limit to the resources of which he
+now found himself possessed, except the resources of his own energy,
+ingenuity, and the limits of time in which he had to work.  The
+politicians did not realize what a bonanza he was making of it
+all for himself, because they were as yet unaware of the subtlety
+of his mind.  When Stener told him, after talking the matter over
+with the mayor, Strobik, and others that he would formally, during
+the course of the year, set over on the city's books all of the
+two millions in city loan, Cowperwood was silent--but with delight.
+Two millions! His to play with! He had been called in as a
+financial adviser, and he had given his advice and it had been
+taken! Well.  He was not a man who inherently was troubled with
+conscientious scruples.  At the same time he still believed himself
+financially honest.  He was no sharper or shrewder than any other
+financier--certainly no sharper than any other would be if he
+could.
+
+It should be noted here that this proposition of Stener's in regard
+to city money had no connection with the attitude of the principal
+leaders in local politics in regard to street-railway control, which
+was a new and intriguing phase of the city's financial life.  Many
+of the leading financiers and financier-politicians were interested
+in that.  For instance, Messrs. Mollenhauer, Butler, and Simpson
+were interested in street-railways separately on their own account.
+There was no understanding between them on this score.  If they had
+thought at all on the matter they would have decided that they did
+not want any outsider to interfere.  As a matter of fact the
+street-railway business in Philadelphia was not sufficiently developed
+at this time to suggest to any one the grand scheme of union which
+came later.  Yet in connection with this new arrangement between
+Stener and Cowperwood, it was Strobik who now came forward to
+Stener with an idea of his own.  All were certain to make money
+through Cowperwood--he and Stener, especially.  What was amiss,
+therefore, with himself and Stener and with Cowperwood as their--
+or rather Stener's secret representative, since Strobik did not
+dare to appear in the matter--buying now sufficient street-railway
+shares in some one line to control it, and then, if he, Strobik,
+could, by efforts of his own, get the city council to set aside
+certain streets for its extension, why, there you were--they would
+own it.  Only, later, he proposed to shake Stener out if he could.
+But this preliminary work had to be done by some one, and it might
+as well be Stener.  At the same time, as he saw, this work had to
+be done very carefully, because naturally his superiors were
+watchful, and if they found him dabbling in affairs of this kind
+to his own advantage, they might make it impossible for him to
+continue politically in a position where he could help himself
+just the same.  Any outside organization such as a street-railway
+company already in existence had a right to appeal to the city
+council for privileges which would naturally further its and the
+city's growth, and, other things being equal, these could not be
+refused.  It would not do for him to appear, however, both as a
+shareholder and president of the council.  But with Cowperwood
+acting privately for Stener it would be another thing.
+
+The interesting thing about this proposition as finally presented
+by Stener for Strobik to Cowperwood, was that it raised, without
+appearing to do so, the whole question of Cowperwood's attitude
+toward the city administration.  Although he was dealing privately
+for Edward Butler as an agent, and with this same plan in mind,
+and although he had never met either Mollenhauer or Simpson, he
+nevertheless felt that in so far as the manipulation of the city
+loan was concerned he was acting for them.  On the other hand, in
+this matter of the private street-railway purchase which Stener
+now brought to him, he realized from the very beginning, by Stener's
+attitude, that there was something untoward in it, that Stener felt
+he was doing something which he ought not to do.
+
+"Cowperwood," he said to him the first morning he ever broached
+this matter--it was in Stener's office, at the old city hall at
+Sixth and Chestnut, and Stener, in view of his oncoming prosperity,
+was feeling very good indeed--"isn't there some street-railway
+property around town here that a man could buy in on and get control
+of if he had sufficient money?"
+
+Cowperwood knew that there were such properties.  His very alert
+mind had long since sensed the general opportunities here.  The
+omnibuses were slowly disappearing.  The best routes were already
+preempted.  Still, there were other streets, and the city was
+growing.  The incoming population would make great business in
+the future.  One could afford to pay almost any price for the
+short lines already built if one could wait and extend the lines
+into larger and better areas later.  And already he had conceived
+in his own mind the theory of the "endless chain," or "argeeable
+formula," as it was later termed, of buying a certain property on
+a long-time payment and issuing stocks or bonds sufficient not only
+to pay your seller, but to reimburse you for your trouble, to say
+nothing of giving you a margin wherewith to invest in other things--
+allied properties, for instance, against which more bonds could be
+issued, and so on, ad infinitum.  It became an old story later,
+but it was new at that time, and he kept the thought closely to
+himself.  None the less he was glad to have Stener speak of this,
+since street-railways were his hobby, and he was convinced that
+he would be a great master of them if he ever had an opportunity
+to control them.
+
+"Why, yes, George," he said, noncommittally, there are two or
+three that offer a good chance if a man had money enough.  I notice
+blocks of stock being offered on 'change now and then by one person
+and another.  It would be good policy to pick these things up as
+they're offered, and then to see later if some of the other
+stockholders won't want to sell out.  Green and Coates, now, looks
+like a good proposition to me.  If I had three or four hundred
+thousand dollars that I thought I could put into that by degrees
+I would follow it up.  It only takes about thirty per cent. of the
+stock of any railroad to control it.  Most of the shares are
+scattered around so far and wide that they never vote, and I think
+two or three hundred thousand dollars would control that road."
+He mentioned one other line that might be secured in the same way
+in the course of time.
+
+Stener meditated.  "That's a good deal of money," he said,
+thoughtfully.  "I'll talk to you about that some more later."
+And he was off to see Strobik none the less.
+
+Cowperwood knew that Stener did not have any two or three hundred
+thousand dollars to invest in anything.  There was only one way
+that he could get it--and that was to borrow it out of the city
+treasury and forego the interest.  But he would not do that on his
+own initiative.  Some one else must be behind him and who else
+other than Mollenhauer, or Simpson, or possibly even Butler, though
+he doubted that, unless the triumvirate were secretly working
+together.  But what of it? The larger politicians were always
+using the treasury, and he was thinking now, only, of his own
+attitude in regard to the use of this money.  No harm could come
+to him, if Stener's ventures were successful; and there was no
+reason why they should not be.  Even if they were not he would be
+merely acting as an agent.  In addition, he saw how in the
+manipulation of this money for Stener he could probably eventually
+control certain lines for himself.
+
+There was one line being laid out to within a few blocks of his
+new home--the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line it was called--
+which interested him greatly.  He rode on it occasionally when he
+was delayed or did not wish to trouble about a vehicle.  It ran
+through two thriving streets of red-brick houses, and was destined
+to have a great future once the city grew large enough.  As yet it
+was really not long enough.  If he could get that, for instance,
+and combine it with Butler's lines, once they were secured--or
+Mollenhauer's, or Simpson's, the legislature could be induced to
+give them additional franchises.  He even dreamed of a combination
+between Butler, Mollenhauer, Simpson, and himself.  Between them,
+politically, they could get anything.  But Butler was not a
+philanthropist.  He would have to be approached with a very sizable
+bird in hand.  The combination must be obviously advisable.
+Besides, he was dealing for Butler in street-railway stocks, and
+if this particular line were such a good thing Butler might wonder
+why it had not been brought to him in the first place.  It would
+be better, Frank thought, to wait until he actually had it as his
+own, in which case it would be a different matter.  Then he could
+talk as a capitalist.  He began to dream of a city-wide
+street-railway system controlled by a few men, or preferably himself
+alone.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVII
+
+
+
+
+The days that had been passing brought Frank Cowperwood and Aileen
+Butler somewhat closer together in spirit.  Because of the pressure
+of his growing affairs he had not paid so much attention to her
+as he might have, but he had seen her often this past year.  She
+was now nineteen and had grown into some subtle thoughts of her
+own.  For one thing, she was beginning to see the difference between
+good taste and bad taste in houses and furnishings.
+
+"Papa, why do we stay in this old barn?" she asked her father one
+evening at dinner, when the usual family group was seated at the
+table.
+
+"What's the matter with this house, I'd like to know?" demanded
+Butler, who was drawn up close to the table, his napkin tucked
+comfortably under his chin, for he insisted on this when company
+was not present.  "I don't see anything the matter with this house.
+Your mother and I manage to live in it well enough."
+
+"Oh, it's terrible, papa.  You know it," supplemented Norah, who
+was seventeen and quite as bright as her sister, though a little
+less experienced.  "Everybody says so.  Look at all the nice
+houses that are being built everywhere about here."
+
+"Everybody! Everybody! Who is 'everybody,' I'd like to know?"
+demanded Butler, with the faintest touch of choler and much humor.
+"I'm somebody, and I like it.  Those that don't like it don't
+have to live in it.  Who are they? What's the matter with it,
+I'd like to know?"
+
+The question in just this form had been up a number of times
+before, and had been handled in just this manner, or passed over
+entirely with a healthy Irish grin.  To-night, however, it was
+destined for a little more extended thought.
+
+"You know it's bad, papa," corrected Aileen, firmly.  "Now what's
+the use getting mad about it? It's old and cheap and dingy.  The
+furniture is all worn out.  That old piano in there ought to be
+given away.  I won't play on it any more.  The Cowperwoods--"
+
+"Old is it!" exclaimed Butler, his accent sharpening somewhat with
+his self-induced rage.  He almost pronounced it "owled."  "Dingy,
+hi! Where do you get that? At your convent, I suppose.  And where
+is it worn? Show me where it's worn."
+
+He was coming to her reference to Cowperwood, but he hadn't reached
+that when Mrs. Butler interfered.  She was a stout, broad-faced
+woman, smiling-mouthed most of the time, with blurry, gray Irish
+eyes, and a touch of red in her hair, now modified by grayness.
+Her cheek, below the mouth, on the left side, was sharply accented
+by a large wen.
+
+"Children! children!" (Mr. Butler, for all his commercial and
+political responsibility, was as much a child to her as any.)
+"Youse mustn't quarrel now.  Come now.  Give your father the
+tomatoes."
+
+There was an Irish maid serving at table; but plates were passed
+from one to the other just the same.  A heavily ornamented
+chandelier, holding sixteen imitation candles in white porcelain,
+hung low over the table and was brightly lighted, another offense
+to Aileen.
+
+"Mama, how often have I told you not to say 'youse'?" pleaded
+Norah, very much disheartened by her mother's grammatical errors.
+"You know you said you wouldn't."
+
+"And who's to tell your mother what she should say?" called Butler,
+more incensed than ever at this sudden and unwarranted rebellion
+and assault.  "Your mother talked before ever you was born, I'd
+have you know.  If it weren't for her workin' and slavin' you
+wouldn't have any fine manners to be paradin' before her.  I'd
+have you know that.  She's a better woman nor any you'll be
+runnin' with this day, you little baggage, you!"
+
+"Mama, do you hear what he's calling me?" complained Norah,
+hugging close to her mother's arm and pretending fear and
+dissatisfaction.
+
+"Eddie! Eddie!" cautioned Mrs. Butler, pleading with her husband.
+"You know he don't mean that, Norah, dear.  Don't you know he don't?"
+
+She was stroking her baby's head.  The reference to her grammar
+had not touched her at all.
+
+Butler was sorry that he had called his youngest a baggage; but
+these children--God bless his soul--were a great annoyance.  Why,
+in the name of all the saints, wasn't this house good enough for
+them?
+
+"Why don't you people quit fussing at the table?" observed Callum,
+a likely youth, with black hair laid smoothly over his forehead in
+a long, distinguished layer reaching from his left to close to his
+right ear, and his upper lip carrying a short, crisp mustache.  His
+nose was short and retrousse, and his ears were rather prominent;
+but he was bright and attractive.  He and Owen both realized that
+the house was old and poorly arranged; but their father and mother
+liked it, and business sense and family peace dictated silence on
+this score.
+
+"Well, I think it's mean to have to live in this old place when
+people not one-fourth as good as we are are living in better ones.
+The Cowperwoods--why, even the Cowperwoods--"
+
+"Yes, the Cowperwoods! What about the Cowperwoods?" demanded Butler,
+turning squarely to Aileen--she was sitting beside him---his big,
+red face glowing.
+
+"Why, even they have a better house than we have, and he's merely
+an agent of yours."
+
+"The Cowperwoods! The Cowperwoods! I'll not have any talk about the
+Cowperwoods.  I'm not takin' my rules from the Cowperwoods.  Suppose
+they have a fine house, what of it? My house is my house.  I want to
+live here.  I've lived here too long to be pickin' up and movin'
+away.  If you don't like it you know what else you can do.  Move
+if you want to.  I'll not move."
+
+It was Butler's habit when he became involved in these family
+quarrels, which were as shallow as puddles, to wave his hands
+rather antagonistically under his wife's or his children's noses.
+
+"Oh, well, I will get out one of these days," Aileen replied.
+"Thank heaven I won't have to live here forever."
+
+There flashed across her mind the beautiful reception-room, library,
+parlor, and boudoirs of the Cowperwoods, which were now being
+arranged and about which Anna Cowperwood talked to her so much--
+their dainty, lovely triangular grand piano in gold and painted
+pink and blue.  Why couldn't they have things like that? Her father
+was unquestionably a dozen times as wealthy.  But no, her father,
+whom she loved dearly, was of the old school.  He was just what
+people charged him with being, a rough Irish contractor.  He might
+be rich.  She flared up at the injustice of things--why couldn't
+he have been rich and refined, too? Then they could have--but, oh,
+what was the use of complaining? They would never get anywhere
+with her father and mother in charge.  She would just have to
+wait.  Marriage was the answer--the right marriage.  But whom was
+she to marry?
+
+"You surely are not going to go on fighting about that now,"
+pleaded Mrs. Butler, as strong and patient as fate itself.  She
+knew where Aileen's trouble lay.
+
+"But we might have a decent house," insisted Aileen.  "Or this
+one done over," whispered Norah to her mother.
+
+"Hush now! In good time," replied Mrs. Butler to Norah.  "Wait.
+We'll fix it all up some day, sure.  You run to your lessons now.
+You've had enough."
+
+Norah arose and left.  Aileen subsided.  Her father was simply
+stubborn and impossible.  And yet he was sweet, too.  She pouted
+in order to compel him to apologize.
+
+"Come now," he said, after they had left the table, and conscious
+of the fact that his daughter was dissatisfied with him.  He must
+do something to placate her.  "Play me somethin' on the piano,
+somethin' nice."  He preferred showy, clattery things which
+exhibited her skill and muscular ability and left him wondering
+how she did it.  That was what education was for--to enable her
+to play these very difficult things quickly and forcefully.  "And
+you can have a new piano any time you like.  Go and see about it.
+This looks pretty good to me, but if you don't want it, all right."
+Aileen squeezed his arm.  What was the use of arguing with her
+father? What good would a lone piano do, when the whole house
+and the whole family atmosphere were at fault? But she played
+Schumann, Schubert, Offenbach, Chopin, and the old gentleman
+strolled to and fro and mused, smiling.  There was real feeling
+and a thoughtful interpretation given to some of these things, for
+Aileen was not without sentiment, though she was so strong,
+vigorous, and withal so defiant; but it was all lost on him.  He
+looked on her, his bright, healthy, enticingly beautiful daughter,
+and wondered what was going to become of her.  Some rich man was
+going to many her--some fine, rich young man with good business
+instincts--and he, her father, would leave her a lot of money.
+
+There was a reception and a dance to be given to celebrate the
+opening of the two Cowperwood homes--the reception to be held in
+Frank Cowperwood's residence, and the dance later at his father's.
+The Henry Cowperwood domicile was much more pretentious, the
+reception-room, parlor, music-room, and conservatory being in this
+case all on the ground floor and much larger.  Ellsworth had
+arranged it so that those rooms, on occasion, could be thrown into
+one, leaving excellent space for promenade, auditorium, dancing--
+anything, in fact, that a large company might require.  It had
+been the intention all along of the two men to use these houses
+jointly.  There was, to begin with, a combination use of the
+various servants, the butler, gardener, laundress, and maids.
+Frank Cowperwood employed a governess for his children.  The
+butler was really not a butler in the best sense.  He was Henry
+Cowperwood's private servitor.  But he could carve and preside,
+and he could be used in either house as occasion warranted.  There
+was also a hostler and a coachman for the joint stable.  When two
+carriages were required at once, both drove.  It made a very
+agreeable and satisfactory working arrangement.
+
+The preparation of this reception had been quite a matter of
+importance, for it was necessary for financial reasons to make it
+as extensive as possible, and for social reasons as exclusive.
+It was therefore decided that the afternoon reception at Frank's
+house, with its natural overflow into Henry W.'s, was to be for
+all--the Tighes, Steners, Butlers, Mollenhauers, as well as the
+more select groups to which, for instance, belonged Arthur Rivers,
+Mrs. Seneca Davis, Mr. and Mrs. Trenor Drake, and some of the
+younger Drexels and Clarks, whom Frank had met.  It was not likely
+that the latter would condescend, but cards had to be sent.  Later
+in the evening a less democratic group if possible was to be
+entertained, albeit it would have to be extended to include the
+friends of Anna, Mrs. Cowperwood, Edward, and Joseph, and any list
+which Frank might personally have in mind.  This was to be the
+list.  The best that could be persuaded, commanded, or influenced
+of the young and socially elect were to be invited here.
+
+It was not possible, however, not to invite the Butlers, parents
+and children, particularly the children, for both afternoon and
+evening, since Cowperwood was personally attracted to Aileen and
+despite the fact that the presence of the parents would be most
+unsatisfactory.  Even Aileen as he knew was a little unsatisfactory
+to Anna and Mrs. Frank Cowperwood; and these two, when they were
+together supervising the list of invitations, often talked about
+it.
+
+"She's so hoidenish," observed Anna, to her sister-in-law, when
+they came to the name of Aileen.  "She thinks she knows so much,
+and she isn't a bit refined.  Her father! Well, if I had her father
+I wouldn't talk so smart."
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood, who was before her secretaire in her new boudoir,
+lifted her eyebrows.
+
+"You know, Anna, I sometimes wish that Frank's business did not
+compel me to have anything to do with them.  Mrs. Butler is such
+a bore.  She means well enough, but she doesn't know anything.
+And Aileen is too rough.  She's too forward, I think.  She comes
+over here and plays upon the piano, particularly when Frank's
+here.  I wouldn't mind so much for myself, but I know it must
+annoy him.  All her pieces are so noisy.  She never plays anything
+really delicate and refined."
+
+"I don't like the way she dresses," observed Anna, sympathetically.
+"She gets herself up too conspicuously.  Now, the other day I saw
+her out driving, and oh, dear! you should have seen her! She had
+on a crimson Zouave jacket heavily braided with black about the
+edges, and a turban with a huge crimson feather, and crimson
+ribbons reaching nearly to her waist.  Imagine that kind of a hat
+to drive in.  And her hands! You should have seen the way she held
+her hands--oh--just so--self-consciously.  They were curved just
+so"--and she showed how.  "She had on yellow gauntlets, and she
+held the reins in one hand and the whip in the other.  She drives
+just like mad when she drives, anyhow, and William, the footman,
+was up behind her.  You should just have seen her.  Oh, dear! oh,
+dear! she does think she is so much!" And Anna giggled, half in
+reproach, half in amusement.
+
+"I suppose we'll have to invite her; I don't see how we can get
+out of it.  I know just how she'll do, though.  She'll walk about
+and pose and hold her nose up."
+
+"Really, I don't see how she can," commented Anna.  "Now, I like
+Norah.  She's much nicer.  She doesn't think she's so much."
+
+"I like Norah, too," added Mrs. Cowperwood.  "She's really very
+sweet, and to me she's prettier."
+
+"Oh, indeed, I think so, too."
+
+It was curious, though, that it was Aileen who commanded nearly all
+their attention and fixed their minds on her so-called
+idiosyncrasies.  All they said was in its peculiar way true; but
+in addition the girl was really beautiful and much above the average
+intelligence and force.  She was running deep with ambition, and
+she was all the more conspicuous, and in a way irritating to some,
+because she reflected in her own consciousness her social defects,
+against which she was inwardly fighting.  She resented the fact
+that people could justly consider her parents ineligible, and for
+that reason her also.  She was intrinsically as worth while as
+any one.  Cowperwood, so able, and rapidly becoming so distinguished,
+seemed to realize it.  The days that had been passing had brought
+them somewhat closer together in spirit.  He was nice to her and
+liked to talk to her.  Whenever he was at her home now, or she was
+at his and he was present, he managed somehow to say a word.  He
+would come over quite near and look at her in a warm friendly
+fashion.
+
+"Well, Aileen"--she could see his genial eyes--"how is it with you?
+How are your father and mother? Been out driving? That's fine.  I
+saw you to-day.  You looked beautiful."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Cowperwood!"
+
+"You did.  You looked stunning.  A black riding-habit becomes you.
+I can tell your gold hair a long way off."
+
+"Oh, now, you mustn't say that to me.  You'll make me vain.  My
+mother and father tell me I'm too vain as it is."
+
+"Never mind your mother and father.  I say you looked stunning,
+and you did.  You always do."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+She gave a little gasp of delight.  The color mounted to her cheeks
+and temples.  Mr. Cowperwood knew of course.  He was so informed
+and intensely forceful.  And already he was so much admired by so
+many, her own father and mother included, and by Mr. Mollenhauer
+and Mr. Simpson, so she heard.  And his own home and office were
+so beautiful.  Besides, his quiet intensity matched her restless
+force.
+
+Aileen and her sister were accordingly invited to the reception
+but the Butlers mere and pere were given to understand, in as
+tactful a manner as possible, that the dance afterward was
+principally for young people.
+
+The reception brought a throng of people.  There were many, very
+many, introductions.  There were tactful descriptions of little
+effects Mr. Ellsworth had achieved under rather trying circumstances;
+walks under the pergola; viewings of both homes in detail.  Many
+of the guests were old friends.  They gathered in the libraries
+and dining-rooms and talked.  There was much jesting, some slappings
+of shoulders, some good story-telling, and so the afternoon waned
+into evening, and they went away.
+
+Aileen had created an impression in a street costume of dark blue
+silk with velvet pelisse to match, and trimmed with elaborate
+pleatings and shirrings of the same materials.  A toque of blue
+velvet, with high crown and one large dark-red imitation orchid,
+had given her a jaunty, dashing air.  Beneath the toque her
+red-gold hair was arranged in an enormous chignon, with one long
+curl escaping over her collar.  She was not exactly as daring as
+she seemed, but she loved to give that impression.
+
+"You look wonderful," Cowperwood said as she passed him.
+
+"I'll look different to-night," was her answer.
+
+She had swung herself with a slight, swaggering stride into the
+dining-room and disappeared.  Norah and her mother stayed to chat
+with Mrs. Cowperwood.
+
+"Well, it's lovely now, isn't it?" breathed Mrs. Butler.  "Sure
+you'll be happy here.  Sure you will.  When Eddie fixed the house
+we're in now, says I: 'Eddie, it's almost too fine for us altogether--
+surely it is,' and he says, says 'e, 'Norah, nothin' this side o'
+heavin or beyond is too good for ye'--and he kissed me.  Now what
+d'ye think of that fer a big, hulkin' gossoon?"
+
+"It's perfectly lovely, I think, Mrs. Butler," commented Mrs.
+Cowperwood, a little bit nervous because of others.
+
+"Mama does love to talk so.  Come on, mama.  Let's look at the
+dining-room."  It was Norah talking.
+
+"Well, may ye always be happy in it.  I wish ye that.  I've always
+been happy in mine.  May ye always be happy."  And she waddled
+good-naturedly along.
+
+The Cowperwood family dined hastily alone between seven and eight.
+At nine the evening guests began to arrive, and now the throng was
+of a different complexion--girls in mauve and cream-white and
+salmon-pink and silver-gray, laying aside lace shawls and loose
+dolmans, and the men in smooth black helping them.  Outside in the
+cold, the carriage doors were slamming, and new guests were arriving
+constantly.  Mrs. Cowperwood stood with her husband and Anna in
+the main entrance to the reception room, while Joseph and Edward
+Cowperwood and Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Cowperwood lingered in the
+background.  Lillian looked charming in a train gown of old rose,
+with a low, square neck showing a delicate chemisette of fine lace.
+Her face and figure were still notable, though her face was not
+as smoothly sweet as it had been years before when Cowperwood had
+first met her.  Anna Cowperwood was not pretty, though she could
+not be said to be homely.  She was small and dark, with a turned-up
+nose, snapping black eyes, a pert, inquisitive, intelligent, and
+alas, somewhat critical, air.  She had considerable tact in the
+matter of dressing.  Black, in spite of her darkness, with shining
+beads of sequins on it, helped her complexion greatly, as did a
+red rose in her hair.  She had smooth, white well-rounded arms and
+shoulders.  Bright eyes, a pert manner, clever remarks--these
+assisted to create an illusion of charm, though, as she often said,
+it was of little use.  "Men want the dolly things."
+
+In the evening inpour of young men and women came Aileen and Norah,
+the former throwing off a thin net veil of black lace and a dolman
+of black silk, which her brother Owen took from her.  Norah was
+with Callum, a straight, erect, smiling young Irishman, who looked
+as though he might carve a notable career for himself.  She wore a
+short, girlish dress that came to a little below her shoe-tops, a
+pale-figured lavender and white silk, with a fluffy hoop-skirt of
+dainty laced-edged ruffles, against which tiny bows of lavender
+stood out in odd places.  There was a great sash of lavender about
+her waist, and in her hair a rosette of the same color.  She looked
+exceedingly winsome--eager and bright-eyed.
+
+But behind her was her sister in ravishing black satin, scaled as
+a fish with glistening crimsoned-silver sequins, her round, smooth
+arms bare to the shoulders, her corsage cut as low in the front
+and back as her daring, in relation to her sense of the proprieties,
+permitted.  She was naturally of exquisite figure, erect,
+full-breasted, with somewhat more than gently swelling hips, which,
+nevertheless, melted into lovely, harmonious lines; and this
+low-cut corsage, receding back and front into a deep V, above a
+short, gracefully draped overskirt of black tulle and silver
+tissue, set her off to perfection.  Her full, smooth, roundly
+modeled neck was enhanced in its cream-pink whiteness by an
+inch-wide necklet of black jet cut in many faceted black squares.
+Her complexion, naturally high in tone because of the pink of
+health, was enhanced by the tiniest speck of black court-plaster
+laid upon her cheekbone; and her hair, heightened in its reddish-gold
+by her dress, was fluffed loosely and adroitly about her eyes.
+The main mass of this treasure was done in two loose braids caught
+up in a black spangled net at the back of her neck; and her
+eyebrows had been emphasized by a pencil into something almost as
+significant as her hair.  She was, for the occasion, a little too
+emphatic, perhaps, and yet more because of her burning vitality
+than of her costume.  Art for her should have meant subduing her
+physical and spiritual significance.  Life for her meant emphasizing
+them.
+
+"Lillian!" Anna nudged her sister-in-law.  She was grieved to think
+that Aileen was wearing black and looked so much better than either
+of them.
+
+"I see," Lillian replied, in a subdued tone.
+
+"So you're back again."  She was addressing Aileen.  "It's chilly
+out, isn't it?"
+
+"I don't mind.  Don't the rooms look lovely?"
+
+She was gazing at the softly lighted chambers and the throng before
+her.
+
+Norah began to babble to Anna.  "You know, I just thought I never
+would get this old thing on."  She was speaking of her dress.
+"Aileen wouldn't help me--the mean thing!"
+
+Aileen had swept on to Cowperwood and his mother, who was near
+him.  She had removed from her arm the black satin ribbon which
+held her train and kicked the skirts loose and free.  Her eyes
+gleamed almost pleadingly for all her hauteur, like a spirited
+collie's, and her even teeth showed beautifully.
+
+Cowperwood understood her precisely, as he did any fine, spirited
+animal.
+
+"I can't tell you how nice you look," he whispered to her,
+familiarly, as though there was an old understanding between them.
+"You're like fire and song."
+
+He did not know why he said this.  He was not especially poetic.
+He had not formulated the phrase beforehand.  Since his first
+glimpse of her in the hall, his feelings and ideas had been leaping
+and plunging like spirited horses.  This girl made him set his
+teeth and narrow his eyes.  Involuntarily he squared his jaw,
+looking more defiant, forceful, efficient, as she drew near,
+
+But Aileen and her sister were almost instantly surrounded by
+young men seeking to be introduced and to write their names on
+dance-cards, and for the time being she was lost to view.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVIII
+
+
+
+
+The seeds of change--subtle, metaphysical--are rooted deeply.
+From the first mention of the dance by Mrs. Cowperwood and Anna,
+Aileen had been conscious of a desire toward a more effective
+presentation of herself than as yet, for all her father's money,
+she had been able to achieve.  The company which she was to
+encounter, as she well knew, was to be so much more impressive,
+distinguished than anything she had heretofore known socially.
+Then, too, Cowperwood appeared as something more definite in her
+mind than he had been before, and to save herself she could not
+get him out of her consciousness.
+
+A vision of him had come to her but an hour before as she was
+dressing.  In a way she had dressed for him.  She was never
+forgetful of the times he had looked at her in an interested
+way.  He had commented on her hands once.  To-day he had said
+that she looked "stunning," and she had thought how easy it
+would be to impress him to-night--to show him how truly beautiful
+she was.
+
+She had stood before her mirror between eight and nine--it was
+nine-fifteen before she was really ready--and pondered over what
+she should wear.  There were two tall pier-glasses in her wardrobe--
+an unduly large piece of furniture--and one in her closet door.
+She stood before the latter, looking at her bare arms and shoulders,
+her shapely figure, thinking of the fact that her left shoulder
+had a dimple, and that she had selected garnet garters decorated
+with heart-shaped silver buckles.  The corset could not be made
+quite tight enough at first, and she chided her maid, Kathleen
+Kelly.  She studied how to arrange her hair, and there was much
+ado about that before it was finally adjusted.  She penciled her
+eyebrows and plucked at the hair about her forehead to make it
+loose and shadowy.  She cut black court-plaster with her nail-shears
+and tried different-sized pieces in different places.  Finally,
+she found one size and one place that suited her.  She turned her
+head from side to side, looking at the combined effect of her
+hair, her penciled brows, her dimpled shoulder, and the black
+beauty-spot.  If some one man could see her as she was now, some
+time! Which man? That thought scurried back like a frightened rat
+into its hole.  She was, for all her strength, afraid of the
+thought of the one--the very deadly--the man.
+
+And then she came to the matter of a train-gown.  Kathleen laid
+out five, for Aileen had come into the joy and honor of these
+things recently, and she had, with the permission of her mother
+and father, indulged herself to the full.  She studied a golden-yellow
+silk, with cream-lace shoulder-straps, and some gussets of garnet
+beads in the train that shimmered delightfully, but set it aside.
+She considered favorably a black-and-white striped silk of odd
+gray effect, and, though she was sorely tempted to wear it, finally
+let it go.  There was a maroon dress, with basque and overskirt
+over white silk; a rich cream-colored satin; and then this black
+sequined gown, which she finally chose.  She tried on the
+cream-colored satin first, however, being in much doubt about
+it; but her penciled eyes and beauty-spot did not seem to
+harmonize with it.  Then she put on the black silk with its
+glistening crimsoned-silver sequins, and, lo, it touched her.
+She liked its coquettish drapery of tulle and silver about the
+hips.  The "overskirt," which was at that time just coming into
+fashion, though avoided by the more conservative, had been adopted
+by Aileen with enthusiasm.  She thrilled a little at the rustle of
+this black dress, and thrust her chin and nose forward to make it
+set right.  Then after having Kathleen tighten her corsets a
+little more, she gathered the train over her arm by its train-band
+and looked again.  Something was wanting.  Oh, yes, her neck!
+What to wear--red coral? It did not look right.  A string of
+pearls? That would not do either.  There was a necklace made of
+small cameos set in silver which her mother had purchased, and
+another of diamonds which belonged to her mother, but they were
+not right.  Finally, her jet necklet, which she did not value very
+highly, came into her mind, and, oh, how lovely it looked! How
+soft and smooth and glistening her chin looked above it.  She
+caressed her neck affectionately, called for her black lace
+mantilla, her long, black silk dolman lined with red, and she
+was ready.
+
+The ball-room, as she entered, was lovely enough.  The young men
+and young women she saw there were interesting, and she was not
+wanting for admirers.  The most aggressive of these youths--the
+most forceful--recognized in this maiden a fillip to life, a sting
+to existence.  She was as a honey-jar surrounded by too hungry
+flies.
+
+But it occurred to her, as her dance-list was filling up, that
+there was not much left for Mr. Cowperwood, if he should care to
+dance with her.
+
+Cowperwood was meditating, as he received the last of the guests,
+on the subtlety of this matter of the sex arrangement of life.
+Two sexes.  He was not at all sure that there was any law governing
+them.  By comparison now with Aileen Butler, his wife looked rather
+dull, quite too old, and when he was ten years older she would
+look very much older.
+
+"Oh, yes, Ellsworth had made quite an attractive arrangement out
+of these two houses--better than we ever thought he could do."
+He was talking to Henry Hale Sanderson, a young banker.  "He had
+the advantage of combining two into one, and I think he's done
+more with my little one, considering the limitations of space,
+than he has with this big one.  Father's has the advantage of size.
+I tell the old gentleman he's simply built a lean-to for me."
+
+His father and a number of his cronies were over in the dining-room
+of his grand home, glad to get away from the crowd.  He would have
+to stay, and, besides, he wanted to.  Had he better dance with
+Aileen? His wife cared little for dancing, but he would have to
+dance with her at least once.  There was Mrs. Seneca Davis smiling
+at him, and Aileen.  By George, how wonderful! What a girl!
+
+"I suppose your dance-list is full to overflowing.  Let me see."
+He was standing before her and she was holding out the little
+blue-bordered, gold-monogrammed booklet.  An orchestra was playing
+in the music room.  The dance would begin shortly.  There were
+delicately constructed, gold-tinted chairs about the walls and
+behind palms.
+
+He looked down into her eyes--those excited, life-loving, eager
+eyes.
+
+"You're quite full up.  Let me see.  Nine, ten, eleven.  Well,
+that will be enough.  I don't suppose I shall want to dance very
+much.  It's nice to be popular."
+
+"I'm not sure about number three.  I think that's a mistake.  You
+might have that if you wish."
+
+She was falsifying.
+
+"It doesn't matter so much about him, does it?"
+
+His cheeks flushed a little as he said this.
+
+"No."
+
+Her own flamed.
+
+"Well, I'll see where you are when it's called.  You're darling.
+I'm afraid of you."  He shot a level, interpretive glance into
+her eyes, then left.  Aileen's bosom heaved.  It was hard to
+breathe sometimes in this warm air.
+
+While he was dancing first with Mrs. Cowperwood and later with
+Mrs. Seneca Davis, and still later with Mrs. Martyn Walker,
+Cowperwood had occasion to look at Aileen often, and each time
+that he did so there swept over him a sense of great vigor there,
+of beautiful if raw, dynamic energy that to him was irresistible
+and especially so to-night.  She was so young.  She was beautiful,
+this girl, and in spite of his wife's repeated derogatory comments
+he felt that she was nearer to his clear, aggressive, unblinking
+attitude than any one whom he had yet seen in the form of woman.
+She was unsophisticated, in a way, that was plain, and yet in
+another way it would take so little to make her understand so much.
+Largeness was the sense he had of her--not physically, though
+she was nearly as tall as himself--but emotionally.  She seemed
+so intensely alive.  She passed close to him a number of times,
+her eyes wide and smiling, her lips parted, her teeth agleam, and
+he felt a stirring of sympathy and companionship for her which he
+had not previously experienced.  She was lovely, all of her--
+delightful.
+
+"I'm wondering if that dance is open now," he said to her as he
+drew near toward the beginning of the third set.  She was seated
+with her latest admirer in a far corner of the general living-room,
+a clear floor now waxed to perfection.  A few palms here and
+there made embrasured parapets of green.  "I hope you'll excuse me,"
+he added, deferentially, to her companion.
+
+"Surely," the latter replied, rising.
+
+"Yes, indeed," she replied.  "And you'd better stay here with me.
+It's going to begin soon.  You won't mind?" she added, giving her
+companion a radiant smile.
+
+"Not at all.  I've had a lovely waltz."  He strolled off.
+
+Cowperwood sat down.  "That's young Ledoux, isn't it? I thought
+so.  I saw you dancing.  You like it, don't you?"
+
+"I'm crazy about it."
+
+"Well, I can't say that myself.  It's fascinating, though.  Your
+partner makes such a difference.  Mrs. Cowperwood doesn't like it
+as much as I do."
+
+His mention of Lillian made Aileen think of her in a faintly
+derogative way for a moment.
+
+"I think you dance very well.  I watched you, too."  She questioned
+afterwards whether she should have said this.  It sounded most
+forward now--almost brazen.
+
+"Oh, did you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+He was a little keyed up because of her--slightly cloudy in his
+thoughts--because she was generating a problem in his life, or
+would if he let her, and so his talk was a little tame.  He was
+thinking of something to say--some words which would bring them
+a little nearer together.  But for the moment he could not.  Truth
+to tell, he wanted to say a great deal.
+
+"Well, that was nice of you," he added, after a moment.  "What
+made you do it?"
+
+He turned with a mock air of inquiry.  The music was beginning
+again.  The dancers were rising.  He arose.
+
+He had not intended to give this particular remark a serious
+turn; but, now that she was so near him, he looked into her eyes
+steadily but with a soft appeal and said, "Yes, why?"
+
+They had come out from behind the palms.  He had put his hand
+to her waist.  His right arm held her left extended arm to arm,
+palm to palm.  Her right hand was on his shoulder, and she was
+close to him, looking into his eyes.  As they began the gay
+undulations of the waltz she looked away and then down without
+answering.  Her movements were as light and airy as those of a
+butterfly.  He felt a sudden lightness himself, communicated as
+by an invisible current.  He wanted to match the suppleness of
+her body with his own, and did.  Her arms, the flash and glint
+of the crimson sequins against the smooth, black silk of her
+closely fitting dress, her neck, her glowing, radiant hair, all
+combined to provoke a slight intellectual intoxication.  She was
+so vigorously young, so, to him, truly beautiful.
+
+"But you didn't answer," he continued.
+
+"Isn't this lovely music?"
+
+He pressed her fingers.
+
+She lifted shy eyes to him now, for, in spite of her gay,
+aggressive force, she was afraid of him.  His personality was
+obviously so dominating.  Now that he was so close to her,
+dancing, she conceived of him as something quite wonderful, and
+yet she experienced a nervous reaction--a momentary desire to
+run away.
+
+"Very well, if you won't tell me," he smiled, mockingly.
+
+He thought she wanted him to talk to her so, to tease her with
+suggestions of this concealed feeling of his--this strong liking.
+He wondered what could come of any such understanding as this,
+anyhow?
+
+"Oh, I just wanted to see how you danced," she said, tamely, the
+force of her original feeling having been weakened by a thought
+of what she was doing.  He noted the change and smiled.  It was
+lovely to be dancing with her.  He had not thought mere dancing
+could hold such charm.
+
+"You like me?" he said, suddenly, as the music drew to its close.
+
+She thrilled from head to toe at the question.  A piece of ice
+dropped down her back could not have startled her more.  It was
+apparently tactless, and yet it was anything but tactless.  She
+looked up quickly, directly, but his strong eyes were too much for
+her.
+
+"Why, yes," she answered, as the music stopped, trying to keep an
+even tone to her voice.  She was glad they were walking toward a
+chair.
+
+"I like you so much," he said, "that I have been wondering if you
+really like me."  There was an appeal in his voice, soft and gentle.
+His manner was almost sad.
+
+"Why, yes," she replied, instantly, returning to her earlier mood
+toward him.  "You know I do."
+
+"I need some one like you to like me," he continued, in the same
+vein.  "I need some one like you to talk to.  I didn't think so
+before--but now I do.  You are beautiful--wonderful."
+
+"We mustn't," she said.  "I mustn't.  I don't know what I'm doing."
+She looked at a young man strolling toward her, and asked: "I have
+to explain to him.  He's the one I had this dance with."
+
+Cowperwood understood.  He walked away.  He was quite warm and
+tense now--almost nervous.  It was quite clear to him that he had
+done or was contemplating perhaps a very treacherous thing.  Under
+the current code of society he had no right to do it.  It was
+against the rules, as they were understood by everybody.  Her
+father, for instance--his father--every one in this particular
+walk of life.  However, much breaking of the rules under the
+surface of things there might be, the rules were still there.  As
+he had heard one young man remark once at school, when some story
+had been told of a boy leading a girl astray and to a disastrous
+end, "That isn't the way at all."
+
+Still, now that he had said this, strong thoughts of her were in
+his mind.  And despite his involved social and financial position,
+which he now recalled, it was interesting to him to see how
+deliberately and even calculatingly--and worse, enthusiastically--
+he was pumping the bellows that tended only to heighten the flames
+of his desire for this girl; to feed a fire that might ultimately
+consume him--and how deliberately and resourcefully!
+
+Aileen toyed aimlessly with her fan as a black-haired, thin-faced
+young law student talked to her, and seeing Norah in the distance
+she asked to be allowed to run over to her.
+
+"Oh, Aileen," called Norah, "I've been looking for you everywhere.
+Where have you been?"
+
+"Dancing, of course.  Where do you suppose I've been? Didn't you
+see me on the floor?"
+
+"No, I didn't," complained Norah, as though it were most essential
+that she should.  "How late are you going to stay?"
+
+"Until it's over, I suppose.  I don't know."
+
+"Owen says he's going at twelve."
+
+"Well, that doesn't matter.  Some one will take me home.  Are you
+having a good time?"
+
+"Fine.  Oh, let me tell you.  I stepped on a lady's dress over
+there, last dance.  She was terribly angry.  She gave me such a
+look."
+
+"Well, never mind, honey.  She won't hurt you.  Where are you going
+now?"
+
+Aileen always maintained a most guardian-like attitude toward her
+sister.
+
+"I want to find Callum.  He has to dance with me next time.  I
+know what he's trying to do.  He's trying to get away from me.
+But he won't."
+
+Aileen smiled.  Norah looked very sweet.  And she was so bright.
+What would she think of her if she knew? She turned back, and her
+fourth partner sought her.  She began talking gayly, for she felt
+that she had to make a show of composure; but all the while there
+was ringing in her ears that definite question of his, "You like
+me, don't you?" and her later uncertain but not less truthful
+answer, "Yes, of course I do."
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIX
+
+
+
+
+The growth of a passion is a very peculiar thing.  In highly
+organized intellectual and artistic types it is so often apt to
+begin with keen appreciation of certain qualities, modified by
+many, many mental reservations.  The egoist, the intellectual,
+gives but little of himself and asks much.  Nevertheless, the
+lover of life, male or female, finding himself or herself in
+sympathetic accord with such a nature, is apt to gain much.
+
+Cowperwood was innately and primarily an egoist and intellectual,
+though blended strongly therewith, was a humane and democratic
+spirit.  We think of egoism and intellectualism as closely confined
+to the arts.  Finance is an art.  And it presents the operations
+of the subtlest of the intellectuals and of the egoists.  Cowperwood
+was a financier.  Instead of dwelling on the works of nature, its
+beauty and subtlety, to his material disadvantage, he found a happy
+mean, owing to the swiftness of his intellectual operations,
+whereby he could, intellectually and emotionally, rejoice in the
+beauty of life without interfering with his perpetual material
+and financial calculations.  And when it came to women and morals,
+which involved so much relating to beauty, happiness, a sense of
+distinction and variety in living, he was but now beginning to
+suspect for himself at least that apart from maintaining organized
+society in its present form there was no basis for this one-life,
+one-love idea.  How had it come about that so many people agreed
+on this single point, that it was good and necessary to marry one
+woman and cleave to her until death? He did not know.  It was not
+for him to bother about the subtleties of evolution, which even
+then was being noised abroad, or to ferret out the curiosities of
+history in connection with this matter.  He had no time.  Suffice
+it that the vagaries of temperament and conditions with which he
+came into immediate contact proved to him that there was great
+dissatisfaction with that idea.  People did not cleave to each other
+until death; and in thousands of cases where they did, they did not
+want to.  Quickness of mind, subtlety of idea, fortuitousness of
+opportunity, made it possible for some people to right their
+matrimonial and social infelicities; whereas for others, because of
+dullness of wit, thickness of comprehension, poverty, and lack of
+charm, there was no escape from the slough of their despond.  They
+were compelled by some devilish accident of birth or lack of force
+or resourcefulness to stew in their own juice of wretchedness, or to
+shuffle off this mortal coil--which under other circumstances had
+such glittering possibilities--via the rope, the knife, the bullet,
+or the cup of poison.
+
+"I would die, too," he thought to himself, one day, reading of a
+man who, confined by disease and poverty, had lived for twelve years
+alone in a back bedroom attended by an old and probably decrepit
+housekeeper.  A darning-needle forced into his heart had ended his
+earthly woes.  "To the devil with such a life! Why twelve years?
+Why not at the end of the second or third?"
+
+Again, it was so very evident, in so many ways, that force was the
+answer--great mental and physical force.  Why, these giants of
+commerce and money could do as they pleased in this life, and did.
+He had already had ample local evidence of it in more than one
+direction.  Worse--the little guardians of so-called law and morality,
+the newspapers, the preachers, the police, and the public moralists
+generally, so loud in their denunciation of evil in humble places,
+were cowards all when it came to corruption in high ones.  They did
+not dare to utter a feeble squeak until some giant had accidentally
+fallen and they could do so without danger to themselves.  Then, O
+Heavens, the palaver! What beatings of tom-toms! What mouthings of
+pharisaical moralities--platitudes! Run now, good people, for you
+may see clearly how evil is dealt with in high places! It made him
+smile.  Such hypocrisy! Such cant! Still, so the world was organized,
+and it was not for him to set it right.  Let it wag as it would.
+The thing for him to do was to get rich and hold his own--to build
+up a seeming of virtue and dignity which would pass muster for the
+genuine thing.  Force would do that.  Quickness of wit.  And he had
+these.  "I satisfy myself," was his motto; and it might well have
+been emblazoned upon any coat of arms which he could have contrived
+to set forth his claim to intellectual and social nobility.
+
+But this matter of Aileen was up for consideration and solution at
+this present moment, and because of his forceful, determined
+character he was presently not at all disturbed by the problem it
+presented.  It was a problem, like some of those knotty financial
+complications which presented themselves daily; but it was not
+insoluble.  What did he want to do? He couldn't leave his wife and
+fly with Aileen, that was certain.  He had too many connections.
+He had too many social, and thinking of his children and parents,
+emotional as well as financial ties to bind him.  Besides, he was
+not at all sure that he wanted to.  He did not intend to leave his
+growing interests, and at the same time he did not intend to give
+up Aileen immediately.  The unheralded manifestation of interest
+on her part was too attractive.  Mrs. Cowperwood was no longer
+what she should be physically and mentally, and that in itself
+to him was sufficient to justify his present interest in this girl.
+Why fear anything, if only he could figure out a way to achieve it
+without harm to himself? At the same time he thought it might never
+be possible for him to figure out any practical or protective
+program for either himself or Aileen, and that made him silent and
+reflective.  For by now he was intensely drawn to her, as he could
+feel--something chemic and hence dynamic was uppermost in him now
+and clamoring for expression.
+
+At the same time, in contemplating his wife in connection with
+all this, he had many qualms, some emotional, some financial.
+While she had yielded to his youthful enthusiasm for her after
+her husband's death, he had only since learned that she was a
+natural conservator of public morals--the cold purity of the
+snowdrift in so far as the world might see, combined at times
+with the murky mood of the wanton.  And yet, as he had also
+learned, she was ashamed of the passion that at times swept and
+dominated her.  This irritated Cowperwood, as it would always
+irritate any strong, acquisitive, direct-seeing temperament.
+While he had no desire to acquaint the whole world with his
+feelings, why should there be concealment between them, or at
+least mental evasion of a fact which physically she subscribed
+to? Why do one thing and think another? To be sure, she was devoted
+to him in her quiet way, not passionately (as he looked back he
+could not say that she had ever been that), but intellectually.
+Duty, as she understood it, played a great part in this.  She was
+dutiful.  And then what people thought, what the time-spirit
+demanded--these were the great things.  Aileen, on the contrary,
+was probably not dutiful, and it was obvious that she had no
+temperamental connection with current convention.  No doubt she
+had been as well instructed as many another girl, but look at her.
+She was not obeying her instructions.
+
+In the next three months this relationship took on a more flagrant
+form.  Aileen, knowing full well what her parents would think, how
+unspeakable in the mind of the current world were the thoughts
+she was thinking, persisted, nevertheless, in so thinking and
+longing.  Cowperwood, now that she had gone thus far and compromised
+herself in intention, if not in deed, took on a peculiar charm for
+her.  It was not his body--great passion is never that, exactly.
+The flavor of his spirit was what attracted and compelled, like the
+glow of a flame to a moth.  There was a light of romance in his
+eyes, which, however governed and controlled--was directive and
+almost all-powerful to her.
+
+When he touched her hand at parting, it was as though she had
+received an electric shock, and she recalled that it was very
+difficult for her to look directly into his eyes.  Something akin
+to a destructive force seemed to issue from them at times.  Other
+people, men particularly, found it difficult to face Cowperwood's
+glazed stare.  It was as though there were another pair of eyes
+behind those they saw, watching through thin, obscuring curtains.
+You could not tell what he was thinking.
+
+And during the next few months she found herself coming closer
+and closer to Cowperwood.  At his home one evening, seated at the
+piano, no one else being present at the moment, he leaned over and
+kissed her.  There was a cold, snowy street visible through the
+interstices of the hangings of the windows, and gas-lamps flickering
+outside.  He had come in early, and hearing Aileen, he came to where
+she was seated at the piano.  She was wearing a rough, gray wool
+cloth dress, ornately banded with fringed Oriental embroidery in
+blue and burnt-orange, and her beauty was further enhanced by a gray
+hat planned to match her dress, with a plume of shaded orange and
+blue.  On her fingers were four or five rings, far too many--an opal,
+an emerald, a ruby, and a diamond--flashing visibly as she played.
+
+She knew it was he, without turning.  He came beside her, and she
+looked up smiling, the reverie evoked by Schubert partly vanishing--
+or melting into another mood.  Suddenly he bent over and pressed
+his lips firmly to hers.  His mustache thrilled her with its silky
+touch.  She stopped playing and tried to catch her breath, for,
+strong as she was, it affected her breathing.  Her heart was beating
+like a triphammer.  She did not say, "Oh," or, "You mustn't," but
+rose and walked over to a window, where she lifted a curtain,
+pretending to look out.  She felt as though she might faint, so
+intensely happy was she.
+
+Cowperwood followed her quickly.  Slipping his arms about her
+waist, he looked at her flushed cheeks, her clear, moist eyes and
+red mouth.
+
+"You love me?" he whispered, stern and compelling because of his
+desire.
+
+"Yes! Yes! You know I do."
+
+He crushed her face to his, and she put up her hands and stroked
+his hair.
+
+A thrilling sense of possession, mastery, happiness and understanding,
+love of her and of her body, suddenly overwhelmed him.
+
+"I love you," he said, as though he were surprised to hear himself
+say it.  "I didn't think I did, but I do.  You're beautiful.  I'm
+wild about you."
+
+"And I love you" she answered.  "I can't help it.  I know I shouldn't,
+but--oh--" Her hands closed tight over his ears and temples.  She
+put her lips to his and dreamed into his eyes.  Then she stepped
+away quickly, looking out into the street, and he walked back into
+the living-room.  They were quite alone.  He was debating whether
+he should risk anything further when Norah, having been in to see
+Anna next door, appeared and not long afterward Mrs. Cowperwood.
+Then Aileen and Norah left.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XX
+
+
+
+
+This definite and final understanding having been reached, it
+was but natural that this liaison should proceed to a closer and
+closer relationship.  Despite her religious upbringing, Aileen was
+decidedly a victim of her temperament.  Current religious feeling
+and belief could not control her.  For the past nine or ten years
+there had been slowly forming in her mind a notion of what her
+lover should be like.  He should be strong, handsome, direct,
+successful, with clear eyes, a ruddy glow of health, and a certain
+native understanding and sympathy--a love of life which matched
+her own.  Many young men had approached her.  Perhaps the nearest
+realization of her ideal was Father David, of St. Timothy's, and
+he was, of course, a priest and sworn to celibacy.  No word had
+ever passed between them but he had been as conscious of her as
+she of him.  Then came Frank Cowperwood, and by degrees, because
+of his presence and contact, he had been slowly built up in her
+mind as the ideal person.  She was drawn as planets are drawn to
+their sun.
+
+It is a question as to what would have happened if antagonistic
+forces could have been introduced just at this time.  Emotions and
+liaisons of this character can, of course, occasionally be broken
+up and destroyed.  The characters of the individuals can be modified
+or changed to a certain extent, but the force must be quite
+sufficient.  Fear is a great deterrent--fear of material loss where
+there is no spiritual dread--but wealth and position so often tend
+to destroy this dread.  It is so easy to scheme with means.  Aileen
+had no spiritual dread whatever.  Cowperwood was without spiritual
+or religious feeling.  He looked at this girl, and his one thought
+was how could he so deceive the world that he could enjoy her love
+and leave his present state undisturbed.  Love her he did surely.
+
+Business necessitated his calling at the Butlers' quite frequently,
+and on each occasion he saw Aileen.  She managed to slip forward
+and squeeze his hand the first time he came--to steal a quick,
+vivid kiss; and another time, as he was going out, she suddenly
+appeared from behind the curtains hanging at the parlor door.
+
+"Honey!"
+
+The voice was soft and coaxing.  He turned, giving her a warning
+nod in the direction of her father's room upstairs.
+
+She stood there, holding out one hand, and he stepped forward for
+a second.  Instantly her arms were about his neck, as he slipped
+his about her waist.
+
+"I long to see you so."
+
+"I, too.  I'll fix some way.  I'm thinking."
+
+He released her arms, and went out, and she ran to the window and
+looked out after him.  He was walking west on the street, for his
+house was only a few blocks away, and she looked at the breadth
+of his shoulders, the balance of his form.  He stepped so briskly,
+so incisively.  Ah, this was a man! He was her Frank.  She thought
+of him in that light already.  Then she sat down at the piano and
+played pensively until dinner.
+
+And it was so easy for the resourceful mind of Frank Cowperwood,
+wealthy as he was, to suggest ways and means.  In his younger
+gallivantings about places of ill repute, and his subsequent
+occasional variations from the straight and narrow path, he had
+learned much of the curious resources of immorality.  Being a city
+of five hundred thousand and more at this time, Philadelphia had
+its nondescript hotels, where one might go, cautiously and fairly
+protected from observation; and there were houses of a conservative,
+residential character, where appointments might be made, for a
+consideration.  And as for safeguards against the production of
+new life--they were not mysteries to him any longer.  He knew all
+about them.  Care was the point of caution.  He had to be cautious,
+for he was so rapidly coming to be an influential and a distinguished
+man.  Aileen, of course, was not conscious, except in a vague way,
+of the drift of her passion; the ultimate destiny to which this
+affection might lead was not clear to her.  Her craving was for
+love--to be fondled and caressed--and she really did not think so
+much further.  Further thoughts along this line were like rats that
+showed their heads out of dark holes in shadowy corners and scuttled
+back at the least sound.  And, anyhow, all that was to be connected
+with Cowperwood would be beautiful.  She really did not think that
+he loved her yet as he should; but he would.  She did not know that
+she wanted to interfere with the claims of his wife.  She did not
+think she did.  But it would not hurt Mrs. Cowperwood if Frank
+loved her--Aileen--also.
+
+How shall we explain these subtleties of temperament and desire?
+Life has to deal with them at every turn.  They will not down, and
+the large, placid movements of nature outside of man's little
+organisms would indicate that she is not greatly concerned.  We
+see much punishment in the form of jails, diseases, failures, and
+wrecks; but we also see that the old tendency is not visibly
+lessened.  Is there no law outside of the subtle will and power of
+the individual to achieve? If not, it is surely high time that we
+knew it--one and all.  We might then agree to do as we do; but
+there would be no silly illusion as to divine regulation.  Vox
+populi, vox Dei.
+
+So there were other meetings, lovely hours which they soon began
+to spend the moment her passion waxed warm enough to assure
+compliance, without great fear and without thought of the deadly
+risk involved.  From odd moments in his own home, stolen when
+there was no one about to see, they advanced to clandestine
+meetings beyond the confines of the city.  Cowperwood was not one
+who was temperamentally inclined to lose his head and neglect his
+business.  As a matter of fact, the more he thought of this rather
+unexpected affectional development, the more certain he was that
+he must not let it interfere with his business time and judgment.
+His office required his full attention from nine until three,
+anyhow.  He could give it until five-thirty with profit; but he
+could take several afternoons off, from three-thirty until
+five-thirty or six, and no one would be the wiser.  It was
+customary for Aileen to drive alone almost every afternoon a
+spirited pair of bays, or to ride a mount, bought by her father
+for her from a noted horse-dealer in Baltimore.  Since Cowperwood
+also drove and rode, it was not difficult to arrange meeting-places
+far out on the Wissahickon or the Schuylkill road.  There were
+many spots in the newly laid-out park, which were as free from
+interruption as the depths of a forest.  It was always possible
+that they might encounter some one; but it was also always
+possible to make a rather plausible explanation, or none at all,
+since even in case of such an encounter nothing, ordinarily, would
+be suspected.
+
+So, for the time being there was love-making, the usual billing
+and cooing of lovers in a simple and much less than final fashion;
+and the lovely horseback rides together under the green trees of
+the approaching spring were idyllic.  Cowperwood awakened to a
+sense of joy in life such as he fancied, in the blush of this
+new desire, he had never experienced before.  Lillian had been
+lovely in those early days in which he had first called on her
+in North Front Street, and he had fancied himself unspeakably
+happy at that time; but that was nearly ten years since, and he
+had forgotten.  Since then he had had no great passion, no notable
+liaison; and then, all at once, in the midst of his new, great
+business prosperity, Aileen.  Her young body and soul, her
+passionate illusions.  He could see always, for all her daring,
+that she knew so little of the calculating, brutal world with
+which he was connected.  Her father had given her all the toys
+she wanted without stint; her mother and brothers had coddled her,
+particularly her mother.  Her young sister thought she was adorable.
+No one imagined for one moment that Aileen would ever do anything
+wrong.  She was too sensible, after all, too eager to get up in
+the world.  Why should she, when her life lay open and happy before
+her--a delightful love-match, some day soon, with some very eligible
+and satisfactory lover?
+
+"When you marry, Aileen," her mother used to say to her, "we'll
+have a grand time here.  Sure we'll do the house over then, if
+we don't do it before.  Eddie will have to fix it up, or I'll do
+it meself.  Never fear."
+
+"Yes--well, I'd rather you'd fix it now," was her reply.
+
+Butler himself used to strike her jovially on the shoulder in a
+rough, loving way, and ask, "Well, have you found him yet?" or
+"Is he hanging around the outside watchin' for ye?"
+
+If she said, "No," he would reply: "Well, he will be, never
+fear--worse luck.  I'll hate to see ye go, girlie! You can stay
+here as long as ye want to, and ye want to remember that you can
+always come back."
+
+Aileen paid very little attention to this bantering.  She loved
+her father, but it was all such a matter of course.  It was the
+commonplace of her existence, and not so very significant, though
+delightful enough.
+
+But how eagerly she yielded herself to Cowperwood under the spring
+trees these days! She had no sense of that ultimate yielding that
+was coming, for now he merely caressed and talked to her.  He was
+a little doubtful about himself.  His growing liberties for
+himself seemed natural enough, but in a sense of fairness to her
+he began to talk to her about what their love might involve.  Would
+she? Did she understand? This phase of it puzzled and frightened
+Aileen a little at first.  She stood before him one afternoon in
+her black riding-habit and high silk riding-hat perched jauntily
+on her red-gold hair; and striking her riding-skirt with her short
+whip, pondering doubtfully as she listened.  He had asked her
+whether she knew what she was doing? Whither they were drifting?
+If she loved him truly enough? The two horses were tethered in a
+thicket a score of yards away from the main road and from the bank
+of a tumbling stream, which they had approached.  She was trying
+to discover if she could see them.  It was pretense.  There was no
+interest in her glance.  She was thinking of him and the smartness
+of his habit, and the exquisiteness of this moment.  He had such
+a charming calico pony.  The leaves were just enough developed to
+make a diaphanous lacework of green.  It was like looking through
+a green-spangled arras to peer into the woods beyond or behind.
+The gray stones were already faintly messy where the water rippled
+and sparkled, and early birds were calling--robins and blackbirds
+and wrens.
+
+"Baby mine," he said, "do you understand all about this? Do you
+know exactly what you're doing when you come with me this way?"
+
+"I think I do."
+
+She struck her boot and looked at the ground, and then up through
+the trees at the blue sky.
+
+"Look at me, honey."
+
+"I don't want to."
+
+"But look at me, sweet.  I want to ask you something."
+
+"Don't make me, Frank, please.  I can't."
+
+"Oh yes, you can look at me."
+
+"No."
+
+She backed away as he took her hands, but came forward again,
+easily enough.
+
+"Now look in my eyes."
+
+"I can't."
+
+"See here."
+
+"I can't.  Don't ask me.  I'll answer you, but don't make me look
+at you."
+
+His hand stole to her cheek and fondled it.  He petted her shoulder,
+and she leaned her head against him.
+
+"Sweet, you're so beautiful," he said finally, "I can't give you
+up.  I know what I ought to do.  You know, too, I suppose; but I
+can't.  I must have you.  If this should end in exposure, it would
+be quite bad for you and me.  Do you understand?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I don't know your brothers very well; but from looking at them I
+judge they're pretty determined people.  They think a great deal
+of you."
+
+"Indeed, they do."  Her vanity prinked slightly at this.
+
+"They would probably want to kill me, and very promptly, for just
+this much.  What do you think they would want to do if--well, if
+anything should happen, some time?"
+
+He waited, watching her pretty face.
+
+"But nothing need happen.  We needn't go any further."
+
+"Aileen!"
+
+"I won't look at you.  You needn't ask.  I can't."
+
+"Aileen! Do you mean that?"
+
+"I don't know.  Don't ask me, Frank."
+
+"You know it can't stop this way, don't you? You know it.  This
+isn't the end.  Now, if--" He explained the whole theory of
+illicit meetings, calmly, dispassionately.  "You are perfectly
+safe, except for one thing, chance exposure.  It might just so
+happen; and then, of course, there would be a great deal to settle
+for.  Mrs. Cowperwood would never give me a divorce; she has no
+reason to.  If I should clean up in the way I hope to--if I should
+make a million--I wouldn't mind knocking off now.  I don't expect
+to work all my days.  I have always planned to knock off at
+thirty-five.  I'll have enough by that time.  Then I want to travel.
+It will only be a few more years now.  If you were free--if your
+father and mother were dead"--curiously she did not wince at this
+practical reference--"it would be a different matter."
+
+He paused.  She still gazed thoughtfully at the water below, her
+mind running out to a yacht on the sea with him, a palace somewhere--
+just they two.  Her eyes, half closed, saw this happy world; and,
+listening to him, she was fascinated.
+
+"Hanged if I see the way out of this, exactly.  But I love you!"
+He caught her to him.  "I love you--love you!"
+
+"Oh, yes," she replied intensely, "I want you to.  I'm not afraid."
+
+"I've taken a house in North Tenth Street," he said finally, as
+they walked over to the horses and mounted them.  "It isn't furnished
+yet; but it will be soon.  I know a woman who will take charge."
+
+"Who is she?"
+
+"An interesting widow of nearly fifty.  Very intelligent--she is
+attractive, and knows a good deal of life.  I found her through
+an advertisement.  You might call on her some afternoon when
+things are arranged, and look the place over.  You needn't meet
+her except in a casual way.  Will you?"
+
+She rode on, thinking, making no reply.  He was so direct and
+practical in his calculations.
+
+"Will you? It will be all right.  You might know her.  She isn't
+objectionable in any way.  Will you?"
+
+"Let me know when it is ready," was all she said finally.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXI
+
+
+
+
+The vagaries of passion! Subtleties! Risks! What sacrifices are
+not laid willfully upon its altar! In a little while this more
+than average residence to which Cowperwood had referred was
+prepared solely to effect a satisfactory method of concealment.
+The house was governed by a seemingly recently-bereaved widow,
+and it was possible for Aileen to call without seeming strangely
+out of place.  In such surroundings, and under such circumstances,
+it was not difficult to persuade her to give herself wholly to her
+lover, governed as she was by her wild and unreasoning affection
+and passion.  In a way, there was a saving element of love, for
+truly, above all others, she wanted this man.  She had no thought
+or feeling toward any other.  All her mind ran toward visions of
+the future, when, somehow, she and he might be together for all
+time.  Mrs. Cowperwood might die, or he might run away with her at
+thirty-five when he had a million.  Some adjustment would be made,
+somehow.  Nature had given her this man.  She relied on him
+implicitly.  When he told her that he would take care of her so
+that nothing evil should befall, she believed him fully.  Such
+sins are the commonplaces of the confessional.
+
+It is a curious fact that by some subtlety of logic in the Christian
+world, it has come to be believed that there can be no love outside
+the conventional process of courtship and marriage.  One life, one
+love, is the Christian idea, and into this sluice or mold it has
+been endeavoring to compress the whole world.  Pagan thought held
+no such belief.  A writing of divorce for trivial causes was the
+theory of the elders; and in the primeval world nature apparently
+holds no scheme for the unity of two beyond the temporary care of
+the young.  That the modern home is the most beautiful of schemes,
+when based upon mutual sympathy and understanding between two, need
+not be questioned.  And yet this fact should not necessarily carry
+with it a condemnation of all love not so fortunate as to find so
+happy a denouement.  Life cannot be put into any mold, and the
+attempt might as well be abandoned at once.  Those so fortunate as
+to find harmonious companionship for life should congratulate
+themselves and strive to be worthy of it.  Those not so blessed,
+though they be written down as pariahs, have yet some justification.
+And, besides, whether we will or not, theory or no theory, the
+basic facts of chemistry and physics remain.  Like is drawn to like.
+Changes in temperament bring changes in relationship.  Dogma may
+bind some minds; fear, others.  But there are always those in whom
+the chemistry and physics of life are large, and in whom neither
+dogma nor fear is operative.  Society lifts its hands in horror;
+but from age to age the Helens, the Messalinas, the Du Barrys,
+the Pompadours, the Maintenons, and the Nell Gwyns flourish and
+point a freer basis of relationship than we have yet been able to
+square with our lives.
+
+These two felt unutterably bound to each other.  Cowperwood, once
+he came to understand her, fancied that he had found the one person
+with whom he could live happily the rest of his life.  She was so
+young, so confident, so hopeful, so undismayed.  All these months
+since they had first begun to reach out to each other he had been
+hourly contrasting her with his wife.  As a matter of fact, his
+dissatisfaction, though it may be said to have been faint up to
+this time, was now surely tending to become real enough.  Still,
+his children were pleasing to him; his home beautiful.  Lillian,
+phlegmatic and now thin, was still not homely.  All these years
+he had found her satisfactory enough; but now his dissatisfaction
+with her began to increase.  She was not like Aileen--not young,
+not vivid, not as unschooled in the commonplaces of life.  And
+while ordinarily, he was not one who was inclined to be querulous,
+still now on occasion, he could be.  He began by asking questions
+concerning his wife's appearance--irritating little whys which
+are so trivial and yet so exasperating and discouraging to a
+woman.  Why didn't she get a mauve hat nearer the shade of her
+dress? Why didn't she go out more? Exercise would do her good.
+Why didn't she do this, and why didn't she do that? He scarcely
+noticed that he was doing this; but she did, and she felt the
+undertone--the real significance--and took umbrage.
+
+"Oh, why--why?" she retorted, one day, curtly.  "Why do you ask
+so many questions? You don't care so much for me any more; that's
+why.  I can tell."
+
+He leaned back startled by the thrust.  It had not been based on
+any evidence of anything save his recent remarks; but he was not
+absolutely sure.  He was just the least bit sorry that he had
+irritated her, and he said so.
+
+"Oh, it's all right," she replied.  "I don't care.  But I notice
+that you don't pay as much attention to me as you used to.  It's
+your business now, first, last, and all the time.  You can't get
+your mind off of that."
+
+He breathed a sigh of relief.  She didn't suspect, then.
+
+But after a little time, as he grew more and more in sympathy
+with Aileen, he was not so disturbed as to whether his wife might
+suspect or not.  He began to think on occasion, as his mind followed
+the various ramifications of the situation, that it would be better
+if she did.  She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.
+He now decided because of various calculations in regard to her
+character that she might not offer as much resistance to some
+ultimate rearrangement, as he had originally imagined.  She might
+even divorce him.  Desire, dreams, even in him were evoking
+calculations not as sound as those which ordinarily generated in
+his brain.
+
+No, as he now said to himself, the rub was not nearly so much in
+his own home, as it was in the Butler family.  His relations with
+Edward Malia Butler had become very intimate.  He was now advising
+with him constantly in regard to the handling of his securities,
+which were numerous.  Butler held stocks in such things as the
+Pennsylvania Coal Company, the Delaware and Hudson Canal, the
+Morris and Essex Canal, the Reading Railroad.  As the old gentleman's
+mind had broadened to the significance of the local street-railway
+problem in Philadelphia, he had decided to close out his other
+securities at such advantageous terms as he could, and reinvest
+the money in local lines.  He knew that Mollenhauer and Simpson
+were doing this, and they were excellent judges of the significance
+of local affairs.  Like Cowperwood, he had the idea that if he
+controlled sufficient of the local situation in this field, he
+could at last effect a joint relationship with Mollenhauer and
+Simpson.  Political legislation, advantageous to the combined lines,
+could then be so easily secured.  Franchises and necessary extensions
+to existing franchises could be added.  This conversion of his
+outstanding stock in other fields, and the picking up of odd lots
+in the local street-railway, was the business of Cowperwood.
+Butler, through his sons, Owen and Callum, was also busy planning
+a new line and obtaining a franchise, sacrificing, of course, great
+blocks of stock and actual cash to others, in order to obtain
+sufficient influence to have the necessary legislation passed.
+Yet it was no easy matter, seeing that others knew what the general
+advantages of the situation were, and because of this Cowperwood,
+who saw the great source of profit here, was able, betimes, to
+serve himself--buying blocks, a part of which only went to Butler,
+Mollenhauer or others.  In short he was not as eager to serve Butler,
+or any one else, as he was to serve himself if he could.
+
+In this connection, the scheme which George W. Stener had brought
+forward, representing actually in the background Strobik, Wycroft,
+and Harmon, was an opening wedge for himself.  Stener's plan was
+to loan him money out of the city treasury at two per cent., or,
+if he would waive all commissions, for nothing (an agent for
+self-protective purposes was absolutely necessary), and with it
+take over the North Pennsylvania Company's line on Front Street,
+which, because of the shortness of its length, one mile and a
+half, and the brevity of the duration of its franchise, was
+neither doing very well nor being rated very high.  Cowperwood in
+return for his manipulative skill was to have a fair proportion
+of the stock--twenty per cent.  Strobik and Wycroft knew the parties
+from whom the bulk of the stock could be secured if engineered
+properly.  Their plan was then, with this borrowed treasury money,
+to extend its franchise and then the line itself, and then later
+again, by issuing a great block of stock and hypothecating it with
+a favored bank, be able to return the principal to the city
+treasury and pocket their profits from the line as earned.  There
+was no trouble in this, in so far as Cowperwood was concerned,
+except that it divided the stock very badly among these various
+individuals, and left him but a comparatively small share--for
+his thought and pains.
+
+But Cowperwood was an opportunist.  And by this time his
+financial morality had become special and local in its character.
+He did not think it was wise for any one to steal anything from
+anybody where the act of taking or profiting was directly and
+plainly considered stealing.  That was unwise--dangerous--hence
+wrong.  There were so many situations wherein what one might do
+in the way of taking or profiting was open to discussion and doubt.
+Morality varied, in his mind at least, with conditions, if not
+climates.  Here, in Philadelphia, the tradition (politically, mind
+you--not generally) was that the city treasurer might use the money
+of the city without interest so long as he returned the principal
+intact.  The city treasury and the city treasurer were like a
+honey-laden hive and a queen bee around which the drones--the
+politicians--swarmed in the hope of profit.  The one disagreeable
+thing in connection with this transaction with Stener was that
+neither Butler, Mollenhauer nor Simpson, who were the actual
+superiors of Stener and Strobik, knew anything about it.  Stener
+and those behind him were, through him, acting for themselves.
+If the larger powers heard of this, it might alienate them.  He
+had to think of this.  Still, if he refused to make advantageous
+deals with Stener or any other man influential in local affairs,
+he was cutting off his nose to spite his face, for other bankers
+and brokers would, and gladly.  And besides it was not at all
+certain that Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson would ever hear.
+
+In this connection, there was another line, which he rode on
+occasionally, the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line, which
+he felt was a much more interesting thing for him to think about,
+if he could raise the money.  It had been originally capitalized
+for five hundred thousand dollars; but there had been a series of
+bonds to the value of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
+added for improvements, and the company was finding great difficulty
+in meeting the interest.  The bulk of the stock was scattered
+about among small investors, and it would require all of two
+hundred and fifty thousand dollars to collect it and have himself
+elected president or chairman of the board of directors.  Once in,
+however, he could vote this stock as he pleased, hypothecating it
+meanwhile at his father's bank for as much as he could get, and
+issuing more stocks with which to bribe legislators in the matter
+of extending the line, and in taking up other opportunities to
+either add to it by purchase or supplement it by working agreements.
+The word "bribe" is used here in this matter-of-fact American way,
+because bribery was what was in every one's mind in connection with
+the State legislature.  Terrence Relihan--the small, dark-faced
+Irishman, a dandy in dress and manners--who represented the financial
+interests at Harrisburg, and who had come to Cowperwood after the
+five million bond deal had been printed, had told him that nothing
+could be done at the capital without money, or its equivalent,
+negotiable securities.  Each significant legislator, if he yielded
+his vote or his influence, must be looked after.  If he, Cowperwood,
+had any scheme which he wanted handled at any time, Relihan had
+intimated to him that he would be glad to talk with him.  Cowperwood
+had figured on this Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line scheme
+more than once, but he had never felt quite sure that he was willing
+to undertake it.  His obligations in other directions were so large.
+But the lure was there, and he pondered and pondered.
+
+Stener's scheme of loaning him money wherewith to manipulate the
+North Pennsylvania line deal put this Seventeenth and Nineteenth
+Street dream in a more favorable light.  As it was he was constantly
+watching the certificates of loan issue, for the city treasury,
+--buying large quantities when the market was falling to protect
+it and selling heavily, though cautiously, when he saw it rising
+and to do this he had to have a great deal of free money to permit
+him to do it.  He was constantly fearful of some break in the
+market which would affect the value of all his securities and result
+in the calling of his loans.  There was no storm in sight.  He did
+not see that anything could happen in reason; but he did not want
+to spread himself out too thin.  As he saw it now, therefore if
+he took one hundred and fifty thousand dollars of this city money
+and went after this Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street matter it
+would not mean that he was spreading himself out too thin, for
+because of this new proposition could he not call on Stener for
+more as a loan in connection with these other ventures? But if
+anything should happen--well--
+
+"Frank," said Stener, strolling into his office one afternoon
+after four o'clock when the main rush of the day's work was over
+--the relationship between Cowperwood and Stener had long since
+reached the "Frank" and "George" period--"Strobik thinks he has
+that North Pennsylvania deal arranged so that we can take it up
+if we want to.  The principal stockholder, we find, is a man by
+the name of Coltan--not Ike Colton, but Ferdinand.  How's that
+for a name?" Stener beamed fatly and genially.
+
+Things had changed considerably for him since the days when he
+had been fortuitously and almost indifferently made city treasurer.
+His method of dressing had so much improved since he had been
+inducted into office, and his manner expressed so much more good
+feeling, confidence, aplomb, that he would not have recognized
+himself if he had been permitted to see himself as had those who
+had known him before.  An old, nervous shifting of the eyes had
+almost ceased, and a feeling of restfulness, which had previously
+been restlessness, and had sprung from a sense of necessity, had
+taken its place.  His large feet were incased in good, square-toed,
+soft-leather shoes; his stocky chest and fat legs were made somewhat
+agreeable to the eye by a well-cut suit of brownish-gray cloth;
+and his neck was now surrounded by a low, wing-point white collar
+and brown-silk tie.  His ample chest, which spread out a little
+lower in around and constantly enlarging stomach, was ornamented
+by a heavy-link gold chain, and his white cuffs had large gold
+cuff-buttons set with rubies of a very notable size.  He was rosy
+and decidedly well fed.  In fact, he was doing very well indeed.
+
+He had moved his family from a shabby two-story frame house in South
+Ninth Street to a very comfortable brick one three stories in height,
+and three times as large, on Spring Garden Street.  His wife had a
+few acquaintances--the wives of other politicians.  His children
+were attending the high school, a thing he had hardly hoped for
+in earlier days.  He was now the owner of fourteen or fifteen
+pieces of cheap real estate in different portions of the city,
+which might eventually become very valuable, and he was a silent
+partner in the South Philadelphia Foundry Company and the American
+Beef and Pork Company, two corporations on paper whose principal
+business was subletting contracts secured from the city to the
+humble butchers and foundrymen who would carry out orders as given
+and not talk too much or ask questions.
+
+"Well, that is an odd name," said Cowperwood, blandly.  "So he has
+it? I never thought that road would pay, as it was laid out.  It's
+too short.  It ought to run about three miles farther out into the
+Kensington section."
+
+"You're right," said Stener, dully.
+
+"Did Strobik say what Colton wants for his shares?"
+
+"Sixty-eight, I think."
+
+"The current market rate.  He doesn't want much, does he? Well,
+George, at that rate it will take about"--he calculated quickly
+on the basis of the number of shares Cotton was holding--"one
+hundred and twenty thousand to get him out alone.  That isn't all.
+There's Judge Kitchen and Joseph Zimmerman and Senator Donovan"--
+he was referring to the State senator of that name.  "You'll be
+paying a pretty fair price for that stud when you get it.  It will
+cost considerable more to extend the line.  It's too much, I think."
+
+Cowperwood was thinking how easy it would be to combine this line
+with his dreamed-of Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line, and
+after a time and with this in view he added:
+
+"Say, George, why do you work all your schemes through Strobik
+and Harmon and Wycroft? Couldn't you and I manage some of these
+things for ourselves alone instead of for three or four? It seems
+to me that plan would be much more profitable to you."
+
+"It would, it would!" exclaimed Stener, his round eyes fixed on
+Cowperwood in a rather helpless, appealing way.  He liked
+Cowperwood and had always been hoping that mentally as well as
+financially he could get close to him.  "I've thought of that.  But
+these fellows have had more experience in these matters than I
+have had, Frank.  They've been longer at the game.  I don't know
+as much about these things as they do."
+
+Cowperwood smiled in his soul, though his face remained passive.
+
+"Don't worry about them, George," he continued genially and
+confidentially.  "You and I together can know and do as much as
+they ever could and more.  I'm telling you.  Take this railroad
+deal you're in on now, George; you and I could manipulate that
+just as well and better than it can be done with Wycroft, Strobik,
+and Harmon in on it.  They're not adding anything to the wisdom of
+the situation.  They're not putting up any money.  You're doing
+that.  All they're doing is agreeing to see it through the
+legislature and the council, and as far as the legislature is
+concerned, they can't do any more with that than any one else
+could--than I could, for instance.  It's all a question of arranging
+things with Relihan, anyhow, putting up a certain amount of money
+for him to work with.  Here in town there are other people who can
+reach the council just as well as Strobik."  He was thinking (once
+he controlled a road of his own) of conferring with Butler and
+getting him to use his influence.  It would serve to quiet Strobik
+and his friends.  "I'm not asking you to change your plans on this
+North Pennsylvania deal.  You couldn't do that very well.  But there
+are other things.  In the future why not let's see if you and I
+can't work some one thing together? You'll be much better off, and
+so will I.  We've done pretty well on the city-loan proposition
+so far, haven't we?"
+
+The truth was, they had done exceedingly well.  Aside from what
+the higher powers had made, Stener's new house, his lots, his
+bank-account, his good clothes, and his changed and comfortable
+sense of life were largely due to Cowperwood's successful
+manipulation of these city-loan certificates.  Already there had
+been four issues of two hundred thousand dollars each.  Cowperwood
+had bought and sold nearly three million dollars' worth of these
+certificates, acting one time as a "bull" and another as a "bear."
+Stener was now worth all of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
+
+"There's a line that I know of here in the city which could be made
+into a splendidly paying property," continued Cowperwood, meditatively,
+"if the right things could be done with it.  Just like this North
+Pennsylvania line, it isn't long enough.  The territory it serves
+isn't big enough.  It ought to be extended; but if you and I could
+get it, it might eventually be worked with this North Pennsylvania
+Company or some other as one company.  That would save officers and
+offices and a lot of things.  There is always money to be made out
+of a larger purchasing power."
+
+He paused and looked out the window of his handsome little hardwood
+office, speculating upon the future.  The window gave nowhere save
+into a back yard behind another office building which had formerly
+been a residence.  Some grass grew feebly there.  The red wall and
+old-fashioned brick fence which divided it from the next lot
+reminded him somehow of his old home in New Market Street, to which
+his Uncle Seneca used to come as a Cuban trader followed by his
+black Portuguese servitor.  He could see him now as he sat here
+looking at the yard.
+
+"Well," asked Stener, ambitiously, taking the bait, "why don't
+we get hold of that--you and me? I suppose I could fix it so far
+as the money is concerned.  How much would it take?"
+
+Cowperwood smiled inwardly again.
+
+"I don't know exactly," he said, after a time.  "I want to look
+into it more carefully.  The one trouble is that I'm carrying a
+good deal of the city's money as it is.  You see, I have that two
+hundred thousand dollars against your city-loan deals.  And this
+new scheme will take two or three hundred thousand more.  If that
+were out of the way--"
+
+He was thinking of one of the inexplicable stock panics--those
+strange American depressions which had so much to do with the
+temperament of the people, and so little to do with the basic
+conditions of the country.  "If this North Pennsylvania deal were
+through and done with--"
+
+He rubbed his chin and pulled at his handsome silky mustache.
+
+"Don't ask me any more about it, George," he said, finally, as
+he saw that the latter was beginning to think as to which line
+it might be.  "Don't say anything at all about it.  I want to
+get my facts exactly right, and then I'll talk to you.  I think
+you and I can do this thing a little later, when we get the North
+Pennsylvania scheme under way.  I'm so rushed just now I'm not
+sure that I want to undertake it at once; but you keep quiet and
+we'll see."  He turned toward his desk, and Stener got up.
+
+"I'll make any sized deposit with you that you wish, the moment
+you think you're ready to act, Frank," exclaimed Stener, and with
+the thought that Cowperwood was not nearly as anxious to do this
+as he should be, since he could always rely on him (Stener) when
+there was anything really profitable in the offing.  Why should
+not the able and wonderful Cowperwood be allowed to make the two
+of them rich? "Just notify Stires, and he'll send you a check.
+Strobik thought we ought to act pretty soon."
+
+"I'll tend to it, George," replied Cowperwood, confidently.  "It
+will come out all right.  Leave it to me."
+
+Stener kicked his stout legs to straighten his trousers, and
+extended his hand.  He strolled out in the street thinking of
+this new scheme.  Certainly, if he could get in with Cowperwood
+right he would be a rich man, for Cowperwood was so successful
+and so cautious.  His new house, this beautiful banking office,
+his growing fame, and his subtle connections with Butler and others
+put Stener in considerable awe of him.  Another line! They would
+control it and the North Pennsylvania! Why, if this went on, he
+might become a magnate--he really might--he, George W. Stener,
+once a cheap real-estate and insurance agent.  He strolled up the
+street thinking, but with no more idea of the importance of his
+civic duties and the nature of the social ethics against which
+he was offending than if they had never existed.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXII
+
+
+
+
+The services which Cowperwood performed during the ensuing year
+and a half for Stener, Strobik, Butler, State Treasurer Van Nostrand,
+State Senator Relihan, representative of "the interests," so-called,
+at Harrisburg, and various banks which were friendly to these
+gentlemen, were numerous and confidential.  For Stener, Strobik,
+Wycroft, Harmon and himself he executed the North Pennsylvania deal,
+by which he became a holder of a fifth of the controlling stock.
+Together he and Stener joined to purchase the Seventeenth and
+Nineteenth Street line and in the concurrent gambling in stocks.
+
+By the summer of 1871, when Cowperwood was nearly thirty-four
+years of age, he had a banking business estimated at nearly two
+million dollars, personal holdings aggregating nearly half a million,
+and prospects which other things being equal looked to wealth which
+might rival that of any American.  The city, through its treasurer--
+still Mr. Stener--was a depositor with him to the extent of nearly
+five hundred thousand dollars.  The State, through its State
+treasurer, Van Nostrand, carried two hundred thousand dollars on
+his books.  Bode was speculating in street-railway stocks to the
+extent of fifty thousand dollars.  Relihan to the same amount.  A
+small army of politicians and political hangers-on were on his
+books for various sums.  And for Edward Malia Butler he occasionally
+carried as high as one hundred thousand dollars in margins.  His
+own loans at the banks, varying from day to day on variously
+hypothecated securities, were as high as seven and eight hundred
+thousand dollars.  Like a spider in a spangled net, every thread
+of which he knew, had laid, had tested, he had surrounded and
+entangled himself in a splendid, glittering network of connections,
+and he was watching all the details.
+
+His one pet idea, the thing he put more faith in than anything
+else, was his street-railway manipulations, and particularly his
+actual control of the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line.
+Through an advance to him, on deposit, made in his bank by Stener
+at a time when the stock of the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street
+line was at a low ebb, he had managed to pick up fifty-one per
+cent. of the stock for himself and Stener, by virtue of which he
+was able to do as he pleased with the road.  To accomplish this,
+however, he had resorted to some very "peculiar" methods, as they
+afterward came to be termed in financial circles, to get this stock
+at his own valuation.  Through agents he caused suits for damages
+to be brought against the company for non-payment of interest due.
+A little stock in the hands of a hireling, a request made to a
+court of record to examine the books of the company in order to
+determine whether a receivership were not advisable, a simultaneous
+attack in the stock market, selling at three, five, seven, and
+ten points off, brought the frightened stockholders into the market
+with their holdings.  The banks considered the line a poor risk,
+and called their loans in connection with it.  His father's bank
+had made one loan to one of the principal stockholders, and that
+was promptly called, of course.  Then, through an agent, the
+several heaviest shareholders were approached and an offer was
+made to help them out.  The stocks would be taken off their hands
+at forty.  They had not really been able to discover the source
+of all their woes; and they imagined that the road was in bad
+condition, which it was not.  Better let it go.  The money was
+immediately forthcoming, and Cowperwood and Stener jointly
+controlled fifty-one per cent.  But, as in the case of the North
+Pennsylvania line, Cowperwood had been quietly buying all of the
+small minority holdings, so that he had in reality fifty-one per
+cent. of the stock, and Stener twenty-five per cent. more.
+
+This intoxicated him, for immediately he saw the opportunity of
+fulfilling his long-contemplated dream--that of reorganizing the
+company in conjunction with the North Pennsylvania line, issuing
+three shares where one had been before and after unloading all
+but a control on the general public, using the money secured to
+buy into other lines which were to be boomed and sold in the same
+way.  In short, he was one of those early, daring manipulators who
+later were to seize upon other and ever larger phases of American
+natural development for their own aggrandizement.
+
+In connection with this first consolidation, his plan was to
+spread rumors of the coming consolidation of the two lines, to
+appeal to the legislature for privileges of extension, to get up
+an arresting prospectus and later annual reports, and to boom the
+stock on the stock exchange as much as his swelling resources would
+permit.  The trouble is that when you are trying to make a market
+for a stock--to unload a large issue such as his was (over five
+hundred thousand dollars' worth)--while retaining five hundred
+thousand for yourself, it requires large capital to handle it.
+The owner in these cases is compelled not only to go on the market
+and do much fictitious buying, thus creating a fictitious demand,
+but once this fictitious demand has deceived the public and he has
+been able to unload a considerable quantity of his wares, he is,
+unless he rids himself of all his stock, compelled to stand behind
+it.  If, for instance, he sold five thousand shares, as was done
+in this instance, and retained five thousand, he must see that the
+public price of the outstanding five thousand shares did not fall
+below a certain point, because the value of his private shares would
+fall with it.  And if, as is almost always the case, the private
+shares had been hypothecated with banks and trust companies for
+money wherewith to conduct other enterprises, the falling of their
+value in the open market merely meant that the banks would call for
+large margins to protect their loans or call their loans entirely.
+This meant that his work was a failure, and he might readily fail.
+He was already conducting one such difficult campaign in connection
+with this city-loan deal, the price of which varied from day to day,
+and which he was only too anxious to have vary, for in the main he
+profited by these changes.
+
+But this second burden, interesting enough as it was, meant that
+he had to be doubly watchful.  Once the stock was sold at a high
+price, the money borrowed from the city treasurer could be returned;
+his own holdings created out of foresight, by capitalizing the
+future, by writing the shrewd prospectuses and reports, would be
+worth their face value, or little less.  He would have money to
+invest in other lines.  He might obtain the financial direction
+of the whole, in which case he would be worth millions.  One shrewd
+thing he did, which indicated the foresight and subtlety of the man,
+was to make a separate organization or company of any extension or
+addition which he made to his line.  Thus, if he had two or three
+miles of track on a street, and he wanted to extend it two or three
+miles farther on the same street, instead of including this extension
+in the existing corporation, he would make a second corporation
+to control the additional two or three miles of right of way.
+This corporation he would capitalize at so much, and issue stocks
+and bonds for its construction, equipment, and manipulation.  Having
+done this he would then take the sub-corporation over into the
+parent concern, issuing more stocks and bonds of the parent company
+wherewith to do it, and, of course, selling these bonds to the public.
+Even his brothers who worked for him did not know the various
+ramifications of his numerous deals, and executed his orders blindly.
+Sometimes Joseph said to Edward, in a puzzled way, "Well, Frank
+knows what he is about, I guess."
+
+On the other hand, he was most careful to see that every current
+obligation was instantly met, and even anticipated, for he wanted
+to make a great show of regularity.  Nothing was so precious as
+reputation and standing.  His forethought, caution, and promptness
+pleased the bankers.  They thought he was one of the sanest,
+shrewdest men they had ever met.
+
+However, by the spring and summer of 1871, Cowperwood had actually,
+without being in any conceivable danger from any source, spread
+himself out very thin.  Because of his great success he had grown
+more liberal--easier--in his financial ventures.  By degrees, and
+largely because of his own confidence in himself, he had induced
+his father to enter upon his street-car speculations, to use the
+resources of the Third National to carry a part of his loans and
+to furnish capital at such times as quick resources were necessary.
+In the beginning the old gentleman had been a little nervous and
+skeptical, but as time had worn on and nothing but profit eventuated,
+he grew bolder and more confident.
+
+"Frank," he would say, looking up over his spectacles, "aren't you
+afraid you're going a little too fast in these matters? You're
+carrying a lot of loans these days."
+
+"No more than I ever did, father, considering my resources.  You
+can't turn large deals without large loans.  You know that as
+well as I do."
+
+"Yes, I know, but--now that Green and Coates--aren't you going
+pretty strong there?"
+
+"Not at all.  I know the inside conditions there.  The stock is
+bound to go up eventually.  I'll bull it up.  I'll combine it with
+my other lines, if necessary."
+
+Cowperwood stared at his boy.  Never was there such a defiant,
+daring manipulator.
+
+"You needn't worry about me, father.  If you are going to do that,
+call my loans.  Other banks will loan on my stocks.  I'd like to
+see your bank have the interest."
+
+So Cowperwood, Sr., was convinced.  There was no gainsaying this
+argument.  His bank was loaning Frank heavily, but not more so
+than any other.  And as for the great blocks of stocks he was
+carrying in his son's companies, he was to be told when to get
+out should that prove necessary.  Frank's brothers were being
+aided in the same way to make money on the side, and their interests
+were also now bound up indissolubly with his own.
+
+With his growing financial opportunities, however, Cowperwood
+had also grown very liberal in what might be termed his standard
+of living.  Certain young art dealers in Philadelphia, learning
+of his artistic inclinations and his growing wealth, had followed
+him up with suggestions as to furniture, tapestries, rugs, objects
+of art, and paintings--at first the American and later the foreign
+masters exclusively.  His own and his father's house had not been
+furnished fully in these matters, and there was that other house
+in North Tenth Street, which he desired to make beautiful.  Aileen
+had always objected to the condition of her own home.  Love of
+distinguished surroundings was a basic longing with her, though
+she had not the gift of interpreting her longings.  But this place
+where they were secretly meeting must be beautiful.  She was as
+keen for that as he was.  So it became a veritable treasure-trove,
+more distinguished in furnishings than some of the rooms of his
+own home.  He began to gather here some rare examples of altar
+cloths, rugs, and tapestries of the Middle Ages.  He bought
+furniture after the Georgian theory--a combination of Chippendale,
+Sheraton, and Heppelwhite modified by the Italian Renaissance and
+the French Louis.  He learned of handsome examples of porcelain,
+statuary, Greek vase forms, lovely collections of Japanese ivories
+and netsukes.  Fletcher Gray, a partner in Cable & Gray, a local
+firm of importers of art objects, called on him in connection with
+a tapestry of the fourteenth century weaving.  Gray was an enthusiast
+and almost instantly he conveyed some of his suppressed and yet
+fiery love of the beautiful to Cowperwood.
+
+"There are fifty periods of one shade of blue porcelain alone,
+Mr. Cowperwood," Gray informed him.  "There are at least seven
+distinct schools or periods of rugs--Persian, Armenian, Arabian,
+Flemish, Modern Polish, Hungarian, and so on.  If you ever went
+into that, it would be a distinguished thing to get a complete--
+I mean a representative--collection of some one period, or of all
+these periods.  They are beautiful.  I have seen some of them,
+others I've read about."
+
+"You'll make a convert of me yet, Fletcher," replied Cowperwood.
+"You or art will be the ruin of me.  I'm inclined that way
+temperamentally as it is, I think, and between you and Ellsworth
+and Gordon Strake"--another young man intensely interested in
+painting--"you'll complete my downfall.  Strake has a splendid
+idea.  He wants me to begin right now--I'm using that word 'right'
+in the sense of 'properly,'" he commented--"and get what examples
+I can of just the few rare things in each school or period of art
+which would properly illustrate each.  He tells me the great
+pictures are going to increase in value, and what I could get for
+a few hundred thousand now will be worth millions later.  He doesn't
+want me to bother with American art."
