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such duties as he had had in his own concern, with Wingate & Co. He was going to secure a
seat on 'change again, through his friends; and, to escape the effect of the prejudice of those
who might not care to do business with an ex-convict, he was going to act as general outside
man, and floor man on 'charge, for Wingate & Co. His practical control of that could not be
publicly proved. Now for some important development in the market--some slump or something.
He would show the world whether he was a failure or not.
They let him down in front of his wife's little cottage, and he entered briskly in the gathering
gloom.
On September 18, 1873, at twelve-fifteen of a brilliant autumn day, in the city of Philadelphia,
one of the most startling financial tragedies that the world has ever seen had its
commencement. The banking house of Jay Cooke & Co., the foremost financial organization of
America, doing business at Number 114 South Third Street in Philadelphia, and with branches
in New York, Washington, and London, closed its doors. Those who know anything about the
financial crises of the United States know well the significance of the panic which followed. It is
spoken of in all histories as the panic of 1873, and the widespread ruin and disaster which
followed was practically unprecedented in American history.
At this time Cowperwood, once more a broker--ostensibly a broker's agent--was doing business
in South Third Street, and representing Wingate & Co. on 'change. During the six months which
had elapsed since he had emerged from the Eastern Penitentiary he had been quietly resuming
financial, if not social, relations with those who had known him before.
Furthermore, Wingate & Co. were prospering, and had been for some time, a fact which
redounded to his credit with those who knew. Ostensibly he lived with his wife in a small house
on North Twenty-first Street. In reality he occupied a bachelor apartment on North Fifteenth
Street, to which Aileen occasionally repaired. The difference between himself and his wife had
now become a matter of common knowledge in the family, and, although there were some faint
efforts made to smooth the matter over, no good resulted. The difficulties of the past two years
had so inured his parents to expect the untoward and exceptional that, astonishing as this was,
it did not shock them so much as it would have years before. They were too much frightened by
life to quarrel with its weird developments. They could only hope and pray for the best.
The Butler family, on the other hand, what there was of it, had become indifferent to Aileen's
conduct. She was ignored by her brothers and Norah, who now knew all; and her mother was
so taken up with religious devotions and brooding contemplation of her loss that she was not as
active in her observation of Aileen's life as she might have been. Besides, Cowperwood and his
mistress were more circumspect in their conduct than they had ever been before. Their
movements were more carefully guarded, though the result was the same. Cowperwood was
thinking of the West--of reaching some slight local standing here in Philadelphia, and then, with
perhaps one hundred thousand dollars in capital, removing to the boundless prairies of which
he had heard so much--Chicago, Fargo, Duluth, Sioux City, places then heralded in
Philadelphia and the East as coming centers of great life--and taking Aileen with him. Although
the problem of marriage with her was insoluble unless Mrs. Cowperwood should formally agree
to give him up--a possibility which was not manifest at this time, neither he nor Aileen were
deterred by that thought. They were going to build a future together--or so they thought,
marriage or no marriage. The only thing which Cowperwood could see to do was to take Aileen
away with him, and to trust to time and absence to modify his wife's point of view.
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