登陆注册
5260400000026

第26章 Chapter X(2)

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.

同类推荐
  • 万松老人评唱天童觉和尚颂古从容庵录

    万松老人评唱天童觉和尚颂古从容庵录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Manon Lescaut

    Manon Lescaut

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Eugene Pickering

    Eugene Pickering

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Under Western Eyes

    Under Western Eyes

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 圣多罗菩萨梵赞

    圣多罗菩萨梵赞

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 废世救赎

    废世救赎

    另类世界,蛊惑人生。由一个故事衍生开去。
  • 骑着扫把的男孩1吸血鬼神殿

    骑着扫把的男孩1吸血鬼神殿

    一个混血儿麦斯在外婆家发现了一个奇怪的喷泉,意外来到了一个魔法世界,学会了各种不可思议的魔法。但在万圣节的晚上,出现了一个邪恶的吸血鬼,麦斯的命运与吸血鬼的一样宝物息息相关,就在麦斯的生命即将遭到威胁的时候,一个人出现了......
  • 黑科技学习系统

    黑科技学习系统

    科技改变命运!亦能改变世界!全息影像直播,引领时代新潮流!5毛钱特效,制作仙侠电影,完爆好莱坞!当系统降临后,叶林发现,只要看书学习,就能让自己解锁能源、材料、生物、计算机科技...于是,一个个黑科技出现在世人眼中...
  • 黑名单

    黑名单

    星期一上午写稿的时候,巩迅之一连收到三条短信,一条是康建业发来的,一条是报社郑小锐发来的,还有一条是陈帅发来的。康建业什么也没说,只说送给她一个QQ号,603354280,密码是9820506,说他的是803345618。郑小锐发短信是通知巩迅之周五回报社开会。陈帅的短信是问她认识不认识一个电话是3050226的女子。巩迅之首先把这三条短信匆匆浏览了一遍,因为这三条短信几乎是在几十秒内接踵而来的。浏览之后,巩迅之把目光定格在康建业的短信上,康建业的短信起初没太引起巩迅之的注意,但巩迅之在第二次翻阅的时候,就看出了点意思。
  • 反派ta是我爸爸

    反派ta是我爸爸

    无父无母了十几年,突然有一天,被告知那个大陆第一反派,竟然是她爸爸?沐染倾表示:反正就挺秃然的!便宜哥哥:跟我回家,我帮你修行。沐染倾:不好意思啊嘿,人家刚生下来就是筑灵期,只是你们不懂!江家小公子:把你那只小鸡仔卖给我,大陆的奇珍异宝随你挑!沐染倾:它自愿跟着我,我能怎么办?自愿跟着的‘小鸡仔’:啊呸,不要撵!路上偶遇的正派公子:别怕,躲我后面!沐染倾:我左手拿药丸,右手拿银针,什么珍稀级丹药,随便磕!所以,怎样请这个小透明?废材?丧星?真大佬出山啊???真?沐染倾?大佬:别Q我,我只是出来找我家贪吃的肥猫的。避雷指南:扒马、爽文、男女1v1and伪兄妹
  • 上蔡语录

    上蔡语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 星际旅行无限战争

    星际旅行无限战争

    这部作品是讲述男主一行人,如何在众多星际文明之间的纷争之中,守护人类文明,为人类文明寻求生存而努力的故事。
  • 婚婚独宠总裁快走开

    婚婚独宠总裁快走开

    乔北辰的心很软,只要自己表现得非常爱他的话,他一定不会放弃他们之前所许下的诺言的。刚在一起的时候,乔北辰就跟她承诺过了,他一定会娶她~
  • 彭迪先全集

    彭迪先全集

    本书内容包括:战时的日本经济、实用经济学大纲、新货币学讲话、世界经济史纲、经济思想史、货币信用论大纲等。
  • 小问

    小问

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。