+
+"He's right," exclaimed Gray, "although it isn't good business for
+me to praise another art man.  It would take a great deal of money,
+though."
+
+"Not so very much.  At least, not all at once.  It would be a
+matter of years, of course.  Strake thinks that some excellent
+examples of different periods could be picked up now and later
+replaced if anything better in the same held showed up."
+
+His mind, in spite of his outward placidity, was tinged with a
+great seeking.  Wealth, in the beginning, had seemed the only
+goal, to which had been added the beauty of women.  And now art,
+for art's sake--the first faint radiance of a rosy dawn--had begun
+to shine in upon him, and to the beauty of womanhood he was
+beginning to see how necessary it was to add the beauty of life--
+the beauty of material background--how, in fact, the only background
+for great beauty was great art.  This girl, this Aileen Butler,
+her raw youth and radiance, was nevertheless creating in him a
+sense of the distinguished and a need for it which had never
+existed in him before to the same degree.  It is impossible to
+define these subtleties of reaction, temperament on temperament,
+for no one knows to what degree we are marked by the things which
+attract us.  A love affair such as this had proved to be was little
+less or more than a drop of coloring added to a glass of clear
+water, or a foreign chemical agent introduced into a delicate
+chemical formula.
+
+In short, for all her crudeness, Aileen Butler was a definite force
+personally.  Her nature, in a way, a protest against the clumsy
+conditions by which she found herself surrounded, was almost
+irrationally ambitious.  To think that for so long, having been
+born into the Butler family, she had been the subject, as well as
+the victim of such commonplace and inartistic illusions and
+conditions, whereas now, owing to her contact with, and mental
+subordination to Cowperwood, she was learning so many wonderful
+phases of social, as well as financial, refinement of which
+previously she had guessed nothing.  The wonder, for instance, of
+a future social career as the wife of such a man as Frank Cowperwood.
+The beauty and resourcefulness of his mind, which, after hours of
+intimate contact with her, he was pleased to reveal, and which, so
+definite were his comments and instructions, she could not fail
+to sense.  The wonder of his financial and artistic and future
+social dreams.  And, oh, oh, she was his, and he was hers.  She
+was actually beside herself at times with the glory, as well as
+the delight of all this.
+
+At the same time, her father's local reputation as a quondam garbage
+contractor ("slop-collector" was the unfeeling comment of the
+vulgarian cognoscenti); her own unavailing efforts to right a
+condition of material vulgarity or artistic anarchy in her own
+home; the hopelessness of ever being admitted to those distinguished
+portals which she recognized afar off as the last sanctum sanctorum
+of established respectability and social distinction, had bred in
+her, even at this early age, a feeling of deadly opposition to her
+home conditions as they stood.  Such a house compared to Cowperwood's!
+Her dear, but ignorant, father! And this great man, her lover, had
+now condescended to love her--see in her his future wife.  Oh,
+God, that it might not fail! Through the Cowperwoods at first she
+had hoped to meet a few people, young men and women--and particularly
+men--who were above the station in which she found herself, and
+to whom her beauty and prospective fortune would commend her; but
+this had not been the case.  The Cowperwoods themselves, in spite
+of Frank Cowperwood's artistic proclivities and growing wealth,
+had not penetrated the inner circle as yet.  In fact, aside from
+the subtle, preliminary consideration which they were receiving,
+they were a long way off.
+
+None the less, and instinctively in Cowperwood Aileen recognized
+a way out--a door--and by the same token a subtle, impending
+artistic future of great magnificence.  This man would rise beyond
+anything he now dreamed of--she felt it.  There was in him, in
+some nebulous, unrecognizable form, a great artistic reality which
+was finer than anything she could plan for herself.  She wanted
+luxury, magnificence, social station.  Well, if she could get this
+man they would come to her.  There were, apparently, insuperable
+barriers in the way; but hers was no weakling nature, and neither
+was his.  They ran together temperamentally from the first like
+two leopards.  Her own thoughts--crude, half formulated, half
+spoken--nevertheless matched his to a degree in the equality of
+their force and their raw directness.
+
+"I don't think papa knows how to do," she said to him, one day.
+"It isn't his fault.  He can't help it.  He knows that he can't.
+And he knows that I know it.  For years I wanted him to move out
+of that old house there.  He knows that he ought to.  But even that
+wouldn't do much good."
+
+She paused, looking at him with a straight, clear, vigorous glance.
+He liked the medallion sharpness of her features--their smooth,
+Greek modeling.
+
+"Never mind, pet," he replied.  "We will arrange all these things
+later.  I don't see my way out of this just now; but I think the
+best thing to do is to confess to Lillian some day, and see if
+some other plan can't be arranged.  I want to fix it so the children
+won't suffer.  I can provide for them amply, and I wouldn't be at
+all surprised if Lillian would be willing to let me go.  She
+certainly wouldn't want any publicity."
+
+He was counting practically, and man-fashion, on her love for her
+children.
+
+Aileen looked at him with clear, questioning, uncertain eyes.  She
+was not wholly without sympathy, but in a way this situation did
+not appeal to her as needing much.  Mrs. Cowperwood was not friendly
+in her mood toward her.  It was not based on anything save a
+difference in their point of view.  Mrs. Cowperwood could never
+understand how a girl could carry her head so high and "put on
+such airs," and Aileen could not understand how any one could be
+so lymphatic and lackadaisical as Lillian Cowperwood.  Life was
+made for riding, driving, dancing, going.  It was made for airs
+and banter and persiflage and coquetry.  To see this woman, the
+wife of a young, forceful man like Cowperwood, acting, even though
+she were five years older and the mother of two children, as though
+life on its romantic and enthusiastic pleasurable side were all
+over was too much for her.  Of course Lillian was unsuited to
+Frank; of course he needed a young woman like herself, and fate
+would surely give him to her.  Then what a delicious life they
+would lead!
+
+"Oh, Frank," she exclaimed to him, over and over, "if we could
+only manage it.  Do you think we can?"
+
+"Do I think we can? Certainly I do.  It's only a matter of time.
+I think if I were to put the matter to her clearly, she wouldn't
+expect me to stay.  You look out how you conduct your affairs.
+If your father or your brother should ever suspect me, there'd
+be an explosion in this town, if nothing worse.  They'd fight me
+in all my money deals, if they didn't kill me.  Are you thinking
+carefully of what you are doing?"
+
+"All the time.  If anything happens I'll deny everything.  They
+can't prove it, if I deny it.  I'll come to you in the long run,
+just the same."
+
+They were in the Tenth Street house at the time.  She stroked his
+cheeks with the loving fingers of the wildly enamored woman.
+
+"I'll do anything for you, sweetheart," she declared.  "I'd die for
+you if I had to.  I love you so."
+
+"Well, pet, no danger.  You won't have to do anything like that.
+But be careful."
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIII
+
+
+
+
+Then, after several years of this secret relationship, in which
+the ties of sympathy and understanding grew stronger instead of
+weaker, came the storm.  It burst unexpectedly and out of a clear
+sky, and bore no relation to the intention or volition of any
+individual.  It was nothing more than a fire, a distant one--the
+great Chicago fire, October 7th, 1871, which burned that city--
+its vast commercial section--to the ground, and instantly and
+incidentally produced a financial panic, vicious though of short
+duration in various other cities in America.  The fire began on
+Saturday and continued apparently unabated until the following
+Wednesday.  It destroyed the banks, the commercial houses, the
+shipping conveniences, and vast stretches of property.  The heaviest
+loss fell naturally upon the insurance companies, which instantly,
+in many cases--the majority--closed their doors.  This threw the
+loss back on the manufacturers and wholesalers in other cities
+who had had dealings with Chicago as well as the merchants of that
+city.  Again, very grievous losses were borne by the host of
+eastern capitalists which had for years past partly owned, or
+held heavy mortgages on, the magnificent buildings for business
+purposes and residences in which Chicago was already rivaling
+every city on the continent.  Transportation was disturbed, and
+the keen scent of Wall Street, and Third Street in Philadelphia,
+and State Street in Boston, instantly perceived in the early
+reports the gravity of the situation.  Nothing could be done on
+Saturday or Sunday after the exchange closed, for the opening
+reports came too late.  On Monday, however, the facts were pouring
+in thick and fast; and the owners of railroad securities, government
+securities, street-car securities, and, indeed, all other forms
+of stocks and bonds, began to throw them on the market in order
+to raise cash.  The banks naturally were calling their loans, and
+the result was a stock stampede which equaled the Black Friday of
+Wall Street of two years before.
+
+Cowperwood and his father were out of town at the time the fire
+began.  They had gone with several friends--bankers--to look at a
+proposed route of extension of a local steam-railroad, on which a
+loan was desired.  In buggies they had driven over a good portion
+of the route, and were returning to Philadelphia late Sunday evening
+when the cries of newsboys hawking an "extra" reached their ears.
+
+"Ho! Extra! Extra! All about the big Chicago fire!"
+
+"Ho! Extra! Extra! Chicago burning down! Extra! Extra!"
+
+The cries were long-drawn-out, ominous, pathetic.  In the dusk of
+the dreary Sunday afternoon, when the city had apparently retired
+to Sabbath meditation and prayer, with that tinge of the dying year
+in the foliage and in the air, one caught a sense of something
+grim and gloomy.
+
+"Hey, boy," called Cowperwood, listening, seeing a shabbily clothed
+misfit of a boy with a bundle of papers under his arm turning a
+corner.  "What's that? Chicago burning!"
+
+He looked at his father and the other men in a significant way as
+he reached for the paper, and then, glancing at the headlines,
+realized the worst.
+
+  ALL CHICAGO BURNING
+
+  FIRE RAGES UNCHECKED IN COMMERCIAL SECTION SINCE
+  YESTERDAY EVENING.  BANKS, COMMERCIAL HOUSES, PUBLIC
+  BUILDINGS IN RUINS.  DIRECT TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
+  SUSPENDED SINCE THREE O'CLOCK TO-DAY.  NO END TO
+  PROGRESS OF DISASTER IN SIGHT.
+
+"That looks rather serious," he said, calmly, to his companions,
+a cold, commanding force coming into his eyes and voice.  To his
+father he said a little later, "It's panic, unless the majority
+of the banks and brokerage firms stand together."
+
+He was thinking quickly, brilliantly, resourcefully of his own
+outstanding obligations.  His father's bank was carrying one
+hundred thousand dollars' worth of his street-railway securities
+at sixty, and fifty thousand dollars' worth of city loan at
+seventy.  His father had "up with him" over forty thousand dollars
+in cash covering market manipulations in these stocks.  The banking
+house of Drexel & Co. was on his books as a creditor for one hundred
+thousand, and that loan would be called unless they were especially
+merciful, which was not likely.  Jay Cooke & Co. were his creditors
+for another one hundred and fifty thousand.  They would want their
+money.  At four smaller banks and three brokerage companies he
+was debtor for sums ranging from fifty thousand dollars down.  The
+city treasurer was involved with him to the extent of nearly five
+hundred thousand dollars, and exposure of that would create a
+scandal; the State treasurer for two hundred thousand.  There
+were small accounts, hundreds of them, ranging from one hundred
+dollars up to five and ten thousand.  A panic would mean not only
+a withdrawal of deposits and a calling of loans, but a heavy
+depression of securities.  How could he realize on his securities?
+--that was the question--how without selling so many points off
+that his fortune would be swept away and he would be ruined?
+
+He figured briskly the while he waved adieu to his friends, who
+hurried away, struck with their own predicament.
+
+"You had better go on out to the house, father, and I'll send some
+telegrams."  (The telephone had not yet been invented.)  "I'll be
+right out and we'll go into this thing together.  It looks like
+black weather to me.  Don't say anything to any one until after
+we have had our talk; then we can decide what to do."
+
+Cowperwood, Sr., was already plucking at his side-whiskers in a
+confused and troubled way.  He was cogitating as to what might
+happen to him in case his son failed, for he was deeply involved
+with him.  He was a little gray in his complexion now, frightened,
+for he had already strained many points in his affairs to accommodate
+his son.  If Frank should not be able promptly on the morrow to
+meet the call which the bank might have to make for one hundred
+and fifty thousand dollars, the onus and scandal of the situation
+would be on him.
+
+On the other hand, his son was meditating on the tangled relation
+in which he now found himself in connection with the city treasurer
+and the fact that it was not possible for him to support the market
+alone.  Those who should have been in a position to help him were
+now as bad off as himself.  There were many unfavorable points in
+the whole situation.  Drexel & Co. had been booming railway stocks--
+loaning heavily on them.  Jay Cooke & Co. had been backing Northern
+Pacific--were practically doing their best to build that immense
+transcontinental system alone.  Naturally, they were long on that
+and hence in a ticklish position.  At the first word they would
+throw over their surest securities--government bonds, and the like
+--in order to protect their more speculative holdings.  The bears
+would see the point.  They would hammer and hammer, selling short
+all along the line.  But he did not dare to do that.  He would be
+breaking his own back quickly, and what he needed was time.  If he
+could only get time--three days, a week, ten days--this storm would
+surely blow over.
+
+The thing that was troubling him most was the matter of the
+half-million invested with him by Stener.  A fall election was
+drawing near.  Stener, although he had served two terms, was slated
+for reelection.  A scandal in connection with the city treasury
+would be a very bad thing.  It would end Stener's career as an
+official--would very likely send him to the penitentiary.  It might
+wreck the Republican party's chances to win.  It would certainly
+involve himself as having much to do with it.  If that happened,
+he would have the politicians to reckon with.  For, if he were
+hard pressed, as he would be, and failed, the fact that he had
+been trying to invade the city street-railway preserves which they
+held sacred to themselves, with borrowed city money, and that this
+borrowing was liable to cost them the city election, would all
+come out.  They would not view all that with a kindly eye.  It
+would be useless to say, as he could, that he had borrowed the
+money at two per cent. (most of it, to save himself, had been
+covered by a protective clause of that kind), or that he had merely
+acted as an agent for Stener.  That might go down with the
+unsophisticated of the outer world, but it would never be swallowed
+by the politicians.  They knew better than that.
+
+There was another phase to this situation, however, that encouraged
+him, and that was his knowledge of how city politics were going
+in general.  It was useless for any politician, however loftly,
+to take a high and mighty tone in a crisis like this.  All of them,
+great and small, were profiting in one way and another through
+city privileges.   Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson, he knew, made
+money out of contracts--legal enough, though they might be looked
+upon as rank favoritism--and also out of vast sums of money collected
+in the shape of taxes--land taxes, water taxes, etc.--which were
+deposited in the various banks designated by these men and others
+as legal depositories for city money.  The banks supposedly carried
+the city's money in their vaults as a favor, without paying interest
+of any kind, and then reinvested it--for whom? Cowperwood had no
+complaint to make, for he was being well treated, but these men
+could scarcely expect to monopolize all the city's benefits.  He
+did not know either Mollenhauer or Simpson personally--but he knew
+they as well as Butler had made money out of his own manipulation
+of city loan.  Also, Butler was most friendly to him.  It was not
+unreasonable for him to think, in a crisis like this, that if worst
+came to worst, he could make a clean breast of it to Butler and
+receive aid.  In case he could not get through secretly with
+Stener's help, Cowperwood made up his mind that he would do this.
+
+His first move, he decided, would be to go at once to Stener's
+house and demand the loan of an additional three or four hundred
+thousand dollars.  Stener had always been very tractable, and in
+this instance would see how important it was that his shortage of
+half a million should not be made public.  Then he must get as
+much more as possible.  But where to get it? Presidents of banks
+and trust companies, large stock jobbers, and the like, would have
+to be seen.  Then there was a loan of one hundred thousand dollars
+he was carrying for Butler.  The old contractor might be induced
+to leave that.  He hurried to his home, secured his runabout, and
+drove rapidly to Stener's.
+
+As it turned out, however, much to his distress and confusion,
+Stener was out of town--down on the Chesapeake with several friends
+shooting ducks and fishing, and was not expected back for several
+days.  He was in the marshes back of some small town.  Cowperwood
+sent an urgent wire to the nearest point and then, to make assurance
+doubly sure, to several other points in the same neighborhood,
+asking him to return immediately.  He was not at all sure, however,
+that Stener would return in time and was greatly nonplussed and
+uncertain for the moment as to what his next step would be.  Aid
+must be forthcoming from somewhere and at once.
+
+Suddenly a helpful thought occurred to him.  Butler and Mollenhauer
+and Simpson were long on local street-railways.  They must combine
+to support the situation and protect their interests.  They could
+see the big bankers, Drexel & Co. and Cooke & Co., and others and
+urge them to sustain the market.  They could strengthen things
+generally by organizing a buying ring, and under cover of their
+support, if they would, he might sell enough to let him out, and
+even permit him to go short and make something--a whole lot.  It
+was a brilliant thought, worthy of a greater situation, and its
+only weakness was that it was not absolutely certain of fulfillment.
+
+He decided to go to Butler at once, the only disturbing thought
+being that he would now be compelled to reveal his own and Stener's
+affairs.  So reentering his runabout he drove swiftly to the Butler
+home.
+
+When he arrived there the famous contractor was at dinner.  He
+had not heard the calling of the extras, and of course, did not
+understand as yet the significance of the fire.  The servant's
+announcement of Cowperwood brought him smiling to the door.
+
+"Won't you come in and join us? We're just havin' a light supper.
+Have a cup of coffee or tea, now--do."
+
+"I can't," replied Cowperwood.  "Not to-night, I'm in too much of
+a hurry.  I want to see you for just a few moments, and then I'll
+be off again.  I won't keep you very long."
+
+"Why, if that's the case, I'll come right out."  And Butler
+returned to the dining-room to put down his napkin.  Aileen, who
+was also dining, had heard Cowperwood's voice, and was on the qui
+vive to see him.  She wondered what it was that brought him at
+this time of night to see her father.  She could not leave the
+table at once, but hoped to before he went.  Cowperwood was thinking
+of her, even in the face of this impending storm, as he was of his
+wife, and many other things.  If his affairs came down in a heap
+it would go hard with those attached to him.  In this first
+clouding of disaster, he could not tell how things would eventuate.
+He meditated on this desperately, but he was not panic-stricken.
+His naturally even-molded face was set in fine, classic lines;
+his eyes were as hard as chilled steel.
+
+"Well, now," exclaimed Butler, returning, his countenance manifesting
+a decidedly comfortable relationship with the world as at present
+constituted.  "What's up with you to-night? Nawthin' wrong, I hope.
+It's been too fine a day."
+
+"Nothing very serious, I hope myself," replied Cowperwood, "But I
+want to talk with you a few minutes, anyhow.  Don't you think we
+had better go up to your room?"
+
+"I was just going to say that," replied Butler--"the cigars are
+up there."
+
+They started from the reception-room to the stairs, Butler preceding
+and as the contractor mounted, Aileen came out from the dining-room
+in a frou-frou of silk.  Her splendid hair was drawn up from the
+base of the neck and the line of the forehead into some quaint
+convolutions which constituted a reddish-gold crown.  Her complexion
+was glowing, and her bare arms and shoulders shone white against
+the dark red of her evening gown.  She realized there was something
+wrong.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Cowperwood, how do you do?" she exclaimed, coming forward
+and holding out her hand as her father went on upstairs.  She was
+delaying him deliberately in order to have a word with him and
+this bold acting was for the benefit of the others.
+
+"What's the trouble, honey?" she whispered, as soon as her father
+was out of hearing.  "You look worried."
+
+"Nothing much, I hope, sweet," he said.  "Chicago is burning up
+and there's going to be trouble to-morrow.  I have to talk to your
+father."
+
+She had time only for a sympathetic, distressed "Oh," before he
+withdrew his hand and followed Butler upstairs.  She squeezed his
+arm, and went through the reception-room to the parlor.  She sat
+down, thinking, for never before had she seen Cowperwood's face
+wearing such an expression of stern, disturbed calculation.  It
+was placid, like fine, white wax, and quite as cold; and those
+deep, vague, inscrutable eyes! So Chicago was burning.  What would
+happen to him? Was he very much involved? He had never told her
+in detail of his affairs.  She would not have understood fully
+any more than would have Mrs. Cowperwood.  But she was worried,
+nevertheless, because it was her Frank, and because she was bound
+to him by what to her seemed indissoluble ties.
+
+Literature, outside of the masters, has given us but one idea of
+the mistress, the subtle, calculating siren who delights to prey
+on the souls of men.  The journalism and the moral pamphleteering
+of the time seem to foster it with almost partisan zeal.  It would
+seem that a censorship of life had been established by divinity,
+and the care of its execution given into the hands of the utterly
+conservative.  Yet there is that other form of liaison which has
+nothing to do with conscious calculation.  In the vast majority
+of cases it is without design or guile.  The average woman,
+controlled by her affections and deeply in love, is no more capable
+than a child of anything save sacrificial thought--the desire to
+give; and so long as this state endures, she can only do this.  She
+may change--Hell hath no fury, etc.--but the sacrificial, yielding,
+solicitous attitude is more often the outstanding characteristic
+of the mistress; and it is this very attitude in contradistinction
+to the grasping legality of established matrimony that has caused
+so many wounds in the defenses of the latter.  The temperament of
+man, either male or female, cannot help falling down before and
+worshiping this nonseeking, sacrificial note.  It approaches vast
+distinction in life.  It appears to be related to that last word
+in art, that largeness of spirit which is the first characteristic
+of the great picture, the great building, the great sculpture, the
+great decoration--namely, a giving, freely and without stint, of
+itself, of beauty.  Hence the significance of this particular
+mood in Aileen.
+
+All the subtleties of the present combination were troubling
+Cowperwood as he followed Butler into the room upstairs.
+
+"Sit down, sit down.  You won't take a little somethin'? You never
+do.  I remember now.  Well, have a cigar, anyhow.  Now, what's
+this that's troublin' you to-night?"
+
+Voices could be heard faintly in the distance, far off toward the
+thicker residential sections.
+
+"Extra! Extra! All about the big Chicago fire! Chicago burning down!"
+
+"Just that," replied Cowperwood, hearkening to them.  "Have you
+heard the news?"
+
+"No.  What's that they're calling?"
+
+"It's a big fire out in Chicago."
+
+"Oh," replied Butler, still not gathering the significance of it.
+
+"It's burning down the business section there, Mr. Butler," went
+on Cowperwood ominously, "and I fancy it's going to disturb financial
+conditions here to-morrow.  That is what I have come to see you
+about.  How are your investments? Pretty well drawn in?"
+
+Butler suddenly gathered from Cowperwood's expression that there
+was something very wrong.  He put up his large hand as he leaned
+back in his big leather chair, and covered his mouth and chin
+with it.  Over those big knuckles, and bigger nose, thick and
+cartilaginous, his large, shaggy-eyebrowed eyes gleamed.  His gray,
+bristly hair stood up stiffly in a short, even growth all over
+his head.
+
+"So that's it," he said.  "You're expectin' trouble to-morrow.
+How are your own affairs?"
+
+"I'm in pretty good shape, I think, all told, if the money element
+of this town doesn't lose its head and go wild.  There has to be
+a lot of common sense exercised to-morrow, or to-night, even.  You
+know we are facing a real panic.  Mr. Butler, you may as well know
+that.  It may not last long, but while it does it will be bad.
+Stocks are going to drop to-morrow ten or fifteen points on the
+opening.  The banks are going to call their loans unless some
+arrangement can be made to prevent them.  No one man can do that.
+It will have to be a combination of men.  You and Mr. Simpson and
+Mr. Mollenhauer might do it--that is, you could if you could
+persuade the big banking people to combine to back the market.
+There is going to be a raid on local street-railways--all of them.
+Unless they are sustained the bottom is going to drop out.  I have
+always known that you were long on those.  I thought you and Mr.
+Mollenhauer and some of the others might want to act.  If you don't
+I might as well confess that it is going to go rather hard with me.
+I am not strong enough to face this thing alone."
+
+He was meditating on how he should tell the whole truth in regard
+to Stener.
+
+"Well, now, that's pretty bad," said Butler, calmly and meditatively.
+He was thinking of his own affairs.  A panic was not good for him
+either, but he was not in a desperate state.  He could not fail.
+He might lose some money, but not a vast amount--before he could
+adjust things.  Still he did not care to lose any money.
+
+"How is it you're so bad off?" he asked, curiously.  He was wondering
+how the fact that the bottom was going to drop out of local
+street-railways would affect Cowperwood so seriously.  "You're not
+carryin' any of them things, are you?" he added.
+
+It was now a question of lying or telling the truth, and Cowperwood
+was literally afraid to risk lying in this dilemma.  If he did not
+gain Butler's comprehending support he might fail, and if he failed
+the truth would come out, anyhow.
+
+"I might as well make a clean breast of this, Mr. Butler," he said,
+throwing himself on the old man's sympathies and looking at him
+with that brisk assurance which Butler so greatly admired.  He
+felt as proud of Cowperwood at times as he did of his own sons.
+He felt that he had helped to put him where he was.
+
+"The fact is that I have been buying street-railway stocks, but
+not for myself exactly.  I am going to do something now which I
+think I ought not to do, but I cannot help myself.  If I don't do
+it, it will injure you and a lot of people whom I do not wish to
+injure.  I know you are naturally interested in the outcome of
+the fall election.  The truth is I have been carrying a lot of
+stocks for Mr. Stener and some of his friends.  I do not know that
+all the money has come from the city treasury, but I think that
+most of it has.  I know what that means to Mr. Stener and the
+Republican party and your interests in case I fail.  I don't
+think Mr. Stener started this of his own accord in the first
+place--I think I am as much to blame as anybody--but it grew out
+of other things.  As you know, I handled that matter of city loan
+for him and then some of his friends wanted me to invest in
+street-railways for them.  I have been doing that ever since.
+Personally I have borrowed considerable money from Mr. Stener at
+two per cent.  In fact, originally the transactions were covered
+in that way.  Now I don't want to shift the blame on any one.  It
+comes back to me and I am willing to let it stay there, except that
+if I fail Mr. Stener will be blamed and that will reflect on the
+administration.  Naturally, I don't want to fail.  There is no
+excuse for my doing so.  Aside from this panic I have never been
+in a better position in my life.  But I cannot weather this storm
+without assistance, and I want to know if you won't help me.  If
+I pull through I will give you my word that I will see that the
+money which has been taken from the treasury is put back there.
+Mr. Stener is out of town or I would have brought him here with me."
+
+Cowperwood was lying out of the whole cloth in regard to bringing
+Stener with him, and he had no intention of putting the money back
+in the city treasury except by degrees and in such manner as suited
+his convenience; but what he had said sounded well and created a
+great seeming of fairness.
+
+"How much money is it Stener has invested with you?" asked Butler.
+He was a little confused by this curious development.  It put
+Cowperwood and Stener in an odd light.
+
+"About five hundred thousand dollars," replied Cowperwood.
+
+The old man straightened up.  "Is it as much as that?" he said.
+
+"Just about--a little more or a little less; I'm not sure which."
+
+The old contractor listened solemnly to all Cowperwood had to say
+on this score, thinking of the effect on the Republican party and
+his own contracting interests.  He liked Cowperwood, but this was
+a rough thing the latter was telling him--rough, and a great deal
+to ask.  He was a slow-thinking and a slow-moving man, but he did
+well enough when he did think.  He had considerable money invested
+in Philadelphia street-railway stocks--perhaps as much as eight
+hundred thousand dollars.  Mollenhauer had perhaps as much more.
+Whether Senator Simpson had much or little he could not tell.
+Cowperwood had told him in the past that he thought the Senator
+had a good deal.  Most of their holdings, as in the case of
+Cowperwood's, were hypothecated at the various banks for loans and
+these loans invested in other ways.  It was not advisable or
+comfortable to have these loans called, though the condition of
+no one of the triumvirate was anything like as bad as that of
+Cowperwood.  They could see themselves through without much trouble,
+though not without probable loss unless they took hurried action
+to protect themselves.
+
+He would not have thought so much of it if Cowperwood had told him
+that Stener was involved, say, to the extent of seventy-five or a
+hundred thousand dollars.  That might be adjusted.  But five hundred
+thousand dollars!
+
+"That's a lot of money," said Butler, thinking of the amazing
+audacity of Stener, but failing at the moment to identify it with
+the astute machinations of Cowperwood.  "That's something to think
+about.  There's no time to lose if there's going to be a panic in
+the morning.  How much good will it do ye if we do support the
+market?"
+
+"A great deal," returned Cowperwood, "although of course I have to
+raise money in other ways.  I have that one hundred thousand
+dollars of yours on deposit.  Is it likely that you'll want that
+right away?"
+
+"It may be," said Butler.
+
+"It's just as likely that I'll need it so badly that I can't give
+it up without seriously injuring myself," added Cowperwood.  "That's
+just one of a lot of things.  If you and Senator Simpson and Mr.
+Mollenhauer were to get together--you're the largest holders of
+street-railway stocks--and were to see Mr. Drexel and Mr. Cooke,
+you could fix things so that matters would be considerably easier.
+I will be all right if my loans are not called, and my loans will
+not be called if the market does not slump too heavily.  If it
+does, all my securities are depreciated, and I can't hold out."
+
+Old Butler got up.  "This is serious business," he said.  "I wish
+you'd never gone in with Stener in that way.  It don't look
+quite right and it can't be made to.  It's bad, bad business," he
+added dourly.  "Still, I'll do what I can.  I can't promise much,
+but I've always liked ye and I'll not be turning on ye now unless
+I have to.  But I'm sorry--very.  And I'm not the only one that
+has a hand in things in this town."  At the same time he was
+thinking it was right decent of Cowperwood to forewarn him this
+way in regard to his own affairs and the city election, even though
+he was saving his own neck by so doing.  He meant to do what he
+could.
+
+"I don't suppose you could keep this matter of Stener and the city
+treasury quiet for a day or two until I see how I come out?"
+suggested Cowperwood warily.
+
+"I can't promise that," replied Butler.  "I'll have to do the best
+I can.  I won't lave it go any further than I can help--you can
+depend on that."  He was thinking how the effect of Stener's crime
+could be overcome if Cowperwood failed.
+
+"Owen!"
+
+He stepped to the door, and, opening it, called down over the
+banister.
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+"Have Dan hitch up the light buggy and bring it around to the
+door.  And you get your hat and coat.  I want you to go along with
+me."
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+He came back.
+
+"Sure that's a nice little storm in a teapot, now, isn't it?
+Chicago begins to burn, and I have to worry here in Philadelphia.
+Well, well--" Cowperwood was up now and moving to the door.  "And
+where are you going?"
+
+"Back to the house.  I have several people coming there to see me.
+But I'll come back here later, if I may."
+
+"Yes, yes," replied Butler.  "To be sure I'll be here by midnight,
+anyhow.  Well, good night.  I'll see you later, then, I suppose.
+I'll tell you what I find out."
+
+He went back in his room for something, and Cowperwood descended
+the stair alone.  From the hangings of the reception-room entryway
+Aileen signaled him to draw near.
+
+"I hope it's nothing serious, honey?" she sympathized, looking
+into his solemn eyes.
+
+It was not time for love, and he felt it.
+
+"No," he said, almost coldly, "I think not."
+
+"Frank, don't let this thing make you forget me for long, please.
+You won't, will you? I love you so."
+
+"No, no, I won't!" he replied earnestly, quickly and yet absently.
+
+"I can't! Don't you know I won't?" He had started to kiss her, but
+a noise disturbed him.  "Sh!"
+
+He walked to the door, and she followed him with eager, sympathetic
+eyes.
+
+What if anything should happen to her Frank? What if anything could?
+What would she do? That was what was troubling her.  What would,
+what could she do to help him? He looked so pale--strained.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIV
+
+
+
+
+The condition of the Republican party at this time in Philadelphia,
+its relationship to George W. Stener, Edward Malia Butler, Henry
+A. Mollenhauer, Senator Mark Simpson, and others, will have to be
+briefly indicated here, in order to foreshadow Cowperwood's actual
+situation.  Butler, as we have seen, was normally interested in and
+friendly to Cowperwood.  Stener was Cowperwood's tool.  Mollenhauer
+and Senator Simpson were strong rivals of Butler for the control of
+city affairs.  Simpson represented the Republican control of the
+State legislature, which could dictate to the city if necessary,
+making new election laws, revising the city charter, starting
+political investigations, and the like.  He had many influential
+newspapers, corporations, banks, at his beck and call.  Mollenhauer
+represented the Germans, some Americans, and some large stable
+corporations--a very solid and respectable man.  All three were
+strong, able, and dangerous politically.  The two latter counted
+on Butler's influence, particularly with the Irish, and a certain
+number of ward leaders and Catholic politicians and laymen, who
+were as loyal to him as though he were a part of the church itself.
+Butler's return to these followers was protection, influence, aid,
+and good-will generally.  The city's return to him, via Mollenhauer
+and Simpson, was in the shape of contracts--fat ones--street-paving,
+bridges, viaducts, sewers.  And in order for him to get these
+contracts the affairs of the Republican party, of which he was a
+beneficiary as well as a leader, must be kept reasonably straight.
+At the same time it was no more a part of his need to keep the
+affairs of the party straight than it was of either Mollenhauer's
+or Simpson's, and Stener was not his appointee.  The latter was
+more directly responsible to Mollenhauer than to any one else.
+
+As Butler stepped into the buggy with his son he was thinking
+about this, and it was puzzling him greatly.
+
+"Cowperwood's just been here," he said to Owen, who had been
+rapidly coming into a sound financial understanding of late, and
+was already a shrewder man politically and socially than his father,
+though he had not the latter's magnetism.  "He's been tellin' me
+that he's in a rather tight place.  You hear that?" he continued,
+as some voice in the distance was calling "Extra! Extra!" "That's
+Chicago burnin', and there's goin' to be trouble on the stock
+exchange to-morrow.  We have a lot of our street-railway stocks
+around at the different banks.  If we don't look sharp they'll be
+callin' our loans.  We have to 'tend to that the first thing in
+the mornin'.  Cowperwood has a hundred thousand of mine with him
+that he wants me to let stay there, and he has some money that
+belongs to Stener, he tells me."
+
+"Stener?" asked Owen, curiously.  "Has he been dabbling in stocks?"
+Owen had heard some rumors concerning Stener and others only very
+recently, which he had not credited nor yet communicated to his
+father.  "How much money of his has Cowperwood?" he asked.
+
+Butler meditated.  "Quite a bit, I'm afraid," he finally said.
+"As a matter of fact, it's a great deal--about five hundred thousand
+dollars.  If that should become known, it would be makin' a good
+deal of noise, I'm thinkin'."
+
+"Whew!" exclaimed Owen in astonishment.  "Five hundred thousand
+dollars! Good Lord, father! Do you mean to say Stener has got away
+with five hundred thousand dollars? Why, I wouldn't think he was
+clever enough to do that.  Five hundred thousand dollars! It will
+make a nice row if that comes out."
+
+"Aisy, now! Aisy, now!" replied Butler, doing his best to keep
+all phases of the situation in mind.  "We can't tell exactly what
+the circumstances were yet.  He mayn't have meant to take so much.
+It may all come out all right yet.  The money's invested.  Cowperwood
+hasn't failed yet.  It may be put back.  The thing to be settled
+on now is whether anything can be done to save him.  If he's tellin'
+me the truth--and I never knew him to lie--he can get out of this
+if street-railway stocks don't break too heavy in the mornin'.
+I'm going over to see Henry Mollenhauer and Mark Simpson.  They're
+in on this.  Cowperwood wanted me to see if I couldn't get them
+to get the bankers together and have them stand by the market.  He
+thought we might protect our loans by comin' on and buyin' and
+holdin' up the price."
+
+Owen was running swiftly in his mind over Cowperwood's affairs--as
+much as he knew of them.  He felt keenly that the banker ought to
+be shaken out.  This dilemma was his fault, not Stener's--he felt.
+It was strange to him that his father did not see it and resent it.
+
+"You see what it is, father," he said, dramatically, after a time.
+"Cowperwood's been using this money of Stener's to pick up stocks,
+and he's in a hole.  If it hadn't been for this fire he'd have got
+away with it; but now he wants you and Simpson and Mollenhauer and
+the others to pull him out.  He's a nice fellow, and I like him
+fairly well; but you're a fool if you do as he wants you to.  He
+has more than belongs to him already.  I heard the other day that
+he has the Front Street line, and almost all of Green and Coates;
+and that he and Stener own the Seventeenth and Nineteenth; but I
+didn't believe it.  I've been intending to ask you about it.  I
+think Cowperwood has a majority for himself stowed away somewhere
+in every instance.  Stener is just a pawn.  He moves him around
+where he pleases."
+
+Owen's eyes gleamed avariciously, opposingly.  Cowperwood ought
+to be punished, sold out, driven out of the street-railway business
+in which Owen was anxious to rise.
+
+"Now you know," observed Butler, thickly and solemnly, "I always
+thought that young felly was clever, but I hardly thought he was
+as clever as all that.  So that's his game.  You're pretty shrewd
+yourself, aren't you? Well, we can fix that, if we think well of
+it.  But there's more than that to all this.  You don't want to
+forget the Republican party.  Our success goes with the success
+of that, you know"--and he paused and looked at his son.  "If
+Cowperwood should fail and that money couldn't be put back--" He
+broke off abstractedly.  "The thing that's troublin' me is this
+matter of Stener and the city treasury.  If somethin' ain't done
+about that, it may go hard with the party this fall, and with some
+of our contracts.  You don't want to forget that an election is
+comin' along in November.  I'm wonderin' if I ought to call in
+that one hundred thousand dollars.  It's goin' to take considerable
+money to meet my loans in the mornin'."
+
+It is a curious matter of psychology, but it was only now that
+the real difficulties of the situation were beginning to dawn on
+Butler.  In the presence of Cowperwood he was so influenced by
+that young man's personality and his magnetic presentation of his
+need and his own liking for him that he had not stopped to consider
+all the phases of his own relationship to the situation.  Out here
+in the cool night air, talking to Owen, who was ambitious on his
+own account and anything but sentimentally considerate of Cowperwood,
+he was beginning to sober down and see things in their true light.
+He had to admit that Cowperwood had seriously compromised the city
+treasury and the Republican party, and incidentally Butler's own
+private interests.  Nevertheless, he liked Cowperwood.  He was in
+no way prepared to desert him.  He was now going to see Mollenhauer
+and Simpson as much to save Cowperwood really as the party and his
+own affairs.  And yet a scandal.  He did not like that--resented
+it.  This young scalawag! To think he should be so sly.  None the
+less he still liked him, even here and now, and was feeling that
+he ought to do something to help the young man, if anything could
+help him.  He might even leave his hundred-thousand-dollar loan
+with him until the last hour, as Cowperwood had requested, if the
+others were friendly.
+
+"Well, father," said Owen, after a time, "I don't see why you need
+to worry any more than Mollenhauer or Simpson.  If you three want
+to help him out, you can; but for the life of me I don't see why
+you should.  I know this thing will have a bad effect on the
+election, if it comes out before then; but it could be hushed up
+until then, couldn't it? Anyhow, your street-railway holdings are
+more important than this election, and if you can see your way
+clear to getting the street-railway lines in your hands you won't
+need to worry about any elections.  My advice to you is to call
+that one-hundred-thousand-dollar loan of yours in the morning, and
+meet the drop in your stocks that way.  It may make Cowperwood
+fail, but that won't hurt you any.  You can go into the market
+and buy his stocks.  I wouldn't be surprised if he would run to
+you and ask you to take them.  You ought to get Mollenhauer and
+Simpson to scare Stener so that he won't loan Cowperwood any more
+money.  If you don't, Cowperwood will run there and get more.
+Stener's in too far now.  If Cowperwood won't sell out, well and
+good; the chances are he will bust, anyhow, and then you can pick
+up as much on the market as any one else.  I think he'll sell.
+You can't afford to worry about Stener's five hundred thousand
+dollars.  No one told him to loan it.  Let him look out for himself.
+It may hurt the party, but you can look after that later.  You and
+Mollenhauer can fix the newspapers so they won't talk about it till
+after election."
+
+"Aisy! Aisy!" was all the old contractor would say.  He was
+thinking hard.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXV
+
+
+
+
+The residence of Henry A. Mollenhauer was, at that time, in a
+section of the city which was almost as new as that in which Butler
+was living.  It was on South Broad Street, near a handsome library
+building which had been recently erected.  It was a spacious house
+of the type usually affected by men of new wealth in those days--a
+structure four stories in height of yellow brick and white stone
+built after no school which one could readily identify, but not
+unattractive in its architectural composition.  A broad flight of
+steps leading to a wide veranda gave into a decidedly ornate door,
+which was set on either side by narrow windows and ornamented to
+the right and left with pale-blue jardinieres of considerable
+charm of outline.  The interior, divided into twenty rooms, was
+paneled and parqueted in the most expensive manner for homes of
+that day.  There was a great reception-hall, a large parlor or
+drawing-room, a dining-room at least thirty feet square paneled
+in oak; and on the second floor were a music-room devoted to the
+talents of Mollenhauer's three ambitious daughters, a library and
+private office for himself, a boudoir and bath for his wife, and
+a conservatory.
+
+Mollenhauer was, and felt himself to be, a very important man.  His
+financial and political judgment was exceedingly keen.  Although he
+was a German, or rather an American of German parentage, he was a
+man of a rather impressive American presence.  He was tall and heavy
+and shrewd and cold.  His large chest and wide shoulders supported
+a head of distinguished proportions, both round and long when seen
+from different angles.  The frontal bone descended in a protruding
+curve over the nose, and projected solemnly over the eyes, which
+burned with a shrewd, inquiring gaze.  And the nose and mouth and
+chin below, as well as his smooth, hard cheeks, confirmed the
+impression that he knew very well what he wished in this world,
+and was very able without regard to let or hindrance to get it.  It
+was a big face, impressive, well modeled.  He was an excellent
+friend of Edward Malia Butler's, as such friendships go, and his
+regard for Mark Simpson was as sincere as that of one tiger for
+another.  He respected ability; he was willing to play fair when
+fair was the game.  When it was not, the reach of his cunning was
+not easily measured.
+
+When Edward Butler and his son arrived on this Sunday evening,
+this distinguished representative of one-third of the city's
+interests was not expecting them.  He was in his library reading
+and listening to one of his daughters playing the piano.  His wife
+and his other two daughters had gone to church.  He was of a domestic
+turn of mind.  Still, Sunday evening being an excellent one for
+conference purposes generally in the world of politics, he was not
+without the thought that some one or other of his distinguished
+confreres might call, and when the combination footman and butler
+announced the presence of Butler and his son, he was well pleased.
+
+"So there you are," he remarked to Butler, genially, extending his
+hand.  "I'm certainly glad to see you.  And Owen! How are you, Owen?
+What will you gentlemen have to drink, and what will you smoke? I
+know you'll have something.  John"--to the servitor---"see if you
+can find something for these gentlemen.  I have just been listening
+to Caroline play; but I think you've frightened her off for the
+time being."
+
+He moved a chair into position for Butler, and indicated to Owen
+another on the other side of the table.  In a moment his servant
+had returned with a silver tray of elaborate design, carrying
+whiskies and wines of various dates and cigars in profusion.  Owen
+was the new type of young financier who neither smoked nor drank.
+His father temperately did both.
+
+"It's a comfortable place you have here," said Butler, without any
+indication of the important mission that had brought him.  "I don't
+wonder you stay at home Sunday evenings.  What's new in the city?"
+
+"Nothing much, so far as I can see," replied Mollenhauer, pacifically.
+"Things seem to be running smooth enough.  You don't know anything
+that we ought to worry about, do you?"
+
+"Well, yes," said Butler, draining off the remainder of a brandy
+and soda that had been prepared for him.  "One thing.  You haven't
+seen an avenin' paper, have you?"
+
+"No, I haven't," said Mollenhauer, straightening up.  "Is there
+one out? What's the trouble anyhow?"
+
+"Nothing--except Chicago's burning, and it looks as though we'd
+have a little money-storm here in the morning."
+
+"You don't say! I didn't hear that.  There's a paper out, is there?
+Well, well--is it much of a fire?"
+
+"The city is burning down, so they say," put in Owen, who was
+watching the face of the distinguished politician with considerable
+interest.
+
+"Well, that is news.  I must send out and get a paper.  John!" he
+called.  His man-servant appeared.  "See if you can get me a paper
+somewhere."  The servant disappeared.  "What makes you think that
+would have anything to do with us?" observed Mollenhauer, returning
+to Butler.
+
+"Well, there's one thing that goes with that that I didn't know
+till a little while ago and that is that our man Stener is apt to
+be short in his accounts, unless things come out better than some
+people seem to think," suggested Butler, calmly.  "That might not
+look so well before election, would it?" His shrewd gray Irish
+eyes looked into Mollenhauer's, who returned his gaze.
+
+"Where did you get that?" queried Mr. Mollenhauer icily.  "He
+hasn't deliberately taken much money, has he? How much has he
+taken--do you know?"
+
+"Quite a bit," replied Butler, quietly.  "Nearly five hundred
+thousand, so I understand.  Only I wouldn't say that it has been
+taken as yet.  It's in danger of being lost."
+
+"Five hundred thousand!" exclaimed Mollenhauer in amazement, and
+yet preserving his usual calm.  "You don't tell me! How long has
+this been going on? What has he been doing with the money?"
+
+"He's loaned a good deal--about five hundred thousand dollars to
+this young Cowperwood in Third Street, that's been handlin' city
+loan.  They've been investin' it for themselves in one thing and
+another--mostly in buyin' up street-railways."  (At the mention
+of street-railways Mollenhauer's impassive countenance underwent
+a barely perceptible change.)  "This fire, accordin' to Cowperwood,
+is certain to produce a panic in the mornin', and unless he gets
+considerable help he doesn't see how he's to hold out.  If he
+doesn't hold out, there'll be five hundred thousand dollars missin'
+from the city treasury which can't be put back.  Stener's out of
+town and Cowperwood's come to me to see what can be done about it.
+As a matter of fact, he's done a little business for me in times
+past, and he thought maybe I could help him now--that is, that I
+might get you and the Senator to see the big bankers with me and
+help support the market in the mornin'.  If we don't he's goin'
+to fail, and he thought the scandal would hurt us in the election.
+He doesn't appear to me to be workin' any game--just anxious to
+save himself and do the square thing by me--by us, if he can."
+Butler paused.
+
+Mollenhauer, sly and secretive himself, was apparently not at all
+moved by this unexpected development.  At the same time, never
+having thought of Stener as having any particular executive or
+financial ability, he was a little stirred and curious.  So his
+treasurer was using money without his knowing it, and now stood
+in danger of being prosecuted! Cowperwood he knew of only indirectly,
+as one who had been engaged to handle city loan.  He had profited
+by his manipulation of city loan.  Evidently the banker had made
+a fool of Stener, and had used the money for street-railway shares!
+He and Stener must have quite some private holdings then.  That
+did interest Mollenhauer greatly.
+
+"Five hundred thousand dollars!" he repeated, when Butler had
+finished.  "That is quite a little money.  If merely supporting
+the market would save Cowperwood we might do that, although if
+it's a severe panic I do not see how anything we can do will be
+of very much assistance to him.  If he's in a very tight place
+and a severe slump is coming, it will take a great deal more than
+our merely supporting the market to save him.  I've been through
+that before.  You don't know what his liabilities are?"
+
+"I do not," said Butler.
+
+"He didn't ask for money, you say?"
+
+"He wants me to l'ave a hundred thousand he has of mine until he
+sees whether he can get through or not."
+
+"Stener is really out of town, I suppose?" Mollenhauer was innately
+suspicious.
+
+"So Cowperwood says.  We can send and find out."
+
+Mollenhauer was thinking of the various aspects of the case.
+Supporting the market would be all very well if that would save
+Cowperwood, and the Republican party and his treasurer.  At the
+same time Stener could then be compelled to restore the five
+hundred thousand dollars to the city treasury, and release his
+holdings to some one--preferably to him--Mollenhauer.  But here
+was Butler also to be considered in this matter.  What might he
+not want? He consulted with Butler and learned that Cowperwood
+had agreed to return the five hundred thousand in case he could
+get it together.  The various street-car holdings were not asked
+after.  But what assurance had any one that Cowperwood could be
+so saved? And could, or would get the money together? And if he
+were saved would he give the money back to Stener? If he required
+actual money, who would loan it to him in a time like this--in case
+a sharp panic was imminent? What security could he give? On the
+other hand, under pressure from the right parties he might be made
+to surrender all his street-railway holdings for a song--his and
+Stener's.  If he (Mollenhauer) could get them he would not
+particularly care whether the election was lost this fall or not,
+although he felt satisfied, as had Owen, that it would not be lost.
+It could be bought, as usual.  The defalcation--if Cowperwood's
+failure made Stener's loan into one--could be concealed long enough,
+Mollenhauer thought, to win.  Personally as it came to him now he
+would prefer to frighten Stener into refusing Cowperwood additional
+aid, and then raid the latter's street-railway stock in combination
+with everybody else's, for that matter--Simpson's and Butler's
+included.  One of the big sources of future wealth in Philadelphia
+lay in these lines.  For the present, however, he had to pretend
+an interest in saving the party at the polls.
+
+"I can't speak for the Senator, that's sure," pursued Mollenhauer,
+reflectively.  "I don't know what he may think.  As for myself, I
+am perfectly willing to do what I can to keep up the price of
+stocks, if that will do any good.  I would do so naturally in
+order to protect my loans.  The thing that we ought to be thinking
+about, in my judgment, is how to prevent exposure, in case Mr.
+Cowperwood does fail, until after election.  We have no assurance,
+of course, that however much we support the market we will be able
+to sustain it."
+
+"We have not," replied Butler, solemnly.
+
+Owen thought he could see Cowperwood's approaching doom quite
+plainly.  At that moment the door-bell rang.  A maid, in the absence
+of the footman, brought in the name of Senator Simpson.
+
+"Just the man," said Mollenhauer.  "Show him up.  You can see what
+he thinks."
+
+"Perhaps I had better leave you alone now," suggested Owen to his
+father.  "Perhaps I can find Miss Caroline, and she will sing for
+me.  I'll wait for you, father," he added.
+
+Mollenhauer cast him an ingratiating smile, and as he stepped out
+Senator Simpson walked in.
+
+A more interesting type of his kind than Senator Mark Simpson never
+flourished in the State of Pennsylvania, which has been productive
+of interesting types.  Contrasted with either of the two men who
+now greeted him warmly and shook his hand, he was physically
+unimpressive.  He was small--five feet nine inches, to Mollenhauer's
+six feet and Butler's five feet eleven inches and a half, and then
+his face was smooth, with a receding jaw.  In the other two this
+feature was prominent.  Nor were his eyes as frank as those of Butler,
+nor as defiant as those of Mollenhauer; but for subtlety they were
+unmatched by either--deep, strange, receding, cavernous eyes which
+contemplated you as might those of a cat looking out of a dark hole,
+and suggesting all the artfulness that has ever distinguished the
+feline family.  He had a strange mop of black hair sweeping down
+over a fine, low, white forehead, and a skin as pale and bluish
+as poor health might make it; but there was, nevertheless, resident
+here a strange, resistant, capable force that ruled men--the
+subtlety with which he knew how to feed cupidity with hope and
+gain and the ruthlessness with which he repaid those who said him
+nay.  He was a still man, as such a man might well have been--feeble
+and fish-like in his handshake, wan and slightly lackadaisical in
+his smile, but speaking always with eyes that answered for every
+defect.
+
+"Av'nin', Mark, I'm glad to see you," was Butler's greeting.
+
+"How are you, Edward?" came the quiet reply.
+
+"Well, Senator, you're not looking any the worse for wear.  Can I
+pour you something?"
+
+"Nothing to-night, Henry," replied Simpson.  "I haven't long to
+stay.  I just stopped by on my way home.  My wife's over here at
+the Cavanaghs', and I have to stop by to fetch her."
+
+"Well, it's a good thing you dropped in, Senator, just when you
+did," began Mollenhauer, seating himself after his guest.  "Butler
+here has been telling me of a little political problem that has
+arisen since I last saw you.  I suppose you've heard that Chicago
+is burning?"
+
+"Yes; Cavanagh was just telling me.  It looks to be quite serious.
+I think the market will drop heavily in the morning."
+
+"I wouldn't be surprised myself," put in Mollenhauer, laconically.
+
+"Here's the paper now," said Butler, as John, the servant, came
+in from the street bearing the paper in his hand.  Mollenhauer
+took it and spread it out before them.  It was among the earliest
+of the "extras" that were issued in this country, and contained a
+rather impressive spread of type announcing that the conflagration
+in the lake city was growing hourly worse since its inception the
+day before.
+
+"Well, that is certainly dreadful," said Simpson.  "I'm very sorry
+for Chicago.  I have many friends there.  I shall hope to hear
+that it is not so bad as it seems."
+
+The man had a rather grandiloquent manner which he never abandoned
+under any circumstances.
+
+"The matter that Butler was telling me about," continued Mollenhauer,
+"has something to do with this in a way.  You know the habit our
+city treasurers have of loaning out their money at two per cent.?"
+
+"Yes?" said Simpson, inquiringly.
+
+"Well, Mr. Stener, it seems, has been loaning out a good deal of
+the city's money to this young Cowperwood, in Third Street, who
+has been handling city loans."
+
+"You don't say!" said Simpson, putting on an air of surprise.  "Not
+much, I hope?" The Senator, like Butler and Mollenhauer, was
+profiting greatly by cheap loans from the same source to various
+designated city depositories.
+
+"Well, it seems that Stener has loaned him as much as five hundred
+thousand dollars, and if by any chance Cowperwood shouldn't be
+able to weather this storm, Stener is apt to be short that amount,
+and that wouldn't look so good as a voting proposition to the
+people in November, do you think? Cowperwood owes Mr. Butler here
+one hundred thousand dollars, and because of that he came to see
+him to-night.  He wanted Butler to see if something couldn't be
+done through us to tide him over.  If not"--he waved one hand
+suggestively--"well, he might fail."
+
+Simpson fingered his strange, wide mouth with his delicate hand.
+"What have they been doing with the five hundred thousand dollars?"
+he asked.
+
+"Oh, the boys must make a little somethin' on the side," said
+Butler, cheerfully.  "I think they've been buyin' up street-railways,
+for one thing."  He stuck his thumbs in the armholes of his vest.
+Both Mollenhauer and Simpson smiled wan smiles.
+
+"Quite so," said Mollenhauer.  Senator Simpson merely looked the
+deep things that he thought.
+
+He, too, was thinking how useless it was for any one to approach
+a group of politicians with a proposition like this, particularly
+in a crisis such as bid fair to occur.  He reflected that if he
+and Butler and Mollenhauer could get together and promise Cowperwood
+protection in return for the surrender of his street-railway holdings
+it would be a very different matter.  It would be very easy in this
+case to carry the city treasury loan along in silence and even
+issue more money to support it; but it was not sure, in the first
+place, that Cowperwood could be made to surrender his stocks, and
+in the second place that either Butler or Mollenhauer would enter
+into any such deal with him, Simpson.  Butler had evidently come
+here to say a good word for Cowperwood.  Mollenhauer and himself
+were silent rivals.  Although they worked together politically it
+was toward essentially different financial ends.  They were allied
+in no one particular financial proposition, any more than Mollenhauer
+and Butler were.  And besides, in all probability Cowperwood was
+no fool.  He was not equally guilty with Stener; the latter had
+loaned him money.  The Senator reflected on whether he should
+broach some such subtle solution of the situation as had occurred
+to him to his colleagues, but he decided not.  Really Mollenhauer
+was too treacherous a man to work with on a thing of this kind.
+It was a splendid chance but dangerous.  He had better go it alone.
+For the present they should demand of Stener that he get Cowperwood
+to return the five hundred thousand dollars if he could.  If not,
+Stener could be sacrificed for the benefit of the party, if need be.
+Cowperwood's stocks, with this tip as to his condition, would,
+Simpson reflected, offer a good opportunity for a little stock-exchange
+work on the part of his own brokers.  They could spread rumors as
+to Cowperwood's condition and then offer to take his shares off his
+hands--for a song, of course.  It was an evil moment that led
+Cowperwood to Butler.
+
+"Well, now," said the Senator, after a prolonged silence, "I might
+sympathize with Mr. Cowperwood in his situation, and I certainly
+don't blame him for buying up street-railways if he can; but I
+really don't see what can be done for him very well in this crisis.
+I don't know about you, gentlemen, but I am rather certain that I
+am not in a position to pick other people's chestnuts out of the
+fire if I wanted to, just now.  It all depends on whether we feel
+that the danger to the party is sufficient to warrant our going
+down into our pockets and assisting him."
+
+At the mention of real money to be loaned Mollenhauer pulled a
+long face.  "I can't see that I will be able to do very much for
+Mr. Cowperwood," he sighed.
+
+"Begad," said Buler, with a keen sense of humor, "it looks to me
+as if I'd better be gettin' in my one hundred thousand dollars.
+That's the first business of the early mornin'."  Neither Simpson
+nor Mollenhauer condescended on this occasion to smile even the
+wan smile they had smiled before.  They merely looked wise and
+solemn.
+
+"But this matter of the city treasury, now," said Senator Simpson,
+after the atmosphere had been allowed to settle a little, "is
+something to which we shall have to devote a little thought.  If
+Mr. Cowperwood should fail, and the treasury lose that much money,
+it would embarrass us no little.  What lines are they," he added,
+as an afterthought, "that this man has been particularly interested
+in?"
+
+"I really don't know," replied Butler, who did not care to say
+what Owen had told him on the drive over.
+
+"I don't see," said Mollenhauer, "unless we can make Stener get
+the money back before this man Cowperwood fails, how we can save
+ourselves from considerable annoyance later; but if we did anything
+which would look as though we were going to compel restitution,
+he would probably shut up shop anyhow.  So there's no remedy in
+that direction.  And it wouldn't be very kind to our friend Edward
+here to do it until we hear how he comes out on his affair."  He
+was referring to Butler's loan.
+
+"Certainly not," said Senator Simpson, with true political sagacity
+and feeling.
+
+"I'll have that one hundred thousand dollars in the mornin'," said
+Butler, "and never fear."
+
+"I think," said Simpson, "if anything comes of this matter that we
+will have to do our best to hush it up until after the election.
+The newspapers can just as well keep silent on that score as not.
+There's one thing I would suggest"--and he was now thinking of the
+street-railway properties which Cowperwood had so judiciously
+collected--"and that is that the city treasurer be cautioned against
+advancing any more money in a situation of this kind.  He might
+readily be compromised into advancing much more.  I suppose a word
+from you, Henry, would prevent that."
+
+"Yes; I can do that," said Mollenhauer, solemnly.
+
+"My judgement would be," said Butler, in a rather obscure manner,
+thinking of Cowperwood's mistake in appealing to these noble
+protectors of the public, "that it's best to let sleepin' dogs
+run be thimselves."
+
+Thus ended Frank Cowperwood's dreams of what Butler and his
+political associates might do for him in his hour of distress.
+
+The energies of Cowperwood after leaving Butler were devoted to
+the task of seeing others who might be of some assistance to him.
+He had left word with Mrs. Stener that if any message came from
+her husband he was to be notified at once.  He hunted up Walter
+Leigh, of Drexel & Co., Avery Stone of Jay Cooke & Co., and
+President Davison of the Girard National Bank.  He wanted to see
+what they thought of the situation and to negotiate a loan with
+President Davison covering all his real and personal property.
+
+"I can't tell you, Frank," Walter Leigh insisted, "I don't know
+how things will be running by to-morrow noon.  I'm glad to know
+how you stand.  I'm glad you're doing what you're doing--getting
+all your affairs in shape.  It will help a lot.  I'll favor you
+all I possibly can.  But if the chief decides on a certain group
+of loans to be called, they'll have to be called, that's all.
+I'll do my best to make things look better.  If the whole of
+Chicago is wiped out, the insurance companies--some of them,
+anyhow--are sure to go, and then look out.  I suppose you'll call
+in all your loans?"
+
+"Not any more than I have to."
+
+"Well, that's just the way it is here--or will be."
+
+The two men shook hands.  They liked each other.  Leigh was of
+the city's fashionable coterie, a society man to the manner born,
+but with a wealth of common sense and a great deal of worldly
+experience.
+
+"I'll tell you, Frank," he observed at parting, "I've always
+thought you were carrying too much street-railway.  It's great
+stuff if you can get away with it, but it's just in a pinch like
+this that you're apt to get hurt.  You've been making money pretty
+fast out of that and city loans."
+
+He looked directly into his long-time friend's eyes, and they smiled.
+
+It was the same with Avery Stone, President Davison, and others.
+They had all already heard rumors of disaster when he arrived.
+They were not sure what the morrow would bring forth.  It looked
+very unpromising.
+
+Cowperwood decided to stop and see Butler again for he felt certain
+his interview with Mollenhauer and Simpson was now over.  Butler,
+who had been meditating what he should say to Cowperwood, was not
+unfriendly in his manner.  "So you're back," he said, when Cowperwood
+appeared.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Butler."
+
+"Well, I'm not sure that I've been able to do anything for you.
+I'm afraid not," Butler said, cautiously.  "It's a hard job you
+set me.  Mollenhauer seems to think that he'll support the market,
+on his own account.  I think he will.  Simpson has interests which
+he has to protect.  I'm going to buy for myself, of course."
+
+He paused to reflect.
+
+"I couldn't get them to call a conference with any of the big
+moneyed men as yet," he added, warily.  "They'd rather wait and
+see what happens in the mornin'.  Still, I wouldn't be down-hearted
+if I were you.  If things turn out very bad they may change their
+minds.  I had to tell them about Stener.  It's pretty bad, but
+they're hopin' you'll come through and straighten that out.  I
+hope so.  About my own loan--well, I'll see how things are in the
+mornin'.  If I raisonably can I'll lave it with you.  You'd better
+see me again about it.  I wouldn't try to get any more money out
+of Stener if I were you.  It's pretty bad as it is."
+
+Cowperwood saw at once that he was to get no aid from the politicians.
+The one thing that disturbed him was this reference to Stener.
+Had they already communicated with him--warned him? If so, his
+own coming to Butler had been a bad move; and yet from the point
+of view of his possible failure on the morrow it had been advisable.
+At least now the politicians knew where he stood.  If he got in a
+very tight corner he would come to Butler again--the politicians
+could assist him or not, as they chose.  If they did not help him
+and he failed, and the election were lost, it was their own fault.
+Anyhow, if he could see Stener first the latter would not be such
+a fool as to stand in his own light in a crisis like this.
+
+"Things look rather dark to-night, Mr. Butler," he said, smartly,
+"but I still think I'll come through.  I hope so, anyhow.  I'm sorry
+to have put you to so much trouble.  I wish, of course, that you
+gentlemen could see your way clear to assist me, but if you can't,
+you can't.  I have a number of things that I can do.  I hope that
+you will leave your loan as long as you can."
+
+He went briskly out, and Butler meditated.  "A clever young chap
+that," he said.  "It's too bad.  But he may come out all right at
+that."
+
+Cowperwood hurried to his own home only to find his father awake
+and brooding.  To him he talked with that strong vein of sympathy
+and understanding which is usually characteristic of those drawn
+by ties of flesh and blood.  He liked his father.  He sympathized
+with his painstaking effort to get up in the world.  He could not
+forget that as a boy he had had the loving sympathy and interest
+of his father.  The loan which he had from the Third National,
+on somewhat weak Union Street Railway shares he could probably
+replace if stocks did not drop too tremendously.  He must replace
+this at all costs.  But his father's investments in street-railways,
+which had risen with his own ventures, and which now involved an
+additional two hundred thousand--how could he protect those? The
+shares were hypothecated and the money was used for other things.
+Additional collateral would have to be furnished the several banks
+carrying them.  It was nothing except loans, loans, loans, and the
+need of protecting them.  If he could only get an additional deposit
+of two or three hundred thousand dollars from Stener.  But that, in
+the face of possible financial difficulties, was rank criminality.
+All depended on the morrow.
+
+Monday, the ninth, dawned gray and cheerless.  He was up with the
+first ray of light, shaved and dressed, and went over, under the
+gray-green pergola, to his father's house.  He was up, also, and
+stirring about, for he had not been able to sleep.  His gray
+eyebrows and gray hair looked rather shaggy and disheveled, and
+his side-whiskers anything but decorative.  The old gentleman's
+eyes were tired, and his face was gray.  Cowperwood could see that
+he was worrying.  He looked up from a small, ornate escritoire of
+buhl, which Ellsworth had found somewhere, and where he was quietly
+tabulating a list of his resources and liabilities.  Cowperwood
+winced.  He hated to see his father worried, but he could not help
+it.  He had hoped sincerely, when they built their houses together,
+that the days of worry for his father had gone forever.
+
+"Counting up?" he asked, familiarly, with a smile.  He wanted to
+hearten the old gentleman as much as possible.
+
+"I was just running over my affairs again to see where I stood
+in case--" He looked quizzically at his son, and Frank smiled
+again.
+
+"I wouldn't worry, father.  I told you how I fixed it so that
+Butler and that crowd will support the market.  I have Rivers
+and Targool and Harry Eltinge on 'change helping me sell out,
+and they are the best men there.  They'll handle the situation
+carefully.  I couldn't trust Ed or Joe in this case, for the
+moment they began to sell everybody would know what was going on
+with me.  This way my men will seem like bears hammering the
+market, but not hammering too hard.  I ought to be able to unload
+enough at ten points off to raise five hundred thousand.  The
+market may not go lower than that.  You can't tell.  It isn't
+going to sink indefinitely.  If I just knew what the big insurance
+companies were going to do! The morning paper hasn't come yet,
+has it?"
+
+He was going to pull a bell, but remembered that the servants
+would scarcely be up as yet.  He went to the front door himself.
+There were the Press and the Public Ledger lying damp from the
+presses.  He picked them up and glanced at the front pages.  His
+countenance fell.  On one, the Press, was spread a great black map
+of Chicago, a most funereal-looking thing, the black portion
+indicating the burned section.  He had never seen a map of Chicago
+before in just this clear, definite way.  That white portion was
+Lake Michigan, and there was the Chicago River dividing the city
+into three almost equal portions--the north side, the west side,
+the south side.  He saw at once that the city was curiously arranged,
+somewhat like Philadelphia, and that the business section was
+probably an area of two or three miles square, set at the juncture
+of the three sides, and lying south of the main stem of the river,
+where it flowed into the lake after the southwest and northwest
+branches had united to form it.  This was a significant central
+area; but, according to this map, it was all burned out.  "Chicago
+in Ashes" ran a great side-heading set in heavily leaded black
+type.  It went on to detail the sufferings of the homeless, the
+number of the dead, the number of those whose fortunes had been
+destroyed.  Then it descanted upon the probable effect in the East.
+Insurance companies and manufacturers might not be able to meet
+the great strain of all this.
+
+"Damn!" said Cowperwood gloomily.  "I wish I were out of this
+stock-jobbing business.  I wish I had never gotten into it."  He
+returned to his drawing-room and scanned both accounts most carefully.
+
+Then, though it was still early, he and his father drove to his
+office.  There were already messages awaiting him, a dozen or more,
+to cancel or sell.  While he was standing there a messenger-boy
+brought him three more.  One was from Stener and said that he would
+be back by twelve o'clock, the very earliest he could make it.
+Cowperwood was relieved and yet distressed.  He would need large
+sums of money to meet various loans before three.  Every hour was
+precious.  He must arrange to meet Stener at the station and talk
+to him before any one else should see him.  Clearly this was going
+to be a hard, dreary, strenuous day.
+
+Third Street, by the time he reached there, was stirring with other
+bankers and brokers called forth by the exigencies of the occasion.
+There was a suspicious hurrying of feet--that intensity which makes
+all the difference in the world between a hundred people placid and
+a hundred people disturbed.  At the exchange, the atmosphere was
+feverish.  At the sound of the gong, the staccato uproar began.
+Its metallic vibrations were still in the air when the two hundred
+men who composed this local organization at its utmost stress of
+calculation, threw themselves upon each other in a gibbering struggle
+to dispose of or seize bargains of the hour.  The interests were
+so varied that it was impossible to say at which pole it was best
+to sell or buy.
+
+Targool and Rivers had been delegated to stay at the center of
+things, Joseph and Edward to hover around on the outside and to
+pick up such opportunities of selling as might offer a reasonable
+return on the stock.  The "bears" were determined to jam things
+down, and it all depended on how well the agents of Mollenhauer,
+Simpson, Butler, and others supported things in the street-railway
+world whether those stocks retained any strength or not.  The last
+thing Butler had said the night before was that they would do the
+best they could.  They would buy up to a certain point.  Whether
+they would support the market indefinitely he would not say.  He
+could not vouch for Mollenhauer and Simpson.  Nor did he know the
+condition of their affairs.
+
+While the excitement was at its highest Cowperwood came in.  As
+he stood in the door looking to catch the eye of Rivers, the 'change
+gong sounded, and trading stopped.  All the brokers and traders
+faced about to the little balcony, where the secretary of the
+'change made his announcements; and there he stood, the door open
+behind him, a small, dark, clerkly man of thirty-eight or forty,
+whose spare figure and pale face bespoke the methodic mind that
+knows no venturous thought.  In his right hand he held a slip of
+white paper.
+
+"The American Fire Insurance Company of Boston announces its
+inability to meet its obligations."  The gong sounded again.
+
+Immediately the storm broke anew, more voluble than before,
+because, if after one hour of investigation on this Monday morning
+one insurance company had gone down, what would four or five hours
+or a day or two bring forth? It meant that men who had been burned
+out in Chicago would not be able to resume business.  It meant that
+all loans connected with this concern had been, or would be called
+now.  And the cries of frightened "bulls" offering thousand and
+five thousand lot holdings in Northern Pacific, Illinois Central,
+Reading, Lake Shore, Wabash; in all the local streetcar lines; and
+in Cowperwood's city loans at constantly falling prices was
+sufficient to take the heart out of all concerned.  He hurried to
+Arthur Rivers's side in the lull; but there was little he could
+say.
+
+"It looks as though the Mollenhauer and Simpson crowds aren't
+doing much for the market," he observed, gravely.
+
+"They've had advices from New York," explained Rivers solemnly.
+"It can't be supported very well.  There are three insurance
+companies over there on the verge of quitting, I understand.  I
+expect to see them posted any minute."
+
+They stepped apart from the pandemonium, to discuss ways and means.
+Under his agreement with Stener, Cowperwood could buy up to one
+hundred thousand dollars of city loan, above the customary wash
+sales, or market manipulation, by which they were making money.
+This was in case the market had to be genuinely supported.  He
+decided to buy sixty thousand dollars worth now, and use this to
+sustain his loans elsewhere.  Stener would pay him for this
+instantly, giving him more ready cash.  It might help him in one
+way and another; and, anyhow, it might tend to strengthen the
+other securities long enough at least to allow him to realize a
+little something now at better than ruinous rates.  If only he had
+the means "to go short" on this market! If only doing so did not
+really mean ruin to his present position.  It was characteristic
+of the man that even in this crisis he should be seeing how the
+very thing that of necessity, because of his present obligations,
+might ruin him, might also, under slightly different conditions,
+yield him a great harvest.  He could not take advantage of it,
+however.  He could not be on both sides of this market.  It was
+either "bear" or "bull," and of necessity he was "bull."  It was
+strange but true.  His subtlety could not avail him here.  He
+was about to turn and hurry to see a certain banker who might
+loan him something on his house, when the gong struck again.  Once
+more trading ceased.  Arthur Rivers, from his position at the
+State securities post, where city loan was sold, and where he had
+started to buy for Cowperwood, looked significantly at him.
+Newton Targool hurried to Cowperwood's side.
+
+"You're up against it," he exclaimed.  "I wouldn't try to sell
+against this market.  It's no use.  They're cutting the ground
+from under you.  The bottom's out.  Things are bound to turn in
+a few days.  Can't you hold out? Here's more trouble."
+
+He raised his eyes to the announcer's balcony.
+
+"The Eastern and Western Fire Insurance Company of New York
+announces that it cannot meet its obligations."
+
+A low sound something like "Haw!" broke forth.  The announcer's
+gavel struck for order.
+
+"The Erie Fire Insurance Company of Rochester announces that it
+cannot meet its obligations."
+
+Again that "H-a-a-a-w!"
+
+Once more the gavel.
+
+"The American Trust Company of New York has suspended payment."
+
+"H-a-a-a-w!"
+
+The storm was on.
+
+What do you think?" asked Targool.  "You can't brave this storm.
+Can't you quit selling and hold out for a few days? Why not sell
+short?"
+
+"They ought to close this thing up," Cowperwood said, shortly.
+"It would be a splendid way out.  Then nothing could be done."
+
+He hurried to consult with those who, finding themselves in a
+similar predicament with himself, might use their influence to
+bring it about.  It was a sharp trick to play on those who, now
+finding the market favorable to their designs in its falling
+condition, were harvesting a fortune.  But what was that to him?
+Business was business.  There was no use selling at ruinous figures,
+and he gave his lieutenants orders to stop.  Unless the bankers
+favored him heavily, or the stock exchange was closed, or Stener
+could be induced to deposit an additional three hundred thousand
+with him at once, he was ruined.  He hurried down the street to
+various bankers and brokers suggesting that they do this--close
+the exchange.  At a few minutes before twelve o'clock he drove
+rapidly to the station to meet Stener; but to his great disappointment
+the latter did not arrive.  It looked as though he had missed his
+train.  Cowperwood sensed something, some trick; and decided to
+go to the city hall and also to Stener's house.  Perhaps he had
+returned and was trying to avoid him.
+
+Not finding him at his office, he drove direct to his house.  Here
+he was not surprised to meet Stener just coming out, looking very
+pale and distraught.  At the sight of Cowperwood he actually blanched.
+
+"Why, hello, Frank," he exclaimed, sheepishly, "where do you come
+from?"
+
+"What's up, George?" asked Cowperwood.  "I thought you were coming
+into Broad Street."
+
+"So I was," returned Stener, foolishly, "but I thought I would get
+off at West Philadelphia and change my clothes.  I've a lot of
+things to 'tend to yet this afternoon.  I was coming in to see
+you."  After Cowperwood's urgent telegram this was silly, but the
+young banker let it pass.
+
+"Jump in, George," he said.  "I have something very important to
+talk to you about.  I told you in my telegram about the likelihood
+of a panic.  It's on.  There isn't a moment to lose.  Stocks are
+'way down, and most of my loans are being called.  I want to know
+if you won't let me have three hundred and fifty thousand dollars
+for a few days at four or five per cent.  I'll pay it all back to
+you.  I need it very badly.  If I don't get it I'm likely to fail.
+You know what that means, George.  It will tie up every dollar I
+have.  Those street-car holdings of yours will be tied up with me.
+I won't be able to let you realize on them, and that will put those
+loans of mine from the treasury in bad shape.  You won't be able
+to put the money back, and you know what that means.  We're in
+this thing together.  I want to see you through safely, but I can't
+do it without your help.  I had to go to Butler last night to see
+about a loan of his, and I'm doing my best to get money from other
+sources.  But I can't see my way through on this, I'm afraid,
+unless you're willing to help me."  Cowperwood paused.  He wanted
+to put the whole case clearly and succinctly to him before he had
+a chance to refuse--to make him realize it as his own predicament.
+
+As a matter of fact, what Cowperwood had keenly suspected was
+literally true.  Stener had been reached.  The moment Butler and
+Simpson had left him the night before, Mollenhauer had sent for
+his very able secretary, Abner Sengstack, and despatched him to
+learn the truth about Stener's whereabouts.  Sengstack had then
+sent a long wire to Strobik, who was with Stener, urging him to
+caution the latter against Cowperwood.  The state of the treasury
+was known.  Stener and Strobik were to be met by Sengstack at
+Wilmington (this to forefend against the possibility of Cowperwood's
+reaching Stener first)--and the whole state of affairs made
+perfectly plain.  No more money was to be used under penalty of
+prosecution.  If Stener wanted to see any one he must see
+Mollenhauer.  Sengstack, having received a telegram from Strobik
+informing him of their proposed arrival at noon the next day, had
+proceeded to Wilmington to meet them.  The result was that Stener
+did not come direct into the business heart of the city, but instead
+got off at West Philadelphia, proposing to go first to his house
+to change his clothes and then to see Mollenhauer before meeting
+Cowperwood.  He was very badly frightened and wanted time to think.
+
+"I can't do it, Frank," he pleaded, piteously.  "I'm in pretty
+bad in this matter.  Mollenhauer's secretary met the train out
+at Wilmington just now to warn me against this situation, and
+Strobik is against it.  They know how much money I've got outstanding.
+You or somebody has told them.  I can't go against Mollenhauer.
+I owe everything I've got to him, in a way.  He got me this place."
+
+"Listen, George.  Whatever you do at this time, don't let this
+political loyalty stuff cloud your judgment.  You're in a very
+serious position and so am I.  If you don't act for yourself with
+me now no one is going to act for you--now or later--no one.  And
+later will be too late.  I proved that last night when I went to
+Butler to get help for the two of us.  They all know about this
+business of our street-railway holdings and they want to shake us
+out and that's the big and little of it--nothing more and nothing
+less.  It's a case of dog eat dog in this game and this particular
+situation and it's up to us to save ourselves against everybody or
+go down together, and that's just what I'm here to tell you.
+Mollenhauer doesn't care any more for you to-day than he does for
+that lamp-post.  It isn't that money you've paid out to me that's
+worrying him, but who's getting something for it and what.  Well
+they know that you and I are getting street-railways, don't you
+see, and they don't want us to have them.  Once they get those out
+of our hands they won't waste another day on you or me.  Can't you
+see that? Once we've lost all we've invested, you're down and so
+am I--and no one is going to turn a hand for you or me politically
+or in any other way.  I want you to understand that, George,
+because it's true.  And before you say you won't or you will do
+anything because Mollenhauer says so, you want to think over what
+I have to tell you."
+
+He was in front of Stener now, looking him directly in the eye and
+by the kinetic force of his mental way attempting to make Stener
+take the one step that might save him--Cowperwood--however little
+in the long run it might do for Stener.  And, more interesting
+still, he did not care.  Stener, as he saw him now, was a pawn
+in whosoever's hands he happened to be at the time, and despite
+Mr. Mollenhauer and Mr. Simpson and Mr. Butler he proposed to
+attempt to keep him in his own hands if possible.  And so he
+stood there looking at him as might a snake at a bird determined
+to galvanize him into selfish self-interest if possible.  But
+Stener was so frightened that at the moment it looked as though
+there was little to be done with him.  His face was a grayish-blue:
+his eyelids and eye rings puffy and his hands and lips moist.  God,
+what a hole he was in now!
+
+"Say that's all right, Frank," he exclaimed desperately.  "I know
+what you say is true.  But look at me and my position, if I do
+give you this money.  What can't they do to me, and won't.  If
+you only look at it from my point of view.  If only you hadn't
+gone to Butler before you saw me."
+
+"As though I could see you, George, when you were off duck shooting
+and when I was wiring everywhere I knew to try to get in touch with
+you.  How could I? The situation had to be met.  Besides, I thought
+Butler was more friendly to me than he proved.  But there's no use
+being angry with me now, George, for going to Butler as I did, and
+anyhow you can't afford to be now.  We're in this thing together.
+It's a case of sink or swim for just us two--not any one else--just
+us--don't you get that? Butler couldn't or wouldn't do what I
+wanted him to do--get Mollenhauer and Simpson to support the market.
+Instead of that they are hammering it.  They have a game of their
+own.  It's to shake us out--can't you see that? Take everything that
+you and I have gathered.  It is up to you and me, George, to save
+ourselves, and that's what I'm here for now.  If you don't let me
+have three hundred and fifty thousand dollars--three hundred
+thousand, anyhow--you and I are ruined.  It will be worse for you,
+George, than for me, for I'm not involved in this thing in any
+way--not legally, anyhow.  But that's not what I'm thinking of.
+What I want to do is to save us both--put us on easy street for
+the rest of our lives, whatever they say or do, and it's in your
+power, with my help, to do that for both of us.  Can't you see
+that? I want to save my business so then I can help you to save
+your name and money."  He paused, hoping this had convinced Stener,
+but the latter was still shaking.
+
+"But what can I do, Frank?" he pleaded, weakly.  "I can't go against
+Mollenhauer.  They can prosecute me if I do that.  They can do it,
+anyhow.  I can't do that.  I'm not strong enough.  If they didn't
+know, if you hadn't told them, it might be different, but this way--"
+He shook his head sadly, his gray eyes filled with a pale distress.
+
+"George," replied Cowperwood, who realized now that only the sternest
+arguments would have any effect here, "don't talk about what I did.
+What I did I had to do.  You're in danger of losing your head and
+your nerve and making a serious mistake here, and I don't want to
+see you make it.  I have five hundred thousand of the city's money
+invested for you--partly for me, and partly for you, but more for
+you than for me"--which, by the way, was not true--"and here you
+are hesitating in an hour like this as to whether you will protect
+your interest or not.  I can't understand it.  This is a crisis,
+George.  Stocks are tumbling on every side--everybody's stocks.
+You're not alone in this--neither am I.  This is a panic, brought
+on by a fire, and you can't expect to come out of a panic alive
+unless you do something to protect yourself.  You say you owe your
+place to Mollenhauer and that you're afraid of what he'll do.  If
+you look at your own situation and mine, you'll see that it doesn't
+make much difference what he does, so long as I don't fail.  If
+I fail, where are you? Who's going to save you from prosecution?
+Will Mollenhauer or any one else come forward and put five hundred
+thousand dollars in the treasury for you? He will not.  If
+Mollenhauer and the others have your interests at heart, why aren't
+they helping me on 'change today? I'll tell you why.  They want
+your street-railway holdings and mine, and they don't care whether
+you go to jail afterward or not.  Now if you're wise you will
+listen to me.  I've been loyal to you, haven't I? You've made money
+through me--lots of it.  If you're wise, George, you'll go to your
+office and write me your check for three hundred thousand dollars,
+anyhow, before you do a single other thing.  Don't see anybody and
+don't do anything till you've done that.  You can't be hung any
+more for a sheep than you can for a lamb.  No one can prevent you
+from giving me that check.  You're the city treasurer.  Once I
+have that I can see my way out of this, and I'll pay it all back
+to you next week or the week after--this panic is sure to end in
+that time.  With that put back in the treasury we can see them about
+the five hundred thousand a little later.  In three months, or
+less, I can fix it so that you can put that back.  As a matter of
+fact, I can do it in fifteen days once I am on my feet again.  Time
+is all I want.  You won't have lost your holdings and nobody will
+cause you any trouble if you put the money back.  They don't care
+to risk a scandal any more than you do.  Now what'll you do, George?
+Mollenhauer can't stop you from doing this any more than I can make
+you.  Your life is in your own hands.  What will you do?"
+
+Stener stood there ridiculously meditating when, as a matter of
+fact, his very financial blood was oozing away.  Yet he was afraid
+to act.  He was afraid of Mollenhauer, afraid of Cowperwood, afraid
+of life and of himself.  The thought of panic, loss, was not so
+much a definite thing connected with his own property, his money,
+as it was with his social and political standing in the community.
+Few people have the sense of financial individuality strongly
+developed.  They do not know what it means to be a controller of
+wealth, to have that which releases the sources of social action--
+its medium of exchange.  They want money, but not for money's sake.
+They want it for what it will buy in the way of simple comforts,
+whereas the financier wants it for what it will control--for what
+it will represent in the way of dignity, force, power.  Cowperwood
+wanted money in that way; Stener not.  That was why he had been so
+ready to let Cowperwood act for him; and now, when he should have
+seen more clearly than ever the significance of what Cowperwood
+was proposing, he was frightened and his reason obscured by such
+things as Mollenhauer's probable opposition and rage, Cowperwood's
+possible failure, his own inability to face a real crisis.
+Cowperwood's innate financial ability did not reassure Stener in
+this hour.  The banker was too young, too new.  Mollenhauer was
+older, richer.  So was Simpson; so was Butler.  These men, with
+their wealth, represented the big forces, the big standards in
+his world.  And besides, did not Cowperwood himself confess that
+he was in great danger--that he was in a corner.  That was the
+worst possible confession to make to Stener--although under the
+circumstances it was the only one that could be made--for he had
+no courage to face danger.
+
+So it was that now, Stener stood by Cowperwood meditating--pale,
+flaccid; unable to see the main line of his interests quickly,
+unable to follow it definitely, surely, vigorously--while they
+drove to his office.  Cowperwood entered it with him for the sake
+of continuing his plea.
+
+"Well, George," he said earnestly, "I wish you'd tell me.  Time's
+short.  We haven't a moment to lose.  Give me the money, won't
+you, and I'll get out of this quick.  We haven't a moment, I tell
+you.  Don't let those people frighten you off.  They're playing
+their own little game; you play yours."
+
+"I can't, Frank," said Stener, finally, very weakly, his sense
+of his own financial future, overcome for the time being by the
+thought of Mollenhauer's hard, controlling face.  "I'll have to
+think.  I can't do it right now.  Strobik just left me before I
+saw you, and--"
+
+"Good God, George," exclaimed Cowperwood, scornfully, "don't talk
+about Strobik! What's he got to do with it? Think of yourself.
+Think of where you will be.  It's your future--not Strobik's--that
+you have to think of."
+
+"I know, Frank," persisted Stener, weakly; "but, really, I don't
+see how I can.  Honestly I don't.  You say yourself you're not
+sure whether you can come out of things all right, and three
+hundred thousand more is three hundred thousand more.  I can't,
+Frank.  I really can't.  It wouldn't be right.  Besides, I want
+to talk to Mollenhauer first, anyhow."
+
+"Good God, how you talk!" exploded Cowperwood, angrily, looking
+at him with ill-concealed contempt.  "Go ahead! See Mollenhauer!
+Let him tell you how to cut your own throat for his benefit.  It
+won't be right to loan me three hundred thousand dollars more,
+but it will be right to let the five hundred thousand dollars you
+have loaned stand unprotected and lose it.  That's right, isn't
+it? That's just what you propose to do--lose it, and everything
+else besides.  I want to tell you what it is, George--you've lost
+your mind.  You've let a single message from Mollenhauer frighten
+you to death, and because of that you're going to risk your
+fortune, your reputation, your standing--everything.  Do you really
+realize what this means if I fail? You will be a convict, I tell
+you, George.  You will go to prison.  This fellow Mollenhauer, who
+is so quick to tell you what not to do now, will be the last man
+to turn a hand for you once you're down.  Why, look at me--I've
+helped you, haven't I? Haven't I handled your affairs satisfactorily
+for you up to now? What in Heaven's name has got into you? What
+have you to be afraid of?"
+
+Stener was just about to make another weak rejoinder when the
+door from the outer office opened, and Albert Stires, Stener's
+chief clerk, entered.  Stener was too flustered to really pay
+any attention to Stires for the moment; but Cowperwood took
+matters in his own hands.
+
+"What is it, Albert?" he asked, familiarly.
+
+"Mr. Sengstack from Mr. Mollenhauer to see Mr. Stener."
+
+At the sound of this dreadful name Stener wilted like a leaf.
+Cowperwood saw it.  He realized that his last hope of getting
+the three hundred thousand dollars was now probably gone.  Still
+he did not propose to give up as yet.
+
+"Well, George," he said, after Albert had gone out with instructions
+that Stener would see Sengstack in a moment.  "I see how it is.
+This man has got you mesmerized.  You can't act for yourself now--
+you're too frightened.  I'll let it rest for the present; I'll
+come back.  But for Heaven's sake pull yourself together.  Think
+what it means.  I'm telling you exactly what's going to happen if
+you don't.  You'll be independently rich if you do.  You'll be a
+convict if you don't."
+
+And deciding he would make one more effort in the street before
+seeing Butler again, he walked out briskly, jumped into his light
+spring runabout waiting outside--a handsome little yellow-glazed
+vehicle, with a yellow leather cushion seat, drawn by a young,
+high-stepping bay mare--and sent her scudding from door to door,
+throwing down the lines indifferently and bounding up the steps
+of banks and into office doors.
+
+But all without avail.  All were interested, considerate; but
+things were very uncertain.  The Girard National Bank refused an
+hour's grace, and he had to send a large bundle of his most valuable
+securities to cover his stock shrinkage there.  Word came from his
+father at two that as president of the Third National he would have
+to call for his one hundred and fifty thousand dollars due there.
+The directors were suspicious of his stocks.  He at once wrote a
+check against fifty thousand dollars of his deposits in that bank,
+took twenty-five thousand of his available office funds, called a
+loan of fifty thousand against Tighe & Co., and sold sixty thousand
+Green & Coates, a line he had been tentatively dabbling in, for
+one-third their value--and, combining the general results, sent
+them all to the Third National.  His father was immensely relieved
+from one point of view, but sadly depressed from another.  He
+hurried out at the noon-hour to see what his own holdings would
+bring.  He was compromising himself in a way by doing it, but his
+parental heart, as well as is own financial interests, were involved.
+By mortgaging his house and securing loans on his furniture,
+carriages, lots, and stocks, he managed to raise one hundred thousand
+in cash, and deposited it in his own bank to Frank's credit; but it
+was a very light anchor to windward in this swirling storm, at that.
+Frank had been counting on getting all of his loans extended three
+or four days at least.  Reviewing his situation at two o'clock of
+this Monday afternoon, he said to himself thoughtfully but grimly:
+"Well, Stener has to loan me three hundred thousand--that's all
+there is to it.  And I'll have to see Butler now, or he'll be
+calling his loan before three."
+
+He hurried out, and was off to Butler's house, driving like mad.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVI
+
+
+
+
+Things had changed greatly since last Cowperwood had talked with
+Butler.  Although most friendly at the time the proposition was
+made that he should combine with Mollenhauer and Simpson to sustain
+the market, alas, now on this Monday morning at nine o'clock, an
+additional complication had been added to the already tangled
+situation which had changed Butler's attitude completely.  As he
+was leaving his home to enter his runabout, at nine o'clock in the
+morning of this same day in which Cowperwood was seeking Stener's
+aid, the postman, coming up, had handed Butler four letters, all
+of which he paused for a moment to glance at.  One was from a
+sub-contractor by the name of O'Higgins, the second was from Father
+Michel, his confessor, of St. Timothy's, thanking him for a
+contribution to the parish poor fund; a third was from Drexel & Co.
+relating to a deposit, and the fourth was an anonymous communication,
+on cheap stationery from some one who was apparently not very
+literate--a woman most likely--written in a scrawling hand, which
+read:
+
+     DEAR SIR--This is to warn you that your daughter
+     Aileen is running around with a man that she shouldn't,
+     Frank A. Cowperwood, the banker.  If you don't believe
+     it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street.  Then you
+     can see for yourself.
+
+There was neither signature nor mark of any kind to indicate from
+whence it might have come.  Butler got the impression strongly
+that it might have been written by some one living in the vicinity
+of the number indicated.  His intuitions were keen at times.  As
+a matter of fact, it was written by a girl, a member of St. Timothy's
+Church, who did live in the vicinity of the house indicated, and
+who knew Aileen by sight and was jealous of her airs and her position.
+She was a thin, anemic, dissatisfied creature who had the type of
+brain which can reconcile the gratification of personal spite with
+a comforting sense of having fulfilled a moral duty.  Her home was
+some five doors north of the unregistered Cowperwood domicile on
+the opposite side of the street, and by degrees, in the course of
+time, she made out, or imagined that she had, the significance of
+this institution, piecing fact to fancy and fusing all with that
+keen intuition which is so closely related to fact.  The result
+was eventually this letter which now spread clear and grim before
+Butler's eyes.
+
+The Irish are a philosophic as well as a practical race.  Their
+first and strongest impulse is to make the best of a bad situation--
+to put a better face on evil than it normally wears.  On first
+reading these lines the intelligence they conveyed sent a peculiar
+chill over Butler's sturdy frame.  His jaw instinctively closed,
+and his gray eyes narrowed.  Could this be true? If it were not,
+would the author of the letter say so practically, "If you don't
+believe it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street"? Wasn't
+that in itself proof positive--the hard, matter-of-fact realism
+of it? And this was the man who had come to him the night before
+seeking aid--whom he had done so much to assist.  There forced
+itself into his naturally slow-moving but rather accurate mind a
+sense of the distinction and charm of his daughter--a considerably
+sharper picture than he had ever had before, and at the same time
+a keener understanding of the personality of Frank Algernon
+Cowperwood.  How was it he had failed to detect the real subtlety
+of this man? How was it he had never seen any sign of it, if there
+had been anything between Cowperwood and Aileen?
+
+Parents are frequently inclined, because of a time-flattered sense
+of security, to take their children for granted.  Nothing ever has
+happened, so nothing ever will happen.  They see their children
+every day, and through the eyes of affection; and despite their
+natural charm and their own strong parental love, the children
+are apt to become not only commonplaces, but ineffably secure
+against evil.  Mary is naturally a good girl--a little wild, but
+what harm can befall her? John is a straight-forward, steady-going
+boy--how could he get into trouble? The astonishment of most
+parents at the sudden accidental revelation of evil in connection
+with any of their children is almost invariably pathetic.  "My
+John! My Mary! Impossible!" But it is possible.  Very possible.
+Decidedly likely.  Some, through lack of experience or understanding,
+or both, grow hard and bitter on the instant.  They feel themselves
+astonishingly abased in the face of notable tenderness and sacrifice.
+Others collapse before the grave manifestation of the insecurity
+and uncertainty of life--the mystic chemistry of our being.  Still
+others, taught roughly by life, or endowed with understanding or
+intuition, or both, see in this the latest manifestation of that
+incomprehensible chemistry which we call life and personality, and,
+knowing that it is quite vain to hope to gainsay it, save by greater
+subtlety, put the best face they can upon the matter and call a
+truce until they can think.  We all know that life is unsolvable--
+we who think.  The remainder imagine a vain thing, and are full of
+sound and fury signifying nothing.
+
+So Edward Butler, being a man of much wit and hard, grim experience,
+stood there on his doorstep holding in his big, rough hand his thin
+slip of cheap paper which contained such a terrific indictment of
+his daughter.  There came to him now a picture of her as she was
+when she was a very little girl--she was his first baby girl--and
+how keenly he had felt about her all these years.  She had been a
+beautiful child--her red-gold hair had been pillowed on his breast
+many a time, and his hard, rough fingers had stroked her soft
+cheeks, lo, these thousands of times.  Aileen, his lovely, dashing
+daughter of twenty-three! He was lost in dark, strange, unhappy
+speculations, without any present ability to think or say or do the
+right thing.  He did not know what the right thing was, he finally
+confessed to himself.  Aileen! Aileen! His Aileen! If her mother
+knew this it would break her heart.  She mustn't! She mustn't! And
+yet mustn't she?
