Добавил:
ivanov666
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз:
Предмет:
Файл:The Titan
.pdf
THE TITAN
He merely gazed at her with his hard, burning eyes. The materiality that accompanies romance in so many temperaments awakened in her, and quite put Cowperwood out of her mind for the moment. It was an astonishing and revolutionary experience for her.
She quite burned in reply, and Lynde smiled sweetly, encouragingly.
«Why won’t you be friends with me, my sweetheart? I know
you’re not happy — I can see that. Neither am I. I have a wreckless,
wretched disposition that gets me into all sorts of hell. I need some
one to care for me. Why won’t you? You’re just my sort. I feel it. Do
you love him so much» — he was referring to Cowperwood —»that
you can’t love any one else?»
«Oh, him!» retorted Aileen, irritably, almost disloyally.
«He doesn’t care for me any more. He wouldn’t mind. It isn’t him».
«Well, then, what is it? Why won’t you? Am I not interesting
enough? Don’t you like me? Don’t you feel that I’m really suited to
you?» His hand sought hers softly.
Aileen accepted the caress.
«Oh, it isn’t that», she replied, feelingly, running back in her
mind over her long career with Cowperwood, his former love, his
keen protestations. She had expected to make so much out of her
life with him, and here she was sitting in a public restaurant fl irting
with and extracting sympathy from a comparative stranger. It cut
her to the quick for the moment and sealed her lips. Hot, unbidden
tears welled to her eyes.
Lynde saw them. He was really very sorry for her, though her
beauty made him wish to take advantage of her distress. «Why should
you cry, dearest?» he asked, softly, looking at her fl ushed cheeks and
colorful eyes. «You have beauty; you are young; you’re lovely. He’s
not the only man in the world. Why should you be faithful when
he isn’t faithful to you? This Hand affair is all over town. When you
meet some one that really would care for you, why shouldn’t you?
If he doesn’t want you, there are others».
At the mention of the Hand affair Aileen straightened up.
«The Hand affair?» she asked, curiously. «What is that?»
291
THEODORE DREISER
«Don’t you know?» he replied, a little surprised. «I thought you
did, or I certainly wouldn’t have mentioned it».
«Oh, I know about what it is», replied Aileen, wisely, and with
a touch of sardonic humor. «There have been so many of the same
kind. I suppose it must be the case the Chicago Review was referring
to — the wife of the prominent fi nancier. Has he been trifl ing with
Mrs. Hand?»
«Something like that», replied Lynde. «I’m sorry that I spoke,
though, really I am. I didn’t mean to be carrying tales».
«Soldiers in a common fi ght, eh?» taunted Aileen, gaily.
«Oh, not that, exactly. Please don’t be mean. I’m not so bad. It’s
just a principle with me. We all have our little foibles».
«Yes, I know», replied Aileen; but her mind was running on Mrs.
Hand. So she was the latest. «Well, I admire his taste, anyway, in this
case», she said, archly. «There have been so many, though. She is just
one more».
Lynde smiled. He himself admired Cowperwood’s taste. Then he
dropped the subject.
«But let’s forget that», he said. «Please don’t worry about him any
more. You can’t change that. Pull yourself together». He squeezed
her fi ngers. «Will you?» he asked, lifting his eyebrows in inquiry.
«Will I what?» replied Aileen, meditatively.
«Oh, you know. The necklace for one thing. Me, too». His eyes
coaxed and laughed and pleaded.
Aileen smiled. «You’re a bad boy», she said, evasively. This revelation in regard to Mrs. Hand had made her singularly retaliatory in spirit. «Let me think. Don’t ask me to take the necklace to-day.
I couldn’t. I couldn’t wear it, anyhow. Let me see you another time».
She moved her plump hand in an uncertain way, and he smoothed
her wrist.
«I wonder if you wouldn’t like to go around to the studio of
a friend of mine here in the tower?» he asked, quite nonchalantly.
«He has such a charming collection of landscapes. You’re interested in pictures, I know. Your husband has some of the fi nest».
292
THE TITAN
Instantly Aileen understood what was meant — quite by instinct. The alleged studio must be private bachelor quarters.
«Not this afternoon», she replied, quite wrought up and disturbed. «Not to-day. Another time. And I must be going now. But
I will see you».
«And this?» he asked, picking up the necklace.
