o 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.

In the meanwhile his family life was changing--growing, one might have
said, finer and more secure. Mrs. Cowperwood had, for instance, been
compelled from time to time to make a subtle readjustment of her
personal relationship with people, as he had with his. When Mr.
Semple was alive she had been socially connected with tradesmen
principally--retailers and small wholesalers--a very few. Some of the
women of her own church, the First Presbyterian, were friendly with
her. There had been church teas and sociables which she and Mr. Semple
attended, and dull visits to his relatives and hers. The Cowperwoods,
the Watermans, and a few families of that caliber, had been the notable
exceptions. Now all this was changed. Young Cowperwood did not care
very much for her relatives, and the Semples had been alienated by her
second, and to them outrageous, marriage. His own family was closely
interested by ties of affection and mutual prosperity, but, better than
this, he was drawing to himself some really significant personalities.
He brought home with him, socially--not to talk business, for he
disliked that idea--bankers, investors, customers and prospective
customers. Out on the Schuylkill, the Wissahickon, and elsewhere, were
popular dining places where one could drive on Sunday. He and Mrs.
Cowperwood frequently drove out to Mrs. Seneca Davis's, to Judge
Kitchen's, to the home of Andrew Sharpless, a lawyer whom he knew, to
the home of Harper Steger, his own lawyer, and others. Cowperwood had
the gift of geniality. None of these men or women suspected the depth of
his nature--he was thinking, thinking, thinking, but enjoyed life as he
went.

One of his earliest and most genuine leanings was toward paintings. He
admired nature, but somehow, without knowing why, he fancied one could
best grasp it through the personality of some interpreter, just as we
gain our ideas of law and politics through individuals. Mrs. Cowperwood
cared not a whit one way or another, but she accompanied him to
exhibitions, thinking all the while that Frank was a little peculiar.
He tried, because he loved her, to interest her in