+
+The heart of a father! The world wanders into many strange by-paths
+of affection.  The love of a mother for her children is dominant,
+leonine, selfish, and unselfish.  It is concentric.  The love of
+a husband for his wife, or of a lover for his sweetheart, is a
+sweet bond of agreement and exchange trade in a lovely contest.
+The love of a father for his son or daughter, where it is love at
+all, is a broad, generous, sad, contemplative giving without thought
+of return, a hail and farewell to a troubled traveler whom he would
+do much to guard, a balanced judgment of weakness and strength,
+with pity for failure and pride in achievement.  It is a lovely,
+generous, philosophic blossom which rarely asks too much, and
+seeks only to give wisely and plentifully.  "That my boy may
+succeed! That my daughter may be happy!" Who has not heard and
+dwelt upon these twin fervors of fatherly wisdom and tenderness?
+
+As Butler drove downtown his huge, slow-moving, in some respects
+chaotic mind turned over as rapidly as he could all of the
+possibilities in connection with this unexpected, sad, and disturbing
+revelation.  Why had Cowperwood not been satisfied with his wife?
+Why should he enter into his (Butler's) home, of all places, to
+establish a clandestine relationship of this character? Was Aileen
+in any way to blame? She was not without mental resources of her
+own.  She must have known what she was doing.  She was a good
+Catholic, or, at least, had been raised so.  All these years she
+had been going regularly to confession and communion.  True, of
+late Butler had noticed that she did not care so much about going
+to church, would sometimes make excuses and stay at home on Sundays;
+but she had gone, as a rule.  And now, now--his thoughts would
+come to the end of a blind alley, and then he would start back,
+as it were, mentally, to the center of things, and begin all over
+again.
+
+He went up the stairs to his own office slowly.  He went in and
+sat down, and thought and thought.  Ten o'clock came, and eleven.
+His son bothered him with an occasional matter of interest, but,
+finding him moody, finally abandoned him to his own speculations.
+It was twelve, and then one, and he was still sitting there thinking,
+when the presence of Cowperwood was announced.
+
+Cowperwood, on finding Butler not at home, and not encountering
+Aileen, had hurried up to the office of the Edward Butler Contracting
+Company, which was also the center of some of Butler's street-railway
+interests.  The floor space controlled by the company was divided
+into the usual official compartments, with sections for the
+bookkeepers, the road-managers, the treasurer, and so on.  Owen
+Butler, and his father had small but attractively furnished offices
+in the rear, where they transacted all the important business of the
+company.
+
+During this drive, curiously, by reason of one of those strange
+psychologic intuitions which so often precede a human difficulty
+of one sort or another, he had been thinking of Aileen.  He was
+thinking of the peculiarity of his relationship with her, and of
+the fact that now he was running to her father for assistance.  As
+he mounted the stairs he had a peculiar sense of the untoward; but
+he could not, in his view of life, give it countenance.  One glance
+at Butler showed him that something had gone amiss.  He was not
+so friendly; his glance was dark, and there was a certain sternness
+to his countenance which had never previously been manifested
+there in Cowperwood's memory.  He perceived at once that here was
+something different from a mere intention to refuse him aid and
+call his loan.  What was it? Aileen? It must be that.  Somebody
+had suggested something.  They had been seen together.  Well, even
+so, nothing could be proved.  Butler would obtain no sign from him.
+But his loan--that was to be called, surely.  And as for an
+additional loan, he could see now, before a word had been said,
+that that thought was useless.
+
+"I came to see you about that loan of yours, Mr. Butler," he
+observed, briskly, with an old-time, jaunty air.  You could not
+have told from his manner or his face that he had observed anything
+out of the ordinary.
+
+Butler, who was alone in the room--Owen having gone into an
+adjoining room--merely stared at him from under his shaggy brows.
+
+"I'll have to have that money," he said, brusquely, darkly.
+
+An old-time Irish rage suddenly welled up in his bosom as he
+contemplated this jaunty, sophisticated undoer of his daughter's
+virtue.  He fairly glared at him as he thought of him and her.
+
+"I judged from the way things were going this morning that you
+might want it," Cowperwood replied, quietly, without sign of tremor.
+"The bottom's out, I see."
+
+"The bottom's out, and it'll not be put back soon, I'm thinkin'.
+I'll have to have what's belongin' to me to-day.  I haven't any
+time to spare."
+
+"Very well," replied Cowperwood, who saw clearly how treacherous
+the situation was.  The old man was in a dour mood.  His presence
+was an irritation to him, for some reason--a deadly provocation.
+Cowperwood felt clearly that it must be Aileen, that he must know
+or suspect something.
+
+He must pretend business hurry and end this.  "I'm sorry.  I thought
+I might get an extension; but that's all right.  I can get the
+money, though.  I'll send it right over."
+
+He turned and walked quickly to the door.
+
+Butler got up.  He had thought to manage this differently.
+
+He had thought to denounce or even assault this man.  He was about
+to make some insinuating remark which would compel an answer, some
+direct charge; but Cowperwood was out and away as jaunty as ever.
+
+The old man was flustered, enraged, disappointed.  He opened the
+small office door which led into the adjoining room, and called,
+"Owen!"
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+"Send over to Cowperwood's office and get that money."
+
+"You decided to call it, eh?"
+
+"I have."
+
+Owen was puzzled by the old man's angry mood.  He wondered what
+it all meant, but thought he and Cowperwood might have had a few
+words.  He went out to his desk to write a note and call a clerk.
+Butler went to the window and stared out.  He was angry, bitter,
+brutal in his vein.
+
+"The dirty dog!" he suddenly exclaimed to himself, in a low voice.
+"I'll take every dollar he's got before I'm through with him.
+I'll send him to jail, I will.  I'll break him, I will.  Wait!"
+
+He clinched his big fists and his teeth.
+
+"I'll fix him.  I'll show him.  The dog! The damned scoundrel!"
+
+Never in his life before had he been so bitter, so cruel, so
+relentless in his mood.
+
+He walked his office floor thinking what he could do.  Question
+Aileen--that was what he would do.  If her face, or her lips, told
+him that his suspicion was true, he would deal with Cowperwood
+later.  This city treasurer business, now.  It was not a crime in
+so far as Cowperwood was concerned; but it might be made to be.
+
+So now, telling the clerk to say to Owen that he had gone down
+the street for a few moments, he boarded a street-car and rode
+out to his home, where he found his elder daughter just getting
+ready to go out.  She wore a purple-velvet street dress edged with
+narrow, flat gilt braid, and a striking gold-and-purple turban.
+She had on dainty new boots of bronze kid and long gloves of
+lavender suede.  In her ears was one of her latest affectations,
+a pair of long jet earrings.  The old Irishman realized on this
+occasion, when he saw her, perhaps more clearly than he ever had
+in his life, that he had grown a bird of rare plumage.
+
+"Where are you going, daughter?" he asked, with a rather unsuccessful
+attempt to conceal his fear, distress, and smoldering anger.
+
+"To the library," she said easily, and yet with a sudden realization
+that all was not right with her father.  His face was too heavy
+and gray.  He looked tired and gloomy.
+
+"Come up to my office a minute," he said.  "I want to see you
+before you go."
+
+Aileen heard this with a strange feeling of curiosity and wonder.
+It was not customary for her father to want to see her in his
+office just when she was going out; and his manner indicated, in
+this instance, that the exceptional procedure portended a strange
+revelation of some kind.  Aileen, like every other person who
+offends against a rigid convention of the time, was conscious of
+and sensitive to the possible disastrous results which would follow
+exposure.  She had often thought about what her family would think
+if they knew what she was doing; she had never been able to satisfy
+herself in her mind as to what they would do.  Her father was a
+very vigorous man.  But she had never known him to be cruel or
+cold in his attitude toward her or any other member of the family,
+and especially not toward her.  Always he seemed too fond of her
+to be completely alienated by anything that might happen; yet she
+could not be sure.
+
+Butler led the way, planting his big feet solemnly on the steps
+as he went up.  Aileen followed with a single glance at herself
+in the tall pier-mirror which stood in the hall, realizing at
+once how charming she looked and how uncertain she was feeling
+about what was to follow.  What could her father want? It made
+the color leave her cheeks for the moment, as she thought what he
+might want.
+
+Butler strolled into his stuffy room and sat down in the big leather
+chair, disproportioned to everything else in the chamber, but which,
+nevertheless, accompanied his desk.  Before him, against the light,
+was the visitor's chair, in which he liked to have those sit whose
+faces he was anxious to study.  When Aileen entered he motioned her
+to it, which was also ominous to her, and said, "Sit down there."
+
+She took the seat, not knowing what to make of his procedure.  On
+the instant her promise to Cowperwood to deny everything, whatever
+happened, came back to her.  If her father was about to attack her
+on that score, he would get no satisfaction, she thought.  She owed
+it to Frank.  Her pretty face strengthened and hardened on the
+instant.  Her small, white teeth set themselves in two even rows;
+and her father saw quite plainly that she was consciously bracing
+herself for an attack of some kind.  He feared by this that she was
+guilty, and he was all the more distressed, ashamed, outraged, made
+wholly unhappy.  He fumbled in the left-hand pocket of his coat and
+drew forth from among the various papers the fatal communication
+so cheap in its physical texture.  His big fingers fumbled almost
+tremulously as he fished the letter-sheet out of the small envelope
+and unfolded it without saying a word.  Aileen watched his face
+and his hands, wondering what it could be that he had here.  He
+handed the paper over, small in his big fist, and said, "Read that."
+
+Aileen took it, and for a second was relieved to be able to lower
+her eyes to the paper.  Her relief vanished in a second, when she
+realized how in a moment she would have to raise them again and
+look him in the face.
+
+     DEAR SIR--This is to warn you that your daughter
+     Aileen is running around with a man that she shouldn't,
+     Frank A. Cowperwood, the banker.  If you don't believe
+     it, watch the house at 931 North Tenth Street.  Then you
+     can see for yourself.
+
+In spite of herself the color fled from her cheeks instantly,
+only to come back in a hot, defiant wave.
+
+"Why, what a lie!" she said, lifting her eyes to her father's.
+"To think that any one should write such a thing of me! How dare
+they! I think it's a shame!"
+
+Old Butler looked at her narrowly, solemnly.  He was not deceived
+to any extent by her bravado.  If she were really innocent, he
+knew she would have jumped to her feet in her defiant way.  Protest
+would have been written all over her.  As it was, she only stared
+haughtily.  He read through her eager defiance to the guilty truth.
+
+"How do ye know, daughter, that I haven't had the house watched?"
+he said, quizzically.  "How do ye know that ye haven't been seen
+goin' in there?"
+
+Only Aileen's solemn promise to her lover could have saved her
+from this subtle thrust.  As it was, she paled nervously; but she
+saw Frank Cowperwood, solemn and distinguished, asking her what
+she would say if she were caught.
+
+"It's a lie!" she said, catching her breath.  "I wasn't at any
+house at that number, and no one saw me going in there.  How can
+you ask me that, father?"
+
+In spite of his mixed feelings of uncertainty and yet unshakable
+belief that his daughter was guilty, he could not help admiring
+her courage--she was so defiant, as she sat there, so set in her
+determination to lie and thus defend herself.  Her beauty helped
+her in his mood, raised her in his esteem.  After all, what could
+you do with a woman of this kind? She was not a ten-year-old girl
+any more, as in a way he sometimes continued to fancy her.
+
+"Ye oughtn't to say that if it isn't true, Aileen," he said.  "Ye
+oughtn't to lie.  It's against your faith.  Why would anybody write
+a letter like that if it wasn't so?"
+
+"But it's not so," insisted Aileen, pretending anger and outraged
+feeling, "and I don't think you have any right to sit there and
+say that to me.  I haven't been there, and I'm not running around
+with Mr. Cowperwood.  Why, I hardly know the man except in a social
+way."
+
+Butler shook his head solemnly.
+
+"It's a great blow to me, daughter.  It's a great blow to me," he
+said.  "I'm willing to take your word if ye say so; but I can't
+help thinkin' what a sad thing it would be if ye were lyin' to me.
+I haven't had the house watched.  I only got this this mornin'.
+And what's written here may not be so.  I hope it isn't.  But
+we'll not say any more about that now.  If there is anythin' in
+it, and ye haven't gone too far yet to save yourself, I want ye
+to think of your mother and your sister and your brothers, and be
+a good girl.  Think of the church ye was raised in, and the name
+we've got to stand up for in the world.  Why, if ye were doin'
+anything wrong, and the people of Philadelphy got a hold of it,
+the city, big as it is, wouldn't be big enough to hold us.  Your
+brothers have got a reputation to make, their work to do here.
+You and your sister want to get married sometime.  How could ye
+expect to look the world in the face and do anythin' at all if ye
+are doin' what this letter says ye are, and it was told about ye?"
+
+The old man's voice was thick with a strange, sad, alien emotion.
+He did not want to believe that his daughter was guilty, even
+though he knew she was.  He did not want to face what he considered
+in his vigorous, religious way to be his duty, that of reproaching
+her sternly.  There were some fathers who would have turned her out,
+he fancied.  There were others who might possibly kill Cowperwood
+after a subtle investigation.  That course was not for him.  If
+vengeance he was to have, it must be through politics and finance--
+he must drive him out.  But as for doing anything desperate in
+connection with Aileen, he could not think of it.
+
+"Oh, father," returned Aileen, with considerable histrionic ability
+in her assumption of pettishness, "how can you talk like this when
+you know I'm not guilty? When I tell you so?"
+
+The old Irishman saw through her make-believe with profound
+sadness--the feeling that one of his dearest hopes had been
+shattered.  He had expected so much of her socially and matrimonially.
+Why, any one of a dozen remarkable young men might have married her,
+and she would have had lovely children to comfort him in his old age.
+
+"Well, we'll not talk any more about it now, daughter," he said,
+wearily.  "Ye've been so much to me during all these years that
+I can scarcely belave anythin' wrong of ye.  I don't want to, God
+knows.  Ye're a grown woman, though, now; and if ye are doin'
+anythin' wrong I don't suppose I could do so much to stop ye.  I
+might turn ye out, of course, as many a father would; but I wouldn't
+like to do anythin' like that.  But if ye are doin' anythin' wrong"--
+and he put up his hand to stop a proposed protest on the part of
+Aileen--"remember, I'm certain to find it out in the long run, and
+Philadelphy won't be big enough to hold me and the man that's done
+this thing to me.  I'll get him," he said, getting up dramatically.
+"I'll get him, and when I do--" He turned a livid face to the wall,
+and Aileen saw clearly that Cowperwood, in addition to any other
+troubles which might beset him, had her father to deal with.  Was
+this why Frank had looked so sternly at her the night before?
+
+"Why, your mother would die of a broken heart if she thought there
+was anybody could say the least word against ye," pursued Butler,
+in a shaken voice.  "This man has a family--a wife and children,
+Ye oughtn't to want to do anythin' to hurt them.  They'll have
+trouble enough, if I'm not mistaken--facin' what's comin' to them
+in the future," and Butler's jaw hardened just a little.  "Ye're
+a beautiful girl.  Ye're young.  Ye have money.  There's dozens
+of young men'd be proud to make ye their wife.  Whatever ye may
+be thinkin' or doin', don't throw away your life.  Don't destroy
+your immortal soul.  Don't break my heart entirely."
+
+Aileen, not ungenerous--fool of mingled affection and passion--
+could now have cried.  She pitied her father from her heart; but
+her allegiance was to Cowperwood, her loyalty unshaken.  She wanted
+to say something, to protest much more; but she knew that it was
+useless.  Her father knew that she was lying.
+
+"Well, there's no use of my saying anything more, father," she
+said, getting up.  The light of day was fading in the windows.
+The downstairs door closed with a light slam, indicating that one
+of the boys had come in.  Her proposed trip to the library was
+now without interest to her.  "You won't believe me, anyhow.  I
+tell you, though, that I'm innocent just the same."
+
+Butler lifted his big, brown hand to command silence.  She saw
+that this shameful relationship, as far as her father was concerned,
+had been made quite clear, and that this trying conference was now
+at an end.  She turned and walked shamefacedly out.  He waited
+until he heard her steps fading into faint nothings down the hall
+toward her room.  Then he arose.  Once more he clinched his big
+fists.
+
+"The scoundrel!" he said.  "The scoundrel! I'll drive him out of
+Philadelphy, if it takes the last dollar I have in the world."
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVII
+
+
+
+
+For the first time in his life Cowperwood felt conscious of having
+been in the presence of that interesting social phenomenon--the
+outraged sentiment of a parent.  While he had no absolute knowledge
+as to why Butler had been so enraged, he felt that Aileen was the
+contributing cause.  He himself was a father.  His boy, Frank, Jr.,
+was to him not so remarkable.  But little Lillian, with her dainty
+little slip of a body and bright-aureoled head, had always appealed
+to him.  She was going to be a charming woman one day, he thought,
+and he was going to do much to establish her safely.  He used to
+tell her that she had "eyes like buttons," "feet like a pussy-cat,"
+and hands that were "just five cents' worth," they were so little.
+The child admired her father and would often stand by his chair
+in the library or the sitting-room, or his desk in his private
+office, or by his seat at the table, asking him questions.
+
+This attitude toward his own daughter made him see clearly how
+Butler might feel toward Aileen.  He wondered how he would feel if
+it were his own little Lillian, and still he did not believe he
+would make much fuss over the matter, either with himself or with
+her, if she were as old as Aileen.  Children and their lives were
+more or less above the willing of parents, anyhow, and it would
+be a difficult thing for any parent to control any child, unless
+the child were naturally docile-minded and willing to be controlled.
+
+It also made him smile, in a grim way, to see how fate was raining
+difficulties on him.  The Chicago fire, Stener's early absence,
+Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson's indifference to Stener's fate
+and his.  And now this probable revelation in connection with
+Aileen.  He could not be sure as yet, but his intuitive instincts
+told him that it must be something like this.
+
+Now he was distressed as to what Aileen would do, say if suddenly
+she were confronted by her father.  If he could only get to her!
+But if he was to meet Butler's call for his loan, and the others
+which would come yet to-day or on the morrow, there was not a
+moment to lose.  If he did not pay he must assign at once.  Butler's
+rage, Aileen, his own danger, were brushed aside for the moment.
+His mind concentrated wholly on how to save himself financially.
+
+He hurried to visit George Waterman; David Wiggin, his wife's
+brother, who was now fairly well to do; Joseph Zimmerman, the
+wealthy dry-goods dealer who had dealt with him in the past; Judge
+Kitchen, a private manipulator of considerable wealth; Frederick
+Van Nostrand, the State treasurer, who was interested in local
+street-railway stocks, and others.  Of all those to whom he appealed
+one was actually not in a position to do anything for him; another
+was afraid; a third was calculating eagerly to drive a hard bargain;
+a fourth was too deliberate, anxious to have much time.  All
+scented the true value of his situation, all wanted time to consider,
+and he had no time to consider.  Judge Kitchen did agree to lend
+him thirty thousand dollars--a paltry sum.  Joseph Zimmerman would
+only risk twenty-five thousand dollars.  He could see where, all
+told, he might raise seventy-five thousand dollars by hypothecating
+double the amount in shares; but this was ridiculously insufficient.
+He had figured again, to a dollar, and he must have at least two
+hundred and fifty thousand dollars above all his present holdings,
+or he must close his doors.  To-morrow at two o'clock he would
+know.  If he didn't he would be written down as "failed" on a score
+of ledgers in Philadelphia.
+
+What a pretty pass for one to come to whose hopes had so recently
+run so high! There was a loan of one hundred thousand dollars from
+the Girard National Bank which he was particularly anxious to clear
+off.  This bank was the most important in the city, and if he
+retained its good will by meeting this loan promptly he might hope
+for favors in the future whatever happened.  Yet, at the moment,
+he did not see how he could do it.  He decided, however, after some
+reflection, that he would deliver the stocks which Judge Kitchen,
+Zimmerman, and others had agreed to take and get their checks or
+cash yet this night.  Then he would persuade Stener to let him
+have a check for the sixty thousand dollars' worth of city loan
+he had purchased this morning on 'change.  Out of it he could take
+twenty-five thousand dollars to make up the balance due the bank,
+and still have thirty-five thousand for himself.
+
+The one unfortunate thing about such an arrangement was that by
+doing it he was building up a rather complicated situation in
+regard to these same certificates.  Since their purchase in the
+morning, he had not deposited them in the sinking-fund, where
+they belonged (they had been delivered to his office by half past
+one in the afternoon), but, on the contrary, had immediately
+hypothecated them to cover another loan.  It was a risky thing to
+have done, considering that he was in danger of failing and that
+he was not absolutely sure of being able to take them up in time.
+
+But, he reasoned, he had a working agreement with the city treasurer
+(illegal of course), which would make such a transaction rather
+plausible, and almost all right, even if he failed, and that was
+that none of his accounts were supposed necessarily to be put
+straight until the end of the month.  If he failed, and the
+certificates were not in the sinking-fund, he could say, as was
+the truth, that he was in the habit of taking his time, and had
+forgotten.  This collecting of a check, therefore, for these as
+yet undeposited certificates would be technically, if not legally
+and morally, plausible.  The city would be out only an additional
+sixty thousand dollars--making five hundred and sixty thousand
+dollars all told, which in view of its probable loss of five hundred
+thousand did not make so much difference.  But his caution clashed
+with his need on this occasion, and he decided that he would not
+call for the check unless Stener finally refused to aid him with
+three hundred thousand more, in which case he would claim it as
+his right.  In all likelihood Stener would not think to ask whether
+the certificates were in the sinking-fund or not.  If he did, he
+would have to lie--that was all.
+
+He drove rapidly back to his office, and, finding Butler's note,
+as he expected, wrote a check on his father's bank for the one
+hundred thousand dollars which had been placed to his credit by
+his loving parent, and sent it around to Butler's office.  There
+was another note, from Albert Stires, Stener's secretary, advising
+him not to buy or sell any more city loan--that until further notice
+such transactions would not be honored.  Cowperwood immediately
+sensed the source of this warning.  Stener had been in conference
+with Butler or Mollenhauer, and had been warned and frightened.
+Nevertheless, he got in his buggy again and drove directly to the
+city treasurer's office.
+
+Since Cowperwood's visit Stener had talked still more with Sengstack,
+Strobik, and others, all sent to see that a proper fear of things
+financial had been put in his heart.  The result was decidedly one
+which spelled opposition to Cowperwood.
+
+Strobik was considerably disturbed himself.  He and Wycroft and
+Harmon had also been using money out of the treasury--much smaller
+sums, of course, for they had not Cowperwood's financial imagination--
+and were disturbed as to how they would return what they owed before
+the storm broke.  If Cowperwood failed, and Stener was short in
+his accounts, the whole budget might be investigated, and then
+their loans would be brought to light.  The thing to do was to
+return what they owed, and then, at least, no charge of malfeasance
+would lie against them.
+
+"Go to Mollenhauer," Strobik had advised Stener, shortly after
+Cowperwood had left the latter's office, "and tell him the whole
+story.  He put you here.  He was strong for your nomination.  Tell
+him just where you stand and ask him what to do.  He'll probably
+be able to tell you.  Offer him your holdings to help you out.
+You have to.  You can't help yourself.  Don't loan Cowperwood
+another damned dollar, whatever you do.  He's got you in so deep
+now you can hardly hope to get out.  Ask Mollenhauer if he won't
+help you to get Cowperwood to put that money back.  He may be able
+to influence him."
+
+There was more in this conversation to the same effect, and then
+Stener hurried as fast as his legs could carry him to Mollenhauer's
+office.  He was so frightened that he could scarcely breathe, and
+he was quite ready to throw himself on his knees before the big
+German-American financier and leader.  Oh, if Mr. Mollenhauer would
+only help him! If he could just get out of this without going to
+jail!
+
+"Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!" he repeated, over and over to
+himself, as he walked.  "What shall I do?"
+
+The attitude of Henry A. Mollenhauer, grim, political boss that
+he was--trained in a hard school--was precisely the attitude of
+every such man in all such trying circumstances.
+
+He was wondering, in view of what Butler had told him, just how
+much he could advantage himself in this situation.  If he could,
+he wanted to get control of whatever street-railway stock Stener
+now had, without in any way compromising himself.  Stener's shares
+could easily be transferred on 'change through Mollenhauer's brokers
+to a dummy, who would eventually transfer them to himself
+(Mollenhauer).  Stener must be squeezed thoroughly, though, this
+afternoon, and as for his five hundred thousand dollars' indebtedness
+to the treasury, Mollenhauer did not see what could be done about
+that.  If Cowperwood could not pay it, the city would have to lose
+it; but the scandal must be hushed up until after election.  Stener,
+unless the various party leaders had more generosity than Mollenhauer
+imagined, would have to suffer exposure, arrest, trial, confiscation
+of his property, and possibly sentence to the penitentiary, though
+this might easily be commuted by the governor, once public excitement
+died down.  He did not trouble to think whether Cowperwood was
+criminally involved or not.  A hundred to one he was not.  Trust
+a shrewd man like that to take care of himself.  But if there was
+any way to shoulder the blame on to Cowperwood, and so clear the
+treasurer and the skirts of the party, he would not object to that.
+He wanted to hear the full story of Stener's relations with the
+broker first.  Meanwhile, the thing to do was to seize what Stener
+had to yield.
+
+The troubled city treasurer, on being shown in Mr. Mollenhauer's
+presence, at once sank feebly in a chair and collapsed.  He was
+entirely done for mentally.  His nerve was gone, his courage
+exhausted like a breath.
+
+"Well, Mr. Stener?" queried Mr. Mollenhauer, impressively,
+pretending not to know what brought him.
+
+"I came about this matter of my loans to Mr. Cowperwood."
+
+"Well, what about them?"
+
+"Well, he owes me, or the city treasury rather, five hundred
+thousand dollars, and I understand that he is going to fail and
+that he can't pay it back."
+
+"Who told you that?"
+
+"Mr. Sengstack, and since then Mr. Cowperwood has been to see me.
+He tells me he must have more money or he will fail and he wants
+to borrow three hundred thousand dollars more.  He says he must
+have it."
+
+"So!" said Mr. Mollenhauer, impressively, and with an air of
+astonishment which he did not feel.  "You would not think of doing
+that, of course.  You're too badly involved as it is.  If he wants
+to know why, refer him to me.  Don't advance him another dollar.
+If you do, and this case comes to trial, no court would have any
+mercy on you.  It's going to be difficult enough to do anything
+for you as it is.  However, if you don't advance him any more--we
+will see.  It may be possible, I can't say, but at any rate, no
+more money must leave the treasury to bolster up this bad business.
+It's much too difficult as it now is."  He stared at Stener warningly.
+And he, shaken and sick, yet because of the faint suggestion of
+mercy involved somewhere in Mollenhauer's remarks, now slipped
+from his chair to his knees and folded his hands in the uplifted
+attitude of a devotee before a sacred image.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Mollenhauer," he choked, beginning to cry, "I didn't
+mean to do anything wrong.  Strobik and Wycroft told me it was
+all right.  You sent me to Cowperwood in the first place.  I only
+did what I thought the others had been doing.  Mr. Bode did it,
+just like I have been doing.  He dealt with Tighe and Company.
+I have a wife and four children, Mr. Mollenhauer.  My youngest boy
+is only seven years old.  Think of them, Mr. Mollenhauer! Think of
+what my arrest will mean to them! I don't want to go to jail.  I
+didn't think I was doing anything very wrong--honestly I didn't.
+I'll give up all I've got.  You can have all my stocks and houses
+and lots--anything--if you'll only get me out of this.  You won't
+let 'em send me to jail, will you?"
+
+His fat, white lips were trembling--wabbling nervously--and big
+hot tears were coursing down his previously pale but now flushed
+cheeks.  He presented one of those almost unbelievable pictures
+which are yet so intensely human and so true.  If only the great
+financial and political giants would for once accurately reveal
+the details of their lives!
+
+Mollenhauer looked at him calmly, meditatively.  How often had he
+seen weaklings no more dishonest than himself, but without his
+courage and subtlety, pleading to him in this fashion, not on their
+knees exactly, but intellectually so! Life to him, as to every
+other man of large practical knowledge and insight, was an
+inexplicable tangle.  What were you going to do about the so-called
+morals and precepts of the world? This man Stener fancied that he
+was dishonest, and that he, Mollenhauer, was honest.  He was here,
+self-convicted of sin, pleading to him, Mollenhauer, as he would
+to a righteous, unstained saint.  As a matter of fact, Mollenhauer
+knew that he was simply shrewder, more far-seeing, more calculating,
+not less dishonest.  Stener was lacking in force and brains--not
+morals.  This lack was his principal crime.  There were people who
+believed in some esoteric standard of right--some ideal of conduct
+absolutely and very far removed from practical life; but he had
+never seen them practice it save to their own financial (not moral--
+he would not say that) destruction.  They were never significant,
+practical men who clung to these fatuous ideals.  They were always
+poor, nondescript, negligible dreamers.  He could not have made
+Stener understand all this if he had wanted to, and he certainly
+did not want to.  It was too bad about Mrs. Stener and the little
+Steners.  No doubt she had worked hard, as had Stener, to get up
+in the world and be something--just a little more than miserably
+poor; and now this unfortunate complication had to arise to undo
+them--this Chicago fire.  What a curious thing that was! If any
+one thing more than another made him doubt the existence of a kindly,
+overruling Providence, it was the unheralded storms out of clear
+skies--financial, social, anything you choose--that so often
+brought ruin and disaster to so many.
+
+"Get Up, Stener," he said, calmly, after a few moments.  "You
+mustn't give way to your feelings like this.  You must not cry.
+These troubles are never unraveled by tears.  You must do a
+little thinking for yourself.  Perhaps your situation isn't so
+bad."
+
+As he was saying this Stener was putting himself back in his
+chair, getting out his handkerchief, and sobbing hopelessly in it.
+
+"I'll do what I can, Stener.  I won't promise anything.  I can't
+tell you what the result will be.  There are many peculiar political
+forces in this city.  I may not be able to save you, but I am
+perfectly willing to try.  You must put yourself absolutely under
+my direction.  You must not say or do anything without first
+consulting with me.  I will send my secretary to you from time to
+time.  He will tell you what to do.  You must not come to me unless
+I send for you.  Do you understand that thoroughly?"
+
+"Yes, Mr. Mollenhauer."
+
+"Well, now, dry your eyes.  I don't want you to go out of this
+office crying.  Go back to your office, and I will send Sengstack
+to see you.  He will tell you what to do.  Follow him exactly.
+And whenever I send for you come at once."
+
+He got up, large, self-confident, reserved.  Stener, buoyed up by
+the subtle reassurance of his remarks, recovered to a degree his
+equanimity.  Mr. Mollenhauer, the great, powerful Mr. Mollenhauer
+was going to help him out of his scrape.  He might not have to go
+to jail after all.  He left after a few moments, his face a little
+red from weeping, but otherwise free of telltale marks, and returned
+to his office.
+
+Three-quarters of an hour later, Sengstack called on him for the
+second time that day--Abner Sengstack, small, dark-faced, club-footed,
+a great sole of leather three inches thick under his short, withered
+right leg, his slightly Slavic, highly intelligent countenance
+burning with a pair of keen, piercing, inscrutable black eyes.
+Sengstack was a fit secretary for Mollenhauer.  You could see at
+one glance that he would make Stener do exactly what Mollenhauer
+suggested.  His business was to induce Stener to part with his
+street-railway holdings at once through Tighe & Co., Butler's
+brokers, to the political sub-agent who would eventually transfer
+them to Mollenhauer.  What little Stener received for them might
+well go into the treasury.  Tighe & Co. would manage the "'change"
+subtleties of this without giving any one else a chance to bid,
+while at the same time making it appear an open-market transaction.
+At the same time Sengstack went carefully into the state of the
+treasurer's office for his master's benefit--finding out what it
+was that Strobik, Wycroft, and Harmon had been doing with their
+loans.  Via another source they were ordered to disgorge at once
+or face prosecution.  They were a part of Mollenhauer's political
+machine.  Then, having cautioned Stener not to set over the remainder
+of his property to any one, and not to listen to any one, most of
+all to the Machiavellian counsel of Cowperwood, Sengstack left.
+
+Needless to say, Mollenhauer was greatly gratified by this turn
+of affairs.  Cowperwood was now most likely in a position where he
+would have to come and see him, or if not, a good share of the
+properties he controlled were already in Mollenhauer's possession.
+If by some hook or crook he could secure the remainder, Simpson
+and Butler might well talk to him about this street-railway business.
+His holdings were now as large as any, if not quite the largest.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVIII
+
+
+
+
+It was in the face of this very altered situation that Cowperwood
+arrived at Stener's office late this Monday afternoon.
+
+Stener was quite alone, worried and distraught.  He was anxious
+to see Cowperwood, and at the same time afraid.
+
+"George," began Cowperwood, briskly, on seeing him, "I haven't
+much time to spare now, but I've come, finally, to tell you that
+you'll have to let me have three hundred thousand more if you don't
+want me to fail.  Things are looking very bad today.  They've
+caught me in a corner on my loans; but this storm isn't going to
+last.  You can see by the very character of it that it can't."
+
+He was looking at Stener's face, and seeing fear and a pained and
+yet very definite necessity for opposition written there.  "Chicago
+is burning, but it will be built up again.  Business will be all
+the better for it later on.  Now, I want you to be reasonable and
+help me.  Don't get frightened."
+
+Stener stirred uneasily.  "Don't let these politicians scare you
+to death.  It will all blow over in a few days, and then we'll be
+better off than ever.  Did you see Mollenhauer?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, what did he have to say?"
+
+"He said just what I thought he'd say.  He won't let me do this.
+I can't, Frank, I tell you!" exclaimed Stener, jumping up.  He was
+so nervous that he had had a hard time keeping his seat during this
+short, direct conversation.  "I can't! They've got me in a corner!
+They're after me! They all know what we've been doing.  Oh, say,
+Frank"--he threw up his arms wildly--"you've got to get me out of
+this.  You've got to let me have that five hundred thousand back
+and get me out of this.  If you don't, and you should fail, they'll
+send me to the penitentiary.  I've got a wife and four children,
+Frank.  I can't go on in this.  It's too big for me.  I never
+should have gone in on it in the first place.  I never would have
+if you hadn't persuaded me, in a way.  I never thought when I began
+that I would ever get in as bad as all this.  I can't go on, Frank.
+I can't! I'm willing you should have all my stock.  Only give me
+back that five hundred thousand, and we'll call it even."  His
+voice rose nervously as he talked, and he wiped his wet forehead
+with his hand and stared at Cowperwood pleadingly, foolishly.
+
+Cowperwood stared at him in return for a few moments with a cold,
+fishy eye.  He knew a great deal about human nature, and he was
+ready for and expectant of any queer shift in an individual's
+attitude, particularly in time of panic; but this shift of Stener's
+was quite too much.  "Whom else have you been talking to, George,
+since I saw you? Whom have you seen? What did Sengstack have to
+say?"
+
+"He says just what Mollenhauer does, that I mustn't loan any more
+money under any circumstances, and he says I ought to get that
+five hundred thousand back as quickly as possible."
+
+"And you think Mollenhauer wants to help you, do you?" inquired
+Cowperwood, finding it hard to efface the contempt which kept
+forcing itself into his voice.
+
+"I think he does, yes.  I don't know who else will, Frank, if he
+don't.  He's one of the big political forces in this town."
+
+"Listen to me," began Cowperwood, eyeing him fixedly.  Then he
+paused.  "What did he say you should do about your holdings?"
+
+"Sell them through Tighe & Company and put the money back in the
+treasury, if you won't take them."
+
+"Sell them to whom?" asked Cowperwood, thinking of Stener's last
+words.
+
+"To any one on 'change who'll take them, I suppose.  I don't know."
+
+"I thought so," said Cowperwood, comprehendingly.  "I might have
+known as much.  They're working you, George.  They're simply trying
+to get your stocks away from you.  Mollenhauer is leading you on.
+He knows I can't do what you want--give you back the five hundred
+thousand dollars.  He wants you to throw your stocks on the market
+so that he can pick them up.  Depend on it, that's all arranged for
+already.  When you do, he's got me in his clutches, or he thinks
+he has--he and Butler and Simpson.  They want to get together on
+this local street-railway situation, and I know it, I feel it.
+I've felt it coming all along.  Mollenhauer hasn't any more intention
+of helping you than he has of flying.  Once you've sold your stocks
+he's through with you--mark my word.  Do you think he'll turn a
+hand to keep you out of the penitentiary once you're out of this
+street-railway situation? He will not.  And if you think so, you're
+a bigger fool than I take you to be, George.  Don't go crazy.
+Don't lose your head.  Be sensible.  Look the situation in the
+face.  Let me explain it to you.  If you don't help me now--if
+you don't let me have three hundred thousand dollars by to-morrow
+noon, at the very latest, I'm through, and so are you.  There is
+not a thing the matter with our situation.  Those stocks of ours
+are as good to-day as they ever were.  Why, great heavens, man,
+the railways are there behind them.  They're paying.  The Seventeenth
+and Nineteenth Street line is earning one thousand dollars a day
+right now.  What better evidence do you want than that? Green &
+Coates is earning five hundred dollars.  You're frightened, George.
+These damned political schemers have scared you.  Why, you've as
+good a right to loan that money as Bode and Murtagh had before you.
+They did it.  You've been doing it for Mollenhauer and the others,
+only so long as you do it for them it's all right.  What's a
+designated city depository but a loan?"
+
+Cowperwood was referring to the system under which certain portions
+of city money, like the sinking-fund, were permitted to be kept in
+certain banks at a low rate of interest or no rate--banks in which
+Mollenhauer and Butler and Simpson were interested.  This was their
+safe graft.
+
+"Don't throw your chances away, George.  Don't quit now.  You'll
+be worth millions in a few years, and you won't have to turn a hand.
+All you will have to do will be to keep what you have.  If you don't
+help me, mark my word, they'll throw you over the moment I'm out
+of this, and they'll let you go to the penitentiary.  Who's going
+to put up five hundred thousand dollars for you, George? Where is
+Mollenhauer going to get it, or Butler, or anybody, in these times?
+They can't.  They don't intend to.  When I'm through, you're
+through, and you'll be exposed quicker than any one else.  They
+can't hurt me, George.  I'm an agent.  I didn't ask you to come
+to me.  You came to me in the first place of your own accord.  If
+you don't help me, you're through, I tell you, and you're going
+to be sent to the penitentiary as sure as there are jails.  Why
+don't you take a stand, George? Why don't you stand your ground?
+You have your wife and children to look after.  You can't be any
+worse off loaning me three hundred thousand more than you are right
+now.  What difference does it make--five hundred thousand or eight
+hundred thousand? It's all one and the same thing, if you're going
+to be tried for it.  Besides, if you loan me this, there isn't
+going to be any trial.  I'm not going to fail.  This storm will
+blow over in a week or ten days, and we'll be rich again.  For
+Heaven's sake, George, don't go to pieces this way! Be sensible!
+Be reasonable!"
+
+He paused, for Stener's face had become a jelly-like mass of woe.
+
+"I can't, Frank," he wailed.  "I tell you I can't.  They'll
+punish me worse than ever if I do that.  They'll never let up on
+me.  You don't know these people."
+
+In Stener's crumpling weakness Cowperwood read his own fate.  What
+could you do with a man like that? How brace him up? You couldn't!
+And with a gesture of infinite understanding, disgust, noble
+indifference, he threw up his hands and started to walk out.  At
+the door he turned.
+
+"George," he said, "I'm sorry.  I'm sorry for you, not for myself.
+I'll come out of things all right, eventually.  I'll be rich.  But,
+George, you're making the one great mistake of your life.  You'll
+be poor; you'll be a convict, and you'll have only yourself to
+blame.  There isn't a thing the matter with this money situation
+except the fire.  There isn't a thing wrong with my affairs except
+this slump in stocks--this panic.  You sit there, a fortune in your
+hands, and you allow a lot of schemers, highbinders, who don't know
+any more of your affairs or mine than a rabbit, and who haven't
+any interest in you except to plan what they can get out of you,
+to frighten you and prevent you from doing the one thing that will
+save your life.  Three hundred thousand paltry dollars that in
+three or four weeks from now I can pay back to you four and five
+times over, and for that you will see me go broke and yourself to
+the penitentiary.  I can't understand it, George.  You're out of
+your mind.  You're going to rue this the longest day that you live."
+
+He waited a few moments to see if this, by any twist of chance,
+would have any effect; then, noting that Stener still remained a
+wilted, helpless mass of nothing, he shook his head gloomily and
+walked out.
+
+It was the first time in his life that Cowperwood had ever shown
+the least sign of weakening or despair.  He had felt all along as
+though there were nothing to the Greek theory of being pursued by
+the furies.  Now, however, there seemed an untoward fate which was
+pursuing him.  It looked that way.  Still, fate or no fate, he did
+not propose to be daunted.  Even in this very beginning of a
+tendency to feel despondent he threw back his head, expanded his
+chest, and walked as briskly as ever.
+
+
+In the large room outside Stener's private office he encountered
+Albert Stires, Stener's chief clerk and secretary.  He and Albert
+had exchanged many friendly greetings in times past, and all the
+little minor transactions in regard to city loan had been discussed
+between them, for Albert knew more of the intricacies of finance
+and financial bookkeeping than Stener would ever know.
+
+At the sight of Stires the thought in regard to the sixty thousand
+dollars' worth of city loan certificates, previously referred to,
+flashed suddenly through his mind.  He had not deposited them in
+the sinking-fund, and did not intend to for the present--could not,
+unless considerable free money were to reach him shortly--for he
+had used them to satisfy other pressing demands, and had no free
+money to buy them back--or, in other words, release them.  And he
+did not want to just at this moment.  Under the law governing
+transactions of this kind with the city treasurer, he was supposed
+to deposit them at once to the credit of the city, and not to draw
+his pay therefor from the city treasurer until he had.  To be very
+exact, the city treasurer, under the law, was not supposed to pay
+him for any transaction of this kind until he or his agents presented
+a voucher from the bank or other organization carrying the
+sinking-fund for the city showing that the certificates so purchased
+had actually been deposited there.  As a matter of fact, under the
+custom which had grown up between him and Stener, the law had long
+been ignored in this respect.  He could buy certificates of city
+loan for the sinking-fund up to any reasonable amount, hypothecate
+them where he pleased, and draw his pay from the city without
+presenting a voucher.  At the end of the month sufficient certificates
+of city loan could usually be gathered from one source and another
+to make up the deficiency, or the deficiency could actually be
+ignored, as had been done on more than one occasion, for long
+periods of time, while he used money secured by hypothecating the
+shares for speculative purposes.  This was actually illegal; but
+neither Cowperwood nor Stener saw it in that light or cared.
+
+The trouble with this particular transaction was the note that he
+had received from Stener ordering him to stop both buying and
+selling, which put his relations with the city treasury on a very
+formal basis.  He had bought these certificates before receiving
+this note, but had not deposited them.  He was going now to collect
+his check; but perhaps the old, easy system of balancing matters
+at the end of the month might not be said to obtain any longer.
+Stires might ask him to present a voucher of deposit.  If so, he
+could not now get this check for sixty thousand dollars, for he
+did not have the certificates to deposit.  If not, he might get
+the money; but, also, it might constitute the basis of some subsequent
+legal action.  If he did not eventually deposit the certificates
+before failure, some charge such as that of larceny might be brought
+against him.  Still, he said to himself, he might not really fail
+even yet.  If any of his banking associates should, for any reason,
+modify their decision in regard to calling his loans, he would not.
+Would Stener make a row about this if he so secured this check? Would
+the city officials pay any attention to him if he did? Could you
+get any district attorney to take cognizance of such a transaction,
+if Stener did complain? No, not in all likelihood; and, anyhow,
+nothing would come of it.  No jury would punish him in the face of
+the understanding existing between him and Stener as agent or broker
+and principal.  And, once he had the money, it was a hundred to
+one Stener would think no more about it.  It would go in among the
+various unsatisfied liabilities, and nothing more would be thought
+about it.  Like lightning the entire situation hashed through his
+mind.  He would risk it.  He stopped before the chief clerk's desk.
+
+"Albert," he said, in a low voice, "I bought sixty thousand dollars'
+worth of city loan for the sinking-fund this morning.  Will you
+give my boy a check for it in the morning, or, better yet, will
+you give it to me now? I got your note about no more purchases.
+I'm going back to the office.  You can just credit the sinking-fund
+with eight hundred certificates at from seventy-five to eighty.
+I'll send you the itemized list later."
+
+"Certainly, Mr. Cowperwood, certainly," replied Albert, with
+alacrity.  "Stocks are getting an awful knock, aren't they? I
+hope you're not very much troubled by it?"
+
+"Not very, Albert," replied Cowperwood, smiling, the while the
+chief clerk was making out his check.  He was wondering if by any
+chance Stener would appear and attempt to interfere with this.  It
+was a legal transaction.  He had a right to the check provided he
+deposited the certificates, as was his custom, with the trustee of
+the fund.  He waited tensely while Albert wrote, and finally, with
+the check actually in his hand, breathed a sigh of relief.  Here,
+at least, was sixty thousand dollars, and to-night's work would
+enable him to cash the seventy-five thousand that had been promised
+him.  To-morrow, once more he must see Leigh, Kitchen, Jay Cooke &
+Co., Edward Clark & Co.--all the long list of people to whom he
+owed loans and find out what could be done.  If he could only get
+time! If he could get just a week!
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIX
+
+
+
+
+But time was not a thing to be had in this emergency.  With the
+seventy-five thousand dollars his friends had extended to him,
+and sixty thousand dollars secured from Stires, Cowperwood met
+the Girard call and placed the balance, thirty-five thousand
+dollars, in a private safe in his own home.  He then made a final
+appeal to the bankers and financiers, but they refused to help
+him.  He did not, however, commiserate himself in this hour.  He
+looked out of his office window into the little court, and sighed.
+What more could he do? He sent a note to his father, asking him
+to call for lunch.  He sent a note to his lawyer, Harper Steger,
+a man of his own age whom he liked very much, and asked him to
+call also.  He evolved in his own mind various plans of delay,
+addresses to creditors and the like, but alas! he was going to
+fail.  And the worst of it was that this matter of the city
+treasurer's loans was bound to become a public, and more than a
+public, a political, scandal.  And the charge of conniving, if
+not illegally, at least morally, at the misuse of the city's money
+was the one thing that would hurt him most.
+
+How industriously his rivals would advertise this fact! He might
+get on his feet again if he failed; but it would be uphill work.
+And his father! His father would be pulled down with him.  It was
+probable that he would be forced out of the presidency of his bank.
+With these thoughts Cowperwood sat there waiting.  As he did so
+Aileen Butler was announced by his office-boy, and at the same
+time Albert Stires.
+
+"Show in Miss Butler," he said, getting up.  "Tell Mr. Stires to
+wait."  Aileen came briskly, vigorously in, her beautiful body
+clothed as decoratively as ever.  The street suit that she wore
+was of a light golden-brown broadcloth, faceted with small,
+dark-red buttons.  Her head was decorated with a brownish-red
+shake of a type she had learned was becoming to her, brimless and
+with a trailing plume, and her throat was graced by a three-strand
+necklace of gold beads.  Her hands were smoothly gloved as usual,
+and her little feet daintily shod.  There was a look of girlish
+distress in her eyes, which, however, she was trying hard to
+conceal.
+
+"Honey," she exclaimed, on seeing him, her arms extended--"what
+is the trouble? I wanted so much to ask you the other night.
+You're not going to fail, are you? I heard father and Owen talking
+about you last night."
+
+"What did they say?" he inquired, putting his arm around her and
+looking quietly into her nervous eyes.
+
+"Oh, you know, I think papa is very angry with you.  He suspects.
+Some one sent him an anonymous letter.  He tried to get it out of
+me last night, but he didn't succeed.  I denied everything.  I was
+in here twice this morning to see you, but you were out.  I was
+so afraid that he might see you first, and that you might say
+something."
+
+"Me, Aileen?"
+
+"Well, no, not exactly.  I didn't think that.  I don't know what
+I thought.  Oh, honey, I've been so worried.  You know, I didn't
+sleep at all.  I thought I was stronger than that; but I was so
+worried about you.  You know, he put me in a strong light by his
+desk, where he could see my face, and then he showed me the letter.
+I was so astonished for a moment I hardly know what I said or how
+I looked."
+
+"What did you say?"
+
+"Why, I said: 'What a shame! It isn't so!' But I didn't say it
+right away.  My heart was going like a trip-hammer.   I'm afraid
+he must have been able to tell something from my face.  I could
+hardly get my breath."
+
+"He's a shrewd man, your father," he commented.  "He knows something
+about life.  Now you see how difficult these situations are.  It's
+a blessing he decided to show you the letter instead of watching
+the house.  I suppose he felt too bad to do that.  He can't prove
+anything now.  But he knows.  You can't deceive him."
+
+"How do you know he knows?"
+
+"I saw him yesterday."
+
+"Did he talk to you about it?"
+
+"No; I saw his face.  He simply looked at me."
+
+"Honey! I'm so sorry for him!"
+
+"I know you are.  So am I.  But it can't be helped now.  We should
+have thought of that in the first place."
+
+"But I love you so.  Oh, honey, he will never forgive me.  He loves
+me so.  He mustn't know.  I won't admit anything.  But, oh, dear!"
+
+She put her hands tightly together on his bosom, and he looked
+consolingly into her eyes.  Her eyelids, were trembling, and her
+lips.  She was sorry for her father, herself, Cowperwood.  Through
+her he could sense the force of Butler's parental affection; the
+volume and danger of his rage.  There were so many, many things
+as he saw it now converging to make a dramatic denouement.
+
+"Never mind," he replied; "it can't be helped now.  Where is my
+strong, determined Aileen? I thought you were going to be so brave?
+Aren't you going to be? I need to have you that way now."
+
+"Do you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Are you in trouble?"
+
+"I think I am going to fail, dear."
+
+"Oh, no!"
+
+"Yes, honey.  I'm at the end of my rope.  I don't see any way out
+just at present.  I've sent for my father and my lawyer.  You
+mustn't stay here, sweet.  Your father may come in here at any time.
+We must meet somewhere--to-morrow, say--to-morrow afternoon.  You
+remember Indian Rock, out on the Wissahickon?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Could you be there at four?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Look out for who's following.  If I'm not there by four-thirty,
+don't wait.  You know why.  It will be because I think some one
+is watching.  There won't be, though, if we work it right.  And
+now you must run, sweet.  We can't use Nine-thirty-one any more.
+I'll have to rent another place somewhere else."
+
+"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."
+
+"Aren't you going to be strong and brave? You see, I need you to
+be."
+
+He was almost, for the first time, a little sad in his mood.
+
+"Yes, dear, yes," she declared, slipping her arms under his and
+pulling him tight.  "Oh, yes! You can depend on me.  Oh, Frank,
+I love you so! I'm so sorry.  Oh, I do hope you don't fail! But
+it doesn't make any difference, dear, between you and me, whatever
+happens, does it? We will love each other just the same.  I'll do
+anything for you, honey! I'll do anything you say.  You can trust
+me.  They sha'n't know anything from me."
+
+She looked at his still, pale face, and a sudden strong determination
+to fight for him welled up in her heart.  Her love was unjust,
+illegal, outlawed; but it was love, just the same, and had much
+of the fiery daring of the outcast from justice.
+
+"I love you! I love you! I love you, Frank!" she declared.  He
+unloosed her hands.
+
+"Run, sweet.  To-morrow at four.  Don't fail.  And don't talk.
+And don't admit anything, whatever you do."
+
+"I won't."
+
+"And don't worry about me.  I'll be all right."
+
+He barely had time to straighten his tie, to assume a nonchalant
+attitude by the window, when in hurried Stener's chief clerk--pale,
+disturbed, obviously out of key with himself.
+
+"Mr. Cowperwood! You know that check I gave you last night? Mr.
+Stener says it's illegal, that I shouldn't have given it to you,
+that he will hold me responsible.  He says I can be arrested for
+compounding a felony, and that he will discharge me and have me
+sent to prison if I don't get it back.  Oh, Mr. Cowperwood, I am
+only a young man! I'm just really starting out in life.  I've got
+my wife and little boy to look after.  You won't let him do that
+to me? You'll give me that check back, won't you? I can't go back
+to the office without it.  He says you're going to fail, and that
+you knew it, and that you haven't any right to it."
+
+Cowperwood looked at him curiously.  He was surprised at the variety
+and character of these emissaries of disaster.  Surely, when
+troubles chose to multiply they had great skill in presenting
+themselves in rapid order.  Stener had no right to make any such
+statement.  The transaction was not illegal.  The man had gone wild.
+True, he, Cowperwood, had received an order after these securities
+were bought not to buy or sell any more city loan, but that did
+not invalidate previous purchases.  Stener was browbeating and
+frightening his poor underling, a better man than himself, in
+order to get back this sixty-thousand-dollar check.  What a petty
+creature he was! How true it was, as somebody had remarked, that
+you could not possibly measure the petty meannesses to which a
+fool could stoop!
+
+"You go back to Mr. Stener, Albert, and tell him that it can't be
+done.  The certificates of loan were purchased before his order
+arrived, and the records of the exchange will prove it.  There is
+no illegality here.  I am entitled to that check and could have
+collected it in any qualified court of law.  The man has gone out
+of his head.  I haven't failed yet.  You are not in any danger of
+any legal proceedings; and if you are, I'll help defend you.  I
+can't give you the check back because I haven't it to give; and
+if I had, I wouldn't.  That would be allowing a fool to make a
+fool of me.  I'm sorry, very, but I can't do anything for you."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Cowperwood!" Tears were in Stires's eyes.  "He'll discharge
+me! He'll forfeit my sureties.  I'll be turned out into the street.
+I have only a little property of my own--outside of my salary!"
+
+He wrung his hands, and Cowperwood shook his head sadly.
+
+"This isn't as bad as you think, Albert.  He won't do what he
+says.  He can't.  It's unfair and illegal.  You can bring suit
+and recover your salary.  I'll help you in that as much as I'm
+able.  But I can't give you back this sixty-thousand-dollar check,
+because I haven't it to give.  I couldn't if I wanted to.  It isn't
+here any more.  I've paid for the securities I bought with it.
+The securities are not here.  They're in the sinking-fund, or will
+be."
+
+He paused, wishing he had not mentioned that fact.  It was a slip
+of the tongue, one of the few he ever made, due to the peculiar
+pressure of the situation.  Stires pleaded longer.  It was no use,
+Cowperwood told him.  Finally he went away, crestfallen, fearsome,
+broken.  There were tears of suffering in his eyes.  Cowperwood was
+very sorry.  And then his father was announced.
+
+The elder Cowperwood brought a haggard face.  He and Frank had had
+a long conversation the evening before, lasting until early morning,
+but it had not been productive of much save uncertainty.
+
+"Hello, father!" exclaimed Cowperwood, cheerfully, noting his
+father's gloom.  He was satisfied that there was scarcely a coal
+of hope to be raked out of these ashes of despair, but there was
+no use admitting it.
+
+"Well?" said his father, lifting his sad eyes in a peculiar way.
+
+"Well, it looks like stormy weather, doesn't it? I've decided to
+call a meeting of my creditors, father, and ask for time.  There
+isn't anything else to do.  I can't realize enough on anything to
+make it worth while talking about.  I thought Stener might change
+his mind, but he's worse rather than better.  His head bookkeeper
+just went out of here."
+
+"What did he want?" asked Henry Cowperwood.
+
+"He wanted me to give him back a check for sixty thousand that he
+paid me for some city loan I bought yesterday morning."  Frank did
+not explain to his father, however, that he had hypothecated the
+certificates this check had paid for, and used the check itself
+to raise money enough to pay the Girard National Bank and to give
+himself thirty-five thousand in cash besides.
+
+"Well, I declare!" replied the old man.  "You'd think he'd have
+better sense than that.  That's a perfectly legitimate transaction.
+When did you say he notified you not to buy city loan?"
+
+"Yesterday noon."
+
+"He's out of his mind," Cowperwood, Sr., commented, laconically.
+
+"It's Mollenhauer and Simpson and Butler, I know.  They want my
+street-railway lines.  Well, they won't get them.  They'll get
+them through a receivership, and after the panic's all over.  Our
+creditors will have first chance at these.  If they buy, they'll
+buy from them.  If it weren't for that five-hundred-thousand-dollar
+loan I wouldn't think a thing of this.  My creditors would sustain
+me nicely.  But the moment that gets noised around!... And this
+election! I hypothecated those city loan certificates because I
+didn't want to get on the wrong side of Davison.  I expected to
+take in enough by now to take them up.  They ought to be in the
+sinking-fund, really."
+
+The old gentleman saw the point at once, and winced.
+
+"They might cause you trouble, there, Frank."
+
+"It's a technical question," replied his son.  "I might have been
+intending to take them up.   As a matter of fact, I will if I can
+before three.  I've been taking eight and ten days to deposit them
+in the past.  In a storm like this I'm entitled to move my pawns
+as best I can."
+
+Cowperwood, the father, put his hand over his mouth again.  He felt
+very disturbed about this.  He saw no way out, however.  He was
+at the end of his own resources.  He felt the side-whiskers on his
+left cheek.  He looked out of the window into the little green
+court.  Possibly it was a technical question, who should say.  The
+financial relations of the city treasury with other brokers before
+Frank had been very lax.  Every banker knew that.  Perhaps precedent
+would or should govern in this case.  He could not say.  Still, it
+was dangerous--not straight.  If Frank could get them out and
+deposit them it would be so much better.
+
+"I'd take them up if I were you and I could," he added.
+
+"I will if I can."
+
+"How much money have you?"
+
+"Oh, twenty thousand, all told.  If I suspend, though, I'll have
+to have a little ready cash."
+
+"I have eight or ten thousand, or will have by night, I hope."
+
+He was thinking of some one who would give him a second mortgage
+on his house.
+
+Cowperwood looked quietly at him.  There was nothing more to be
+said to his father.  "I'm going to make one more appeal to Stener
+after you leave here," be said.  "I'm going over there with Harper
+Steger when he comes.  If he won't change I'll send out notice to
+my creditors, and notify the secretary of the exchange.  I want
+you to keep a stiff upper lip, whatever happens.  I know you will,
+though.  I'm going into the thing head down.  If Stener had any
+sense--" He paused.  "But what's the use talking about a damn fool?"
+
+He turned to the window, thinking of how easy it would have been,
+if Aileen and he had not been exposed by this anonymous note, to
+have arranged all with Butler.  Rather than injure the party,
+Butler, in extremis, would have assisted him.  Now...!
+
+His father got up to go.  He was as stiff with despair as though
+he were suffering from cold.
+
+"Well," he said, wearily.
+
+Cowperwood suffered intensely for him.  What a shame! His father!
+He felt a great surge of sorrow sweep over him but a moment later
+mastered it, and settled to his quick, defiant thinking.  As the
+old man went out, Harper Steger was brought in.  They shook hands,
+and at once started for Stener's office.  But Stener had sunk in
+on himself like an empty gas-bag, and no efforts were sufficient
+to inflate him.  They went out, finally, defeated.
+
+"I tell you, Frank," said Steger, "I wouldn't worry.  We can tie
+this thing up legally until election and after, and that will
+give all this row a chance to die down.  Then you can get your
+people together and talk sense to them.  They're not going to
+give up good properties like this, even if Stener does go to jail."
+
+Steger did not know of the sixty thousand dollars' worth of
+hypothecated securities as yet.  Neither did he know of Aileen
+Butler and her father's boundless rage.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXX
+
+
+
+
+There was one development in connection with all of this of which
+Cowperwood was as yet unaware.  The same day that brought Edward
+Butler the anonymous communication in regard to his daughter,
+brought almost a duplicate of it to Mrs. Frank Algernon Cowperwood,
+only in this case the name of Aileen Butler had curiously been
+omitted.
+
+  Perhaps you don't know that your husband is running with
+  another woman.  If you don't believe it, watch the house at
+  931 North Tenth Street.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood was in the conservatory watering some plants when
+this letter was brought by her maid Monday morning.  She was most
+placid in her thoughts, for she did not know what all the conferring
+of the night before meant.  Frank was occasionally troubled by
+financial storms, but they did not see to harm him.
+
+"Lay it on the table in the library, Annie.  I'll get it."
+
+She thought it was some social note.
+
+In a little while (such was her deliberate way), she put down
+her sprinkling-pot and went into the library.  There it was lying
+on the green leather sheepskin which constituted a part of the
+ornamentation of the large library table.  She picked it up,
+glanced at it curiously because it was on cheap paper, and then
+opened it.  Her face paled slightly as she read it; and then her
+hand trembled--not much.  Hers was not a soul that ever loved
+passionately, hence she could not suffer passionately.  She was
+hurt, disgusted, enraged for the moment, and frightened; but she
+was not broken in spirit entirely.  Thirteen years of life with
+Frank Cowperwood had taught her a number of things.  He was selfish,
+she knew now, self-centered, and not as much charmed by her as he
+had been.  The fear she had originally felt as to the effect of
+her preponderance of years had been to some extent justified by
+the lapse of time.  Frank did not love her as he had--he had not
+for some time; she had felt it.  What was it?--she had asked
+herself at times--almost, who was it? Business was engrossing him
+so.
+
+Finance was his master.  Did this mean the end of her regime,
+she queried.  Would he cast her off? Where would she go? What
+would she do? She was not helpless, of course, for she had money
+of her own which he was manipulating for her.  Who was this other
+woman? Was she young, beautiful, of any social position? Was it--?
+Suddenly she stopped.  Was it? Could it be, by any chance--her
+mouth opened--Aileen Butler?
+
+She stood still, staring at this letter, for she could scarcely
+countenance her own thought.  She had observed often, in spite of
+all their caution, how friendly Aileen had been to him and he to
+her.  He liked her; he never lost a chance to defend her.  Lillian
+had thought of them at times as being curiously suited to each
+other temperamentally.  He liked young people.  But, of course, he
+was married, and Aileen was infinitely beneath him socially, and
+he had two children and herself.  And his social and financial
+position was so fixed and stable that he did not dare trifle with
+it.  Still she paused; for forty years and two children, and some
+slight wrinkles, and the suspicion that we may be no longer loved
+as we once were, is apt to make any woman pause, even in the face
+of the most significant financial position.  Where would she go
+if she left him? What would people think? What about the children?
+Could she prove this liaison? Could she entrap him in a compromising
+situation? Did she want to?
+
+She saw now that she did not love him as some women love their
+husbands.  She was not wild about him.  In a way she had been
+taking him for granted all these years, had thought that he loved
+her enough not to be unfaithful to her; at least fancied that he
+was so engrossed with the more serious things of life that no
+petty liaison such as this letter indicated would trouble him or
+interrupt his great career.  Apparently this was not true.  What
+should she do? What say? How act? Her none too brilliant mind
+was not of much service in this crisis.  She did not know very
+well how either to plan or to fight.
+
+The conventional mind is at best a petty piece of machinery.  It
+is oyster-like in its functioning, or, perhaps better, clam-like.
+It has its little siphon of thought-processes forced up or down
+into the mighty ocean of fact and circumstance; but it uses so
+little, pumps so faintly, that the immediate contiguity of the
+vast mass is not disturbed.  Nothing of the subtlety of life is
+perceived.  No least inkling of its storms or terrors is ever
+discovered except through accident.  When some crude, suggestive
+fact, such as this letter proved to be, suddenly manifests itself
+in the placid flow of events, there is great agony or disturbance
+and clogging of the so-called normal processes.  The siphon does
+not work right.  It sucks in fear and distress.  There is great
+grinding of maladjusted parts--not unlike sand in a machine--and
+life, as is so often the case, ceases or goes lamely ever after.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood was possessed of a conventional mind.  She really
+knew nothing about life.  And life could not teach her.  Reaction
+in her from salty thought-processes was not possible.  She was not
+alive in the sense that Aileen Butler was, and yet she thought
+that she was very much alive.  All illusion.  She wasn't.  She was
+charming if you loved placidity.  If you did not, she was not.
+She was not engaging, brilliant, or forceful.  Frank Cowperwood
+might well have asked himself in the beginning why he married her.
+He did not do so now because he did not believe it was wise to
+question the past as to one's failures and errors.  It was,
+according to him, most unwise to regret.  He kept his face and
+thoughts to the future.
+
+But Mrs. Cowperwood was truly distressed in her way, and she
+went about the house thinking, feeling wretchedly.  She decided,
+since the letter asked her to see for herself, to wait.  She must
+think how she would watch this house, if at all.  Frank must not
+know.  If it were Aileen Butler by any chance--but surely not--she
+thought she would expose her to her parents.  Still, that meant
+exposing herself.  She determined to conceal her mood as best she
+could at dinner-time--but Cowperwood was not able to be there.
+He was so rushed, so closeted with individuals, so closely in
+conference with his father and others, that she scarcely saw him
+this Monday night, nor the next day, nor for many days.
+
+For on Tuesday afternoon at two-thirty he issued a call for a
+meeting of his creditors, and at five-thirty he decided to go into
+the hands of a receiver.  And yet, as he stood before his
+principal creditors--a group of thirty men--in his office, he did
+not feel that his life was ruined.  He was temporarily embarrassed.
+Certainly things looked very black.  The city-treasurership deal
+would make a great fuss.  Those hypothecated city loan certificates,
+to the extent of sixty thousand, would make another, if Stener
+chose.  Still, he did not feel that he was utterly destroyed.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, in closing his address of explanation at the
+meeting, quite as erect, secure, defiant, convincing as he had
+ever been, "you see how things are.  These securities are worth
+just as much as they ever were.  There is nothing the matter with
+the properties behind them.  If you will give me fifteen days or
+twenty, I am satisfied that I can straighten the whole matter out.
+I am almost the only one who can, for I know all about it.  The
+market is bound to recover.  Business is going to be better than
+ever.  It's time I want.  Time is the only significant factor in
+this situation.  I want to know if you won't give me fifteen or
+twenty days--a month, if you can.  That is all I want."
+
+He stepped aside and out of the general room, where the blinds
+were drawn, into his private office, in order to give his creditors
+an opportunity to confer privately in regard to his situation.
+He had friends in the meeting who were for him.  He waited one,
+two, nearly three hours while they talked.  Finally Walter Leigh,
+Judge Kitchen, Avery Stone, of Jay Cooke & Co., and several others
+came in.  They were a committee appointed to gather further
+information.
+
+"Nothing more can be done to-day, Frank," Walter Leigh informed
+him, quietly.  "The majority want the privilege of examining the
+books.  There is some uncertainty about this entanglement with
+the city treasurer which you say exists.  They feel that you'd
+better announce a temporary suspension, anyhow; and if they want
+to let you resume later they can do so."
+
+"I'm sorry for that, gentlemen," replied Cowperwood, the least bit
+depressed.  "I would rather do anything than suspend for one hour,
+if I could help it, for I know just what it means.  You will find
+assets here far exceeding the liabilities if you will take the
+stocks at their normal market value; but that won't help any if
+I close my doors.  The public won't believe in me.  I ought to keep
+open."
+
+"Sorry, Frank, old boy," observed Leigh, pressing his hand
+affectionately.  "If it were left to me personally, you could have
+all the time you want.  There's a crowd of old fogies out there
+that won't listen to reason.  They're panic-struck.  I guess
+they're pretty hard hit themselves.  You can scarcely blame them.
+You'll come out all right, though I wish you didn't have to shut
+up shop.  We can't do anything with them, however.  Why, damn it,
+man, I don't see how you can fail, really.  In ten days these
+stocks will be all right."
+
+Judge Kitchen commiserated with him also; but what good did that
+do? He was being compelled to suspend.  An expert accountant would
+have to come in and go over his books.  Butler might spread the
+news of this city-treasury connection.  Stener might complain of
+this last city-loan transaction.  A half-dozen of his helpful
+friends stayed with him until four o'clock in the morning; but he
+had to suspend just the same.  And when he did that, he knew he
+was seriously crippled if not ultimately defeated in his race for
+wealth and fame.
+
+When he was really and finally quite alone in his private bedroom
+he stared at himself in the mirror.  His face was pale and tired,
+he thought, but strong and effective.  "Pshaw!" he said to himself,
+"I'm not whipped.  I'm still young.  I'll get out of this in some
+way yet.  Certainly I will.  I'll find some way out."
+
+And so, cogitating heavily, wearily, he began to undress.  Finally
+he sank upon his bed, and in a little while, strange as it may seem,
+with all the tangle of trouble around him, slept.  He could do
+that--sleep and gurgle most peacefully, the while his father paced
+the floor in his room, refusing to be comforted.  All was dark
+before the older man--the future hopeless.  Before the younger man
+was still hope.
+
+And in her room Lillian Cowperwood turned and tossed in the face
+of this new calamity.  For it had suddenly appeared from news from
+her father and Frank and Anna and her mother-in-law that Frank was
+about to fail, or would, or had--it was almost impossible to say
+just how it was.  Frank was too busy to explain.  The Chicago fire
+was to blame.  There was no mention as yet of the city treasurership.
+Frank was caught in a trap, and was fighting for his life.
+
+In this crisis, for the moment, she forgot about the note as to his
+infidelity, or rather ignored it.  She was astonished, frightened,
+dumbfounded, confused.  Her little, placid, beautiful world was
+going around in a dizzy ring.  The charming, ornate ship of their
+fortune was being blown most ruthlessly here and there.  She felt
+it a sort of duty to stay in bed and try to sleep; but her eyes
+were quite wide, and her brain hurt her.  Hours before Frank had
+insisted that she should not bother about him, that she could do
+nothing; and she had left him, wondering more than ever what and
+where was the line of her duty.  To stick by her husband, convention
+told her; and so she decided.  Yes, religion dictated that, also
+custom.  There were the children.  They must not be injured.  Frank
+must be reclaimed, if possible.  He would get over this.  But what
+a blow!
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXI
+
+
+
+
+The suspension of the banking house of Frank A. Cowperwood & Co.
+created a great stir on 'change and in Philadelphia generally.  It
+was so unexpected, and the amount involved was comparatively so
+large.  Actually he failed for one million two hundred and fifty
+thousand dollars; and his assets, under the depressed condition of
+stock values, barely totaled seven hundred and fifty thousand
+dollars.  There had been considerable work done on the matter of
+his balance-sheet before it was finally given to the public; but
+when it was, stocks dropped an additional three points generally,
+and the papers the next day devoted notable headlines to it.
+Cowperwood had no idea of failing permanently; he merely wished
+to suspend temporarily, and later, if possible, to persuade his
+creditors to allow him to resume.  There were only two things which
+stood in the way of this: the matter of the five hundred thousand
+dollars borrowed from the city treasury at a ridiculously low rate
+of interest, which showed plainer than words what had been going
+on, and the other, the matter of the sixty-thousand-dollar check.
+His financial wit had told him there were ways to assign his
+holdings in favor of his largest creditors, which would tend to
+help him later to resume; and he had been swift to act.  Indeed,
+Harper Steger had drawn up documents which named Jay Cooke & Co.,
+Edward Clark & Co., Drexel & Co., and others as preferred.  He
+knew that even though dissatisfied holders of smaller shares in
+his company brought suit and compelled readjustment or bankruptcy
+later, the intention shown to prefer some of his most influential
+aids was important.  They would like it, and might help him later
+when all this was over.  Besides, suits in plenty are an excellent
+way of tiding over a crisis of this kind until stocks and common
+sense are restored, and he was for many suits.  Harper Steger
+smiled once rather grimly, even in the whirl of the financial
+chaos where smiles were few, as they were figuring it out.
+
+"Frank," he said, "you're a wonder.  You'll have a network of
+suits spread here shortly, which no one can break through.  They'll
+all be suing each other."
+
+Cowperwood smiled.
+
+"I only want a little time, that's all," he replied.  Nevertheless,
+for the first time in his life he was a little depressed; for now
+this business, to which he had devoted years of active work and
+thought, was ended.
+
+The thing that was troubling him most in all of this was not the
+five hundred thousand dollars which was owing the city treasury,
+and which he knew would stir political and social life to the center
+once it was generally known--that was a legal or semi-legal
+transaction, at least--but rather the matter of the sixty thousand
+dollars' worth of unrestored city loan certificates which he had
+not been able to replace in the sinking-fund and could not now
+even though the necessary money should fall from heaven.  The fact
+of their absence was a matter of source.  He pondered over the
+situation a good deal.  The thing to do, he thought, if he went to
+Mollenhauer or Simpson, or both (he had never met either of them,
+but in view of Butler's desertion they were his only recourse),
+was to say that, although he could not at present return the five
+hundred thousand dollars, if no action were taken against him now,
+which would prevent his resuming his business on a normal scale a
+little later, he would pledge his word that every dollar of the
+involved five hundred thousand dollars would eventually be returned
+to the treasury.  If they refused, and injury was done him, he
+proposed to let them wait until he was "good and ready," which in
+all probability would be never.  But, really, it was not quite
+clear how action against him was to be prevented--even by them.
+The money was down on his books as owing the city treasury, and
+it was down on the city treasury's books as owing from him.  Besides,
+there was a local organization known as the Citizens' Municipal
+Reform Association which occasionally conducted investigations in
+connection with public affairs.  His defalcation would be sure to
+come to the ears of this body and a public investigation might
+well follow.  Various private individuals knew of it already.  His
+creditors, for instance, who were now examining his books.
+
+This matter of seeing Mollenhauer or Simpson, or both, was important,
+anyhow, he thought; but before doing so he decided to talk it all
+over with Harper Steger.  So several days after he had closed his
+doors, he sent for Steger and told him all about the transaction,
+except that he did not make it clear that he had not intended to
+put the certificates in the sinking-fund unless he survived quite
+comfortably.
+
+Harper Steger was a tall, thin, graceful, rather elegant man, of
+gentle voice and perfect manners, who walked always as though he
+were a cat, and a dog were prowling somewhere in the offing.  He
+had a longish, thin face of a type that is rather attractive to
+women.  His eyes were blue, his hair brown, with a suggestion of
+sandy red in it.  He had a steady, inscrutable gaze which sometimes
+came to you over a thin, delicate hand, which he laid meditatively
+over his mouth.  He was cruel to the limit of the word, not
+aggressively but indifferently; for he had no faith in anything.
+He was not poor.  He had not even been born poor.  He was just
+innately subtle, with the rather constructive thought, which was
+about the only thing that compelled him to work, that he ought to
+be richer than he was--more conspicuous.  Cowperwood was an excellent
+avenue toward legal prosperity.  Besides, he was a fascinating
+customer.  Of all his clients, Steger admired Cowperwood most.
+
+"Let them proceed against you," he said on this occasion, his
+brilliant legal mind taking in all the phases of the situation at
+once.  "I don't see that there is anything more here than a
+technical charge.  If it ever came to anything like that, which I
+don't think it will, the charge would be embezzlement or perhaps
+larceny as bailee.  In this instance, you were the bailee.  And the
+only way out of that would be to swear that you had received the
+check with Stener's knowledge and consent.  Then it would only be
+a technical charge of irresponsibility on your part, as I see it,
+and I don't believe any jury would convict you on the evidence of
+how this relationship was conducted.  Still, it might; you never
+can tell what a jury is going to do.  All this would have to come
+out at a trial, however.  The whole thing, it seems to me, would
+depend on which of you two--yourself or Stener--the jury would be
+inclined to believe, and on how anxious this city crowd is to find
+a scapegoat for Stener.  This coming election is the rub.  If this
+panic had come at any other time--"
+
+Cowperwood waved for silence.  He knew all about that.  "It all
+depends on what the politicians decide to do.  I'm doubtful.  The
+situation is too complicated.  It can't be hushed up."  They were
+in his private office at his house.  "What will be will be," he
+added.
+
+"What would that mean, Harper, legally, if I were tried on a charge
+of larceny as bailee, as you put it, and convicted? How many years
+in the penitentiary at the outside?"
+
+Steger thought a minute, rubbing his chin with his hand.  "Let me
+see," he said, "that is a serious question, isn't it? The law says
+one to five years at the outside; but the sentences usually average
+from one to three years in embezzlement cases.  Of course, in this
+case--"
+
+"I know all about that," interrupted Cowperwood, irritably.  "My
+case isn't any different from the others, and you know it.
+Embezzlement is embezzlement if the politicians want to have it
+so."  He fell to thinking, and Steger got up and strolled about
+leisurely.  He was thinking also.
+
+"And would I have to go to jail at any time during the proceedings--
+before a final adjustment of the case by the higher courts?"
+Cowperwood added, directly, grimly, after a time.
+
+"Yes, there is one point in all legal procedure of the kind,"
+replied Steger, cautiously, now rubbing his ear and trying to put
+the matter as delicately as possible.  "You can avoid jail sentences
+all through the earlier parts of a case like this; but if you are
+once tried and convicted it's pretty hard to do anything--as a
+matter of fact, it becomes absolutely necessary then to go to jail
+for a few days, five or so, pending the motion for a new trial and
+the obtaining of a certificate of reasonable doubt.  It usually
+takes that long."
+
+The young banker sat there staring out of the window, and Steger
+observed, "It is a bit complicated, isn't it?"
+
+"Well, I should say so," returned Frank, and he added to himself:
+"Jail! Five days in prison!" That would be a terrific slap, all
+things considered.  Five days in jail pending the obtaining of a
+certificate of reasonable doubt, if one could be obtained! He must
+avoid this! Jail! The penitentiary! His commercial reputation
+would never survive that.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXII
+
+
+
+
+The necessity of a final conferencee between Butler, Mollenhauer,
+and Simpson was speedily reached, for this situation was hourly
+growing more serious.  Rumors were floating about in Third Street
+that in addition to having failed for so large an amount as to
+have further unsettled the already panicky financial situation
+induced by the Chicago fire, Cowperwood and Stener, or Stener
+working with Cowperwood, or the other way round, had involved the
+city treasury to the extent of five hundred thousand dollars.  And
+the question was how was the matter to be kept quiet until after
+election, which was still three weeks away.  Bankers and brokers
+were communicating odd rumors to each other about a check that
+had been taken from the city treasury after Cowperwood knew he
+was to fail, and without Stener's consent.  Also that there was
+danger that it would come to the ears of that very uncomfortable
+political organization known as the Citizens' Municipal Reform
+Association, of which a well-known iron-manufacturer of great
+probity and moral rectitude, one Skelton C. Wheat, was president.
+Wheat had for years been following on the trail of the dominant
+Republican administration in a vain attempt to bring it to a sense
+of some of its political iniquities.  He was a serious and austere
+man---one of those solemn, self-righteous souls who see life through
+a peculiar veil of duty, and who, undisturbed by notable animal
+passions of any kind, go their way of upholding the theory of the
+Ten Commandments over the order of things as they are.
+
+The committee in question had originally been organized to protest
+against some abuses in the tax department; but since then, from
+election to election, it had been drifting from one subject to
+another, finding an occasional evidence of its worthwhileness in
+some newspaper comment and the frightened reformation of some minor
+political official who ended, usually, by taking refuge behind the
+skirts of some higher political power--in the last reaches, Messrs.
+Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson.  Just now it was without important
+fuel or ammunition; and this assignment of Cowperwood, with its
+attendant crime, so far as the city treasury was concerned,
+threatened, as some politicians and bankers saw it, to give it
+just the club it was looking for.
+
+However, the decisive conference took place between Cowperwood and
+the reigning political powers some five days after Cowperwood's
+failure, at the home of Senator Simpson, which was located in
+Rittenhouse Square--a region central for the older order of wealth
+in Philadelphia.  Simpson was a man of no little refinement
+artistically, of Quaker extraction, and of great wealth-breeding
+judgment which he used largely to satisfy his craving for political
+predominance.  He was most liberal where money would bring him a
+powerful or necessary political adherent.  He fairly showered
+offices--commissionerships, trusteeships, judgeships, political
+nominations, and executive positions generally--on those who did
+his bidding faithfully and without question.  Compared with Butler
+and Mollenhauer he was more powerful than either, for he represented
+the State and the nation.  When the political authorities who were
+trying to swing a national election were anxious to discover what
+the State of Pennsylvania would do, so far as the Republican party
+was concerned, it was to Senator Simpson that they appealed.  In
+the literal sense of the word, he knew.  The Senator had long since
+graduated from State to national politics, and was an interesting
+figure in the United States Senate at Washington, where his voice
+in all the conservative and moneyed councils of the nation was of
+great weight.
+
+The house that he occupied, of Venetian design, and four stories
+in height, bore many architectural marks of distinction, such as
+the floriated window, the door with the semipointed arch, and
+medallions of colored marble set in the walls.  The Senator was a
+great admirer of Venice.  He had been there often, as he had to
+Athens and Rome, and had brought back many artistic objects
+representative of the civilizations and refinements of older days.
+He was fond, for one thing, of the stern, sculptured heads of the
+Roman emperors, and the fragments of gods and goddesses which are
+the best testimony of the artistic aspirations of Greece.  In the
+entresol of this house was one of his finest treasures--a carved
+and floriated base bearing a tapering monolith some four feet high,
+crowned by the head of a peculiarly goatish Pan, by the side of
+which were the problematic remains of a lovely nude nymph--just
+the little feet broken off at the ankles.  The base on which the
+feet of the nymph and the monolith stood was ornamented with carved
+ox-skulls intertwined with roses.  In his reception hall were
+replicas of Caligula, Nero, and other Roman emperors; and on his
+stair-walls reliefs of dancing nymphs in procession, and priests
+bearing offerings of sheep and swine to the sacrificial altars.
+There was a clock in some corner of the house which chimed the
+quarter, the half, the three-quarters, and the hour in strange,
+euphonious, and pathetic notes.  On the walls of the rooms were
+tapestries of Flemish origin, and in the reception-hall, the
+library, the living-room, and the drawing-room, richly carved
+furniture after the standards of the Italian Renaissance.  The
+Senator's taste in the matter of paintings was inadequate, and he
+mistrusted it; but such as he had were of distinguished origin and
+authentic.  He cared more for his curio-cases filled with smaller
+imported bronzes, Venetian glass, and Chinese jade.  He was not a
+collector of these in any notable sense--merely a lover of a few
+choice examples.  Handsome tiger and leopard skin rugs, the fur
+of a musk-ox for his divan, and tanned and brown-stained goat and
+kid skins for his tables, gave a sense of elegance and reserved
+profusion.  In addition the Senator had a dining-room done after
+the Jacobean idea of artistic excellence, and a wine-cellar which
+the best of the local vintners looked after with extreme care.  He
+was a man who loved to entertain lavishly; and when his residence
+was thrown open for a dinner, a reception, or a ball, the best of
+local society was to be found there.
+
+The conference was in the Senator's library, and he received his
+colleagues with the genial air of one who has much to gain and
+little to lose.  There were whiskies, wines, cigars on the table,
+and while Mollenhauer and Simpson exchanged the commonplaces of
+the day awaiting the arrival of Butler, they lighted cigars and
+kept their inmost thoughts to themselves.
+
+It so happened that upon the previous afternoon Butler had learned
+from Mr. David Pettie, the district attorney, of the
+sixty-thousand-dollar-check transaction.  At the same time the
+matter had been brought to Mollenhauer's attention by Stener himself.
+It was Mollenhauer, not Butler who saw that by taking advantage of
+Cowperwood's situation, he might save the local party from blame,
+and at the same time most likely fleece Cowperwood out of his
+street-railway shares without letting Butler or Simpson know
+anything about it.  The thing to do was to terrorize him with a
+private threat of prosecution.
+
+Butler was not long in arriving, and apologized for the delay.
+Concealing his recent grief behind as jaunty an air as possible,
+he began with:
+
+"It's a lively life I'm leadin', what with every bank in the city
+wantin' to know how their loans are goin' to be taken care of."  He
+took a cigar and struck a match.
+
+"It does look a little threatening," said Senator Simpson, smiling.
+"Sit down.  I have just been talking with Avery Stone, of Jay Cooke
+& Company, and he tells me that the talk in Third Street about
+Stener's connection with this Cowperwood failure is growing very
+strong, and that the newspapers are bound to take up the matter
+shortly, unless something is done about it.  I am sure that the
+news will also reach Mr. Wheat, of the Citizens' Reform Association,
+very shortly.  We ought to decide now, gentlemen, what we propose
+to do.  One thing, I am sure, is to eliminate Stener from the
+ticket as quietly as possible.  This really looks to me as if it
+might become a very serious issue, and we ought to be doing what
+we can now to offset its effect later."
+
+Mollenhauer pulled a long breath through his cigar, and blew it
+out in a rolling steel-blue cloud.  He studied the tapestry on the
+opposite wall but said nothing.
+
+"There is one thing sure," continued Senator Simpson, after a time,
+seeing that no one else spoke, "and that is, if we do not begin a
+prosecution on our own account within a reasonable time, some one
+else is apt to; and that would put rather a bad face on the matter.
+My own opinion would be that we wait until it is very plain that
+prosecution is going to be undertaken by some one else--possibly
+the Municipal Reform Association--but that we stand ready to step
+in and act in such a way as to make it look as though we had been
+planning to do it all the time.  The thing to do is to gain time;
+and so I would suggest that it be made as difficult as possible
+to get at the treasurer's books.  An investigation there, if it
+begins at all--as I think is very likely--should be very slow in
+producing the facts."
+
+The Senator was not at all for mincing words with his important
+confreres, when it came to vital issues.  He preferred, in his
+grandiloquent way, to call a spade a spade.
+
+"Now that sounds like very good sense to me," said Butler, sinking
+a little lower in his chair for comfort's sake, and concealing his
+true mood in regard to all this.  "The boys could easily make that
+investigation last three weeks, I should think.  They're slow
+enough with everything else, if me memory doesn't fail me."  At
+the same time he was cogitating as to how to inject the personality
+of Cowperwood and his speedy prosecution without appearing to be
+neglecting the general welfare of the local party too much.
+
+"Yes, that isn't a bad idea," said Mollenhauer, solemnly, blowing
+a ring of smoke, and thinking how to keep Cowperwood's especial
+offense from coming up at this conference and until after he had
+seen him.
+
+"We ought to map out our program very carefully," continued
+Senator Simpson, "so that if we are compelled to act we can do so
+very quickly.  I believe myself that this thing is certain to come
+to an issue within a week, if not sooner, and we have no time to
+lose.  If my advice were followed now, I should have the mayor
+write the treasurer a letter asking for information, and the
+treasurer write the mayor his answer, and also have the mayor,
+with the authority of the common council, suspend the treasurer
+for the time being--I think we have the authority to do that--or,
+at least, take over his principal duties but without for the time
+being, anyhow, making any of these transactions public--until we
+have to, of course.  We ought to be ready with these letters to
+show to the newspapers at once, in case this action is forced
+upon us."
+
+"I could have those letters prepared, if you gentlemen have no
+objection," put in Mollenhauer, quietly, but quickly.
+
+"Well, that strikes me as sinsible," said Butler, easily.  "It's
+about the only thing we can do under the circumstances, unless we
+could find some one else to blame it on, and I have a suggestion
+to make in that direction.  Maybe we're not as helpless as we might
+be, all things considered."
+
+There was a slight gleam of triumph in his eye as he said this,
+at the same time that there was a slight shadow of disappointment
+in Mollenhauer's.  So Butler knew, and probably Simpson, too.
+
+"Just what do you mean?" asked the Senator, looking at Butler
+interestedly.  He knew nothing of the sixty-thousand-dollar check
+transaction.  He had not followed the local treasury dealings very
+closely, nor had he talked to either of his confreres since the
+original conference between them.  "There haven't been any outside
+parties mixed up with this, have there?"  His own shrewd, political
+mind was working.
+
+"No-o.  I wouldn't call him an outside party, exactly, Senator,"
+went on Butler suavely.  "It's Cowperwood himself I'm thinkin' of.
+There's somethin' that has come up since I saw you gentlemen last
+that makes me think that perhaps that young man isn't as innocent
+as he might be.  It looks to me as though he was the ringleader
+in this business, as though he had been leadin' Stener on against
+his will.  I've been lookin' into the matter on me own account,
+and as far as I can make out this man Stener isn't as much to blame
+as I thought.  From all I can learn, Cowperwood's been threatenin'
+Stener with one thing and another if he didn't give him more money,
+and only the other day he got a big sum on false pretinses, which
+might make him equally guilty with Stener.  There's sixty-thousand
+dollars of city loan certificates that has been paid for that aren't
+in the sinking-fund.  And since the reputation of the party's in
+danger this fall, I don't see that we need to have any particular
+consideration for him."  He paused, strong in the conviction that
+he had sent a most dangerous arrow flying in the direction of
+Cowperwood, as indeed he had.  Yet at this moment, both the Senator
+and Mollenhauer were not a little surprised, seeing at their last
+meeting he had appeared rather friendly to the young banker, and
+this recent discovery seemed scarcely any occasion for a vicious
+attitude on his part.  Mollenhauer in particular was surprised,
+for he had been looking on Butler's friendship for Cowperwood as
+a possible stumbling block.
+
+"Um-m, you don't tell me," observed Senator Simpson, thoughtfully,
+stroking his mouth with his pale hand.
+
+"Yes, I can confirm that," said Mollenhauer, quietly, seeing his
+own little private plan of browbeating Cowperwood out of his
+street-railway shares going glimmering.  "I had a talk with Stener
+the other day about this very matter, and he told me that Cowperwood
+had been trying to force him to give him three hundred thousand
+dollars more, and that when he refused Cowperwood managed to get
+sixty thousand dollars further without his knowledge or consent."
+
+"How could he do that?" asked Senator Simpson, incredulously.
+Mollenhauer explained the transaction.
+
+Oh," said the Senator, when Mollenhauer had finished, "that
+indicates a rather sharp person, doesn't it? And the certificates
+are not in the sinking-fund, eh?"
+
+"They're not," chimed in Butler, with considerable enthusiasm.
+
+"Well, I must say," said Simpson, rather relieved in his manner,
+"this looks like a rather good thing than not to me.  A scapegoat
+possibly.  We need something like this.  I see no reason under
+the circumstances for trying to protect Mr. Cowperwood.  We might
+as well try to make a point of that, if we have to.  The newspapers
+might just as well talk loud about that as anything else.  They
+are bound to talk; and if we give them the right angle, I think
+that the election might well come and go before the matter could
+be reasonably cleared up, even though Mr. Wheat does interfere.
+I will be glad to undertake to see what can be done with the papers."
+
+"Well, that bein' the case," said Butler, "I don't see that there's
+so much more we can do now; but I do think it will be a mistake
+if Cowperwood isn't punished with the other one.  He's equally
+guilty with Stener, if not more so, and I for one want to see
+him get what he deserves.  He belongs in the penitentiary, and
+that's where he'll go if I have my say."  Both Mollenhauer and
+Simpson turned a reserved and inquiring eye on their usually
+genial associate.  What could be the reason for his sudden
+determination to have Cowperwood punished? Cowperwood, as Mollenhauer
+and Simpson saw it, and as Butler would ordinarily have seen it,
+was well within his human, if not his strictly legal rights.  They
+did not blame him half as much for trying to do what he had done
+as they blamed Stener for letting him do it.  But, since Butler
+felt as he did, and there was an actual technical crime here,
+they were perfectly willing that the party should have the advantage
+of it, even if Cowperwood went to the penitentiary.
+
+"You may be right," said Senator Simpson, cautiously.  "You might
+have those letters prepared, Henry; and if we have to bring any
+action at all against anybody before election, it would, perhaps,
+be advisable to bring it against Cowperwood.  Include Stener if
+you have to but not unless you have to.  I leave it to you two,
+as I am compelled to start for Pittsburg next Friday; but I know
+you will not overlook any point."
+
+The Senator arose.  His time was always valuable.  Butler was
+highly gratified by what he had accomplished.  He had succeeded
+in putting the triumvirate on record against Cowperwood as the
+first victim, in case of any public disturbance or demonstration
+against the party.  All that was now necessary was for that
+disturbance to manifest itself; and, from what he could see of
+local conditions, it was not far off.  There was now the matter
+of Cowperwood's disgruntled creditors to look into; and if by
+buying in these he should succeed in preventing the financier from
+resuming business, he would have him in a very precarious condition
+indeed.  It was a sad day for Cowperwood, Butler thought--the day
+he had first tried to lead Aileen astray--and the time was not
+far off when he could prove it to him.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIII
+
+
+
+
+In the meantime Cowperwood, from what he could see and hear, was
+becoming more and more certain that the politicians would try to
+make a scapegoat of him, and that shortly.  For one thing, Stires
+had called only a few days after he closed his doors and imparted
+a significant bit of information.  Albert was still connected with
+the city treasury, as was Stener, and engaged with Sengstack and
+another personal appointee of Mollenhauer's in going over the
+treasurer's books and explaining their financial significance.
+Stires had come to Cowperwood primarily to get additional advice
+in regard to the sixty-thousand-dollar check and his personal
+connection with it.  Stener, it seemed, was now threatening to
+have his chief clerk prosecuted, saying that he was responsible
+for the loss of the money and that his bondsmen could be held
+responsible.  Cowperwood had merely laughed and assured Stires
+that there was nothing to this.
+
+"Albert," he had said, smilingly, "I tell you positively, there's
+nothing in it.  You're not responsible for delivering that check
+to me.  I'll tell you what you do, now.  Go and consult my lawyer--
+Steger.  It won't cost you a cent, and he'll tell you exactly what
+to do.  Now go on back and don't worry any more about it.  I am
+sorry this move of mine has caused you so much trouble, but it's
+a hundred to one you couldn't have kept your place with a new city
+treasurer, anyhow, and if I see any place where you can possibly
+fit in later, I'll let you know."
+
+Another thing that made Cowperwood pause and consider at this time
+was a letter from Aileen, detailing a conversation which had taken
+place at the Butler dinner table one evening when Butler, the elder,
+was not at home.  She related how her brother Owen in effect had
+stated that they--the politicians--her father, Mollenhauer, and
+Simpson, were going to "get him yet" (meaning Cowperwood), for some
+criminal financial manipulation of something--she could not explain
+what--a check or something.  Aileen was frantic with worry.  Could
+they mean the penitentiary, she asked in her letter? Her dear lover!
+Her beloved Frank! Could anything like this really happen to him?
+
+His brow clouded, and he set his teeth with rage when he read her
+letter.  He would have to do something about this--see Mollenhauer
+or Simpson, or both, and make some offer to the city.  He could
+not promise them money for the present--only notes--but they might
+take them.  Surely they could not be intending to make a scapegoat
+of him over such a trivial and uncertain matter as this check
+transaction! When there was the five hundred thousand advanced by
+Stener, to say nothing of all the past shady transactions of former
+city treasurers! How rotten! How political, but how real and
+dangerous.
