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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 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 find 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 office 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 final 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 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, five or so, pending the motion for a new trial and the obtaining of a certificate
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 terrific slap, all things considered. Five days in jail pending the obtaining of a
certificate 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 final conferencee between Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson was speedily
reached, for this situation was hourly growing more serious. Rumors were floating about in Third
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