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THE TITAN
white tennis-shoes, a pale-cream silk waist or blouse, which fi tted
her very loosely. Because of exercise her color was high — quite
pink — and her dusty, reddish hair was blowy. Though they turned
into the hedge gate and drove to the west entrance, which was at
one side of the house, there was no cessation of the game, not even
a glance from Berenice, so busy was she.
He was merely her mother’s friend to her. Cowperwood noted, with singular vividness of feeling, that the lines of her movements — the fl eeting, momentary positions she assumed — were
full of a wondrous natural charm. He wanted to say so to Mrs. Carter, but restrained himself.
«It’s a brisk game», he commented, with a pleased glance. «You
play, do you?»
«Oh, I did. I don’t much any more. Sometimes I try a set with
Rolfe or Bevy; but they both beat me so badly».
«Bevy? Who is Bevy?»
«Oh, that’s short of Berenice. It’s what Rolfe called her when he
was a baby».
«Bevy! I think that rather nice».
«I always like it, too. Somehow it seems to suit her, and yet I don’t
know why».
Before dinner Berenice made her appearance, freshened by a bath
and clad in a light summer dress that appeared to Cowperwood to
be all fl ounces, and the more graceful in its lines for the problematic
absence of a corset. Her face and hands, however — a face thin, long,
and sweetly hollow, and hands that were slim and sinewy — gripped
and held his fancy. He was reminded in the least degree of Stephanie; but this girl’s chin was fi rmer and more delicately, though more
aggressively, rounded. Her eyes, too, were shrewder and less evasive,
though subtle enough.
«So I meet you again», he observed, with a somewhat aloof air,
as she came out on the porch and sank listlessly into a wicker chair.
«The last time I met you you were hard at work in New York».
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THEODORE DREISER
«Breaking the rules. No, I forget; that was my easiest work. Oh,
Rolfe», she called over her shoulder, indifferently, «I see your pocket-knife out on the grass».
Cowperwood, properly suppressed, waited a brief space. «Who
won that exciting game?»
«I did, of course. I always win at tether-ball».
«Oh, do you?» commented Cowperwood.
«I mean with brother, of course. He plays so poorly». She turned
to the west — the house faced south — and studied the road which
came up from Stroudsburg. «I do believe that’s Harry Kemp», she
added, quite to herself. «If so, he’ll have my mail, if there is any».
She got up again and disappeared into the house, coming out
a few moments later to saunter down to the gate, which was over
a hundred feet away. To Cowperwood she seemed to fl oat, so hale
and graceful was she. A smart youth in blue serge coat, white trousers, and white shoes drove by in a high-seated trap.
«Two letters for you», he called, in a high, almost falsetto voice.
«I thought you would have eight or nine. Blessed hot, isn’t it?»
He had a smart though somewhat effeminate manner, and Cowperwood at once wrote him down as an ass. Berenice took the mail
with an engaging smile. She sauntered past him reading, without so
much as a glance. Presently he heard her voice within.
«Mother, the Haggertys have invited me for the last week in August. I have half a mind to cut Tuxedo and go. I like Bess Haggerty».
«Well, you’ll have to decide that, dearest. Are they going to be at
Tarrytown or Loon Lake?»
«Loon Lake, of course», came Berenice’s voice.
What a world of social doings she was involved in, thought Cowperwood. She had begun well. The Haggertys were rich coal-mine
operators in Pennsylvania. Harris Haggerty, to whose family she was
probably referring, was worth at least six or eight million. The social
world they moved in was high.
They drove after dinner to The Saddler, at Saddler’s Run, where
a dance and «moonlight promenade» was to be given. On the way
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THE TITAN
over, owing to the remoteness of Berenice, Cowperwood for the fi rst
time in his life felt himself to be getting old. In spite of the vigor of
his mind and body, he realized constantly that he was over fi ftytwo, while she was only seventeen. Why should this lure of youth
continue to possess him? She wore a white concoction of lace and
silk which showed a pair of smooth young shoulders and a slender,
queenly, inimitably modeled neck. He could tell by the sleek lines of
her arms how strong she was.
«It is perhaps too late», he said to himself, in comment. «I am
getting old».