+
+But Simpson was out of the city for a period of ten days, and
+Mollenhauer, having in mind the suggestion made by Butler in regard
+to utilizing Cowperwood's misdeed for the benefit of the party,
+had already moved as they had planned.  The letters were ready and
+waiting.  Indeed, since the conference, the smaller politicians,
+taking their cue from the overlords, had been industriously
+spreading the story of the sixty-thousand-dollar check, and insisting
+that the burden of guilt for the treasury defalcation, if any, lay
+on the banker.  The moment Mollenhauer laid eyes on Cowperwood he
+realized, however, that he had a powerful personality to deal with.
+Cowperwood gave no evidence of fright.  He merely stated, in his
+bland way, that he had been in the habit of borrowing money from
+the city treasury at a low rate of interest, and that this panic
+had involved him so that he could not possibly return it at present.
+
+"I have heard rumors, Mr. Mollenhauer," he said, "to the effect that
+some charge is to be brought against me as a partner with Mr. Stener
+in this matter; but I am hoping that the city will not do that, and
+I thought I might enlist your influence to prevent it.  My affairs
+are not in a bad way at all, if I had a little time to arrange
+matters.  I am making all of my creditors an offer of fifty cents
+on the dollar now, and giving notes at one, two, and three years;
+but in this matter of the city treasury loans, if I could come to
+terms, I would be glad to make it a hundred cents--only I would
+want a little more time.  Stocks are bound to recover, as you know,
+and, barring my losses at this time, I will be all right.  I
+realize that the matter has gone pretty far already.  The newspapers
+are likely to start talking at any time, unless they are stopped
+by those who can control them."  (He looked at Mollenhauer in a
+complimentary way.)  "But if I could be kept out of the general
+proceedings as much as possible, my standing would not be injured,
+and I would have a better chance of getting on my feet.  It would
+be better for the city, for then I could certainly pay it what I
+owe it."  He smiled his most winsome and engaging smile.  And
+Mollenhauer seeing him for the first time, was not unimpressed.
+Indeed he looked at this young financial David with an interested
+eye.  If he could have seen a way to accept this proposition of
+Cowperwood's, so that the money offered would have been eventually
+payable to him, and if Cowperwood had had any reasonable prospect
+of getting on his feet soon, he would have considered carefully
+what he had to say.  For then Cowperwood could have assigned his
+recovered property to him.  As it was, there was small likelihood
+of this situation ever being straightened out.  The Citizens'
+Municipal Reform Association, from all he could hear, was already
+on the move--investigating, or about to, and once they had set
+their hands to this, would unquestionably follow it closely to the
+end.
+
+"The trouble with this situation, Mr. Cowperwood," he said, affably,
+"is that it has gone so far that it is practically out of my hands.
+I really have very little to do with it.  I don't suppose, though,
+really, it is this matter of the five-hundred-thousand-dollar loan
+that is worrying you so much, as it is this other matter of the
+sixty-thousand-dollar check you received the other day.  Mr. Stener
+insists that you secured that illegally, and he is very much wrought
+up about it.  The mayor and the other city officials know of it
+now, and they may force some action.  I don't know."
+
+Mollenhauer was obviously not frank in his attitude--a little bit
+evasive in his sly reference to his official tool, the mayor; and
+Cowperwood saw it.  It irritated him greatly, but he was tactful
+enough to be quite suave and respectful.
+
+"I did get a check for sixty thousand dollars, that's true," he
+replied, with apparent frankness, "the day before I assigned.  It
+was for certificates I had purchased, however, on Mr. Stener's
+order, and was due me.  I needed the money, and asked for it.  I
+don't see that there is anything illegal in that."
+
+"Not if the transaction was completed in all its details," replied
+Mollenhauer, blandly.  "As I understand it, the certificates were
+bought for the sinking-fund, and they are not there.  How do you
+explain that?"
+
+"An oversight, merely," replied Cowperwood, innocently, and quite
+as blandly as Mollenhauer.  "They would have been there if I had
+not been compelled to assign so unexpectedly.  It was not possible
+for me to attend to everything in person.  It has not been our
+custom to deposit them at once.  Mr. Stener will tell you that,
+if you ask him."
+
+"You don't say," replied Mollenhauer.  "He did not give me that
+impression.  However, they are not there, and I believe that that
+makes some difference legally.  I have no interest in the matter
+one way or the other, more than that of any other good Republican.
+I don't see exactly what I can do for you.  What did you think I
+could do?"
+
+"I don't believe you can do anything for me, Mr. Mollenhauer,"
+replied Cowperwood, a little tartly, "unless you are willing to
+deal quite frankly with me.  I am not a beginner in politics in
+Philadelphia.  I know something about the powers in command.  I
+thought that you could stop any plan to prosecute me in this matter,
+and give me time to get on my feet again.  I am not any more
+criminally responsible for that sixty thousand dollars than I am
+for the five hundred thousand dollars that I had as loan before
+it--not as much so.  I did not create this panic.  I did not set
+Chicago on fire.  Mr. Stener and his friends have been reaping some
+profit out of dealing with me.  I certainly was entitled to make
+some effort to save myself after all these years of service, and
+I can't understand why I should not receive some courtesy at the
+hands of the present city administration, after I have been so
+useful to it.  I certainly have kept city loan at par; and as for
+Mr. Stener's money, he has never wanted for his interest on that,
+and more than his interest."
+
+"Quite so," replied Mollenhauer, looking Cowperwood in the eye
+steadily and estimating the force and accuracy of the man at their
+real value.  "I understand exactly how it has all come about, Mr.
+Cowperwood.  No doubt Mr. Stener owes you a debt of gratitude, as
+does the remainder of the city administration.  I'm not saying
+what the city administration ought or ought not do.  All I know is
+that you find yourself wittingly or unwittingly in a dangerous
+situation, and that public sentiment in some quarters is already
+very strong against you.  I personally have no feeling one way or
+the other, and if it were not for the situation itself, which looks
+to be out of hand, would not be opposed to assisting you in any
+reasonable way.  But how? The Republican party is in a very bad
+position, so far as this election is concerned.  In a way, however
+innocently, you have helped to put it there, Mr, Cowperwood.  Mr.
+Butler, for some reason to which I am not a party, seems deeply
+and personally incensed.  And Mr. Butler is a great power here--"
+(Cowperwood began to wonder whether by any chance Butler had
+indicated the nature of his social offense against himself, but
+he could not bring himself to believe that.  It was not probable.)
+"I sympathize with you greatly, Mr. Cowperwood, but what I suggest
+is that you first See Mr. Butler and Mr. Simpson.  If they agree
+to any program of aid, I will not be opposed to joining.  But apart
+from that I do not know exactly what I can do.  I am only one of
+those who have a slight say in the affairs of Philadelphia."
+
+At this point, Mollenhauer rather expected Cowperwood to make an
+offer of his own holdings, but he did not.  Instead he said, "I'm
+very much obliged to you, Mr. Mollenhauer, for the courtesy of
+this interview.  I believe you would help me if you could.  I shall
+just have to fight it out the best way I can.  Good day."
+
+And he bowed himself out.  He saw clearly how hopeless was his
+quest.
+
+In the meanwhile, finding that the rumors were growing in volume
+and that no one appeared to be willing to take steps to straighten
+the matter out, Mr. Skelton C. Wheat, President of the Citizens'
+Municipal Reform Association, was, at last and that by no means
+against his will, compelled to call together the committee of ten
+estimable Philadelphians of which he was chairman, in a local
+committee-hall on Market Street, and lay the matter of the Cowperwood
+failure before it.
+
+"It strikes me, gentlemen," he announced, "that this is an occasion
+when this organization can render a signal service to the city and
+the people of Philadelphia, and prove the significance and the
+merit of the title originally selected for it, by making such a
+thoroughgoing investigation as will bring to light all the facts
+in this case, and then by standing vigorously behind them insist
+that such nefarious practices as we are informed were indulged in
+in this case shall cease.  I know it may prove to be a difficult
+task.  The Republican party and its local and State interests are
+certain to be against us.  Its leaders are unquestionably most
+anxious to avoid comment and to have their ticket go through
+undisturbed, and they will not contemplate with any equanimity our
+opening activity in this matter; but if we persevere, great good
+will surely come of it.  There is too much dishonesty in public
+life as it is.  There is a standard of right in these matters which
+cannot permanently be ignored, and which must eventually be fulfilled.
+I leave this matter to your courteous consideration."
+
+Mr. Wheat sat down, and the body before him immediately took the
+matter which he proposed under advisement.  It was decided to
+appoint a subcommittee "to investigate" (to quote the statement
+eventually given to the public) "the peculiar rumors now affecting
+one of the most important and distinguished offices of our municipal
+government," and to report at the next meeting, which was set for
+the following evening at nine o'clock.  The meeting adjourned, and
+the following night at nine reassembled, four individuals of very
+shrewd financial judgment having meantime been about the task
+assigned them.  They drew up a very elaborate statement, not wholly
+in accordance with the facts, but as nearly so as could be
+ascertained in so short a space of time.
+
+  "It appears [read the report, after a preamble which explained
+  why the committee had been appointed] that it has been the custom
+  of city treasurers for years, when loans have been authorized
+  by councils, to place them in the hands of some favorite broker
+  for sale, the broker accounting to the treasurer for the moneys
+  received by such sales at short periods, generally the first of
+  each month.  In the present case Frank A. Cowperwood has been
+  acting as such broker for the city treasurer.  But even this
+  vicious and unbusiness-like system appears not to have been
+  adhered to in the case of Mr. Cowperwood.  The accident of the
+  Chicago fire, the consequent depression of stock values, and the
+  subsequent failure of Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood have so involved
+  matters temporarily that the committee has not been able to
+  ascertain with accuracy that regular accounts have been rendered;
+  but from the manner in which Mr. Cowperwood has had possession
+  of bonds (city loan) for hypothecation, etc., it would appear
+  that he has been held to no responsibility in these matters, and
+  that there have always been under his control several hundred
+  thousand dollars of cash or securities belonging to the city,
+  which he has manipulated for various purposes; but the details
+  of the results of these transactions are not easily available.
+  
+  "Some of the operations consisted of hypothecation of large
+  amounts of these loans before the certificates were issued, the
+  lender seeing that the order for the hypothecated securities
+  was duly made to him on the books of the treasurer.  Such
+  methods appear to have been occurring for a long time, and it
+  being incredible that the city treasurer could be unaware of
+  the nature of the business, there is indication of a complicity
+  between him and Mr. Cowperwood to benefit by the use of the city
+  credit, in violation of the law.
+
+  "Furthermore, at the very time these hypothecations were being
+  made, and the city paying interest upon such loans, the money
+  representing them was in the hands of the treasurer's broker
+  and bearing no interest to the city.  The payment of municipal
+  warrants was postponed, and they were being purchased at a
+  discount in large amounts by Mr. Cowperwood with the very money
+  that should have been in the city treasury.  The bona fide
+  holders of the orders for certificates of loans are now unable
+  to obtain them, and thus the city's credit is injured to a
+  greater extent than the present defalcation, which amounts to
+  over five hundred thousand dollars.  An accountant is now at
+  work on the treasurer's books, and a few days should make clear
+  the whole modus operandi.  It is hoped that the publicity thus
+  obtained will break up such vicious practices."
+
+There was appended to this report a quotation from the law governing
+the abuse of a public trust; and the committee went on to say that,
+unless some taxpayer chose to initiate proceedings for the
+prosecution of those concerned, the committee itself would be called
+upon to do so, although such action hardly came within the object
+for which it was formed.
+
+This report was immediately given to the papers.  Though some sort
+of a public announcement had been anticipated by Cowperwood and
+the politicians, this was, nevertheless, a severe blow.  Stener
+was beside himself with fear.  He broke into a cold sweat when he
+saw the announcement which was conservatively headed, "Meeting of
+the Municipal Reform Association."  All of the papers were so closely
+identified with the political and financial powers of the city that
+they did not dare to come out openly and say what they thought.
+The chief facts had already been in the hands of the various
+editors and publishers for a week and more, but word had gone
+around from Mollenhauer, Simpson, and Butler to use the soft pedal
+for the present.  It was not good for Philadelphia, for local
+commerce, etc., to make a row.  The fair name of the city would
+be smirched.  It was the old story.
+
+ At once the question was raised as to who was really guilty, the
+city treasurer or the broker, or both.  How much money had actually
+been lost? Where had it gone? Who was Frank Algernon Cowperwood,
+anyway? Why was he not arrested? How did he come to be identified
+so closely with the financial administration of the city? And
+though the day of what later was termed "yellow journalism" had
+not arrived, and the local papers were not given to such vital
+personal comment as followed later, it was not possible, even bound
+as they were, hand and foot, by the local political and social
+magnates, to avoid comment of some sort.  Editorials had to be
+written.  Some solemn, conservative references to the shame and
+disgrace which one single individual could bring to a great city
+and a noble political party had to be ventured upon.
+
+That desperate scheme to cast the blame on Cowperwood temporarily,
+which had been concocted by Mollenhauer, Butler, and Simpson, to
+get the odium of the crime outside the party lines for the time
+being, was now lugged forth and put in operation.  It was interesting
+and strange to note how quickly the newspapers, and even the
+Citizens' Municipal Reform Association, adopted the argument that
+Cowperwood was largely, if not solely, to blame.  Stener had loaned
+him the money, it is true--had put bond issues in his hands for
+sale, it is true, but somehow every one seemed to gain the impression
+that Cowperwood had desperately misused the treasurer.  The fact
+that he had taken a sixty-thousand-dollar check for certificates
+which were not in the sinking-fund was hinted at, though until
+they could actually confirm this for themselves both the newspapers
+and the committee were too fearful of the State libel laws to say
+so.
+
+In due time there were brought forth several noble municipal
+letters, purporting to be a stern call on the part of the mayor,
+Mr. Jacob Borchardt, on Mr. George W. Stener for an immediate
+explanation of his conduct, and the latter's reply, which were at
+once given to the newspapers and the Citizens' Municipal Reform
+Association.  These letters were enough to show, so the politicians
+figured, that the Republican party was anxious to purge itself of
+any miscreant within its ranks, and they also helped to pass the
+time until after election.
+
+         OFFICE OF THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
+
+  GEORGE W. STENER, ESQ.,                      October 18, 1871.
+      City Treasurer.
+    DEAR SIR,--Information has been given me that certificates of
+  city loan to a large amount, issued by you for sale on account of
+  the city, and, I presume, after the usual requisition from the
+  mayor of the city, have passed out of your custody, and that the
+  proceeds of the sale of said certificates have not been paid
+  into the city treasury.
+
+  I have also been informed that a large amount of the city's
+  money has been permitted to pass into the hands of some one or
+  more brokers or bankers doing business on Third Street, and that
+  said brokers or bankers have since met with financial difficulties,
+  whereby, and by reason of the above generally, the interests of
+  the city are likely to be very seriously affected.
+
+  I have therefore to request that you will promptly advise me of
+  the truth or falsity of these statements, so that such duties as
+  devolve upon me as the chief magistrate of the city, in view of
+  such facts, if they exist, may be intelligently discharged.
+                       Yours respectfully,
+
+                                               JACOB BORCHARDT,
+                                             Mayor of Philadelphia.
+
+
+          OFFICE OF THE TREASURER OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
+
+  HON. JACOB BORCHARDT.                          October 19, 1871.
+    DEAR SIR,--I have to acknowledge the receipt of your
+  communication of the 21st instant, and to express my regret that I
+  cannot at this time give you the information you ask.  There is
+  undoubtedly an embarrassment in the city treasury, owing to the
+  delinquency of the broker who for several years past has negotiated
+  the city loans, and I have been, since the discovery of this fact,
+  and still am occupied in endeavoring to avert or lessen the loss
+  with which the city is threatened.
+                      I am, very respectfully,
+                                                GEORGE W. STENER.
+
+
+            OFFICE OF THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
+
+  GEORGE W. STENER, ESQ.,                      October 21, 1871.
+         City Treasurer.
+    DEAR SIR--Under the existing circumstances you will consider
+  this as a notice of withdrawal and revocation of any requisition
+  or authority by me for the sale of loan, so far as the same
+  has not been fulfilled.  Applications for loans may for the
+  present be made at this office.
+                         Very respectfully,
+
+                                               JACOB BORCHARDT,
+                                            Mayor of Philadelphia.
+
+
+And did Mr. Jacob Borchardt write the letters to which his name
+was attached? He did not.  Mr. Abner Sengstack wrote them in Mr.
+Mollenhauer's office, and Mr. Mollenhauer's comment when he saw
+them was that he thought they would do--that they were very good,
+in fact.  And did Mr. George W. Stener, city treasurer of Philadelphia,
+write that very politic reply? He did not.  Mr. Stener was in a
+state of complete collapse, even crying at one time at home in his
+bathtub.  Mr. Abner Sengstack wrote that also, and had Mr. Stener
+sign it.  And Mr. Mollenhauer's comment on that, before it was sent,
+was that he thought it was "all right."  It was a time when all the
+little rats and mice were scurrying to cover because of the presence
+of a great, fiery-eyed public cat somewhere in the dark, and only
+the older and wiser rats were able to act.
+
+Indeed, at this very time and for some days past now, Messrs.
+Mollenhauer, Butler, and Simpson were, and had been, considering
+with Mr. Pettie, the district attorney, just what could be done
+about Cowperwood, if anything, and in order to further emphasize
+the blame in that direction, and just what defense, if any, could
+be made for Stener.  Butler, of course, was strong for Cowperwood's
+prosecution.  Pettie did not see that any defense could be made
+for Stener, since various records of street-car stocks purchased
+for him were spread upon Cowperwood's books; but for Cowperwood--
+"Let me see," he said.  They were speculating, first of all, as
+to whether it might not be good policy to arrest Cowperwood, and
+if necessary try him, since his mere arrest would seem to the
+general public, at least, positive proof of his greater guilt, to
+say nothing of the virtuous indignation of the administration, and
+in consequence might tend to divert attention from the evil nature
+of the party until after election.
+
+So finally, on the afternoon of October 26, 1871, Edward Strobik,
+president of the common council of Philadelphia, appeared before
+the mayor, as finally ordered by Mollenhauer, and charged by
+affidavit that Frank A. Cowperwood, as broker, employed by the
+treasurer to sell the bonds of the city, had committed embezzlement
+and larceny as bailee.  It did not matter that he charged George
+W. Stener with embezzlement at the same time.  Cowperwood was the
+scapegoat they were after.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIV
+
+
+
+
+The contrasting pictures presented by Cowperwood and Stener at this
+time are well worth a moment's consideration.  Stener's face was
+grayish-white, his lips blue.  Cowperwood, despite various solemn
+thoughts concerning a possible period of incarceration which this
+hue and cry now suggested, and what that meant to his parents,
+his wife and children, his business associates, and his friends,
+was as calm and collected as one might assume his great mental
+resources would permit him to be.  During all this whirl of disaster
+he had never once lost his head or his courage.  That thing
+conscience, which obsesses and rides some people to destruction,
+did not trouble him at all.  He had no consciousness of what is
+currently known as sin.  There were just two faces to the shield
+of life from the point of view of his peculiar mind-strength and
+weakness.  Right and wrong? He did not know about those.  They were
+bound up in metaphysical abstrusities about which he did not care
+to bother.  Good and evil? Those were toys of clerics, by which
+they made money.  And as for social favor or social ostracism which,
+on occasion, so quickly followed upon the heels of disaster of any
+kind, well, what was social ostracism? Had either he or his parents
+been of the best society as yet? And since not, and despite this
+present mix-up, might not the future hold social restoration and
+position for him? It might.  Morality and immorality? He never
+considered them.  But strength and weakness--oh, yes! If you had
+strength you could protect yourself always and be something.  If
+you were weak--pass quickly to the rear and get out of the range
+of the guns.  He was strong, and he knew it, and somehow he always
+believed in his star.  Something--he could not say what--it was
+the only metaphysics he bothered about--was doing something for
+him.  It had always helped him.  It made things come out right at
+times.  It put excellent opportunities in his way.  Why had he
+been given so fine a mind? Why always favored financially,
+personally? He had not deserved it--earned it.  Accident, perhaps,
+but somehow the thought that he would always be protected--these
+intuitions, the "hunches" to act which he frequently had--could
+not be so easily explained.  Life was a dark, insoluble mystery,
+but whatever it was, strength and weakness were its two constituents.
+Strength would win--weakness lose.  He must rely on swiftness of
+thought, accuracy, his judgment, and on nothing else.  He was really
+a brilliant picture of courage and energy--moving about briskly in
+a jaunty, dapper way, his mustaches curled, his clothes pressed,
+his nails manicured, his face clean-shaven and tinted with health.
+
+In the meantime, Cowperwood had gone personally to Skelton C. Wheat
+and tried to explain his side of the situation, alleging that he
+had done no differently from many others before him, but Wheat was
+dubious.  He did not see how it was that the sixty thousand dollars'
+worth of certificates were not in the sinking-fund.  Cowperwood's
+explanation of custom did not avail.  Nevertheless, Mr. Wheat saw
+that others in politics had been profiting quite as much as
+Cowperwood in other ways and he advised Cowperwood to turn state's
+evidence.  This, however, he promptly refused to do--he was no
+"squealer," and indicated as much to Mr. Wheat, who only smiled
+wryly.
+
+Butler, Sr., was delighted (concerned though he was about party
+success at the polls), for now he had this villain in the toils
+and he would have a fine time getting out of this.  The incoming
+district attorney to succeed David Pettie if the Republican party
+won would be, as was now planned, an appointee of Butler's--a young
+Irishman who had done considerable legal work for him--one Dennis
+Shannon.  The other two party leaders had already promised Butler
+that.  Shannon was a smart, athletic, good-looking fellow, all of
+five feet ten inches in height, sandy-haired, pink-cheeked, blue-eyed,
+considerable of an orator and a fine legal fighter.  He was very
+proud to be in the old man's favor--to be promised a place on the
+ticket by him--and would, he said, if elected, do his bidding to
+the best of his knowledge and ability.
+
+There was only one fly in the ointment, so far as some of the
+politicians were concerned, and that was that if Cowperwood were
+convicted, Stener must needs be also.  There was no escape in so
+far as any one could see for the city treasurer.  If Cowperwood
+was guilty of securing by trickery sixty thousand dollars' worth
+of the city money, Stener was guilty of securing five hundred
+thousand dollars.  The prison term for this was five years.  He
+might plead not guilty, and by submitting as evidence that what
+he did was due to custom save himself from the odious necessity
+of pleading guilty; but he would be convicted nevertheless.  No
+jury could get by the fact in regard to him.  In spite of public
+opinion, when it came to a trial there might be considerable doubt
+in Cowperwood's case.  There was none in Stener's.
+
+The practical manner in which the situation was furthered, after
+Cowperwood and Stener were formally charged may be quickly noted.
+Steger, Cowperwood's lawyer, learned privately beforehand that
+Cowperwood was to be prosecuted.  He arranged at once to have his
+client appear before any warrant could be served, and to forestall
+the newspaper palaver which would follow it if he had to be searched
+for.
+
+The mayor issued a warrant for Cowperwood's arrest, and, in
+accordance with Steger's plan, Cowperwood immediately appeared
+before Borchardt in company with his lawyer and gave bail in twenty
+thousand dollars (W. C. Davison, president of the Girard National
+Bank, being his surety), for his appearance at the central police
+station on the following Saturday for a hearing.  Marcus Oldslaw,
+a lawyer, had been employed by Strobik as president of the common
+council, to represent him in prosecuting the case for the city.
+The mayor looked at Cowperwood curiously, for he, being comparatively
+new to the political world of Philadelphia, was not so familiar
+with him as others were; and Cowperwood returned the look pleasantly
+enough.
+
+"This is a great dumb show, Mr. Mayor," he observed once to Borchardt,
+quietly, and the latter replied, with a smile and a kindly eye,
+that as far as he was concerned, it was a form of procedure which
+was absolutely unavoidable at this time.
+
+"You know how it is, Mr. Cowperwood," he observed.  The latter
+smiled.  "I do, indeed," he said.
+
+Later there followed several more or less perfunctory appearances
+in a local police court, known as the Central Court, where when
+arraigned he pleaded not guilty, and finally his appearance before
+the November grand jury, where, owing to the complicated nature
+of the charge drawn up against him by Pettie, he thought it wise
+to appear.  He was properly indicted by the latter body (Shannon,
+the newly elected district attorney, making a demonstration in
+force), and his trial ordered for December 5th before a certain
+Judge Payderson in Part I of Quarter Sessions, which was the local
+branch of the State courts dealing with crimes of this character.
+His indictment did not occur, however, before the coming and going
+of the much-mooted fall election, which resulted, thanks to the
+clever political manipulations of Mollenhauer and Simpson (ballot-box
+stuffing and personal violence at the polls not barred), in another
+victory, by, however, a greatly reduced majority.  The Citizens'
+Municipal Reform Association, in spite of a resounding defeat at
+the polls, which could not have happened except by fraud, continued
+to fire courageously away at those whom it considered to be the
+chief malefactors.
+
+Aileen Butler, during all this time, was following the trend of
+Cowperwood's outward vicissitudes as heralded by the newspapers
+and the local gossip with as much interest and bias and enthusiasm
+for him as her powerful physical and affectional nature would permit.
+She was no great reasoner where affection entered in, but shrewd
+enough without it; and, although she saw him often and he told her
+much--as much as his natural caution would permit--she yet gathered
+from the newspapers and private conversation, at her own family's
+table and elsewhere, that, as bad as they said he was, he was not
+as bad as he might be.  One item only, clipped from the Philadelphia
+Public Ledger soon after Cowperwood had been publicly accused of
+embezzlement, comforted and consoled her.  She cut it out and
+carried it in her bosom; for, somehow, it seemed to show that her
+adored Frank was far more sinned against than sinning.  It was a
+part of one of those very numerous pronunciamientos or reports
+issued by the Citizens' Municipal Reform Association, and it ran:
+
+  "The aspects of the case are graver than have yet been allowed
+  to reach the public.  Five hundred thousand dollars of the
+  deficiency arises not from city bonds sold and not accounted
+  for, but from loans made by the treasurer to his broker.  The
+  committee is also informed, on what it believes to be good
+  authority, that the loans sold by the broker were accounted
+  for in the monthly settlements at the lowest prices current
+  during the month, and that the difference between this rate
+  and that actually realized was divided between the treasurer
+  and the broker, thus making it to the interest of both parties
+  to 'bear' the market at some time during the month, so as to
+  obtain a low quotation for settlement.  Nevertheless, the
+  committee can only regard the prosecution instituted against
+  the broker, Mr. Cowperwood, as an effort to divert public
+  attention from more guilty parties while those concerned may
+  be able to 'fix' matters to suit themselves."
+
+"There," thought Aileen, when she read it, "there you have it."
+These politicians--her father among them as she gathered after
+his conversation with her--were trying to put the blame of their
+own evil deeds on her Frank.  He was not nearly as bad as he was
+painted.  The report said so.  She gloated over the words "an
+effort to divert public attention from more guilty parties."  That
+was just what her Frank had been telling her in those happy,
+private hours when they had been together recently in one place
+and another, particularly the new rendezvous in South Sixth Street
+which he had established, since the old one had to be abandoned.
+He had stroked her rich hair, caressed her body, and told her it
+was all a prearranged political scheme to cast the blame as much
+as possible on him and make it as light as possible for Stener and
+the party generally.  He would come out of it all right, he said,
+but he cautioned her not to talk.  He did not deny his long and
+profitable relations with Stener.  He told her exactly how it was.
+She understood, or thought she did.  Anyhow, her Frank was telling
+her, and that was enough.
+
+As for the two Cowperwood households, so recently and pretentiously
+joined in success, now so gloomily tied in failure, the life was
+going out of them.  Frank Algernon was that life.  He was the
+courage and force of his father: the spirit and opportunity of his
+brothers, the hope of his children, the estate of his wife, the
+dignity and significance of the Cowperwood name.  All that meant
+opportunity, force, emolument, dignity, and happiness to those
+connected with him, he was.  And his marvelous sun was waning
+apparently to a black eclipse.
+
+Since the fatal morning, for instance, when Lillian Cowperwood had
+received that utterly destructive note, like a cannonball ripping
+through her domestic affairs, she had been walking like one in a
+trance.  Each day now for weeks she had been going about her duties
+placidly enough to all outward seeming, but inwardly she was
+running with a troubled tide of thought.  She was so utterly unhappy.
+Her fortieth year had come for her at a time when life ought
+naturally to stand fixed and firm on a solid base, and here she was
+about to be torn bodily from the domestic soil in which she was
+growing and blooming, and thrown out indifferently to wither in
+the blistering noonday sun of circumstance.
+
+As for Cowperwood, Senior, his situation at his bank and elsewhere
+was rapidly nearing a climax.  As has been said, he had had
+tremendous faith in his son; but he could not help seeing that
+an error had been committed, as he thought, and that Frank was
+suffering greatly for it now.  He considered, of course, that Frank
+had been entitled to try to save himself as he had; but he so
+regretted that his son should have put his foot into the trap of
+any situation which could stir up discussion of the sort that was
+now being aroused.  Frank was wonderfully brilliant.  He need never
+have taken up with the city treasurer or the politicians to have
+succeeded marvelously.  Local street-railways and speculative
+politicians were his undoing.  The old man walked the floor all
+of the days, realizing that his sun was setting, that with Frank's
+failure he failed, and that this disgrace--these public charges--
+meant his own undoing.  His hair had grown very gray in but a few
+weeks, his step slow, his face pallid, his eyes sunken.  His rather
+showy side-whiskers seemed now like flags or ornaments of a better
+day that was gone.  His only consolation through it all was that
+Frank had actually got out of his relationship with the Third
+National Bank without owing it a single dollar.  Still as he knew
+the directors of that institution could not possibly tolerate the
+presence of a man whose son had helped loot the city treasury,
+and whose name was now in the public prints in this connection.
+Besides, Cowperwood, Sr., was too old.  He ought to retire.
+
+The crisis for him therefore came on the day when Frank was arrested
+on the embezzlement charge.  The old man, through Frank, who had it
+from Steger, knew it was coming, still had the courage to go to
+the bank but it was like struggling under the weight of a heavy
+stone to do it.  But before going, and after a sleepless night,
+he wrote his resignation to Frewen Kasson, the chairman of the
+board of directors, in order that he should be prepared to hand
+it to him, at once.  Kasson, a stocky, well-built, magnetic man of
+fifty, breathed an inward sigh of relief at the sight of it.
+
+"I know it's hard, Mr. Cowperwood," he said, sympathetically.
+"We--and I can speak for the other members of the board--we feel
+keenly the unfortunate nature of your position.  We know exactly
+how it is that your son has become involved in this matter.  He
+is not the only banker who has been involved in the city's affairs.
+By no means.  It is an old system.  We appreciate, all of us,
+keenly, the services you have rendered this institution during the
+past thirty-five years.  If there were any possible way in which
+we could help to tide you over the difficulties at this time, we
+would be glad to do so, but as a banker yourself you must realize
+just how impossible that would be.  Everything is in a turmoil.
+If things were settled--if we knew how soon this would blow over--"
+He paused, for he felt that he could not go on and say that he or
+the bank was sorry to be forced to lose Mr. Cowperwood in this way
+at present.  Mr. Cowperwood himself would have to speak.
+
+During all this Cowperwood, Sr., had been doing his best to pull
+himself together in order to be able to speak at all.  He had
+gotten out a large white linen handkerchief and blown his nose,
+and had straightened himself in his chair, and laid his hands
+rather peacefully on his desk.  Still he was intensely wrought up.
+
+"I can't stand this!" he suddenly exclaimed.  "I wish you would
+leave me alone now."
+
+Kasson, very carefully dressed and manicured, arose and walked
+out of the room for a few moments.  He appreciated keenly the
+intensity of the strain he had just witnessed.  The moment the
+door was closed Cowperwood put his head in his hands and shook
+convulsively.  "I never thought I'd come to this," he muttered.
+"I never thought it."  Then he wiped away his salty hot tears,
+and went to the window to look out and to think of what else to
+do from now on.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXV
+
+
+
+
+As time went on Butler grew more and more puzzled and restive as
+to his duty in regard to his daughter.  He was sure by her furtive
+manner and her apparent desire to avoid him, that she was still
+in touch with Cowperwood in some way, and that this would bring
+about a social disaster of some kind.  He thought once of going
+to Mrs. Cowperwood and having her bring pressure to bear on her
+husband, but afterwards he decided that that would not do.  He
+was not really positive as yet that Aileen was secretly meeting
+Cowperwood, and, besides, Mrs. Cowperwood might not know of her
+husband's duplicity.  He thought also of going to Cowperwood
+personally and threatening him, but that would be a severe measure,
+and again, as in the other case, he lacked proof.  He hesitated
+to appeal to a detective agency, and he did not care to take the
+other members of the family into his confidence.  He did go out
+and scan the neighborhood of 931 North Tenth Street once, looking
+at the house; but that helped him little.  The place was for rent,
+Cowperwood having already abandoned his connection with it.
+
+Finally he hit upon the plan of having Aileen invited to go somewhere
+some distance off--Boston or New Orleans, where a sister of his
+wife lived.  It was a delicate matter to engineer, and in such
+matters he was not exactly the soul of tact; but he undertook it.
+He wrote personally to his wife's sister at New Orleans, and asked
+her if she would, without indicating in any way that she had heard
+from him, write his wife and ask if she would not permit Aileen
+to come and visit her, writing Aileen an invitation at the same
+time; but he tore the letter up.  A little later he learned
+accidentally that Mrs. Mollenhauer and her three daughters, Caroline,
+Felicia, and Alta, were going to Europe early in December to visit
+Paris, the Riviera, and Rome; and he decided to ask Mollenhauer
+to persuade his wife to invite Norah and Aileen, or Aileen only,
+to go along, giving as an excuse that his own wife would not leave
+him, and that the girls ought to go.  It would be a fine way of
+disposing of Aileen for the present.  The party was to be gone
+six months.  Mollenhauer was glad to do so, of course.  The two
+families were fairly intimate.  Mrs. Mollenhauer was willing--
+delighted from a politic point of view--and the invitation was
+extended.  Norah was overjoyed.  She wanted to see something of
+Europe, and had always been hoping for some such opportunity.
+Aileen was pleased from the point of view that Mrs. Mollenhauer
+should invite her.  Years before she would have accepted in a
+flash.  But now she felt that it only came as a puzzling
+interruption, one more of the minor difficulties that were tending
+to interrupt her relations with Cowperwood.  She immediately threw
+cold water on the proposition, which was made one evening at dinner
+by Mrs. Butler, who did not know of her husband's share in the
+matter, but had received a call that afternoon from Mrs. Mollenhauer,
+when the invitation had been extended.
+
+"She's very anxious to have you two come along, if your father
+don't mind," volunteered the mother, "and I should think ye'd have
+a fine time.  They're going to Paris and the Riveera."
+
+"Oh, fine!" exclaimed Norah.  "I've always wanted to go to Paris.
+Haven't you, Ai? Oh, wouldn't that be fine?"
+
+"I don't know that I want to go," replied Aileen.  She did not care
+to compromise herself by showing any interest at the start.  "It's
+coming on winter, and I haven't any clothes.  I'd rather wait and
+go some other time."
+
+"Oh, Aileen Butler!" exclaimed Norah.  "How you talk! I've heard
+you say a dozen times you'd like to go abroad some winter.  Now
+when the chance comes--besides you can get your clothes made over
+there."
+
+"Couldn't you get somethin' over there?" inquired Mrs. Butler.
+"Besides, you've got two or three weeks here yet."
+
+"They wouldn't want a man around as a sort of guide and adviser,
+would they, mother?" put in Callum.
+
+"I might offer my services in that capacity myself," observed
+Owen, reservedly.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know," returned Mrs. Butler, smiling, and at
+the same time chewing a lusty mouthful.  "You'll have to ast 'em,
+my sons."
+
+Aileen still persisted.  She did not want to go.  It was too sudden.
+It was this.  It was that.  Just then old Butler came in and took
+his seat at the head of the table.  Knowing all about it, he was
+most anxious to appear not to.
+
+"You wouldn't object, Edward, would you?" queried his wife, explaining
+the proposition in general.
+
+"Object!" he echoed, with a well simulated but rough attempt at
+gayety.  "A fine thing I'd be doing for meself--objectin'.  I'd
+be glad if I could get shut of the whole pack of ye for a time."
+
+"What talk ye have!" said his wife.  "A fine mess you'd make of
+it livin' alone."
+
+"I'd not be alone, belave me," replied Butler.  "There's many a
+place I'd be welcome in this town--no thanks to ye."
+
+"And there's many a place ye wouldn't have been if it hadn't been
+for me.  I'm tellin' ye that," retorted Mrs. Butler, genially.
+
+"And that's not stretchin' the troot much, aither," he answered,
+fondly.
+
+Aileen was adamant.  No amount of argument both on the part of
+Norah and her mother had any effect whatever.  Butler witnessed
+the failure of his plan with considerable dissatisfaction, but
+he was not through.  When he was finally convinced that there was
+no hope of persuading her to accept the Mollenhauer proposition,
+he decided, after a while, to employ a detective.
+
+At that time, the reputation of William A. Pinkerton, of detective
+fame, and of his agency was great.  The man had come up from poverty
+through a series of vicissitudes to a high standing in his peculiar
+and, to many, distasteful profession; but to any one in need of
+such in themselves calamitous services, his very famous and decidedly
+patriotic connection with the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln was a
+recommendation.  He, or rather his service, had guarded the latter
+all his stormy incumbency at the executive mansion.  There were
+offices for the management of the company's business in Philadelphia,
+Washington, and New York, to say nothing of other places.  Butler
+was familiar with the Philadelphia sign, but did not care to go
+to the office there.  He decided, once his mind was made up on
+this score, that he would go over to New York, where he was told
+the principal offices were.
+
+He made the simple excuse one day of business, which was common
+enough in his case, and journeyed to New York--nearly five hours
+away as the trains ran then--arriving at two o'clock.  At the
+offices on lower Broadway, he asked to see the manager, whom he
+found to be a large, gross-featured, heavy-bodied man of fifty,
+gray-eyed, gray-haired, puffily outlined as to countenance, but
+keen and shrewd, and with short, fat-fingered hands, which drummed
+idly on his desk as he talked.  He was dressed in a suit of
+dark-brown wool cloth, which struck Butler as peculiarly showy,
+and wore a large horseshoe diamond pin.  The old man himself
+invariably wore conservative gray.
+
+"How do you do?" said Butler, when a boy ushered him into the
+presence of this worthy, whose name was Martinson--Gilbert Martinson,
+of American and Irish extraction.  The latter nodded and looked
+at Butler shrewdly, recognizing him at once as a man of force and
+probably of position.  He therefore rose and offered him a chair.
+
+"Sit down," he said, studying the old Irishman from under thick,
+bushy eyebrows.  "What can I do for you?"
+
+"You're the manager, are you?" asked Butler, solemnly, eyeing the
+man with a shrewd, inquiring eye.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Martinson, simply.  "That's my position here."
+
+"This Mr. Pinkerton that runs this agency--he wouldn't be about
+this place, now, would he?" asked Butler, carefully.  "I'd like to
+talk to him personally, if I might, meaning no offense to you."
+
+"Mr. Pinkerton is in Chicago at present," replied Mr. Martinson.
+"I don't expect him back for a week or ten days.  You can talk to
+me, though, with the same confidence that you could to him.  I'm
+the responsible head here.  However, you're the best judge of that."
+
+Butler debated with himself in silence for a few moments, estimating
+the man before him.  "Are you a family man yourself?" he asked,
+oddly.
+
+"Yes, sir, I'm married," replied Martinson, solemnly.  "I have a
+wife and two children."
+
+Martinson, from long experience conceived that this must be a
+matter of family misconduct--a son, daughter, wife.  Such cases
+were not infrequent.
+
+"I thought I would like to talk to Mr. Pinkerton himself, but if
+you're the responsible head--" Butler paused.
+
+"I am," replied Martinson.  "You can talk to me with the same
+freedom that you could to Mr. Pinkerton.  Won't you come into my
+private office? We can talk more at ease in there."
+
+He led the way into an adjoining room which had two windows looking
+down into Broadway; an oblong table, heavy, brown, smoothly polished;
+four leather-backed chairs; and some pictures of the Civil War
+battles in which the North had been victorious.  Butler followed
+doubtfully.  He hated very much to take any one into his confidence
+in regard to Aileen.  He was not sure that he would, even now.
+He wanted to "look these fellys over," as he said in his mind.  He
+would decide then what he wanted to do.  He went to one of the
+windows and looked down into the street, where there was a perfect
+swirl of omnibuses and vehicles of all sorts.  Mr. Martinson quietly
+closed the door.
+
+"Now then, if there's anything I can do for you," Mr. Martinson
+paused.  He thought by this little trick to elicit Buder's real
+name--it often "worked"-- but in this instance the name was not
+forthcoming.  Butler was too shrewd.
+
+"I'm not so sure that I want to go into this," said the old man
+solemnly.  "Certainly not if there's any risk of the thing not
+being handled in the right way.  There's somethin' I want to find
+out about--somethin' that I ought to know; but it's a very private
+matter with me, and--" He paused to think and conjecture, looking
+at Mr. Martinson the while.  The latter understood his peculiar
+state of mind.  He had seen many such cases.
+
+"Let me say right here, to begin with, Mr.--"
+
+"Scanlon," interpolated Butler, easily; "that's as good a name as
+any if you want to use one.  I'm keepin' me own to meself for the
+present."
+
+"Scanlon," continued Martinson, easily.  "I really don't care whether
+it's your right name or not.  I was just going to say that it might
+not be necessary to have your right name under any circumstances--
+it all depends upon what you want to know.  But, so far as your
+private affairs are concerned, they are as safe with us, as if you
+had never told them to any one.  Our business is built upon confidence,
+and we never betray it.  We wouldn't dare.  We have men and women
+who have been in our employ for over thirty years, and we never
+retire any one except for cause, and we don't pick people who are
+likely to need to be retired for cause.  Mr. Pinkerton is a good
+judge of men.  There are others here who consider that they are.
+We handle over ten thousand separate cases in all parts of the
+United States every year.  We work on a case only so long as we
+are wanted.  We try to find out only such things as our customers
+want.  We do not pry unnecessarily into anybody's affairs.  If we
+decide that we cannot find out what you want to know, we are the
+first to say so.  Many cases are rejected right here in this office
+before we ever begin.  Yours might be such a one.  We don't want
+cases merely for the sake of having them, and we are frank to say
+so.  Some matters that involve public policy, or some form of small
+persecution, we don't touch at all--we won't be a party to them.
+You can see how that is.  You look to me to be a man of the world.
+I hope I am one.  Does it strike you that an organization like ours
+would be likely to betray any one's confidence?" He paused and
+looked at Butler for confirmation of what he had just said.
+
+"It wouldn't seem likely," said the latter; "that's the truth.
+It's not aisy to bring your private affairs into the light of day,
+though," added the old man, sadly.
+
+They both rested.
+
+"Well," said Butler, finally, "you look to me to be all right, and
+I'd like some advice.  Mind ye, I'm willing to pay for it well
+enough; and it isn't anything that'll be very hard to find out.  I
+want to know whether a certain man where I live is goin' with a
+certain woman, and where.  You could find that out aisy enough, I
+belave--couldn't you?"
+
+"Nothing easier," replied Martinson.  "We are doing it all the
+time.  Let me see if I can help you just a moment, Mr. Scanlon,
+in order to make it easier for you.  It is very plain to me that
+you don't care to tell any more than you can help, and we don't
+care to have you tell any more than we absolutely need.  We will
+have to have the name of the city, of course, and the name of either
+the man or the woman; but not necessarily both of them, unless you
+want to help us in that way.  Sometimes if you give us the name of
+one party--say the man, for illustration--and the description of
+the woman--an accurate one--or a photograph, we can tell you after
+a little while exactly what you want to know.  Of course, it's
+always better if we have full information.  You suit yourself about
+that.  Tell me as much or as little as you please, and I'll guarantee
+that we will do our best to serve you, and that you will be satisfied
+afterward."
+
+He smiled genially.
+
+"Well, that bein' the case," said Butler, finally taking the leap,
+with many mental reservations, however, "I'll be plain with you.
+My name's not Scanlon.  It's Butler.  I live in Philadelphy.  There's
+a man there, a banker by the name of Cowperwood--Frank A. Cowperwood--"
+
+"Wait a moment," said Martinson, drawing an ample pad out of his
+pocket and producing a lead-pencil; "I want to get that.  How do
+you spell it?"
+
+Butler told him.
+
+"Yes; now go on."
+
+"He has a place in Third Street--Frank A. Cowperwood--any one can
+show you where it is.  He's just failed there recently."
+
+"Oh, that's the man," interpolated Martinson.  "I've heard of him.
+He's mixed up in some city embezzlement case over there.  I suppose
+the reason you didn't go to our Philadelphia office is because you
+didn't want our local men over there to know anything about it.
+Isn't that it?"
+
+"That's the man, and that's the reason," said Butler.  "I don't care
+to have anything of this known in Philadelphy.  That's why I'm here.
+This man has a house on Girard Avenue--Nineteen-thirty-seven.  You
+can find that out, too, when you get over there."
+
+"Yes," agreed Mr. Martinson.
+
+"Well, it's him that I want to know about--him--and a certain woman,
+or girl, rather."  The old man paused and winced at this necessity
+of introducing Aileen into the case.  He could scarcely think of
+it--he was so fond of her.  He had been so proud of Aileen.  A dark,
+smoldering rage burned in his heart against Cowperwood.
+
+"A relative of yours--possibly, I suppose," remarked Martinson,
+tactfully.  "You needn't tell me any more--just give me a description
+if you wish.  We may be able to work from that."  He saw quite
+clearly what a fine old citizen in his way he was dealing with here,
+and also that the man was greatly troubled.  Butler's heavy,
+meditative face showed it.  "You can be quite frank with me, Mr.
+Butler," he added; "I think I understand.  We only want such
+information as we must have to help you, nothing more."
+
+"Yes," said the old man, dourly.  "She is a relative.  She's me
+daughter, in fact.  You look to me like a sensible, honest man.
+I'm her father, and I wouldn't do anything for the world to harm
+her.  It's tryin' to save her I am.  It's him I want."  He suddenly
+closed one big fist forcefully.
+
+Martinson, who had two daughters of his own, observed the suggestive
+movement.
+
+"I understand how you feel, Mr. Butler," he observed.  "I am a
+father myself.  We'll do all we can for you.  If you can give me
+an accurate description of her, or let one of my men see her at
+your house or office, accidentally, of course, I think we can tell
+you in no time at all if they are meeting with any regularity.
+That's all you want to know, is it--just that?"
+
+"That's all," said Butler, solemnly.
+
+"Well, that oughtn't to take any time at all, Mr. Butler--three
+or four days possibly, if we have any luck--a week, ten days, two
+weeks.  It depends on how long you want us to shadow him in case
+there is no evidence the first few days."
+
+"I want to know, however long it takes," replied Butler, bitterly.
+"I want to know, if it takes a month or two months or three to find
+out.  I want to know."  The old man got up as he said this, very
+positive, very rugged.  "And don't send me men that haven't sinse--
+lots of it, plase.  I want men that are fathers, if you've got
+'em--and that have sinse enough to hold their tongues--not b'ys."
+
+"I understand, Mr. Butler," Martinson replied.  "Depend on it,
+you'll have the best we have, and you can trust them.  They'll
+be discreet.  You can depend on that.  The way I'll do will be
+to assign just one man to the case at first, some one you can see
+for yourself whether you like or not.  I'll not tell him anything.
+You can talk to him.  If you like him, tell him, and he'll do the
+rest.  Then, if he needs any more help, he can get it.  What is
+your address?"
+
+Butler gave it to him.
+
+"And there'll be no talk about this?"
+
+"None whatever--I assure you."
+
+"And when'll he be comin' along?"
+
+"To-morrow, if you wish.  I have a man I could send to-night.  He
+isn't here now or I'd have him talk with you.  I'll talk to him,
+though, and make everything clear.  You needn't worry about anything.
+Your daughter's reputation will be safe in his hands."
+
+"Thank you kindly," commented Butler, softening the least bit in
+a gingerly way.  "I'm much obliged to you.  I'll take it as a great
+favor, and pay you well."
+
+"Never mind about that, Mr.  Butler," replied Martinson.  "You're
+welcome to anything this concern can do for you at its ordinary rates."
+
+He showed Butler to the door, and the old man went out.  He was
+feeling very depressed over this--very shabby.  To think he should
+have to put detectives on the track of his Aileen, his daughter!
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVI
+
+
+
+
+The very next day there called at Butler's office a long,
+preternaturally solemn man of noticeable height and angularity,
+dark-haired, dark-eyed, sallow, with a face that was long and
+leathery, and particularly hawk-like, who talked with Butler for
+over an hour and then departed.  That evening he came to the
+Butler house around dinner-time, and, being shown into Butler's
+room, was given a look at Aileen by a ruse.  Butler sent for her,
+standing in the doorway just far enough to one side to yield a
+good view of her.  The detective stood behind one of the heavy
+curtains which had already been put up for the winter, pretending
+to look out into the street.
+
+"Did any one drive Sissy this mornin'?" asked Butler of Aileen,
+inquiring after a favorite family horse.  Butler's plan, in case
+the detective was seen, was to give the impression that he was a
+horseman who had come either to buy or to sell.  His name was Jonas
+Alderson, and be looked sufficiently like a horsetrader to be one.
+
+"I don't think so, father," replied Aileen.  "I didn't.  I'll find
+out."
+
+"Never mind.  What I want to know is did you intend using her
+to-morrow?"
+
+"No, not if you want her.  Jerry suits me just as well."
+
+"Very well, then.  Leave her in the stable."  Butler quietly closed
+the door.  Aileen concluded at once that it was a horse conference.
+She knew he would not dispose of any horse in which she was interested
+without first consulting her, and so she thought no more about it.
+
+After she was gone Alderson stepped out and declared that he was
+satisfied.  "That's all I need to know," he said.  "I'll let you
+know in a few days if I find out anything."
+
+He departed, and within thirty-six hours the house and office of
+Cowperwood, the house of Butler, the office of Harper Steger,
+Cowperwood's lawyer, and Cowperwood and Aileen separately and
+personally were under complete surveillance.  It took six men to
+do it at first, and eventually a seventh, when the second
+meeting-place, which was located in South Sixth Street, was
+discovered.  All the detectives were from New York.  In a week all
+was known to Alderson.  It bad been agreed between him and Butler
+that if Aileen and Cowperwood were discovered to have any particular
+rendezvous Butler was to be notified some time when she was there,
+so that he might go immediately and confront her in person, if he
+wished.  He did not intend to kill Cowperwood--and Alderson would
+have seen to it that he did not in his presence at least, but he
+would give him a good tongue-lashing, fell him to the floor, in all
+likelihood, and march Aileen away.  There would be no more lying
+on her part as to whether she was or was not going with Cowperwood.
+She would not be able to say after that what she would or would not
+do.  Butler would lay down the law to her.  She would reform, or
+he would send her to a reformatory.  Think of her influence on her
+sister, or on any good girl--knowing what she knew, or doing what
+she was doing! She would go to Europe after this, or any place he
+chose to send her.
+
+In working out his plan of action it was necessary for Butler to
+take Alderson into his confidence and the detective made plain
+his determination to safeguard Cowperwood's person.
+
+"We couldn't allow you to strike any blows or do any violence,"
+Alderson told Butler, when they first talked about it.  "It's
+against the rules.  You can go in there on a search-warrant, if
+we have to have one.  I can get that for you without anybody's
+knowing anything about your connection with the case.  We can say
+it's for a girl from New York.  But you'll have to go in in the
+presence of my men.  They won't permit any trouble.  You can get
+your daughter all right--we'll bring her away, and him, too, if
+you say so; but you'll have to make some charge against him, if
+we do.  Then there's the danger of the neighbors seeing.  You
+can't always guarantee you won't collect a crowd that way."  Butler
+had many misgivings about the matter.  It was fraught with great
+danger of publicity.  Still he wanted to know.  He wanted to terrify
+Aileen if he could--to reform her drastically.
+
+
+Within a week Alderson learned that Aileen and Cowperwood were
+visiting an apparently private residence, which was anything but
+that.  The house on South Sixth Street was one of assignation purely;
+but in its way it was superior to the average establishment of its
+kind--of red brick, white-stone trimmings, four stories high, and
+all the rooms, some eighteen in number, furnished in a showy but
+cleanly way.  It's patronage was highly exclusive, only those being
+admitted who were known to the mistress, having been introduced
+by others.  This guaranteed that privacy which the illicit affairs
+of this world so greatly required.  The mere phrase, "I have an
+appointment," was sufficient, where either of the parties was known,
+to cause them to be shown to a private suite.  Cowperwood had known
+of the place from previous experiences, and when it became necessary
+to abandon the North Tenth Street house, he had directed Aileen
+to meet him here.
+
+The matter of entering a place of this kind and trying to find any
+one was, as Alderson informed Butler on hearing of its character,
+exceedingly difficult.  It involved the right of search, which
+was difficult to get.  To enter by sheer force was easy enough in
+most instances where the business conducted was in contradistinction
+to the moral sentiment of the community; but sometimes one
+encountered violent opposition from the tenants themselves.  It
+might be so in this case.  The only sure way of avoiding such
+opposition would be to take the woman who ran the place into one's
+confidence, and by paying her sufficiently insure silence.  "But I
+do not advise that in this instance," Alderson had told Butler,
+"for I believe this woman is particularly friendly to your man.
+It might be better, in spite of the risk, to take it by surprise."
+To do that, he explained, it would be necessary to have at least
+three men in addition to the leader--perhaps four, who, once one
+man had been able to make his entrance into the hallway, on the
+door being opened in response to a ring, would appear quickly and
+enter with and sustain him.  Quickness of search was the next thing--
+the prompt opening of all doors.  The servants, if any, would have
+to be overpowered and silenced in some way.  Money sometimes did
+this; force accomplished it at other times.  Then one of the
+detectives simulating a servant could tap gently at the different
+doors--Butler and the others standing by--and in case a face
+appeared identify it or not, as the case might be.  If the door
+was not opened and the room was not empty, it could eventually be
+forced.  The house was one of a solid block, so that there was no
+chance of escape save by the front and rear doors, which were to
+be safe-guarded.  It was a daringly conceived scheme.  In spite of
+all this, secrecy in the matter of removing Aileen was to be
+preserved.
+
+When Butler heard of this he was nervous about the whole terrible
+procedure.  He thought once that without going to the house he
+would merely talk to his daughter declaring that he knew and that
+she could not possibly deny it.  He would then give her her choice
+between going to Europe or going to a reformatory.  But a sense of
+the raw brutality of Aileen's disposition, and something essentially
+coarse in himself, made him eventually adopt the other method.  He
+ordered Alderson to perfect his plan, and once he found Aileen or
+Cowperwood entering the house to inform him quickly.  He would then
+drive there, and with the assistance of these men confront her.
+
+It was a foolish scheme, a brutalizing thing to do, both from the
+point of view of affection and any corrective theory he might have
+had.  No good ever springs from violence.  But Butler did not see
+that.  He wanted to frighten Aileen, to bring her by shock to a
+realization of the enormity of the offense she was committing.  He
+waited fully a week after his word had been given; and then, one
+afternoon, when his nerves were worn almost thin from fretting,
+the climax came.  Cowperwood had already been indicted, and was
+now awaiting trial.  Aileen had been bringing him news, from time
+to time, of just how she thought her father was feeling toward him.
+She did not get this evidence direct from Butler, of course--he
+was too secretive, in so far as she was concerned, to let her know
+how relentlessly he was engineering Cowperwood's final downfall--
+but from odd bits confided to Owen, who confided them to Callum,
+who in turn, innocently enough, confided them to Aileen.  For one
+thing, she had learned in this way of the new district attorney
+elect--his probable attitude--for he was a constant caller at the
+Butler house or office.  Owen had told Callum that he thought Shannon
+was going to do his best to send Cowperwood "up"--that the old man
+thought he deserved it.
+
+In the next place she had learned that her father did not want
+Cowperwood to resume business--did not feel he deserved to be allowed
+to.  "It would be a God's blessing if the community were shut of
+him," he had said to Owen one morning, apropos of a notice in the
+papers of Cowperwood's legal struggles; and Owen had asked Callum
+why he thought the old man was so bitter.  The two sons could not
+understand it.  Cowperwood heard all this from her, and more--bits
+about Judge Payderson, the judge who was to try him, who was a
+friend of Butler's--also about the fact that Stener might be sent
+up for the full term of his crime, but that be would be pardoned
+soon afterward.
+
+Apparently Cowperwood was not very much frightened.  He told her
+that he had powerful financial friends who would appeal to the
+governor to pardon him in case he was convicted; and, anyhow, that
+he did not think that the evidence was strong enough to convict
+him.  He was merely a political scapegoat through public clamor
+and her father's influence; since the latter's receipt of the
+letter about them he had been the victim of Butler's enmity, and
+nothing more.  "If it weren't for your father, honey," he declared,
+"I could have this indictment quashed in no time.  Neither
+Mollenhauer nor Simpson has anything against me personally, I am
+sure.  They want me to get out of the street-railway business here
+in Philadelphia, and, of course, they wanted to make things look
+better for Stener at first; but depend upon it, if your father
+hadn't been against me they wouldn't have gone to any such length
+in making me the victim.  Your father has this fellow Shannon and
+these minor politicians just where he wants them, too.  That's
+where the trouble lies.  They have to go on."
+
+"Oh, I know," replied Aileen.  "It's me, just me, that's all.  If
+it weren't for me and what he suspects he'd help you in a minute.
+Sometimes, you know, I think I've been very bad for you.  I don't
+know what I ought to do.  If I thought it would help you any I'd
+not see you any more for a while, though I don't see what good that
+would do now.  Oh, I love you, love you, Frank! I would do anything
+for you.  I don't care what people think or say.  I love you."
+
+"Oh, you just think you do," he replied, jestingly.  "You'll get
+over it.  There are others."
+
+"Others!" echoed Aileen, resentfully and contemptuously.  "After
+you there aren't any others.  I just want one man, my Frank.  If
+you ever desert me, I'll go to hell.  You'll see."
+
+"Don't talk like that, Aileen," he replied, almost irritated.  "I
+don't like to hear you.  You wouldn't do anything of the sort.  I
+love you.  You know I'm not going to desert you.  It would pay you
+to desert me just now."
+
+"Oh, how you talk!" she exclaimed.  "Desert you! It's likely, isn't
+it? But if ever you desert me, I'll do just what I say.  I swear
+it."
+
+"Don't talk like that.  Don't talk nonsense."
+
+"I swear it.  I swear by my love.  I swear by your success--my
+own happiness.  I'll do just what I say.  I'll go to hell."
+
+Cowperwood got up.  He was a little afraid now of this deep-seated
+passion he had aroused.  It was dangerous.  He could not tell where
+it would lead.
+
+It was a cheerless afternoon in November, when Alderson, duly
+informed of the presence of Aileen and Cowperwood in the South
+Sixth Street house by the detective on guard drove rapidly up to
+Butler's office and invited him to come with him.  Yet even now
+Butler could scarcely believe that he was to find his daughter
+there.  The shame of it.  The horror.  What would he say to her?
+How reproach her? What would he do to Cowperwood? His large hands
+shook as he thought.  They drove rapidly to within a few doors of
+the place, where a second detective on guard across the street
+approached.  Butler and Alderson descended from the vehicle, and
+together they approached the door.  It was now almost four-thirty
+in the afternoon.  In a room within the house, Cowperwood, his
+coat and vest off, was listening to Aileen's account of her troubles.
+
+The room in which they were sitting at the time was typical of the
+rather commonplace idea of luxury which then prevailed.  Most of
+the "sets" of furniture put on the market for general sale by the
+furniture companies were, when they approached in any way the correct
+idea of luxury, imitations of one of the Louis periods.  The curtains
+were always heavy, frequently brocaded, and not infrequently red.
+The carpets were richly flowered in high colors with a thick, velvet
+nap.  The furniture, of whatever wood it might be made, was almost
+invariably heavy, floriated, and cumbersome.  This room contained
+a heavily constructed bed of walnut, with washstand, bureau, and
+wardrobe to match.  A large, square mirror in a gold frame was
+hung over the washstand.  Some poor engravings of landscapes and
+several nude figures were hung in gold frames on the wall.  The
+gilt-framed chairs were upholstered in pink-and-white-flowered
+brocade, with polished brass tacks.  The carpet was of thick
+Brussels, pale cream and pink in hue, with large blue jardinieres
+containing flowers woven in as ornaments.  The general effect
+was light, rich, and a little stuffy.
+
+"You know I get desperately frightened, sometimes," said Aileen.
+"Father might be watching us, you know.  I've often wondered what
+I'd do if he caught us.  I couldn't lie out of this, could I?"
+
+"You certainly couldn't," said Cowperwood, who never failed to
+respond to the incitement of her charms.  She had such lovely smooth
+arms, a full, luxuriously tapering throat and neck; her golden-red
+hair floated like an aureole about her head, and her large eyes
+sparkled.  The wondrous vigor of a full womanhood was hers--errant,
+ill-balanced, romantic, but exquisite, "but you might as well not
+cross that bridge until you come to it," he continued.  "I myself
+have been thinking that we had better not go on with this for the
+present.  That letter ought to have been enough to stop us for
+the time."
+
+He came over to where she stood by the dressing-table, adjusting
+her hair.
+
+"You're such a pretty minx," he said.  He slipped his arm about
+her and kissed her pretty mouth.  "Nothing sweeter than you this
+side of Paradise," he whispered in her ear.
+
+While this was enacting, Butler and the extra detective had stepped
+out of sight, to one side of the front door of the house, while
+Alderson, taking the lead, rang the bell.  A negro servant appeared.
+
+"Is Mrs. Davis in?" he asked, genially, using the name of the woman
+in control.  "I'd like to see her."
+
+"Just come in," said the maid, unsuspectingly, and indicated a
+reception-room on the right.  Alderson took off his soft, wide-brimmed
+hat and entered.  When the maid went up-stairs he immediately
+returned to the door and let in Butler and two detectives.  The
+four stepped into the reception-room unseen.  In a few moments the
+"madam" as the current word characterized this type of woman,
+appeared.  She was tall, fair, rugged, and not at all unpleasant
+to look upon.  She had light-blue eyes and a genial smile.  Long
+contact with the police and the brutalities of sex in her early
+life had made her wary, a little afraid of how the world would use
+her.  This particular method of making a living being illicit, and
+she having no other practical knowledge at her command, she was
+as anxious to get along peacefully with the police and the public
+generally as any struggling tradesman in any walk of life might
+have been.  She had on a loose, blue-flowered peignoir, or
+dressing-gown, open at the front, tied with blue ribbons and
+showing a little of her expensive underwear beneath.  A large opal
+ring graced her left middle finger, and turquoises of vivid blue
+were pendent from her ears.  She wore yellow silk slippers with
+bronze buckles; and altogether her appearance was not out of
+keeping with the character of the reception-room itself, which
+was a composite of gold-flowered wall-paper, blue and cream-colored
+Brussels carpet, heavily gold-framed engravings of reclining nudes,
+and a gilt-framed pier-glass, which rose from the floor to the
+ceiling.  Needless to say, Butler was shocked to the soul of him
+by this suggestive atmosphere which was supposed to include his
+daughter in its destructive reaches.
+
+Alderson motioned one of his detectives to get behind the woman--
+between her and the door--which he did.
+
+"Sorry to trouble you, Mrs. Davis," he said, "but we are looking
+for a couple who are in your house here.  We're after a runaway
+girl.  We don't want to make any disturbance--merely to get her
+and take her away."  Mrs. Davis paled and opened her mouth.  "Now
+don't make any noise or try to scream, or we'll have to stop you.
+My men are all around the house.  Nobody can get out.  Do you know
+anybody by the name of Cowperwood?"
+
+Mrs. Davis, fortunately from one point of view, was not of a
+particularly nervous nor yet contentious type.  She was more or
+less philosophic.  She was not in touch with the police here in
+Philadelphia, hence subject to exposure.  What good would it do
+to cry out? she thought.  The place was surrounded.  There was
+no one in the house at the time to save Cowperwood and Aileen.
+She did not know Cowperwood by his name, nor Aileen by hers.  They
+were a Mr. and Mrs. Montague to her.
+
+"I don't know anybody by that name," she replied nervously.
+
+"Isn't there a girl here with red hair?"  asked one of Alderson's
+assistants.  "And a man with a gray suit and a light-brown mustache?
+They came in here half an hour ago.  You remember them, don't you?"
+
+"There's just one couple in the house, but I'm not sure whether
+they're the ones you want.  I'll ask them to come down if you wish.
+Oh, I wish you wouldn't make any disturbance.  This is terrible."
+
+"We'll not make any disturbance," replied Alderson, "if you don't.
+Just you be quiet.  We merely want to see the girl and take her
+away.  Now, you stay where you are.  What room are they in?"
+
+"In the second one in the rear up-stairs.  Won't you let me go,
+though? It will be so much better.  I'll just tap and ask them to
+come out."
+
+"No.  We'll tend to that.  You stay where you are.  You're not
+going to get into any trouble.  You just stay where you are,"
+insisted Alderson.
+
+He motioned to Butler, who, however, now that he had embarked on
+his grim task, was thinking that he had made a mistake.  What good
+would it do him to force his way in and make her come out, unless
+he intended to kill Cowperwood? If she were made to come down here,
+that would be enough.  She would then know that he knew all.  He
+did not care to quarrel with Cowperwood, in any public way, he now
+decided.  He was afraid to.  He was afraid of himself.
+
+"Let her go," he said grimly, doggedly referring to Mrs. Davis,
+"But watch her.  Tell the girl to come down-stairs to me."
+
+Mrs. Davis, realizing on the moment that this was some family
+tragedy, and hoping in an agonized way that she could slip out of
+it peacefully, started upstairs at once with Alderson and his
+assistants who were close at his heels.  Reaching the door of
+the room occupied by Cowperwood and Aileen, she tapped lightly.
+At the time Aileen and Cowperwood were sitting in a big arm-chair.
+At the first knock Aileen blanched and leaped to her feet.  Usually
+not nervous, to-day, for some reason, she anticipated trouble.
+Cowperwood's eyes instantly hardened.
+
+"Don't be nervous," he said, "no doubt it's only the servant.
+I'll go."
+
+He started, but Aileen interfered.  "Wait," she said.  Somewhat
+reassured, she went to the closet, and taking down a dressing-gown,
+slipped it on.  Meanwhile the tap came again.  Then she went to
+the door and opened it the least bit.
+
+"Mrs. Montague," exclaimed Mrs. Davis, in an obviously nervous,
+forced voice, "there's a gentleman downstairs who wishes to see
+you."
+
+"A gentleman to see me!" exclaimed Aileen, astonished and paling.
+"Are you sure?"
+
+"Yes; he says he wants to see you.  There are several other men
+with him.  I think it's some one who belongs to you, maybe."
+
+Aileen realized on the instant, as did Cowperwood, what had in all
+likelihood happened.  Butler or Mrs. Cowperwood had trailed them--
+in all probability her father.  He wondered now what he should do
+to protect her, not himself.  He was in no way deeply concerned for
+himself, even here.  Where any woman was concerned he was too
+chivalrous to permit fear.  It was not at all improbable that Butler
+might want to kill him; but that did not disturb him.  He really
+did not pay any attention to that thought, and he was not armed.
+
+"I'll dress and go down," he said, when he saw Aileen's pale face.
+"You stay here.  And don't you worry in any way for I'll get you
+out of this--now, don't worry.  This is my affair.  I got you in
+it and I'll get you out of it."  He went for his hat and coat and
+added, as he did so, "You go ahead and dress; but let me go first."
+
+Aileen, the moment the door closed, had begun to put on her clothes
+swiftly and nervously.  Her mind was working like a rapidly moving
+machine.  She was wondering whether this really could be her father.
+Perhaps it was not.  Might there be some other Mrs. Montague--a
+real one? Supposing it was her father--he had been so nice to her
+in not telling the family, in keeping her secret thus far.  He
+loved her--she knew that.  It makes all the difference in the world
+in a child's attitude on an occasion like this whether she has
+been loved and petted and spoiled, or the reverse.  Aileen had been
+loved and petted and spoiled.  She could not think of her father
+doing anything terrible physically to her or to any one else.  But
+it was so hard to confront him--to look into his eyes.  When she
+had attained a proper memory of him, her fluttering wits told her
+what to do.
+
+"No, Frank," she whispered, excitedly; "if it's father, you'd
+better let me go.  I know how to talk to him.  He won't say anything
+to me.  You stay here.  I'm not afraid--really, I'm not.  If I
+want you, I'll call you."
+
+He had come over and taken her pretty chin in his hands, and was
+looking solemnly into her eyes.
+
+"You mustn't be afraid," he said.  "I'll go down.  If it's your
+father, you can go away with him.  I don't think he'll do anything
+either to you or to me.  If it is he, write me something at the
+office.  I'll be there.  If I can help you in any way, I will.
+We can fix up something.  There's no use trying to explain this.
+Say nothing at all."
+
+He had on his coat and overcoat, and was standing with his hat in
+his hand.  Aileen was nearly dressed, struggling with the row of
+red current-colored buttons which fastened her dress in the back.
+Cowperwood helped her.  When she was ready--hat, gloves, and all--
+he said:
+
+"Now let me go first.  I want to see."
+
+"No; please, Frank," she begged, courageously.  "Let me, I know
+it's father.  Who else could it be?" She wondered at the moment
+whether her father had brought her two brothers but would not now
+believe it.  He would not do that, she knew.  "You can come if I
+call."  She went on.  "Nothing's going to happen, though.  I
+understand him.  He won't do anything to me.  If you go it will
+only make him angry.  Let me go.  You stand in the door here.  If
+I don't call, it's all right.  Will you?"
+
+She put her two pretty hands on his shoulders, and he weighed the
+matter very carefully.  "Very well," he said, "only I'll go to
+the foot of the stairs with you."
+
+They went to the door and he opened it.  Outside were Alderson
+with two other detectives and Mrs. Davis, standing perhaps five
+feet away.
+
+"Well," said Cowperwood, commandingly, looking at Alderson.
+
+"There's a gentleman down-stairs wishes to see the lady," said
+Alderson.  "It's her father, I think," he added quietly.
+
+Cowperwood made way for Aileen, who swept by, furious at the
+presence of men and this exposure.  Her courage had entirely returned.
+She was angry now to think her father would make a public spectacle
+of her.  Cowperwood started to follow.
+
+"I'd advise you not to go down there right away," cautioned Alderson,
+sagely.  "That's her father.  Butler's her name, isn't it?  He don't
+want you so much as he wants her."
+
+Cowperwood nevertheless walked slowly toward the head of the stairs,
+listening.
+
+"What made you come here, father?" he heard Aileen ask.
+
+Butler's reply he could not hear, but he was now at ease for he
+knew how much Butler loved his daughter.
+
+Confronted by her father, Aileen was now attempting to stare
+defiantly, to look reproachful, but Butler's deep gray eyes beneath
+their shaggy brows revealed such a weight of weariness and despair
+as even she, in her anger and defiance, could not openly flaunt.
+It was all too sad.
+
+"I never expected to find you in a place like this, daughter," he
+said.  "I should have thought you would have thought better of
+yourself."  His voice choked and he stopped.
+
+"I know who you're here with," he continued, shaking his head
+sadly.  "The dog! I'll get him yet.  I've had men watchin' you
+all the time.  Oh, the shame of this day! The shame of this day!
+You'll be comin' home with me now."
+
+"That's just it, father," began Aileen.  "You've had men watching
+me.  I should have thought--" She stopped, because he put up his
+hand in a strange, agonized, and yet dominating way.
+
+"None of that! none of that!" he said, glowering under his strange,
+sad, gray brows.  "I can't stand it! Don't tempt me! We're not out
+of this place yet.  He's not! You'll come home with me now."
+
+Aileen understood.  It was Cowperwood he was referring to.  That
+frightened her.
+
+"I'm ready," she replied, nervously.
+
+The old man led the way broken-heartedly.  He felt he would never
+live to forget the agony of this hour.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVII
+
+
+
+
+In spite of Butler's rage and his determination to do many things
+to the financier, if he could, he was so wrought up and shocked by
+the attitude of Aileen that he could scarcely believe he was the
+same man he had been twenty-four hours before.  She was so
+nonchalant, so defiant.  He had expected to see her wilt completely
+when confronted with her guilt.  Instead, he found, to his despair,
+after they were once safely out of the house, that he had aroused
+a fighting quality in the girl which was not incomparable to his
+own.  She had some of his own and Owen's grit.  She sat beside him
+in the little runabout--not his own--in which he was driving her
+home, her face coloring and blanching by turns, as different waves
+of thought swept over her, determined to stand her ground now that
+her father had so plainly trapped her, to declare for Cowperwood
+and her love and her position in general.  What did she care, she
+asked herself, what her father thought now? She was in this thing.
+She loved Cowperwood; she was permanently disgraced in her father's
+eyes.  What difference could it all make now? He had fallen so low
+in his parental feeling as to spy on her and expose her before
+other men--strangers, detectives, Cowperwood.  What real affection
+could she have for him after this? He had made a mistake, according
+to her.  He had done a foolish and a contemptible thing, which was
+not warranted however bad her actions might have been.  What could
+he hope to accomplish by rushing in on her in this way and ripping
+the veil from her very soul before these other men--these crude
+detectives? Oh, the agony of that walk from the bedroom to the
+reception-room! She would never forgive her father for this--never,
+never, never! He had now killed her love for him--that was what
+she felt.  It was to be a battle royal between them from now on.
+As they rode--in complete silence for a while--her hands clasped
+and unclasped defiantly, her nails cutting her palms, and her
+mouth hardened. 
+
+It is an open question whether raw opposition ever accomplishes
+anything of value in this world.  It seems so inherent in this
+mortal scheme of things that it appears to have a vast validity.
+It is more than likely that we owe this spectacle called life to
+it, and that this can be demonstrated scientifically; but when
+that is said and done, what is the value? What is the value of
+the spectacle? And what the value of a scene such as this enacted
+between Aileen and her father?
+
+The old man saw nothing for it, as they rode on, save a grim contest
+between them which could end in what? What could he do with her?
+They were riding away fresh from this awful catastrophe, and she
+was not saying a word! She had even asked him why he had come there!
+How was he to subdue her, when the very act of trapping her had
+failed to do so? His ruse, while so successful materially, had
+failed so utterly spiritually.  They reached the house, and Aileen
+got out.  The old man, too nonplussed to wish to go further at this
+time, drove back to his office.  He then went out and walked--a
+peculiar thing for him to do; he had done nothing like that in
+years and years--walking to think.  Coming to an open Catholic
+church, he went in and prayed for enlightenment, the growing dusk
+of the interior, the single everlasting lamp before the repository
+of the chalice, and the high, white altar set with candles soothing
+his troubled feelings. 
+
+He came out of the church after a time and returned home.  Aileen
+did not appear at dinner, and he could not eat.  He went into his
+private room and shut the door--thinking, thinking, thinking.  The
+dreadful spectacle of Aileen in a house of ill repute burned in
+his brain.  To think that Cowperwood should have taken her to such
+a place--his Aileen, his and his wife's pet.  In spite of his
+prayers, his uncertainty, her opposition, the puzzling nature of
+the situation, she must be got out of this.  She must go away for
+a while, give the man up, and then the law should run its course
+with him.  In all likelihood Cowperwood would go to the penitentiary--
+if ever a man richly deserved to go, it was he.  Butler would see
+that no stone was left unturned.  He would make it a personal issue,
+if necessary.  All he had to do was to let it be known in judicial
+circles that he wanted it so.  He could not suborn a jury, that
+would be criminal; but he could see that the case was properly and
+forcefully presented; and if Cowperwood were convicted, Heaven help
+him.  The appeal of his financial friends would not save him.  The
+judges of the lower and superior courts knew on which side their
+bread was buttered.  They would strain a point in favor of the
+highest political opinion of the day, and he certainly could
+influence that.  Aileen meanwhile was contemplating the peculiar
+nature of her situation.  In spite of their silence on the way
+home, she knew that a conversation was coming with her father.
+It had to be.  He would want her to go somewhere.  Most likely he
+would revive the European trip in some form--she now suspected the
+invitation of Mrs. Mollenhauer as a trick; and she had to decide
+whether she would go.  Would she leave Cowperwood just when he was
+about to be tried? She was determined she would not.  She wanted
+to see what was going to happen to him.  She would leave home
+first--run to some relative, some friend, some stranger, if
+necessary, and ask to be taken in.  She had some money--a little.
+Her father had always been very liberal with her.  She could take
+a few clothes and disappear.  They would be glad enough to send
+for her after she had been gone awhile.  Her mother would be
+frantic; Norah and Callum and Owen would be beside themselves with
+wonder and worry; her father--she could see him.  Maybe that would
+bring him to his senses.  In spite of all her emotional vagaries,
+she was the pride and interest of this home, and she knew it. 
+
+It was in this direction that her mind was running when her father,
+a few days after the dreadful exposure in the Sixth Street house,
+sent for her to come to him in his room.  He had come home from
+his office very early in the afternoon, hoping to find Aileen there,
+in order that he might have a private interview with her, and by
+good luck found her in.  She had had no desire to go out into the
+world these last few days--she was too expectant of trouble to come.
+She had just written Cowperwood asking for a rendezvous out on
+the Wissahickon the following afternoon, in spite of the detectives.
+She must see him.  Her father, she said, had done nothing; but
+she was sure he would attempt to do something.  She wanted to talk
+to Cowperwood about that. 
+
+"I've been thinkin' about ye, Aileen, and what ought to be done
+in this case," began her father without preliminaries of any kind
+once they were in his "office room" in the house together.  "You're
+on the road to ruin if any one ever was.  I tremble when I think
+of your immortal soul.  I want to do somethin' for ye, my child,
+before it's too late.  I've been reproachin' myself for the last
+month and more, thinkin', perhaps, it was somethin' I had done,
+or maybe had failed to do, aither me or your mother, that has
+brought ye to the place where ye are to-day.  Needless to say,
+it's on me conscience, me child.  It's a heartbroken man you're
+lookin' at this day.  I'll never be able to hold me head up again.
+Oh, the shame--the shame! That I should have lived to see it!"
+
+"But father," protested Aileen, who was a little distraught at
+the thought of having to listen to a long preachment which would
+relate to her duty to God and the Church and her family and her
+mother and him.  She realized that all these were important in
+their way; but Cowperwood and his point of view had given her
+another outlook on life.  They had discussed this matter of
+families--parents, children, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters--
+from almost every point of view.  Cowperwood's laissez-faire
+attitude had permeated and colored her mind completely.  She saw
+things through his cold, direct "I satisfy myself" attitude.  He
+was sorry for all the little differences of personality that sprang
+up between people, causing quarrels, bickerings, oppositions, and
+separation; but they could not be helped.  People outgrew each
+other.  Their points of view altered at varying ratios--hence
+changes.  Morals--those who had them had them; those who hadn't,
+hadn't.  There was no explaining.  As for him, he saw nothing
+wrong in the sex relationship.  Between those who were mutually
+compatible it was innocent and delicious.  Aileen in his arms,
+unmarried, but loved by him, and he by her, was as good and pure
+as any living woman--a great deal purer than most.  One found
+oneself in a given social order, theory, or scheme of things.  For
+purposes of social success, in order not to offend, to smooth one's
+path, make things easy, avoid useless criticism, and the like, it
+was necessary to create an outward seeming--ostensibly conform.
+Beyond that it was not necessary to do anything.  Never fail, never
+get caught.  If you did, fight your way out silently and say
+nothing.  That was what he was doing in connection with his present
+financial troubles; that was what he had been ready to do the other
+day when they were caught.  It was something of all this that was
+coloring Aileen's mood as she listened at present. 
+
+"But father," she protested, "I love Mr.  Cowperwood.  It's almost
+the same as if I were married to him.  He will marry me some day
+when he gets a divorce from Mrs. Cowperwood.  You don't understand
+how it is.  He's very fond of me, and I love him.  He needs me."
+
+Butler looked at her with strange, non-understanding eyes.  "Divorce,
+did you say," he began, thinking of the Catholic Church and its
+dogma in regard to that.  "He'll divorce his own wife and children--
+and for you, will he? He needs you, does he?" he added, sarcastically.
+"What about his wife and children? I don't suppose they need him,
+do they? What talk have ye?"
+
+Aileen flung her head back defiantly.  "It's true, nevertheless,"
+she reiterated.  "You just don't understand."
+
+Butler could scarcely believe his ears.  He had never heard such
+talk before in his life from any one.  It amazed and shocked him.
+He was quite aware of all the subtleties of politics and business,
+but these of romance were too much for him.  He knew nothing about
+them.  To think a daughter of his should be talking like this, and
+she a Catholic! He could not understand where she got such notions
+unless it was from the Machiavellian, corrupting brain of Cowperwood
+himself. 
+
+"How long have ye had these notions, my child?" he suddenly asked,
+calmly and soberly.  "Where did ye get them? Ye certainly never
+heard anything like that in this house, I warrant.  Ye talk as
+though ye had gone out of yer mind."
+
+"Oh, don't talk nonsense, father," flared Aileen, angrily, thinking
+how hopeless it was to talk to her father about such things anyhow.
+"I'm not a child any more.  I'm twenty-four years of age.  You just
+don't understand.  Mr. Cowperwood doesn't like his wife.  He's
+going to get a divorce when he can, and will marry me.  I love him,
+and he loves me, and that's all there is to it."
+
+"Is it, though?" asked Butler, grimly determined by hook or by
+crook, to bring this girl to her senses.  "Ye'll be takin' no
+thought of his wife and children then? The fact that he's goin'
+to jail, besides, is nawthin' to ye, I suppose.  Ye'd love him
+just as much in convict stripes, I suppose--more, maybe."  (The old
+man was at his best, humanly speaking, when he was a little
+sarcastic.)  "Ye'll have him that way, likely, if at all."
+
+Aileen blazed at once to a furious heat.  "Yes, I know," she sneered.
+"That's what you would like.  I know what you've been doing.  Frank
+does, too.  You're trying to railroad him to prison for something
+he didn't do--and all on account of me.  Oh, I know.  But you won't
+hurt him.  You can't! He's bigger and finer than you think he is
+and you won't hurt him in the long run.  He'll get out again.  You
+want to punish him on my account; but he doesn't care.  I'll marry
+him anyhow.  I love him, and I'll wait for him and marry him, and
+you can do what you please.  So there!"
+
+"Ye'll marry him, will you?" asked Butler, nonplussed and further
+astounded.  "So ye'll wait for him and marry him?  Ye'll take him
+away from his wife and children, where, if he were half a man, he'd
+be stayin' this minute instead of gallivantin' around with you.
+And marry him? Ye'd disgrace your father and yer mother and yer
+family? Ye'll stand here and say this to me, I that have raised ye,
+cared for ye, and made somethin' of ye? Where would you be if it
+weren't for me and your poor, hard-workin' mother, schemin' and
+plannin' for you year in and year out? Ye're smarter than I am, I
+suppose.  Ye know more about the world than I do, or any one else
+that might want to say anythin' to ye.  I've raised ye to be a fine
+lady, and this is what I get.  Talk about me not bein' able to
+understand, and ye lovin' a convict-to-be, a robber, an embezzler,
+a bankrupt, a lyin', thavin'--"
+
+"Father!" exclaimed Aileen, determinedly.  "I'll not listen to you
+talking that way.  He's not any of the things that you say.  I'll
+not stay here."  She moved toward the door; but Butler jumped up
+now and stopped her.  His face for the moment was flushed and
+swollen with anger. 
+
+"But I'm not through with him yet," he went on, ignoring her desire
+to leave, and addressing her direct--confident now that she was as
+capable as another of understanding him.  "I'll get him as sure
+as I have a name.  There's law in this land, and I'll have it on
+him.  I'll show him whether he'll come sneakin' into dacent homes
+and robbin' parents of their children."
+
+He paused after a time for want of breath and Aileen stared, her
+face tense and white.  Her father could be so ridiculous.  He was,
+contrasted with Cowperwood and his views, so old-fashioned.  To
+think he could be talking of some one coming into their home and
+stealing her away from him, when she had been so willing to go.
+What silliness! And yet, why argue? What good could be accomplished,
+arguing with him here in this way? And so for the moment, she said
+nothing more--merely looked.  But Butler was by no means done.
+His mood was too stormy even though he was doing his best now to
+subdue himself. 
+
+"It's too bad, daughter," he resumed quietly, once he was satisfied
+that she was going to have little, if anything, to say.  "I'm lettin'
+my anger get the best of me.  It wasn't that I intended talkin'
+to ye about when I ast ye to come in.  It's somethin' else I have
+on me mind.  I was thinkin', perhaps, ye'd like to go to Europe for
+the time bein' to study music.  Ye're not quite yourself just at
+present.  Ye're needin' a rest.  It would be good for ye to go away
+for a while.  Ye could have a nice time over there.  Norah could
+go along with ye, if you would, and Sister Constantia that taught
+you.  Ye wouldn't object to havin' her, I suppose?"
+
+At the mention of this idea of a trip of Europe again, with Sister
+Constantia and music thrown in to give it a slightly new form,
+Aileen bridled, and yet half-smiled to herself now.  It was so
+ridiculous--so tactless, really, for her father to bring up this
+now, and especially after denouncing Cowperwood and her, and
+threatening all the things he had.  Had he no diplomacy at all where
+she was concerned? It was really too funny! But she restrained
+herself here again, because she felt as well as saw, that argument
+of this kind was all futile now.
+
+"I wish you wouldn't talk about that, father," she began, having
+softened under his explanation.  "I don't want to go to Europe now.
+I don't want to leave Philadelphia.  I know you want me to go; but
+I don't want to think of going now.  I can't."
+
+Butler's brow darkened again.  What was the use of all this opposition
+on her part? Did she really imagine that she was going to master
+him--her father, and in connection with such an issue as this? How
+impossible! But tempering his voice as much as possible, he went
+on, quite softly, in fact.  "But it would be so fine for ye, Aileen.
+Ye surely can't expect to stay here after--" He paused, for he was
+going to say "what has happened."  He knew she was very sensitive
+on that point.  His own conduct in hunting her down had been such
+a breach of fatherly courtesy that he knew she felt resentful, and
+in a way properly so.  Still, what could be greater than her own
+crime? "After," he concluded, "ye have made such a mistake ye
+surely wouldn't want to stay here.  Ye won't be wantin' to keep
+up that--committin' a mortal sin.  It's against the laws of God
+and man."
+
+He did so hope the thought of sin would come to Aileen--the enormity
+of her crime from a spiritual point of view--but Aileen did not
+see it at all. 
+
+"You don't understand me, father," she exclaimed, hopelessly toward
+the end.  "You can't.  I have one idea, and you have another.  But
+I don't seem to be able to make you understand now.  The fact is,
+if you want to know it, I don't believe in the Catholic Church any
+more, so there."
+
+The moment Aileen had said this she wished she had not.  It was a
+slip of the tongue.  Butler's face took on an inexpressibly sad,
+despairing look. 
+
+"Ye don't believe in the Church?" he asked.
+
+"No, not exactly--not like you do."
+
+He shook his head. 
+
+"The harm that has come to yer soul!" he replied.  "It's plain to
+me, daughter, that somethin' terrible has happened to ye.  This man
+has ruined ye, body and soul.  Somethin' must be done.  I don't
+want to be hard on ye, but ye must leave Philadelphy.  Ye can't
+stay here.  I can't permit ye.  Ye can go to Europe, or ye can go
+to yer aunt's in New Orleans; but ye must go somewhere.  I can't
+have ye stayin' here--it's too dangerous.  It's sure to be comin'
+out.  The papers'll be havin' it next.  Ye're young yet.  Yer life
+is before you.  I tremble for yer soul; but so long as ye're young
+and alive ye may come to yer senses.  It's me duty to be hard.
+It's my obligation to you and the Church.  Ye must quit this life.
+Ye must lave this man.  Ye must never see him any more.  I can't
+permit ye.  He's no good.  He has no intintion of marrying ye, and
+it would be a crime against God and man if he did.  No, no! Never
+that! The man's a bankrupt, a scoundrel, a thafe.  If ye had him,
+ye'd soon be the unhappiest woman in the world.  He wouldn't be
+faithful to ye.  No, he couldn't.  He's not that kind."  He paused,
+sick to the depths of his soul.  "Ye must go away.  I say it once
+and for all.  I mane it kindly, but I want it.  I have yer best
+interests at heart.  I love ye; but ye must.  I'm sorry to see ye
+go--I'd rather have ye here.  No one will be sorrier; but ye must.
+Ye must make it all seem natcheral and ordinary to yer mother; but
+ye must go--d'ye hear? Ye must."
+
+He paused, looking sadly but firmly at Aileen under his shaggy
+eyebrows.  She knew he meant this.  It was his most solemn, his
+most religious expression.  But she did not answer.  She could not.
+What was the use?  Only she was not going.  She knew that--and so
+she stood there white and tense. 
+
+"Now get all the clothes ye want," went on Butler, by no means
+grasping her true mood.  "Fix yourself up in any way you plase.
+Say where ye want to go, but get ready."
+
+"But I won't, father," finally replied Aileen, equally solemnly,
+equally determinedly.  "I won't go! I won't leave Philadelphia."
+
+"Ye don't mane to say ye will deliberately disobey me when I'm
+asking ye to do somethin' that's intended for yer own good, will
+ye daughter?"
+
+"Yes, I will," replied Aileen, determinedly.  "I won't go! I'm
+sorry, but I won't!"
+
+"Ye really mane that, do ye?" asked Butler, sadly but grimly. 
+
+"Yes, I do," replied Aileen, grimly, in return. 
+
+"Then I'll have to see what I can do, daughter," replied the old
+man.  "Ye're still my daughter, whatever ye are, and I'll not see
+ye come to wreck and ruin for want of doin' what I know to be my
+solemn duty.  I'll give ye a few more days to think this over, but
+go ye must.  There's an end of that.  There are laws in this land
+still.  There are things that can be done to those who won't obey
+the law.  I found ye this time--much as it hurt me to do it.  I'll
+find ye again if ye try to disobey me.  Ye must change yer ways.
+I can't have ye goin' on as ye are.  Ye understand now.  It's the
+last word.  Give this man up, and ye can have anything ye choose.
+Ye're my girl--I'll do everything I can in this world to make ye
+happy.  Why, why shouldn't I? What else have I to live for but me
+children? It's ye and the rest of them that I've been workin' and
+plannin' for all these years.  Come now, be a good girl.  Ye love
+your old father, don't ye? Why, I rocked ye in my arms as a baby,
+Aileen.  I've watched over ye when ye were not bigger than what
+would rest in me two fists here.  I've been a good father to ye--
+ye can't deny that.  Look at the other girls you've seen.  Have
+any of them had more nor what ye have had? Ye won't go against me
+in this.  I'm sure ye won't.  Ye can't.  Ye love me too much--surely
+ye do--don't ye?" His voice weakened.  His eyes almost filled. 
+
+He paused and put a big, brown, horny hand on Aileen's arm.  She
+had listened to his plea not unmoved--really more or less softened--
+because of the hopelessness of it.  She could not give up Cowperwood.
+Her father just did not understand.  He did not know what love was.
+Unquestionably he had never loved as she had. 
+
+She stood quite silent while Butler appealed to her. 
+
+"I'd like to, father," she said at last and softly, tenderly.
+"Really I would.  I do love you.  Yes, I do.  I want to please you;
+but I can't in this--I can't! I love Frank Cowperwood.  You don't
+understand--really you don't!"
+
+At the repetition of Cowperwood's name Butler's mouth hardened.
+He could see that she was infatuated--that his carefully calculated
+plea had failed.  So he must think of some other way. 
+
+"Very well, then," he said at last and sadly, oh, so sadly, as
+Aileen turned away.  "Have it yer own way, if ye will.  Ye must
+go, though, willy-nilly.  It can't be any other way.  I wish to
+God it could."
+
+Aileen went out, very solemn, and Butler went over to his desk and
+sat down.  "Such a situation!" he said to himself.  Such a complication!"
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVIII
+
+
+
+
+The situation which confronted Aileen was really a trying one.  A
+girl of less innate courage and determination would have weakened
+and yielded.  For in spite of her various social connections and
+acquaintances, the people to whom Aileen could run in an emergency
+of the present kind were not numerous.  She could scarcely think
+of any one who would be likely to take her in for any lengthy period,
+without question.  There were a number of young women of her own
+age, married and unmarried, who were very friendly to her, but
+there were few with whom she was really intimate.  The only person
+who stood out in her mind, as having any real possibility of refuge
+for a period, was a certain Mary Calligan, better known as "Mamie"
+among her friends, who had attended school with Aileen in former
+years and was now a teacher in one of the local schools.
+
+The Calligan family consisted of Mrs. Katharine Calligan, the
+mother, a dressmaker by profession and a widow--her husband, a
+house-mover by trade, having been killed by a falling wall some
+ten years before--and Mamie, her twenty-three-year-old daughter.
+They lived in a small two-story brick house in Cherry Street, near
+Fifteenth.  Mrs. Calligan was not a very good dressmaker, not
+good enough, at least, for the Butler family to patronize in their
+present exalted state.  Aileen went there occasionally for gingham
+house-dresses, underwear, pretty dressing-gowns, and alterations
+on some of her more important clothing which was made by a very
+superior modiste in Chestnut Street.  She visited the house largely
+because she had gone to school with Mamie at St. Agatha's, when
+the outlook of the Calligan family was much more promising.  Mamie
+was earning forty dollars a month as the teacher of a sixth-grade
+room in one of the nearby public schools, and Mrs. Calligan averaged
+on the whole about two dollars a day--sometimes not so much.  The
+house they occupied was their own, free and clear, and the furniture
+which it contained suggested the size of their joint income, which
+was somewhere near eighty dollars a month.
+
+Mamie Calligan was not good-looking, not nearly as good-looking
+as her mother had been before her.  Mrs. Calligan was still plump,
+bright, and cheerful at fifty, with a fund of good humor.  Mamie
+was somewhat duller mentally and emotionally.  She was serious-minded--
+made so, perhaps, as much by circumstances as by anything else,
+for she was not at all vivid, and had little sex magnetism.  Yet
+she was kindly, honest, earnest, a good Catholic, and possessed
+of that strangely excessive ingrowing virtue which shuts so many
+people off from the world--a sense of duty.  To Mamie Calligan duty
+(a routine conformity to such theories and precepts as she had
+heard and worked by since her childhood) was the all-important
+thing, her principal source of comfort and relief; her props in
+a queer and uncertain world being her duty to her Church; her
+duty to her school; her duty to her mother; her duty to her friends,
+etc.  Her mother often wished for Mamie's sake that she was less
+dutiful and more charming physically, so that the men would like
+her.
