The Financier a novel by Theodore Dreiser

party this fall, and with some of our contracts. You don't want to forget that 
an election is comin' along in November. I'm wonderin' if I ought to call in 
that one hundred thousand dollars. It's goin' to take considerable money to 
meet my loans in the mornin'." 
It is a curious matter of psychology, but it was only now that the real 
difficulties of the situation were beginning to dawn on Butler. In the 
presence of Cowperwood he was so influenced by that young man's 
personality and his magnetic presentation of his need and his own liking for 
him that he had not stopped to consider all the phases of his own 
relationship to the situation. Out here in the cool night air, talking to Owen, 
who was ambitious on his own account and anything but sentimentally 
considerate of Cowperwood, he was beginning to sober down and see things 
in their true light. He had to admit that Cowperwood had seriously 
compromised the city treasury and the Republican party, and incidentally 
Butler's own private interests. Nevertheless, he liked Cowperwood. He was in 
no way prepared to desert him. He was now going to see Mollenhauer and 
Simpson as much to save Cowperwood really as the party and his own 
affairs. And yet a scandal. He did not like that—resented it. This young 
scalawag! To think he should be so sly. None the less he still liked him, even 
here and now, and was feeling that he ought to do something to help the 
young man, if anything could help him. He might even leave his hundred-
thousand-dollar loan with him until the last hour, as Cowperwood had 
requested, if the others were friendly. 
"Well, father," said Owen, after a time, "I don't see why you need to worry 
any more than Mollenhauer or Simpson. If you three want to help him out, 
you can; but for the life of me I don't see why you should. I know this thing 
will have a bad effect on the election, if it comes out before then; but it could 
be hushed up until then, couldn't it? Anyhow, your street-railway holdings 
are more important than this election, and if you can see your way clear to 
getting the street-railway lines in your hands you won't need to worry about 
any elections. My advice to you is to call that one-hundred-thousand-dollar 
loan of yours in the morning, and meet the drop in your stocks that way. It 
may make Cowperwood fail, but that won't hurt you any. You can go into 

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the market and buy his stocks. I wouldn't be surprised if he would run to 
you and ask you to take them. You ought to get Mollenhauer and Simpson 
to scare Stener so that he won't loan Cowperwood any more money. If you 
don't, Cowperwood will run there and get more. Stener's in too far now. If 
Cowperwood won't sell out, well and good; the chances are he will bust, 
anyhow, and then you can pick up as much on the market as any one else. I 
think he'll sell. You can't afford to worry about Stener's five hundred 
thousand dollars. No one told him to loan it. Let him look out for himself. It 
may hurt the party, but you can look after that later. You and Mollenhauer 
can fix the newspapers so they won't talk about it till after election." 
"Aisy! Aisy!" was all the old contractor would say. He was thinking hard.