«You keep it until I do come», she replied. «I may take it then».
She relaxed a little, pleased that she was getting safely away; but
her mood was anything but antagonistic, and her spirits were as
shredded as wind-whipped clouds. It was time she wanted — a little
time — that was all.
CHAPTER XXXIV
ENTER HOSMER HAND
It is needless to say that the solemn rage of Hand, to say nothing of the pathetic anger of Haguenin, coupled with the wrath of
Redmond Purdy, who related to all his sad story, and of young MacDonald and his associates of the Chicago General Company, constituted an atmosphere highly charged with possibilities and potent
for dramatic results. The most serious element in this at present was
Hosmer Hand, who, being exceedingly wealthy and a director in
a number of the principal mercantile and fi nancial institutions of
the city, was in a position to do Cowperwood some real fi nancial
harm. Hand had been extremely fond of his young wife. Being
a man of but few experiences with women, it astonished and enraged him that a man like Cowperwood should dare to venture on
his preserves in this reckless way, should take his dignity so lightly.
He burned now with a hot, slow fi re of revenge.
Those who know anything concerning the fi nancial world and
its great adventures know how precious is that reputation for probity, solidarity, and conservatism on which so many of the successful
enterprises of the world are based. If men are not absolutely honest
themselves they at least wish for and have faith in the honesty of
others. No set of men know more about each other, garner more
carefully all the straws of rumor which may affect the fi nancial and
social well being of an individual one way or another, keep a tighter
mouth concerning their own affairs and a sharper eye on that of
their neighbors. Cowperwood’s credit had hitherto been good be-
294
THE TITAN
cause it was known that he had a »soft thing» in the Chicago streetrailway fi eld, that he paid his interest charges promptly, that he
had organized the group of men who now, under him, controlled
the Chicago Trust Company and the North and West Chicago Street
Railways, and that the Lake City Bank, of which Addison was still
president, considered his collateral sound. Nevertheless, even previous to this time there had been a protesting element in the shape of
Schryhart, Simms, and others of considerable import in the Douglas
Trust, who had lost no chance to say to one and all that Cowperwood was an interloper, and that his course was marked by political and social trickery and chicanery, if not by fi nancial dishonesty. As a matter of fact, Schryhart, who had once been a director of
the Lake City National along with Hand, Arneel, and others, had
resigned and withdrawn all his deposits sometime before because he
found, as he declared, that Addison was favoring Cowperwood and
the Chicago Trust Company with loans, when there was no need of
so doing — when it was not essentially advantageous for the bank
so to do. Both Arneel and Hand, having at this time no personal
quarrel with Cowperwood on any score, had considered this protest
as biased. Addison had maintained that the loans were neither unduly large nor out of proportion to the general loans of the bank.
The collateral offered was excellent. «I don’t want to quarrel with
Schryhart», Addison had protested at the time; «but I am afraid
his charge is unfair. He is trying to vent a private grudge through
the Lake National. That is not the way nor this the place to do it».
Both Hand and Arneel, sober men both, agreed with this —
admiring Addison — and so the case stood. Schryhart, however,
frequently intimated to them both that Cowperwood was merely
building up the Chicago Trust Company at the expense of the Lake
City National, in order to make the former strong enough to do
without any aid, at which time Addison would resign and the Lake
City would be allowed to shift for itself. Hand had never acted on
this suggestion but he had thought.
295
THEODORE DREISER
It was not until the incidents relating to Cowperwood and Mrs.
Hand had come to light that things fi nancial and otherwise began
to darken up. Hand, being greatly hurt in his pride, contemplated
only severe reprisal. Meeting Schryhart at a directors’ meeting one
day not long after his diffi culty had come upon him, he remarked:
«I thought a few years ago, Norman, when you talked to me
about this man Cowperwood that you were merely jealous — a dissatisfi ed business rival. Recently a few things have come to my notice which cause me to think differently. It is very plain to me now
that the man is thoroughly bad — from the crown of his head to
the soles of his feet. It’s a pity the city has to endure him».
«So you’re just beginning to fi nd that out, are you, Hosmer?»
answered Schryhart. «Well, I’ll not say I told you so. Perhaps you’ll
agree with me now that the responsible people of Chicago ought to
do something about it».