+
+In spite of the fact that her mother was a dressmaker, Mamie's
+clothes never looked smart or attractive--she would have felt out
+of keeping with herself if they had.  Her shoes were rather large,
+and ill-fitting; her skirt hung in lifeless lines from her hips
+to her feet, of good material but seemingly bad design.  At that
+time the colored "jersey," so-called, was just coming into popular
+wear, and, being close-fitting, looked well on those of good form.
+Alas for Mamie Calligan! The mode of the time compelled her to wear
+one; but she had neither the arms nor the chest development which
+made this garment admirable.  Her hat, by choice, was usually a
+pancake affair with a long, single feather, which somehow never
+seemed to be in exactly the right position, either to her hair or
+her face.  At most times she looked a little weary; but she was
+not physically weary so much as she was bored.  Her life held so
+little of real charm; and Aileen Butler was unquestionably the most
+significant element of romance in it.
+
+Mamie's mother's very pleasant social disposition, the fact that
+they had a very cleanly, if poor little home, that she could
+entertain them by playing on their piano, and that Mrs. Calligan
+took an adoring interest in the work she did for her, made up the
+sum and substance of the attraction of the Calligan home for Aileen.
+She went there occasionally as a relief from other things, and
+because Mamie Calligan had a compatible and very understanding
+interest in literature.  Curiously, the books Aileen liked she
+liked--Jane Eyre, Kenelm Chillingly, Tricotrin, and A Bow of Orange
+Ribbon.  Mamie occasionally recommended to Aileen some latest
+effusion of this character; and Aileen, finding her judgment good,
+was constrained to admire her.
+
+In this crisis it was to the home of the Calligans that Aileen
+turned in thought.  If her father really was not nice to her, and
+she had to leave home for a time, she could go to the Calligans.
+They would receive her and say nothing.  They were not sufficiently
+well known to the other members of the Butler family to have the
+latter suspect that she had gone there.  She might readily disappear
+into the privacy of Cherry Street and not be seen or heard of for
+weeks.  It is an interesting fact to contemplate that the Calligans,
+like the various members of the Butler family, never suspected
+Aileen of the least tendency toward a wayward existence.  Hence
+her flight from her own family, if it ever came, would be laid
+more to the door of a temperamental pettishness than anything else.
+
+On the other hand, in so far as the Butler family as a unit was
+concerned, it needed Aileen more than she needed it.  It needed
+the light of her countenance to keep it appropriately cheerful,
+and if she went away there would be a distinct gulf that would not
+soon be overcome.
+
+Butler, senior, for instance, had seen his little daughter grow
+into radiantly beautiful womanhood.  He had seen her go to school
+and convent and learn to play the piano--to him a great
+accomplishment.  Also he had seen her manner change and become
+very showy and her knowledge of life broaden, apparently, and
+become to him, at least, impressive.  Her smart, dogmatic views
+about most things were, to him, at least, well worth listening to.
+She knew more about books and art than Owen or Callum, and her
+sense of social manners was perfect.  When she came to the table--
+breakfast, luncheon, or dinner--she was to him always a charming
+object to see.  He had produced Aileen--he congratulated himself.
+He had furnished her the money to be so fine.  He would continue
+to do so.  No second-rate upstart of a man should be allowed to
+ruin her life.  He proposed to take care of her always--to leave
+her so much money in a legally involved way that a failure of a
+husband could not possibly affect her.  "You're the charming lady
+this evenin', I'm thinkin'," was one of his pet remarks; and also,
+"My, but we're that fine!" At table almost invariably she sat
+beside him and looked out for him.  That was what he wanted.  He
+had put her there beside him at his meals years before when she
+was a child.
+
+Her mother, too, was inordinately fond of her, and Callum and Owen
+appropriately brotherly.  So Aileen had thus far at least paid
+back with beauty and interest quite as much as she received, and
+all the family felt it to be so.  When she was away for a day or
+two the house seemed glum--the meals less appetizing.  When she
+returned, all were happy and gay again.
+
+Aileen understood this clearly enough in a way.  Now, when it came
+to thinking of leaving and shifting for herself, in order to avoid
+a trip which she did not care to be forced into, her courage was
+based largely on this keen sense of her own significance to the
+family.  She thought over what her father had said, and decided she
+must act at once.  She dressed for the street the next morning,
+after her father had gone, and decided to step in at the Calligans'
+about noon, when Mamie would be at home for luncheon.  Then she
+would take up the matter casually.  If they had no objection, she
+would go there.  She sometimes wondered why Cowperwood did not
+suggest, in his great stress, that they leave for some parts unknown;
+but she also felt that he must know best what he could do.  His
+increasing troubles depressed her.
+
+Mrs. Calligan was alone when she arrived and was delighted to see
+her.  After exchanging the gossip of the day, and not knowing
+quite how to proceed in connection with the errand which had brought
+her, she went to the piano and played a melancholy air.
+
+"Sure, it's lovely the way you play, Aileen," observed Mrs. Calligan
+who was unduly sentimental herself.  "I love to hear you.  I wish
+you'd come oftener to see us.  You're so rarely here nowadays."
+
+"Oh, I've been so busy, Mrs. Calligan," replied Aileen.  "I've had
+so much to do this fall, I just couldn't.  They wanted me to go
+to Europe; but I didn't care to.  Oh, dear!" she sighed, and in
+her playing swept off with a movement of sad, romantic significance.
+The door opened and Mamie came in.  Her commonplace face brightened
+at the sight of Aileen.
+
+"Well, Aileen Butler!" she exclaimed.  "Where did you come from?
+Where have you been keeping yourself so long?"
+
+Aileen rose to exchange kisses.  "Oh, I've been very busy, Mamie.
+I've just been telling your mother.  How are you, anyway? How are
+you getting along in your work?"
+
+Mamie recounted at once some school difficulties which were puzzling
+her--the growing size of classes and the amount of work expected.
+While Mrs. Calligan was setting the table Mamie went to her room
+and Aileen followed her.
+
+As she stood before her mirror arranging her hair Aileen looked
+at her meditatively.
+
+"What's the matter with you, Aileen, to-day?" Mamie asked.  "You
+look so--" She stopped to give her a second glance.
+
+"How do I look?" asked Aileen.
+
+"Well, as if you were uncertain or troubled about something.  I
+never saw you look that way before.  What's the matter?"
+
+"Oh, nothing," replied Aileen.  "I was just thinking."  She went
+to one of the windows which looked into the little yard, meditating
+on whether she could endure living here for any length of time.
+The house was so small, the furnishings so very simple.
+
+"There is something the matter with you to-day, Aileen," observed
+Mamie, coming over to her and looking in her face.  "You're not
+like yourself at all."
+
+"I've got something on my mind," replied Aileen--"something that's
+worrying me.  I don't know just what to do--that's what's the matter."
+
+"Well, whatever can it be?" commented Mamie.  "I never saw you
+act this way before.  Can't you tell me? What is it?"
+
+"No, I don't think I can--not now, anyhow."  Aileen paused.  "Do
+you suppose your mother would object," she asked, suddenly, "if
+I came here and stayed a little while? I want to get away from home
+for a time for a certain reason."
+
+"Why, Aileen Butler, how you talk!" exclaimed her friend.  "Object!
+You know she'd be delighted, and so would I.  Oh, dear--can you
+come? But what makes you want to leave home?"
+
+"That's just what I can't tell you--not now, anyhow.  Not you, so
+much, but your mother.  You know, I'm afraid of what she'd think,"
+replied Aileen.  "But, you mustn't ask me yet, anyhow.  I want to
+think.  Oh, dear! But I want to come, if you'll let me.  Will you
+speak to your mother, or shall I?"
+
+"Why, I will," said Mamie, struck with wonder at this remarkable
+development; "but it's silly to do it.  I know what she'll say
+before I tell her, and so do you.  You can just bring your things
+and come.  That's all.  She'd never say anything or ask anything,
+either, and you know that--if you didn't want her to."  Mamie was
+all agog and aglow at the idea.  She wanted the companionship of
+Aileen so much.
+
+Aileen looked at her solemnly, and understood well enough why she
+was so enthusiastic--both she and her mother.  Both wanted her
+presence to brighten their world.  "But neither of you must tell
+anybody that I'm here, do you hear? I don't want any one to know--
+particularly no one of my family.  I've a reason, and a good one,
+but I can't tell you what it is--not now, anyhow.  You'll promise
+not to tell any one."
+
+"Oh, of course," replied Mamie eagerly.  "But you're not going to
+run away for good, are you, Aileen?" she concluded curiously and
+gravely.
+
+"Oh, I don't know; I don't know what I'll do yet.  I only know
+that I want to get away for a while, just now--that's all."  She
+paused, while Mamie stood before her, agape.
+
+"Well, of all things," replied her friend.  "Wonders never cease,
+do they, Aileen? But it will be so lovely to have you here.  Mama
+will be so pleased.  Of course, we won't tell anybody if you don't
+want us to.  Hardly any one ever comes here; and if they do, you
+needn't see them.  You could have this big room next to me.  Oh,
+wouldn't that be nice? I'm perfectly delighted."  The young
+school-teacher's spirits rose to a decided height.  "Come on, why
+not tell mama right now?"
+
+Aileen hesitated because even now she was not positive whether
+she should do this, but finally they went down the stairs together,
+Aileen lingering behind a little as they neared the bottom.  Mamie
+burst in upon her mother with: "Oh, mama, isn't it lovely? Aileen's
+coming to stay with us for a while.  She doesn't want any one to
+know, and she's coming right away."  Mrs. Calligan, who was holding
+a sugarbowl in her hand, turned to survey her with a surprised but
+smiling face.  She was immediately curious as to why Aileen should
+want to come--why leave home.  On the other hand, her feeling for
+Aileen was so deep that she was greatly and joyously intrigued by
+the idea.  And why not? Was not the celebrated Edward Butler's
+daughter a woman grown, capable of regulating her own affairs, and
+welcome, of course, as the honored member of so important a family.
+It was very flattering to the Calligans to think that she would
+want to come under any circumstances.
+
+"I don't see how your parents can let you go, Aileen; but you're
+certainly welcome here as long as you want to stay, and that's
+forever, if you want to."  And Mrs. Calligan beamed on her welcomingly.
+The idea of Aileen Butler asking to be permitted to come here! And
+the hearty, comprehending manner in which she said this, and Mamie's
+enthusiasm, caused Aileen to breathe a sigh of relief.  The matter
+of the expense of her presence to the Calligans came into her mind.
+
+"I want to pay you, of course," she said to Mrs. Calligan, "if
+I come."
+
+"The very idea, Aileen Butler!" exclaimed Mamie.  "You'll do nothing
+of the sort.  You'll come here and live with me as my guest."
+
+"No, I won't! If I can't pay I won't come," replied Aileen.  "You'll
+have to let me do that."  She knew that the Calligans could not
+afford to keep her.
+
+"Well, we'll not talk about that now, anyhow," replied Mrs. Calligan.
+"You can come when you like and stay as long as you like.  Reach
+me some clean napkins, Mamie."  Aileen remained for luncheon, and
+left soon afterward to keep her suggested appointment with Cowperwood,
+feeling satisfied that her main problem had been solved.  Now her
+way was clear.  She could come here if she wanted to.  It was simply
+a matter of collecting a few necessary things or coming without
+bringing anything.  Perhaps Frank would have something to suggest.
+
+In the meantime Cowperwood made no effort to communicate with
+Aileen since the unfortunate discovery of their meeting place, but
+had awaited a letter from her, which was not long in coming.  And,
+as usual, it was a long, optimistic, affectionate, and defiant
+screed in which she related all that had occurred to her and her
+present plan of leaving home.  This last puzzled and troubled him
+not a little.
+
+Aileen in the bosom of her family, smart and well-cared for, was
+one thing.  Aileen out in the world dependent on him was another.
+He had never imagined that she would be compelled to leave before
+he was prepared to take her; and if she did now, it might stir up
+complications which would be anything but pleasant to contemplate.
+Still he was fond of her, very, and would do anything to make her
+happy.  He could support her in a very respectable way even now,
+if he did not eventually go to prison, and even there he might
+manage to make some shift for her.  It would be so much better,
+though, if he could persuade her to remain at home until he knew
+exactly what his fate was to be.  He never doubted but that some
+day, whatever happened, within a reasonable length of time, he
+would be rid of all these complications and well-to-do again, in
+which case, if he could get a divorce, he wanted to marry Aileen.
+If not, he would take her with him anyhow, and from this point of
+view it might be just as well as if she broke away from her family
+now.  But from the point of view of present complications--the
+search Butler would make--it might be dangerous.  He might even
+publicly charge him with abduction.  He therefore decided to
+persuade Aileen to stay at home, drop meetings and communications
+for the time being, and even go abroad.  He would be all right
+until she came back and so would she--common sense ought to rule
+in this case.
+
+With all this in mind he set out to keep the appointment she
+suggested in her letter, nevertheless feeling it a little dangerous
+to do so.
+
+"Are you sure," he asked, after he had listened to her description
+of the Calligan homestead, "that you would like it there? It sounds
+rather poor to me."
+
+"Yes, but I like them so much," replied Aileen.
+
+"And you're sure they won't tell on you?"
+
+"Oh, no; never, never!"
+
+"Very well," he concluded.  "You know what you're doing.  I don't
+want to advise you against your will.  If I were you, though, I'd
+take your father's advice and go away for a while.  He'll get over
+this then, and I'll still be here.  I can write you occasionally,
+and you can write me."
+
+The moment Cowperwood said this Aileen's brow clouded.  Her love
+for him was so great that there was something like a knife thrust
+in the merest hint at an extended separation.  Her Frank here and
+in trouble--on trial maybe and she away! Never! What could he mean
+by suggesting such a thing? Could it be that he didn't care for
+her as much as she did for him? Did he really love her? she asked
+herself.  Was he going to desert her just when she was going to
+do the thing which would bring them nearer together? Her eyes clouded,
+for she was terribly hurt.
+
+"Why, how you talk!" she exclaimed.  "You know I won't leave
+Philadelphia now.  You certainly don't expect me to leave you."
+
+Cowperwood saw it all very clearly.  He was too shrewd not to.
+He was immensely fond of her.  Good heaven, he thought, he would
+not hurt her feelings for the world!
+
+"Honey," he said, quickly, when he saw her eyes, "you don't
+understand.  I want you to do what you want to do.  You've planned
+this out in order to be with me; so now you do it.  Don't think
+any more about me or anything I've said.  I was merely thinking
+that it might make matters worse for both of us; but I don't believe
+it will.  You think your father loves you so much that after you're
+gone he'll change his mind.  Very good; go.  But we must be very
+careful, sweet--you and I--really we must.  This thing is getting
+serious.  If you should go and your father should charge me with
+abduction--take the public into his confidence and tell all about
+this, it would be serious for both of us--as much for you as for
+me, for I'd be convicted sure then, just on that account, if nothing
+else.  And then what? You'd better not try to see me often for the
+present--not any oftener than we can possibly help.  If we had
+used common sense and stopped when your father got that letter,
+this wouldn't have happened.  But now that it has happened, we
+must be as wise as we can, don't you see? So, think it over, and
+do what you think best and then write me and whatever you do will
+be all right with me--do you hear?" He drew her to him and kissed
+her.  "You haven't any money, have you?" he concluded wisely.
+
+Aileen, deeply moved by all he had just said, was none the less
+convinced once she had meditated on it a moment, that her course
+was best.  Her father loved her too much.  He would not do
+anything to hurt her publicly and so he would not attack Cowperwood
+through her openly.  More than likely, as she now explained to
+Frank, he would plead with her to come back.  And he, listening,
+was compelled to yield.  Why argue? She would not leave him anyhow.
+
+He went down in his pocket for the first time since he had known
+Aileen and produced a layer of bills.  "Here's two hundred dollars,
+sweet," he said, "until I see or hear from you.  I'll see that you
+have whatever you need; and now don't think that I don't love you.
+You know I do.  I'm crazy about you."
+
+Aileen protested that she did not need so much--that she did not
+really need any--she had some at home; but he put that aside.  He
+knew that she must have money.
+
+"Don't talk, honey," he said.  "I know what you need."  She had
+been so used to receiving money from her father and mother in
+comfortable amounts from time to time that she thought nothing of
+it.  Frank loved her so much that it made everything right between
+them.  She softened in her mood and they discussed the matter of
+letters, reaching the conclusion that a private messenger would
+be safest.  When finally they parted, Aileen, from being sunk in
+the depths by his uncertain attitude, was now once more on the
+heights.  She decided that he did love her, and went away smiling.
+She had her Frank to fall back on--she would teach her father.
+Cowperwood shook his head, following her with his eyes.  She
+represented an additional burden, but give her up, he certainly
+could not.  Tear the veil from this illusion of affection and make
+her feel so wretched when he cared for her so much? No.  There was
+really nothing for him to do but what he had done.  After all, he
+reflected, it might not work out so badly.  Any detective work
+that Butler might choose to do would prove that she had not run
+to him.  If at any moment it became necessary to bring common
+sense into play to save the situation from a deadly climax, he
+could have the Butlers secretly informed as to Aileen's whereabouts.
+That would show he had little to do with it, and they could try
+to persuade Aileen to come home again.  Good might result--one
+could not tell.  He would deal with the evils as they arose.  He
+drove quickly back to his office, and Aileen returned to her home
+determined to put her plan into action.  Her father had given her
+some little time in which to decide--possibly he would give her
+longer--but she would not wait.  Having always had her wish granted
+in everything, she could not understand why she was not to have
+her way this time.  It was about five o'clock now.  She would wait
+until all the members of the family were comfortably seated at the
+dinner-table, which would be about seven o'clock, and then slip
+out.
+
+On arriving home, however, she was greeted by an unexpected reason
+for suspending action.  This was the presence of a certain Mr. and
+Mrs. Steinmetz--the former a well-known engineer who drew the
+plans for many of the works which Butler undertook.  It was the
+day before Thanksgiving, and they were eager to have Aileen and
+Norah accompany them for a fortnight's stay at their new home in
+West Chester--a structure concerning the charm of which Aileen
+had heard much.  They were exceedingly agreeable people--
+comparatively young and surrounded by a coterie of interesting
+friends.  Aileen decided to delay her flight and go.  Her father
+was most cordial.  The presence and invitation of the Steinmetzes
+was as much a relief to him as it was to Aileen.  West Chester
+being forty miles from Philadelphia, it was unlikely that Aileen
+would attempt to meet Cowperwood while there.
+
+She wrote Cowperwood of the changed condition and departed, and
+he breathed a sigh of relief, fancying at the time that this storm
+had permanently blown over.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIX
+
+
+
+
+In the meanwhile the day of Cowperwood's trial was drawing near.
+He was under the impression that an attempt was going to be made
+to convict him whether the facts warranted it or not.  He did
+not see any way out of his dilemma, however, unless it was to
+abandon everything and leave Philadelphia for good, which was
+impossible.  The only way to guard his future and retain his
+financial friends was to stand trial as quickly as possible, and
+trust them to assist him to his feet in the future in case he
+failed.  He discussed the possibilities of an unfair trial with
+Steger, who did not seem to think that there was so much to that.
+In the first place, a jury could not easily be suborned by any one.
+In the next place, most judges were honest, in spite of their
+political cleavage, and would go no further than party bias would
+lead them in their rulings and opinions, which was, in the main,
+not so far.  The particular judge who was to sit in this case, one
+Wilbur Payderson, of the Court of Quarter Sessions, was a strict
+party nominee, and as such beholden to Mollenhauer, Simpson, and
+Butler; but, in so far as Steger had ever heard, he was an honest
+man.
+
+"What I can't understand," said Steger, "is why these fellows
+should be so anxious to punish you, unless it is for the effect
+on the State at large.  The election's over.  I understand there's
+a movement on now to get Stener out in case he is convicted, which
+he will be.  They have to try him.  He won't go up for more than
+a year, or two or three, and if he does he'll be pardoned out in
+half the time or less.  It would be the same in your case, if you
+were convicted.  They couldn't keep you in and let him out.  But
+it will never get that far--take my word for it.  We'll win before
+a jury, or we'll reverse the judgment of conviction before the
+State Supreme Court, certain.  Those five judges up there are not
+going to sustain any such poppycock idea as this."
+
+Steger actually believed what he said, and Cowperwood was pleased.
+Thus far the young lawyer had done excellently well in all of his
+cases.  Still, he did not like the idea of being hunted down by
+Butler.  It was a serious matter, and one of which Steger was
+totally unaware.  Cowperwood could never quite forget that in
+listening to his lawyer's optimistic assurances.
+
+The actual beginning of the trial found almost all of the inhabitants
+of this city of six hundred thousand "keyed up."  None of the
+women of Cowperwood's family were coming into court.  He had
+insisted that there should be no family demonstration for the
+newspapers to comment upon.  His father was coming, for he might
+be needed as a witness.  Aileen had written him the afternoon
+before saying she had returned from West Chester and wishing him
+luck.  She was so anxious to know what was to become of him that
+she could not stay away any longer and had returned--not to go
+to the courtroom, for he did not want her to do that, but to be
+as near as possible when his fate was decided, adversely or otherwise.
+She wanted to run and congratulate him if he won, or to console
+with him if he lost.  She felt that her return would be likely to
+precipitate a collision with her father, but she could not help that.
+
+The position of Mrs. Cowperwood was most anomalous.  She had to
+go through the formality of seeming affectionate and tender, even
+when she knew that Frank did not want her to be.  He felt
+instinctively now that she knew of Aileen.  He was merely awaiting
+the proper hour in which to spread the whole matter before her.
+She put her arms around him at the door on the fateful morning,
+in the somewhat formal manner into which they had dropped these
+later years, and for a moment, even though she was keenly aware
+of his difficulties, she could not kiss him.  He did not want to
+kiss her, but he did not show it.  She did kiss him, though, and
+added: "Oh, I do hope things come out all right."
+
+"You needn't worry about that, I think, Lillian," he replied,
+buoyantly.  "I'll be all right."
+
+He ran down the steps and walked out on Girard Avenue to his former
+car line, where he bearded a car.  He was thinking of Aileen and
+how keenly she was feeling for him, and what a mockery his married
+life now was, and whether he would face a sensible jury, and so
+on and so forth.  If he didn't--if he didn't--this day was crucial!
+
+He stepped off the car at Third and Market and hurried to his
+office.  Steger was already there.  "Well, Harper," observed
+Cowperwood, courageously, "today's the day."
+
+The Court of Quarter Sessions, Part I, where this trial was to take
+place, was held in famous Independence Hall, at Sixth and Chestnut
+Streets, which was at this time, as it had been for all of a century
+before, the center of local executive and judicial life.  It was a
+low two-story building of red brick, with a white wooden central
+tower of old Dutch and English derivation, compounded of the square,
+the circle, and the octagon.  The total structure consisted of a
+central portion and two T-shaped wings lying to the right and left,
+whose small, oval-topped old-fashioned windows and doors were set
+with those many-paned sashes so much admired by those who love
+what is known as Colonial architecture.  Here, and in an addition
+known as State House Row (since torn down), which extended from
+the rear of the building toward Walnut Street, were located the
+offices of the mayor, the chief of police, the city treasurer, the
+chambers of council, and all the other important and executive
+offices of the city, together with the four branches of Quarter
+Sessions, which sat to hear the growing docket of criminal cases.
+The mammoth city hall which was subsequently completed at Broad
+and Market Streets was then building.
+
+An attempt had been made to improve the reasonably large courtrooms
+by putting in them raised platforms of dark walnut surmounted by
+large, dark walnut desks, behind which the judges sat; but the
+attempt was not very successful.  The desks, jury-boxes, and
+railings generally were made too large, and so the general effect
+was one of disproportion.  A cream-colored wall had been thought
+the appropriate thing to go with black walnut furniture, but time
+and dust had made the combination dreary.  There were no pictures
+or ornaments of any kind, save the stalky, over-elaborated
+gas-brackets which stood on his honor's desk, and the single swinging
+chandelier suspended from the center of the ceiling.  Fat bailiffs
+and court officers, concerned only in holding their workless jobs,
+did not add anything to the spirit of the scene.  Two of them in
+the particular court in which this trial was held contended hourly
+as to which should hand the judge a glass of water.  One preceded
+his honor like a fat, stuffy, dusty majordomo to and from his
+dressing-room.  His business was to call loudly, when the latter
+entered, "His honor the Court, hats off.  Everybody please rise,"
+while a second bailiff, standing at the left of his honor when he
+was seated, and between the jury-box and the witness-chair, recited
+in an absolutely unintelligible way that beautiful and dignified
+statement of collective society's obligation to the constituent
+units, which begins, "Hear ye! hear ye! hear ye!" and ends, "All
+those of you having just cause for complaint draw near and ye shall
+be heard."  However, you would have thought it was of no import
+here.  Custom and indifference had allowed it to sink to a mumble.
+A third bailiff guarded the door of the jury-room; and in addition
+to these there were present a court clerk--small, pale, candle-waxy,
+with colorless milk-and-water eyes, and thin, pork-fat-colored hair
+and beard, who looked for all the world like an Americanized and
+decidedly decrepit Chinese mandarin--and a court stenographer.
+
+Judge Wilbur Payderson, a lean herring of a man, who had sat in
+this case originally as the examining judge when Cowperwood had
+been indicted by the grand jury, and who had bound him over for
+trial at this term, was a peculiarly interesting type of judge,
+as judges go.  He was so meager and thin-blooded that he was
+arresting for those qualities alone.  Technically, he was learned
+in the law; actually, so far as life was concerned, absolutely
+unconscious of that subtle chemistry of things that transcends all
+written law and makes for the spirit and, beyond that, the inutility
+of all law, as all wise judges know.  You could have looked at his
+lean, pedantic body, his frizzled gray hair, his fishy, blue-gray
+eyes, without any depth of speculation in them, and his nicely
+modeled but unimportant face, and told him that he was without
+imagination; but he would not have believed you--would have fined
+you for contempt of court.  By the careful garnering of all his
+little opportunities, the furbishing up of every meager advantage;
+by listening slavishly to the voice of party, and following as
+nearly as he could the behests of intrenched property, he had
+reached his present state.  It was not very far along, at that.
+His salary was only six thousand dollars a year.  His little fame
+did not extend beyond the meager realm of local lawyers and judges.
+But the sight of his name quoted daily as being about his duties,
+or rendering such and such a decision, was a great satisfaction
+to him.  He thought it made him a significant figure in the world.
+"Behold I am not as other men," he often thought, and this comforted
+him.  He was very much flattered when a prominent case came to his
+calendar; and as he sat enthroned before the various litigants and
+lawyers he felt, as a rule, very significant indeed.  Now and then
+some subtlety of life would confuse his really limited intellect;
+but in all such cases there was the letter of the law.  He could
+hunt in the reports to find out what really thinking men had
+decided.  Besides, lawyers everywhere are so subtle.  They put the
+rules of law, favorable or unfavorable, under the judge's thumb
+and nose.  "Your honor, in the thirty-second volume of the Revised
+Reports of Massachusetts, page so and so, line so and so, in Arundel
+versus Bannerman, you will find, etc."  How often have you heard
+that in a court of law? The reasoning that is left to do in most
+cases is not much.  And the sanctity of the law is raised like a
+great banner by which the pride of the incumbent is strengthened.
+
+Payderson, as Steger had indicated, could scarcely be pointed to
+as an unjust judge.  He was a party judge--Republican in principle,
+or rather belief, beholden to the dominant party councils for his
+personal continuance in office, and as such willing and anxious
+to do whatever he considered that he reasonably could do to further
+the party welfare and the private interests of his masters.  Most
+people never trouble to look into the mechanics of the thing they
+call their conscience too closely.  Where they do, too often they
+lack the skill to disentangle the tangled threads of ethics and
+morals.  Whatever the opinion of the time is, whatever the weight
+of great interests dictates, that they conscientiously believe.
+Some one has since invented the phrase "a corporation-minded judge."
+There are many such.
+
+Payderson was one.  He fairly revered property and power.  To him
+Butler and Mollenhauer and Simpson were great men--reasonably sure
+to be right always because they were so powerful.  This matter of
+Cowperwood's and Stener's defalcation he had long heard of.  He
+knew by associating with one political light and another just what
+the situation was.  The party, as the leaders saw it, had been put
+in a very bad position by Cowperwood's subtlety.  He had led Stener
+astray--more than an ordinary city treasurer should have been led
+astray--and, although Stener was primarily guilty as the original
+mover in the scheme, Cowperwood was more so for having led him
+imaginatively to such disastrous lengths.  Besides, the party
+needed a scapegoat--that was enough for Payderson, in the first
+place.  Of course, after the election had been won, and it appeared
+that the party had not suffered so much, he did not understand
+quite why it was that Cowperwood was still so carefully included
+in the Proceedings; but he had faith to believe that the leaders
+had some just grounds for not letting him off.  From one source
+and another he learned that Butler had some private grudge against
+Cowperwood.  What it was no one seemed to know exactly.  The general
+impression was that Cowperwood had led Butler into some unwholesome
+financial transactions.  Anyhow, it was generally understood that
+for the good of the party, and in order to teach a wholesome lesson
+to dangerous subordinates--it had been decided to allow these
+several indictments to take their course.  Cowperwood was to be
+punished quite as severely as Stener for the moral effect on the
+community.  Stener was to be sentenced the maximum sentence for
+his crime in order that the party and the courts should appear
+properly righteous.  Beyond that he was to be left to the mercy
+of the governor, who could ease things up for him if he chose, and
+if the leaders wished.  In the silly mind of the general public
+the various judges of Quarter Sessions, like girls incarcerated
+in boarding-schools, were supposed in their serene aloofness from
+life not to know what was going on in the subterranean realm of
+politics; but they knew well enough, and, knowing particularly
+well from whence came their continued position and authority,
+they were duly grateful.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XL
+
+
+
+
+When Cowperwood came into the crowded courtroom with his father
+and Steger, quite fresh and jaunty (looking the part of the shrewd
+financier, the man of affairs), every one stared.  It was really
+too much to expect, most of them thought, that a man like this
+would be convicted.  He was, no doubt, guilty; but, also, no doubt,
+he had ways and means of evading the law.  His lawyer, Harper
+Steger, looked very shrewd and canny to them.  It was very cold,
+and both men wore long, dark, bluish-gray overcoats, cut in the
+latest mode.  Cowperwood was given to small boutonnieres in fair
+weather, but to-day he wore none.  His tie, however, was of heavy,
+impressive silk, of lavender hue, set with a large, clear, green
+emerald.  He wore only the thinnest of watch-chains, and no other
+ornament of any kind.  He always looked jaunty and yet reserved,
+good-natured, and yet capable and self-sufficient.  Never had he
+looked more so than he did to-day.
+
+He at once took in the nature of the scene, which had a peculiar
+interest for him.  Before him was the as yet empty judge's rostrum,
+and at its right the empty jury-box, between which, and to the
+judge's left, as he sat facing the audience, stood the witness-chair
+where he must presently sit and testify.  Behind it, already awaiting
+the arrival of the court, stood a fat bailiff, one John Sparkheaver
+whose business it was to present the aged, greasy Bible to be
+touched by the witnesses in making oath, and to say, "Step this
+way," when the testimony was over.  There were other bailiffs--one
+at the gate giving into the railed space before the judge's desk,
+where prisoners were arraigned, lawyers sat or pleaded, the
+defendant had a chair, and so on; another in the aisle leading to
+the jury-room, and still another guarding the door by which the
+public entered.  Cowperwood surveyed Stener, who was one of the
+witnesses, and who now, in his helpless fright over his own fate,
+was without malice toward any one.  He had really never borne any.
+He wished if anything now that he had followed Cowperwood's advice,
+seeing where he now was, though he still had faith that Mollenhauer
+and the political powers represented by him would do something for
+him with the governor, once he was sentenced.  He was very pale
+and comparatively thin.  Already he had lost that ruddy bulk which
+had been added during the days of his prosperity.  He wore a new
+gray suit and a brown tie, and was clean-shaven.  When his eye
+caught Cowperwood's steady beam, it faltered and drooped.  He
+rubbed his ear foolishly.  Cowperwood nodded.
+
+"You know," he said to Steger, "I feel sorry for George.  He's
+such a fool.  Still I did all I could."
+
+Cowperwood also watched Mrs. Stener out of the tail of his eye--
+an undersized, peaked, and sallow little woman, whose clothes
+fitted her abominably.  It was just like Stener to marry a woman
+like that, he thought.  The scrubby matches of the socially unelect
+or unfit always interested, though they did not always amuse, him.
+Mrs. Stener had no affection for Cowperwood, of course, looking on
+him, as she did, as the unscrupulous cause of her husband's downfall.
+They were now quite poor again, about to move from their big house
+into cheaper quarters; and this was not pleasing for her to
+contemplate.
+
+Judge Payderson came in after a time, accompanied by his undersized
+but stout court attendant, who looked more like a pouter-pigeon
+than a human being; and as they came, Bailiff Sparkheaver rapped
+on the judge's desk, beside which he had been slumbering, and
+mumbled, "Please rise!" The audience arose, as is the rule of all
+courts.  Judge Payderson stirred among a number of briefs that were
+lying on his desk, and asked, briskly, "What's the first case, Mr.
+Protus?" He was speaking to his clerk.
+
+During the long and tedious arrangement of the day's docket and
+while the various minor motions of lawyers were being considered,
+this courtroom scene still retained interest for Cowperwood.  He
+was so eager to win, so incensed at the outcome of untoward events
+which had brought him here.  He was always intensely irritated,
+though he did not show it, by the whole process of footing delays
+and queries and quibbles, by which legally the affairs of men were
+too often hampered.  Law, if you had asked him, and he had accurately
+expressed himself, was a mist formed out of the moods and the
+mistakes of men, which befogged the sea of life and prevented plain
+sailing for the little commercial and social barques of men; it
+was a miasma of misinterpretation where the ills of life festered,
+and also a place where the accidentally wounded were ground between
+the upper and the nether millstones of force or chance; it was a
+strange, weird, interesting, and yet futile battle of wits where
+the ignorant and the incompetent and the shrewd and the angry and
+the weak were made pawns and shuttlecocks for men--lawyers, who
+were playing upon their moods, their vanities, their desires, and
+their necessities.  It was an unholy and unsatisfactory disrupting
+and delaying spectacle, a painful commentary on the frailties of
+life, and men, a trick, a snare, a pit and gin.  In the hands of
+the strong, like himself when he was at his best, the law was a
+sword and a shield, a trap to place before the feet of the unwary;
+a pit to dig in the path of those who might pursue.  It was
+anything you might choose to make of it--a door to illegal
+opportunity; a cloud of dust to be cast in the eyes of those who
+might choose, and rightfully, to see; a veil to be dropped arbitrarily
+between truth and its execution, justice and its judgment, crime
+and punishment.  Lawyers in the main were intellectual mercenaries
+to be bought and sold in any cause.  It amused him to hear the
+ethical and emotional platitudes of lawyers, to see how readily
+they would lie, steal, prevaricate, misrepresent in almost any
+cause and for any purpose.  Great lawyers were merely great
+unscrupulous subtleties, like himself, sitting back in dark,
+close-woven lairs like spiders and awaiting the approach of unwary
+human flies.  Life was at best a dark, inhuman, unkind, unsympathetic
+struggle built of cruelties and the law, and its lawyers were the
+most despicable representatives of the whole unsatisfactory mess.
+Still he used law as he would use any other trap or weapon to rid
+him of a human ill; and as for lawyers, he picked them up as he
+would any club or knife wherewith to defend himself.  He had no
+particular respect for any of them--not even Harper Steger, though
+he liked him.  They were tools to be used--knives, keys, clubs,
+anything you will; but nothing more.  When they were through they
+were paid and dropped--put aside and forgotten.  As for judges,
+they were merely incompetent lawyers, at a rule, who were shelved
+by some fortunate turn of chance, and who would not, in all
+likelihood, be as efficient as the lawyers who pleaded before
+them if they were put in the same position.  He had no respect for
+judges--he knew too much about them.  He knew how often they were
+sycophants, political climbers, political hacks, tools, time-servers,
+judicial door-mats lying before the financially and politically
+great and powerful who used them as such.  Judges were fools, as
+were most other people in this dusty, shifty world.  Pah! His
+inscrutable eyes took them all in and gave no sign.  His only
+safety lay, he thought, in the magnificent subtley of his own
+brain, and nowhere else.  You could not convince Cowperwood of any
+great or inherent virtue in this mortal scheme of things.  He knew
+too much; he knew himself.
+
+When the judge finally cleared away the various minor motions
+pending, he ordered his clerk to call the case of the City of
+Philadelphia versus Frank A. Cowperwood, which was done in a clear
+voice.  Both Dennis Shannon, the new district attorney, and Steger,
+were on their feet at once.  Steger and Cowperwood, together with
+Shannon and Strobik, who had now come in and was standing as the
+representative of the State of Pennsylvania--the complainant--had
+seated themselves at the long table inside the railing which
+inclosed the space before the judge's desk.  Steger proposed to
+Judge Payderson, for effect's sake more than anything else, that
+this indictment be quashed, but was overruled.
+
+A jury to try the case was now quickly impaneled--twelve men out
+of the usual list called to serve for the month--and was then ready
+to be challenged by the opposing counsel.  The business of impaneling
+a jury was a rather simple thing so far as this court was concerned.
+It consisted in the mandarin-like clerk taking the names of all
+the jurors called to serve in this court for the month--some fifty
+in all--and putting them, each written on a separate slip of paper,
+in a whirling drum, spinning it around a few times, and then lifting
+out the first slip which his hand encountered, thus glorifying
+chance and settling on who should be juror No. 1.  His hand reaching
+in twelve times drew out the names of the twelve jurymen, who as
+their names were called, were ordered to take their places in the
+jury-box.
+
+Cowperwood observed this proceeding with a great deal of interest.
+What could be more important than the men who were going to try him?
+The process was too swift for accurate judgment, but he received
+a faint impression of middle-class men.  One man in particular,
+however, an old man of sixty-five, with iron-gray hair and beard,
+shaggy eyebrows, sallow complexion, and stooped shoulders, struck
+him as having that kindness of temperament and breadth of experience
+which might under certain circumstances be argumentatively swayed
+in his favor.  Another, a small, sharp-nosed, sharp-chinned commercial
+man of some kind, he immediately disliked.
+
+"I hope I don't have to have that man on my jury," he said to
+Steger, quietly.
+
+"You don't," replied Steger.  "I'll challenge him.  We have the
+right to fifteen peremptory challenges on a case like this, and
+so has the prosecution."
+
+When the jury-box was finally full, the two lawyers waited for the
+clerk to bring them the small board upon which slips of paper bearing
+the names of the twelve jurors were fastened in rows in order of
+their selection--jurors one, two, and three being in the first row;
+four, five, and six in the second, and so on.  It being the
+prerogative of the attorney for the prosecution to examine and
+challenge the jurors first, Shannon arose, and, taking the board,
+began to question them as to their trades or professions, their
+knowledge of the case before the court, and their possible prejudice
+for or against the prisoner.
+
+It was the business of both Steger and Shannon to find men who knew
+a little something of finance and could understand a peculiar
+situation of this kind without any of them (looking at it from
+Steger's point of view) having any prejudice against a man's trying
+to assist himself by reasonable means to weather a financial storm
+or (looking at it from Shannon's point of view) having any sympathy
+with such means, if they bore about them the least suspicion of
+chicanery, jugglery, or dishonest manipulation of any kind.  As
+both Shannon and Steger in due course observed for themselves in
+connection with this jury, it was composed of that assorted social
+fry which the dragnets of the courts, cast into the ocean of the
+city, bring to the surface for purposes of this sort.  It was made
+up in the main of managers, agents, tradesmen, editors, engineers,
+architects, furriers, grocers, traveling salesmen, authors, and
+every other kind of working citizen whose experience had fitted
+him for service in proceedings of this character.  Rarely would
+you have found a man of great distinction; but very frequently a
+group of men who were possessed of no small modicum of that
+interesting quality known as hard common sense.
+
+Throughout all this Cowperwood sat quietly examining the men.  A
+young florist, with a pale face, a wide speculative forehead, and
+anemic hands, struck him as being sufficiently impressionable to
+his personal charm to be worth while.  He whispered as much to
+Steger.  There was a shrewd Jew, a furrier, who was challenged
+because he had read all of the news of the panic and had lost two
+thousand dollars in street-railway stocks.  There was a stout
+wholesale grocer, with red cheeks, blue eyes, and flaxen hair, who
+Cowperwood said he thought was stubborn.  He was eliminated.  There
+was a thin, dapper manager of a small retail clothing store, very
+anxious to be excused, who declared, falsely, that he did not
+believe in swearing by the Bible.  Judge Payderson, eyeing him
+severely, let him go.  There were some ten more in all--men who
+knew of Cowperwood, men who admitted they were prejudiced, men who
+were hidebound Republicans and resentful of this crime, men who
+knew Stener--who were pleasantly eliminated.
+
+By twelve o'clock, however, a jury reasonably satisfactory to
+both sides had been chosen.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLI
+
+
+
+
+At two o'clock sharp Dennis Shannon, as district attorney, began
+his opening address.  He stated in a very simple, kindly way--for
+he had a most engaging manner--that the indictment as here presented
+charged Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood, who was sitting at the table
+inside the jury-rail, first with larceny, second with embezzlement,
+third with larceny as bailee, and fourth with embezzlement of a
+certain sum of money--a specific sum, to wit, sixty thousand
+dollars--on a check given him (drawn to his order) October 9, 1871,
+which was intended to reimburse him for a certain number of
+certificates of city loan, which he as agent or bailee of the check
+was supposed to have purchased for the city sinking-fund on the
+order of the city treasurer (under some form of agreement which
+had been in existence between them, and which had been in force
+for some time)--said fund being intended to take up such certificates
+as they might mature in the hands of holders and be presented for
+payment--for which purpose, however, the check in question had
+never been used.
+
+"Now, gentlemen," said Mr. Shannon, very quietly, "before we go
+into this very simple question of whether Mr. Cowperwood did or
+did not on the date in question get from the city treasurer sixty
+thousand dollars, for which he made no honest return, let me
+explain to you just what the people mean when they charge him
+first with larceny, second with embezzlement, third with larceny
+as bailee, and fourth with embezzlement on a check.  Now, as you
+see, there are four counts here, as we lawyers term them, and the
+reason there are four counts is as follows: A man may be guilty
+of larceny and embezzlement at the same time, or of larceny or
+embezzlement separately, and without being guilty of the other,
+and the district attorney representing the people might be uncertain,
+not that he was not guilty of both, but that it might not be possible
+to present the evidence under one count, so as to insure his adequate
+punishment for a crime which in a way involved both.  In such cases,
+gentlemen, it is customary to indict a man under separate counts,
+as has been done in this case.  Now, the four counts in this case,
+in a way, overlap and confirm each other, and it will be your duty,
+after we have explained their nature and character and presented
+the evidence, to say whether the defendant is guilty on one count
+or the other, or on two or three of the counts, or on all four, just
+as you see fit and proper--or, to put it in a better way, as the
+evidence warrants.  Larceny, as you may or may not know, is the
+act of taking away the goods or chattels of another without his
+knowledge or consent, and embezzlement is the fraudulent appropriation
+to one's own use of what is intrusted to one's care and management,
+especially money.  Larceny as bailee, on the other hand, is simply
+a more definite form of larceny wherein one fixes the act of
+carrying away the goods of another without his knowledge or consent
+on the person to whom the goods were delivered in trust that is,
+the agent or bailee.  Embezzlement on a check, which constitutes
+the fourth charge, is simply a more definite form of fixing charge
+number two in an exact way and signifies appropriating the money
+on a check given for a certain definite purpose.  All of these
+charges, as you can see, gentlemen, are in a way synonymous.  They
+overlap and overlay each other.  The people, through their
+representative, the district attorney, contend that Mr. Cowperwood,
+the defendant here, is guilty of all four charges.  So now, gentlemen,
+we will proceed to the history of this crime, which proves to me
+as an individual that this defendant has one of the most subtle
+and dangerous minds of the criminal financier type, and we hope
+by witnesses to prove that to you, also."
+
+Shannon, because the rules of evidence and court procedure here
+admitted of no interruption of the prosecution in presenting a
+case, then went on to describe from his own point of view how
+Cowperwood had first met Stener; how he had wormed himself into
+his confidence; how little financial knowledge Stener had, and
+so forth; coming down finally to the day the check for sixty
+thousand dollars was given Cowperwood; how Stener, as treasurer,
+claimed that he knew nothing of its delivery, which constituted
+the base of the charge of larceny; how Cowperwood, having it,
+misappropriated the certificates supposed to have been purchased
+for the sinking-fund, if they were purchased at all--all of which
+Shannon said constituted the crimes with which the defendant was
+charged, and of which he was unquestionably guilty.
+
+"We have direct and positive evidence of all that we have thus
+far contended, gentlemen," Mr. Shannon concluded violently.  "This
+is not a matter of hearsay or theory, but of fact.  You will be
+shown by direct testimony which cannot be shaken just how it was
+done.  If, after you have heard all this, you still think this man
+is innocent--that he did not commit the crimes with which he is
+charged--it is your business to acquit him.  On the other hand,
+if you think the witnesses whom we shall put on the stand are
+telling the truth, then it is your business to convict him, to
+find a verdict for the people as against the defendant.  I thank
+you for your attention."
+
+The jurors stirred comfortably and took positions of ease, in which
+they thought they were to rest for the time; but their idle comfort
+was of short duration for Shannon now called out the name of George
+W. Stener, who came hurrying forward very pale, very flaccid, very
+tired-looking.  His eyes, as he took his seat in the witness-chair,
+laying his hand on the Bible and swearing to tell the truth, roved
+in a restless, nervous manner.
+
+His voice was a little weak as he started to give his testimony.
+He told first how he had met Cowperwood in the early months of
+1866--he could not remember the exact day; it was during his first
+term as city treasurer--he had been elected to the office in the
+fall of 1864.  He had been troubled about the condition of city
+loan, which was below par, and which could not be sold by the city
+legally at anything but par.  Cowperwood had been recommended to
+him by some one--Mr. Strobik, he believed, though he couldn't be
+sure.  It was the custom of city treasurers to employ brokers, or
+a broker, in a crisis of this kind, and he was merely following
+what had been the custom.  He went on to describe, under steady
+promptings and questions from the incisive mind of Shannon, just
+what the nature of this first conversation was--he remembered it
+fairly well; how Mr. Cowperwood had said he thought he could do
+what was wanted; how he had gone away and drawn up a plan or thought
+one out; and how he had returned and laid it before Stener.  Under
+Shannon's skillful guidance Stener elucidated just what this scheme
+was--which wasn't exactly so flattering to the honesty of men in
+general as it was a testimonial to their subtlety and skill.
+
+After much discussion of Stener's and Cowperwood's relations the
+story finally got down to the preceding October, when by reason
+of companionship, long business understanding, mutually prosperous
+relationship, etc., the place bad been reached where, it was
+explained, Cowperwood was not only handling several millions of
+city loan annually, buying and selling for the city and trading
+in it generally, but in the bargain had secured one five hundred
+thousand dollars' worth of city money at an exceedingly low rate
+of interest, which was being invested for himself and Stener in
+profitable street-car ventures of one kind and another.  Stener
+was not anxious to be altogether clear on this point; but Shannon,
+seeing that he was later to prosecute Stener himself for this very
+crime of embezzlement, and that Steger would soon follow in
+cross-examination, was not willing to let him be hazy.  Shannon
+wanted to fix Cowperwood in the minds of the jury as a clever,
+tricky person, and by degrees he certainly managed to indicate a
+very subtle-minded man.  Occasionally, as one sharp point after
+another of Cowperwood's skill was brought out and made moderately
+clear, one juror or another turned to look at Cowperwood.  And he
+noting this and in order to impress them all as favorably as
+possible merely gazed Stenerward with a steady air of intelligence
+and comprehension.
+
+The examination now came down to the matter of the particular check
+for sixty thousand dollars which Albert Stires had handed Cowperwood
+on the afternoon--late--of October 9, 1871.  Shannon showed Stener
+the check itself.  Had he ever seen it? Yes.  Where? In the office
+of District Attorney Pettie on October 20th, or thereabouts last.
+Was that the first time he had seen it? Yes.  Had he ever heard
+about it before then? Yes.  When? On October 10th last.  Would he
+kindly tell the jury in his own way just how and under what
+circumstances he first heard of it then? Stener twisted uncomfortably
+in his chair.  It was a hard thing to do.  It was not a pleasant
+commentary on his own character and degree of moral stamina, to
+say the least.  However, he cleared his throat again and began a
+description of that small but bitter section of his life's drama
+in which Cowperwood, finding himself in a tight place and about
+to fail, had come to him at his office and demanded that he loan
+him three hundred thousand dollars more in one lump sum.
+
+There was considerable bickering just at this point between Steger
+and Shannon, for the former was very anxious to make it appear
+that Stener was lying out of the whole cloth about this.  Steger
+got in his objection at this point, and created a considerable
+diversion from the main theme, because Stener kept saying he
+"thought" or he "believed."
+
+"Object!" shouted Steger, repeatedly.  "I move that that be
+stricken from the record as incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial.
+The witness is not allowed to say what he thinks, and the
+prosecution knows it very well."
+
+"Your honor," insisted Shannon, "I am doing the best I can to have
+the witness tell a plain, straightforward story, and I think that
+it is obvious that he is doing so."
+
+"Object!" reiterated Steger, vociferously.  "Your honor, I insist
+that the district attorney has no right to prejudice the minds of
+the jury by flattering estimates of the sincerity of the witness.
+What he thinks of the witness and his sincerity is of no importance
+in this case.  I must ask that your honor caution him plainly in
+this matter."
+
+"Objection sustained," declared Judge Payderson, "the prosecution
+will please be more explicit"; and Shannon went on with his case.
+
+Stener's testimony, in one respect, was most important, for it made
+plain what Cowperwood did not want brought out--namely, that he
+and Stener had had a dispute before this; that Stener had distinctly
+told Cowperwood that he would not loan him any more money; that
+Cowperwood had told Stener, on the day before he secured this check,
+and again on that very day, that he was in a very desperate situation
+financially, and that if he were not assisted to the extent of
+three hundred thousand dollars he would fail, and that then both
+he and Stener would be ruined.  On the morning of this day, according
+to Stener, he had sent Cowperwood a letter ordering him to cease
+purchasing city loan certificates for the sinking-fund.  It was
+after their conversation on the same afternoon that Cowperwood
+surreptitiously secured the check for sixty thousand dollars from
+Albert Stires without his (Stener's) knowledge; and it was subsequent
+to this latter again that Stener, sending Albert to demand the
+return of the check, was refused, though the next day at five
+o'clock in the afternoon Cowperwood made an assignment.  And the
+certificates for which the check had been purloined were not in
+the sinking-fund as they should have been.  This was dark testimony
+for Cowperwood.
+
+If any one imagines that all this was done without many vehement
+objections and exceptions made and taken by Steger, and subsequently
+when he was cross-examining Stener, by Shannon, he errs greatly.
+At times the chamber was coruscating with these two gentlemen's
+bitter wrangles, and his honor was compelled to hammer his desk
+with his gavel, and to threaten both with contempt of court, in
+order to bring them to a sense of order.  Indeed while Payderson
+was highly incensed, the jury was amused and interested.
+
+"You gentlemen will have to stop this, or I tell you now that you
+will both be heavily fined.  This is a court of law, not a bar-room.
+Mr. Steger, I expect you to apologize to me and your colleague at
+once.  Mr. Shannon, I must ask that you use less aggressive methods.
+Your manner is offensive to me.  It is not becoming to a court of
+law.  I will not caution either of you again."
+
+Both lawyers apologized as lawyers do on such occasions, but it
+really made but little difference.  Their individual attitudes
+and moods continued about as before.
+
+"What did he say to you," asked Shannon of Stener, after one of
+these troublesome interruptions, "on that occasion, October 9th
+last, when he came to you and demanded the loan of an additional
+three hundred thousand dollars? Give his words as near as you can
+remember--exactly, if possible."
+
+"Object!" interposed Steger, vigorously.  "His exact words are
+not recorded anywhere except in Mr. Stener's memory, and his memory
+of them cannot be admitted in this case.  The witness has testified
+to the general facts."
+
+Judge Payderson smiled grimly.  "Objection overruled," he returned.
+
+"Exception!" shouted Steger.
+
+"He said, as near as I can remember," replied Stener, drumming on
+the arms of the witness-chair in a nervous way, "that if I didn't
+give him three hundred thousand dollars he was going to fail, and
+I would be poor and go to the penitentiary."
+
+"Object!" shouted Stager, leaping to his feet.  "Your honor, I
+object to the whole manner in which this examination is being
+conducted by the prosecution.  The evidence which the district
+attorney is here trying to extract from the uncertain memory of
+the witness is in defiance of all law and precedent, and has no
+definite bearing on the facts of the case, and could not disprove
+or substantiate whether Mr. Cowperwood thought or did not think
+that he was going to fail.  Mr. Stener might give one version of
+this conversation or any conversation that took place at this time,
+and Mr. Cowperwood another.  As a matter of fact, their versions
+are different.  I see no point in Mr. Shannon's line of inquiry,
+unless it is to prejudice the jury's minds towards accepting certain
+allegations which the prosecution is pleased to make and which it
+cannot possibly substantiate.  I think you ought to caution the
+witness to testify only in regard to things that he recalls exactly,
+not to what he thinks he remembers; and for my part I think that
+all that has been testified to in the last five minutes might be
+well stricken out."
+
+"Objection overruled," replied Judge Payderson, rather indifferently;
+and Steger who had been talking merely to overcome the weight of
+Stener's testimony in the minds of the jury, sat down.
+
+Shannon once more approached Stener.
+
+"Now, as near as you can remember, Mr. Stener, I wish you would
+tell the jury what else it was that Mr. Cowperwood said on that
+occasion.  He certainly didn't stop with the remark that you would
+be ruined and go to the penitentiary.  Wasn't there other language
+that was employed on that occasion?"
+
+"He said, as far as I can remember," replied Stener, "that there
+were a lot of political schemers who were trying to frighten me,
+that if I didn't give him three hundred thousand dollars we would
+both be ruined, and that I might as well be tried for stealing a
+sheep as a lamb."
+
+"Ha!" yelled Shannon.  "He said that, did he?"
+
+"Yes, sir; he did," said Stener.
+
+"How did he say it, exactly? What were his exact words?" Shannon
+demanded, emphatically, pointing a forceful forefinger at Stener
+in order to key him up to a clear memory of what had transpired.
+
+"Well, as near as I can remember, he said just that," replied
+Stener, vaguely.  "You might as well be tried for stealing a sheep
+as a lamb."
+
+"Exactly!" exclaimed Shannon, whirling around past the jury to
+look at Cowperwood.  "I thought so."
+
+"Pure pyrotechnics, your honor," said Steger, rising to his feet
+on the instant.  "All intended to prejudice the minds of the jury.
+Acting.  I wish you would caution the counsel for the prosecution
+to confine himself to the evidence in hand, and not act for the
+benefit of his case."
+
+The spectators smiled; and Judge Payderson, noting it, frowned
+severely.  "Do you make that as an objection, Mr. Steger?" he asked.
+
+"I certainly do, your honor," insisted Steger, resourcefully.
+
+"Objection overruled.  Neither counsel for the prosecution nor for
+the defense is limited to a peculiar routine of expression."
+
+Steger himself was ready to smile, but he did not dare to.
+
+Cowperwood fearing the force of such testimony and regretting it,
+still looked at Stener, pityingly.  The feebleness of the man;
+the weakness of the man; the pass to which his cowardice had
+brought them both!
+
+When Shannon was through bringing out this unsatisfactory data,
+Steger took Stener in hand; but he could not make as much out of
+him as he hoped.  In so far as this particular situation was
+concerned, Stener was telling the exact truth; and it is hard to
+weaken the effect of the exact truth by any subtlety of interpretation,
+though it can, sometimes, be done.  With painstaking care Steger
+went over all the ground of Stener's long relationship with
+Cowperwood, and tried to make it appear that Cowperwood was
+invariably the disinterested agent--not the ringleader in a subtle,
+really criminal adventure.  It was hard to do, but he made a fine
+impression.  Still the jury listened with skeptical minds.  It
+might not be fair to punish Cowperwood for seizing with avidity
+upon a splendid chance to get rich quick, they thought; but it
+certainly was not worth while to throw a veil of innocence over
+such palpable human cupidity.  Finally, both lawyers were through
+with Stener for the time being, anyhow, and then Albert Stires was
+called to the stand.
+
+He was the same thin, pleasant, alert, rather agreeable soul that
+he had been in the heyday of his clerkly prosperity--a little paler
+now, but not otherwise changed.  His small property had been saved
+for him by Cowperwood, who had advised Steger to inform the Municipal
+Reform Association that Stires' bondsmen were attempting to
+sequestrate it for their own benefit, when actually it should go
+to the city if there were any real claim against him--which there
+was not.  That watchful organization had issued one of its numerous
+reports covering this point, and Albert had had the pleasure of
+seeing Strobik and the others withdraw in haste.  Naturally he was
+grateful to Cowperwood, even though once he had been compelled to
+cry in vain in his presence.  He was anxious now to do anything
+he could to help the banker, but his naturally truthful disposition
+prevented him from telling anything except the plain facts, which
+were partly beneficial and partly not.
+
+Stires testified that he recalled Cowperwood's saying that he had
+purchased the certificates, that he was entitled to the money,
+that Stener was unduly frightened, and that no harm would come to
+him, Albert.  He identified certain memoranda in the city treasurer's
+books, which were produced, as being accurate, and others in
+Cowperwood's books, which were also produced, as being corroborative.
+His testimony as to Stener's astonishment on discovering that his
+chief clerk had given Cowperwood a check was against the latter; but
+Cowperwood hoped to overcome the effect of this by his own testimony
+later.
+
+Up to now both Steger and Cowperwood felt that they were doing
+fairly well, and that they need not be surprised if they won their
+case.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLII
+
+
+
+
+The trial moved on.   One witness for the prosecution after another
+followed until the State had built up an arraignment that satisfied
+Shannon that he had established Cowperwood's guilt, whereupon he
+announced that he rested.  Steger at once arose and began a long
+argument for the dismissal of the case on the ground that there
+was no evidence to show this, that and the other, but Judge Payderson
+would have none of it.  He knew how important the matter was in
+the local political world.
+
+"I don't think you had better go into all that now, Mr. Steger,"
+he said, wearily, after allowing him to proceed a reasonable
+distance.  "I am familiar with the custom of the city, and the
+indictment as here made does not concern the custom of the city.
+Your argument is with the jury, not with me.  I couldn't enter
+into that now.  You may renew your motion at the close of the
+defendants' case.  Motion denied."
+
+District-Attorney Shannon, who had been listening attentively,
+sat down.  Steger, seeing there was no chance to soften the judge's
+mind by any subtlety of argument, returned to Cowperwood, who
+smiled at the result.
+
+"We'll just have to take our chances with the jury," he announced.
+
+"I was sure of it," replied Cowperwood.
+
+Steger then approached the jury, and, having outlined the case
+briefly from his angle of observation, continued by telling them
+what he was sure the evidence would show from his point of view.
+
+"As a matter of fact, gentlemen, there is no essential difference
+in the evidence which the prosecution can present and that which
+we, the defense, can present.  We are not going to dispute that
+Mr. Cowperwood received a check from Mr. Stener for sixty thousand
+dollars, or that he failed to put the certificate of city loan
+which that sum of money represented, and to which he was entitled
+in payment as agent, in the sinking-fund, as the prosecution now
+claims he should have done; but we are going to claim and prove
+also beyond the shadow of a reasonable doubt that he had a right,
+as the agent of the city, doing business with the city through its
+treasury department for four years, to withhold, under an agreement
+which he had with the city treasurer, all payments of money and
+all deposits of certificates in the sinking-fund until the first
+day of each succeeding month--the first month following any given
+transaction.  As a matter of fact we can and will bring many traders
+and bankers who have had dealings with the city treasury in the
+past in just this way to prove this.  The prosecution is going
+to ask you to believe that Mr. Cowperwood knew at the time he
+received this check that he was going to fail; that he did not buy
+the certificates, as he claimed, with the view of placing them in
+the sinking-fund; and that, knowing he was going to fail, and that
+he could not subsequently deposit them, he deliberately went to
+Mr. Albert Stires, Mr. Stener's secretary, told him that he had
+purchased such certificates, and on the strength of a falsehood,
+implied if not actually spoken, secured the check, and walked away.
+
+"Now, gentlemen, I am not going to enter into a long-winded discussion
+of these points at this time, since the testimony is going to show
+very rapidly what the facts are.  We have a number of witnesses
+here, and we are all anxious to have them heard.  What I am going
+to ask you to remember is that there is not one scintilla of
+testimony outside of that which may possibly be given by Mr. George
+W. Stener, which will show either that Mr. Cowperwood knew, at
+the time he called on the city treasurer, that he was going to fail,
+or that he had not purchased the certificates in question, or that
+he had not the right to withhold them from the sinking-fund as long
+as he pleased up to the first of the month, the time he invariably
+struck a balance with the city.  Mr. Stener, the ex-city treasurer,
+may possibly testify one way.  Mr. Cowperwood, on his own behalf,
+will testify another.  It will then be for you gentlemen to decide
+between them, to decide which one you prefer to believe--Mr. George
+W. Stener, the ex-city treasurer, the former commercial associate
+of Mr. Cowperwood, who, after years and years of profit, solely
+because of conditions of financial stress, fire, and panic, preferred
+to turn on his one-time associate from whose labors he had reaped
+so much profit, or Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood, the well-known banker
+and financier, who did his best to weather the storm alone, who
+fulfilled to the letter every agreement he ever had with the city,
+who has even until this hour been busy trying to remedy the unfair
+financial difficulties forced upon him by fire and panic, and who
+only yesterday made an offer to the city that, if he were allowed
+to continue in uninterrupted control of his affairs he would gladly
+repay as quickly as possible every dollar of his indebtedness
+(which is really not all his), including the five hundred thousand
+dollars under discussion between him and Mr. Stener and the city,
+and so prove by his works, not talk, that there was no basis for
+this unfair suspicion of his motives.  As you perhaps surmise, the
+city has not chosen to accept his offer, and I shall try and tell
+you why later, gentlemen.  For the present we will proceed with
+the testimony, and for the defense all I ask is that you give very
+close attention to all that is testified to here to-day.  Listen
+very carefully to Mr. W. C. Davison when he is put on the stand.
+Listen equally carefully to Mr. Cowperwood when we call him to
+testify.  Follow the other testimony closely, and then you will
+be able to judge for yourselves.  See if you can distinguish a
+just motive for this prosecution.  I can't.  I am very much obliged
+to you for listening to me, gentlemen, so attentively."
+
+He then put on Arthur Rivers, who had acted for Cowperwood on
+'change as special agent during the panic, to testify to the large
+quantities of city loan he had purchased to stay the market; and
+then after him, Cowperwood's brothers, Edward and Joseph, who
+testified to instructions received from Rivers as to buying and
+selling city loan on that occasion--principally buying.
+
+The next witness was President W. C. Davison of the Girard National
+Bank.  He was a large man physically, not so round of body as
+full and broad.  His shoulders and chest were ample.  He had a
+big blond head, with an ample breadth of forehead, which was high
+and sane-looking.  He had a thick, squat nose, which, however,
+was forceful, and thin, firm, even lips.  There was the faintest
+touch of cynical humor in his hard blue eyes at times; but mostly
+he was friendly, alert, placid-looking, without seeming in the
+least sentimental or even kindly.  His business, as one could see
+plainly, was to insist on hard financial facts, and one could see
+also how he would naturally be drawn to Frank Algernon Cowperwood
+without being mentally dominated or upset by him.  As he took the
+chair very quietly, and yet one might say significantly, it was
+obvious that he felt that this sort of legal-financial palaver was
+above the average man and beneath the dignity of a true financier--
+in other words, a bother.  The drowsy Sparkheaver holding up a
+Bible beside him for him to swear by might as well have been a
+block of wood.  His oath was a personal matter with him.  It was
+good business to tell the truth at times.  His testimony was very
+direct and very simple.
+
+He had known Mr. Frank Algernon Cowperwood for nearly ten years.
+He had done business with or through him nearly all of that time.
+He knew nothing of his personal relations with Mr. Stener, and did
+not know Mr. Stener personally.  As for the particular check of
+sixty thousand dollars--yes, he had seen it before.  It had come
+into the bank on October 10th along with other collateral to offset
+an overdraft on the part of Cowperwood & Co.  It was placed to
+the credit of Cowperwood & Co. on the books of the bank, and the
+bank secured the cash through the clearing-house.  No money was
+drawn out of the bank by Cowperwood & Co. after that to create an
+overdraft.  The bank's account with Cowperwood was squared.
+
+Nevertheless, Mr. Cowperwood might have drawn heavily, and nothing
+would have been thought of it.  Mr. Davison did not know that Mr.
+Cowperwood was going to fail--did not suppose that he could, so
+quickly.  He had frequently overdrawn his account with the bank;
+as a matter of fact, it was the regular course of his business to
+overdraw it.  It kept his assets actively in use, which was the
+height of good business.  His overdrafts were protected by collateral,
+however, and it was his custom to send bundles of collateral or
+checks, or both, which were variously distributed to keep things
+straight.  Mr. Cowperwood's account was the largest and most active
+in the bank, Mr. Davison kindly volunteered.  When Mr. Cowperwood
+had failed there had been over ninety thousand dollars' worth of
+certificates of city loan in the bank's possession which Mr
+Cowperwood had sent there as collateral.  Shannon, on cross-examination,
+tried to find out for the sake of the effect on the jury, whether
+Mr. Davison was not for some ulterior motive especially favorable
+to Cowperwood.  It was not possible for him to do that.  Steger
+followed, and did his best to render the favorable points made by
+Mr. Davison in Cowperwood's behalf perfectly clear to the jury by
+having him repeat them.  Shannon objected, of course, but it was
+of no use.  Steger managed to make his point.
+
+He now decided to have Cowperwood take the stand, and at the
+mention of his name in this connection the whole courtroom bristled.
+
+Cowperwood came forward briskly and quickly.  He was so calm, so
+jaunty, so defiant of life, and yet so courteous to it.  These
+lawyers, this jury, this straw-and-water judge, these machinations
+of fate, did not basically disturb or humble or weaken him.  He
+saw through the mental equipment of the jury at once.  He wanted
+to assist his counsel in disturbing and confusing Shannon, but
+his reason told him that only an indestructible fabric of fact or
+seeming would do it.  He believed in the financial rightness of
+the thing he had done.  He was entitled to do it.  Life was war--
+particularly financial life; and strategy was its keynote, its
+duty, its necessity.  Why should he bother about petty, picayune
+minds which could not understand this? He went over his history
+for Steger and the jury, and put the sanest, most comfortable
+light on it that he could.  He had not gone to Mr. Stener in the
+first place, he said--he had been called.  He had not urged Mr.
+Stener to anything.  He had merely shown him and his friends
+financial possibilities which they were only too eager to seize
+upon.  And they had seized upon them.  (It was not possible for
+Shannon to discover at this period how subtly he had organized
+his street-car companies so that he could have "shaken out" Stener
+and his friends without their being able to voice a single protest,
+so he talked of these things as opportunities which he had made
+for Stener and others.  Shannon was not a financier, neither was
+Steger.  They had to believe in a way, though they doubted it,
+partly--particularly Shannon.)  He was not responsible for the
+custom prevailing in the office of the city treasurer, he said.
+He was a banker and broker.
+
+The jury looked at him, and believed all except this matter of
+the sixty-thousand-dollar check.  When it came to that he explained
+it all plausibly enough.  When he had gone to see Stener those
+several last days, he had not fancied that he was really going to
+fail.  He had asked Stener for some money, it is true--not so very
+much, all things considered--one hundred and fifty thousand dollars;
+but, as Stener should have testified, he (Cowperwood) was not
+disturbed in his manner.  Stener had merely been one resource of
+his.  He was satisfied at that time that he had many others.  He
+had not used the forceful language or made the urgent appeal which
+Stener said he had, although he had pointed out to Stener that it
+was a mistake to become panic-stricken, also to withhold further
+credit.  It was true that Stener was his easiest, his quickest
+resource, but not his only one.  He thought, as a matter of fact,
+that his credit would be greatly extended by his principal money
+friends if necessary, and that he would have ample time to patch
+up his affairs and keep things going until the storm should blow
+over.  He had told Stener of his extended purchase of city loan
+to stay the market on the first day of the panic, and of the fact
+that sixty thousand dollars was due him.  Stener had made no
+objection.  It was just possible that he was too mentally disturbed
+at the time to pay close attention.  After that, to his, Cowperwood's,
+surprise, unexpected pressure on great financial houses from
+unexpected directions had caused them to be not willingly but
+unfortunately severe with him.  This pressure, coming collectively
+the next day, had compelled him to close his doors, though he had
+not really expected to up to the last moment.  His call for the
+sixty-thousand-dollar check at the time had been purely fortuitous.
+He needed the money, of course, but it was due him, and his clerks
+were all very busy.  He merely asked for and took it personally
+to save time.  Stener knew if it had been refused him he would have
+brought suit.  The matter of depositing city loan certificates in
+the sinking-fund, when purchased for the city, was something to
+which he never gave any personal attention whatsoever.  His
+bookkeeper, Mr. Stapley, attended to all that.  He did not know,
+as a matter of fact, that they had not been deposited.  (This was
+a barefaced lie.  He did know.)  As for the check being turned over
+to the Girard National Bank, that was fortuitous.  It might just
+as well have been turned over to some other bank if the conditions
+had been different.
+
+Thus on and on he went, answering all of Steger's and Shannon's
+searching questions with the most engaging frankness, and you
+could have sworn from the solemnity with which he took it all--
+the serious business attention--that he was the soul of so-called
+commercial honor.  And to say truly, he did believe in the justice
+as well as the necessity and the importance of all that he had
+done and now described.  He wanted the jury to see it as he saw
+it--put itself in his place and sympathize with him.
+
+He was through finally, and the effect on the jury of his testimony
+and his personality was peculiar.  Philip Moultrie, juror No. 1,
+decided that Cowperwood was lying.  He could not see how it was
+possible that he could not know the day before that he was going
+to fail.  He must have known, he thought.  Anyhow, the whole series
+of transactions between him and Stener seemed deserving of some
+punishment, and all during this testimony he was thinking how,
+when he got in the jury-room, he would vote guilty.  He even
+thought of some of the arguments he would use to convince the
+others that Cowperwood was guilty.  Juror No. 2, on the contrary,
+Simon Glassberg, a clothier, thought he understood how it all came
+about, and decided to vote for acquittal.  He did not think Cowperwood
+was innocent, but he did not think he deserved to be punished.
+Juror No. 3, Fletcher Norton, an architect, thought Cowperwood was
+guilty, but at the same time that he was too talented to be sent
+to prison.  Juror No. 4, Charles Hillegan, an Irishman, a contractor,
+and a somewhat religious-minded person, thought Cowperwood was
+guilty and ought to be punished.  Juror No. 5, Philip Lukash, a
+coal merchant, thought he was guilty.  Juror No. 6, Benjamin Fraser,
+a mining expert, thought he was probably guilty, but he could not
+be sure.  Uncertain what he would do, juror No. 7, J. J. Bridges,
+a broker in Third Street, small, practical, narrow, thought
+Cowperwood was shrewd and guilty and deserved to be punished.  He
+would vote for his punishment.  Juror No. 8, Guy E. Tripp, general
+manager of a small steamboat company, was uncertain.  Juror No.
+9, Joseph Tisdale, a retired glue manufacturer, thought Cowperwood
+was probably guilty as charged, but to Tisdale it was no crime.
+Cowperwood was entitled to do as he had done under the circumstances.
+Tisdale would vote for his acquittal.  Juror No. 10, Richard Marsh,
+a young florist, was for Cowperwood in a sentimental way.  He had,
+as a matter of fact, no real convictions.  Juror No. 11, Richard
+Webber, a grocer, small financially, but heavy physically, was for
+Cowperwood's conviction.  He thought him guilty.  Juror No. 12,
+Washington B. Thomas, a wholesale flour merchant, thought Cowperwood
+was guilty, but believed in a recommendation to mercy after
+pronouncing him so.  Men ought to be reformed, was his slogan.
+
+So they stood, and so Cowperwood left them, wondering whether any
+of his testimony had had a favorable effect.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLIII
+
+
+
+
+Since it is the privilege of the lawyer for the defense to address
+the jury first, Steger bowed politely to his colleague and came
+forward.  Putting his hands on the jury-box rail, he began in a
+very quiet, modest, but impressive way:
+
+  "Gentlemen of the jury, my client, Mr. Frank Algernon Cowperwood,
+  a well-known banker and financier of this city, doing business in
+  Third Street, is charged by the State of Pennsylvania, represented
+  by the district attorney of this district, with fraudulently
+  transferring from the treasury of the city of Philadelphia to his
+  own purse the sum of sixty thousand dollars, in the form of a check
+  made out to his order, dated October 9, 1871, and by him received
+  from one Albert Stires, the private secretary and head bookkeeper
+  of the treasurer of this city, at the time in question.  Now,
+  gentlemen, what are the facts in this connection? You have heard
+  the various witnesses and know the general outlines of the story.
+  Take the testimony of George W. Stener, to begin with.  He tells
+  you that sometime back in the year 1866 he was greatly in need of
+  some one, some banker or broker, who would tell him how to bring
+  city loan, which was selling very low at the time, to par--who
+  would not only tell him this, but proceed to demonstrate that his
+  knowledge was accurate by doing it.  Mr. Stener was an
+  inexperienced man at the time in the matter of finance.  Mr.
+  Cowperwood was an active young man with an enviable record as a
+  broker and a trader on 'change.  He proceeded to demonstrate to
+  Mr. Stener not only in theory, but in fact, how this thing of
+  bringing city loan to par could be done.  He made an arrangement
+  at that time with Mr. Stener, the details of which you have
+  heard from Mr. Stener himself, the result of which was that a
+  large amount of city loan was turned over to Mr. Cowperwood by
+  Mr. Stener for sale, and by adroit manipulation--methods of
+  buying and selling which need not be gone into here, but which
+  are perfectly sane and legitimate in the world in which Mr.
+  Cowperwood operated, did bring that loan to par, and kept it
+  there year after year as you have all heard here testified to.
+
+  "Now what is the bone of contention here, gentlemen, the
+  significant fact which brings Mr. Stener into this court at
+  this time charging his old-time agent and broker with larceny
+  and embezzlement, and alleging that he has transferred to his
+  own use without a shadow of return sixty thousand dollars of
+  the money which belongs to the city treasury? What is it? Is
+  it that Mr. Cowperwood secretly, with great stealth, as it were,
+  at some time or other, unknown to Mr. Stener or to his assistants,
+  entered the office of the treasurer and forcibly, and with
+  criminal intent, carried away sixty thousand dollars' worth of
+  the city's money? Not at all.  The charge is, as you have heard
+  the district attorney explain, that Mr. Cowperwood came in
+  broad daylight at between four and five o'clock of the afternoon
+  preceeding the day of his assignment; was closeted with Mr.
+  Stener for a half or three-quarters of an hour; came out;
+  explained to Mr. Albert Stires that he had recently bought sixty
+  thousand dollars' worth of city loan for the city sinking-fund,
+  for which he had not been paid; asked that the amount be
+  credited on the city's books to him, and that he be given a
+  check, which was his due, and walked out.  Anything very
+  remarkable about that, gentlemen? Anything very strange? Has
+  it been testified here to-day that Mr. Cowperwood was not the
+  agent of the city for the transaction of just such business as
+  he said on that occasion that he had transacted? Did any one say
+  here on the witness-stand that he had not bought city loan as
+  he said he had?
+
+  "Why is it then that Mr. Stener charges Mr. Cowperwood with
+  larcenously securing and feloniously disposing of a check for
+  sixty thousand dollars for certificates which he had a right to
+  buy, and which it has not been contested here that he did buy?
+  The reason lies just here--listen--just here.  At the time my
+  client asked for the check and took it away with him and
+  deposited it in his own bank to his own account, he failed,
+  so the prosecution insists, to put the sixty thousand dollars'
+  worth of certificates for which he had received the check, in
+  the sinking-fund; and having failed to do that, and being
+  compelled by the pressure of financial events the same day to
+  suspend payment generally, he thereby, according to the
+  prosecution and the anxious leaders of the Republican party in
+  the city, became an embezzler, a thief, a this or that--anything
+  you please so long as you find a substitute for George W. Stener
+  and the indifferent leaders of the Republican party in the eyes
+  of the people."
+
+And here Mr. Steger proceeded boldly and defiantly to outline the
+entire political situation as it had manifested itself in connection
+with the Chicago fire, the subsequent panic and its political
+consequences, and to picture Cowperwood as the unjustly maligned
+agent, who before the fire was valuable and honorable enough to
+suit any of the political leaders of Philadelphia, but afterward,
+and when political defeat threatened, was picked upon as the most
+available scapegoat anywhere within reach.
+
+And it took him a half hour to do that.  And afterward but only
+after he had pointed to Stener as the true henchman and stalking
+horse, who had, in turn, been used by political forces above him
+to accomplish certain financial results, which they were not
+willing to have ascribed to themselves, he continued with:
+
+  "But now, in the light of all this, only see how ridiculous all
+  this is! How silly! Frank A. Cowperwood had always been the
+  agent of the city in these matters for years and years.  He
+  worked under certain rules which he and Mr. Stener had agreed
+  upon in the first place, and which obviously came from others,
+  who were above Mr. Stener, since they were hold-over customs
+  and rules from administrations, which had been long before Mr.
+  Stener ever appeared on the scene as city treasurer.  One of
+  them was that he could carry all transactions over until the
+  first of the month following before he struck a balance.  That
+  is, he need not pay any money over for anything to the city
+  treasurer, need not send him any checks or deposit any money or
+  certificates in the sinking-fund until the first of the month
+  because--now listen to this carefully, gentlemen; it is
+  important--because his transactions in connection with city
+  loan and everything else that he dealt in for the city treasurer
+  were so numerous, so swift, so uncalculated beforehand, that
+  he had to have a loose, easy system of this kind in order to do
+  his work properly--to do business at all.  Otherwise he could
+  not very well have worked to the best advantage for Mr. Stener,
+  or for any one else.  It would have meant too much bookkeeping
+  for him--too much for the city treasurer.  Mr. Stener has
+  testified to that in the early part of his story.  Albert Stires
+  has indicated that that was his understanding of it.  Well, then
+  what? Why, just this.  Would any jury suppose, would any sane
+  business man believe that if such were the case Mr. Cowperwood
+  would be running personally with all these items of deposit,
+  to the different banks or the sinking-fund or the city treasurer's
+  office, or would be saying to his head bookkeeper, 'Here, Stapley,
+  here is a check for sixty thousand dollars.  See that the
+  certificates of loan which this represents are put in the
+  sinking-fund to-day'? And why not? What a ridiculous supposition
+  any other supposition is! As a matter of course and as had
+  always been the case, Mr. Cowperwood had a system.  When the
+  time came, this check and these certificates would be
+  automatically taken care of.  He handed his bookkeeper the
+  check and forgot all about it.  Would you imagine a banker with
+  a vast business of this kind doing anything else?"
+
+Mr. Steger paused for breath and inquiry, and then, having satisfied
+himself that his point had been sufficiently made, he continued:
+
+  "Of course the answer is that he knew he was going to fail.
+  Well, Mr. Cowperwood's reply is that he didn't know anything of
+  the sort.  He has personally testified here that it was only at
+  the last moment before it actually happened that he either
+  thought or knew of such an occurrence.  Why, then, this alleged
+  refusal to let him have the check to which he was legally entitled?
+  I think I know.  I think I can give a reason if you will hear me
+  out."
+
+Steger shifted his position and came at the jury from another
+intellectual angle:
+
+  "It was simply because Mr. George W. Stener at that time, owing
+  to a recent notable fire and a panic, imagined for some reason--
+  perhaps because Mr. Cowperwood cautioned him not to become
+  frightened over local developments generally--that Mr. Cowperwood
+  was going to close his doors; and having considerable money on
+  deposit with him at a low rate of interest, Mr. Stener decided
+  that Mr. Cowperwood must not have any more money--not even the
+  money that was actually due him for services rendered, and that
+  had nothing whatsoever to do with the money loaned him by Mr.
+  Stener at two and one-half per cent.  Now isn't that a ridiculous
+  situation? But it was because Mr. George W. Stener was filled
+  with his own fears, based on a fire and a panic which had
+  absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Cowperwood's solvency in the
+  beginning that he decided not to let Frank A. Cowperwood have
+  the money that was actually due him, because he, Stener, was
+  criminally using the city's money to further his own private
+  interests (through Mr. Cowperwood as a broker), and in danger
+  of being exposed and possibly punished.  Now where, I ask you,
+  does the good sense of that decision come in? Is it apparent to
+  you, gentlemen? Was Mr. Cowperwood still an agent for the city
+  at the time he bought the loan certificates as here testified?
+  He certainly was.  If so, was he entitled to that money? Who is
+  going to stand up here and deny it? Where is the question then,
+  as to his right or his honesty in this matter? How does it come
+  in here at all? I can tell you.  It sprang solely from one source
+  and from nowhere else, and that is the desire of the politicians
+  of this city to find a scapegoat for the Republican party.
+
+  "Now you may think I am going rather far afield for an explanation
+  of this very peculiar decision to prosecute Mr. Cowperwood, an
+  agent of the city, for demanding and receiving what actually
+  belonged to him.  But I'm not.  Consider the position of the
+  Republican party at that time.  Consider the fact that an exposure
+  of the truth in regard to the details of a large defalcation in
+  the city treasury would have a very unsatisfactory effect on the
+  election about to be held.  The Republican party had a new city
+  treasurer to elect, a new district attorney.  It had been in the
+  habit of allowing its city treasurers the privilege of investing
+  the funds in their possession at a low rate of interest for the
+  benefit of themselves and their friends.  Their salaries were
+  small.  They had to have some way of eking out a reasonable
+  existence.  Was Mr. George Stener responsible for this custom of
+  loaning out the city money? Not at all.  Was Mr. Cowperwood? Not
+  at all.  The custom had been in vogue long before either Mr.
+  Cowperwood or Mr. Stener came on the scene.  Why, then, this
+  great hue and cry about it now? The entire uproar sprang solely
+  from the fear of Mr. Stener at this juncture, the fear of the
+  politicians at this juncture, of public exposure.  No city
+  treasurer had ever been exposed before.  It was a new thing to
+  face exposure, to face the risk of having the public's attention
+  called to a rather nefarious practice of which Mr. Stener was
+  taking advantage, that was all.  A great fire and a panic were
+  endangering the security and well-being of many a financial
+  organization in the city--Mr. Cowperwood's among others.  It
+  meant many possible failures, and many possible failures meant
+  one possible failure.  If Frank A. Cowperwood failed, he would
+  fail owing the city of Philadelphia five hundred thousand dollars,
+  borrowed from the city treasurer at the very low rate of interest
+  of two and one-half per cent.  Anything very detrimental to Mr.
+  Cowperwood in that? Had he gone to the city treasurer and asked
+  to be loaned money at two and one-half per cent.? If he had, was
+  there anything criminal in it from a business point of view?
+  Isn't a man entitled to borrow money from any source he can at
+  the lowest possible rate of interest? Did Mr. Stener have to
+  loan it to Mr. Cowperwood if he did not want to? As a matter of
+  fact didn't he testify here to-day that he personally had sent
+  for Mr. Cowperwood in the first place? Why, then, in Heaven's
+  name, this excited charge of larceny, larceny as bailee,
+  embezzlement, embezzlement on a check, etc., etc.?
+
+  "Once more, gentlemen, listen.  I'll tell you why.  The men
+  who stood behind Stener, and whose bidding he was doing, wanted
+  to make a political scapegoat of some one--of Frank Algernon
+  Cowperwood, if they couldn't get any one else.  That's why.
+  No other reason under God's blue sky, not one.  Why, if Mr.
+  Cowperwood needed more money just at that time to tide him
+  over, it would have been good policy for them to have given it
+  to him and hushed this matter up.  It would have been illegal--
+  though not any more illegal than anything else that has ever
+  been done in this connection--but it would have been safer.
+  Fear, gentlemen, fear, lack of courage, inability to meet a
+  great crisis when a great crisis appears, was all that really
+  prevented them from doing this.  They were afraid to place
+  confidence in a man who had never heretofore betrayed their
+  trust and from whose loyalty and great financial ability they
+  and the city had been reaping large profits.  The reigning city
+  treasurer of the time didn't have the courage to go on in the
+  face of fire and panic and the rumors of possible failure, and
+  stick by his illegal guns; and so he decided to draw in his
+  horns as testified here to-day--to ask Mr. Cowperwood to return
+  all or at least a big part of the five hundred thousand dollars
+  he had loaned him, and which Cowperwood had been actually using
+  for his, Stener's benefit, and to refuse him in addition the
+  money that was actually due him for an authorized purchase of
+  city loan.  Was Cowperwood guilty as an agent in any of these
+  transactions? Not in the least.  Was there any suit pending to
+  make him return the five hundred thousand dollars of city money
+  involved in his present failure? Not at all.  It was simply a
+  case of wild, silly panic on the part of George W. Stener, and
+  a strong desire on the part of the Republican party leaders,
+  once they discovered what the situation was, to find some one
+  outside of Stener, the party treasurer, upon whom they could
+  blame the shortage in the treasury.  You heard what Mr.
+  Cowperwood testified to here in this case to-day--that he went
+  to Mr. Stener to forfend against any possible action of this
+  kind in the first place.  And it was because of this very
+  warning that Mr. Stener became wildly excited, lost his head,
+  and wanted Mr. Cowperwood to return him all his money, all the
+  five hundred thousand dollars he had loaned him at two and
+  one-half per cent.  Isn't that silly financial business at the
+  best? Wasn't that a fine time to try to call a perfectly legal
+  loan?
+
+  "But now to return to this particular check of sixty thousand
+  dollars.  When Mr. Cowperwood called that last afternoon before
+  he failed, Mr. Stener testified that he told him that he couldn't
+  have any more money, that it was impossible, and that then Mr.
+  Cowperwood went out into his general office and without his
+  knowledge or consent persuaded his chief clerk and secretary,
+  Mr. Albert Stires, to give him a check for sixty thousand dollars,
+  to which he was not entitled and on which he, Stener, would
+  have stopped payment if he had known.
+
+  "What nonsense! Why didn't he know? The books were there, open
+  to him.  Mr. Stires told him the first thing the next morning.
+  Mr. Cowperwood thought nothing of it, for he was entitled to it,
+  and could collect it in any court of law having jurisdiction in
+  such cases, failure or no failure.  It is silly for Mr. Stener
+  to say he would have stopped payment.  Such a claim was probably
+  an after-thought of the next morning after he had talked with his
+  friends, the politicians, and was all a part, a trick, a trap,
+  to provide the Republican party with a scapegoat at this time.
+  Nothing more and nothing less; and you may be sure no one knew
+  it better than the people who were most anxious to see Mr.
+  Cowperwood convicted."
+
+Steger paused and looked significantly at Shannon.
+
+  "Gentlemen of the jury [he finally concluded, quietly and
+  earnestly], you are going to find, when you think it over in
+  the jury-room this evening, that this charge of larceny and
+  larceny as bailee, and embezzlement of a check for sixty
+  thousand dollars, which are contained in this indictment, and
+  which represent nothing more than the eager effort of the
+  district attorney to word this one act in such a way that it
+  will look like a crime, represents nothing more than the excited
+  imagination of a lot of political refugees who are anxious to
+  protect their own skirts at the expense of Mr. Cowperwood, and
+  who care for nothing--honor, fair play, or anything else, so
+  long as they are let off scot-free.  They don't want the
+  Republicans of Pennsylvania to think too ill of the Republican
+  party management and control in this city.  They want to protect
+  George W. Stener as much as possible and to make a political
+  scapegoat of my client.  It can't be done, and it won't be done.
+  As honorable, intelligent men you won't permit it to be done.
+  And I think with that thought I can safely leave you."
+
+Steger suddenly turned from the jury-box and walked to his seat
+beside Cowperwood, while Shannon arose, calm, forceful, vigorous,
+much younger.
+
+As between man and man, Shannon was not particularly opposed to
+the case Steger had made out for Cowperwood, nor was he opposed
+to Cowperwood's having made money as he did.  As a matter of fact,
+Shannon actually thought that if he had been in Cowperwood's position
+he would have done exactly the same thing.  However, he was the
+newly elected district attorney.  He had a record to make; and,
+besides, the political powers who were above him were satisfied that
+Cowperwood ought to be convicted for the looks of the thing.
+Therefore he laid his hands firmly on the rail at first, looked
+the jurors steadily in the eyes for a time, and, having framed a
+few thoughts in his mind began:
+
+  "Now, gentlemen of the jury, it seems to me that if we all pay
+  strict attention to what has transpired here to-day, we will
+  have no difficulty in reaching a conclusion; and it will be a
+  very satisfactory one, if we all try to interpret the facts
+  correctly.  This defendant, Mr. Cowperwood, comes into this
+  court to-day charged, as I have stated to you before, with
+  larceny, with larceny as bailee, with embezzlement, and with
+  embezzlement of a specific check--namely, one dated October 9,
+  1871, drawn to the order of Frank A. Cowperwood & Company for
+  the sum of sixty thousand dollars by the secretary of the city
+  treasurer for the city treasurer, and by him signed, as he had
+  a perfect right to sign it, and delivered to the said Frank A.
+  Cowperwood, who claims that he was not only properly solvent
+  at the time, but had previously purchased certificates of city
+  loan to the value of sixty thousand dollars, and had at that
+  time or would shortly thereafter, as was his custom, deposit
+  them to the credit of the city in the city sinking-fund, and
+  thus close what would ordinarily be an ordinary transaction--
+  namely, that of Frank A. Cowperwood & Company as bankers and
+  brokers for the city buying city loan for the city, depositing
+  it in the sinking-fund, and being promptly and properly reimbursed.
+  Now, gentlemen, what are the actual facts in this case? Was the
+  said Frank A. Cowperwood & Company--there is no company, as
+  you well know, as you have heard testified here to-day, only
+  Frank A. Cowperwood--was the said Frank A. Cowperwood a fit
+  person to receive the check at this time in the manner he
+  received it--that is, was he authorized agent of the city at
+  the time, or was he not? Was he solvent? Did he actually himself
+  think he was going to fail, and was this sixty-thousand-dollar
+  check a last thin straw which he was grabbing at to save his
+  financial life regardless of what it involved legally, morally,
+  or otherwise; or had he actually purchased certificates of city
+  loan to the amount he said he had in the way he said he had, at
+  the time he said he had, and was he merely collecting his honest
+  due? Did he intend to deposit these certificates of loans in the
+  city sinking-fund, as he said he would--as it was understood
+  naturally and normally that he would--or did he not? Were his
+  relations with the city treasurer as broker and agent the same
+  as they had always been on the day that he secured this particular
+  check for sixty thousand dollars, or were they not? Had they been
+  terminated by a conversation fifteen minutes before or two days
+  before or two weeks before--it makes no difference when, so long
+  as they had been properly terminated--or had they not? A business
+  man has a right to abrogate an agreement at any time where there
+  is no specific form of contract and no fixed period of operation
+  entered into--as you all must know.  You must not forget that in
+  considering the evidence in this case.  Did George W. Stener,
+  knowing or suspecting that Frank A. Cowperwood was in a tight
+  place financially, unable to fulfill any longer properly and
+  honestly the duties supposedly devolving on him by this agreement,
+  terminate it then and there on October 9, 1871, before this
+  check for sixty thousand dollars was given, or did he not? Did
+  Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood then and there, knowing that he was no
+  longer an agent of the city treasurer and the city, and knowing
+  also that he was insolvent (having, as Mr. Stener contends,
+  admitted to him that he was so), and having no intention of
+  placing the certificates which he subsequently declared he had
+  purchased in the sinking-fund, go out into Mr. Stener's general
+  office, meet his secretary, tell him he had purchased sixty
+  thousand dollars' worth of city loan, ask for the check, get
+  it, put it in his pocket, walk off, and never make any return
+  of any kind in any manner, shape, or form to the city, and then,
+  subsequently, twenty-four hours later, fail, owing this and
+  five hundred thousand dollars more to the city treasury, or did
+  he not? What are the facts in this case? What have the witnesses
+  testified to? What has George W. Stener testified to, Albert
+  Stires, President Davison, Mr. Cowperwood himself? What are the
+  interesting, subtle facts in this case, anyhow? Gentlemen, you
+  have a very curious problem to decide."
+
+He paused and gazed at the jury, adjusting his sleeves as he did
+so, and looking as though he knew for certain that he was on the
+trail of a slippery, elusive criminal who was in a fair way to
+foist himself upon an honorable and decent community and an honorable
+and innocent jury as an honest man.
+
+Then he continued:
+
+  "Now, gentlemen, what are the facts? You can see for yourselves
+  exactly how this whole situation has come about.  You are sensible
+  men.  I don't need to tell you.  Here are two men, one elected
+  treasurer of the city of Philadelphia, sworn to guard the
+  interests of the city and to manipulate its finances to the best
+  advantage, and the other called in at a time of uncertain financial
+  cogitation to assist in unraveling a possibly difficult financial
+  problem; and then you have a case of a quiet, private financial
+  understanding being reached, and of subsequent illegal dealings
+  in which one man who is shrewder, wiser, more versed in the subtle
+  ways of Third Street leads the other along over seemingly charming
+  paths of fortunate investment into an accidental but none the
+  less criminal mire of failure and exposure and public calumny and
+  what not.  And then they get to the place where the more vulnerable
+  individual of the two--the man in the most dangerous position,
+  the city treasurer of Philadelphia, no less--can no longer
+  reasonably or, let us say, courageously, follow the other fellow;
+  and then you have such a spectacle as was described here this
+  afternoon in the witness-chair by Mr. Stener--that is, you have
+  a vicious, greedy, unmerciful financial wolf standing over a
+  cowering, unsophisticated commercial lamb, and saying to him,
+  his white, shiny teeth glittering all the while, 'If you don't
+  advance me the money I ask for--the three hundred thousand
+  dollars I now demand--you will be a convict, your children will
+  be thrown in the street, you and your wife and your family will
+  be in poverty again, and there will be no one to turn a hand
+  for you.'  That is what Mr. Stener says Mr. Cowperwood said to
+  him.  I, for my part, haven't a doubt in the world that he did.
