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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."
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