Добавил:
ivanov666
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз:
Предмет:
Файл:The Financier
.pdf
THE FINANCIER
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 fi ght.
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 fl ow 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
271
THEODORE DREISER
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 fi ve-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 offi ce, 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 certifi cates, 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, defi ant, 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 fi fteen days or twenty, I am
satisfi ed 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 signifi cant factor in this situation. I want to know if
you won’t give me fi fteen 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 offi ce, 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.
272
THE FINANCIER
«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 fi nd
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 fi nally 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 fi nd some way out».
273
THEODORE DREISER
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 fl oor 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 fi re was to blame. There was no mention as yet of the city treasurership. Frank was caught in a trap, and was fi ghting for his life.
In this crisis, for the moment, she forgot about the note as to
his infi delity, 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
Th e 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 fi fty
thousand dollars; and his assets, under the depressed condition of
stock values, barely totaled seven hundred and fi fty thousand dollars. There had been considerable work done on the matter of his
balance-sheet before it was fi nally 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 fi ve 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 fi nancial 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 dissatisfi ed holders of smaller shares in his company brought suit and compelled
readjustment or bankruptcy later, the intention shown to prefer
some of his most infl uential aids was important. They would like
275
THEODORE DREISER
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 fi nancial chaos where smiles were few, as they were fi guring 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 fi rst 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 fi ve 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 certifi cates 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 fi ve 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 fi ve 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
276
THE FINANCIER
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 certifi cates 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 offi ng. 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
277
THEODORE DREISER
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 fi nd 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 offi ce 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 fi nal 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
278
THE FINANCIER
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, fi ve or
so, pending the motion for a new trial and the obtaining of a certifi cate 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 terrifi c slap, all
things considered. Five days in jail pending the obtaining of a certifi cate 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 fi nal confe rence between Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson was speedily reached, for this situation was hourly
growing more serious. Rumors were fl oating about in Third Street
that in addition to having failed for so large an amount as to have
further unsettled the already panicky fi nancial situation induced by
the Chicago fi re, Cowperwood and Stener, or Stener working with
Cowperwood, or the other way round, had involved the city treasury to the extent of fi ve 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.
280
Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]