+  Mr. Steger, in his very guarded references to his client,
+  describes him as a nice, kind, gentlemanly agent, a broker
+  merely on whom was practically forced the use of five hundred
+  thousand dollars at two and a half per cent. when money was
+  bringing from ten to fifteen per cent. in Third Street on call
+  loans, and even more.  But I for one don't choose to believe it.
+  The thing that strikes me as strange in all of this is that if
+  he was so nice and kind and gentle and remote--a mere hired and
+  therefore subservient agent--how is it that he could have gone
+  to Mr. Stener's office two or three days before the matter of
+  this sixty-thousand-dollar check came up and say to him, as Mr.
+  Stener testifies under oath that he did say to him, 'If you
+  don't give me three hundred thousand dollars' worth more of the
+  city's money at once, to-day, I will fail, and you will be a
+  convict.  You will go to the penitentiary.'? That's what he said
+  to him.  'I will fail and you will be a convict.  They can't
+  touch me, but they will arrest you.  I am an agent merely.'
+  Does that sound like a nice, mild, innocent, well-mannered agent,
+  a hired broker, or doesn't it sound like a hard, defiant,
+  contemptuous master--a man in control and ready to rule and win
+  by fair means or foul?
+
+  "Gentlemen, I hold no brief for George W. Stener.  In my judgment
+  he is as guilty as his smug co-partner in crime--if not more so--
+  this oily financier who came smiling and in sheep's clothing,
+  pointing out subtle ways by which the city's money could be made
+  profitable for both; but when I hear Mr. Cowperwood described as
+  I have just heard him described, as a nice, mild, innocent agent,
+  my gorge rises.  Why, gentlemen, if you want to get a right point
+  of view on this whole proposition you will have to go back about
+  ten or twelve years and see Mr. George W. Stener as he was then,
+  a rather poverty-stricken beginner in politics, and before this
+  very subtle and capable broker and agent came along and pointed
+  out ways and means by which the city's money could be made
+  profitable; George W. Stener wasn't very much of a personage then,
+  and neither was Frank A. Cowperwood when he found Stener newly
+  elected to the office of city treasurer.  Can't you see him arriving
+  at that time nice and fresh and young and well dressed, as shrewd
+  as a fox, and saying: 'Come to me.  Let me handle city loan.
+  Loan me the city's money at two per cent. or less.'  Can't you
+  hear him suggesting this? Can't you see him?
+
+  "George W. Stener was a poor man, comparatively a very poor man,
+  when he first became city treasurer.  All he had was a small
+  real-estate and insurance business which brought him in, say,
+  twenty-five hundred dollars a year.  He had a wife and four
+  children to support, and he had never had the slightest taste
+  of what for him might be called luxury or comfort.  Then comes
+  Mr. Cowperwood--at his request, to be sure, but on an errand
+  which held no theory of evil gains in Mr. Stener's mind at the
+  time--and proposes his grand scheme of manipulating all the city
+  loan to their mutual advantage.  Do you yourselves think,
+  gentlemen, from what you have seen of George W. Stener here on
+  the witness-stand, that it was he who proposed this plan of
+  ill-gotten wealth to that gentleman over there?"
+
+He pointed to Cowperwood.
+
+ "Does he look to you like a man who would be able to tell that
+  gentleman anything about finance or this wonderful manipulation
+  that followed? I ask you, does he look clever enough to suggest
+  all the subtleties by which these two subsequently made so much
+  money? Why, the statement of this man Cowperwood made to his
+  creditors at the time of his failure here a few weeks ago showed
+  that he considered himself to be worth over one million two
+  hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and he is only a little over
+  thirty-four years old to-day.  How much was he worth at the time
+  he first entered business relations with the ex-city treasurer?
+  Have you any idea? I can tell.  I had the matter looked up almost
+  a month ago on my accession to office.  Just a little over two
+  hundred thousand dollars, gentlemen--just a little over two
+  hundred thousand dollars.  Here is an abstract from the files of
+  Dun & Company for that year.  Now you can see how rapidly our
+  Caesar has grown in wealth since then.  You can see how profitable 
+  these few short years have been to him.  Was George W. Stener
+  worth any such sum up to the time he was removed from his office
+  and indicted for embezzlement? Was he? I have here a schedule of
+  his liabilities and assets made out at the time.  You can see it
+  for yourselves, gentlemen.  Just two hundred and twenty thousand
+  dollars measured the sum of all his property three weeks ago;
+  and it is an accurate estimate, as I have reason to know.  Why
+  was it, do you suppose, that Mr. Cowperwood grew so fast in 
+  wealth and Mr. Stener so slowly? They were partners in crime.
+  Mr. Stener was loaning Mr. Cowperwood vast sums of the city's
+  money at two per cent. when call-rates for money in Third Street
+  were sometimes as high as sixteen and seventeen per cent.  Don't
+  you suppose that Mr. Cowperwood sitting there knew how to use
+  this very cheaply come-by money to the very best advantage? Does
+  he look to you as though he didn't? You have seen him on the
+  witness-stand.  You have heard him testify.  Very suave, very 
+  straightforward-seeming, very innocent, doing everything as a
+  favor to Mr. Stener and his friends, of course, and yet making
+  a million in a little over six years and allowing Mr. Stener to
+  make one hundred and sixty thousand dollars or less, for Mr.
+  Stener had some little money at the time this partnership was
+  entered into--a few thousand dollars."
+
+Shannon now came to the vital transaction of October 9th, when
+Cowperwood called on Stener and secured the check for sixty thousand
+dollars from Albert Stires.  His scorn for this (as he appeared to
+think) subtle and criminal transaction was unbounded.  It was plain
+larceny, stealing, and Cowperwood knew it when he asked Stires for
+the check.
+
+  "Think of it! [Shannon exclaimed, turning and looking squarely
+  at Cowperwood, who faced him quite calmly, undisturbed and
+  unashamed.]  Think of it! Think of the colossal nerve of the
+  man--the Machiavellian subtlety of his brain.  He knew he was
+  going to fail.  He knew after two days of financial work--after
+  two days of struggle to offset the providential disaster which
+  upset his nefarious schemes--that he had exhausted every possible
+  resource save one, the city treasury, and that unless he could
+  compel aid there he was going to fail.  He already owed the city
+  treasury five hundred thousand dollars.  He had already used the
+  city treasurer as a cat's-paw so much, had involved him so deeply,
+  that the latter, because of the staggering size of the debt, was
+  becoming frightened.  Did that deter Mr. Cowperwood? Not at all."
+
+He shook his finger ominously in Cowperwood's face, and the latter
+turned irritably away.  "He is showing off for the benefit of his
+future," he whispered to Steger.  "I wish you could tell the jury
+that."
+
+"I wish I could," replied Steger, smiling scornfully, "but my hour
+is over."
+
+  "Why [continued Mr. Shannon, turning once more to the jury],
+  think of the colossal, wolfish nerve that would permit a man to
+  say to Albert Stires that he had just purchased sixty thousand
+  dollars' worth additional of city loan, and that he would then
+  and there take the check for it! Had he actually purchased this
+  city loan as he said he had? Who can tell? Could any human being
+  wind through all the mazes of the complicated bookkeeping system
+  which he ran, and actually tell? The best answer to that is that
+  if he did purchase the certificates he intended that it should
+  make no difference to the city, for he made no effort to put the
+  certificates in the sinking-fund, where they belonged.  His
+  counsel says, and he says, that he didn't have to until the first
+  of the month, although the law says that he must do it at once,
+  and he knew well enough that legally he was bound to do it.  His
+  counsel says, and he says, that he didn't know he was going to
+  fail.  Hence there was no need of worrying about it.  I wonder
+  if any of you gentlemen really believed that? Had he ever asked
+  for a check like that so quick before in his life? In all the
+  history of these nefarious transactions was there another incident
+  like that? You know there wasn't.  He had never before, on any
+  occasion, asked personally for a check for anything in this
+  office, and yet on this occasion he did it.  Why? Why should he
+  ask for it this time? A few hours more, according to his own
+  statement, wouldn't have made any difference one way or the other,
+  would it? He could have sent a boy for it, as usual.  That was
+  the way it had always been done before.  Why anything different
+  now? I'll tell you why! [Shannon suddenly shouted, varying his
+  voice tremendously.]  I'll tell you why! He knew that he was a
+  ruined man! He knew that his last semi-legitimate avenue of
+  escape--the favor of George W. Stener--had been closed to him!
+  He knew that honestly, by open agreement, he could not extract
+  another single dollar from the treasury of the city of
+  Philadelphia.  He knew that if he left the office without this
+  check and sent a boy for it, the aroused city treasurer would
+  have time to inform his clerks, and that then no further money
+  could be obtained.  That's why! That's why, gentlemen, if you
+  really want to know.
+
+  "Now, gentlemen of the jury, I am about done with my arraignment
+  of this fine, honorable, virtuous citizen whom the counsel for
+  the defense, Mr. Steger, tells you you cannot possibly convict
+  without doing a great injustice.  All I have to say is that you
+  look to me like sane, intelligent men--just the sort of men that
+  I meet everywhere in the ordinary walks of life, doing an
+  honorable American business in an honorable American way.  Now,
+  gentlemen of the jury [he was very soft-spoken now], all I have
+  to say is that if, after all you have heard and seen here to-day,
+  you still think that Mr. Frank A. Cowperwood is an honest,
+  honorable man--that he didn't steal, willfully and knowingly,
+  sixty thousand dollars from the Philadelphia city treasury; that
+  he had actually bought the certificates he said he had, and had
+  intended to put them in the sinking-fund, as he said he did,
+  then don't you dare to do anything except turn him loose, and
+  that speedily, so that he can go on back to-day into Third
+  Street, and start to straighten out his much-entangled financial
+  affairs.  It is the only thing for honest, conscientious men to
+  do--to turn him instantly loose into the heart of this community,
+  so that some of the rank injustice that my opponent, Mr. Steger,
+  alleges has been done him will be a little made up to him.  You
+  owe him, if that is the way you feel, a prompt acknowledgment of
+  his innocence.  Don't worry about George W. Stener.  His guilt
+  is established by his own confession.  He admits he is guilty.
+  He will be sentenced without trial later on.  But this man--he
+  says he is an honest, honorable man.  He says he didn't think he
+  was going to fail.  He says he used all that threatening,
+  compelling, terrifying language, not because he was in danger
+  of failing, but because he didn't want the bother of looking
+  further for aid.  What do you think? Do you really think that he
+  had purchased sixty thousand dollars more of certificates for
+  the sinking-fund, and that he was entitled to the money? If so,
+  why didn't he put them in the sinking-fund? They're not there
+  now, and the sixty thousand dollars is gone.  Who got it? The
+  Girard National Bank, where he was overdrawn to the extent of
+  one hundred thousand dollars! Did it get it and forty thousand
+  dollars more in other checks and certificates? Certainly.  Why?
+  Do you suppose the Girard National Bank might be in any way
+  grateful for this last little favor before he closed his doors?
+  Do you think that President Davison, whom you saw here testifying
+  so kindly in this case feels at all friendly, and that that may
+  possibly--I don't say that it does--explain his very kindly
+  interpretation of Mr. Cowperwood's condition? It might be.  You
+  can think as well along that line as I can.  Anyhow, gentlemen,
+  President Davison says Mr. Cowperwood is an honorable, honest
+  man, and so does his counsel, Mr. Steger.  You have heard the
+  testimony.  Now you think it over.  If you want to turn him
+  loose--turn him loose.  [He waved his hand wearily.]  You're
+  the judges.  I wouldn't; but then I am merely a hard-working
+  lawyer--one person, one opinion.  You may think differently--
+  that's your business.  [He waved his hand suggestively, almost
+  contemptuously.]  However, I'm through, and I thank you for
+  your courtesy.  Gentlemen, the decision rests with you."
+
+He turned away grandly, and the jury stirred--so did the idle
+spectators in the court.  Judge Payderson sighed a sigh of relief.
+It was now quite dark, and the flaring gas forms in the court were
+all brightly lighted.  Outside one could see that it was snowing.
+The judge stirred among his papers wearily, and turning to the
+jurors solemnly, began his customary explanation of the law, after
+which they filed out to the jury-room.
+
+Cowperwood turned to his father who now came over across the
+fast-emptying court, and said:
+
+"Well, we'll know now in a little while."
+
+"Yes," replied Cowperwood, Sr., a little wearily.  "I hope it comes
+out right.  I saw Butler back there a little while ago."
+
+"Did you?" queried Cowperwood, to whom this had a peculiar interest.
+
+"Yes," replied his father.  "He's just gone."
+
+So, Cowperwood thought, Butler was curious enough as to his fate
+to want to come here and watch him tried.  Shannon was his tool.
+Judge Payderson was his emissary, in a way.  He, Cowperwood, might
+defeat him in the matter of his daughter, but it was not so easy
+to defeat him here unless the jury should happen to take a
+sympathetic attitude.  They might convict him, and then Butler's
+Judge Payderson would have the privilege of sentencing him--giving
+him the maximum sentence.  That would not be so nice--five years!
+He cooled a little as he thought of it, but there was no use worrying
+about what had not yet happened.  Steger came forward and told him
+that his bail was now ended--had been the moment the jury left the
+room--and that he was at this moment actually in the care of the
+sheriff, of whom he knew--Sheriff Adlai Jaspers.  Unless he were
+acquitted by the jury, Steger added, he would have to remain in
+the sheriff's care until an application for a certificate of
+reasonable doubt could be made and acted upon.
+
+"It would take all of five days, Frank," Steger said, "but Jaspers
+isn't a bad sort.  He'd be reasonable.  Of course if we're lucky
+you won't have to visit him.  You will have to go with this bailiff
+now, though.  Then if things come out right we'll go home.  Say,
+I'd like to win this case," he said.  "I'd like to give them the
+laugh and see you do it.  I consider you've been pretty badly treated,
+and I think I made that perfectly clear.  I can reverse this verdict
+on a dozen grounds if they happen to decide against you."
+
+He and Cowperwood and the latter's father now stalked off with
+the sheriff's subordinate--a small man by the name of "Eddie"
+Zanders, who had approached to take charge.  They entered a small
+room called the pen at the back of the court, where all those on
+trial whose liberty had been forfeited by the jury's leaving the
+room had to wait pending its return.  It was a dreary, high-ceiled,
+four-square place, with a window looking out into Chestnut Street,
+and a second door leading off into somewhere--one had no idea where.
+It was dingy, with a worn wooden floor, some heavy, plain, wooden
+benches lining the four sides, no pictures or ornaments of any
+kind.  A single two-arm gas-pipe descended from the center of the
+ceiling.  It was permeated by a peculiarly stale and pungent odor,
+obviously redolent of all the flotsam and jetsam of life--criminal
+and innocent--that had stood or sat in here from time to time,
+waiting patiently to learn what a deliberating fate held in store.
+
+Cowperwood was, of course, disgusted; but he was too self-reliant
+and capable to show it.  All his life he had been immaculate,
+almost fastidious in his care of himself.  Here he was coming,
+perforce, in contact with a form of life which jarred upon him
+greatly.  Steger, who was beside him, made some comforting,
+explanatory, apologetic remarks.
+
+"Not as nice as it might be," he said, "but you won't mind waiting
+a little while.  The jury won't be long, I fancy."
+
+"That may not help me," he replied, walking to the window.
+Afterward he added: "What must be, must be."
+
+His father winced.  Suppose Frank was on the verge of a long
+prison term, which meant an atmosphere like this? Heavens! For a
+moment, he trembled, then for the first time in years he made a
+silent prayer.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLIV
+
+
+
+
+Meanwhile the great argument had been begun in the jury-room, and
+all the points that had been meditatively speculated upon in the
+jury-box were now being openly discussed.
+
+It is amazingly interesting to see how a jury will waver and
+speculate in a case like this--how curious and uncertain is the
+process by which it makes up its so-called mind.  So-called truth
+is a nebulous thing at best; facts are capable of such curious
+inversion and interpretation, honest and otherwise.  The jury had
+a strongly complicated problem before it, and it went over it and
+over it.
+
+Juries reach not so much definite conclusions as verdicts, in a
+curious fashion and for curious reasons.  Very often a jury will
+have concluded little so far as its individual members are concerned
+and yet it will have reached a verdict.  The matter of time, as all
+lawyers know, plays a part in this.  Juries, speaking of the members
+collectively and frequently individually, object to the amount of
+time it takes to decide a case.  They do not enjoy sitting and
+deliberating over a problem unless it is tremendously fascinating.
+The ramifications or the mystery of a syllogism can become a
+weariness and a bore.  The jury-room itself may and frequently does
+become a dull agony.
+
+On the other hand, no jury contemplates a disagreement with any
+degree of satisfaction.  There is something so inherently constructive
+in the human mind that to leave a problem unsolved is plain misery.
+It haunts the average individual like any other important task
+left unfinished.  Men in a jury-room, like those scientifically
+demonstrated atoms of a crystal which scientists and philosophers
+love to speculate upon, like finally to arrange themselves into an
+orderly and artistic whole, to present a compact, intellectual
+front, to be whatever they have set out to be, properly and rightly--
+a compact, sensible jury.  One sees this same instinct magnificently
+displayed in every other phase of nature--in the drifting of sea-wood
+to the Sargasso Sea, in the geometric interrelation of air-bubbles
+on the surface of still water, in the marvelous unreasoned architecture
+of so many insects and atomic forms which make up the substance
+and the texture of this world.  It would seem as though the physical
+substance of life--this apparition of form which the eye detects
+and calls real were shot through with some vast subtlety that loves
+order, that is order.  The atoms of our so-called being, in spite
+of our so-called reason--the dreams of a mood--know where to go
+and what to do.  They represent an order, a wisdom, a willing that
+is not of us.  They build orderly in spite of us.  So the subconscious
+spirit of a jury.  At the same time, one does not forget the strange
+hypnotic effect of one personality on another, the varying effects
+of varying types on each other, until a solution--to use the word
+in its purely chemical sense--is reached.  In a jury-room the
+thought or determination of one or two or three men, if it be
+definite enough, is likely to pervade the whole room and conquer
+the reason or the opposition of the majority.  One man "standing
+out" for the definite thought that is in him is apt to become either
+the triumphant leader of a pliant mass or the brutally battered
+target of a flaming, concentrated intellectual fire.  Men despise
+dull opposition that is without reason.  In a jury-room, of all
+places, a man is expected to give a reason for the faith that is
+in him--if one is demanded.  It will not do to say, "I cannot agree."
+Jurors have been known to fight.  Bitter antagonisms lasting for
+years have been generated in these close quarters.  Recalcitrant
+jurors have been hounded commercially in their local spheres for
+their unreasoned oppositions or conclusions.
+
+After reaching the conclusion that Cowperwood unquestionably
+deserved some punishment, there was wrangling as to whether the
+verdict should be guilty on all four counts, as charged in the
+indictment.  Since they did not understand how to differentiate
+between the various charges very well, they decided it should be
+on all four, and a recommendation to mercy added.  Afterward this
+last was eliminated, however; either he was guilty or he was not.
+The judge could see as well as they could all the extenuating
+circumstances--perhaps better.  Why tie his hands? As a rule no
+attention was paid to such recommendations, anyhow, and it only
+made the jury look wabbly.
+
+So, finally, at ten minutes after twelve that night, they were
+ready to return a verdict; and Judge Payderson, who, because of
+his interest in the case and the fact that he lived not so far
+away, had decided to wait up this long, was recalled.  Steger and
+Cowperwood were sent for.  The court-room was fully lighted.  The
+bailiff, the clerk, and the stenographer were there.  The jury
+filed in, and Cowperwood, with Steger at his right, took his
+position at the gate which gave into the railed space where prisoners
+always stand to hear the verdict and listen to any commentary of
+the judge.  He was accompanied by his father, who was very nervous.
+
+For the first time in his life he felt as though he were walking
+in his sleep.  Was this the real Frank Cowperwood of two months
+before--so wealthy, so progressive, so sure? Was this only December
+5th or 6th now (it was after midnight)? Why was it the jury had
+deliberated so long? What did it mean? Here they were now, standing
+and gazing solemnly before them; and here now was Judge Payderson,
+mounting the steps of his rostrum, his frizzled hair standing out
+in a strange, attractive way, his familiar bailiff rapping for
+order.  He did not look at Cowperwood--it would not be courteous--
+but at the jury, who gazed at him in return.  At the words of the
+clerk, "Gentlemen of the jury, have you agreed upon a verdict?"
+the foreman spoke up, "We have."
+
+"Do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty?"
+
+"We find the defendant guilty as charged in the indictment."
+
+How had they come to do this? Because he had taken a check for
+sixty thousand dollars which did not belong to him? But in reality
+it did.  Good Lord, what was sixty thousand dollars in the sum
+total of all the money that had passed back and forth between him
+and George W. Stener? Nothing, nothing! A mere bagatelle in its
+way; and yet here it had risen up, this miserable, insignificant
+check, and become a mountain of opposition, a stone wall, a
+prison-wall barring his further progress.  It was astonishing.
+He looked around him at the court-room.  How large and bare and
+cold it was! Still he was Frank A. Cowperwood.  Why should he let
+such queer thoughts disturb him? His fight for freedom and privilege
+and restitution was not over yet.  Good heavens! It had only begun.
+In five days he would be out again on bail.  Steger would take an
+appeal.  He would be out, and he would have two long months in
+which to make an additional fight.  He was not down yet.  He would
+win his liberty.  This jury was all wrong.  A higher court would
+say so.  It would reverse their verdict, and he knew it.  He turned
+to Steger, where the latter was having the clerk poll the jury, in
+the hope that some one juror had been over-persuaded, made to vote
+against his will.
+
+"Is that your verdict?" he heard the clerk ask of Philip Moultrie,
+juror No. 1.
+
+"It is," replied that worthy, solemnly.
+
+"Is that your verdict?" The clerk was pointing to Simon Glassberg.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Is that your verdict?" He pointed to Fletcher Norton.
+
+"Yes."
+
+So it went through the whole jury.  All the men answered firmly
+and clearly, though Steger thought it might barely be possible
+that one would have changed his mind.  The judge thanked them and
+told them that in view of their long services this night, they
+were dismissed for the term.  The only thing remaining to be done
+now was for Steger to persuade Judge Payderson to grant a stay of
+sentence pending the hearing of a motion by the State Supreme Court
+for a new trial.
+
+The Judge looked at Cowperwood very curiously as Steger made this
+request in proper form, and owing to the importance of the case
+and the feeling he had that the Supreme Court might very readily
+grant a certificate of reasonable doubt in this case, he agreed.
+There was nothing left, therefore, but for Cowperwood to return
+at this late hour with the deputy sheriff to the county jail, where
+he must now remain for five days at least--possibly longer.
+
+The jail in question, which was known locally as Moyamensing Prison,
+was located at Tenth and Reed Streets, and from an architectural
+and artistic point of view was not actually displeasing to the eye.
+It consisted of a central portion--prison, residence for the sheriff
+or what you will--three stories high, with a battlemented cornice
+and a round battlemented tower about one-third as high as the
+central portion itself, and two wings, each two stories high,
+with battlemented turrets at either end, giving it a highly
+castellated and consequently, from the American point of view, a
+very prison-like appearance.  The facade of the prison, which was
+not more than thirty-five feet high for the central portion, nor
+more than twenty-five feet for the wings, was set back at least a
+hundred feet from the street, and was continued at either end,
+from the wings to the end of the street block, by a stone wall
+all of twenty feet high.  The structure was not severely prison-like,
+for the central portion was pierced by rather large, unbarred
+apertures hung on the two upper stories with curtains, and giving
+the whole front a rather pleasant and residential air.  The wing
+to the right, as one stood looking in from the street, was the
+section known as the county jail proper, and was devoted to the
+care of prisoners serving short-term sentences on some judicial
+order.  The wing to the left was devoted exclusively to the care
+and control of untried prisoners.  The whole building was built
+of a smooth, light-colored stone, which on a snowy night like this,
+with the few lamps that were used in it glowing feebly in the dark,
+presented an eery, fantastic, almost supernatural appearance.
+
+It was a rough and blowy night when Cowperwood started for this
+institution under duress.  The wind was driving the snow before
+it in curious, interesting whirls.  Eddie Zanders, the sheriff's
+deputy on guard at the court of Quarter Sessions, accompanied him
+and his father and Steger.  Zanders was a little man, dark, with
+a short, stubby mustache, and a shrewd though not highly intelligent
+eye.  He was anxious first to uphold his dignity as a deputy
+sheriff, which was a very important position in his estimation,
+and next to turn an honest penny if he could.  He knew little save
+the details of his small world, which consisted of accompanying
+prisoners to and from the courts and the jails, and seeing that
+they did not get away.  He was not unfriendly to a particular type
+of prisoner--the well-to-do or moderately prosperous--for he had
+long since learned that it paid to be so.  To-night he offered a
+few sociable suggestions--viz., that it was rather rough, that the
+jail was not so far but that they could walk, and that Sheriff
+Jaspers would, in all likelihood, be around or could be aroused.
+Cowperwood scarcely heard.  He was thinking of his mother and his
+wife and of Aileen.
+
+When the jail was reached he was led to the central portion, as
+it was here that the sheriff, Adlai Jaspers, had his private office.
+Jaspers had recently been elected to office, and was inclined to
+conform to all outward appearances, in so far as the proper conduct
+of his office was concerned, without in reality inwardly conforming.
+Thus it was generally known among the politicians that one way he
+had of fattening his rather lean salary was to rent private rooms
+and grant special privileges to prisoners who had the money to pay
+for the same.  Other sheriffs had done it before him.  In fact,
+when Jaspers was inducted into office, several prisoners were already
+enjoying these privileges, and it was not a part of his scheme of
+things to disturb them.  The rooms that he let to the "right
+parties," as he invariably put it, were in the central portion of
+the jail, where were his own private living quarters.  They were
+unbarred, and not at all cell-like.  There was no particular danger
+of escape, for a guard stood always at his private door instructed
+"to keep an eye" on the general movements of all the inmates.  A
+prisoner so accommodated was in many respects quite a free person.
+His meals were served to him in his room, if he wished.  He could
+read or play cards, or receive guests; and if he had any favorite
+musical instrument, that was not denied him.  There was just one
+rule that had to be complied with.  If he were a public character,
+and any newspaper men called, he had to be brought down-stairs
+into the private interviewing room in order that they might not
+know that he was not confined in a cell like any other prisoner.
+
+Nearly all of these facts had been brought to Cowperwood's
+attention beforehand by Steger; but for all that, when he crossed
+the threshold of the jail a peculiar sensation of strangeness and
+defeat came over him.  He and his party were conducted to a little
+office to the left of the entrance, where were only a desk and a
+chair, dimly lighted by a low-burning gas-jet.  Sheriff Jaspers,
+rotund and ruddy, met them, greeting them in quite a friendly way.
+Zanders was dismissed, and went briskly about his affairs.
+
+"A bad night, isn't it?" observed Jaspers, turning up the gas and
+preparing to go through the routine of registering his prisoner.
+Steger came over and held a short, private conversation with him
+in his corner, over his desk which resulted presently in the
+sheriff's face lighting up.
+
+"Oh, certainly, certainly! That's all right, Mr. Steger, to be
+sure! Why, certainly!"
+
+Cowperwood, eyeing the fat sheriff from his position, understood
+what it was all about.  He had regained completely his critical
+attitude, his cool, intellectual poise.  So this was the jail,
+and this was the fat mediocrity of a sheriff who was to take care
+of him.  Very good.  He would make the best of it.  He wondered
+whether he was to be searched--prisoners usually were--but he
+soon discovered that he was not to be.
+
+"That's all right, Mr. Cowperwood," said Jaspers, getting up.
+"I guess I can make you comfortable, after a fashion.  We're not
+running a hotel here, as you know"--he chuckled to himself--"but
+I guess I can make you comfortable.  John," he called to a sleepy
+factotum, who appeared from another room, rubbing his eyes, "is
+the key to Number Six down here?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Let me have it."
+
+John disappeared and returned, while Steger explained to Cowperwood
+that anything he wanted in the way of clothing, etc., could be
+brought in.  Steger himself would stop round next morning and
+confer with him, as would any of the members of Cowperwood's family
+whom he wished to see.  Cowperwood immediately explained to his
+father his desire for as little of this as possible.  Joseph or
+Edward might come in the morning and bring a grip full of underwear,
+etc.; but as for the others, let them wait until he got out or had
+to remain permanently.  He did think of writing Aileen, cautioning
+her to do nothing; but the sheriff now beckoned, and he quietly
+followed.  Accompanied by his father and Steger, he ascended to
+his new room.
+
+It was a simple, white-walled chamber fifteen by twenty feet in
+size, rather high-ceiled, supplied with a high-backed, yellow wooden
+bed, a yellow bureau, a small imitation-cherry table, three very
+ordinary cane-seated chairs with carved hickory-rod backs,
+cherry-stained also, and a wash-stand of yellow-stained wood to
+match the bed, containing a washbasin, a pitcher, a soap-dish,
+uncovered, and a small, cheap, pink-flowered tooth and shaving
+brush mug, which did not match the other ware and which probably
+cost ten cents.  The value of this room to Sheriff Jaspers was
+what he could get for it in cases like this--twenty-five to
+thirty-five dollars a week.  Cowperwood would pay thirty-five.
+
+Cowperwood walked briskly to the window, which gave out on the
+lawn in front, now embedded in snow, and said he thought this was
+all right.  Both his father and Steger were willing and anxious
+to confer with him for hours, if he wished; but there was nothing
+to say.  He did not wish to talk.
+
+"Let Ed bring in some fresh linen in the morning and a couple of
+suits of clothes, and I will be all right.  George can get my
+things together."  He was referring to a family servant who acted
+as valet and in other capacities.  "Tell Lillian not to worry.
+I'm all right.  I'd rather she would not come here so long as I'm
+going to be out in five days.  If I'm not, it will be time enough
+then.  Kiss the kids for me."  And he smiled good-naturedly.
+
+After his unfulfilled predictions in regard to the result of this
+preliminary trial Steger was almost afraid to suggest confidently
+what the State Supreme Court would or would not do; but he had
+to say something.
+
+"I don't think you need worry about what the outcome of my appeal
+will be, Frank.  I'll get a certificate of reasonable doubt, and
+that's as good as a stay of two months, perhaps longer.  I don't
+suppose the bail will be more than thirty thousand dollars at the
+outside.  You'll be out again in five or six days, whatever happens."
+
+Cowperwood said that he hoped so, and suggested that they drop
+matters for the night.  After a few fruitless parleys his father
+and Steger finally said good night, leaving him to his own private
+reflections.  He was tired, however, and throwing off his clothes,
+tucked himself in his mediocre bed, and was soon fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLV
+
+
+
+
+Say what one will about prison life in general, modify it ever so
+much by special chambers, obsequious turnkeys, a general tendency
+to make one as comfortable as possible, a jail is a jail, and there
+is no getting away from that.  Cowperwood, in a room which was not
+in any way inferior to that of the ordinary boarding-house, was
+nevertheless conscious of the character of that section of this
+real prison which was not yet his portion.  He knew that there were
+cells there, probably greasy and smelly and vermin-infested, and
+that they were enclosed by heavy iron bars, which would have as
+readily clanked on him as on those who were now therein incarcerated
+if he had not had the price to pay for something better.  So much
+for the alleged equality of man, he thought, which gave to one man,
+even within the grim confines of the machinery of justice, such
+personal liberty as he himself was now enjoying, and to another,
+because he chanced to lack wit or presence or friends or wealth,
+denied the more comfortable things which money would buy.
+
+The morning after the trial, on waking, he stirred curiously, and
+then it suddenly came to him that he was no longer in the free and
+comfortable atmosphere of his own bedroom, but in a jail-cell, or
+rather its very comfortable substitute, a sheriff's rented bedroom.
+He got up and looked out the window.  The ground outside and
+Passayunk Avenue were white with snow.  Some wagons were silently
+lumbering by.  A few Philadelphians were visible here and there,
+going to and fro on morning errands.  He began to think at once
+what he must do, how he must act to carry on his buiness, to
+rehabilitate himself; and as he did so he dressed and pulled the
+bell-cord, which had been indicated to him, and which would bring
+him an attendant who would build him a fire and later bring him
+something to eat.  A shabby prison attendant in a blue uniform,
+conscious of Cowperwood's superiority because of the room he
+occupied, laid wood and coal in the grate and started a fire, and
+later brought him his breakfast, which was anything but prison
+fare, though poor enough at that.
+
+After that he was compelled to wait in patience several hours, in
+spite of the sheriff's assumption of solicitous interest, before
+his brother Edward was admitted with his clothes.  An attendant,
+for a consideration, brought him the morning papers, and these,
+except for the financial news, he read indifferently.  Late in
+the afternoon Steger arrived, saying he had been busy having certain
+proceedings postponed, but that he had arranged with the sheriff
+for Cowperwood to be permitted to see such of those as had important
+business with him.
+
+By this time, Cowperwood had written Aileen under no circumstances
+to try to see him, as he would be out by the tenth, and that either
+that day, or shortly after, they would meet.  As he knew, she
+wanted greatly to see him, but he had reason to believe she was
+under surveillance by detectives employed by her father.  This was
+not true, but it was preying on her fancy, and combined with some
+derogatory remarks dropped by Owen and Callum at the dinner table
+recently, had proved almost too much for her fiery disposition.
+But, because of Cowperwood's letter reaching her at the Calligans',
+she made no move until she read on the morning of the tenth that
+Cowperwood's plea for a certificate of reasonable doubt had been
+granted, and that he would once more, for the time being at least,
+be a free man.  This gave her courage to do what she had long
+wanted to do, and that was to teach her father that she could get
+along without him and that he could not make her do anything she
+did not want to do.  She still had the two hundred dollars Cowperwood
+had given her and some additional cash of her own--perhaps three
+hundred and fifty dollars in all.  This she thought would be
+sufficient to see her to the end of her adventure, or at least
+until she could make some other arrangement for her personal
+well-being.  From what she knew of the feeling of her family for
+her, she felt that the agony would all be on their side, not hers.
+Perhaps when her father saw how determined she was he would decide
+to let her alone and make peace with her.  She was determined to
+try it, anyhow, and immediately sent word to Cowperwood that she
+was going to the Calligans and would welcome him to freedom.
+
+In a way, Cowperwood was rather gratified by Aileen's message,
+for he felt that his present plight, bitter as it was, was largely
+due to Butler's opposition and he felt no compunction in striking
+him through his daughter.  His former feeling as to the wisdom of
+not enraging Butler had proved rather futile, he thought, and since
+the old man could not be placated it might be just as well to have
+Aileen demonstrate to him that she was not without resources of
+her own and could live without him.  She might force him to change
+his attitude toward her and possibly even to modify some of his
+political machinations against him, Cowperwood.  Any port in a
+storm--and besides, he had now really nothing to lose, and instinct
+told him that her move was likely to prove more favorable than
+otherwise--so he did nothing to prevent it.
+
+She took her jewels, some underwear, a couple of dresses which
+she thought would be serviceable, and a few other things, and
+packed them in the most capacious portmanteau she had.  Shoes and
+stockings came into consideration, and, despite her efforts, she
+found that she could not get in all that she wished.  Her nicest
+hat, which she was determined to take, had to be carried outside.
+She made a separate bundle of it, which was not pleasant to
+contemplate.  Still she decided to take it.  She rummaged in a
+little drawer where she kept her money and jewels, and found the
+three hundred and fifty dollars and put it in her purse.  It wasn't
+much, as Aileen could herself see, but Cowperwood would help her.
+If he did not arrange to take care of her, and her father would
+not relent, she would have to get something to do.  Little she
+knew of the steely face the world presents to those who have not
+been practically trained and are not economically efficient.  She
+did not understand the bitter reaches of life at all.  She waited,
+humming for effect, until she heard her father go downstairs to
+dinner on this tenth day of December, then leaned over the upper
+balustrade to make sure that Owen, Callum, Norah, and her mother
+were at the table, and that Katy, the housemaid, was not anywhere
+in sight.  Then she slipped into her father's den, and, taking a
+note from inside her dress, laid it on his desk, and went out.
+It was addressed to "Father," and read:
+
+  Dear Father,--I just cannot do what you want me to.  I have made
+  up my mind that I love Mr. Cowperwood too much, so I am going
+  away.  Don't look for me with him.  You won't find me where you
+  think.  I am not going to him; I will not be there.  I am going
+  to try to get along by myself for a while, until he wants me and
+  can marry me.  I'm terribly sorry; but I just can't do what you
+  want.  I can't ever forgive you for the way you acted to me.
+  Tell mama and Norah and the boys good-by for me.
+ 
+                                                       Aileen
+
+To insure its discovery, she picked up Butler's heavy-rimmed
+spectacles which he employed always when reading, and laid them
+on it.  For a moment she felt very strange, somewhat like a thief--
+a new sensation for her.  She even felt a momentary sense of
+ingratitude coupled with pain.  Perhaps she was doing wrong.  Her
+father had been very good to her.  Her mother would feel so very
+bad.  Norah would be sorry, and Callum and Owen.  Still, they did
+not understand her any more.  She was resentful of her father's
+attitude.  He might have seen what the point was; but no, he was
+too old, too hidebound in religion and conventional ideas--he never
+would.  He might never let her come back.  Very well, she would
+get along somehow.  She would show him.  She might get a place as
+a school-teacher, and live with the Calligans a long while, if
+necessary, or teach music.
+
+She stole downstairs and out into the vestibule, opening the outer
+door and looking out into the street.  The lamps were already
+flaring in the dark, and a cool wind was blowing.  Her portmanteau
+was heavy, but she was quite strong.  She walked briskly to the
+corner, which was some fifty feet away, and turned south, walking
+rather nervously and irritably, for this was a new experience for
+her, and it all seemed so undignified, so unlike anything she was
+accustomed to doing.  She put her bag down on a street corner,
+finally, to rest.  A boy whistling in the distance attracted her
+attention, and as he drew near she called to him: "Boy! Oh, boy!"
+
+He came over, looking at her curiously.
+
+"Do you want to earn some money?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am," he replied politely, adjusting a frowsy cap over one
+ear.
+
+"Carry this bag for me," said Aileen, and he picked it up and
+marched off.
+
+In due time she arrived at the Calligans', and amid much excitement
+was installed in the bosom of her new home.  She took her situation
+with much nonchalance, once she was properly placed, distributing
+her toilet articles and those of personal wear with quiet care.
+The fact that she was no longer to have the services of Kathleen,
+the maid who had served her and her mother and Norah jointly, was
+odd, though not trying.  She scarcely felt that she had parted
+from these luxuries permanently, and so made herself comfortable.
+
+Mamie Calligan and her mother were adoring slaveys, so she was not
+entirely out of the atmosphere which she craved and to which she
+was accustomed.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLVI
+
+
+
+
+Meanwhile, in the Butler home the family was assembling for dinner.
+Mrs. Butler was sitting in rotund complacency at the foot of the
+table, her gray hair combed straight back from her round, shiny
+forehead.  She had on a dark-gray silk dress, trimmed with
+gray-and-white striped ribbon.  It suited her florid temperament
+admirably.  Aileen had dictated her mother's choice, and had seen
+that it had been properly made.  Norah was refreshingly youthful
+in a pale-green dress, with red-velvet cuffs and collar.  She
+looked young, slender, gay.  Her eyes, complexion and hair were fresh
+and healthy.  She was trifling with a string of coral beads which
+her mother had just given her.
+
+"Oh, look, Callum," she said to her brother opposite her, who was
+drumming idly on the table with his knife and fork.  "Aren't they
+lovely? Mama gave them to me."
+
+"Mama does more for you than I would.  You know what you'd get
+from me, don't you?"
+
+"What?"
+
+He looked at her teasingly.  For answer Norah made a face at him.
+Just then Owen came in and took his place at the table.  Mrs.
+Butler saw Norah's grimace.
+
+"Well, that'll win no love from your brother, ye can depend on
+that," she commented.
+
+"Lord, what a day!" observed Owen, wearily, unfolding his napkin.
+"I've had my fill of work for once."
+
+"What's the trouble?" queried his mother, feelingly.
+
+"No real trouble, mother," he replied.  "Just everything--ducks
+and drakes, that's all."
+
+"Well, ye must ate a good, hearty meal now, and that'll refresh
+ye," observed his mother, genially and feelingly.  "Thompson"--she
+was referring to the family grocer--"brought us the last of his
+beans.  You must have some of those."
+
+"Sure, beans'll fix it, whatever it is, Owen," joked Callum.
+"Mother's got the answer."
+
+"They're fine, I'd have ye know," replied Mrs. Butler, quite
+unconscious of the joke.
+
+"No doubt of it, mother," replied Callum.  "Real brain-food.  Let's
+feed some to Norah."
+
+"You'd better eat some yourself, smarty.  My, but you're gay! I
+suppose you're going out to see somebody.  That's why."
+
+"Right you are, Norah.  Smart girl, you.  Five or six.  Ten to
+fifteen minutes each.  I'd call on you if you were nicer."
+
+"You would if you got the chance," mocked Norah.  "I'd have you
+know I wouldn't let you.  I'd feel very bad if I couldn't get
+somebody better than you."
+
+"As good as, you mean," corrected Callum.
+
+"Children, children!" interpolated Mrs. Butler, calmly, looking
+about for old John, the servant.  "You'll be losin' your tempers
+in a minute.  Hush now.  Here comes your father.  Where's Aileen?"
+
+Butler walked heavily in and took his seat.
+
+John, the servant, appeared bearing a platter of beans among other
+things, and Mrs. Butler asked him to send some one to call Aileen.
+
+"It's gettin' colder, I'm thinkin'," said Butler, by way of
+conversation, and eyeing Aileen's empty chair.  She would come soon
+now--his heavy problem.  He had been very tactful these last two
+months--avoiding any reference to Cowperwood in so far as he could
+help in her presence.
+
+"It's colder," remarked Owen, "much colder.  We'll soon see real
+winter now."
+
+Old John began to offer the various dishes in order; but when all
+had been served Aileen had not yet come.
+
+"See where Aileen is, John," observed Mrs. Butler, interestedly.
+"The meal will be gettin' cold."
+
+Old John returned with the news that Aileen was not in her room.
+
+"Sure she must be somewhere," commented Mrs. Butler, only slightly
+perplexed.  "She'll be comin', though, never mind, if she wants to.
+She knows it's meal-time."
+
+The conversation drifted from a new water-works that was being
+planned to the new city hall, then nearing completion; Cowperwood's
+financial and social troubles, and the state of the stock market
+generally; a new gold-mine in Arizona; the departure of Mrs.
+Mollenhauer the following Tuesday for Europe, with appropriate
+comments by Norah and Callum; and a Christmas ball that was going
+to be given for charity.
+
+"Aileen'll be wantin' to go to that," commented Mrs.  Butler.
+
+"I'm going, you bet," put in Norah.
+
+"Who's going to take you?" asked Callum.
+
+"That's my affair, mister," she replied, smartly.
+
+The meal was over, and Mrs. Butler strolled up to Aileen's room
+to see why she had not come down to dinner.  Butler entered his
+den, wishing so much that he could take his wife into his confidence
+concerning all that was worrying him.  On his desk, as he sat down
+and turned up the light, he saw the note.  He recognized Aileen's
+handwriting at once.   What could she mean by writing him? A sense
+of the untoward came to him, and he tore it open slowly, and,
+putting on his glasses, contemplated it solemnly.
+
+So Aileen was gone.  The old man stared at each word as if it had
+been written in fire.  She said she had not gone with Cowperwood.
+It was possible, just the same, that he had run away from Philadelphia
+and taken her with him.  This was the last straw.  This ended it.
+Aileen lured away from home--to where--to what? Butler could scarcely
+believe, though, that Cowperwood had tempted her to do this.  He
+had too much at stake; it would involve his own and Butler's families.
+The papers would be certain to get it quickly.  He got up, crumpling
+the paper in his hand, and turned about at a noise.  His wife was
+coming in.  He pulled himself together and shoved the letter in
+his pocket.
+
+"Aileen's not in her room," she said, curiously.  "She didn't say
+anything to you about going out, did she?"
+
+"No," he replied, truthfully, wondering how soon he should have
+to tell his wife.
+
+"That's odd," observed Mrs. Butler, doubtfully.  "She must have
+gone out after somethin'.  It's a wonder she wouldn't tell somebody."
+
+Butler gave no sign.  He dared not.  "She'll be back," he said,
+more in order to gain time than anything else.  He was sorry to
+have to pretend.  Mrs. Butler went out, and he closed the door.
+Then he took out the letter and read it again.  The girl was crazy.
+She was doing an absolutely wild, inhuman, senseless thing.  Where
+could she go, except to Cowperwood? She was on the verge of a
+public scandal, and this would produce it.  There was just one
+thing to do as far as he could see.  Cowperwood, if he were still
+in Philadelphia, would know.  He would go to him--threaten, cajole,
+actually destroy him, if necessary.  Aileen must come back.  She
+need not go to Europe, perhaps, but she must come back and behave
+herself at least until Cowperwood could legitimately marry her.
+That was all he could expect now.  She would have to wait, and some
+day perhaps he could bring himself to accept her wretched proposition.
+Horrible thought! It would kill her mother, disgrace her sister.
+He got up, took down his hat, put on his overcoat, and started out.
+
+Arriving at the Cowperwood home he was shown into the reception-room.
+Cowperwood at the time was in his den looking over some private
+papers.  When the name of Butler was announced he immediately went
+down-stairs.  It was characteristic of the man that the announcement
+of Butler's presence created no stir in him whatsoever.  So Butler
+had come.  That meant, of course, that Aileen had gone.  Now for
+a battle, not of words, but of weights of personalities.  He felt
+himself to be intellectually, socially, and in every other way the
+more powerful man of the two.  That spiritual content of him which
+we call life hardened to the texture of steel.  He recalled that
+although he had told his wife and his father that the politicians,
+of whom Butler was one, were trying to make a scapegoat of him,
+Butler, nevertheless, was not considered to be wholly alienated
+as a friend, and civility must prevail.  He would like very much
+to placate him if he could, to talk out the hard facts of life in
+a quiet and friendly way.  But this matter of Aileen had to be
+adjusted now once and for all.  And with that thought in his mind
+he walked quickly into Butler's presence.
+
+The old man, when he learned that Cowperwood was in and would see
+him, determined to make his contact with the financier as short
+and effective as possible.  He moved the least bit when he heard
+Cowperwood's step, as light and springy as ever.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Butler," said Cowperwood, cheerfully, when he
+saw him, extending his hand.  "What can I do for you?"
+
+"Ye can take that away from in front of me, for one thing," said
+Butler, grimly referring to his hand.  "I have no need of it.
+It's my daughter I've come to talk to ye about, and I want plain
+answers.  Where is she?"
+
+"You mean Aileen?" said Cowperwood, looking at him with steady,
+curious, unrevealing eyes, and merely interpolating this to obtain
+a moment for reflection.  "What can I tell you about her?"
+
+"Ye can tell me where she is, that I know.  And ye can make her
+come back to her home, where she belongs.  It was bad fortune that
+ever brought ye across my doorstep; but I'll not bandy words with
+ye here.  Ye'll tell me where my daughter is, and ye'll leave her
+alone from now, or I'll--" The old man's fists closed like a vise,
+and his chest heaved with suppressed rage.  "Ye'll not be drivin'
+me too far, man, if ye're wise," he added, after a time, recovering
+his equanimity in part.  "I want no truck with ye.  I want my
+daughter."
+
+"Listen, Mr. Butler," said Cowperwood, quite calmly, relishing the
+situation for the sheer sense of superiority it gave him.  "I want
+to be perfectly frank with you, if you will let me.  I may know
+where your daughter is, and I may not.  I may wish to tell you,
+and I may not.  She may not wish me to.  But unless you wish to
+talk with me in a civil way there is no need of our going on any
+further.  You are privileged to do what you like.  Won't you come
+up-stairs to my room? We can talk more comfortably there."
+
+Butler looked at his former protege in utter astonishment.  He
+had never before in all his experience come up against a more
+ruthless type--suave, bland, forceful, unterrified.  This man
+had certainly come to him as a sheep, and had turned out to be a
+ravening wolf.  His incarceration had not put him in the least awe.
+
+"I'll not come up to your room," Butler said, "and ye'll not get
+out of Philadelphy with her if that's what ye're plannin'.  I can
+see to that.  Ye think ye have the upper hand of me, I see, and
+ye're anxious to make something of it.  Well, ye're not.  It
+wasn't enough that ye come to me as a beggar, cravin' the help of
+me, and that I took ye in and helped ye all I could--ye had to
+steal my daughter from me in the bargain.  If it wasn't for the
+girl's mother and her sister and her brothers--dacenter men than
+ever ye'll know how to be--I'd brain ye where ye stand.  Takin'
+a young, innocent girl and makin' an evil woman out of her, and
+ye a married man! It's a God's blessin' for ye that it's me, and
+not one of me sons, that's here talkin' to ye, or ye wouldn't be
+alive to say what ye'd do."
+
+The old man was grim but impotent in his rage.
+
+"I'm sorry, Mr. Butler," replied Cowperwood, quietly.  "I'm willing
+to explain, but you won't let me.  I'm not planning to run away
+with your daughter, nor to leave Philadelphia.  You ought to know
+me well enough to know that I'm not contemplating anything of that
+kind; my interests are too large.  You and I are practical men.
+We ought to be able to talk this matter over together and reach
+an understanding.  I thought once of coming to you and explaining
+this; but I was quite sure you wouldn't listen to me.  Now that
+you are here I would like to talk to you.  If you will come up to
+my room I will be glad to--otherwise not.  Won't you come up?"
+
+Butler saw that Cowperwood had the advantage.  He might as well
+go up.  Otherwise it was plain he would get no information.
+
+"Very well," he said.
+
+Cowperwood led the way quite amicably, and, having entered his
+private office, closed the door behind him.
+
+"We ought to be able to talk this matter over and reach an
+understanding," he said again, when they were in the room and he
+had closed the door.  "I am not as bad as you think, though I know
+I appear very bad."  Butler stared at him in contempt.  "I love
+your daughter, and she loves me.  I know you are asking yourself
+how I can do this while I am still married; but I assure you I can,
+and that I do.  I am not happily married.  I had expected, if this
+panic hadn't come along, to arrange with my wife for a divorce and
+marry Aileen.  My intentions are perfectly good.  The situation
+which you can complain of, of course, is the one you encountered
+a few weeks ago.  It was indiscreet, but it was entirely human.
+Your daughter does not complain--she understands."  At the mention
+of his daughter in this connection Butler flushed with rage and
+shame, but he controlled himself.
+
+"And ye think because she doesn't complain that it's all right,
+do ye?" he asked, sarcastically.
+
+"From my point of view, yes; from yours no.  You have one view of
+life, Mr. Butler, and I have another."
+
+"Ye're right there," put in Butler, "for once, anyhow."
+
+"That doesn't prove that either of us is right or wrong.  In my
+judgment the present end justifies the means.  The end I have in
+view is to marry Aileen.  If I can possibly pull myself out of
+this financial scrape that I am in I will do so.  Of course, I
+would like to have your consent for that--so would Aileen; but if
+we can't, we can't."  (Cowperwood was thinking that while this
+might not have a very soothing effect on the old contractor's
+point of view, nevertheless it must make some appeal to his sense
+of the possible or necessary.  Aileen's present situation was quite
+unsatisfactory without marriage in view.  And even if he,
+Cowperwood, was a convicted embezzler in the eyes of the public,
+that did not make him so.  He might get free and restore himself--
+would certainly--and Aileen ought to be glad to marry him if she
+could under the circumstances.  He did not quite grasp the depth
+of Butler's religious and moral prejudices.)  "Lately," he went
+on, "you have been doing all you can, as I understand it, to pull
+me down, on account of Aileen, I suppose; but that is simply
+delaying what I want to do."
+
+"Ye'd like me to help ye do that, I suppose?" suggested Butler,
+with infinite disgust and patience.
+
+"I want to marry Aileen," Cowperwood repeated, for emphasis' sake.
+"She wants to marry me.  Under the circumstances, however you may
+feel, you can have no real objection to my doing that, I am sure;
+yet you go on fighting me--making it hard for me to do what you
+really know ought to be done."
+
+"Ye're a scoundrel," said Butler, seeing through his motives quite
+clearly.  "Ye're a sharper, to my way of thinkin', and it's no
+child of mine I want connected with ye.  I'm not sayin', seein'
+that things are as they are, that if ye were a free man it wouldn't
+be better that she should marry ye.  It's the one dacent thing ye
+could do--if ye would, which I doubt.  But that's nayther here nor
+there now.  What can ye want with her hid away somewhere? Ye can't
+marry her.  Ye can't get a divorce.  Ye've got your hands full
+fightin' your lawsuits and kapin' yourself out of jail.  She'll
+only be an added expense to ye, and ye'll be wantin' all the money
+ye have for other things, I'm thinkin'.  Why should ye want to be
+takin' her away from a dacent home and makin' something out of her
+that ye'd be ashamed to marry if you could? The laist ye could do,
+if ye were any kind of a man at all, and had any of that thing that
+ye're plased to call love, would be to lave her at home and keep
+her as respectable as possible.  Mind ye, I'm not thinkin' she
+isn't ten thousand times too good for ye, whatever ye've made of
+her.  But if ye had any sinse of dacency left, ye wouldn't let her
+shame her family and break her old mother's heart, and that for
+no purpose except to make her worse than she is already.  What
+good can ye get out of it, now? What good can ye expect to come
+of it? Be hivins, if ye had any sinse at all I should think ye
+could see that for yerself.  Ye're only addin' to your troubles,
+not takin' away from them--and she'll not thank ye for that later
+on."
+
+He stopped, rather astonished that he should have been drawn into
+an argument.  His contempt for this man was so great that he could
+scarcely look at him, but his duty and his need was to get Aileen
+back.  Cowperwood looked at him as one who gives serious attention
+to another.  He seemed to be thinking deeply over what Butler had
+said.
+
+"To tell you the truth, Mr. Butler," he said, "I did not want
+Aileen to leave your home at all; and she will tell you so, if
+you ever talk to her about it.  I did my best to persuade her
+not to, and when she insisted on going the only thing I could do
+was to be sure she would be comfortable wherever she went.  She
+was greatly outraged to think you should have put detectives on
+her trail.  That, and the fact that you wanted to send her away
+somewhere against her will, was the principal reasons for her
+leaving.  I assure you I did not want her to go.  I think you
+forget sometimes, Mr. Butler, that Aileen is a grown woman, and
+that she has a will of her own.  You think I control her to her
+great disadvantage.  As a matter of fact, I am very much in love
+with her, and have been for three or four years; and if you know
+anything about love you know that it doesn't always mean control.
+I'm not doing Aileen any injustice when I say that she has had as
+much influence on me as I have had on her.  I love her, and that's
+the cause of all the trouble.  You come and insist that I shall
+return your daughter to you.  As a matter of fact, I don't know
+whether I can or not.  I don't know that she would go if I wanted
+her to.  She might turn on me and say that I didn't care for her
+any more.  That is not true, and I would not want her to feel that
+way.  She is greatly hurt, as I told you, by what you did to her,
+and the fact that you want her to leave Philadelphia.  You can do
+as much to remedy that as I can.  I could tell you where she is,
+but I do not know that I want to.  Certainly not until I know what
+your attitude toward her and this whole proposition is to be."
+
+He paused and looked calmly at the old contractor, who eyed him
+grimly in return.
+
+"What proposition are ye talkin' about?" asked Butler, interested
+by the peculiar developments of this argument.  In spite of himself
+he was getting a slightly different angle on the whole situation.
+The scene was shifting to a certain extent.  Cowperwood appeared
+to be reasonably sincere in the matter.  His promises might all
+be wrong, but perhaps he did love Aileen; and it was possible that
+he did intend to get a divorce from his wife some time and marry
+her.  Divorce, as Butler knew, was against the rules of the Catholic
+Church, which he so much revered.  The laws of God and any sense
+of decency commanded that Cowperwood should not desert his wife
+and children and take up with another woman--not even Aileen, in
+order to save her.  It was a criminal thing to plan, sociologically
+speaking, and showed what a villain Cowperwood inherently was;
+but, nevertheless, Cowperwood was not a Catholic, his views of
+life were not the same as his own, Butler's, and besides and worst
+of all (no doubt due in part to Aileen's own temperament), he had
+compromised her situation very materially.  She might not easily
+be restored to a sense of of the normal and decent, and so the
+matter was worth taking into thought.  Butler knew that ultimately
+he could not countenance any such thing--certainly not, and keep
+his faith with the Church--but he was human enough none the less
+to consider it.  Besides, he wanted Aileen to come back; and Aileen
+from now on, he knew, would have some say as to what her future
+should be.
+
+"Well, it's simple enough," replied Cowperwood.  "I should like
+to have you withdraw your opposition to Aileen's remaining in
+Philadelphia, for one thing; and for another, I should like you
+to stop your attacks on me."  Cowperwood smiled in an ingratiating
+way.  He hoped really to placate Butler in part by his generous
+attitude throughout this procedure.  "I can't make you do that,
+of course, unless you want to.  I merely bring it up, Mr. Butler,
+because I am sure that if it hadn't been for Aileen you would not
+have taken the course you have taken toward me.  I understood you
+received an anonymous letter, and that afternoon you called your
+loan with me.  Since then I have heard from one source and another
+that you were strongly against me, and I merely wish to say that
+I wish you wouldn't be.  I am not guilty of embezzling any sixty
+thousand dollars, and you know it.  My intentions were of the best.
+I did not think I was going to fail at the time I used those
+certificates, and if it hadn't been for several other loans that
+were called I would have gone on to the end of the month and put
+them back in time, as I always had.  I have always valued your
+friendship very highly, and I am very sorry to lose it.  Now I
+have said all I am going to say."
+
+Butler looked at Cowperwood with shrewd, calculating eyes.  The
+man had some merit, but much unconscionable evil in him.  Butler
+knew very well how he had taken the check, and a good many other
+things in connection with it.  The manner in which he had played
+his cards to-night was on a par with the way he had run to him on
+the night of the fire.  He was just shrewd and calculating and
+heartless.
+
+"I'll make ye no promise," he said.  "Tell me where my daughter
+is, and I'll think the matter over.  Ye have no claim on me now,
+and I owe ye no good turn.  But I'll think it over, anyhow."
+
+"That's quite all right," replied Cowperwood.  "That's all I can
+expect.  But what about Aileen? Do you expect her to leave
+Philadelphia?"
+
+"Not if she settles down and behaves herself: but there must be
+an end of this between you and her.  She's disgracin' her family
+and ruinin' her soul in the bargain.  And that's what you are doin'
+with yours.  It'll be time enough to talk about anything else when
+you're a free man.  More than that I'll not promise."
+
+Cowperwood, satisfied that this move on Aileen's part had done her
+a real service if it had not aided him especially, was convinced
+that it would be a good move for her to return to her home at
+once.  He could not tell how his appeal to the State Supreme Court
+would eventuate.  His motion for a new trial which was now to be
+made under the privilege of the certificate of reasonable doubt
+might not be granted, in which case he would have to serve a term
+in the penitentiary.  If he were compelled to go to the penitentiary
+she would be safer--better off in the bosom of her family.  His
+own hands were going to be exceedingly full for the next two months
+until he knew how his appeal was coming out.  And after that--well,
+after that he would fight on, whatever happened.
+
+During all the time that Cowperwood had been arguing his case in
+this fashion he had been thinking how he could adjust this
+compromise so as to retain the affection of Aileen and not offend
+her sensibilities by urging her to return.  He knew that she would
+not agree to give up seeing him, and he was not willing that she
+should.  Unless he had a good and sufficient reason, he would be
+playing a wretched part by telling Butler where she was.  He did
+not intend to do so until he saw exactly how to do it--the way that
+would make it most acceptable to Aileen.  He knew that she would
+not long be happy where she was.  Her flight was due in part to
+Butler's intense opposition to himself and in part to his determination
+to make her leave Philadelphia and behave; but this last was now
+in part obviated.  Butler, in spite of his words, was no longer
+a stern Nemesis.  He was a melting man--very anxious to find his
+daughter, very willing to forgive her.  He was whipped, literally
+beaten, at his own game, and Cowperwood could see it in the old
+man's eyes.  If he himself could talk to Aileen personally and
+explain just how things were, he felt sure he could make her see
+that it would be to their mutual advantage, for the present at
+least, to have the matter amicably settled.  The thing to do was
+to make Butler wait somewhere--here, possibly--while he went and
+talked to her.  When she learned how things were she would probably
+acquiesce.
+
+"The best thing that I can do under the circumstances," he said,
+after a time, "would be to see Aileen in two or three days, and
+ask her what she wishes to do.  I can explain the matter to her,
+and if she wants to go back, she can.  I will promise to tell her
+anything that you say."
+
+"Two or three days!" exclaimed Butler, irritably.  "Two or three
+fiddlesticks! She must come home to-night.  Her mother doesn't
+know she's left the place yet.  To-night is the time! I'll go and
+fetch her meself to-night."
+
+"No, that won't do," said Cowperwood.  "I shall have to go myself.
+If you wish to wait here I will see what can be done, and let you
+know."
+
+"Very well," grunted Butler, who was now walking up and down with
+his hands behind his back.  "But for Heaven's sake be quick about
+it.  There's no time to lose."  He was thinking of Mrs. Butler.
+Cowperwood called the servant, ordered his runabout, and told
+George to see that his private office was not disturbed.  Then,
+as Butler strolled to and fro in this, to him, objectionable room,
+Cowperwood drove rapidly away.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLVII
+
+
+
+
+Although it was nearly eleven o'clock when he arrived at the
+Calligans', Aileen was not yet in bed.  In her bedroom upstairs
+she was confiding to Mamie and Mrs. Calligan some of her social
+experiences when the bell rang, and Mrs. Calligan went down and
+opened the door to Cowperwood.
+
+"Miss Butler is here, I believe," he said.  "Will you tell her
+that there is some one here from her father?" Although Aileen had
+instructed that her presence here was not to be divulged even to
+the members of her family the force of Cowperwood's presence and
+the mention of Butler's name cost Mrs. Calligan her presence of
+mind.  "Wait a moment," she said; "I'll see."
+
+She stepped back, and Cowperwood promptly stepped in, taking off
+his hat with the air of one who was satisfied that Aileen was
+there.  "Say to her that I only want to speak to her for a few
+moments," he called, as Mrs. Calligan went up-stairs, raising his
+voice in the hope that Aileen might hear.  She did, and came down
+promptly.  She was very much astonished to think that he should
+come so soon, and fancied, in her vanity, that there must be great
+excitement in her home.  She would have greatly grieved if there
+had not been.
+
+The Calligans would have been pleased to hear, but Cowperwood was
+cautious.  As she came down the stairs he put his finger to his
+lips in sign for silence, and said, "This is Miss Butler, I
+believe."
+
+"Yes," replied Aileen, with a secret smile.  Her one desire was
+to kiss him.  "What's the trouble darling?" she asked, softly.
+
+"You'll have to go back, dear, I'm afraid," whispered Cowperwood.
+"You'll have everything in a turmoil if you don't.  Your mother
+doesn't know yet, it seems, and your father is over at my place
+now, waiting for you.  It may be a good deal of help to me if you
+do.  Let me tell you--" He went off into a complete description
+of his conversation with Butler and his own views in the matter.
+Aileen's expression changed from time to time as the various phases
+of the matter were put before her; but, persuaded by the clearness
+with which he put the matter, and by his assurance that they could
+continue their relations as before uninterrupted, once this was
+settled, she decided to return.  In a way, her father's surrender
+was a great triumph.  She made her farewells to the Calligans,
+saying, with a smile, that they could not do without her at home,
+and that she would send for her belongings later, and returned
+with Cowperwood to his own door.  There he asked her to wait in
+the runabout while he sent her father down.
+
+"Well?" said Butler, turning on him when he opened the door, and
+not seeing Aileen.
+
+"You'll find her outside in my runabout," observed Cowperwood.
+"You may use that if you choose.  I will send my man for it."
+
+"No, thank you; we'll walk," said Butler.
+
+Cowperwood called his servant to take charge of the vehicle, and
+Butler stalked solemnly out.
+
+He had to admit to himself that the influence of Cowperwood over
+his daughter was deadly, and probably permanent.  The best he
+could do would be to keep her within the precincts of the home,
+where she might still, possibly, be brought to her senses.  He
+held a very guarded conversation with her on his way home, for
+fear that she would take additional offense.  Argument was out of
+the question.
+
+"Ye might have talked with me once more, Aileen," he said, "before
+ye left.  Yer mother would be in a terrible state if she knew ye
+were gone.  She doesn't know yet.  Ye'll have to say ye stayed
+somewhere to dinner."
+
+"I was at the Calligans," replied Aileen.  "That's easy enough.
+Mama won't think anything about it."
+
+"It's a sore heart I have, Aileen.  I hope ye'll think over your
+ways and do better.  I'll not say anythin' more now."
+
+Aileen returned to her room, decidedly triumphant in her mood for
+the moment, and things went on apparently in the Butler household
+as before.  But those who imagine that this defeat permanently
+altered the attitude of Butler toward Cowperwood are mistaken.
+
+In the meanwhile between the day of his temporary release and the
+hearing of his appeal which was two months off, Cowperwood was
+going on doing his best to repair his shattered forces.  He took
+up his work where he left off; but the possibility of reorganizing
+his business was distinctly modified since his conviction.  Because
+of his action in trying to protect his largest creditors at the
+time of his failure, he fancied that once he was free again, if
+ever he got free, his credit, other things being equal, would be
+good with those who could help him most--say, Cooke & Co., Clark
+& Co., Drexel & Co., and the Girard National Bank--providing his
+personal reputation had not been too badly injured by his sentence.
+Fortunately for his own hopefulness of mind, he failed fully to
+realize what a depressing effect a legal decision of this character,
+sound or otherwise, had on the minds of even his most enthusiastic
+supporters.
+
+His best friends in the financial world were by now convinced that
+his was a sinking ship.  A student of finance once observed that
+nothing is so sensitive as money, and the financial mind partakes
+largely of the quality of the thing in which it deals.  There was
+no use trying to do much for a man who might be going to prison
+for a term of years.  Something might be done for him possibly in
+connection with the governor, providing he lost his case before
+the Supreme Court and was actually sentenced to prison; but that
+was two months off, or more, and they could not tell what the
+outcome of that would be.  So Cowperwood's repeated appeals for
+assistance, extension of credit, or the acceptance of some plan
+he had for his general rehabilitation, were met with the kindly
+evasions of those who were doubtful.  They would think it over.
+They would see about it.  Certain things were standing in the way.
+And so on, and so forth, through all the endless excuses of those
+who do not care to act.  In these days he went about the money
+world in his customary jaunty way, greeting all those whom he
+had known there many years and pretending, when asked, to be very
+hopeful, to be doing very well; but they did not believe him, and
+he really did not care whether they did or not.  His business was
+to persuade or over-persuade any one who could really be of
+assistance to him, and at this task he worked untiringly, ignoring
+all others.
+
+"Why, hello, Frank," his friends would call, on seeing him.  "How
+are you getting on?"
+
+"Fine! Fine!" he would reply, cheerfully.  "Never better," and he
+would explain in a general way how his affairs were being handled.
+He conveyed much of his own optimism to all those who knew him and
+were interested in his welfare, but of course there were many who
+were not.
+
+In these days also, he and Steger were constantly to be met with
+in courts of law, for he was constantly being reexamined in some
+petition in bankruptcy.  They were heartbreaking days, but he did
+not flinch.  He wanted to stay in Philadelphia and fight the thing
+to a finish--putting himself where he had been before the fire;
+rehabilitating himself in the eyes of the public.  He felt that
+he could do it, too, if he were not actually sent to prison for a
+long term; and even then, so naturally optimistic was his mood,
+when he got out again.  But, in so far as Philadelphia was concerned,
+distinctly he was dreaming vain dreams.
+
+One of the things militating against him was the continued opposition
+of Butler and the politicians.  Somehow--no one could have said
+exactly why--the general political feeling was that the financier
+and the former city treasurer would lose their appeals and eventually
+be sentenced together.  Stener, in spite of his original intention
+to plead guilty and take his punishment without comment, had been
+persuaded by some of his political friends that it would be better
+for his future's sake to plead not guilty and claim that his offense
+had been due to custom, rather than to admit his guilt outright
+and so seem not to have had any justification whatsoever.  This
+he did, but he was convicted nevertheless.  For the sake of
+appearances, a trumped-up appeal was made which was now before the
+State Supreme Court.
+
+Then, too, due to one whisper and another, and these originating
+with the girl who had written Butler and Cowperwood's wife, there
+was at this time a growing volume of gossip relating to the alleged
+relations of Cowperwood with Butler's daughter, Aileen.  There had
+been a house in Tenth Street.  It had been maintained by Cowperwood
+for her.  No wonder Butler was so vindictive.  This, indeed,
+explained much.  And even in the practical, financial world,
+criticism was now rather against Cowperwood than his enemies.  For,
+was it not a fact, that at the inception of his career, he had
+been befriended by Butler? And what a way to reward that friendship!
+His oldest and firmest admirers wagged their heads.  For they
+sensed clearly that this was another illustration of that innate
+"I satisfy myself" attitude which so regulated Cowperwood's conduct.
+He was a strong man, surely--and a brilliant one.  Never had
+Third Street seen a more pyrotechnic, and yet fascinating and
+financially aggressive, and at the same time, conservative person.
+Yet might one not fairly tempt Nemesis by a too great daring and
+egotism? Like Death, it loves a shining mark.  He should not,
+perhaps, have seduced Butler's daughter; unquestionably he should
+not have so boldly taken that check, especially after his quarrel
+and break with Stener.  He was a little too aggressive.  Was it not
+questionable whether--with such a record--he could be restored to
+his former place here? The bankers and business men who were
+closest to him were decidedly dubious.
+
+But in so far as Cowperwood and his own attitude toward life was
+concerned, at this time--the feeling he had--"to satisfy myself"--
+when combined with his love of beauty and love and women, still
+made him ruthless and thoughtless.  Even now, the beauty and
+delight of a girl like Aileen Butler were far more important to
+him than the good-will of fifty million people, if he could evade
+the necessity of having their good-will.  Previous to the Chicago
+fire and the panic, his star had been so rapidly ascending that
+in the helter-skelter of great and favorable events he had scarcely
+taken thought of the social significance of the thing he was doing.
+Youth and the joy of life were in his blood.  He felt so young, so
+vigorous, so like new grass looks and feels.  The freshness of
+spring evenings was in him, and he did not care.  After the crash,
+when one might have imagined he would have seen the wisdom of
+relinquishing Aileen for the time being, anyhow, he did not care
+to.  She represented the best of the wonderful days that had gone
+before.  She was a link between him and the past and a still-to-be
+triumphant future.
+
+His worst anxiety was that if he were sent to the penitentiary,
+or adjudged a bankrupt, or both, he would probably lose the
+privilege of a seat on 'change, and that would close to him the
+most distinguished avenue of his prosperity here in Philadelphia
+for some time, if not forever.  At present, because of his
+complications, his seat had been attached as an asset, and he could
+not act.  Edward and Joseph, almost the only employees he could
+afford, were still acting for him in a small way; but the other
+members on 'change naturally suspected his brothers as his agents,
+and any talk that they might raise of going into business for
+themselves merely indicated to other brokers and bankers that
+Cowperwood was contemplating some concealed move which would not
+necessarily be advantageous to his creditors, and against the law
+anyhow.  Yet he must remain on 'change, whatever happened,
+potentially if not actively; and so in his quick mental searchings
+he hit upon the idea that in order to forfend against the event
+of his being put into prison or thrown into bankruptcy, or both,
+he ought to form a subsidiary silent partnership with some man who
+was or would be well liked on 'change, and whom he could use as a
+cat's-paw and a dummy.
+
+Finally he hit upon a man who he thought would do.  He did not
+amount to much--had a small business; but he was honest, and he
+liked Cowperwood.  His name was Wingate--Stephen Wingate--and he
+was eking out a not too robust existence in South Third Street as
+a broker.  He was forty-five years of age, of medium height, fairly
+thick-set, not at all unprepossessing, and rather intelligent and
+active, but not too forceful and pushing in spirit.  He really
+needed a man like Cowperwood to make him into something, if ever
+he was to be made.  He had a seat on 'change, and was well thought
+of; respected, but not so very prosperous.  In times past he had
+asked small favors of Cowperwood--the use of small loans at a
+moderate rate of interest, tips, and so forth; and Cowperwood,
+because he liked him and felt a little sorry for him, had granted
+them.  Now Wingate was slowly drifting down toward a none too
+successful old age, and was as tractable as such a man would
+naturally be.  No one for the time being would suspect him of being
+a hireling of Cowperwood's, and the latter could depend on him to
+execute his orders to the letter.  He sent for him and had a long
+conversation with him.  He told him just what the situation was,
+what he thought he could do for him as a partner, how much of his
+business he would want for himself, and so on, and found him
+agreeable.
+
+"I'll be glad to do anything you say, Mr. Cowperwood," he assured
+the latter.  "I know whatever happens that you'll protect me, and
+there's nobody in the world I would rather work with or have greater
+respect for.  This storm will all blow over, and you'll be all right.
+We can try it, anyhow.  If it don't work out you can see what you
+want to do about it later."
+
+And so this relationship was tentatively entered into and Cowperwood
+began to act in a small way through Wingate.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLVIII
+
+
+
+
+By the time the State Supreme Court came to pass upon Cowperwood's
+plea for a reversal of the lower court and the granting of a new
+trial, the rumor of his connection with Aileen had spread far and
+wide.  As has been seen, it had done and was still doing him much
+damage.  It confirmed the impression, which the politicians had
+originally tried to create, that Cowperwood was the true criminal
+and Stener the victim.  His semi-legitimate financial subtlety,
+backed indeed by his financial genius, but certainly on this account
+not worse than that being practiced in peace and quiet and with
+much applause in many other quarters--was now seen to be
+Machiavellian trickery of the most dangerous type.  He had a wife
+and two children; and without knowing what his real thoughts had
+been the fruitfully imaginative public jumped to the conclusion
+that he had been on the verge of deserting them, divorcing Lillian,
+and marrying Aileen.  This was criminal enough in itself, from
+the conservative point of view; but when taken in connection with
+his financial record, his trial, conviction, and general bankruptcy
+situation, the public was inclined to believe that he was all the
+politicians said he was.  He ought to be convicted.  The Supreme
+Court ought not to grant his prayer for a new trial.  It is thus
+that our inmost thoughts and intentions burst at times via no known
+material agency into public thoughts.  People know, when they
+cannot apparently possibly know why they know.  There is such a
+thing as thought-transference and transcendentalism of ideas.
+
+It reached, for one thing, the ears of the five judges of the State
+Supreme Court and of the Governor of the State.
+
+During the four weeks Cowperwood had been free on a certificate
+of reasonable doubt both Harper Steger and Dennis Shannon appeared
+before the judges of the State Supreme Court, and argued pro and
+con as to the reasonableness of granting a new trial.  Through his
+lawyer, Cowperwood made a learned appeal to the Supreme Court
+judges, showing how he had been unfairly indicted in the first
+place, how there was no real substantial evidence on which to
+base a charge of larceny or anything else.  It took Steger two
+hours and ten minutes to make his argument, and District-Attorney
+Shannon longer to make his reply, during which the five judges on
+the bench, men of considerable legal experience but no great
+financial understanding, listened with rapt attention.  Three of
+them, Judges Smithson, Rainey, and Beckwith, men most amenable to
+the political feeling of the time and the wishes of the bosses,
+were little interested in this story of Cowperwood's transaction,
+particularly since his relations with Butler's daughter and Butler's
+consequent opposition to him had come to them.  They fancied that
+in a way they were considering the whole matter fairly and
+impartially; but the manner in which Cowperwood had treated Butler
+was never out of their minds.  Two of them, Judges Marvin and
+Rafalsky, who were men of larger sympathies and understanding, but
+of no greater political freedom, did feel that Cowperwood had been
+badly used thus far, but they did not see what they could do about
+it.  He had put himself in a most unsatisfactory position, politically
+and socially.  They understood and took into consideration his
+great financial and social losses which Steger described accurately;
+and one of them, Judge Rafalsky, because of a similar event in his
+own life in so far as a girl was concerned, was inclined to argue
+strongly against the conviction of Cowperwood; but, owing to his
+political connections and obligations, he realized that it would
+not be wise politically to stand out against what was wanted.
+Still, when he and Marvin learned that Judges Smithson, Rainey, and
+Beckwith were inclined to convict Cowperwood without much argument,
+they decided to hand down a dissenting opinion.  The point involved
+was a very knotty one.  Cowperwood might carry it to the Supreme
+Court of the United States on some fundamental principle of liberty
+of action.  Anyhow, other judges in other courts in Pennsylvania
+and elsewhere would be inclined to examine the decision in this
+case, it was so important.  The minority decided that it would not
+do them any harm to hand down a dissenting opinion.  The politicians
+would not mind as long as Cowperwood was convicted--would like it
+better, in fact.  It looked fairer.  Besides, Marvin and Rafalsky
+did not care to be included, if they could help it, with Smithson,
+Rainey, and Beckwith in a sweeping condemnation of Cowperwood.
+So all five judges fancied they were considering the whole matter
+rather fairly and impartially, as men will under such circumstances.
+Smithson, speaking for himself and Judges Rainey and Beckwith on
+the eleventh of February, 1872, said:
+
+  "The defendant, Frank A. Cowperwood, asks that the finding of
+  the jury in the lower court (the State of Pennsylvania vs. Frank
+  A. Cowperwood) be reversed and a new trial granted.  This court
+  cannot see that any substantial injustice has been done the
+  defendant.  [Here followed a rather lengthy resume of the history
+  of the case, in which it was pointed out that the custom and
+  precedent of the treasurer's office, to say nothing of
+  Cowperwood's easy method of doing business with the city
+  treasury, could have nothing to do with his responsibility for
+  failure to observe both the spirit and the letter of the law.]
+  The obtaining of goods under color of legal process [went on
+  Judge Smithson, speaking for the majority] may amount to
+  larceny.  In the present case it was the province of the jury
+  to ascertain the felonious intent.  They have settled that
+  against the defendant as a question of fact, and the court
+  cannot say that there was not sufficient evidence to sustain
+  the verdict.  For what purpose did the defendant get the check?
+  He was upon the eve of failure.   He had already hypothecated
+  for his own debts the loan of the city placed in his hands for
+  sale--he had unlawfully obtained five hundred thousand dollars
+  in cash as loans; and it is reasonable to suppose that he
+  could obtain nothing more from the city treasury by any
+  ordinary means.  Then it is that he goes there, and, by means
+  of a falsehood implied if not actual, obtains sixty thousand
+  dollars more.  The jury has found the intent with which this
+  was done."
+
+It was in these words that Cowperwood's appeal for a new trial was
+denied by the majority.
+
+For himself and Judge Rafalsky, Judge Marvin, dissenting, wrote:
+
+  "It is plain from the evidence in the case that Mr. Cowperwood
+  did not receive the check without authority as agent to do so,
+  and it has not been clearly demonstrated that within his
+  capacity as agent he did not perform or intend to perform the
+  full measure of the obligation which the receipt of this check
+  implied.  It was shown in the trial that as a matter of policy
+  it was understood that purchases for the sinking-fund should
+  not be known or understood in the market or by the public in
+  that light, and that Mr. Cowperwood as agent was to have an
+  absolutely free hand in the disposal of his assets and
+  liabilities so long as the ultimate result was satisfactory.
+  There was no particular time when the loan was to be bought,
+  nor was there any particular amount mentioned at any time to
+  be purchased.  Unless the defendant intended at the time he
+  received the check fraudulently to appropriate it he could not
+  be convicted even on the first count.  The verdict of the jury
+  does not establish this fact; the evidence does not show
+  conclusively that it could be established; and the same jury,
+  upon three other counts, found the defendant guilty without
+  the semblance of shadow of evidence.  How can we say that
+  their conclusions upon the first count are unerring when they
+  so palpably erred on the other counts? It is the opinion of
+  the minority that the verdict of the jury in charging larceny
+  on the first count is not valid, and that that verdict should
+  be set aside and a new trial granted."
+
+Judge Rafalsky, a meditative and yet practical man of Jewish
+extraction but peculiarly American appearance, felt called upon
+to write a third opinion which should especially reflect his own
+cogitation and be a criticism on the majority as well as a slight
+variation from and addition to the points on which he agreed with
+Judge Marvin.  It was a knotty question, this, of Cowperwood's
+guilt, and, aside from the political necessity of convicting him,
+nowhere was it more clearly shown than in these varying opinions
+of the superior court.  Judge Rafalsky held, for instance, that
+if a crime had been committed at all, it was not that known as
+larceny, and he went on to add:
+
+  "It is impossible, from the evidence, to come to the
+  conclusion either that Cowperwood did not intend shortly to
+  deliver the loan or that Albert Stires, the chief clerk, or
+  the city treasurer did not intend to part not only with the
+  possession, but also and absolutely with the property in the
+  check and the money represented by it.  It was testified by
+  Mr. Stires that Mr. Cowperwood said he had bought certificates
+  of city loan to this amount, and it has not been clearly
+  demonstrated that he had not.  His non-placement of the same
+  in the sinking-fund must in all fairness, the letter of the
+  law to the contrary notwithstanding, be looked upon and judged
+  in the light of custom.  Was it his custom so to do? In my
+  judgment the doctrine now announced by the majority of the
+  court extends the crime of constructive larceny to such limits
+  that any business man who engages in extensive and perfectly
+  legitimate stock transactions may, before he knows it, by a
+  sudden panic in the market or a fire, as in this instance,
+  become a felon.  When a principle is asserted which
+  establishes such a precedent, and may lead to such results,
+  it is, to say the least, startling."
+
+While he was notably comforted by the dissenting opinions of the
+judges in minority, and while he had been schooling himself to
+expect the worst in this connection and had been arranging his
+affairs as well as he could in anticipation of it, Cowperwood was
+still bitterly disappointed.  It would be untrue to say that,
+strong and self-reliant as he normally was, he did not suffer.
+He was not without sensibilities of the highest order, only they
+were governed and controlled in him by that cold iron thing, his
+reason, which never forsook him.  There was no further appeal
+possible save to the United States Supreme Court, as Steger pointed
+out, and there only on the constitutionality of some phase of the
+decision and his rights as a citizen, of which the Supreme Court
+of the United States must take cognizance.  This was a tedious
+and expensive thing to do.  It was not exactly obvious at the
+moment on what point he could make an appeal.  It would involve
+a long delay--perhaps a year and a half, perhaps longer, at the
+end of which period he might have to serve his prison term anyhow,
+and pending which he would certainly have to undergo incarceration
+for a time.
+
+Cowperwood mused speculatively for a few moments after hearing
+Steger's presentation of the case.  Then he said: "Well, it looks
+as if I have to go to jail or leave the country, and I've decided
+on jail.  I can fight this out right here in Philadelphia in the
+long run and win.  I can get that decision reversed in the Supreme
+Court, or I can get the Governor to pardon me after a time, I
+think.  I'm not going to run away, and everybody knows I'm not.
+These people who think they have me down haven't got one corner
+of me whipped.  I'll get out of this thing after a while, and when
+I do I'll show some of these petty little politicians what it
+means to put up a real fight.  They'll never get a damned dollar
+out of me now--not a dollar! I did intend to pay that five hundred
+thousand dollars some time if they had let me go.  Now they can
+whistle!"
+
+He set his teeth and his gray eyes fairly snapped their
+determination.
+
+"Well, I've done all I can, Frank," pleaded Steger, sympathetically.
+"You'll do me the justice to say that I put up the best fight I
+knew how.  I may not know how--you'll have to answer for that--
+but within my limits I've done the best I can.  I can do a few
+things more to carry this thing on, if you want me to, but I'm
+going to leave it to you now.  Whatever you say goes."
+
+"Don't talk nonsense at this stage, Harper," replied Cowperwood
+almost testily.  "I know whether I'm satisfied or not, and I'd
+soon tell you if I wasn't.  I think you might as well go on and
+see if you can find some definite grounds for carrying it to the
+Supreme Court, but meanwhile I'll begin my sentence.  I suppose
+Payderson will be naming a day to have me brought before him now
+shortly."
+
+"It depends on how you'd like to have it, Frank.  I could get a
+stay of sentence for a week maybe, or ten days, if it will do you
+any good.  Shannon won't make any objection to that, I'm sure.
+There's only one hitch.  Jaspers will be around here tomorrow
+looking for you.  It's his duty to take you into custody again,
+once he's notified that your appeal has been denied.  He'll be
+wanting to lock you up unless you pay him, but we can fix that.
+If you do want to wait, and want any time off, I suppose he'll
+arrange to let you out with a deputy; but I'm afraid you'll have
+to stay there nights.  They're pretty strict about that since that
+Albertson case of a few years ago."
+
+Steger referred to the case of a noted bank cashier who, being
+let out of the county jail at night in the alleged custody of a
+deputy, was permitted to escape.  There had been emphatic and
+severe condemnation of the sheriff's office at the time, and since
+then, repute or no repute, money or no money, convicted criminals
+were supposed to stay in the county jail at night at least.
+
+Cowperwood meditated this calmly, looking out of the lawyer's
+window into Second Street.  He did not much fear anything that
+might happen to him in Jaspers's charge since his first taste of
+that gentleman's hospitality, although he did object to spending
+nights in the county jail when his general term of imprisonment
+was being reduced no whit thereby.  All that he could do now in
+connection with his affairs, unless he could have months of freedom,
+could be as well adjusted from a prison cell as from his Third
+Street office--not quite, but nearly so.  Anyhow, why parley? He
+was facing a prison term, and he might as well accept it without
+further ado.  He might take a day or two finally to look after
+his affairs; but beyond that, why bother?
+
+"When, in the ordinary course of events, if you did nothing at all,
+would I come up for sentence?"
+
+"Oh, Friday or Monday, I fancy," replied Steger.  "I don't know
+what move Shannon is planning to make in this matter.  I thought
+I'd walk around and see him in a little while."
+
+"I think you'd better do that," replied Cowperwood.  "Friday or
+Monday will suit me, either way.  I'm really not particular.
+Better make it Monday if you can.  You don't suppose there is any
+way you can induce Jaspers to keep his hands off until then? He
+knows I'm perfectly responsible."
+
+"I don't know, Frank, I'm sure; I'll see.  I'll go around and talk
+to him to-night.  Perhaps a hundred dollars will make him relax
+the rigor of his rules that much."
+
+Cowperwood smiled grimly.
+
+"I fancy a hundred dollars would make Jaspers relax a whole lot of
+rules," he replied, and he got up to go.
+
+Steger arose also.  "I'll see both these people, and then I'll
+call around at your house.  You'll be in, will you, after dinner?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+They slipped on their overcoats and went out into the cold February
+day, Cowperwood back to his Third Street office, Steger to see
+Shannon and Jaspers.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XLIX
+
+
+
+
+The business of arranging Cowperwood's sentence for Monday was soon
+disposed of through Shannon, who had no personal objection to
+any reasonable delay.
+
+Steger next visited the county jail, close on to five o'clock,
+when it was already dark.  Sheriff Jaspers came lolling out from
+his private library, where he had been engaged upon the work of
+cleaning his pipe.
+
+"How are you, Mr. Steger?" he observed, smiling blandly.  "How are
+you? Glad to see you.  Won't you sit down? I suppose you're round
+here again on that Cowperwood matter.  I just received word from
+the district attorney that he had lost his case."
+
+"That's it, Sheriff," replied Steger, ingratiatingly.  "He asked
+me to step around and see what you wanted him to do in the matter.
+Judge Payderson has just fixed the sentence time for Monday morning
+at ten o'clock.  I don't suppose you'll be much put out if he doesn't
+show up here before Monday at eight o'clock, will you, or Sunday
+night, anyhow? He's perfectly reliable, as you know."  Steger was
+sounding Jaspers out, politely trying to make the time of Cowperwood's
+arrival a trivial matter in order to avoid paying the hundred dollars,
+if possible.  But Jaspers was not to be so easily disposed of.
+His fat face lengthened considerably.  How could Steger ask him
+such a favor and not even suggest the slightest form of remuneration?
+
+"It's ag'in' the law, Mr. Steger, as you know," he began, cautiously
+and complainingly.  "I'd like to accommodate him, everything else
+being equal, but since that Albertson case three years ago we've
+had to run this office much more careful, and--"
+
+"Oh, I know, Sheriff," interrupted Steger, blandly, "but this isn't
+an ordinary case in any way, as you can see for yourself.  Mr.
+Cowperwood is a very important man, and he has a great many things
+to attend to.  Now if it were only a mere matter of seventy-five
+or a hundred dollars to satisfy some court clerk with, or to pay
+a fine, it would be easy enough, but--" He paused and looked wisely
+away, and Mr. Jaspers's face began to relax at once.  The law
+against which it was ordinarily so hard to offend was not now so
+important.  Steger saw that it was needless to introduce any
+additional arguments.
+
+"It's a very ticklish business, this, Mr. Steger," put in the
+sheriff, yieldingly, and yet with a slight whimper in his voice.
+"If anything were to happen, it would cost me my place all right.
+I don't like to do it under any circumstances, and I wouldn't,
+only I happen to know both Mr. Cowperwood and Mr. Stener, and I
+like 'em both.  I don' think they got their rights in this matter,
+either.  I don't mind making an exception in this case if Mr.
+Cowperwood don't go about too publicly.  I wouldn't want any of
+the men in the district attorney's office to know this.  I don't
+suppose he'll mind if I keep a deputy somewhere near all the time
+for looks' sake.  I have to, you know, really, under the law.  He
+won't bother him any.  Just keep on guard like."  Jaspers looked
+at Mr. Steger very flatly and wisely--almost placatingly under the
+circumstances--and Steger nodded.
+
+"Quite right, Sheriff, quite right.  You're quite right," and he
+drew out his purse while the sheriff led the way very cautiously
+back into his library.
+
+"I'd like to show you the line of law-books I'm fixing up for
+myself in here, Mr. Steger," he observed, genially, but meanwhile
+closing his fingers gently on the small roll of ten-dollar bills
+Steger was handing him.  "We have occasional use for books of that
+kind here, as you see.  I thought it a good sort of thing to have
+them around."  He waved one arm comprehensively at the line of
+State reports, revised statutes, prison regulations, etc., the
+while he put the money in his pocket and Steger pretended to look.
+
+"A good idea, I think, Sheriff.  Very good, indeed.  So you think
+if Mr. Cowperwood gets around here very early Monday morning, say
+eight or eight-thirty, that it will be all right?"
+
+"I think so," replied the sheriff, curiously nervous, but agreeable,
+anxious to please.  "I don't think that anything will come up that
+will make me want him earlier.  If it does I'll let you know, and
+you can produce him.  I don't think so, though, Mr. Steger; I
+think everything will be all right."  They were once more in the
+main hall now.  "Glad to have seen you again, Mr. Steger--very
+glad," he added.  "Call again some day."
+
+Waving the sheriff a pleasant farewell, he hurried on his way to
+Cowperwood's house.
+
+You would not have thought, seeing Cowperwood mount the front
+steps of his handsome residence in his neat gray suit and well-cut
+overcoat on his return from his office that evening, that he was
+thinking that this might be his last night here.  His air and walk
+indicated no weakening of spirit.  He entered the hall, where an
+early lamp was aglow, and encountered "Wash" Sims, an old negro
+factotum, who was just coming up from the basement, carrying a
+bucket of coal for one of the fireplaces.
+
+"Mahty cold out, dis evenin', Mistah Coppahwood," said Wash, to
+whom anything less than sixty degrees was very cold.  His one
+regret was that Philadelphia was not located in North Carolina,
+from whence he came.
+
+"'Tis sharp, Wash," replied Cowperwood, absentmindedly.  He was
+thinking for the moment of the house and how it had looked, as he
+came toward it west along Girard Avenue--what the neighbors were
+thinking of him, too, observing him from time to time out of their
+windows.  It was clear and cold.  The lamps in the reception-hall
+and sitting-room had been lit, for he had permitted no air of
+funereal gloom to settle down over this place since his troubles
+had begun.  In the far west of the street a last tingling gleam
+of lavender and violet was showing over the cold white snow of
+the roadway.  The house of gray-green stone, with its lighted
+windows, and cream-colored lace curtains, had looked especially
+attractive.  He had thought for the moment of the pride he had
+taken in putting all this here, decorating and ornamenting it,
+and whether, ever, he could secure it for himself again.  "Where
+is your mistress?" he added to Wash, when he bethought himself.
+
+"In the sitting-room, Mr. Coppahwood, ah think."
+
+Cowperwood ascended the stairs, thinking curiously that Wash would
+soon be out of a job now, unless Mrs. Cowperwood, out of all the
+wreck of other things, chose to retain him, which was not likely.
+He entered the sitting-room, and there sat his wife by the oblong
+center-table, sewing a hook and eye on one of Lillian, second's,
+petticoats.  She looked up, at his step, with the peculiarly
+uncertain smile she used these days--indication of her pain, fear,
+suspicion--and inquired, "Well, what is new with you, Frank?" Her
+smile was something like a hat or belt or ornament which one puts
+on or off at will.
+
+"Nothing in particular," he replied, in his offhand way, "except
+that I understand I have lost that appeal of mine.  Steger is coming
+here in a little while to let me know.  I had a note from him, and
+I fancy it's about that."
+
+He did not care to say squarely that he had lost.  He knew that
+she was sufficiently distressed as it was, and he did not care to
+be too abrupt just now.
+
+"You don't say!" replied Lillian, with surprise and fright in her
+voice, and getting up.
+
+She had been so used to a world where prisons were scarcely thought
+of, where things went on smoothly from day to day without any
+noticeable intrusion of such distressing things as courts, jails,
+and the like, that these last few months had driven her nearly mad.
+Cowperwood had so definitely insisted on her keeping in the
+background--he had told her so very little that she was all at sea
+anyhow in regard to the whole procedure.  Nearly all that she had
+had in the way of intelligence had been from his father and mother
+and Anna, and from a close and almost secret scrutiny of the
+newspapers.
+
+At the time he had gone to the county jail she did not even know
+anything about it until his father had come back from the court-room
+and the jail and had broken the news to her.  It had been a terrific
+blow to her.  Now to have this thing suddenly broken to her in this
+offhand way, even though she had been expecting and dreading it
+hourly, was too much.