Hand, a very heavy, taciturn man, merely looked at him. «I’ll be
ready enough to do», he said, «when I see how and what’s to be done».
A little later Schryhart, meeting Duane Kingsland, learned
the true source of Hand’s feeling against Cowperwood, and was not
slow in transferring this titbit to Merrill, Simms, and others. Merrill,
who, though Cowperwood had refused to extend his La Salle Street
tunnel loop about State Street and his store, had hitherto always
liked him after a fashion — remotely admired his courage and daring — was now appropriately shocked.
«Why, Anson», observed Schryhart, «the man is no good. He has
the heart of a hyena and the friendliness of a scorpion. You heard
how he treated Hand, didn’t you?»
«No», replied Merrill, «I didn’t».
«Well, it’s this way, so I hear». And Schryhart leaned over and
confi dentially communicated considerable information into Mr.
Merrill’s left ear.
The latter raised his eyebrows. «Indeed!» he said.
«And the way he came to meet her», added Schryhart, contemptuously, «was this. He went to Hand originally to borrow two hun-
296
THE TITAN
dred and fi fty thousand dollars on West Chicago Street Railway.
Angry? The word is no name for it».
«You don’t say so», commented Merrill, dryly, though privately
interested and fascinated, for Mrs. Hand had always seemed very attractive to him. «I don’t wonder».
He recalled that his own wife had recently insisted on inviting
Cowperwood once.
Similarly Hand, meeting Arneel not so long afterward, confi ded
to him that Cowperwood was trying to repudiate a sacred agreement.
Arneel was grieved and surprised. It was enough for him to know
that Hand had been seriously injured. Between the two of them they
now decided to indicate to Addison, as president of the Lake City
Bank, that all relations with Cowperwood and the Chicago Trust
Company must cease. The result of this was, not long after, that
Addison, very suave and gracious, agreed to give Cowperwood due
warning that all his loans would have to be taken care of and then
resigned — to become, seven months later, president of the Chicago
Trust Company. This desertion created a great stir at the time, astonishing the very men who had suspected that it might come to pass.
The papers were full of it.
«Well, let him go», observed Arneel to Hand, sourly, on the day
that Addison notifi ed the board of directors of the Lake City of his
contemplated resignation. «If he wants to sever his connection with
a bank like this to go with a man like that, it’s his own lookout.
He may live to regret it».
It so happened that by now another election was pending Chicago, and Hand, along with Schryhart and Arneel — who joined
their forces because of his friendship for Hand — decided to try to
fi ght Cowperwood through this means.
Hosmer Hand, feeling that he had the burden of a great duty
upon him, was not slow in acting. He was always, when aroused,
a determined and able fi ghter. Needing an able lieutenant in
the impending political confl ict, he fi nally bethought himself of
a man who had recently come to fi gure somewhat conspicuously in
297
THEODORE DREISER
Chicago politics — one Patrick Gilgan, the same Patrick Gilgan of
Cowperwood’s old Hyde Park gas-war days. Mr. Gilgan was now
a comparatively well-to-do man. Owing to a genial capacity for mixing with people, a close mouth, and absolutely no understanding of,
and consequently no conscience in matters of large public import
(in so far as they related to the so-called rights of the mass), he was
a fi t individual to succeed politically. His saloon was the fi nest in all
Wentworth Avenue. It fairly glittered with the newly introduced incandescent lamp refl ected in a perfect world of beveled and faceted
mirrors. His ward, or district, was full of low, rain-beaten cottages
crowded together along half-made streets; but Patrick Gilgan was
now a state senator, slated for Congress at the next Congressional
election, and a possible successor of the Hon. John J. McKenty as dictator of the city, if only the Republican party should come into power. (Hyde Park, before it had been annexed to the city, had always
been Republican, and since then, although the larger city was normally Democratic, Gilgan could not conveniently change.) Hearing
from the political discussion which preceded the election that Gilgan was by far the most powerful politician on the South Side, Hand
sent for him. Personally, Hand had far less sympathy with the polite
moralistic efforts of men like Haguenin, Hyssop, and others, who
were content to preach morality and strive to win by the efforts of
the unco good, than he had with the cold political logic of a man like
Cowperwood himself. If Cowperwood could work through McKenty
to such a powerful end, he, Hand, could fi nd some one else who
could be made as powerful as McKenty.