The freshness of the hills in the pale night was sad.
Saddler’s, when they reached there after ten, was crowded with
the youth and beauty of the vicinity. Mrs. Carter, who was prepossessing in a ball costume of silver and old rose, expected that Cowperwood would dance with her. And he did, but all the time his
eyes were on Berenice, who was caught up by one youth and another of dapper mien during the progress of the evening and carried
rhythmically by in the mazes of the waltz or schottische. There was
a new dance in vogue that involved a gay, running step — kicking fi rst one foot and then the other forward, turning and running
backward and kicking again, and then swinging with a smart air,
back to back, with one’s partner. Berenice, in her lithe, rhythmic
way, seemed to him the soul of spirited and gracious ease — unconscious of everybody and everything save the spirit of the dance itself
as a medium of sweet emotion, of some far-off, dreamlike spirit of
gaiety. He wondered. He was deeply impressed.
«Berenice», observed Mrs. Carter, when in an intermission
she came forward to where Cowperwood and she were sitting in
the moonlight discussing New York and Kentucky social life,
«haven’t you saved one dance for Mr. Cowperwood?»
Cowperwood, with a momentary feeling of resentment, protested that he did not care to dance any more. Mrs. Carter, he observed
to himself, was a fool.
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THEODORE DREISER
«I believe», said her daughter, with a languid air, «that I am full
up. I could break one engagement, though, somewhere».
«Not for me, though, please», pleaded Cowperwood. «I don’t
care to dance any more, thank you».
He almost hated her at the moment for a chilly cat. And yet he
did not.
«Why, Bevy, how you talk! I think you are acting very badly
this evening».
«Please, please», pleaded Cowperwood, quite sharply. «Not any
more. I don’t care to dance any more».
Bevy looked at him oddly for a moment — a single thoughtful
glance.
«But I have a dance, though», she pleaded, softly. «I was just teasing. Won’t you dance it with me?»
«I can’t refuse, of course», replied Cowperwood, coldly.
«It’s the next one», she replied.
They danced, but he scarcely softened to her at fi rst, so angry
was he. Somehow, because of all that had gone before, he felt stiff
and ungainly. She had managed to break in upon his natural savoir
faire — this chit of a girl. But as they went on through a second half
the spirit of her dancing soul caught him, and he felt more at ease,
quite rhythmic. She drew close and swept him into a strange unison
with herself.
«You dance beautifully», he said.
«I love it», she replied. She was already of an agreeable height
for him.
It was soon over. «I wish you would take me where the ices are»,
she said to Cowperwood.
He led her, half amused, half disturbed at her attitude
toward him.
«You are having a pleasant time teasing me, aren’t you?» he
asked.
«I am only tired», she replied. «The evening bores me. Really it
does. I wish we were all home».
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THE TITAN
«We can go when you say, no doubt».
As they reached the ices, and she took one from his hand, she
surveyed him with those cool, dull blue eyes of hers — eyes that had
the fl at quality of unglazed Dutch tiles.
«I wish you would forgive me», she said. «I was rude. I couldn’t
help it. I am all out of sorts with myself».
«I hadn’t felt you were rude», he observed, lying grandly, his
mood toward her changing entirely.
«Oh yes I was, and I hope you will forgive me. I sincerely wish
you would».
«I do with all my heart — the little that there is to forgive».
He waited to take her back, and yielded her to a youth who was
waiting. He watched her trip away in a dance, and eventually led her
mother to the trap. Berenice was not with them on the home drive;
some one else was bringing her. Cowperwood wondered when she
would come, and where was her room, and whether she was really
sorry, and — As he fell asleep Berenice Fleming and her slate-blue
eyes were fi lling his mind completely.