+
+She was still a decidedly charming-looking woman as she stood
+holding her daughter's garment in her hand, even if she was forty
+years old to Cowperwood's thirty-five.  She was robed in one of
+the creations of their late prosperity, a cream-colored gown of
+rich silk, with dark brown trimmings--a fetching combination for
+her.  Her eyes were a little hollow, and reddish about the rims,
+but otherwise she showed no sign of her keen mental distress.
+There was considerable evidence of the former tranquil sweetness
+that had so fascinated him ten years before.
+
+"Isn't that terrible?" she said, weakly, her hands trembling in
+a nervous way.  "Isn't it dreadful? Isn't there anything more you
+can do, truly?" You won't really have to go to prison, will you?"
+He objected to her distress and her nervous fears.  He preferred
+a stronger, more self-reliant type of woman, but still she was his
+wife, and in his day he had loved her much.
+
+"It looks that way, Lillian," he said, with the first note of real
+sympathy he had used in a long while, for he felt sorry for her
+now.  At the same time he was afraid to go any further along that
+line, for fear it might give her a false sense as to his present
+attitude toward her which was one essentially of indifference.
+But she was not so dull but what she could see that the consideration
+in his voice had been brought about by his defeat, which meant hers
+also.  She choked a little--and even so was touched.  The bare
+suggestion of sympathy brought back the old days so definitely
+gone forever.  If only they could be brought back!
+
+"I don't want you to feel distressed about me, though," he went
+on, before she could say anything to him.  "I'm not through with
+my fighting.  I'll get out of this.  I have to go to prison, it
+seems, in order to get things straightened out properly.  What I
+would like you to do is to keep up a cheerful appearance in front
+of the rest of the family--father and mother particularly.  They
+need to be cheered up."  He thought once of taking her hand, then
+decided not.  She noted mentally his hesitation, the great difference
+between his attitude now and that of ten or twelve years before.
+It did not hurt her now as much as she once would have thought.  She
+looked at him, scarcely knowing what to say.  There was really not
+so much to say.
+
+"Will you have to go soon, if you do have to go?" she ventured,
+wearily.
+
+"I can't tell yet.  Possibly to-night.  Possibly Friday.  Possibly
+not until Monday.  I'm waiting to hear from Steger.  I expect him
+here any minute."
+
+To prison! To prison! Her Frank Cowperwood, her husband--the
+substance of their home here--and all their soul destruction going
+to prison.  And even now she scarcely grasped why! She stood there
+wondering what she could do
+
+"Is there anything I can get for you?" she asked, starting forward
+as if out of a dream.  "Do you want me to do anything? Don't you
+think perhaps you had better leave Philadelphia, Frank? You needn't
+go to prison unless you want to."
+
+She was a little beside herself, for the first time in her life
+shocked out of a deadly calm.
+
+He paused and looked at her for a moment in his direct, examining
+way, his hard commercial business judgment restored on the instant.
+
+"That would be a confession of guilt, Lillian, and I'm not guilty,"
+he replied, almost coldly.  "I haven't done anything that warrants
+my running away or going to prison, either.  I'm merely going
+there to save time at present.  I can't be litigating this thing
+forever.  I'll get out--be pardoned out or sued out in a reasonable
+length of time.  Just now it's better to go, I think.  I wouldn't
+think of running away from Philadelphia.  Two of five judges found
+for me in the decision.  That's pretty fair evidence that the State
+has no case against me."
+
+His wife saw she had made a mistake.  It clarified her judgment
+on the instant.  "I didn't mean in that way, Frank," she replied,
+apologetically.  "You know I didn't.  Of course I know you're not
+guilty.  Why should I think you were, of all people?"
+
+She paused, expecting some retort, some further argument--a kind
+word maybe.  A trace of the older, baffling love, but he had
+quietly turned to his desk and was thinking of other things.
+
+At this point the anomaly of her own state came over her again.
+It was all so sad and so hopeless.  And what was she to do in the
+future? And what was he likely to do? She paused half trembling
+and yet decided, because of her peculiarly nonresisting nature--
+why trespass on his time? Why bother? No good would really come
+of it.  He really did not care for her any more--that was it.
+Nothing could make him, nothing could bring them together again,
+not even this tragedy.  He was interested in another woman--Aileen--
+and so her foolish thoughts and explanations, her fear, sorrow,
+distress, were not important to him.  He could take her agonized
+wish for his freedom as a comment on his probable guilt, a doubt
+of his innocence, a criticism of him! She turned away for a minute,
+and he started to leave the room.
+
+"I'll be back again in a few moments," he volunteered.  "Are the
+children here?"
+
+"Yes, they're up in the play-room," she answered, sadly, utterly
+nonplussed and distraught.
+
+"Oh, Frank!" she had it on her lips to cry, but before she could
+utter it he had bustled down the steps and was gone.  She turned
+back to the table, her left hand to her mouth, her eyes in a queer,
+hazy, melancholy mist.  Could it be, she thought, that life could
+really come to this--that love could so utterly, so thoroughly die?
+Ten years before--but, oh, why go back to that? Obviously it could,
+and thoughts concerning that would not help now.  Twice now in her
+life her affairs had seemed to go to pieces--once when her first
+husband had died, and now when her second had failed her, had
+fallen in love with another and was going to be sent off to prison.
+What was it about her that caused such things? Was there anything
+wrong with her? What was she going to do? Where go? She had no
+idea, of course, for how long a term of years he would be sent away.
+It might be one year or it might be five years, as the papers had
+said.  Good heavens! The children could almost come to forget him
+in five years.  She put her other hand to her mouth, also, and
+then to her forehead, where there was a dull ache.  She tried to
+think further than this, but somehow, just now, there was no further
+thought.  Suddenly quite outside of her own volition, with no
+thought that she was going to do such a thing, her bosom began to
+heave, her throat contracted in four or five short, sharp, aching
+spasms, her eyes burned, and she shook in a vigorous, anguished,
+desperate, almost one might have said dry-eyed, cry, so hot and
+few were the tears.  She could not stop for the moment, just stood
+there and shook, and then after a while a dull ache succeeded, and
+she was quite as she had been before.
+
+"Why cry?" she suddenly asked herself, fiercely--for her.  "Why
+break down in this stormy, useless way? Would it help?"
+
+But, in spite of her speculative, philosophic observations to
+herself, she still felt the echo, the distant rumble, as it were,
+of the storm in her own soul.  "Why cry? Why not cry?" She might
+have said--but wouldn't, and in spite of herself and all her logic,
+she knew that this tempest which had so recently raged over her
+was now merely circling around her soul's horizon and would return
+to break again.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter L
+
+
+
+
+The arrival of Steger with the information that no move of any
+kind would be made by the sheriff until Monday morning, when
+Cowperwood could present himself, eased matters.  This gave him
+time to think--to adjust home details at his leisure.  He broke
+the news to his father and mother in a consoling way and talked
+with his brothers and father about getting matters immediately
+adjusted in connection with the smaller houses to which they were
+now shortly to be compelled to move.  There was much conferring
+among the different members of this collapsing organization in
+regard to the minor details; and what with his conferences with
+Steger, his seeing personally Davison, Leigh, Avery Stone, of Jay
+Cooke & Co., George Waterman (his old-time employer Henry was dead),
+ex-State Treasurer Van Nostrand, who had gone out with the last
+State administration, and others, he was very busy.  Now that he
+was really going into prison, he wanted his financial friends to
+get together and see if they could get him out by appealing to the
+Governor.  The division of opinion among the judges of the State
+Supreme Court was his excuse and strong point.  He wanted Steger
+to follow this up, and he spared no pains in trying to see all
+and sundry who might be of use to him--Edward Tighe, of Tighe &
+Co., who was still in business in Third Street; Newton Targool;
+Arthur Rivers; Joseph Zimmerman, the dry-goods prince, now a
+millionaire; Judge Kitchen; Terrence Relihan, the former
+representative of the money element at Harrisburg; and many others.
+
+Cowperwood wanted Relihan to approach the newspapers and see if
+he could not readjust their attitude so as to work to get him out,
+and he wanted Walter Leigh to head the movement of getting up a
+signed petition which should contain all the important names of
+moneyed people and others, asking the Governor to release him.
+Leigh agreed to this heartily, as did Relihan, and many others.
+
+And, afterwards there was really nothing else to do, unless it
+was to see Aileen once more, and this, in the midst of his other
+complications and obligations, seemed all but impossible at times--
+and yet he did achieve that, too--so eager was he to be soothed
+and comforted by the ignorant and yet all embracing volume of her
+love.  Her eyes these days! The eager, burning quest of him and
+his happiness that blazed in them.  To think that he should be
+tortured so--her Frank! Oh, she knew--whatever he said, and however
+bravely and jauntily he talked.  To think that her love for him
+should have been the principal cause of his being sent to jail,
+as she now believed.  And the cruelty of her father! And the
+smallness of his enemies--that fool Stener, for instance, whose
+pictures she had seen in the papers.  Actually, whenever in the
+presence of her Frank, she fairly seethed in a chemic agony for
+him--her strong, handsome lover--the strongest, bravest, wisest,
+kindest, handsomest man in the world.  Oh, didn't she know! And
+Cowperwood, looking in her eyes and realizing this reasonless, if
+so comforting fever for him, smiled and was touched.  Such love!
+That of a dog for a master; that of a mother for a child.  And
+how had he come to evoke it? He could not say, but it was beautiful.
+
+And so, now, in these last trying hours, he wished to see her much--
+and did--meeting her at least four times in the month in which he
+had been free, between his conviction and the final dismissal of
+his appeal.  He had one last opportunity of seeing her--and she
+him--just before his entrance into prison this last time--on the
+Saturday before the Monday of his sentence.  He had not come in
+contact with her since the decision of the Supreme Court had been
+rendered, but he had had a letter from her sent to a private mail-box,
+and had made an appointment for Saturday at a small hotel in Camden,
+which, being across the river, was safer, in his judgment, than
+anything in Philadelphia.  He was a little uncertain as to how she
+would take the possibility of not seeing him soon again after
+Monday, and how she would act generally once he was where she could
+not confer with him as often as she chose.  And in consequence, he
+was anxious to talk to her.  But on this occasion, as he anticipated,
+and even feared, so sorry for her was he, she was not less emphatic
+in her protestations than she had ever been; in fact, much more so.
+When she saw him approaching in the distance, she went forward to
+meet him in that direct, forceful way which only she could attempt
+with him, a sort of mannish impetuosity which he both enjoyed and
+admired, and slipping her arms around his neck, said: "Honey, you
+needn't tell me.  I saw it in the papers the other morning.  Don't
+you mind, honey.  I love you.  I'll wait for you.  I'll be with you
+yet, if it takes a dozen years of waiting.  It doesn't make any
+difference to me if it takes a hundred, only I'm so sorry for you,
+sweetheart.  I'll be with you every day through this, darling,
+loving you with all my might."
+
+She caressed him while he looked at her in that quiet way which
+betokened at once his self-poise and yet his interest and satisfaction
+in her.  He couldn't help loving Aileen, he thought who could? She
+was so passionate, vibrant, desireful.  He couldn't help admiring
+her tremendously, now more than ever, because literally, in spite
+of all his intellectual strength, he really could not rule her.
+She went at him, even when he stood off in a calm, critical way,
+as if he were her special property, her toy.  She would talk to
+him always, and particularly when she was excited, as if he were
+just a baby, her pet; and sometimes he felt as though she would
+really overcome him mentally, make him subservient to her, she was
+so individual, so sure of her importance as a woman.
+
+Now on this occasion she went babbling on as if he were broken-hearted,
+in need of her greatest care and tenderness, although he really
+wasn't at all; and for the moment she actually made him feel as
+though he was.
+
+"It isn't as bad as that, Aileen," he ventured to say, eventually;
+and with a softness and tenderness almost unusual for him, even
+where she was concerned, but she went on forcefully, paying no heed
+to him.
+
+"Oh, yes, it is, too, honey.  I know.  Oh, my poor Frank! But I'll
+see you.  I know how to manage, whatever happens.  How often do
+they let visitors come out to see the prisoners there?"
+
+"Only once in three months, pet, so they say, but I think we can
+fix that after I get there; only do you think you had better try
+to come right away, Aileen? You know what the feeling now is.
+Hadn't you better wait a while? Aren't you in danger of stirring
+up your father? He might cause a lot of trouble out there if he
+were so minded."
+
+"Only once in three months!" she exclaimed, with rising emphasis,
+as he began this explanation.  "Oh, Frank, no! Surely not! Once
+in three months! Oh, I can't stand that! I won't! I'll go and see
+the warden myself.  He'll let me see you.   I'm sure he will, if
+I talk to him."
+
+She fairly gasped in her excitement, not willing to pause in her
+tirade, but Cowperwood interposed with her, "You're not thinking
+what you're saying, Aileen.  You're not thinking.  Remember your
+father! Remember your family! Your father may know the warden out
+there.  You don't want it to get all over town that you're running
+out there to see me, do you? Your father might cause you trouble.
+Besides you don't know the small party politicians as I do.  They
+gossip like a lot of old women.  You'll have to be very careful
+what you do and how you do it.  I don't want to lose you.  I want
+to see you.  But you'll have to mind what you're doing.  Don't try
+to see me at once.  I want you to, but I want to find out how the
+land lies, and I want you to find out too.  You won't lose me.
+I'll be there, well enough."
+
+He paused as he thought of the long tier of iron cells which must
+be there, one of which would be his--for how long?--and of Aileen
+seeing him through the door of it or in it.  At the same time he
+was thinking, in spite of all his other calculations, how charming
+she was looking to-day.  How young she kept, and how forceful!
+While he was nearing his full maturity she was a comparatively
+young girl, and as beautiful as ever.  She was wearing a
+black-and-white-striped silk in the curious bustle style of the
+times, and a set of sealskin furs, including a little sealskin cap
+set jauntily on top her red-gold hair.
+
+"I know, I know," replied Aileen, firmly.  "But think of three
+months! Honey, I can't! I won't! It's nonsense.  Three months! I
+know that my father wouldn't have to wait any three months if he
+wanted to see anybody out there, nor anybody else that he wanted
+to ask favors for.  And I won't, either.  I'll find some way."
+
+Cowperwood had to smile.  You could not defeat Aileen so easily.
+
+"But you're not your father, honey; and you don't want him to know."
+
+"I know I don't, but they don't need to know who I am.  I can go
+heavily veiled.  I don't think that the warden knows my father.
+He may.  Anyhow, he doesn't know me; and he wouldn't tell on me
+if he did if I talked to him."
+
+Her confidence in her charms, her personality, her earthly
+privileges was quite anarchistic.  Cowperwood shook his head.
+
+"Honey, you're about the best and the worst there is when it comes
+to a woman," he observed, affectionately, pulling her head down
+to kiss her, "but you'll have to listen to me just the same.  I
+have a lawyer, Steger--you know him.  He's going to take up this
+matter with the warden out there--is doing it today.  He may be
+able to fix things, and he may not.  I'll know to-morrow or Sunday,
+and I'll write you.  But don't go and do anything rash until you
+hear.  I'm sure I can cut that visiting limit in half, and perhaps
+down to once a month or once in two weeks even.  They only allow me
+to write one letter in three months"--Aileen exploded again--"and
+I'm sure I can have that made different--some; but don't write me
+until you hear, or at least don't sign any name or put any address
+in.  They open all mail and read it.  If you see me or write me
+you'll have to be cautious, and you're not the most cautious person
+in the world.  Now be good, will you?"
+
+They talked much more--of his family, his court appearance Monday,
+whether he would get out soon to attend any of the suits still
+pending, or be pardoned.  Aileen still believed in his future.
+She had read the opinions of the dissenting judges in his favor,
+and that of the three agreed judges against him.  She was sure his
+day was not over in Philadelphia, and that he would some time
+reestablish himself and then take her with him somewhere else.
+She was sorry for Mrs. Cowperwood, but she was convinced that she
+was not suited to him--that Frank needed some one more like herself,
+some one with youth and beauty and force--her, no less.  She clung
+to him now in ecstatic embraces until it was time to go.  So far
+as a plan of procedure could have been adjusted in a situation so
+incapable of accurate adjustment, it had been done.  She was
+desperately downcast at the last moment, as was he, over their
+parting; but she pulled herself together with her usual force and
+faced the dark future with a steady eye.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LI
+
+
+
+
+Monday came and with it his final departure.  All that could be
+done had been done.  Cowperwood said his farewells to his mother
+and father, his brothers and sister.  He had a rather distant but
+sensible and matter-of-fact talk with his wife.  He made no special
+point of saying good-by to his son or his daughter; when he came
+in on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, after he
+had learned that he was to depart Monday, it was with the thought
+of talking to them a little in an especially affectionate way.
+He realized that his general moral or unmoral attitude was perhaps
+working them a temporary injustice.  Still he was not sure.  Most
+people did fairly well with their lives, whether coddled or deprived
+of opportunity.  These children would probably do as well as most
+children, whatever happened--and then, anyhow, he had no intention
+of forsaking them financially, if he could help it.  He did not
+want to separate his wife from her children, nor them from her.
+She should keep them.  He wanted them to be comfortable with her.
+He would like to see them, wherever they were with her, occasionally.
+Only he wanted his own personal freedom, in so far as she and they
+were concerned, to go off and set up a new world and a new home
+with Aileen.  So now on these last days, and particularly this
+last Sunday night, he was rather noticeably considerate of his boy
+and girl, without being too openly indicative of his approaching
+separation from them.
+
+"Frank," he said to his notably lackadaisical son on this occasion,
+"aren't you going to straighten up and be a big, strong, healthy
+fellow? You don't play enough.  You ought to get in with a gang
+of boys and be a leader.  Why don't you fit yourself up a gymnasium
+somewhere and see how strong you can get?"
+
+They were in the senior Cowperwood's sitting-room, where they had
+all rather consciously gathered on this occasion.
+
+Lillian, second, who was on the other side of the big library
+table from her father, paused to survey him and her brother with
+interest.  Both had been carefully guarded against any real
+knowledge of their father's affairs or his present predicament.
+He was going away on a journey for about a month or so they
+understood.  Lillian was reading in a Chatterbox book which had
+been given her the previous Christmas.
+
+"He won't do anything," she volunteered, looking up from her reading
+in a peculiarly critical way for her.  "Why, he won't ever run
+races with me when I want him to."
+
+"Aw, who wants to run races with you, anyhow?" returned Frank,
+junior, sourly.  "You couldn't run if I did want to run with you."
+
+"Couldn't I?" she replied.  "I could beat you, all right."
+
+"Lillian!" pleaded her mother, with a warning sound in her voice.
+
+Cowperwood smiled, and laid his hand affectionately on his son's
+head.  "You'll be all right, Frank," he volunteered, pinching his
+ear lightly.  "Don't worry--just make an effort."
+
+The boy did not respond as warmly as he hoped.  Later in the
+evening Mrs. Cowperwood noticed that her husband squeezed his
+daughter's slim little waist and pulled her curly hair gently.
+For the moment she was jealous of her daughter.
+
+"Going to be the best kind of a girl while I'm away?" he said to
+her, privately.
+
+"Yes, papa," she replied, brightly.
+
+"That's right," he returned, and leaned over and kissed her mouth
+tenderly.  "Button Eyes," he said.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood sighed after he had gone.  "Everything for the
+children, nothing for me," she thought, though the children had
+not got so vastly much either in the past.
+
+Cowperwood's attitude toward his mother in this final hour was
+about as tender and sympathetic as any he could maintain in this
+world.  He understood quite clearly the ramifications of her
+interests, and how she was suffering for him and all the others
+concerned.  He had not forgotten her sympathetic care of him in
+his youth; and if he could have done anything to have spared her
+this unhappy breakdown of her fortunes in her old age, he would
+have done so.  There was no use crying over spilled milk.  It was
+impossible at times for him not to feel intensely in moments of
+success or failure; but the proper thing to do was to bear up,
+not to show it, to talk little and go your way with an air not so
+much of resignation as of self-sufficiency, to whatever was awaiting
+you.  That was his attitude on this morning, and that was what he
+expected from those around him--almost compelled, in fact, by his
+own attitude.
+
+"Well, mother," he said, genially, at the last moment--he would
+not let her nor his wife nor his sister come to court, maintaining
+that it would make not the least difference to him and would only
+harrow their own feelings uselessly--"I'm going now.  Don't worry.
+Keep up your spirits."
+
+He slipped his arm around his mother's waist, and she gave him a
+long, unrestrained, despairing embrace and kiss.
+
+"Go on, Frank," she said, choking, when she let him go.  "God
+bless you.  I'll pray for you."  He paid no further attention to
+her.  He didn't dare.
+
+"Good-by, Lillian," he said to his wife, pleasantly, kindly.  "I'll
+be back in a few days, I think.  I'll be coming out to attend some
+of these court proceedings."
+
+To his sister he said: "Good-by, Anna.  Don't let the others get
+too down-hearted."
+
+"I'll see you three afterward," he said to his father and brothers;
+and so, dressed in the very best fashion of the time, he hurried
+down into the reception-hall, where Steger was waiting, and was
+off.  His family, hearing the door close on him, suffered a poignant
+sense of desolation.  They stood there for a moment, his mother
+crying, his father looking as though he had lost his last friend
+but making a great effort to seem self-contained and equal to his
+troubles, Anna telling Lillian not to mind, and the latter staring
+dumbly into the future, not knowing what to think.  Surely a
+brilliant sun had set on their local scene, and in a very pathetic
+way.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LII
+
+
+
+
+When Cowperwood reached the jail, Jaspers was there, glad to see
+him but principally relieved to feel that nothing had happened to
+mar his own reputation as a sheriff.  Because of the urgency of
+court matters generally, it was decided to depart for the courtroom
+at nine o'clock.  Eddie Zanders was once more delegated to see
+that Cowperwood was brought safely before Judge Payderson and
+afterward taken to the penitentiary.  All of the papers in the
+case were put in his care to be delivered to the warden.
+
+"I suppose you know," confided Sheriff Jaspers to Steger, "that
+Stener is here.  He ain't got no money now, but I gave him a
+private room just the same.  I didn't want to put a man like him
+in no cell."  Sheriff Jaspers sympathized with Stener.
+
+"That's right.  I'm glad to hear that," replied Steger, smiling
+to himself.
+
+"I didn't suppose from what I've heard that Mr. Cowperwood would
+want to meet Stener here, so I've kept 'em apart.  George just
+left a minute ago with another deputy."
+
+"That's good.  That's the way it ought to be," replied Steger.
+He was glad for Cowperwood's sake that the sheriff had so much
+tact.  Evidently George and the sheriff were getting along in a
+very friendly way, for all the former's bitter troubles and lack
+of means.
+
+The Cowperwood party walked, the distance not being great, and as
+they did so they talked of rather simple things to avoid the more
+serious.
+
+"Things aren't going to be so bad," Edward said to his father.
+"Steger says the Governor is sure to pardon Stener in a year or
+less, and if he does he's bound to let Frank out too."
+
+Cowperwood, the elder, had heard this over and over, but he was
+never tired of hearing it.  It was like some simple croon with
+which babies are hushed to sleep.  The snow on the ground, which
+was enduring remarkably well for this time of year, the fineness
+of the day, which had started out to be clear and bright, the
+hope that the courtroom might not be full, all held the attention
+of the father and his two sons.  Cowperwood, senior, even commented
+on some sparrows fighting over a piece of bread, marveling how
+well they did in winter, solely to ease his mind.  Cowperwood,
+walking on ahead with Steger and Zanders, talked of approaching
+court proceedings in connection with his business and what ought
+to be done.
+
+When they reached the court the same little pen in which Cowperwood
+had awaited the verdict of his jury several months before was
+waiting to receive him.
+
+Cowperwood, senior, and his other sons sought places in the
+courtroom proper.  Eddie Zanders remained with his charge.  Stener
+and a deputy by the name of Wilkerson were in the room; but he and
+Cowperwood pretended now not to see each other.  Frank had no
+objection to talking to his former associate, but he could see
+that Stener was diffident and ashamed.  So he let the situation
+pass without look or word of any kind.  After some three-quarters
+of an hour of dreary waiting the door leading into the courtroom
+proper opened and a bailiff stepped in.
+
+"All prisoners up for sentence," he called.
+
+There were six, all told, including Cowperwood and Stener.  Two
+of them were confederate housebreakers who had been caught red-handed
+at their midnight task.
+
+Another prisoner was no more and no less than a plain horse-thief,
+a young man of twenty-six, who had been convicted by a jury of
+stealing a grocer's horse and selling it.  The last man was a
+negro, a tall, shambling, illiterate, nebulous-minded black, who
+had walked off with an apparently discarded section of lead pipe
+which he had found in a lumber-yard.  His idea was to sell or
+trade it for a drink.  He really did not belong in this court at
+all; but, having been caught by an undersized American watchman
+charged with the care of the property, and having at first refused
+to plead guilty, not quite understanding what was to be done with
+him, he had been perforce bound over to this court for trial.
+Afterward he had changed his mind and admitted his guilt, so he
+now had to come before Judge Payderson for sentence or dismissal.
+The lower court before which he had originally been brought had
+lost jurisdiction by binding him over to to higher court for trial.
+Eddie Zanders, in his self-appointed position as guide and mentor
+to Cowperwood, had confided nearly all of this data to him as he
+stood waiting.
+
+The courtroom was crowded.  It was very humiliating to Cowperwood
+to have to file in this way along the side aisle with these others,
+followed by Stener, well dressed but sickly looking and disconsolate.
+
+The negro, Charles Ackerman, was the first on the list.
+
+"How is it this man comes before me?" asked Payderson, peevishly,
+when he noted the value of the property Ackerman was supposed to
+have stolen.
+
+"Your honor," the assistant district attorney explained, promptly,
+"this man was before a lower court and refused, because he was
+drunk, or something, to plead guilty.  The lower court, because
+the complainant would not forego the charge, was compelled to
+bind him over to this court for trial.  Since then he has changed
+his mind and has admitted his guilt to the district attorney.  He
+would not be brought before you except we have no alternative.
+He has to be brought here now in order to clear the calendar."
+
+Judge Payderson stared quizzically at the negro, who, obviously
+not very much disturbed by this examination, was leaning comfortably
+on the gate or bar before which the average criminal stood erect
+and terrified.  He had been before police-court magistrates before
+on one charge and another--drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and
+the like--but his whole attitude was one of shambling, lackadaisical,
+amusing innocence.
+
+"Well, Ackerman," inquired his honor, severely, "did you or did
+you not steal this piece of lead pipe as charged here--four dollars
+and eighty cents' worth?"
+
+"Yassah, I did," he began.  "I tell you how it was, jedge.  I was
+a-comin' along past dat lumber-yard one Saturday afternoon, and
+I hadn't been wuckin', an' I saw dat piece o' pipe thoo de fence,
+lyin' inside, and I jes' reached thoo with a piece o' boad I
+found dey and pulled it over to me an' tuck it.  An' aftahwahd dis
+Mistah Watchman man"--he waved his hand oratorically toward the
+witness-chair, where, in case the judge might wish to ask him some
+questions, the complainant had taken his stand--"come around tuh
+where I live an' accused me of done takin' it."
+
+"But you did take it, didn't you?"
+
+"Yassah, I done tuck it."
+
+"What did you do with it?"
+
+"I traded it foh twenty-five cents."
+
+"You mean you sold it," corrected his honor.
+
+"Yassah, I done sold it."
+
+"Well, don't you know it's wrong to do anything like that? Didn't
+you know when you reached through that fence and pulled that pipe
+over to you that you were stealing? Didn't you?"
+
+"Yassah, I knowed it was wrong," replied Ackerman, sheepishly.
+"I didn' think 'twuz stealin' like zackly, but I done knowed it
+was wrong.  I done knowed I oughtn' take it, I guess."
+
+"Of course you did.  Of course you did.  That's just it.  You
+knew you were stealing, and still you took it.  Has the man to
+whom this negro sold the lead pipe been apprehended yet?" the
+judge inquired sharply of the district attorney.  "He should be,
+for he's more guilty than this negro, a receiver of stolen goods."
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the assistant.  "His case is before Judge
+Yawger."
+
+"Quite right.  It should be," replied Payderson, severely.  "This
+matter of receiving stolen property is one of the worst offenses,
+in my judgment."
+
+He then turned his attention to Ackerman again.  "Now, look here,
+Ackerman," he exclaimed, irritated at having to bother with such
+a pretty case, "I want to say something to you, and I want you to
+pay strict attention to me.  Straighten up, there! Don't lean on
+that gate! You are in the presence of the law now."  Ackerman had
+sprawled himself comfortably down on his elbows as he would have
+if he had been leaning over a back-fence gate talking to some one,
+but he immediately drew himself straight, still grinning foolishly
+and apologetically, when he heard this.  "You are not so dull but
+that you can understand what I am going to say to you.  The offense
+you have committed--stealing a piece of lead pipe--is a crime.  Do
+you hear me? A criminal offense--one that I could punish you very
+severely for.  I could send you to the penitentiary for one year
+if I chose--the law says I may--one year at hard labor for stealing
+a piece of lead pipe.  Now, if you have any sense you will pay
+strict attention to what I am going to tell you.  I am not going
+to send you to the penitentiary right now.  I'm going to wait a
+little while.  I am going to sentence you to one year in the
+penitentiary--one year.  Do you understand?" Ackerman blanched a
+little and licked his lips nervously.  "And then I am going to
+suspend that sentence--hold it over your head, so that if you are
+ever caught taking anything else you will be punished for this
+offense and the next one also at one and the same time.  Do you
+understand that? Do you know what I mean? Tell me.  Do you?"
+
+"Yessah! I does, sir," replied the negro.  "You'se gwine to let
+me go now--tha's it."
+
+The audience grinned, and his honor made a wry face to prevent
+his own grim grin.
+
+"I'm going to let you go only so long as you don't steal anything
+else," he thundered.  "The moment you steal anything else, back
+you come to this court, and then you go to the penitentiary for a
+year and whatever more time you deserve.  Do you understand that?
+Now, I want you to walk straight out of this court and behave
+yourself.  Don't ever steal anything.  Get something to do! Don't
+steal, do you hear? Don't touch anything that doesn't belong to
+you! Don't come back here! If you do, I'll send you to the
+penitentiary, sure."
+
+"Yassah! No, sah, I won't," replied Ackerman, nervously.  "I won't
+take nothin' more that don't belong tuh me."
+
+He shuffled away, after a moment, urged along by the guiding hand
+of a bailiff, and was put safely outside the court, amid a mixture
+of smiles and laughter over his simplicity and Payderson's undue
+severity of manner.  But the next case was called and soon engrossed
+the interest of the audience.
+
+It was that of the two housebreakers whom Cowperwood had been and
+was still studying with much curiosity.  In all his life before
+he had never witnessed a sentencing scene of any kind.  He had
+never been in police or criminal courts of any kind--rarely in any
+of the civil ones.  He was glad to see the negro go, and gave
+Payderson credit for having some sense and sympathy--more than he
+had expected.
+
+He wondered now whether by any chance Aileen was here.  He had
+objected to her coming, but she might have done so.  She was, as
+a matter of fact, in the extreme rear, pocketed in a crowd near
+the door, heavily veiled, but present.  She had not been able to
+resist the desire to know quickly and surely her beloved's fate--
+to be near him in his hour of real suffering, as she thought.  She
+was greatly angered at seeing him brought in with a line of ordinary
+criminals and made to wait in this, to her, shameful public manner,
+but she could not help admiring all the more the dignity and
+superiority of his presence even here.  He was not even pale, as
+she saw, just the same firm, calm soul she had always known him
+to be.  If he could only see her now; if he would only look so she
+could lift her veil and smile! He didn't, though; he wouldn't.  He
+didn't want to see her here.  But she would tell him all about it
+when she saw him again just the same.
+
+The two burglars were quickly disposed of by the judge, with a
+sentence of one year each, and they were led away, uncertain, and
+apparently not knowing what to think of their crime or their future.
+
+When it came to Cowperwood's turn to be called, his honor himself
+stiffened and straightened up, for this was a different type of
+man and could not be handled in the usual manner.  He knew exactly
+what he was going to say.  When one of Mollenhauer's agents, a
+close friend of Butler's, had suggested that five years for both
+Cowperwood and Stener would be about right, he knew exactly what
+to do.  "Frank Algernon Cowperwood," called the clerk.
+
+Cowperwood stepped briskly forward, sorry for himself, ashamed of
+his position in a way, but showing it neither in look nor manner.
+Payderson eyed him as he had the others.
+
+"Name?" asked the bailiff, for the benefit of the court stenographer.
+
+"Frank Algernon Cowperwood."
+
+"Residence?"
+
+"1937 Girard Avenue."
+
+"Occupation?"
+
+"Banker and broker."
+
+Steger stood close beside him, very dignified, very forceful, ready
+to make a final statement for the benefit of the court and the
+public when the time should come.  Aileen, from her position in
+the crowd near the door, was for the first time in her life biting
+her fingers nervously and there were great beads of perspiration
+on her brow.  Cowperwood's father was tense with excitement and
+his two brothers looked quickly away, doing their best to hide
+their fear and sorrow.
+
+"Ever convicted before?"
+
+"Never," replied Steger for Cowperwood, quietly.
+
+"Frank Algernon Cowperwood," called the clerk, in his nasal,
+singsong way, coming forward, "have you anything to say why judgment
+should not now be pronounced upon you? If so, speak."
+
+Cowperwood started to say no, but Steger put up his hand.
+
+"If the court pleases, my client, Mr. Cowperwood, the prisoner at
+the bar, is neither guilty in his own estimation, nor in that of
+two-fifths of the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court--the court of
+last resort in this State," he exclaimed, loudly and clearly, so
+that all might hear.
+
+One of the interested listeners and spectators at this point was
+Edward Malia Butler, who had just stepped in from another courtroom
+where he had been talking to a judge.  An obsequious court attendant
+had warned him that Cowperwood was about to be sentenced.  He had
+really come here this morning in order not to miss this sentence,
+but he cloaked his motive under the guise of another errand.  He
+did not know that Aileen was there, nor did he see her.
+
+"As he himself testified at the time of his trial," went on Steger,
+"and as the evidence clearly showed, he was never more than an
+agent for the gentleman whose offense was subsequently adjudicated
+by this court; and as an agent he still maintains, and two-fifths
+of the State Supreme Court agree with him, that he was strictly
+within his rights and privileges in not having deposited the sixty
+thousand dollars' worth of city loan certificates at the time, and
+in the manner which the people, acting through the district attorney,
+complained that he should have.  My client is a man of rare financial
+ability.  By the various letters which have been submitted to your
+honor in his behalf, you will see that he commands the respect and
+the sympathy of a large majority of the most forceful and eminent
+men in his particular world.  He is a man of distinguished social
+standing and of notable achievements.  Only the most unheralded
+and the unkindest thrust of fortune has brought him here before
+you today--a fire and its consequent panic which involved a financial
+property of the most thorough and stable character.  In spite of
+the verdict of the jury and the decision of three-fifths of the
+State Supreme Court, I maintain that my client is not an embezzler,
+that he has not committed larceny, that he should never have been
+convicted, and that he should not now be punished for something
+of which he is not guilty.
+
+"I trust that your honor will not misunderstand me or my motives
+when I point out in this situation that what I have said is true.
+I do not wish to cast any reflection on the integrity of the court,
+nor of any court, nor of any of the processes of law.  But I do
+condemn and deplore the untoward chain of events which has built
+up a seeming situation, not easily understood by the lay mind, and
+which has brought my distinguished client within the purview of
+the law.  I think it is but fair that this should be finally and
+publicly stated here and now.  I ask that your honor be lenient,
+and that if you cannot conscientiously dismiss this charge you
+will at least see that the facts, as I have indicated them, are
+given due weight in the measure of the punishment inflicted."
+
+Steger stepped back and Judge Payderson nodded, as much as to say
+he had heard all the distinguished lawyer had to say, and would
+give it such consideration as it deserved--no more.  Then he turned
+to Cowperwood, and, summoning all his judicial dignity to his aid,
+he began:
+
+"Frank Algernon Cowperwood, you have been convicted by a jury of
+your own selection of the offense of larceny.  The motion for a
+new trial, made in your behalf by your learned counsel, has been
+carefully considered and overruled, the majority of the court being
+entirely satisfied with the propriety of the conviction, both upon
+the law and the evidence.  Your offense was one of more than usual
+gravity, the more so that the large amount of money which you
+obtained belonged to the city.  And it was aggravated by the fact
+that you had in addition thereto unlawfully used and converted to
+your own use several hundred thousand dollars of the loan and money
+of the city.  For such an offense the maximum punishment affixed
+by the law is singularly merciful.  Nevertheless, the facts in
+connection with your hitherto distinguished position, the
+circumstances under which your failure was brought about, and the
+appeals of your numerous friends and financial associates, will
+be given due consideration by this court.  It is not unmindful of
+any important fact in your career."  Payderson paused as if in
+doubt, though he knew very well how he was about to proceed.  He
+knew what his superiors expected of him.
+
+"If your case points no other moral," he went on, after a moment,
+toying with the briefs, "it will at least teach the lesson much
+needed at the present time, that the treasury of the city is not
+to be invaded and plundered with impunity under the thin disguise
+of a business transaction, and that there is still a power in the
+law to vindicate itself and to protect the public.
+
+"The sentence of the court," he added, solemnly, the while Cowperwood
+gazed unmoved, "is, therefore, that you pay a fine of five thousand
+dollars to the commonwealth for the use of the county, that you
+pay the costs of prosecution, and that you undergo imprisonment
+in the State Penitentiary for the Eastern District by separate or
+solitary confinement at labor for a period of four years and three
+months, and that you stand committed until this sentence is complied
+with."
+
+Cowperwood's father, on hearing this, bowed his head to hide his
+tears.  Aileen bit her lower lip and clenched her hands to keep
+down her rage and disappointment and tears.  Four years and three
+months! That would make a terrible gap in his life and hers.  Still,
+she could wait.  It was better than eight or ten years, as she
+had feared it might be.  Perhaps now, once this was really over
+and he was in prison, the Governor would pardon him.
+
+The judge now moved to pick up the papers in connection with
+Stener's case, satisfied that he had given the financiers no
+chance to say he had not given due heed to their plea in Cowperwood's
+behalf and yet certain that the politicians would be pleased
+that he had so nearly given Cowperwood the maximum while appearing
+to have heeded the pleas for mercy.  Cowperwood saw through the
+trick at once, but it did not disturb him.  It struck him as rather
+weak and contemptible.  A bailiff came forward and started to hurry
+him away.
+
+"Allow the prisoner to remain for a moment," called the judge.
+
+The name, of George W. Stener had been called by the clerk and
+Cowperwood did not quite understand why he was being detained, but
+he soon learned.  It was that he might hear the opinion of the
+court in connection with his copartner in crime.  The latter's
+record was taken.  Roger O'Mara, the Irish political lawyer who
+had been his counsel all through his troubles, stood near him, but
+had nothing to say beyond asking the judge to consider Stener's
+previously honorable career.
+
+"George W. Stener," said his honor, while the audience, including
+Cowperwood, listened attentively.  "The motion for a new trial as
+well as an arrest of judgment in your case having been overruled,
+it remains for the court to impose such sentence as the nature of
+your offense requires.  I do not desire to add to the pain of your
+position by any extended remarks of my own; but I cannot let the
+occasion pass without expressing my emphatic condemnation of your
+offense.  The misapplication of public money has become the great
+crime of the age.  If not promptly and firmly checked, it will
+ultimately destroy our institutions.  When a republic becomes
+honeycombed with corruption its vitality is gone.  It must crumble
+upon the first pressure.
+
+"In my opinion, the public is much to blame for your offense and
+others of a similar character.  Heretofore, official fraud has
+been regarded with too much indifference.  What we need is a higher
+and purer political morality--a state of public opinion which would
+make the improper use of public money a thing to be execrated.  It
+was the lack of this which made your offense possible.  Beyond that
+I see nothing of extenuation in your case."  Judge Payderson paused
+for emphasis.  He was coming to his finest flight, and he wanted
+it to sink in.
+
+"The people had confided to you the care of their money," he went
+on, solemnly.  "It was a high, a sacred trust.  You should have
+guarded the door of the treasury even as the cherubim protected
+the Garden of Eden, and should have turned the flaming sword of
+impeccable honesty against every one who approached it improperly.
+Your position as the representative of a great community warranted
+that.
+
+"In view of all the facts in your case the court can do no less
+than impose a major penalty.  The seventy-fourth section of the
+Criminal Procedure Act provides that no convict shall be sentenced
+by the court of this commonwealth to either of the penitentiaries
+thereof, for any term which shall expire between the fifteenth of
+November and the fifteenth day of February of any year, and this
+provision requires me to abate three months from the maximum of
+time which I would affix in your case--namely, five years.  The
+sentence of the court is, therefore, that you pay a fine of five
+thousand dollars to the commonwealth for the use of the county"--
+Payderson knew well enough that Stener could never pay that sum--
+"and that you undergo imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for
+the Eastern District, by separate and solitary confinement at labor,
+for the period of four years and nine months, and that you stand
+committed until this sentence is complied with."  He laid down
+the briefs and rubbed his chin reflectively while both Cowperwood
+and Stener were hurried out.  Butler was the first to leave after
+the sentence--quite satisfied.  Seeing that all was over so far
+as she was concerned, Aileen stole quickly out; and after her, in
+a few moments, Cowperwood's father and brothers.  They were to
+await him outside and go with him to the penitentiary.  The remaining
+members of the family were at home eagerly awaiting intelligence
+of the morning's work, and Joseph Cowperwood was at once despatched
+to tell them.
+
+The day had now become cloudy, lowery, and it looked as if there
+might be snow.  Eddie Zanders, who had been given all the papers
+in the case, announced that there was no need to return to the
+county jail.  In consequence the five of them--Zanders, Steger,
+Cowperwood, his father, and Edward--got into a street-car which
+ran to within a few blocks of the prison.  Within half an hour
+they were at the gates of the Eastern Penitentiary.  
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LIII
+
+
+
+
+The Eastern District Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, standing at
+Fairmount Avenue and Twenty-first Street in Philadelphia, where
+Cowperwood was now to serve his sentence of four years and three
+months, was a large, gray-stone structure, solemn and momentous
+in its mien, not at all unlike the palace of Sforzas at Milan,
+although not so distinguished.  It stretched its gray length for
+several blocks along four different streets, and looked as lonely
+and forbidding as a prison should.  The wall which inclosed its
+great area extending over ten acres and gave it so much of its
+solemn dignity was thirty-five feet high and some seven feet thick.
+The prison proper, which was not visible from the outside,
+consisted of seven arms or corridors, ranged octopus-like around
+a central room or court, and occupying in their sprawling length
+about two-thirds of the yard inclosed within the walls, so that
+there was but little space for the charm of lawn or sward.  The
+corridors, forty-two feet wide from outer wall to outer wall,
+were one hundred and eighty feet in length, and in four instances
+two stories high, and extended in their long reach in every direction.
+There were no windows in the corridors, only narrow slits of
+skylights, three and one-half feet long by perhaps eight inches
+wide, let in the roof; and the ground-floor cells were accompanied
+in some instances by a small yard ten by sixteen--the same size
+as the cells proper--which was surrounded by a high brick wall in
+every instance.  The cells and floors and roofs were made of stone,
+and the corridors, which were only ten feet wide between the cells,
+and in the case of the single-story portion only fifteen feet high,
+were paved with stone.  If you stood in the central room, or rotunda,
+and looked down the long stretches which departed from you in every
+direction, you had a sense of narrowness and confinement not
+compatible with their length.  The iron doors, with their outer
+accompaniment of solid wooden ones, the latter used at times to
+shut the prisoner from all sight and sound, were grim and unpleasing
+to behold.  The halls were light enough, being whitewashed frequently
+and set with the narrow skylights, which were closed with frosted
+glass in winter; but they were, as are all such matter-of-fact
+arrangements for incarceration, bare--wearisome to look upon.  Life
+enough there was in all conscience, seeing that there were four
+hundred prisoners here at that time, and that nearly every cell
+was occupied; but it was a life of which no one individual was
+essentially aware as a spectacle.  He was of it; but he was not.
+Some of the prisoners, after long service, were used as "trusties"
+or "runners," as they were locally called; but not many.  There
+was a bakery, a machine-shop, a carpenter-shop, a store-room, a
+flour-mill, and a series of gardens, or truck patches; but the
+manipulation of these did not require the services of a large number.
+
+The prison proper dated from 1822, and it had grown, wing by wing,
+until its present considerable size had been reached.  Its population
+consisted of individuals of all degrees of intelligence and crime,
+from murderers to minor practitioners of larceny.  It had what was
+known as the "Pennsylvania System" of regulation for its inmates,
+which was nothing more nor less than solitary confinement for all
+concerned--a life of absolute silence and separate labor in separate
+cells.
+
+Barring his comparatively recent experience in the county jail,
+which after all was far from typical, Cowperwood had never been
+in a prison in his life.  Once, when a boy, in one of his perambulations
+through several of the surrounding towns, he had passed a village
+"lock-up," as the town prisons were then called--a small, square,
+gray building with long iron-barred windows, and he had seen, at
+one of these rather depressing apertures on the second floor, a
+none too prepossessing drunkard or town ne'er-do-well who looked
+down on him with bleary eyes, unkempt hair, and a sodden, waxy,
+pallid face, and called--for it was summer and the jail window
+was open:
+
+"Hey, sonny, get me a plug of tobacco, will you?"
+
+Cowperwood, who had looked up, shocked and disturbed by the man's
+disheveled appearance, had called back, quite without stopping to
+think:
+
+"Naw, I can't."
+
+"Look out you don't get locked up yourself sometime, you little
+runt," the man had replied, savagely, only half recovered from his
+debauch of the day before.
+
+He had not thought of this particular scene in years, but now
+suddenly it came back to him.  Here he was on his way to be locked
+up in this dull, somber prison, and it was snowing, and he was
+being cut out of human affairs as much as it was possible for him
+to be cut out.
+
+No friends were permitted to accompany him beyond the outer gate--
+not even Steger for the time being, though he might visit him
+later in the day.  This was an inviolable rule.  Zanders being
+known to the gate-keeper, and bearing his commitment paper, was
+admitted at once.  The others turned solemnly away.  They bade a
+gloomy if affectionate farewell to Cowperwood, who, on his part,
+attempted to give it all an air of inconsequence--as, in part and
+even here, it had for him.
+
+"Well, good-by for the present," he said, shaking hands.  "I'll
+be all right and I'll get out soon.  Wait and see.  Tell Lillian
+not to worry."
+
+He stepped inside, and the gate clanked solemnly behind him.
+Zanders led the way through a dark, somber hall, wide and high-ceiled,
+to a farther gate, where a second gateman, trifling with a large
+key, unlocked a barred door at his bidding.  Once inside the prison
+yard, Zanders turned to the left into a small office, presenting
+his prisoner before a small, chest-high desk, where stood a prison
+officer in uniform of blue.  The latter, the receiving overseer
+of the prison--a thin, practical, executive-looking person with
+narrow gray eyes and light hair, took the paper which the sheriff's
+deputy handed him and read it.  This was his authority for receiving
+Cowperwood.  In his turn he handed Zanders a slip, showing that
+he had so received the prisoner; and then Zanders left, receiving
+gratefully the tip which Cowperwood pressed in his hand.
+
+"Well, good-by, Mr. Cowperwood," he said, with a peculiar twist of
+his detective-like head.  "I'm sorry.  I hope you won't find it
+so bad here."
+
+He wanted to impress the receiving overseer with his familiarity
+with this distinguished prisoner, and Cowperwood, true to his
+policy of make-believe, shook hands with him cordially.
+
+"I'm much obliged to you for your courtesy, Mr. Zanders," he said,
+then turned to his new master with the air of a man who is determined
+to make a good impression.  He was now in the hands of petty
+officials, he knew, who could modify or increase his comfort at
+will.  He wanted to impress this man with his utter willingness
+to comply and obey--his sense of respect for his authority--without
+in any way demeaning himself.  He was depressed but efficient,
+even here in the clutch of that eventual machine of the law, the
+State penitentiary, which he had been struggling so hard to evade.
+
+The receiving overseer, Roger Kendall, though thin and clerical,
+was a rather capable man, as prison officials go--shrewd, not
+particularly well educated, not over-intelligent naturally, not
+over-industrious, but sufficiently energetic to hold his position.
+He knew something about convicts--considerable--for he had been
+dealing with them for nearly twenty-six years.  His attitude toward
+them was cold, cynical, critical.
+
+He did not permit any of them to come into personal contact with
+him, but he saw to it that underlings in his presence carried out
+the requirements of the law.
+
+When Cowperwood entered, dressed in his very good clothing--a
+dark gray-blue twill suit of pure wool, a light, well-made gray
+overcoat, a black derby hat of the latest shape, his shoes new
+and of good leather, his tie of the best silk, heavy and conservatively
+colored, his hair and mustache showing the attention of an intelligent
+barber, and his hands well manicured--the receiving overseer saw
+at once that he was in the presence of some one of superior
+intelligence and force, such a man as the fortune of his trade
+rarely brought into his net.
+
+Cowperwood stood in the middle of the room without apparently
+looking at any one or anything, though he saw all.  "Convict number
+3633," Kendall called to a clerk, handing him at the same time a
+yellow slip of paper on which was written Cowperwood's full name
+and his record number, counting from the beginning of the
+penitentiary itself.
+
+The underling, a convict, took it and entered it in a book, reserving
+the slip at the same time for the penitentiary "runner" or "trusty,"
+who would eventually take Cowperwood to the "manners" gallery.
+
+"You will have to take off your clothes and take a bath," said
+Kendall to Cowperwood, eyeing him curiously.  "I don't suppose you
+need one, but it's the rule."
+
+"Thank you," replied Cowperwood, pleased that his personality was
+counting for something even here.  "Whatever the rules are, I want
+to obey."
+
+When he started to take off his coat, however, Kendall put up his
+hand delayingly and tapped a bell.  There now issued from an
+adjoining room an assistant, a prison servitor, a weird-looking
+specimen of the genus "trusty."  He was a small, dark, lopsided
+individual, one leg being slightly shorter, and therefore one
+shoulder lower, than the other.  He was hollow-chested, squint-eyed,
+and rather shambling, but spry enough withal.  He was dressed in
+a thin, poorly made, baggy suit of striped jeans, the prison
+stripes of the place, showing a soft roll-collar shirt underneath,
+and wearing a large, wide-striped cap, peculiarly offensive in its
+size and shape to Cowperwood.  He could not help thinking how
+uncanny the man's squint eyes looked under its straight outstanding
+visor.  The trusty had a silly, sycophantic manner of raising one
+hand in salute.  He was a professional "second-story man," "up"
+for ten years, but by dint of good behavior he had attained to the
+honor of working about this office without the degrading hood
+customary for prisoners to wear over the cap.  For this he was
+properly grateful.  He now considered his superior with nervous
+dog-like eyes, and looked at Cowperwood with a certain cunning
+appreciation of his lot and a show of initial mistrust.
+
+One prisoner is as good as another to the average convict; as a
+matter of fact, it is their only consolation in their degradation
+that all who come here are no better than they.  The world may
+have misused them; but they misuse their confreres in their thoughts.
+The "holier than thou" attitude, intentional or otherwise, is quite
+the last and most deadly offense within prison walls.  This
+particular "trusty" could no more understand Cowperwood than could
+a fly the motions of a fly-wheel; but with the cocky superiority
+of the underling of the world he did not hesitate to think that
+he could.  A crook was a crook to him--Cowperwood no less than the
+shabbiest pickpocket.  His one feeling was that he would like to
+demean him, to pull him down to his own level.
+
+"You will have to take everything you have out of your pockets,"
+Kendall now informed Cowperwood.  Ordinarily he would have said,
+"Search the prisoner."
+
+Cowperwood stepped forward and laid out a purse with twenty-five
+dollars in it, a pen-knife, a lead-pencil, a small note-book, and
+a little ivory elephant which Aileen had given him once, "for luck,"
+and which he treasured solely because she gave it to him.  Kendall
+looked at the latter curiously.  "Now you can go on," he said to
+the "trusty," referring to the undressing and bathing process which
+was to follow.
+
+"This way," said the latter, addressing Cowperwood, and preceding
+him into an adjoining room, where three closets held three
+old-fashioned, iron-bodied, wooden-top bath-tubs, with their
+attendant shelves for rough crash towels, yellow soap, and the
+like, and hooks for clothes.
+
+"Get in there," said the trusty, whose name was Thomas Kuby,
+pointing to one of the tubs.
+
+Cowperwood realized that this was the beginning of petty official
+supervision; but he deemed it wise to appear friendly even here.
+
+"I see," he said.  "I will."
+
+"That's right," replied the attendant, somewhat placated.  "What
+did you bring?"
+
+Cowperwood looked at him quizzically.  He did not understand.  The
+prison attendant realized that this man did not know the lingo of
+the place.  "What did you bring?" he repeated.  "How many years
+did you get?"
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Cowperwood, comprehendingly.  "I understand.  Four
+and three months."
+
+He decided to humor the man.  It would probably be better so.
+
+"What for?" inquired Kuby, familiarly.
+
+Cowperwood's blood chilled slightly.  "Larceny," he said.
+
+"Yuh got off easy," commented Kuby.  "I'm up for ten.  A rube judge
+did that to me."
+
+Kuby had never heard of Cowperwood's crime.  He would not have
+understood its subtleties if he had.  Cowperwood did not want to
+talk to this man; he did not know how.  He wished he would go away;
+but that was not likely.  He wanted to be put in his cell and let
+alone.
+
+"That's too bad," he answered; and the convict realized clearly
+that this man was really not one of them, or he would not have
+said anything like that.  Kuby went to the two hydrants opening
+into the bath-tub and turned them on.  Cowperwood had been undressing
+the while, and now stood naked, but not ashamed, in front of this
+eighth-rate intelligence.
+
+"Don't forget to wash your head, too," said Kuby, and went away.
+
+Cowperwood stood there while the water ran, meditating on his
+fate.  It was strange how life had dealt with him of late--so
+severely.  Unlike most men in his position, he was not suffering
+from a consciousness of evil.  He did not think he was evil.  As
+he saw it, he was merely unfortunate.  To think that he should be
+actually in this great, silent penitentiary, a convict, waiting
+here beside this cheap iron bathtub, not very sweet or hygienic
+to contemplate, with this crackbrained criminal to watch over him!
+
+He stepped into the tub and washed himself briskly with the biting
+yellow soap, drying himself on one of the rough, only partially
+bleached towels.  He looked for his underwear, but there was none.
+At this point the attendant looked in again.  "Out here," he said,
+inconsiderately.
+
+Cowperwood followed, naked.  He was led through the receiving
+overseer's office into a room, where were scales, implements of
+measurement, a record-book, etc.  The attendant who stood guard
+at the door now came over, and the clerk who sat in a corner
+automatically took down a record-blank.  Kendall surveyed Cowperwood's
+decidedly graceful figure, already inclining to a slight thickening
+around the waist, and approved of it as superior to that of most who
+came here.  His skin, as he particularly noted, was especially
+white.
+
+"Step on the scale," said the attendant, brusquely.
+
+Cowperwood did so, The former adjusted the weights and scanned the
+record carefully.
+
+"Weight, one hundred and seventy-five," he called.  "Now step over
+here."
+
+He indicated a spot in the side wall where was fastened in a thin
+slat--which ran from the floor to about seven and one half feet
+above, perpendicularly--a small movable wooden indicator, which,
+when a man was standing under it, could be pressed down on his
+head.  At the side of the slat were the total inches of height,
+laid off in halves, quarters, eighths, and so on, and to the right
+a length measurement for the arm.  Cowperwood understood what was
+wanted and stepped under the indicator, standing quite straight.
+
+"Feet level, back to the wall," urged the attendant.  "So.  Height,
+five feet nine and ten-sixteenths," he called.  The clerk in the
+corner noted it.  He now produced a tape-measure and began measuring
+Cowperwood's arms, legs, chest, waist, hips, etc.   He called out
+the color of his eyes, his hair, his mustache, and, looking into
+his mouth, exclaimed, "Teeth, all sound."
+
+After Cowperwood had once more given his address, age, profession,
+whether he knew any trade, etc.--which he did not--he was allowed
+to return to the bathroom, and put on the clothing which the prison
+provided for him--first the rough, prickly underwear, then the
+cheap soft roll-collar, white-cotton shirt, then the thick bluish-gray
+cotton socks of a quality such as he had never worn in his life,
+and over these a pair of indescribable rough-leather clogs, which
+felt to his feet as though they were made of wood or iron--oily
+and heavy.  He then drew on the shapeless, baggy trousers with
+their telltale stripes, and over his arms and chest the loose-cut
+shapeless coat and waistcoat.  He felt and knew of course that he
+looked very strange, wretched.  And as he stepped out into the
+overseer's room again he experienced a peculiar sense of depression,
+a gone feeling which before this had not assailed him and which
+now he did his best to conceal.  This, then, was what society did
+to the criminal, he thought to himself.  It took him and tore away
+from his body and his life the habiliments of his proper state and
+left him these.  He felt sad and grim, and, try as he would--he
+could not help showing it for a moment.  It was always his business
+and his intention to conceal his real feelings, but now it was
+not quite possible.  He felt degraded, impossible, in these clothes,
+and he knew that he looked it.  Nevertheless, he did his best to
+pull himself together and look unconcerned, willing, obedient,
+considerate of those above him.  After all, he said to himself,
+it was all a play of sorts, a dream even, if one chose to view it
+so, a miasma even, from which, in the course of time and with a
+little luck one might emerge safely enough.  He hoped so.  It could
+not last.  He was only acting a strange, unfamiliar part on the
+stage, this stage of life that he knew so well.
+
+Kendall did not waste any time looking at him, however.  He merely
+said to his assistant, "See if you can find a cap for him," and the
+latter, going to a closet containing numbered shelves, took down
+a cap--a high-crowned, straight-visored, shabby, striped affair
+which Cowperwood was asked to try on.  It fitted well enough,
+slipping down close over his ears, and he thought that now his
+indignities must be about complete.  What could be added? There
+could be no more of these disconcerting accoutrements.  But he was
+mistaken. "Now, Kuby, you take him to Mr. Chapin," said Kendall. 
+
+Kuby understood.  He went back into the wash-room and produced
+what Cowperwood had heard of but never before seen--a
+blue-and-white-striped cotton bag about half the length of an
+ordinary pillow-case and half again as wide, which Kuby now unfolded
+and shook out as he came toward him.  It was a custom.  The use
+of this hood, dating from the earliest days of the prison, was
+intended to prevent a sense of location and direction and thereby
+obviate any attempt to escape.  Thereafter during all his stay he
+was not supposed to walk with or talk to or see another prisoner--
+not even to converse with his superiors, unless addressed.  It was
+a grim theory, and yet one definitely enforced here, although as
+he was to learn later even this could be modified here.
+
+"You'll have to put this on," Kuby said, and opened it in such a
+way that it could be put over Cowperwood's head.
+
+Cowperwood understood.  He had heard of it in some way, in times
+past.  He was a little shocked--looked at it first with a touch
+of real surprise, but a moment after lifted his hands and helped
+pull it down.
+
+"Never mind," cautioned the guard, "put your hands down.  I'll
+get it over."
+
+Cowperwood dropped his arms.  When it was fully on, it came to
+about his chest, giving him little means of seeing anything.  He
+felt very strange, very humiliated, very downcast.  This simple
+thing of a blue-and-white striped bag over his head almost cost
+him his sense of self-possession.  Why could not they have spared
+him this last indignity, he thought?
+
+"This way," said his attendant, and he was led out to where he
+could not say.
+
+"If you hold it out in front you can see to walk," said his guide;
+and Cowperwood pulled it out, thus being able to discern his feet
+and a portion of the floor below.  He was thus conducted--seeing
+nothing in his transit--down a short walk, then through a long
+corridor, then through a room of uniformed guards, and finally up
+a narrow flight of iron steps, leading to the overseer's office
+on the second floor of one of the two-tier blocks.  There, he
+heard the voice of Kuby saying: "Mr. Chapin, here's another prisoner
+for you from Mr. Kendall."
+
+"I'll be there in a minute," came a peculiarly pleasant voice from
+the distance.  Presently a big, heavy hand closed about his arm,
+and he was conducted still further.
+
+"You hain't got far to go now," the voice said, "and then I'll take
+that bag off," and Cowperwood felt for some reason a sense of
+sympathy, perhaps--as though he would choke.  The further steps
+were not many.
+
+A cell door was reached and unlocked by the inserting of a great
+iron key.  It was swung open, and the same big hand guided him
+through.  A moment later the bag was pulled easily from his head,
+and he saw that he was in a narrow, whitewashed cell, rather dim,
+windowless, but lighted from the top by a small skylight of frosted
+glass three and one half feet long by four inches wide.  For a
+night light there was a tin-bodied lamp swinging from a hook near
+the middle of one of the side walls.  A rough iron cot, furnished
+with a straw mattress and two pairs of dark blue, probably unwashed
+blankets, stood in one corner.  There was a hydrant and small sink
+in another.  A small shelf occupied the wall opposite the bed.  A
+plain wooden chair with a homely round back stood at the foot of
+the bed, and a fairly serviceable broom was standing in one corner.
+There was an iron stool or pot for excreta, giving, as he could
+see, into a large drain-pipe which ran along the inside wall, and
+which was obviously flushed by buckets of water being poured into
+it.  Rats and other vermin infested this, and it gave off an
+unpleasant odor which filled the cell.  The floor was of stone.
+Cowperwood's clear-seeing eyes took it all in at a glance.  He
+noted the hard cell door, which was barred and cross-barred with
+great round rods of steel, and fastened with a thick, highly
+polished lock.  He saw also that beyond this was a heavy wooden
+door, which could shut him in even more completely than the iron
+one.  There was no chance for any clear, purifying sunlight here.
+Cleanliness depended entirely on whitewash, soap and water and
+sweeping, which in turn depended on the prisoners themselves.
+
+He also took in Chapin, the homely, good-natured, cell overseer
+whom he now saw for the first time--a large, heavy, lumbering man,
+rather dusty and misshapen-looking, whose uniform did not fit him
+well, and whose manner of standing made him look as though he would
+much prefer to sit down.  He was obviously bulky, but not strong,
+and his kindly face was covered with a short growth of grayish-brown
+whiskers.  His hair was cut badly and stuck out in odd strings or
+wisps from underneath his big cap.  Nevertheless, Cowperwood was
+not at all unfavorably impressed--quite the contrary--and he felt
+at once that this man might be more considerate of him than the
+others had been.  He hoped so, anyhow.  He did not know that he
+was in the presence of the overseer of the "manners squad," who
+would have him in charge for two weeks only, instructing him in
+the rules of the prison, and that he was only one of twenty-six,
+all told, who were in Chapin's care.
+
+That worthy, by way of easy introduction, now went over to the bed
+and seated himself on it.  He pointed to the hard wooden chair,
+which Cowperwood drew out and sat on.
+
+"Well, now you're here, hain't yuh?" he asked, and answered himself
+quite genially, for he was an unlettered man, generously disposed,
+of long experience with criminals, and inclined to deal kindly with
+kindly temperament and a form of religious belief--Quakerism--had
+inclined him to be merciful, and yet his official duties, as
+Cowperwood later found out, seemed to have led him to the conclusion
+that most criminals were innately bad.  Like Kendall, he regarded
+them as weaklings and ne'er-do-wells with evil streaks in them,
+and in the main he was not mistaken.  Yet he could not help being
+what he was, a fatherly, kindly old man, having faith in those
+shibboleths of the weak and inexperienced mentally--human justice
+and human decency.
+
+"Yes, I'm here, Mr. Chapin," Cowperwood replied, simply, remembering
+his name from the attendant, and flattering the keeper by the use
+of it.
+
+To old Chapin the situation was more or less puzzling.  This was
+the famous Frank A. Cowperwood whom he had read about, the noted
+banker and treasury-looter.  He and his co-partner in crime, Stener,
+were destined to serve, as he had read, comparatively long terms
+here.  Five hundred thousand dollars was a large sum of money in
+those days, much more than five million would have been forty years
+later.  He was awed by the thought of what had become of it--how
+Cowperwood managed to do all the things the papers had said he had
+done.  He had a little formula of questions which he usually went
+through with each new prisoner--asking him if he was sorry now for
+the crime he had committed, if he meant to do better with a new
+chance, if his father and mother were alive, etc.; and by the
+manner in which they answered these questions--simply, regretfully,
+defiantly, or otherwise--he judged whether they were being adequately
+punished or not.  Yet he could not talk to Cowperwood as he now
+saw or as he would to the average second-story burglar, store-looter,
+pickpocket, and plain cheap thief and swindler.  And yet he scarcely
+knew how else to talk.
+
+"Well, now," he went on, "I don't suppose you ever thought you'd
+get to a place like this, did you, Mr. Cowperwood?"
+
+"I never did," replied Frank, simply.  "I wouldn't have believed
+it a few months ago, Mr. Chapin.  I don't think I deserve to be
+here now, though of course there is no use of my telling you that."
+
+He saw that old Chapin wanted to moralize a little, and he was
+only too glad to fall in with his mood.  He would soon be alone
+with no one to talk to perhaps, and if a sympathetic understanding
+could be reached with this man now, so much the better.  Any port
+in a storm; any straw to a drowning man.
+
+"Well, no doubt all of us makes mistakes," continued Mr. Chapin,
+superiorly, with an amusing faith in his own value as a moral guide
+and reformer.  "We can't just always tell how the plans we think
+so fine are coming out, can we? You're here now, an' I suppose you're
+sorry certain things didn't come out just as you thought; but if
+you had a chance I don't suppose you'd try to do just as you did
+before, now would yuh?"
+
+"No, Mr. Chapin, I wouldn't, exactly," said Cowperwood, truly
+enough, "though I believed I was right in everything I did.  I
+don't think legal justice has really been done me."
+
+"Well, that's the way," continued Chapin, meditatively, scratching
+his grizzled head and looking genially about.  "Sometimes, as I
+allers says to some of these here young fellers that comes in here,
+we don't know as much as we thinks we does.  We forget that others
+are just as smart as we are, and that there are allers people that
+are watchin' us all the time.  These here courts and jails and
+detectives--they're here all the time, and they get us.  I gad"--
+Chapin's moral version of "by God"--"they do, if we don't behave."
+
+"Yes," Cowperwood replied, "that's true enough, Mr. Chapin."
+
+"Well," continued the old man after a time, after he had made a
+few more solemn, owl-like, and yet well-intentioned remarks, "now
+here's your bed, and there's your chair, and there's your wash-stand,
+and there's your water-closet.  Now keep 'em all clean and use 'em
+right."  (You would have thought he was making Cowperwood a present
+of a fortune.)  "You're the one's got to make up your bed every
+mornin' and keep your floor swept and your toilet flushed and your
+cell clean.  There hain't anybody here'll do that for yuh.  You
+want to do all them things the first thing in the mornin' when you
+get up, and afterward you'll get sumpin' to eat, about six-thirty.
+You're supposed to get up at five-thirty."
+
+"Yes, Mr. Chapin," Cowperwood said, politely.  "You can depend on
+me to do all those things promptly."
+
+"There hain't so much more," added Chapin.  "You're supposed to
+wash yourself all over once a week an' I'll give you a clean towel
+for that.  Next you gotta wash this floor up every Friday mornin'."
+Cowperwood winced at that.  "You kin have hot water for that if
+you want it.  I'll have one of the runners bring it to you.  An'
+as for your friends and relations"--he got up and shook himself
+like a big Newfoundland dog.  "You gotta wife, hain't you?"
+
+"Yes," replied Cowperwood.
+
+"Well, the rules here are that your wife or your friends kin come
+to see you once in three months, and your lawyer--you gotta lawyer
+hain't yuh?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Cowperwood, amused.
+
+"Well, he kin come every week or so if he likes--every day, I
+guess--there hain't no rules about lawyers.  But you kin only
+write one letter once in three months yourself, an' if you want
+anything like tobaccer or the like o' that, from the store-room,
+you gotta sign an order for it, if you got any money with the
+warden, an' then I can git it for you."
+
+The old man was really above taking small tips in the shape of
+money.  He was a hold-over from a much more severe and honest
+regime, but subsequent presents or constant flattery were not amiss
+in making him kindly and generous.  Cowperwood read him accurately.
+
+"Very well, Mr. Chapin; I understand," he said, getting up as the
+old man did.
+
+"Then when you have been here two weeks," added Chapin, rather
+ruminatively (he had forgot to state this to Cowperwood before),
+"the warden 'll come and git yuh and give yuh yer regular cell
+summers down-stairs.  Yuh kin make up yer mind by that time what
+y'u'd like tuh do, what y'u'd like to work at.  If you behave
+yourself proper, more'n like they'll give yuh a cell with a yard.
+Yuh never can tell."
+
+He went out, locking the door with a solemn click; and Cowperwood
+stood there, a little more depressed than he had been, because of
+this latest intelligence.  Only two weeks, and then he would be
+transferred from this kindly old man's care to another's, whom he
+did not know and with whom he might not fare so well.
+
+"If ever you want me for anything--if ye're sick or sumpin' like
+that," Chapin now returned to say, after he had walked a few paces
+away, "we have a signal here of our own.  Just hang your towel
+out through these here bars.  I'll see it, and I'll stop and find
+out what yuh want, when I'm passin'."
+
+Cowperwood, whose spirits had sunk, revived for the moment.
+
+"Yes, sir," he replied; "thank you, Mr. Chapin."
+
+The old man walked away, and Cowperwood heard his steps dying down
+the cement-paved hall.  He stood and listened, his ears being
+greeted occasionally by a distant cough, a faint scraping of some
+one's feet, the hum or whir of a machine, or the iron scratch of
+a key in a lock.  None of the noises was loud.  Rather they were
+all faint and far away.  He went over and looked at the bed, which
+was not very clean and without linen, and anything but wide or
+soft, and felt it curiously.  So here was where he was to sleep
+from now on--he who so craved and appreciated luxury and refinement.
+If Aileen or some of his rich friends should see him here.  Worse,
+he was sickened by the thought of possible vermin.  How could he
+tell? How would he do? The one chair was abominable.  The skylight
+was weak.  He tried to think of himself as becoming accustomed to
+the situation, but he re-discovered the offal pot in one corner,
+and that discouraged him.  It was possible that rats might come
+up here--it looked that way.  No pictures, no books, no scene, no
+person, no space to walk--just the four bare walls and silence,
+which he would be shut into at night by the thick door.  What a
+horrible fate!
+
+He sat down and contemplated his situation.  So here he was at
+last in the Eastern Penitentiary, and doomed, according to the
+judgment of the politicians (Butler among others), to remain here
+four long years and longer.  Stener, it suddenly occurred to him,
+was probably being put through the same process he had just gone
+through.  Poor old Stener! What a fool he had made of himself.
+But because of his foolishness he deserved all he was now getting.
+But the difference between himself and Stener was that they would
+let Stener out.  It was possible that already they were easing his
+punishment in some way that he, Cowperwood, did not know.  He put
+his hand to his chin, thinking--his business, his house, his
+friends, his family, Aileen.  He felt for his watch, but remembered
+that they had taken that.  There was no way of telling the time.
+Neither had he any notebook, pen, or pencil with which to amuse
+or interest himself.  Besides he had had nothing to eat since
+morning.  Still, that mattered little.  What did matter was that
+he was shut up here away from the world, quite alone, quite lonely,
+without knowing what time it was, and that he could not attend to
+any of the things he ought to be attending to--his business affairs,
+his future.  True, Steger would probably come to see him after a
+while.  That would help a little.  But even so--think of his
+position, his prospects up to the day of the fire and his state
+now.  He sat looking at his shoes; his suit.  God! He got up and
+walked to and fro, to and fro, but his own steps and movements
+sounded so loud.  He walked to the cell door and looked out through
+the thick bars, but there was nothing to see--nothing save a
+portion of two cell doors opposite, something like his own.  He
+came back and sat in his single chair, meditating, but, getting
+weary of that finally, stretched himself on the dirty prison bed
+to try it.  It was not uncomfortable entirely.  He got up after a
+while, however, and sat, then walked, then sat.  What a narrow
+place to walk, he thought.  This was horrible--something like a
+living tomb.  And to think he should be here now, day after day
+and day after day, until--until what?
+Until the Governor pardoned him or his time was up, or his fortune
+eaten away--or--
+
+So he cogitated while the hours slipped by.  It was nearly five
+o'clock before Steger was able to return, and then only for a
+little while.  He had been arranging for Cowperwood's appearance
+on the following Thursday, Friday, and Monday in his several court
+proceedings.  When he was gone, however, and the night fell and
+Cowperwood had to trim his little, shabby oil-lamp and to drink
+the strong tea and eat the rough, poor bread made of bran and white
+flour, which was shoved to him through the small aperture in the
+door by the trencher trusty, who was accompanied by the overseer
+to see that it was done properly, he really felt very badly.  And
+after that the center wooden door of his cell was presently closed
+and locked by a trusty who slammed it rudely and said no word.
+Nine o'clock would be sounded somewhere by a great bell, he
+understood, when his smoky oil-lamp would have to be put out
+promptly and he would have to undress and go to bed.  There were
+punishments, no doubt, for infractions of these rules--reduced
+rations, the strait-jacket, perhaps stripes--he scarcely knew what.
+He felt disconsolate, grim, weary.  He had put up such a long,
+unsatisfactory fight.  After washing his heavy stone cup and tin
+plate at the hydrant, he took off the sickening uniform and shoes
+and even the drawers of the scratching underwear, and stretched
+himself wearily on the bed.  The place was not any too warm, and
+he tried to make himself comfortable between the blankets--but it
+was of little use.  His soul was cold.
+
+"This will never do," he said to himself.  "This will never do.
+I'm not sure whether I can stand much of this or not."  Still he
+turned his face to the wall, and after several hours sleep
+eventually came.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LIV
+
+
+
+
+Those who by any pleasing courtesy of fortune, accident of birth,
+inheritance, or the wisdom of parents or friends, have succeeded
+in avoiding making that anathema of the prosperous and comfortable,
+"a mess of their lives," will scarcely understand the mood of
+Cowperwood, sitting rather gloomily in his cell these first days,
+wondering what, in spite of his great ingenuity, was to become of
+him.  The strongest have their hours of depression.  There are
+times when life to those endowed with the greatest intelligence--
+perhaps mostly to those--takes on a somber hue.  They see so many
+phases of its dreary subtleties.  It is only when the soul of man
+has been built up into some strange self-confidence, some curious
+faith in its own powers, based, no doubt, on the actual presence
+of these same powers subtly involved in the body, that it fronts
+life unflinchingly.  It would be too much to say that Cowperwood's
+mind was of the first order.  It was subtle enough in all conscience--
+and involved, as is common with the executively great, with a strong
+sense of personal advancement.  It was a powerful mind, turning,
+like a vast searchlight, a glittering ray into many a dark corner;
+but it was not sufficiently disinterested to search the ultimate
+dark.  He realized, in a way, what the great astronomers,
+sociologists, philosophers, chemists, physicists, and physiologists
+were meditating; but he could not be sure in his own mind that,
+whatever it was, it was important for him.  No doubt life held
+many strange secrets.  Perhaps it was essential that somebody
+should investigate them.  However that might be, the call of his
+own soul was in another direction.  His business was to make money--
+to organize something which would make him much money, or, better
+yet, save the organization he had begun.
+
+But this, as he now looked upon it, was almost impossible.  It had
+been too disarranged and complicated by unfortunate circumstances.
+He might, as Steger pointed out to him, string out these bankruptcy
+proceedings for years, tiring out one creditor and another, but in
+the meantime the properties involved were being seriously damaged.
+Interest charges on his unsatisfied loans were making heavy inroads;
+court costs were mounting up; and, to cap it all, he had discovered
+with Steger that there were a number of creditors--those who had
+sold out to Butler, and incidentally to Mollenhauer--who would
+never accept anything except the full value of their claims.  His
+one hope now was to save what he could by compromise a little later,
+and to build up some sort of profitable business through Stephen
+Wingate.  The latter was coming in a day or two, as soon as Steger
+had made some working arrangement for him with Warden Michael
+Desmas who came the second day to have a look at the new prisoner.
+
+Desmas was a large man physically--Irish by birth, a politician by
+training--who had been one thing and another in Philadelphia from
+a policeman in his early days and a corporal in the Civil War to
+a ward captain under Mollenhauer.  He was a canny man, tall,
+raw-boned, singularly muscular-looking, who for all his fifty-seven
+years looked as though he could give a splendid account of himself
+in a physical contest.  His hands were large and bony, his face
+more square than either round or long, and his forehead high.  He
+had a vigorous growth of short-clipped, iron-gray hair, and a
+bristly iron-gray mustache, very short, keen, intelligent blue-gray
+eyes; a florid complexion; and even-edged, savage-looking teeth,
+which showed the least bit in a slightly wolfish way when he smiled.
+However, he was not as cruel a person as he looked to be;
+temperamental, to a certain extent hard, and on occasions savage,
+but with kindly hours also.  His greatest weakness was that he was
+not quite mentally able to recognize that there were mental and
+social differences between prisoners, and that now and then one
+was apt to appear here who, with or without political influences,
+was eminently worthy of special consideration.  What he could
+recognize was the differences pointed out to him by the politicians
+in special cases, such as that of Stener--not Cowperwood.  However,
+seeing that the prison was a public institution apt to be visited
+at any time by lawyers, detectives, doctors, preachers, propagandists,
+and the public generally, and that certain rules and regulations
+had to be enforced (if for no other reason than to keep a moral
+and administrative control over his own help), it was necessary
+to maintain--and that even in the face of the politician--a certain
+amount of discipline, system, and order, and it was not possible
+to be too liberal with any one.  There were, however, exceptional
+cases--men of wealth and refinement, victims of those occasional
+uprisings which so shocked the political leaders generally--who
+had to be looked after in a friendly way.
+
+Desmas was quite aware, of course, of the history of Cowperwood
+and Stener.  The politicians had already given him warning that
+Stener, because of his past services to the community, was to be
+treated with special consideration.  Not so much was said about
+Cowperwood, although they did admit that his lot was rather hard.
+Perhaps he might do a little something for him but at his own risk.
+
+"Butler is down on him," Strobik said to Desmas, on one occasion.
+"It's that girl of his that's at the bottom of it all.  If you
+listened to Butler you'd feed him on bread and water, but he isn't
+a bad fellow.  As a matter of fact, if George had had any sense
+Cowperwood wouldn't be where he is to-day.  But the big fellows
+wouldn't let Stener alone.  They wouldn't let him give Cowperwood
+any money."
+
+Although Strobik had been one of those who, under pressure from
+Mollenhauer, had advised Stener not to let Cowperwood have any
+more money, yet here he was pointing out the folly of the victim's
+course.  The thought of the inconsistency involved did not trouble
+him in the least.
+
+Desmas decided, therefore, that if Cowperwood were persona non
+grata to the "Big Three," it might be necessary to be indifferent
+to him, or at least slow in extending him any special favors.  For
+Stener a good chair, clean linen, special cutlery and dishes, the
+daily papers, privileges in the matter of mail, the visits of
+friends, and the like.  For Cowperwood--well, he would have to
+look at Cowperwood and see what he thought.  At the same time,
+Steger's intercessions were not without their effect on Desmas.
+So the morning after Cowperwood's entrance the warden received a
+letter from Terrence Relihan, the Harrisburg potentate, indicating
+that any kindness shown to Mr. Cowperwood would be duly appreciated
+by him.  Upon the receipt of this letter Desmas went up and looked
+through Cowperwood's iron door.  On the way he had a brief talk
+with Chapin, who told him what a nice man he thought Cowperwood
+was.
+
+Desmas had never seen Cowperwood before, but in spite of the shabby
+uniform, the clog shoes, the cheap shirt, and the wretched cell,
+he was impressed.  Instead of the weak, anaemic body and the shifty
+eyes of the average prisoner, he saw a man whose face and form
+blazed energy and power, and whose vigorous erectness no wretched
+clothes or conditions could demean.  He lifted his head when Desmas
+appeared, glad that any form should have appeared at his door, and
+looked at him with large, clear, examining eyes--those eyes that
+in the past had inspired so much confidence and surety in all those
+who had known him.  Desmas was stirred.  Compared with Stener,
+whom he knew in the past and whom he had met on his entry, this
+man was a force.  Say what you will, one vigorous man inherently
+respects another.  And Desmas was vigorous physically.  He eyed
+Cowperwood and Cowperwood eyed him.  Instinctly Desmas liked him.
+He was like one tiger looking at another.
+
+Instinctively Cowperwood knew that he was the warden.  This is Mr.
+Desmas, isn't it?" he asked, courteously and pleasantly.
+
+"Yes, sir, I'm the man," replied Desmas interestedly.  "These rooms
+are not as comfortable as they might be, are they?" The warden's
+even teeth showed in a friendly, yet wolfish, way.
+
+"They certainly are not, Mr. Desmas," replied Cowperwood, standing
+very erect and soldier-like.  "I didn't imagine I was coming to a
+hotel, however."  He smiled.
+
+"There isn't anything special I can do for you, is there, Mr.
+Cowperwood?" began Desmas curiously, for he was moved by a thought
+that at some time or other a man such as this might be of service
+to him.  "I've been talking to your lawyer."  Cowperwood was
+intensely gratified by the Mr.  So that was the way the wind was
+blowing.  Well, then, within reason, things might not prove so bad
+here.  He would see.  He would sound this man out.
+
+"I don't want to be asking anything, Warden, which you cannot
+reasonably give," he now returned politely.  "But there are a few
+things, of course, that I would change if I could.  I wish I might
+have sheets for my bed, and I could afford better underwear if you
+would let me wear it.  This that I have on annoys me a great deal."
+
+"They're not the best wool, that's true enough," replied Desmas,
+solemnly.  "They're made for the State out here in Pennsylvania
+somewhere.  I suppose there's no objection to your wearing your
+own underwear if you want to.  I'll see about that.  And the sheets,
+too.  We might let you use them if you have them.  We'll have to
+go a little slow about this.  There are a lot of people that take
+a special interest in showing the warden how to tend to his business."
+
+"I can readily understand that, Warden," went on Cowperwood briskly,
+"and I'm certainly very much obliged to you.  You may be sure that
+anything you do for me here will be appreciated, and not misused,
+and that I have friends on the outside who can reciprocate for me
+in the course of time."  He talked slowly and emphatically, looking
+Desmas directly in the eye all of the time.  Desmas was very much
+impressed.
+
+"That's all right," he said, now that he had gone so far as to be
+friendly.  "I can't promise much.  Prison rules are prison rules.
+But there are some things that can be done, because it's the rule
+to do them for other men when they behave themselves.  You can
+have a better chair than that, if you want it, and something to
+read too.  If you're in business yet, I wouldn't want to do anything
+to stop that.  We can't have people running in and out of here every
+fifteen minutes, and you can't turn a cell into a business office--
+that's not possible.  It would break up the order of the place.
+Still, there's no reason why you shouldn't see some of your friends
+now and then.  As for your mail--well, that will have to be opened
+in the ordinary way for the time being, anyhow.  I'll have to see
+about that.  I can't promise too much.  You'll have to wait until
+you come out of this block and down-stairs.  Some of the cells
+have a yard there; if there are any empty--" The warden cocked his
+eye wisely, and Cowperwood saw that his tot was not to be as bad
+as he had anticipated--though bad enough.  The warden spoke to him
+about the different trades he might follow, and asked him to think
+about the one he would prefer.  "You want to have something to
+keep your hands busy, whatever else you want.  You'll find you'll
+need that.  Everybody here wants to work after a time.  I notice
+that."
+
+Cowperwood understood and thanked Desmas profusely.  The horror
+of idleness in silence and in a cell scarcely large enough to turn
+around in comfortably had already begun to creep over him, and the
+thought of being able to see Wingate and Steger frequently, and
+to have his mail reach him, after a time, untampered with, was a
+great relief.  He was to have his own underwear, silk and wool--
+thank God!--and perhaps they would let him take off these shoes
+after a while.  With these modifications and a trade, and perhaps
+the little yard which Desmas had referred to, his life would be,
+if not ideal, at least tolerable.  The prison was still a prison,
+but it looked as though it might not be so much of a terror to him
+as obviously it must be to many.
+
+During the two weeks in which Cowperwood was in the "manners squad,"
+in care of Chapin, he learned nearly as much as he ever learned of
+the general nature of prison life; for this was not an ordinary
+penitentiary in the sense that the prison yard, the prison squad,
+the prison lock-step, the prison dining-room, and prison associated
+labor make the ordinary penitentiary.  There was, for him and for
+most of those confined there, no general prison life whatsoever.
+The large majority were supposed to work silently in their cells
+at the particular tasks assigned them, and not to know anything of
+the remainder of the life which went on around them, the rule of
+this prison being solitary confinement, and few being permitted
+to work at the limited number of outside menial tasks provided.
+Indeed, as he sensed and as old Chapin soon informed him, not more
+than seventy-five of the four hundred prisoners confined here were
+so employed, and not all of these regularly--cooking, gardening
+in season, milling, and general cleaning being the only avenues
+of escape from solitude.  Even those who so worked were strictly
+forbidden to talk, and although they did not have to wear the
+objectionable hood when actually employed, they were supposed to
+wear it in going to and from their work.  Cowperwood saw them
+occasionally tramping by his cell door, and it struck him as
+strange, uncanny, grim.  He wished sincerely at times since old
+Chapin was so genial and talkative that he were to be under him
+permanently; but it was not to be.
+
+His two weeks soon passed--drearily enough in all conscience but
+they passed, interlaced with his few commonplace tasks of bed-making,
+floor-sweeping, dressing, eating, undressing, rising at five-thirty,
+and retiring at nine, washing his several dishes after each meal,
+etc.  He thought he would never get used to the food.  Breakfast,
+as has been said, was at six-thirty, and consisted of coarse black
+bread made of bran and some white flour, and served with black
+coffee.  Dinner was at eleven-thirty, and consisted of bean or
+vegetable soup, with some coarse meat in it, and the same bread.
+Supper was at six, of tea and bread, very strong tea and the same
+bread--no butter, no milk, no sugar.  Cowperwood did not smoke,
+so the small allowance of tobacco which was permitted was without
+value to him.  Steger called in every day for two or three weeks,
+and after the second day, Stephen Wingate, as his new business
+associate, was permitted to see him also--once every day, if he
+wished, Desmas stated, though the latter felt he was stretching
+a point in permitting this so soon.  Both of these visits rarely
+occupied more than an hour, or an hour and a half, and after that
+the day was long.  He was taken out on several days on a court
+order, between nine and five, to testify in the bankruptcy
+proceedings against him, which caused the time in the beginning
+to pass quickly.
+
+It was curious, once he was in prison, safely shut from the world
+for a period of years apparently, how quickly all thought of
+assisting him departed from the minds of those who had been most
+friendly.  He was done, so most of them thought.  The only thing
+they could do now would be to use their influence to get him out
+some time; how soon, they could not guess.  Beyond that there was
+nothing.  He would really never be of any great importance to any
+one any more, or so they thought.  It was very sad, very tragic,
+but he was gone--his place knew him not.
+
+"A bright young man, that," observed President Davison of the
+Girard National, on reading of Cowperwood's sentence and incarceration.
+"Too bad! Too bad! He made a great mistake."
+
+Only his parents, Aileen, and his wife--the latter with mingled
+feelings of resentment and sorrow--really missed him.  Aileen,
+because of her great passion for him, was suffering most of all.
+Four years and three months; she thought.  If he did not get out
+before then she would be nearing twenty-nine and he would be nearing
+forty.  Would he want her then? Would she be so attractive? And
+would nearly five years change his point of view? He would have
+to wear a convict suit all that time, and be known as a convict
+forever after.  It was hard to think about, but only made her more
+than ever determined to cling to him, whatever happened, and to
+help him all she could.
+
+Indeed the day after his incarceration she drove out and looked
+at the grim, gray walls of the penitentiary.  Knowing nothing
+absolutely of the vast and complicated processes of law and penal
+servitude, it seemed especially terrible to her.  What might not
+they be doing to her Frank? Was he suffering much? Was he thinking
+of her as she was of him? Oh, the pity of it all! The pity! The
+pity of herself--her great love for him! She drove home, determined
+to see him; but as he had originally told her that visiting days
+were only once in three months, and that he would have to write
+her when the next one was, or when she could come, or when he could
+see her on the outside, she scarcely knew what to do.  Secrecy was
+the thing.
+
+The next day, however, she wrote him just the same, describing the
+drive she had taken on the stormy afternoon before--the terror of
+the thought that he was behind those grim gray walls--and declaring
+her determination to see him soon.  And this letter, under the new
+arrangement, he received at once.  He wrote her in reply, giving
+the letter to Wingate to mail.  It ran:
+
+  My sweet girl:--I fancy you are a little downhearted to think
+  I cannot be with you any more soon, but you mustn't be.  I
+  suppose you read all about the sentence in the paper.  I came
+  out here the same morning--nearly noon.  If I had time, dearest,
+  I'd write you a long letter describing the situation so as to
+  ease your mind; but I haven't.  It's against the rules, and I
+  am really doing this secretly.  I'm here, though, safe enough,
+  and wish I were out, of course.  Sweetest, you must be careful
+  how you try to see me at first.  You can't do me much service
+  outside of cheering me up, and you may do yourself great harm.
+  Besides, I think I have done you far more harm than I can ever
+  make up to you and that you had best give me up, although I know
+  you do not think so, and I would be sad, if you did.  I am to be
+  in the Court of Special Pleas, Sixth and Chestnut, on Friday at
+  two o'clock; but you cannot see me there.  I'll be out in charge
+  of my counsel.  You must be careful.  Perhaps you'll think
+  better, and not come here.
+
+This last touch was one of pure gloom, the first Cowperwood had
+ever introduced into their relationship but conditions had changed
+him.  Hitherto he had been in the position of the superior being,
+the one who was being sought--although Aileen was and had been
+well worth seeking--and he had thought that he might escape unscathed,
+and so grow in dignity and power until she might not possibly be
+worthy of him any longer.  He had had that thought.  But here, in
+stripes, it was a different matter.  Aileen's position, reduced
+in value as it was by her long, ardent relationship with him, was
+now, nevertheless, superior to his--apparently so.  For after all,
+was she not Edward Butler's daughter, and might she, after she had
+been away from him a while, wish to become a convict's bride.  She
+ought not to want to, and she might not want to, for all he knew;
+she might change her mind.  She ought not to wait for him.  Her
+life was not yet ruined.  The public did not know, so he thought--
+not generally anyhow--that she had been his mistress.  She might
+marry.  Why not, and so pass out of his life forever.  And would
+not that be sad for him? And yet did he not owe it to her, to a
+sense of fair play in himself to ask her to give him up, or at
+least think over the wisdom of doing so?
+
+He did her the justice to believe that she would not want to give
+him up; and in his position, however harmful it might be to her,
+it was an advantage, a connecting link with the finest period of
+his past life, to have her continue to love him.  He could not,
+however, scribbling this note in his cell in Wingate's presence,
+and giving it to him to mail (Overseer Chapin was kindly keeping
+a respectful distance, though he was supposed to be present),
+refrain from adding, at the last moment, this little touch of doubt
+which, when she read it, struck Aileen to the heart.  She read it
+as gloom on his part--as great depression.  Perhaps, after all,
+the penitentiary and so soon, was really breaking his spirit, and
+he had held up so courageously so long.  Because of this, now she
+was madly eager to get to him, to console him, even though it was
+difficult, perilous.  She must, she said.
+
+In regard to visits from the various members of his family--his
+mother and father, his brother, his wife, and his sister--Cowperwood
+made it plain to them on one of the days on which he was out
+attending a bankruptcy hearing, that even providing it could be
+arranged he did not think they should come oftener than once in
+three months, unless he wrote them or sent word by Steger.  The
+truth was that he really did not care to see much of any of them
+at present.  He was sick of the whole social scheme of things.
+In fact he wanted to be rid of the turmoil he had been in, seeing
+it had proved so useless.  He had used nearly fifteen thousand
+dollars thus far in defending himself--court costs, family
+maintenance, Steger, etc.; but he did not mind that.  He expected
+to make some little money working through Wingate.  His family
+were not utterly without funds, sufficient to live on in a small
+way.  He had advised them to remove into houses more in keeping
+with their reduced circumstances, which they had done--his mother
+and father and brothers and sister to a three-story brick house
+of about the caliber of the old Buttonwood Street house, and his
+wife to a smaller, less expensive two-story one on North Twenty-first
+Street, near the penitentiary, a portion of the money saved out
+of the thirty-five thousand dollars extracted from Stener under
+false pretenses aiding to sustain it.  Of course all this was a
+terrible descent from the Girard Avenue mansion for the elder
+Cowperwood; for here was none of the furniture which characterized
+the other somewhat gorgeous domicile--merely store-bought, ready-made
+furniture, and neat but cheap hangings and fixtures generally.
+The assignees, to whom all Cowperwood's personal property belonged,
+and to whom Cowperwood, the elder, had surrendered all his holdings,
+would not permit anything of importance to be removed.  It had all
+to be sold for the benefit of creditors.  A few very small things,
+but only a few, had been kept, as everything had been inventoried
+some time before.  One of the things which old Cowperwood wanted
+was his own desk which Frank had had designed for him; but as it
+was valued at five hundred dollars and could not be relinquished
+by the sheriff except on payment of that sum, or by auction, and
+as Henry Cowperwood had no such sum to spare, he had to let the
+desk go.  There were many things they all wanted, and Anna Adelaide
+had literally purloined a few though she did not admit the fact
+to her parents until long afterward.