«Mr. Gilgan», said Hand, when the Irishman came in, medium
tall, beefy, with shrewd, twinkling gray eyes and hairy hands, «you
don’t know me —»
«I know of you well enough», smiled the Irishman, with a soft
brogue. «You don’t need an introduction to talk to me».
«Very good», replied Hand, extending his hand. «I know of you,
too. Then we can talk. It’s the political situation here in Chicago I’d
like to discuss with you. I’m not a politician myself, but I take some
298
THE TITAN
interest in what’s going on. I want to know what you think will be
the probable outcome of the present situation here in the city».
Gilgan, having no reason for laying his private political convictions bare to any one whose motive he did not know, merely replied:
«Oh, I think the Republicans may have a pretty good show. They
have all but one or two of the papers with them, I see. I don’t know
much outside of what I read and hear people talk».
Mr. Hand knew that Gilgan was sparring, and was glad to fi nd
his man canny and calculating.
«I haven’t asked you to come here just to be talking over politics in general, as you may imagine, Mr. Gilgan. I want to put a particular problem before you. Do you happen to know either Mr. McKenty or Mr. Cowperwood?»
«I never met either of them to talk to», replied Gilgan. «I know
Mr. McKenty by sight, and I’ve seen Mr. Cowperwood once». He said
no more.
«Well», said Mr. Hand, «suppose a group of infl uential men
here in Chicago were to get together and guarantee suffi cient funds
for a city-wide campaign; now, if you had the complete support of
the newspapers and the Republican organization in the bargain,
could you organize the opposition here so that the Democratic
party could be beaten this fall? I’m not talking about the mayor
merely and the principal city offi cers, but the council, too — the
aldermen. I want to fi x things so that the McKenty-Cowperwood
crowd couldn’t get an alderman or a city offi cial to sell out, once
they are elected. I want the Democratic party beaten so thoroughly
that there won’t be any question in anybody’s mind as to the fact
that it has been done. There will be plenty of money forthcoming if
you can prove to me, or, rather, to the group of men I am thinking
of, that the thing can be done».
Mr. Gilgan blinked his eyes solemnly. He rubbed his knees, put
his thumbs in the armholes of his vest, took out a cigar, lit it, and
gazed poetically at the ceiling. He was thinking very, very hard. Mr.
Cowperwood and Mr. McKenty, as he knew, were very powerful
299
THEODORE DREISER
men. He had always managed to down the McKenty opposition in
his ward, and several others adjacent to it, and in the Eighteenth
Senatorial District, which he represented. But to be called upon to
defeat him in Chicago, that was different. Still, the thought of a large
amount of cash to be distributed through him, and the chance of
wresting the city leadership from McKenty by the aid of the socalled moral forces of the city, was very inspiring. Mr. Gilgan was
a good politician. He loved to scheme and plot and make deals — as
much for the fun of it as anything else. Just now he drew a solemn
face, which, however, concealed a very light heart.
«I have heard», went on Hand, «that you have built up a strong
organization in your ward and district».
«I’ve managed to hold me own», suggested Gilgan, archly. «But
this winning all over Chicago», he went on, after a moment, «now,
that’s a pretty large order. There are thirty-one wards in Chicago
this election, and all but eight of them are nominally Democratic.
I know most of the men that are in them now, and some of them are
pretty shrewd men, too. This man Dowling in council is nobody’s
fool, let me tell you that. Then there’s Duvanicki and Ungerich
and Tiernan and Kerrigan — all good men». He mentioned four of
the most powerful and crooked aldermen in the city. «You see, Mr.
Hand, the way things are now the Democrats have the offi ces, and
the small jobs to give out. That gives them plenty of political workers to begin with. Then they have the privilege of collecting money
from those in offi ce to help elect themselves. That’s another great
privilege». He smiled. «Then this man Cowperwood employs all of
ten thousand men at present, and any ward boss that’s favorable to
him can send a man out of work to him and he’ll fi nd a place for him.
That’s a gre-a-eat help in building up a party following. Then there’s
the money a man like Cowperwood and others can contribute at
election time. Say what you will, Mr. Hand, but it’s the two, and fi ve,
and ten dollar bills paid out at the last moment over the saloon bars
and at the polling-places that do the work. Give me enough money» — and at this noble thought Mr. Gilgan straightened up and
300
Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]