CHAPTER XLIII
THE PLANET MARS
The banking hostility to Cowperwood, which in its beginning
had made necessary his trip to Kentucky and elsewhere, fi nally
reached a climax. It followed an attempt on his part to furnish funds
for the building of elevated roads. The hour for this new form of
transit convenience had struck. The public demanded it. Cowperwood saw one elevated road, the South Side Alley Line, being built,
and another, the West Side Metropolitan Line, being proposed,
largely, as he knew, in order to create sentiment for the idea, and so
to make his opposition to a general franchise diffi cult. He was well
aware that if he did not choose to build them others would. It mattered little that electricity had arrived fi nally as a perfected traction
factor, and that all his lines would soon have to be done over to
meet that condition, or that it was costing him thousands and thousands to stay the threatening aspect of things politically. In addition he must now plunge into this new realm, gaining franchises by
the roughest and subtlest forms of political bribery. The most serious aspect of this was not political, but rather fi nancial. Elevated
roads in Chicago, owing to the sparseness of the population over
large areas, were a serious thing to contemplate. The mere cost of
iron, right of way, rolling-stock, and power-plants was immense. Being chronically opposed to investing his private funds where stocks
could just as well be unloaded on the public, and the management
and control retained by him, Cowperwood, for the time being, was
puzzled as to where he should get credit for the millions to be laid
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THE TITAN
down in structural steel, engineering fees, labor, and equipment before ever a dollar could be taken out in passenger fares. Owing to
the advent of the World’s Fair, the South Side ‘L’ — to which, in order to have peace and quiet, he had fi nally conceded a franchise —
was doing reasonably well. Yet it was not making any such return on
the investment as the New York roads. The new lines which he was
preparing would traverse even less populous sections of the city, and
would in all likelihood yield even a smaller return. Money had to be
forthcoming — something between twelve and fi fteen million dollars — and this on the stocks and bonds of a purely paper corporation which might not yield paying dividends for years to come. Addison, fi nding that the Chicago Trust Company was already heavily
loaded, called upon various minor but prosperous local banks to
take over the new securities (each in part, of course). He was astonished and chagrined to fi nd that one and all uniformly refused.
«I’ll tell you how it is, Judah», one bank president confi ded to
him, in great secrecy. «We owe Timothy Arneel at least three hundred thousand dollars that we only have to pay three per cent. for. It’s
a call-loan. Besides, the Lake National is our main standby when it
comes to quick trades, and he’s in on that. I understand from one or
two friends that he’s at outs with Cowperwood, and we can’t afford to
offend him. I’d like to, but no more for me — not at present, anyhow».
«Why, Simmons», replied Addison, «these fellows are simply
cutting off their noses to spite their faces. These stock and bond issues are perfectly good investments, and no one knows it better than
you do. All this hue and cry in the newspapers against Cowperwood
doesn’t amount to anything. He’s perfectly solvent. Chicago is growing. His lines are becoming more valuable every year».
«I know that», replied Simmons. «But what about this talk of
a rival elevated system? Won’t that injure his lines for the time being, anyhow, if it comes into the fi eld?»
«If I know anything about Cowperwood», replied Addison, simply, «there isn’t going to be any rival elevated road. It’s true they got
the city council to give them a franchise for one line on the South
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THEODORE DREISER
Side; but that’s out of his territory, anyhow, and that other one to
the Chicago General Company doesn’t amount to anything. It will
be years and years before it can be made to pay a dollar, and when
the time comes he will probably take it over if he wants it. Another
election will be held in two years, and then the city administration
may not be so unfavorable. As it is, they haven’t been able to hurt
him through the council as much as they thought they would».
«Yes; but he lost the election».
«True; but it doesn’t follow he’s going to lose the next one, or
every one».
«Just the same», replied Simmons, very secretively, «I understand there’s a concerted effort on to drive him out. Schryhart,
Hand, Merrill, Arneel — they’re the most powerful men we have.
I understand Hand says that he’ll never get his franchises renewed
except on terms that’ll make his lines unprofi table. There’s going
to be an awful smash here one of these days if that’s true». Mr. Simmons looked very wise and solemn.
«Never believe it», replied Addison, contemptuously. «Hand
isn’t Chicago, neither is Schryhart, nor Arneel. Cowperwood is
a brainy man. He isn’t going to be put under so easily. Did you ever
hear what was the real bottom cause of all this disturbance?»
«Yes, I’ve heard», replied Simmons.
«Do you believe it?»
«Oh, I don’t know. Yes, I suppose I do. Still, I don’t know that
that need have anything to do with it. Money envy is enough to
make any man fi ght. This man Hand is very powerful».