+
+There came a day when the two houses in Girard Avenue were the
+scene of a sheriffs sale, during which the general public, without
+let or hindrance, was permitted to tramp through the rooms and
+examine the pictures, statuary, and objects of art generally,
+which were auctioned off to the highest bidder.  Considerable fame
+had attached to Cowperwood's activities in this field, owing in
+the first place to the real merit of what he had brought together,
+and in the next place to the enthusiastic comment of such men as
+Wilton Ellsworth, Fletcher Norton, Gordon Strake--architects and
+art dealers whose judgment and taste were considered important in
+Philadelphia.  All of the lovely things by which he had set great
+store--small bronzes, representative of the best period of the
+Italian Renaissance; bits of Venetian glass which he had collected
+with great care--a full curio case; statues by Powers, Hosmer,
+and Thorwaldsen--things which would be smiled at thirty years
+later, but which were of high value then; all of his pictures by
+representative American painters from Gilbert to Eastman Johnson,
+together with a few specimens of the current French and English
+schools, went for a song.  Art judgment in Philadelphia at this
+time was not exceedingly high; and some of the pictures, for lack
+of appreciative understanding, were disposed of at much too low a
+figure.  Strake, Norton, and Ellsworth were all present and bought
+liberally.  Senator Simpson, Mollenhauer, and Strobik came to see
+what they could see.  The small-fry politicians were there, en
+masse.  But Simpson, calm judge of good art, secured practically
+the best of all that was offered.  To him went the curio case of
+Venetian glass; one pair of tall blue-and-white Mohammedan cylindrical
+vases; fourteen examples of Chinese jade, including several artists'
+water-dishes and a pierced window-screen of the faintest tinge of
+green.  To Mollenhauer went the furniture and decorations of the
+entry-hall and reception-room of Henry Cowperwood's house, and to
+Edward Strobik two of Cowperwood's bird's-eye maple bedroom suites
+for the most modest of prices.  Adam Davis was present and secured
+the secretaire of buhl which the elder Cowperwood prized so highly.
+To Fletcher Norton went the four Greek vases--a kylix, a water-jar,
+and two amphorae--which he had sold to Cowperwood and which he
+valued highly.  Various objects of art, including a Sevres dinner
+set, a Gobelin tapestry, Barye bronzes and pictures by Detaille,
+Fortuny, and George Inness, went to Walter Leigh, Arthur Rivers,
+Joseph Zimmerman, Judge Kitchen, Harper Steger, Terrence Relihan,
+Trenor Drake, Mr. and Mrs. Simeon Jones, W. C. Davison, Frewen
+Kasson, Fletcher Norton, and Judge Rafalsky.
+
+Within four days after the sale began the two houses were bare of
+their contents.  Even the objects in the house at 931 North Tenth
+Street had been withdrawn from storage where they had been placed
+at the time it was deemed advisable to close this institution, and
+placed on sale with the other objects in the two homes.  It was
+at this time that the senior Cowperwoods first learned of something
+which seemed to indicate a mystery which had existed in connection
+with their son and his wife.  No one of all the Cowperwoods was
+present during all this gloomy distribution; and Aileen, reading
+of the disposition of all the wares, and knowing their value to
+Cowperwood, to say nothing of their charm for her, was greatly
+depressed; yet she was not long despondent, for she was convinced
+that Cowperwood would some day regain his liberty and attain a
+position of even greater significance in the financial world.  She
+could not have said why but she was sure of it.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LV
+
+
+
+
+In the meanwhile Cowperwood had been transferred to a new overseer
+and a new cell in Block 3 on the ground door, which was like all
+the others in size, ten by sixteen, but to which was attached the
+small yard previously mentioned.  Warden Desmas came up two days
+before he was transferred, and had another short conversation with
+him through his cell door.
+
+"You'll be transferred on Monday," he said, in his reserved, slow
+way.  "They'll give you a yard, though it won't be much good to
+you--we only allow a half-hour a day in it.  I've told the overseer
+about your business arrangements.  He'll treat you right in that
+matter.  Just be careful not to take up too much time that way, and
+things will work out.  I've decided to let you learn caning chairs.
+That'll be the best for you.  It's easy, and it'll occupy your
+mind."
+
+The warden and some allied politicians made a good thing out of
+this prison industry.  It was really not hard labor--the tasks set
+were simple and not oppressive, but all of the products were
+promptly sold, and the profits pocketed.  It was good, therefore,
+to see all the prisoners working, and it did them good.  Cowperwood
+was glad of the chance to do something, for he really did not care
+so much for books, and his connection with Wingate and his old
+affairs were not sufficient to employ his mind in a satisfactory
+way.  At the same time, he could not help thinking, if he seemed
+strange to himself, now, how much stranger he would seem then,
+behind these narrow bars working at so commonplace a task as caning
+chairs.  Nevertheless, he now thanked Desmas for this, as well as
+for the sheets and the toilet articles which had just been brought
+in.
+
+"That's all right," replied the latter, pleasantly and softly, by
+now much intrigued by Cowperwood.  "I know that there are men and
+men here, the same as anywhere.  If a man knows how to use these
+things and wants to be clean, I wouldn't be one to put anything in
+his way."
+
+The new overseer with whom Cowperwood had to deal was a very
+different person from Elias Chapin.  His name was Walter Bonhag,
+and he was not more than thirty-seven years of age--a big, flabby
+sort of person with a crafty mind, whose principal object in life
+was to see that this prison situation as he found it should furnish
+him a better income than his normal salary provided.  A close study
+of Bonhag would have seemed to indicate that he was a stool-pigeon
+of Desmas, but this was really not true except in a limited way.
+Because Bonhag was shrewd and sycophantic, quick to see a point
+in his or anybody else's favor, Desmas instinctively realized
+that he was the kind of man who could be trusted to be lenient on
+order or suggestion.  That is, if Desmas had the least interest
+in a prisoner he need scarcely say so much to Bonhag; he might
+merely suggest that this man was used to a different kind of life,
+or that, because of some past experience, it might go hard with
+him if be were handled roughly; and Bonhag would strain himself
+to be pleasant.  The trouble was that to a shrewd man of any
+refinement his attentions were objectionable, being obviously
+offered for a purpose, and to a poor or ignorant man they were
+brutal and contemptuous.  He had built up an extra income for
+himself inside the prison by selling the prisoners extra allowances
+of things which he secretly brought into the prison.  It was
+strictly against the rules, in theory at least, to bring in anything
+which was not sold in the store-room--tobacco, writing paper, pens,
+ink, whisky, cigars, or delicacies of any kind.  On the other hand,
+and excellently well for him, it was true that tobacco of an
+inferior grade was provided, as well as wretched pens, ink and
+paper, so that no self-respecting man, if he could help it, would
+endure them.  Whisky was not allowed at all, and delicacies were
+abhorred as indicating rank favoritism; nevertheless, they were
+brought in.  If a prisoner had the money and was willing to see
+that Bonhag secured something for his trouble, almost anything
+would be forthcoming.  Also the privilege of being sent into the
+general yard as a "trusty," or being allowed to stay in the little
+private yard which some cells possessed, longer than the half-hour
+ordinarily permitted, was sold.
+
+One of the things curiously enough at this time, which worked in
+Cowperwood's favor, was the fact that Bonhag was friendly with the
+overseer who had Stener in charge, and Stener, because of his
+political friends, was being liberally treated, and Bonhag knew of
+this.  He was not a careful reader of newspapers, nor had he any
+intellectual grasp of important events; but he knew by now that
+both Stener and Cowperwood were, or had been, individuals of great
+importance in the community; also that Cowperwood had been the
+more important of the two.  Better yet, as Bonhag now heard,
+Cowperwood still had money.  Some prisoner, who was permitted to
+read the paper, told him so.  And so, entirely aside from Warden
+Desmas's recommendation, which was given in a very quiet, noncommittal
+way, Bonhag was interested to see what he could do for Cowperwood
+for a price.
+
+The day Cowperwood was installed in his new cell, Bonhag lolled
+up to the door, which was open, and said, in a semipatronizing way,
+"Got all your things over yet?" It was his business to lock the
+door once Cowperwood was inside it.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Cowperwood, who had been shrewd enough to get
+the new overseer's name from Chapin; "this is Mr. Bonhag, I presume?"
+
+"That's me," replied Bonhag, not a little flattered by the recognition,
+but still purely interested by the practical side of this encounter.
+He was anxious to study Cowperwood, to see what type of man he was.
+
+"You'll find it a little different down here from up there," observed
+Bonhag.  "It ain't so stuffy.  These doors out in the yards make
+a difference."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Cowperwood, observantly and shrewdly, "that is the
+yard Mr. Desmas spoke of."
+
+At the mention of the magic name, if Bonhag had been a horse, his
+ears would have been seen to lift.  For, of course, if Cowperwood
+was so friendly with Desmas that the latter had described to him
+the type of cell he was to have beforehand, it behooved Bonhag to
+be especially careful.
+
+"Yes, that's it, but it ain't much," he observed.  "They only allow
+a half-hour a day in it.  Still it would be all right if a person
+could stay out there longer."
+
+This was his first hint at graft, favoritism; and Cowperwood
+distinctly caught the sound of it in his voice.
+
+"That's too bad," he said.  "I don't suppose good conduct helps
+a person to get more."  He waited to hear a reply, but instead
+Bonhag continued with: "I'd better teach you your new trade now.
+You've got to learn to cane chairs, so the warden says.  If you
+want, we can begin right away."  But without waiting for Cowperwood
+to acquiesce, he went off, returning after a time with three
+unvarnished frames of chairs and a bundle of cane strips or withes,
+which he deposited on the floor.  Having so done--and with a
+flourish--he now continued: "Now I'll show you if you'll watch me,"
+and he began showing Cowperwood how the strips were to be laced
+through the apertures on either side, cut, and fastened with little
+hickory pegs.  This done, he brought a forcing awl, a small hammer,
+a box of pegs, and a pair of clippers.  After several brief
+demonstrations with different strips,  as to how the geometric
+forms were designed, he allowed Cowperwood to take the matter in
+hand, watching over his shoulder.  The financier, quick at anything,
+manual or mental, went at it in his customary energetic fashion,
+and in five minutes demonstrated to Bonhag that, barring skill and
+speed, which could only come with practice, he could do it as well
+as another.  "You'll make out all right," said Bonhag.  "You're
+supposed to do ten of those a day.  We won't count the next few
+days, though, until you get your hand in.  After that I'll come
+around and see how you're getting along.  You understand about
+the towel on the door, don't you?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Chapin explained that to me," replied Cowperwood.  "I
+think I know what most of the rules are now.  I'll try not to
+break any of them."
+
+The days which followed brought a number of modifications of his
+prison lot, but not sufficient by any means to make it acceptable
+to him.  Bonhag, during the first few days in which he trained
+Cowperwood in the art of caning chairs, managed to make it perfectly
+clear that there were a number of things he would be willing to
+do for him.  One of the things that moved him to this, was that
+already he had been impressed by the fact that Stener's friends
+were coming to see him in larger numbers than Cowperwood's,
+sending him an occasional basket of fruit, which he gave to the
+overseers, and that his wife and children had been already permitted
+to visit him outside the regular visiting-day.  This was a cause
+for jealousy on Bonhag's part.  His fellow-overseer was lording
+it over him--telling him, as it were, of the high jinks in Block
+4.  Bonhag really wanted Cowperwood to spruce up and show what he
+could do, socially or otherwise.
+
+And so now he began with: "I see you have your lawyer and your
+partner here every day.  There ain't anybody else you'd like to
+have visit you, is there? Of course, it's against the rules to
+have your wife or sister or anybody like that, except on visiting
+days--" And here he paused and rolled a large and informing eye
+on Cowperwood--such an eye as was supposed to convey dark and
+mysterious things.  "But all the rules ain't kept around here by
+a long shot."
+
+Cowperwood was not the man to lose a chance of this kind.  He
+smiled a little--enough to relieve himself, and to convey to Bonhag
+that he was gratified by the information, but vocally he observed:
+"I'll tell you how it is, Mr. Bonhag.  I believe you understand
+my position better than most men would, and that I can talk to you.
+There are people who would like to come here, but I have been
+afraid to let them come.  I did not know that it could be arranged.
+If it could be, I would be very grateful.  You and I are practical
+men--I know that if any favors are extended some of those who help
+to bring them about must be looked after.  If you can do anything
+to make it a little more comfortable for me here I will show you
+that I appreciate it.  I haven't any money on my person, but I can
+always get it, and I will see that you are properly looked after."
+
+Bonhag's short, thick ears tingled.  This was the kind of talk he
+liked to hear.  "I can fix anything like that, Mr. Cowperwood,"
+he replied, servilely.  "You leave it to me.  If there's any one
+you want to see at any time, just let me know.  Of course I have
+to be very careful, and so do you, but that's all right, too.  If
+you want to stay out in that yard a little longer in the mornings
+or get out there afternoons or evenings, from now on, why, go ahead.
+It's all right.  I'll just leave the door open.  If the warden or
+anybody else should be around, I'll just scratch on your door with
+my key, and you come in and shut it.  If there's anything you want
+from the outside I can get it for you--jelly or eggs or butter or
+any little thing like that.  You might like to fix up your meals a
+little that way."
+
+"I'm certainly most grateful, Mr. Bonhag," returned Cowperwood in
+his grandest manner, and with a desire to smile, but he kept a
+straight face.
+
+"In regard to that other matter," went on Bonhag, referring to
+the matter of extra visitors, "I can fix that any time you want
+to.  I know the men out at the gate.  If you want anybody to come
+here, just write 'em a note and give it to me, and tell 'em to
+ask for me when they come.  That'll get 'em in all right.  When
+they get here you can talk to 'em in your cell.  See! Only when
+I tap they have to come out.  You want to remember that.  So just
+you let me know."
+
+Cowperwood was exceedingly grateful.  He said so in direct, choice
+language.  It occurred to him at once that this was Aileen's
+opportunity, and that he could now notify her to come.  If she
+veiled herself sufficiently she would probably be safe enough.
+He decided to write her, and when Wingate came he gave him a letter
+to mail.
+
+Two days later, at three o'clock in the afternoon--the time appointed
+by him--Aileen came to see him.  She was dressed in gray broadcloth
+with white-velvet trimmings and cut-steel buttons which glistened
+like silver, and wore, as additional ornaments, as well as a
+protection against the cold, a cap, stole, and muff of snow-white
+ermine.  Over this rather striking costume she had slipped a long
+dark circular cloak, which she meant to lay off immediately upon
+her arrival.  She had made a very careful toilet as to her shoes,
+gloves, hair, and the gold ornaments which she wore.  Her face was
+concealed by a thick green veil, as Cowperwood had suggested; and
+she arrived at an hour when, as near as he had been able to
+prearrange, he would be alone.  Wingate usually came at four,
+after business, and Steger in the morning, when he came at all.
+She was very nervous over this strange adventure, leaving the
+street-car in which she had chosen to travel some distance away
+and walking up a side street.  The cold weather and the gray walls
+under a gray sky gave her a sense of defeat, but she had worked
+very hard to look nice in order to cheer her lover up.  She knew
+how readily he responded to the influence of her beauty when
+properly displayed.
+
+Cowperwood, in view of her coming, had made his cell as acceptable
+as possible.  It was clean, because he had swept it himself and
+made his own bed; and besides he had shaved and combed his hair,
+and otherwise put himself to rights.  The caned chairs on which
+he was working had been put in the corner at the end of the bed.
+His few dishes were washed and hung up, and his clogs brushed with
+a brush which he now kept for the purpose.  Never before, he thought
+to himself, with a peculiar feeling of artistic degradation, had
+Aileen seen him like this.  She had always admired his good taste
+in clothes, and the way he carried himself in them; and now she
+was to see him in garments which no dignity of body could make
+presentable.  Only a stoic sense of his own soul-dignity aided him
+here.  After all, as he now thought, he was Frank A. Cowperwood,
+and that was something, whatever he wore.  And Aileen knew it.
+Again, he might be free and rich some day, and he knew that she
+believed that.  Best of all, his looks under these or any other
+circumstances, as he knew, would make no difference to Aileen.
+She would only love him the more.  It was her ardent sympathy that
+he was afraid of.  He was so glad that Bonhag had suggested that
+she might enter the cell, for it would be a grim procedure talking
+to her through a barred door.
+
+When Aileen arrived she asked for Mr. Bonhag, and was permitted
+to go to the central rotunda, where he was sent for.  When he
+came she murmured: "I wish to see Mr. Cowperwood, if you please";
+and he exclaimed, "Oh, yes, just come with me."  As he came across
+the rotunda floor from his corridor he was struck by the evident
+youth of Aileen, even though he could not see her face.  This now
+was something in accordance with what he had expected of Cowperwood.
+A man who could steal five hundred thousand dollars and set a
+whole city by the ears must have wonderful adventures of all kinds,
+and Aileen looked like a true adventure.  He led her to the little
+room where he kept his desk and detained visitors, and then bustled
+down to Cowperwood's cell, where the financier was working on one
+of his chairs and scratching on the door with his key, called:
+"There's a young lady here to see you.  Do you want to let her
+come inside?"
+
+"Thank you, yes," replied Cowperwood; and Bonhag hurried away,
+unintentionally forgetting, in his boorish incivility, to unlock
+the cell door, so that he had to open it in Aileen's presence.
+The long corridor, with its thick doors, mathematically spaced
+gratings and gray-stone pavement, caused Aileen to feel faint at
+heart.  A prison, iron cells! And he was in one of them.  It
+chilled her usually courageous spirit.  What a terrible place for
+her Frank to be! What a horrible thing to have put him here! Judges,
+juries, courts, laws, jails seemed like so many foaming ogres
+ranged about the world, glaring down upon her and her love-affair.
+The clank of the key in the lock, and the heavy outward swinging
+of the door, completed her sense of the untoward.  And then she
+saw Cowperwood.
+
+Because of the price he was to receive, Bonhag, after admitting
+her, strolled discreetly away.  Aileen looked at Cowperwood from
+behind her veil, afraid to speak until she was sure Bonhag had
+gone.  And Cowperwood, who was retaining his self-possession by
+an effort, signaled her but with difficulty after a moment or two.
+"It's all right," he said.  "He's gone away."  She lifted her veil,
+removed her cloak, and took in, without seeming to, the stuffy,
+narrow thickness of the room, his wretched shoes, the cheap,
+misshapen suit, the iron door behind him leading out into the
+little yard attached to his cell.  Against such a background,
+with his partially caned chairs visible at the end of the bed,
+he seemed unnatural, weird even.  Her Frank! And in this condition.
+She trembled and it was useless for her to try to speak.  She could
+only put her arms around him and stroke his head, murmuring: "My
+poor boy--my darling.  Is this what they have done to you? Oh, my
+poor darling."  She held his head while Cowperwood, anxious to
+retain his composure, winced and trembled, too.  Her love was so
+full--so genuine.  It was so soothing at the same time that it was
+unmanning, as now he could see, making of him a child again.  And
+for the first time in his life, some inexplicable trick of chemistry--
+that chemistry of the body, of blind forces which so readily
+supersedes reason at times--he lost his self-control.  The depth
+of Aileen's feelings, the cooing sound of her voice, the velvety
+tenderness of her hands, that beauty that had drawn him all the
+time--more radiant here perhaps within these hard walls, and in
+the face of his physical misery, than it had ever been before--
+completely unmanned him.  He did not understand how it could; he
+tried to defy the moods, but he could not.  When she held his head
+close and caressed it, of a sudden, in spite of himself, his breast
+felt thick and stuffy, and his throat hurt him.  He felt, for him,
+an astonishingly strange feeling, a desire to cry, which he did
+his best to overcome; it shocked him so.  There then combined and
+conspired to defeat him a strange, rich picture of the great world
+he had so recently lost, of the lovely, magnificent world which
+he hoped some day to regain.  He felt more poignantly at this
+moment than ever he had before the degradation of the clog shoes,
+the cotton shirt, the striped suit, the reputation of a convict,
+permanent and not to be laid aside.  He drew himself quickly away
+from her, turned his back, clinched his hands, drew his muscles
+taut; but it was too late.  He was crying, and he could not stop.
+
+"Oh, damn it!" he exclaimed, half angrily, half self-commiseratingly,
+in combined rage and shame.  "Why should I cry? What the devil's
+the matter with me, anyhow?"
+
+Aileen saw it.  She fairly flung herself in front of him, seized
+his head with one hand, his shabby waist with the other, and held
+him tight in a grip that he could not have readily released.
+
+"Oh, honey, honey, honey!" she exclaimed, pityingly feverishly.
+"I love you, I adore you.  They could cut my body into bits if it
+would do you any good.  To think that they should make you cry!
+Oh, my sweet, my sweet, my darling boy!"
+
+She pulled his still shaking body tighter, and with her free hand
+caressed his head.  She kissed his eyes, his hair, his cheeks.  He
+pulled himself loose again after a moment, exclaiming, "What the
+devil's got into me?" but she drew him back.
+
+"Never mind, honey darling, don't you be ashamed to cry.  Cry here
+on my shoulder.  Cry here with me.  My baby--my honey pet!"
+
+He quieted down after a few moments, cautioning her against
+Bonhag, and regaining his former composure, which he was so ashamed
+to have lost.
+
+"You're a great girl, pet," he said, with a tender and yet apologetic
+smile.  "You're all right--all that I need--a great help to me;
+but don't worry any longer about me, dear.  I'm all right.  It
+isn't as bad as you think.  How are you?"
+
+Aileen on her part was not to be soothed so easily.  His many woes,
+including his wretched position here, outraged her sense of justice
+and decency.  To think her fine, wonderful Frank should be compelled
+to come to this--to cry.  She stroked his head, tenderly, while
+wild, deadly, unreasoning opposition to life and chance and untoward
+opposition surged in her brain.  Her father--damn him! Her family--
+pooh! What did she care? Her Frank--her Frank.  How little all
+else mattered where he was concerned.  Never, never, never would
+she desert him--never--come what might.  And now she clung to him
+in silence while she fought in her brain an awful battle with
+life and law and fate and circumstance.  Law--nonsense! People--
+they were brutes, devils, enemies, hounds! She was delighted, eager,
+crazy to make a sacrifice of herself.  She would go anywhere for
+or with her Frank now.  She would do anything for him.  Her family
+was nothing--life nothing, nothing, nothing.  She would do anything
+he wished, nothing more, nothing less; anything she could do to
+save him, to make his life happier, but nothing for any one else.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LVI
+
+
+
+
+The days passed.   Once the understanding with Bonhag was reached,
+Cowperwood's wife, mother and sister were allowed to appear on
+occasions.  His wife and the children were now settled in the
+little home for which he was paying, and his financial obligations
+to her were satisfied by Wingate, who paid her one hundred and
+twenty five dollars a month for him.  He realized that he owed
+her more, but he was sailing rather close to the wind financially,
+these days.  The final collapse of his old interests had come in
+March, when he had been legally declared a bankrupt, and all his
+properties forfeited to satisfy the claims against him.  The city's
+claim of five hundred thousand dollars would have eaten up more
+than could have been realized at the time, had not a pro rata
+payment of thirty cents on the dollar been declared.  Even then
+the city never received its due, for by some hocus-pocus it was
+declared to have forfeited its rights.  Its claims had not been
+made at the proper time in the proper way.  This left larger
+portions of real money for the others.
+
+Fortunately by now Cowperwood had begun to see that by a little
+experimenting his business relations with Wingate were likely to
+prove profitable.  The broker had made it clear that he intended
+to be perfectly straight with him.  He had employed Cowperwood's
+two brothers, at very moderate salaries--one to take care of the
+books and look after the office, and the other to act on 'change
+with him, for their seats in that organization had never been sold.
+And also, by considerable effort, he had succeeded in securing
+Cowperwood, Sr., a place as a clerk in a bank.  For the latter,
+since the day of his resignation from the Third National had been
+in a deep, sad quandary as to what further to do with his life.
+His son's disgrace! The horror of his trial and incarceration.
+Since the day of Frank's indictment and more so, since his sentence
+and commitment to the Eastern Penitentiary, he was as one who
+walked in a dream.  That trial! That charge against Frank! His own
+son, a convict in stripes--and after he and Frank had walked so
+proudly in the front rank of the successful and respected here.
+Like so many others in his hour of distress, he had taken to reading
+the Bible, looking into its pages for something of that mind
+consolation that always, from youth up, although rather casually
+in these latter years, he had imagined was to be found there.  The
+Psalms, Isaiah, the Book of Job, Ecclesiastes.  And for the most
+part, because of the fraying nature of his present ills, not finding
+it.
+
+But day after day secreting himself in his room--a little hall-bedroom
+office in his newest home, where to his wife, he pretended that
+he had some commercial matters wherewith he was still concerned--
+and once inside, the door locked, sitting and brooding on all that
+had befallen him--his losses; his good name.  Or, after months of
+this, and because of the new position secured for him by Wingate--
+a bookkeeping job in one of the outlying banks--slipping away
+early in the morning, and returning late at night, his mind a
+gloomy epitome of all that had been or yet might be.
+
+To see him bustling off from his new but very much reduced home
+at half after seven in the morning in order to reach the small
+bank, which was some distance away and not accessible by street-car
+line, was one of those pathetic sights which the fortunes of trade
+so frequently offer.  He carried his lunch in a small box because
+it was inconvenient to return home in the time allotted for this
+purpose, and because his new salary did not permit the extravagance
+of a purchased one.  It was his one ambition now to eke out a
+respectable but unseen existence until he should die, which he
+hoped would not be long.  He was a pathetic figure with his thin
+legs and body, his gray hair, and his snow-white side-whiskers.
+He was very lean and angular, and, when confronted by a difficult
+problem, a little uncertain or vague in his mind.  An old habit
+which had grown on him in the years of his prosperity of putting
+his hand to his mouth and of opening his eyes in an assumption of
+surprise, which had no basis in fact, now grew upon him.  He really
+degenerated, although he did not know it, into a mere automaton.
+Life strews its shores with such interesting and pathetic wrecks.
+
+One of the things that caused Cowperwood no little thought at this
+time, and especially in view of his present extreme indifference
+to her, was how he would bring up this matter of his indifference
+to his wife and his desire to end their relationship.  Yet apart
+from the brutality of the plain truth, he saw no way.  As he could
+plainly see, she was now persisting in her pretense of devotion,
+uncolored, apparently, by any suspicion of what had happened.
+Yet since his trial and conviction, she had been hearing from one
+source and another that he was still intimate with Aileen, and it
+was only her thought of his concurrent woes, and the fact that he
+might possibly be spared to a successful financial life, that now
+deterred her from speaking.  He was shut up in a cell, she said
+to herself, and she was really very sorry for him, but she did not
+love him as she once had.  He was really too deserving of reproach
+for his general unseemly conduct, and no doubt this was what was
+intended, as well as being enforced, by the Governing Power of the
+world.
+
+One can imagine how much such an attitude as this would appeal to
+Cowperwood, once he had detected it.  By a dozen little signs,
+in spite of the fact that she brought him delicacies, and commiserated
+on his fate, he could see that she felt not only sad, but reproachful,
+and if there was one thing that Cowperwood objected to at all times
+it was the moral as well as the funereal air.  Contrasted with the
+cheerful combative hopefulness and enthusiasm of Aileen, the wearied
+uncertainty of Mrs. Cowperwood was, to say the least, a little
+tame.  Aileen, after her first burst of rage over his fate, which
+really did not develop any tears on her part, was apparently convinced
+that he would get out and be very successful again.  She talked
+success and his future all the time because she believed in it.
+Instinctively she seemed to realize that prison walls could not
+make a prison for him.  Indeed, on the first day she left she
+handed Bonhag ten dollars, and after thanking him in her attractive
+voice--without showing her face, however--for his obvious kindness
+to her, bespoke his further favor for Cowperwood--"a very great man,"
+as she described him, which sealed that ambitious materialist's
+fate completely.  There was nothing the overseer would not do for
+the young lady in the dark cloak.  She might have stayed in
+Cowperwood's cell for a week if the visiting-hours of the penitentiary
+had not made it impossible.
+
+The day that Cowperwood decided to discuss with his wife the
+weariness of his present married state and his desire to be free
+of it was some four months after he had entered the prison.  By
+that time he had become inured to his convict life.  The silence
+of his cell and the menial tasks he was compelled to perform,
+which had at first been so distressing, banal, maddening, in their
+pointless iteration, had now become merely commonplace--dull, but
+not painful.  Furthermore he had learned many of the little
+resources of the solitary convict, such as that of using his lamp
+to warm up some delicacy which he had saved from a previous meal
+or from some basket which had been sent him by his wife or Aileen.
+He had partially gotten rid of the sickening odor of his cell by
+persuading Bonhag to bring him small packages of lime; which he
+used with great freedom.  Also he succeeded in defeating some of
+the more venturesome rats with traps; and with Bonhag's permission,
+after his cell door had been properly locked at night, and sealed
+with the outer wooden door, he would take his chair, if it were
+not too cold, out into the little back yard of his cell and look
+at the sky, where, when the nights were clear, the stars were to
+be seen.  He had never taken any interest in astronomy as a
+scientific study, but now the Pleiades, the belt of Orion, the Big
+Dipper and the North Star, to which one of its lines pointed,
+caught his attention, almost his fancy.  He wondered why the stars
+of the belt of Orion came to assume the peculiar mathematical
+relation to each other which they held, as far as distance and
+arrangement were concerned, and whether that could possibly have
+any intellectual significance.  The nebulous conglomeration of
+the suns in Pleiades suggested a soundless depth of space, and he
+thought of the earth floating like a little ball in immeasurable
+reaches of ether.  His own life appeared very trivial in view of
+these things, and he found himself asking whether it was all really
+of any significance or importance.  He shook these moods off with
+ease, however, for the man was possessed of a sense of grandeur,
+largely in relation to himself and his affairs; and his temperament
+was essentially material and vital.  Something kept telling him
+that whatever his present state he must yet grow to be a significant
+personage, one whose fame would be heralded the world over--who
+must try, try, try.  It was not given ail men to see far or to do
+brilliantly; but to him it was given, and he must be what he was
+cut out to be.  There was no more escaping the greatness that was
+inherent in him than there was for so many others the littleness
+that was in them.
+
+Mrs. Cowperwood came in that afternoon quite solemnly, bearing
+several changes of linen, a pair of sheets, some potted meat and
+a pie.  She was not exactly doleful, but Cowperwood thought that
+she was tending toward it, largely because of her brooding over
+his relationship to Aileen, which he knew that she knew.  Something
+in her manner decided him to speak before she left; and after
+asking her how the children were, and listening to her inquiries
+in regard to the things that he needed, he said to her, sitting
+on his single chair while she sat on his bed:
+
+"Lillian, there's something I've been wanting to talk with you
+about for some time.  I should have done it before, but it's better
+late than never.  I know that you know that there is something
+between Aileen Butler and me, and we might as well have it open
+and aboveboard.  It's true I am very fond of her and she is very
+devoted to me, and if ever I get out of here I want to arrange it
+so that I can marry her.  That means that you will have to give
+me a divorce, if you will; and I want to talk to you about that
+now.  This can't be so very much of a surprise to you, because
+you must have seen this long while that our relationship hasn't
+been all that it might have been, and under the circumstances this
+can't prove such a very great hardship to you--I am sure."  He
+paused, waiting, for Mrs. Cowperwood at first said nothing.
+
+Her thought, when he first broached this, was that she ought to
+make some demonstration of astonishment or wrath: but when she
+looked into his steady, examining eyes, so free from the illusion
+of or interest in demonstrations of any kind, she realized how
+useless it would be.  He was so utterly matter-of-fact in what
+seemed to her quite private and secret affairs--very shameless.
+She had never been able to understand quite how he could take the
+subtleties of life as he did, anyhow.  Certain things which she
+always fancied should be hushed up he spoke of with the greatest
+nonchalance.  Her ears tingled sometimes at his frankness in
+disposing of a social situation; but she thought this must be
+characteristic of notable men, and so there was nothing to be said
+about it.  Certain men did as they pleased; society did not seem
+to be able to deal with them in any way.  Perhaps God would,
+later--she was not sure.  Anyhow, bad as he was, direct as he
+was, forceful as he was, he was far more interesting than most of
+the more conservative types in whom the social virtues of polite
+speech and modest thoughts were seemingly predominate.
+
+"I know," she said, rather peacefully, although with a touch of
+anger and resentment in her voice.  "I've known all about it all
+this time.  I expected you would say something like this to me
+some day.  It's a nice reward for all my devotion to you; but
+it's just like you, Frank.  When you are set on something, nothing
+can stop you.  It wasn't enough that you were getting along so
+nicely and had two children whom you ought to love, but you had
+to take up with this Butler creature until her name and yours are
+a by-word throughout the city.  I know that she comes to this
+prison.  I saw her out here one day as I was coming in, and I
+suppose every one else knows it by now.  She has no sense of
+decency and she does not care--the wretched, vain thing--but I
+would have thought that you would be ashamed, Frank, to go on the
+way that you have, when you still have me and the children and
+your father and mother and when you are certain to have such a
+hard fight to get yourself on your feet, as it is.  If she had any
+sense of decency she would not have anything to do with you--the
+shameless thing."
+
+Cowperwood looked at his wife with unflinching eyes.  He read in
+her remarks just what his observation had long since confirmed--
+that she was sympathetically out of touch with him.  She was no
+longer so attractive physically, and intellectually she was not
+Aileen's equal.  Also that contact with those women who had deigned
+to grace his home in his greatest hour of prosperity had proved
+to him conclusively she was lacking in certain social graces.
+Aileen was by no means so vastly better, still she was young and
+amenable and adaptable, and could still be improved.  Opportunity
+as he now chose to think, might make Aileen, whereas for Lillian--
+or at least, as he now saw it--it could do nothing.
+
+"I'll tell you how it is, Lillian," he said; "I'm not sure that
+you are going to get what I mean exactly, but you and I are not
+at all well suited to each other any more."
+
+"You didn't seem to think that three or four years ago," interrupted
+his wife, bitterly.
+
+"I married you when I was twenty-one," went on Cowperwood, quite
+brutally, not paying any attention to her interruption, "and I
+was really too young to know what I was doing.  I was a mere boy.
+It doesn't make so much difference about that.  I am not using
+that as an excuse.  The point that I am trying to make is this--
+that right or wrong, important or not important, I have changed
+my mind since.  I don't love you any more, and I don't feel that
+I want to keep up a relationship, however it may look to the public,
+that is not satisfactory to me.  You have one point of view about
+life, and I have another.  You think your point of view is the
+right one, and there are thousands of people who will agree with
+you; but I don't think so.  We have never quarreled about these
+things, because I didn't think it was important to quarrel about
+them.  I don't see under the circumstances that I am doing you any
+great injustice when I ask you to let me go.  I don't intend to
+desert you or the children--you will get a good living-income
+from me as long as I have the money to give it to you--but I want
+my personal freedom when I come out of here, if ever I do, and I
+want you to let me have it.  The money that you had and a great
+deal more, once I am out of here, you will get back when I am on
+my feet again.  But not if you oppose me--only if you help me.  I
+want, and intend to help you always--but in my way."
+
+He smoothed the leg of his prison trousers in a thoughtful way,
+and plucked at the sleeve of his coat.  Just now he looked very
+much like a highly intelligent workman as he sat here, rather than
+like the important personage that he was.  Mrs. Cowperwood was
+very resentful.
+
+"That's a nice way to talk to me, and a nice way to treat me!"
+she exclaimed dramatically, rising and walking the short space--
+some two steps--that lay between the wall and the bed.  "I might
+have known that you were too young to know your own mind when you
+married me.  Money, of course, that's all you think of and your
+own gratification.  I don't believe you have any sense of justice
+in you.  I don't believe you ever had.  You only think of yourself,
+Frank.  I never saw such a man as you.  You have treated me like
+a dog all through this affair; and all the while you have been
+running with that little snip of an Irish thing, and telling her
+all about your affairs, I suppose.  You let me go on believing
+that you cared for me up to the last moment, and then you suddenly
+step up and tell me that you want a divorce.  I'll not do it.
+I'll not give you a divorce, and you needn't think it."
+
+Cowperwood listened in silence.  His position, in so far as this
+marital tangle was concerned, as he saw, was very advantageous.
+He was a convict, constrained by the exigencies of his position
+to be out of personal contact with his wife for a long period of
+time to come, which should naturally tend to school her to do
+without him.  When he came out, it would be very easy for her to
+get a divorce from a convict, particularly if she could allege
+misconduct with another woman, which he would not deny.  At the
+same time, he hoped to keep Aileen's name out of it.  Mrs.
+Cowperwood, if she would, could give any false name if he made no
+contest.  Besides, she was not a very strong person, intellectually
+speaking.  He could bend her to his will.  There was no need of
+saying much more now; the ice had been broken, the situation had
+been put before her, and time should do the rest.
+
+"Don't be dramatic, Lillian," he commented, indifferently.  "I'm
+not such a loss to you if you have enough to live on.  I don't
+think I want to live in Philadelphia if ever I come out of here.
+My idea now is to go west, and I think I want to go alone.  I
+sha'n't get married right away again even if you do give me a
+divorce.  I don't care to take anybody along.  It would be better
+for the children if you would stay here and divorce me.  The
+public would think better of them and you."
+
+"I'll not do it," declared Mrs. Cowperwood, emphatically.  "I'll
+never do it, never; so there! You can say what you choose.  You
+owe it to me to stick by me and the children after all I've done
+for you, and I'll not do it.  You needn't ask me any more; I'll
+not do it."
+
+"Very well," replied Cowperwood, quietly, getting up.  "We needn't
+talk about it any more now.  Your time is nearly up, anyhow."
+(Twenty minutes was supposed to be the regular allotment for
+visitors.)  "Perhaps you'll change your mind sometime."
+
+She gathered up her muff and the shawl-strap in which she had
+carried her gifts, and turned to go.  It had been her custom to
+kiss Cowperwood in a make-believe way up to this time, but now she
+was too angry to make this pretense.  And yet she was sorry, too--
+sorry for herself and, she thought, for him.
+
+"Frank," she declared, dramatically, at the last moment, "I never
+saw such a man as you.  I don't believe you have any heart.  You're
+not worthy of a good wife.  You're worthy of just such a woman as
+you're getting.  The idea!" Suddenly tears came to her eyes, and
+she flounced scornfully and yet sorrowfully out.
+
+Cowperwood stood there.  At least there would be no more useless
+kissing between them, he congratulated himself.  It was hard in
+a way, but purely from an emotional point of view.  He was not
+doing her any essential injustice, he reasoned--not an economic
+one--which was the important thing.  She was angry to-day, but
+she would get over it, and in time might come to see his point of
+view.  Who could tell? At any rate he had made it plain to her
+what he intended to do and that was something as he saw it.  He
+reminded one of nothing so much, as he stood there, as of a young
+chicken picking its way out of the shell of an old estate.  Although
+he was in a cell of a penitentiary, with nearly four years more
+to serve, yet obviously he felt, within himself, that the whole
+world was still before him.  He could go west if he could not
+reestablish himself in Philadelphia; but he must stay here long
+enough to win the approval of those who had known him formerly--
+to obtain, as it were, a letter of credit which he could carry
+to other parts.
+
+"Hard words break no bones," he said to himself, as his wife went
+out.  "A man's never done till he's done.  I'll show some of these
+people yet."  Of Bonhag, who came to close the cell door, he
+asked whether it was going to rain, it looked so dark in the hall.
+
+"It's sure to before night," replied Bonhag, who was always wondering
+over Cowperwood's tangled affairs as he heard them retailed here
+and there.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LVII
+
+
+
+
+The time that Cowperwood spent in the Eastern Penitentiary of
+Pennsylvania was exactly thirteen months from the day of his entry
+to his discharge.  The influences which brought about this result
+were partly of his willing, and partly not.  For one thing, some
+six months after his incarceration, Edward Malia Butler died,
+expired sitting in his chair in his private office at his home.
+The conduct of Aileen had been a great strain on him.  From the
+time Cowperwood had been sentenced, and more particularly after
+the time he had cried on Aileen's shoulder in prison, she had
+turned on her father in an almost brutal way.  Her attitude,
+unnatural for a child, was quite explicable as that of a tortured
+sweetheart.  Cowperwood had told her that he thought Butler was
+using his influence to withhold a pardon for him, even though one
+were granted to Stener, whose life in prison he had been following
+with considerable interest; and this had enraged her beyond measure.
+She lost no chance of being practically insulting to her father,
+ignoring him on every occasion, refusing as often as possible to
+eat at the same table, and when she did, sitting next her mother
+in the place of Norah, with whom she managed to exchange.  She
+refused to sing or play any more when he was present, and persistently
+ignored the large number of young political aspirants who came to
+the house, and whose presence in a way had been encouraged for her
+benefit.  Old Butler realized, of course, what it was all about.
+He said nothing.  He could not placate her.
+
+Her mother and brothers did not understand it at all at first.
+(Mrs. Butler never understood.)  But not long after Cowperwood's
+incarceration Callum and Owen became aware of what the trouble was.
+Once, when Owen was coming away from a reception at one of the
+houses where his growing financial importance made him welcome, he
+heard one of two men whom he knew casually, say to the other, as
+they stood at the door adjusting their coats, "You saw where this
+fellow Cowperwood got four years, didn't you?"
+
+"Yes," replied the other.  "A clever devil that--wasn't he? I
+knew that girl he was in with, too--you know who I mean.  Miss
+Butler--wasn't that her name?"
+
+Owen was not sure that he had heard right.  He did not get the
+connection until the other guest, opening the door and stepping
+out, remarked: "Well, old Butler got even, apparently.  They say
+he sent him up."
+
+Owen's brow clouded.  A hard, contentious look came into his eyes.
+He had much of his father's force.  What in the devil were they
+talking about? What Miss Butler did they have in mind? Could this
+be Aileen or Norah, and how could Cowperwood come to be in with
+either of them? It could not possibly be Norah, he reflected;
+she was very much infatuated with a young man whom he knew, and
+was going to marry him.  Aileen had been most friendly with the
+Cowperwoods, and had often spoken well of the financier.  Could
+it be she? He could not believe it.  He thought once of overtaking
+the two acquaintances and demanding to know what they meant, but
+when he came out on the step they were already some distance down
+the street and in the opposite direction from that in which he
+wished to go.  He decided to ask his father about this.
+
+On demand, old Butler confessed at once, but insisted that his
+son keep silent about it.
+
+"I wish I'd have known," said Owen, grimly.  "I'd have shot the
+dirty dog."
+
+"Aisy, aisy," said Butler.  "Yer own life's worth more than his,
+and ye'd only be draggin' the rest of yer family in the dirt with
+him.  He's had somethin' to pay him for his dirty trick, and he'll
+have more.  Just ye say nothin' to no one.  Wait.  He'll be wantin'
+to get out in a year or two.  Say nothin' to her aither.  Talkin'
+won't help there.  She'll come to her sinses when he's been away
+long enough, I'm thinkin'."  Owen had tried to be civil to his
+sister after that, but since he was a stickler for social perfection
+and advancement, and so eager to get up in the world himself, he
+could not understand how she could possibly have done any such
+thing.  He resented bitterly the stumbling-block she had put in
+his path.  Now, among other things, his enemies would have this
+to throw in his face if they wanted to--and they would want to,
+trust life for that.
+
+Callum reached his knowledge of the matter in quite another manner,
+but at about the same time.  He was a member of an athletic club
+which had an attractive building in the city, and a fine country
+club, where he went occasionally to enjoy the swimming-pool and
+the Turkish bath connected with it.  One of his friends approached
+him there in the billiard-room one evening and said, "Say, Butler,
+you know I'm a good friend of yours, don't you?"
+
+"Why, certainly, I know it," replied Callum.  "What's the matter?"
+
+"Well, you know," said the young individual, whose name was Richard
+Pethick, looking at Callum with a look of almost strained affection,
+"I wouldn't come to you with any story that I thought would hurt
+your feelings or that you oughtn't to know about, but I do think
+you ought to know about this."  He pulled at a high white collar
+which was choking his neck.
+
+"I know you wouldn't, Pethick," replied Callum; very much interested.
+"What is it? What's the point?"
+
+"Well, I don't like to say anything," replied Pethick, "but that
+fellow Hibbs is saying things around here about your sister."
+
+"What's that?" exclaimed Callum, straightening up in the most
+dynamic way and bethinking him of the approved social procedure
+in all such cases.  He should be very angry.  He should demand
+and exact proper satisfaction in some form or other--by blows
+very likely if his honor had been in any way impugned.  "What is
+it he says about my sister? What right has he to mention her name
+here, anyhow? He doesn't know her."
+
+Pethick affected to be greatly concerned lest he cause trouble
+between Callum and Hibbs.  He protested that he did not want to,
+when, in reality, he was dying to tell.  At last he came out with,
+"Why, he's circulated the yarn that your sister had something to
+do with this man Cowperwood, who was tried here recently, and
+that that's why he's just gone to prison."
+
+"What's that?" exclaimed Callum, losing the make-believe of the
+unimportant, and taking on the serious mien of some one who feels
+desperately.  "He says that, does he? Where is he? I want to see
+if he'll say that to me."
+
+Some of the stern fighting ability of his father showed in his
+slender, rather refined young face.
+
+"Now, Callum," insisted Pethick, realizing the genuine storm he
+had raised, and being a little fearful of the result, "do be
+careful what you say.  You mustn't have a row in here.  You know
+it's against the rules.  Besides he may be drunk.  It's just some
+foolish talk he's heard, I'm sure.  Now, for goodness' sake, don't
+get so excited."  Pethick, having evoked the storm, was not a
+little nervous as to its results in his own case.  He, too, as
+well as Callum, himself as the tale-bearer, might now be involved.
+
+But Callum by now was not so easily restrained.  His face was quite
+pale, and he was moving toward the old English grill-room, where
+Hibbs happened to be, consuming a brandy-and-soda with a friend
+of about his own age.  Callum entered and called him.
+
+"Oh, Hibbs!" he said.
+
+Hibbs, hearing his voice and seeing him in the door, arose and
+came over.  He was an interesting youth of the collegiate type,
+educated at Princeton.  He had heard the rumor concerning Aileen
+from various sources--other members of the club, for one--and had
+ventured to repeat it in Pethick's presence.
+
+"What's that you were just saying about my sister?" asked Callum,
+grimly, looking Hibbs in the eye.
+
+"Why--I--" hesitated Hibbs, who sensed trouble and was eager to
+avoid it.  He was not exceptionally brave and looked it.  His hair
+was straw-colored, his eyes blue, and his cheeks pink.  "Why--
+nothing in particular.  Who said I was talking about her?" He
+looked at Pethick, whom he knew to be the tale-bearer, and the
+latter exclaimed, excitedly:
+
+"Now don't you try to deny it, Hibbs.  You know I heard you?"
+
+"Well, what did I say?" asked Hibbs, defiantly.
+
+"Well, what did you say?" interrupted Callum,  grimly, transferring
+the conversation to himself.  "That's just what I want to know."
+
+"Why," stammered Hibbs, nervously, "I don't think I've said anything
+that anybody else hasn't said.  I just repeated that some one said
+that your sister had been very friendly with Mr. Cowperwood.  I
+didn't say any more than I have heard other people say around here."
+
+"Oh, you didn't, did you?" exclaimed Callum, withdrawing his hand
+from his pocket and slapping Hibbs in the face.  He repeated the
+blow with his left hand, fiercely.  "Perhaps that'll teach you to
+keep my sister's name out of your mouth, you pup!"
+
+Hibbs's arms flew up.  He was not without pugilistic training, and
+he struck back vigorously, striking Callum once in the chest and
+once in the neck.  In an instant the two rooms of this suite were
+in an uproar.  Tables and chairs were overturned by the energy of
+men attempting to get to the scene of action.  The two combatants
+were quickly separated; sides were taken by the friends of each,
+excited explanations attempted and defied.  Callum was examining
+the knuckles of his left hand, which were cut from the blow he had
+delivered.  He maintained a gentlemanly calm.  Hibbs, very much
+flustered and excited, insisted that he had been most unreasonably
+used.  The idea of attacking him here.  And, anyhow, as he maintained
+now, Pethick had been both eavesdropping and lying about him.
+Incidentally, the latter was protesting to others that he had done
+the only thing which an honorable friend could do.  It was a nine
+days' wonder in the club, and was only kept out of the newspapers
+by the most strenuous efforts on the part of the friends of both
+parties.  Callum was so outraged on discovering that there was
+some foundation for the rumor at the club in a general rumor which
+prevailed that he tendered his resignation, and never went there
+again.
+
+"I wish to heaven you hadn't struck that fellow," counseled Owen,
+when the incident was related to him.  "It will only make more talk.
+She ought to leave this place; but she won't.  She's struck on
+that fellow yet, and we can't tell Norah and mother.  We will never
+hear the last of this, you and I--believe me."
+
+"Damn it, she ought to be made to go," exclaimed Callum.
+
+"Well, she won't," replied Owen.  "Father has tried making her,
+and she won't go.  Just let things stand.  He's in the penitentiary
+now, and that's probably the end of him.  The public seem to think
+that father put him there, and that's something.  Maybe we can
+persuade her to go after a while.  I wish to God we had never had
+sight of that fellow.  If ever he comes out, I've a good notion
+to kill him."
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't do anything like that," replied Callum.  "It's
+useless.  It would only stir things up afresh.  He's done for,
+anyhow."
+
+They planned to urge Norah to marry as soon as possible.  And as
+for their feelings toward Aileen, it was a very chilly atmosphere
+which Mrs. Butler contemplated from now on, much to her confusion,
+grief, and astonishment.
+
+In this divided world it was that Butler eventually found himself,
+all at sea as to what to think or what to do.  He had brooded so
+long now, for months, and as yet had found no solution.  And
+finally, in a form of religious despair, sitting at his desk, in
+his business chair, he had collapsed--a weary and disconsolate man
+of seventy.  A lesion of the left ventricle was the immediate
+physical cause, although brooding over Aileen was in part the
+mental one.  His death could not have been laid to his grief over
+Aileen exactly, for he was a very large man--apoplectic and with
+sclerotic veins and arteries.  For a great many years now he had
+taken very little exercise, and his digestion had been considerably
+impaired thereby.  He was past seventy, and his time had been
+reached.  They found him there the next morning, his hands folded
+in his lap, his head on his bosom, quite cold.
+
+He was buried with honors out of St. Timothy's Church, the funeral
+attended by a large body of politicians and city officials, who
+discussed secretly among themselves whether his grief over his
+daughter had anything to do with his end.  All his good deeds were
+remembered, of course, and Mollenhauer and Simpson sent great
+floral emblems in remembrance.  They were very sorry that he was
+gone, for they had been a cordial three.  But gone he was, and
+that ended their interest in the matter.  He left all of his
+property to his wife in one of the shortest wills ever recorded
+locally.
+
+"I give and bequeath to my beloved wife, Norah, all my property
+of whatsoever kind to be disposed of as she may see fit."
+
+There was no misconstruing this.  A private paper drawn secretly
+for her sometime before by Butler, explained how the property
+should be disposed of by her at her death.  It was Butler's real
+will masquerading as hers, and she would not have changed it for
+worlds; but he wanted her left in undisturbed possession of
+everything until she should die.  Aileen's originally assigned
+portion had never been changed.   According to her father's will,
+which no power under the sun could have made Mrs. Butler alter,
+she was left $250,000 to be paid at Mrs. Butler's death.  Neither
+this fact nor any of the others contained in the paper were
+communicated by Mrs. Butler, who retained it to be left as her
+will.  Aileen often wondered, but never sought to know, what had
+been left her.  Nothing she fancied--but felt that she could not
+help this.
+
+Butler's death led at once to a great change in the temper of the
+home.  After the funeral the family settled down to a seemingly
+peaceful continuance of the old life; but it was a matter of seeming
+merely.  The situation stood with Callum and Owen manifesting a
+certain degree of contempt for Aileen, which she, understanding,
+reciprocated.   She was very haughty.  Owen had plans of forcing
+her to leave after Butler's death, but he finally asked himself
+what was the use.  Mrs. Butler, who did not want to leave the old
+home, was very fond of Aileen, so therein lay a reason for letting
+her remain.  Besides, any move to force her out would have entailed
+an explanation to her mother, which was not deemed advisable.
+Owen himself was interested in Caroline Mollenhauer, whom he hoped
+some day to marry--as much for her prospective wealth as for any
+other reason, though he was quite fond of her.  In the January
+following Butler's death, which occurred in August, Norah was
+married very quietly, and the following spring Callum embarked on
+a similar venture.
+
+In the meanwhile, with Butler's death, the control of the political
+situation had shifted considerably.  A certain Tom Collins,
+formerly one of Butler's henchmen, but latterly a power in the
+First, Second, Third, and Fourth Wards, where he had numerous
+saloons and control of other forms of vice, appeared as a claimant
+for political recognition.  Mollenhauer and Simpson had to consult
+him, as he could make very uncertain the disposition of some hundred
+and fifteen thousand votes, a large number of which were fraudulent,
+but which fact did not modify their deadly character on occasion.
+Butler's sons disappeared as possible political factors, and were
+compelled to confine themselves to the street-railway and contracting
+business.  The pardon of Cowperwood and Stener, which Butler would
+have opposed, because by keeping Stener in he kept Cowperwood in,
+became a much easier matter.  The scandal of the treasury defalcation
+was gradually dying down; the newspapers had ceased to refer to
+it in any way.  Through Steger and Wingate, a large petition signed
+by all important financiers and brokers had been sent to the Governor
+pointing out that Cowperwood's trial and conviction had been most
+unfair, and asking that he be pardoned.  There was no need of any
+such effort, so far as Stener was concerned; whenever the time
+seemed ripe the politicians were quite ready to say to the Governor
+that he ought to let him go.  It was only because Butler had opposed
+Cowperwood's release that they had hesitated.  It was really not
+possible to let out the one and ignore the other; and this petition,
+coupled with Butler's death, cleared the way very nicely.
+
+Nevertheless, nothing was done until the March following Butler's
+death, when both Stener and Cowperwood had been incarcerated thirteen
+months--a length of time which seemed quite sufficient to appease
+the anger of the public at large.  In this period Stener had undergone
+a considerable change physically and mentally.  In spite of the
+fact that a number of the minor aldermen, who had profited in various
+ways by his largess, called to see him occasionally, and that he
+had been given, as it were, almost the liberty of the place, and
+that his family had not been allowed to suffer, nevertheless he
+realized that his political and social days were over.  Somebody
+might now occasionally send him a basket of fruit and assure him
+that he would not be compelled to suffer much longer; but when he
+did get out, he knew that he had nothing to depend on save his
+experience as an insurance agent and real-estate dealer.  That had
+been precarious enough in the days when he was trying to get some
+small political foothold.  How would it be when he was known only
+as the man who had looted the treasury of five hundred thousand
+dollars and been sent to the penitentiary for five years? Who would
+lend him the money wherewith to get a little start, even so much as
+four or five thousand dollars? The people who were calling to pay
+their respects now and then, and to assure him that he had been
+badly treated? Never.  All of them could honestly claim that they
+had not so much to spare.  If he had good security to offer--yes;
+but if he had good security he would not need to go to them at all.
+The man who would have actually helped him if he had only known
+was Frank A. Cowperwood.  Stener could have confessed his mistake,
+as Cowperwood saw it, and Cowperwood would have given him the money
+gladly, without any thought of return.  But by his poor understanding
+of human nature, Stener considered that Cowperwood must be an enemy
+of his, and he would not have had either the courage or the business
+judgment to approach him.
+
+During his incarceration Cowperwood had been slowly accumulating
+a little money through Wingate.  He had paid Steger considerable
+sums from time to time, until that worthy finally decided that it
+would not be fair to take any more.
+
+"If ever you get on your feet, Frank," he said, "you can remember
+me if you want to, but I don't think you'll want to.  It's been
+nothing but lose, lose, lose for you through me.  I'll undertake
+this matter of getting that appeal to the Governor without any
+charge on my part.  Anything I can do for you from now on is free
+gratis for nothing."
+
+"Oh, don't talk nonsense, Harper," replied Cowperwood.  "I don't
+know of anybody that could have done better with my case.  Certainly
+there isn't anybody that I would have trusted as much.  I don't
+like lawyers you know."
+
+"Yes--well," said Steger, "they've got nothing on financiers, so
+we'll call it even."  And they shook hands.
+
+So when it was finally decided to pardon Stener, which was in the
+early part of March, 1873--Cowperwood's pardon was necessarily but
+gingerly included.  A delegation, consisting of Strobik, Harmon,
+and Winpenny, representing, as it was intended to appear, the
+unanimous wishes of the council and the city administration, and
+speaking for Mollenhauer and Simpson, who had given their consent,
+visited the Governor at Harrisburg and made the necessary formal
+representations which were intended to impress the public.  At the
+same time, through the agency of Steger, Davison, and Walter Leigh,
+the appeal in behalf of Cowperwood was made.  The Governor, who
+had had instructions beforehand from sources quite superior to
+this committee, was very solemn about the whole procedure.  He
+would take the matter under advisement.  He would look into the
+history of the crimes and the records of the two men.  He could
+make no promises--he would see.  But in ten days, after allowing
+the petitions to gather considerable dust in one of his pigeonholes
+and doing absolutely nothing toward investigating anything, he
+issued two separate pardons in writing.  One, as a matter of
+courtesy, he gave into the hands of Messrs. Strobik, Harmon, and
+Winpenny, to bear personally to Mr. Stener, as they desired that
+he should.  The other, on Steger's request, he gave to him.  The
+two committees which had called to receive them then departed; and
+the afternoon of that same day saw Strobik, Harmon, and Winpenny
+arrive in one group, and Steger, Wingate, and Walter Leigh in
+another, at the prison gate, but at different hours.
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LVIII
+
+
+
+
+This matter of the pardon of Cowperwood, the exact time of it,
+was kept a secret from him, though the fact that he was to be
+pardoned soon, or that he had a very excellent chance of being,
+had not been denied--rather had been made much of from time to
+time.  Wingate had kept him accurately informed as to the progress
+being made, as had Steger; but when it was actually ascertained,
+from the Governor's private secretary, that a certain day would
+see the pardon handed over to them, Steger, Wingate, and Walter
+Leigh had agreed between themselves that they would say nothing,
+taking Cowperwood by surprise.  They even went so far--that is,
+Steger and Wingate did--as to indicate to Cowperwood that there
+was some hitch to the proceedings and that he might not now get
+out so soon.  Cowperwood was somewhat depressed, but properly
+stoical; he assured himself that he could wait, and that he would
+be all right sometime.  He was rather surprised therefore, one
+Friday afternoon, to see Wingate, Steger, and Leigh appear at his
+cell door, accompanied by Warden Desmas.
+
+The warden was quite pleased to think that Cowperwood should finally
+be going out--he admired him so much--and decided to come along to
+the cell, to see how he would take his liberation.  On the way
+Desmas commented on the fact that he had always been a model prisoner.
+"He kept a little garden out there in that yard of his," he confided
+to Walter Leigh.  "He had violets and pansies and geraniums out
+there, and they did very well, too."
+
+Leigh smiled.  It was like Cowperwood to be industrious and tasteful,
+even in prison.  Such a man could not be conquered.  "A very
+remarkable man, that," he remarked to Desmas.
+
+"Very," replied the warden.  "You can tell that by looking at him."
+
+The four looked in through the barred door where he was working,
+without being observed, having come up quite silently.
+
+"Hard at it, Frank?" asked Steger.
+
+Cowperwood glanced over his shoulder and got up.  He had been
+thinking, as always these days, of what he would do when he did
+get out.
+
+"What is this," he asked--"a political delegation?" He suspected
+something on the instant.  All four smiled cheeringly, and Bonhag
+unlocked the door for the warden.
+
+"Nothing very much, Frank," replied Stager, gleefully, "only you're
+a free man.  You can gather up your traps and come right along,
+if you wish."
+
+Cowperwood surveyed his friends with a level gaze.  He had not
+expected this so soon after what had been told him.  He was not
+one to be very much interested in the practical joke or the surprise,
+but this pleased him--the sudden realization that he was free.
+Still, he had anticipated it so long that the charm of it had been
+discounted to a certain extent.  He had been unhappy here, and he
+had not.  The shame and humiliation of it, to begin with, had been
+much.  Latterly, as he had become inured to it all, the sense of
+narrowness and humiliation had worn off.  Only the consciousness
+of incarceration and delay irked him.  Barring his intense desire
+for certain things--success and vindication, principally--he found
+that he could live in his narrow cell and be fairly comfortable.
+He had long since become used to the limy smell (used to defeat
+a more sickening one), and to the numerous rats which he quite
+regularly trapped.  He had learned to take an interest in chair-caning,
+having become so proficient that he could seat twenty in a day if
+he chose, and in working in the little garden in spring, summer,
+and fall.  Every evening he had studied the sky from his narrow
+yard, which resulted curiously in the gift in later years of a
+great reflecting telescope to a famous university.  He had not
+looked upon himself as an ordinary prisoner, by any means--had
+not felt himself to be sufficiently punished if a real crime had
+been involved.  From Bonhag he had learned the history of many
+criminals here incarcerated, from murderers up and down, and many
+had been pointed out to him from time to time.  He had been escorted
+into the general yard by Bonhag, had seen the general food of the
+place being prepared, had heard of Stener's modified life here,
+and so forth.  It had finally struck him that it was not so bad,
+only that the delay to an individual like himself was wasteful.
+He could do so much now if he were out and did not have to fight
+court proceedings.  Courts and jails! He shook his head when he
+thought of the waste involved in them.
+
+"That's all right," he said, looking around him in an uncertain
+way.  "I'm ready."
+
+He stepped out into the hall, with scarcely a farewell glance, and
+to Bonhag, who was grieving greatly over the loss of so profitable
+a customer, he said: "I wish you would see that some of these
+things are sent over to my house, Walter.  You're welcome to the
+chair, that clock, this mirror, those pictures--all of these things
+in fact, except my linen, razors, and so forth."
+
+The last little act of beneficence soothed Bonhag's lacerated soul
+a little.  They went out into the receiving overseer's office,
+where Cowperwood laid aside his prison suit and the soft shirt
+with a considerable sense of relief.  The clog shoes had long
+since been replaced by a better pair of his own.  He put on the
+derby hat and gray overcoat he had worn the year before, on entering,
+and expressed himself as ready.  At the entrance of the prison he
+turned and looked back--one last glance--at the iron door leading
+into the garden.
+
+"You don't regret leaving that, do you, Frank?" asked Steger,
+curiously.
+
+"I do not," replied Cowperwood.  "It wasn't that I was thinking
+of.  It was just the appearance of it, that's all."
+
+In another minute they were at the outer gate, where Cowperwood
+shook the warden finally by the hand.  Then entering a carriage
+outside the large, impressive, Gothic entrance, the gates were
+locked behind them and they were driven away.
+
+"Well, there's an end of that, Frank," observed Steger, gayly;
+"that will never bother you any more."
+
+"Yes," replied Cowperwood.  "It's worse to see it coming than
+going."
+
+"It seems to me we ought to celebrate this occasion in some way,"
+observed Walter Leigh.  "It won't do just to take Frank home.
+Why don't we all go down to Green's? That's a good idea."
+
+"I'd rather not, if you don't mind," replied Cowperwood, feelingly.
+"I'll get together with you all, later.  Just now I'd like to go
+home and change these clothes."
+
+He was thinking of Aileen and his children and his mother and
+father and of his whole future.  Life was going to broaden out
+for him considerably from now on, he was sure of it.  He had
+learned so much about taking care of himself in those thirteen
+months.  He was going to see Aileen, and find how she felt about
+things in general, and then he was going to resume some such duties
+as he had had in his own concern, with Wingate & Co.  He was going
+to secure a seat on 'change again, through his friends; and, to
+escape the effect of the prejudice of those who might not care to
+do business with an ex-convict, he was going to act as general
+outside man, and floor man on 'charge, for Wingate & Co.  His
+practical control of that could not be publicly proved.  Now for
+some important development in the market--some slump or something.
+He would show the world whether he was a failure or not.
+
+They let him down in front of his wife's little cottage, and he
+entered briskly in the gathering gloom.
+
+On September 18, 1873, at twelve-fifteen of a brilliant autumn
+day, in the city of Philadelphia, one of the most startling
+financial tragedies that the world has ever seen had its commencement.
+The banking house of Jay Cooke & Co., the foremost financial
+organization of America, doing business at Number 114 South Third
+Street in Philadelphia, and with branches in New York, Washington,
+and London, closed its doors.  Those who know anything about the
+financial crises of the United States know well the significance
+of the panic which followed.  It is spoken of in all histories as
+the panic of 1873, and the widespread ruin and disaster which
+followed was practically unprecedented in American history.
+
+At this time Cowperwood, once more a broker--ostensibly a broker's
+agent--was doing business in South Third Street, and representing
+Wingate & Co. on 'change.  During the six months which had elapsed
+since he had emerged from the Eastern Penitentiary he had been
+quietly resuming financial, if not social, relations with those
+who had known him before.
+
+Furthermore, Wingate & Co. were prospering, and had been for some
+time, a fact which redounded to his credit with those who knew.
+Ostensibly he lived with his wife in a small house on North
+Twenty-first Street.  In reality he occupied a bachelor apartment
+on North Fifteenth Street, to which Aileen occasionally repaired.
+The difference between himself and his wife had now become a matter
+of common knowledge in the family, and, although there were some
+faint efforts made to smooth the matter over, no good resulted.
+The difficulties of the past two years had so inured his parents
+to expect the untoward and exceptional that, astonishing as this
+was, it did not shock them so much as it would have years before.
+They were too much frightened by life to quarrel with its weird
+developments.  They could only hope and pray for the best.
+
+The Butler family, on the other hand, what there was of it, had
+become indifferent to Aileen's conduct.  She was ignored by her
+brothers and Norah, who now knew all; and her mother was so taken
+up with religious devotions and brooding contemplation of her loss
+that she was not as active in her observation of Aileen's life as
+she might have been.  Besides, Cowperwood and his mistress were
+more circumspect in their conduct than they had ever been before.
+Their movements were more carefully guarded, though the result was
+the same.  Cowperwood was thinking of the West--of reaching some
+slight local standing here in Philadelphia, and then, with perhaps
+one hundred thousand dollars in capital, removing to the boundless
+prairies of which he had heard so much--Chicago, Fargo, Duluth,
+Sioux City, places then heralded in Philadelphia and the East as
+coming centers of great life--and taking Aileen with him.  Although
+the problem of marriage with her was insoluble unless Mrs.
+Cowperwood should formally agree to give him up--a possibility
+which was not manifest at this time, neither he nor Aileen were
+deterred by that thought.  They were going to build a future
+together--or so they thought, marriage or no marriage.  The only
+thing which Cowperwood could see to do was to take Aileen away
+with him, and to trust to time and absence to modify his wife's
+point of view.
+
+This particular panic, which was destined to mark a notable change
+in Cowperwood's career, was one of those peculiar things which
+spring naturally out of the optimism of the American people and
+the irrepressible progress of the country.  It was the result, to
+be accurate, of the prestige and ambition of Jay Cooke, whose early
+training and subsequent success had all been acquired in Philadelphia,
+and who had since become the foremost financial figure of his day.
+It would be useless to attempt to trace here the rise of this man
+to distinction; it need only be said that by suggestions which he
+made and methods which he devised the Union government, in its
+darkest hours, was able to raise the money wherewith to continue
+the struggle against the South.  After the Civil War this man, who
+had built up a tremendous banking business in Philadelphia, with
+great branches in New York and Washington, was at a loss for some
+time for some significant thing to do, some constructive work which
+would be worthy of his genius.  The war was over; the only thing
+which remained was the finances of peace, and the greatest things
+in American financial enterprise were those related to the
+construction of transcontinental railway lines.  The Union Pacific,
+authorized in 1860, was already building; the Northern Pacific and
+the Southern Pacific were already dreams in various pioneer minds.
+The great thing was to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific by
+steel, to bind up the territorially perfected and newly solidified
+Union, or to enter upon some vast project of mining, of which gold
+and silver were the most important.  Actually railway-building was
+the most significant of all, and railroad stocks were far and away
+the most valuable and important on every exchange in America.  Here
+in Philadelphia, New York Central, Rock Island, Wabash, Central
+Pacific, St. Paul, Hannibal & St. Joseph, Union Pacific, and
+Ohio & Mississippi were freely traded in.  There were men who were
+getting rich and famous out of handling these things; and such
+towering figures as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Daniel Drew,
+James Fish, and others in the East, and Fair, Crocker, W. R. Hearst,
+and Collis P. Huntington, in the West, were already raising their
+heads like vast mountains in connection with these enterprises.
+Among those who dreamed most ardently on this score was Jay Cooke,
+who without the wolfish cunning of a Gould or the practical
+knowledge of a Vanderbilt, was ambitious to thread the northern
+reaches of America with a band of steel which should be a permanent
+memorial to his name.
+
+The project which fascinated him most was one that related to the
+development of the territory then lying almost unexplored between
+the extreme western shore of Lake Superior, where Duluth now stands,
+and that portion of the Pacific Ocean into which the Columbia River
+empties--the extreme northern one-third of the United States.
+Here, if a railroad were built, would spring up great cities and
+prosperous towns.  There were, it was suspected, mines of various
+metals in the region of the Rockies which this railroad would
+traverse, and untold wealth to be reaped from the fertile corn and
+wheat lands.  Products brought only so far east as Duluth could
+then be shipped to the Atlantic, via the Great Lakes and the Erie
+Canal, at a greatly reduced cost.  It was a vision of empire, not
+unlike the Panama Canal project of the same period, and one that
+bade fair apparently to be as useful to humanity.  It had aroused
+the interest and enthusiasm of Cooke.  Because of the fact that
+the government had made a grant of vast areas of land on either
+side of the proposed track to the corporation that should seriously
+undertake it and complete it within a reasonable number of years,
+and because of the opportunity it gave him of remaining a
+distinguished public figure, he had eventually shouldered the
+project.  It was open to many objections and criticisms; but the
+genius which had been sufficient to finance the Civil War was
+considered sufficient to finance the Northern Pacific Railroad.
+Cooke undertook it with the idea of being able to put the merits
+of the proposition before the people direct--not through the agency
+of any great financial corporation--and of selling to the butcher,
+the baker, and the candlestick-maker the stock or shares that he
+wished to dispose of.
+
+It was a brilliant chance.  His genius had worked out the sale of
+great government loans during the Civil War to the people direct
+in this fashion.  Why not Northern Pacific certificates? For several
+years he conducted a pyrotechnic campaign, surveying the territory
+in question, organizing great railway-construction corps, building
+hundreds of miles of track under most trying conditions, and selling
+great blocks of his stock, on which interest of a certain percentage
+was guaranteed.  If it had not been that he knew little of
+railroad-building, personally, and that the project was so vast
+that it could not well be encompassed by one man, even so great a
+man it might have proved successful, as under subsequent management
+it did.  However, hard times, the war between France and Germany,
+which tied up European capital for the time being and made it
+indifferent to American projects, envy, calumny, a certain percentage
+of mismanagement, all conspired to wreck it.  On September 18,
+1873, at twelve-fifteen noon, Jay Cooke & Co. failed for approximately
+eight million dollars and the Northern Pacific for all that had
+been invested in it--some fifty million dollars more.
+
+One can imagine what the result was--the most important financier
+and the most distinguished railway enterprise collapsing at one
+and the same time.  "A financial thunderclap in a clear sky," said
+the Philadelphia Press.  "No one could have been more surprised,"
+said the Philadelphia Inquirer, "if snow had fallen amid the
+sunshine of a summer noon."  The public, which by Cooke's previous
+tremendous success had been lulled into believing him invincible,
+could not understand it.  It was beyond belief.  Jay Cooke fail?
+Impossible, or anything connected with him.  Nevertheless, he had
+failed; and the New York Stock Exchange, after witnessing a number
+of crashes immediately afterward, closed for eight days.  The Lake
+Shore Railroad failed to pay a call-loan of one million seven
+hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and the Union Trust Company,
+allied to the Vanderbilt interests, closed its doors after withstanding
+a prolonged run.  The National Trust Company of New York had eight
+hundred thousand dollars of government securities in its vaults,
+but not a dollar could be borrowed upon them; and it suspended.
+Suspicion was universal, rumor affected every one.
+
+In Philadelphia, when the news reached the stock exchange, it came
+first in the form of a brief despatch addressed to the stock board
+from the New York Stock Exchange--"Rumor on street of failure of
+Jay Cooke & Co.  Answer."  It was not believed, and so not replied
+to.  Nothing was thought of it.  The world of brokers paid scarcely
+any attention to it.  Cowperwood, who had followed the fortunes
+of Jay Cooke & Co. with considerable suspicion of its president's
+brilliant theory of vending his wares direct to the people--was
+perhaps the only one who had suspicions.  He had once written a
+brilliant criticism to some inquirer, in which he had said that
+no enterprise of such magnitude as the Northern Pacific had ever
+before been entirely dependent upon one house, or rather upon one
+man, and that he did not like it.  "I am not sure that the lands
+through which the road runs are so unparalleled in climate, soil,
+timber, minerals, etc., as Mr. Cooke and his friends would have
+us believe.  Neither do I think that the road can at present, or
+for many years to come, earn the interest which its great issues
+of stock call for.  There is great danger and risk there."  So
+when the notice was posted, he looked at it, wondering what the
+effect would be if by any chance Jay Cooke & Co. should fail.
+
+He was not long in wonder.  A second despatch posted on 'change
+read: "New York, September 18th.  Jay Cooke & Co. have suspended."
+
+Cowperwood could not believe it.  He was beside himself with the
+thought of a great opportunity.  In company with every other broker,
+he hurried into Third Street and up to Number 114, where the famous
+old banking house was located, in order to be sure.  Despite his
+natural dignity and reserve, he did not hesitate to run.  If this
+were true, a great hour had struck.  There would be wide-spread
+panic and disaster.  There would be a terrific slump in prices of
+all stocks.  He must be in the thick of it.  Wingate must be on
+hand, and his two brothers.  He must tell them how to sell and
+when and what to buy.  His great hour had come!
+
+
+
+
+
+Chapter LIX
+
+
+
+
+The banking house of Jay Cooke & Co., in spite of its tremendous
+significance as a banking and promoting concern, was a most
+unpretentious affair, four stories and a half in height of gray
+stone and red brick.  It had never been deemed a handsome or
+comfortable banking house.  Cowperwood had been there often.
+Wharf-rats as long as the forearm of a man crept up the culverted
+channels of Dock Street to run through the apartments at will.
+Scores of clerks worked under gas-jets, where light and air were
+not any too abundant, keeping track of the firm's vast accounts.
+It was next door to the Girard National Bank, where Cowperwood's
+friend Davison still flourished, and where the principal financial
+business of the street converged.  As Cowperwood ran he met his
+brother Edward, who was coming to the stock exchange with some
+word for him from Wingate.
+
+"Run and get Wingate and Joe," he said.  "There's something big
+on this afternoon.  Jay Cooke has failed."
+
+Edward waited for no other word, but hurried off as directed.
+
+Cowperwood reached Cooke & Co. among the earliest.  To his utter
+astonishment, the solid brown-oak doors, with which he was familiar,
+were shut, and a notice posted on them, which he quickly read, ran:
+
+                                   September 18, 1873.
+  To the Public--We regret to be obliged to announce that, owing
+  to unexpected demands on us, our firm has been obliged to suspend
+  payment.  In a few days we will be able to present a statement
+  to our creditors.  Until which time we must ask their patient
+  consideration.  We believe our assets to be largely in excess
+  of our liabilities.
+                                       Jay Cooke & Co.
+
+A magnificent gleam of triumph sprang into Cowperwood's eye.  In
+company with many others he turned and ran back toward the exchange,
+while a reporter, who had come for information knocked at the
+massive doors of the banking house, and was told by a porter, who
+peered out of a diamond-shaped aperture, that Jay Cooke had gone
+home for the day and was not to be seen.
+
+"Now," thought Cowperwood, to whom this panic spelled opportunity,
+not ruin, "I'll get my innings.  I'll go short of this--of
+everything."
+
+Before, when the panic following the Chicago fire had occurred,
+he had been long--had been compelled to stay long of many things
+in order to protect himself.  To-day he had nothing to speak of--
+perhaps a paltry seventy-five thousand dollars which he had managed
+to scrape together.  Thank God! he had only the reputation of
+Wingate's old house to lose, if he lost, which was nothing.  With
+it as a trading agency behind him--with it as an excuse for his
+presence, his right to buy and sell--he had everything to gain.
+Where many men were thinking of ruin, he was thinking of success.
+He would have Wingate and his two brothers under him to execute
+his orders exactly.  He could pick up a fourth and a fifth man if
+necessary.  He would give them orders to sell--everything--ten,
+fifteen, twenty, thirty points off, if necessary, in order to trap
+the unwary, depress the market, frighten the fearsome who would
+think he was too daring; and then he would buy, buy, buy, below
+these figures as much as possible, in order to cover his sales and
+reap a profit.
+
+His instinct told him how widespread and enduring this panic would
+be.  The Northern Pacific was a hundred-million-dollar venture.
+It involved the savings of hundreds of thousands of people--small
+bankers, tradesmen, preachers, lawyers, doctors, widows, institutions
+all over the land, and all resting on the faith and security of
+Jay Cooke.  Once, not unlike the Chicago fire map, Cowperwood had
+seen a grand prospectus and map of the location of the Northern
+Pacific land-grant which Cooke had controlled, showing a vast
+stretch or belt of territory extending from Duluth--"The Zenith
+City of the Unsalted Seas," as Proctor Knott, speaking in the House
+of Representatives, had sarcastically called it--through the
+Rockies and the headwaters of the Missouri to the Pacific Ocean.
+He had seen how Cooke had ostensibly managed to get control of
+this government grant, containing millions upon millions of acres
+and extending fourteen hundred miles in length; but it was only
+a vision of empire.  There might be silver and gold and copper
+mines there.  The land was usable--would some day be usable.  But
+what of it now? It would do to fire the imaginations of fools
+with--nothing more.  It was inaccessible, and would remain so for
+years to come.  No doubt thousands had subscribed to build this
+road; but, too, thousands would now fail if it had failed.  Now
+the crash had come.  The grief and the rage of the public would
+be intense.  For days and days and weeks and months, normal
+confidence and courage would be gone.  This was his hour.  This
+was his great moment.  Like a wolf prowling under glittering,
+bitter stars in the night, he was looking down into the humble
+folds of simple men and seeing what their ignorance and their
+unsophistication would cost them.
+
+He hurried back to the exchange, the very same room in which only
+two years before he had fought his losing fight, and, finding
+that his partner and his brother had not yet come, began to sell
+everything in sight.  Pandemonium had broken loose.  Boys and men
+were fairly tearing in from all sections with orders from panic-struck
+brokers to sell, sell, sell, and later with orders to buy; the
+various trading-posts were reeling, swirling masses of brokers and
+their agents.  Outside in the street in front of Jay Cooke & Co.,
+Clark & Co., the Girard National Bank, and other institutions,
+immense crowds were beginning to form.  They were hurrying here
+to learn the trouble, to withdraw their deposits, to protect their
+interests generally.  A policeman arrested a boy for calling out
+the failure of Jay Cooke & Co., but nevertheless the news of the
+great disaster was spreading like wild-fire.
+
+Among these panic-struck men Cowperwood was perfectly calm, deadly
+cold, the same Cowperwood who had pegged solemnly at his ten chairs
+each day in prison, who had baited his traps for rats, and worked
+in the little garden allotted him in utter silence and loneliness.
+Now he was vigorous and energetic.  He had been just sufficiently
+about this exchange floor once more to have made his personality
+impressive and distinguished.  He forced his way into the center
+of swirling crowds of men already shouting themselves hoarse,
+offering whatever was being offered in quantities which were
+astonishing, and at prices which allured the few who were anxious
+to make money out of the tumbling prices to buy.  New York Central
+had been standing at 104 7/8 when the failure was announced; Rhode
+Island at 108 7/8; Western Union at 92 1/2; Wabash at 70 1/4;
+Panama at 117 3/8; Central Pacific at 99 5/8; St. Paul at 51;
+Hannibal & St. Joseph at 48; Northwestern at 63; Union Pacific at
+26 3/4; Ohio and Mississippi at 38 3/4.  Cowperwood's house had
+scarcely any of the stocks on hand.  They were not carrying them
+for any customers, and yet he sold, sold, sold, to whoever would
+take, at prices which he felt sure would inspire them.
+
+"Five thousand of New York Central at ninety-nine, ninety-eight,
+ninety-seven, ninety-six, ninety-five, ninety-four, ninety-three,
+ninety-two, ninety-one, ninety, eighty-nine," you might have heard
+him call; and when his sales were not sufficiently brisk he would
+turn to something else--Rock Island, Panama, Central Pacific,
+Western Union, Northwestern, Union Pacific.  He saw his brother
+and Wingate hurrying in, and stopped in his work long enough to
+instruct them.  "Sell everything you can," he cautioned them
+quietly, "at fifteen points off if you have to--no lower than that
+now--and buy all you can below it.  Ed, you see if you cannot buy
+up some local street-railways at fifteen off.  Joe, you stay near
+me and buy when I tell you."
+
+The secretary of the board appeared on his little platform.
+
+"E. W. Clark & Company," he announced, at one-thirty, "have just
+closed their doors."
+
+"Tighe & Company," he called at one-forty-five, "announce that
+they are compelled to suspend."
+
+"The First National Bank of Philadelphia," he called, at two o'clock,
+"begs to state that it cannot at present meet its obligations."
+
+After each announcement, always, as in the past, when the gong had
+compelled silence, the crowd broke into an ominous "Aw, aw, aw."
+
+"Tighe & Company," thought Cowperwood, for a single second, when
+he heard it.  "There's an end of him."  And then he returned to
+his task.
+
+When the time for closing came, his coat torn, his collar twisted
+loose, his necktie ripped, his hat lost, he emerged sane, quiet,
+steady-mannered.
+
+"Well, Ed," he inquired, meeting his brother, "how'd you make
+out?" The latter was equally torn, scratched, exhausted.
+
+"Christ," he replied, tugging at his sleeves, "I never saw such
+a place as this.  They almost tore my clothes off."
+
+"Buy any local street-railways?"
+
+"About five thousand shares."
+
+"We'd better go down to Green's," Frank observed, referring to
+the lobby of the principal hotel.  "We're not through yet.  There'll
+be more trading there."
+
+He led the way to find Wingate and his brother Joe, and together
+they were off, figuring up some of the larger phases of their
+purchases and sales as they went.
+
+And, as he predicted, the excitement did not end with the coming
+of the night.  The crowd lingered in front of Jay Cooke & Co.'s
+on Third Street and in front of other institutions, waiting
+apparently for some development which would be favorable to them.
+For the initiated the center of debate and agitation was Green's
+Hotel, where on the evening of the eighteenth the lobby and corridors
+were crowded with bankers, brokers, and speculators.  The stock
+exchange had practically adjourned to that hotel en masse.  What
+of the morrow? Who would be the next to fail? From whence would
+money be forthcoming? These were the topics from each mind and
+upon each tongue.  From New York was coming momentarily more news
+of disaster.  Over there banks and trust companies were falling
+like trees in a hurricane.  Cowperwood in his perambulations, seeing
+what he could see and hearing what he could hear, reaching
+understandings which were against the rules of the exchange, but
+which were nevertheless in accord with what every other person was
+doing, saw about him men known to him as agents of Mollenhauer and
+Simpson, and congratulated himself that he would have something
+to collect from them before the week was over.  He might not own
+a street-railway, but he would have the means to.  He learned from
+hearsay, and information which had been received from New York and
+elsewhere, that things were as bad as they could be, and that
+there was no hope for those who expected a speedy return of normal
+conditions.  No thought of retiring for the night entered until
+the last man was gone.  It was then practically morning.
+
+The next day was Friday, and suggested many ominous things.  Would
+it be another Black Friday? Cowperwood was at his office before
+the street was fairly awake.  He figured out his program for the
+day to a nicety, feeling strangely different from the way he had
+felt two years before when the conditions were not dissimilar.
+Yesterday, in spite of the sudden onslaught, he had made one
+hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and he expected to make as
+much, if not more, to-day.  There was no telling what he could
+make, he thought, if he could only keep his small organization in
+perfect trim and get his assistants to follow his orders exactly.
+Ruin for others began early with the suspension of Fisk & Hatch,
+Jay Cooke's faithful lieutenants during the Civil War.  They had
+calls upon them for one million five hundred thousand dollars in
+the first fifteen minutes after opening the doors, and at once
+closed them again, the failure being ascribed to Collis P. Huntington's
+Central Pacific Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio.  There was a
+long-continued run on the Fidelity Trust Company.  News of these
+facts, and of failures in New York posted on 'change, strengthened
+the cause Cowperwood was so much interested in; for he was selling
+as high as he could and buying as low as he could on a constantly
+sinking scale.  By twelve o'clock he figured with his assistants
+that he had cleared one hundred thousand dollars; and by three
+o'clock he had two hundred thousand dollars more.  That afternoon
+between three and seven he spent adjusting his trades, and between
+seven and one in the morning, without anything to eat, in gathering
+as much additional information as he could and laying his plans
+for the future.  Saturday morning came, and he repeated his
+performance of the day before, following it up with adjustments
+on Sunday and heavy trading on Monday.  By Monday afternoon at
+three o'clock he figured that, all losses and uncertainties to one
+side, he was once more a millionaire, and that now his future lay
+clear and straight before him.
+
+As he sat at his desk late that afternoon in his office looking
+out into Third Street, where a hurrying of brokers, messengers,
+and anxious depositors still maintained, he had the feeling that
+so far as Philadelphia and the life here was concerned, his day
+and its day with him was over.  He did not care anything about
+the brokerage business here any more or anywhere.  Failures such
+as this, and disasters such as the Chicago fire, that had overtaken
+him two years before, had cured him of all love of the stock
+exchange and all feeling for Philadelphia.  He had been very
+unhappy here in spite of all his previous happiness; and his
+experience as a convict had made, him, he could see quite plainly,
+unacceptable to the element with whom he had once hoped to associate.
+There was nothing else to do, now that he had reestablished
+himself as a Philadelphia business man and been pardoned for an
+offense which he hoped to make people believe he had never committed,
+but to leave Philadelphia to seek a new world.
+
+"If I get out of this safely," he said to himself, "this is the
+end.  I am going West, and going into some other line of business."
+He thought of street-railways, land speculation, some great
+manufacturing project of some kind, even mining, on a legitimate
+basis.
+
+"I have had my lesson," he said to himself, finally getting up and
+preparing to leave.  "I am as rich as I was, and only a little
+older.  They caught me once, but they will not catch me again."
+He talked to Wingate about following up the campaign on the lines
+in which he had started, and he himself intended to follow it up
+with great energy; but all the while his mind was running with
+this one rich thought: "I am a millionaire.  I am a free man.  I
+am only thirty-six, and my future is all before me."
+
+It was with this thought that he went to visit Aileen, and to plan
+for the future.
+
+It was only three months later that a train, speeding through the
+mountains of Pennsylvania and over the plains of Ohio and Indiana,
+bore to Chicago and the West the young financial aspirant who, in
+spite of youth and wealth and a notable vigor of body, was a solemn,
+conservative speculator as to what his future might be.  The West,
+as he had carefully calculated before leaving, held much.  He had
+studied the receipts of the New York Clearing House recently and
+the disposition of bank-balances and the shipment of gold, and had
+seen that vast quantities of the latter metal were going to Chicago.
+He understood finance accurately.  The meaning of gold shipments
+was clear.  Where money was going trade was--a thriving, developing
+life.  He wished to see clearly for himself what this world had
+to offer.
+
+Two years later, following the meteoric appearance of a young
+speculator in Duluth, and after Chicago had seen the tentative
+opening of a grain and commission company labeled Frank A. Cowperwood
+& Co., which ostensibly dealt in the great wheat crops of the West,
+a quiet divorce was granted Mrs. Frank A. Cowperwood in Philadelphia,
+because apparently she wished it.  Time had not seemingly dealt
+badly with her.  Her financial affairs, once so bad, were now
+apparently all straightened out, and she occupied in West Philadelphia,
+near one of her sisters, a new and interesting home which was fitted
+with all the comforts of an excellent middle-class residence.  She
+was now quite religious once more.  The two children, Frank and
+Lillian, were in private schools, returning evenings to their mother.
+"Wash" Sims was once more the negro general factotum.  Frequent
+visitors on Sundays were Mr. and Mrs. Henry Worthington Cowperwood,
+no longer distressed financially, but subdued and wearied, the wind
+completely gone from their once much-favored sails.  Cowperwood,
+senior, had sufficient money wherewith to sustain himself, and
+that without slaving as a petty clerk, but his social joy in life
+was gone.  He was old, disappointed, sad.  He could feel that with
+his quondam honor and financial glory, he was the same--and he was
+not.  His courage and his dreams were gone, and he awaited death.
+
+Here, too, came Anna Adelaide Cowperwood on occasion, a clerk in
+the city water office, who speculated much as to the strange
+vicissitudes of life.  She had great interest in her brother, who
+seemed destined by fate to play a conspicuous part in the world;
+but she could not understand him.  Seeing that all those who were
+near to him in any way seemed to rise or fall with his prosperity,
+she did not understand how justice and morals were arranged in
+this world.  There seemed to be certain general principles--or
+people assumed there were--but apparently there were exceptions.
+Assuredly her brother abided by no known rule, and yet he seemed
+to be doing fairly well once more.  What did this mean? Mrs.
+Cowperwood, his former wife, condemned his actions, and yet
+accepted of his prosperity as her due.  What were the ethics of
+that?
+
+Cowperwood's every action was known to Aileen Butler, his present
+whereabouts and prospects.  Not long after his wife's divorce,
+and after many trips to and from this new world in which he was
+now living, these two left Philadelphia together one afternoon in
+the winter.  Aileen explained to her mother, who was willing to
+go and live with Norah, that she had fallen in love with the former
+banker and wished to marry him.  The old lady, gathering only a
+garbled version of it at first, consented.
+
+Thus ended forever for Aileen this long-continued relationship
+with this older world.  Chicago was before her--a much more
+distinguished career, Frank told her, than ever they could have
+had in Philadelphia.
+
+"Isn't it nice to be finally going?" she commented.
+
+"It is advantageous, anyhow," he said.
+
+                  Concerning Mycteroperca Bonaci
+
+There is a certain fish, the scientific name of which is Mycteroperca
+Bonaci, its common name Black Grouper, which is of considerable
+value as an afterthought in this connection, and which deserves
+to be better known.  It is a healthy creature, growing quite
+regularly to a weight of two hundred and fifty pounds, and lives
+a comfortable, lengthy existence because of its very remarkable
+ability to adapt itself to conditions.  That very subtle thing
+which we call the creative power, and which we endow with the
+spirit of the beatitudes, is supposed to build this mortal life
+in such fashion that only honesty and virtue shall prevail.
+Witness, then, the significant manner in which it has fashioned
+the black grouper.  One might go far afield and gather less
+forceful indictments--the horrific spider spinning his trap for
+the unthinking fly; the lovely Drosera (Sundew) using its crimson
+calyx for a smothering-pit in which to seal and devour the victim
+of its beauty; the rainbow-colored jellyfish that spreads its
+prismed tentacles like streamers of great beauty, only to sting
+and torture all that falls within their radiant folds.  Man himself
+is busy digging the pit and fashioning the snare, but he will not
+believe it.  His feet are in the trap of circumstance; his eyes
+are on an illusion.
+
+Mycteroperca moving in its dark world of green waters is as fine
+an illustration of the constructive genius of nature, which is not
+beatific, as any which the mind of man may discover.  Its great
+superiority lies in an almost unbelievable power of simulation,
+which relates solely to the pigmentation of its skin.  In electrical
+mechanics we pride ourselves on our ability to make over one
+brilliant scene into another in the twinkling of an eye, and flash
+before the gaze of an onlooker picture after picture, which appear
+and disappear as we look.  The directive control of Mycteroperca
+over its appearance is much more significant.  You cannot look at
+it long without feeling that you are witnessing something spectral
+and unnatural, so brilliant is its power to deceive.  From being
+black it can become instantly white; from being an earth-colored
+brown it can fade into a delightful water-colored green.  Its
+markings change as the clouds of the sky.  One marvels at the
+variety and subtlety of its power.
+
+Lying at the bottom of a bay, it can simulate the mud by which it
+is surrounded.  Hidden in the folds of glorious leaves, it is of
+the same markings.  Lurking in a flaw of light, it is like the
+light itself shining dimly in water.  Its power to elude or strike
+unseen is of the greatest.
+
+What would you say was the intention of the overruling, intelligent,
+constructive force which gives to Mycteroperca this ability? To
+fit it to be truthful? To permit it to present an unvarying
+appearance which all honest life-seeking fish may know? Or would
+you say that subtlety, chicanery, trickery, were here at work? An
+implement of illusion one might readily suspect it to be, a living
+lie, a creature whose business it is to appear what it is not, to
+simulate that with which it has nothing in common, to get its
+living by great subtlety, the power of its enemies to forefend
+against which is little.  The indictment is fair.
+
+Would you say, in the face of this, that a beatific, beneficent
+creative, overruling power never wills that which is either tricky
+or deceptive? Or would you say that this material seeming in which
+we dwell is itself an illusion? If not, whence then the Ten
+Commandments and the illusion of justice? Why were the Beatitudes
+dreamed of and how do they avail?
+
+                        The Magic Crystal
+
+If you had been a mystic or a soothsayer or a member of that
+mysterious world which divines by incantations, dreams, the mystic
+bowl, or the crystal sphere, you might have looked into their
+mysterious depths at this time and foreseen a world of happenings
+which concerned these two, who were now apparently so fortunately
+placed.  In the fumes of the witches' pot, or the depths of the
+radiant crystal, might have been revealed cities, cities, cities;
+a world of mansions, carriages, jewels, beauty; a vast metropolis
+outraged by the power of one man; a great state seething with
+indignation over a force it could not control; vast halls of
+priceless pictures; a palace unrivaled for its magnificence; a
+whole world reading with wonder, at times, of a given name.  And
+sorrow, sorrow, sorrow.
+
+The three witches that hailed Macbeth upon the blasted heath might
+in turn have called to Cowperwood, "Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood,
+master of a great railway system! Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood,
+builder of a priceless mansion! Hail to you, Frank Cowperwood,
+patron of arts and possessor of endless riches! You shall be famed
+hereafter."  But like the Weird Sisters, they would have lied, for
+in the glory was also the ashes of Dead Sea fruit--an understanding
+that could neither be inflamed by desire nor satisfied by luxury;
+a heart that was long since wearied by experience; a soul that was
+as bereft of illusion as a windless moon.  And to Aileen, as to
+Macduff, they might have spoken a more pathetic promise, one that
+concerned hope and failure.  To have and not to have! All the
+seeming, and yet the sorrow of not having! Brilliant society that
+shone in a mirage, yet locked its doors; love that eluded as a
+will-o'-the-wisp and died in the dark.  "Hail to you, Frank
+Cowperwood, master and no master, prince of a world of dreams whose
+reality was disillusion!" So might the witches have called, the
+bowl have danced with figures, the fumes with vision, and it would
+have been true.  What wise man might not read from such a beginning,
+such an end?
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext:  The Financier, by Theodore Dreiser
+
diff --git a/old/tfncr10.zip b/old/tfncr10.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f81e66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/tfncr10.zip