nder. What a splendid creature! He contrasted her
with Mrs. Addison, and to his wife's disadvantage. She had never been
as striking, as stand-upish as Aileen, though possibly she might have
more sense. Jove! if he could find a woman like Aileen to-day. Life
would take on a new luster. And yet he had women--very carefully, very
subterraneously. But he had them.

"It's such a pleasure to meet you," Mrs. Addison, a corpulent,
bejeweled lady, was saying to Aileen. "My husband and yours have
become the best of friends, apparently. We must see more of each
other."

She babbled on in a puffy social way, and Aileen felt as though she
were getting along swiftly. The butler brought in a great tray of
appetizers and cordials, and put them softly on a remote table. Dinner
was served, and the talk flowed on; they discussed the growth of the
city, a new church that Lord was building ten blocks farther out;
Rambaud told about some humorous land swindles. It was quite gay.
Meanwhile Aileen did her best to become interested in Mrs. Rambaud and
Mrs. Addison. She liked the latter somewhat better, solely because it
was a little easier to talk to her. Mrs. Rambaud Aileen knew to be the
wiser and more charitable woman, but she frightened her a little;
presently she had to fall back on Mr. Lord's help. He came to her
rescue gallantly, talking of everything that came into his mind. All
the men outside of Cowperwood were thinking how splendid Aileen was
physically, how white were her arms, how rounded her neck and
shoulders, how rich her hair.

Chapter VII

Chicago Gas

Old Peter Laughlin, rejuvenated by Cowperwood's electric ideas, was
making money for the house. He brought many bits of interesting gossip
from the floor, and such shrewd guesses as to what certain groups and
individuals were up to, that Cowperwood was able to make some very
brilliant deductions.

"By Gosh! Frank, I think I know exactly what them fellers are trying to
do," Laughlin would frequently remark of a morning, after he had lain
in his lonely Harrison Street bed meditating the major portion of the
night. "That there Stock Yards gang" (and by gang he meant most of the
great manipulators, like Arneel, Hand, Schryhart and others) "are after
corn again. We want to git long o' that now, or I miss my guess. What
do you think, huh?"

Cowperwood, schooled by now in many Western subtleties which he had not
previously known, and daily becoming wi