Not long after this Cowperwood, strolling into the president’s
offi ce of the Chicago Trust Company, inquired: «Well, Judah, how
about those Northwestern ‘L’ bonds?»
«It’s just as I thought, Frank», replied Addison, softly. «We’ll
have to go outside of Chicago for that money. Hand, Arneel, and
the rest of that crowd have decided to combine against us. That’s
plain. Something has started them off in full cry. I suppose my resignation may have had something to do with it. Anyhow, every one of
378
THE TITAN
the banks in which they have any hand has uniformly refused to
come in. To make sure that I was right I even called up the little old
Third National of Lake View and the Drovers and Traders on Fortyseventh Street. That’s Charlie Wallin’s bank. When I was over in
the Lake National he used to hang around the back door asking for
anything I could give him that was sound. Now he says his orders
are from his directors not to share in anything we have to offer. It’s
the same story everywhere — they daren’t. I asked Wallin if he knew
why the directors were down on the Chicago Trust or on you, and at
fi rst he said he didn’t. Then he said he’d stop in and lunch with me
some day. They’re the silliest lot of old ostriches I ever heard of. As if
refusing to let us have money on any loan here was going to prevent
us from getting it! They can take their little old one-horse banks and
play blockhouses with them if they want to. I can go to New York
and in thirty-six hours raise twenty million dollars if we need it».
Addison was a little warm. It was a new experience for him. Cowperwood merely curled his mustaches and smiled sardonically.
«Well, never mind», he said. «Will you go down to New York,
or shall I?»
It was decided, after some talk, that Addison should go. When he
reached New York he found, to his surprise, that the local opposition to Cowperwood had, for some mysterious reason, begun to take
root in the East.
«I’ll tell you how it is», observed Joseph Haeckelheimer, to whom
Addison applied — a short, smug, pussy person who was the head of
Haeckelheimer, Gotloeb & Co., international bankers. «We hear
odd things concerning Mr. Cowperwood out in Chicago. Some people say he is sound — some not. He has some very good franchises
covering a large portion of the city, but they are only twenty-year
franchises, and they will all run out by 1903 at the latest. As I understand it, he has managed to stir up all the local elements — some
very powerful ones, too — and he is certain to have a hard time to
get his franchises renewed. I don’t live in Chicago, of course. I don’t
know much about it, but our Western correspondent tells me this is
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THEODORE DREISER
so. Mr. Cowperwood is a very able man, as I understand it, but if all
these infl uential men are opposed to him they can make him a great
deal of trouble. The public is very easily aroused».
«You do a very able man a great injustice, Mr. Haeckelheimer»,
Addison retorted. «Almost any one who starts out to do things
successfully and intelligently is sure to stir up a great deal of feeling. The particular men you mention seem to feel that they have
a sort of proprietor’s interest in Chicago. They really think they own
it. As a matter of fact, the city made them; they didn’t make the city».
Mr. Haeckelheimer lifted his eyebrows. He laid two fi ne white
hands, plump and stubby, over the lower buttons of his protuberant
waistcoat. «Public favor is a great factor in all these enterprises», he
almost sighed. «As you know, part of a man’s resources lies in his
ability to avoid stirring up opposition. It may be that Mr. Cowperwood is strong enough to overcome all that. I don’t know. I’ve never
met him. I’m just telling you what I hear».
This offi sh attitude on the part of Mr. Haeckelheimer was indicative of a new trend. The man was enormously wealthy. The fi rm of
Haeckelheimer, Gotloeb & Co. represented a controlling interest in
some of the principal railways and banks in America. Their favor
was not to be held in light esteem.
It was plain that these rumors against Cowperwood in New
York, unless offset promptly by favorable events in Chicago, might
mean — in the large banking quarters, anyhow — the refusal of all
subsequent Cowperwood issues. It might even close the doors of minor banks and make private investors nervous.
Addison’s report of all this annoyed Cowperwood no little.
It made him angry. He saw in it the work of Schryhart, Hand, and
others who were trying their best to discredit him. «Let them talk»,
he declared, crossly. «I have the street-railways. They’re not going to
rout me out of here. I can sell stocks and bonds to the public direct if
need be! There are plenty of private people who are glad to invest in
these properties».
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