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- Теодор Драйзер
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Laughlin
knew
Videra
as
a
strong
,
wealthy
Pole
who
had
come
up
in
the
last
few
years
.
It
was
strange
how
Cowperwood
naturally
got
in
with
these
wealthy
men
and
won
their
confidence
so
quickly
.
Videra
would
never
have
become
so
confidential
with
him
.
"
Huh
!
"
he
exclaimed
.
"
Well
,
if
he
says
it
it
's
more
'n
likely
so
.
"
So
Laughlin
bought
,
and
Peter
Laughlin
&
Co.
won
.
But
this
grain
and
commission
business
,
while
it
was
yielding
a
profit
which
would
average
about
twenty
thousand
a
year
to
each
partner
,
was
nothing
more
to
Cowperwood
than
a
source
of
information
.
He
wanted
to
"
get
in
"
on
something
that
was
sure
to
bring
very
great
returns
within
a
reasonable
time
and
that
would
not
leave
him
in
any
such
desperate
situation
as
he
was
at
the
time
of
the
Chicago
fire
--
spread
out
very
thin
,
as
he
put
it
.
He
had
interested
in
his
ventures
a
small
group
of
Chicago
men
who
were
watching
him
--
Judah
Addison
,
Alexander
Rambaud
,
Millard
Bailey
,
Anton
Videra
--
men
who
,
although
not
supreme
figures
by
any
means
,
had
free
capital
.
He
knew
that
he
could
go
to
them
with
any
truly
sound
proposition
.
The
one
thing
that
most
attracted
his
attention
was
the
Chicago
gas
situation
,
because
there
was
a
chance
to
step
in
almost
unheralded
in
an
as
yet
unoccupied
territory
;
with
franchises
once
secured
--
the
reader
can
quite
imagine
how
--
he
could
present
himself
,
like
a
Hamilcar
Barca
in
the
heart
of
Spain
or
a
Hannibal
at
the
gates
of
Rome
,
with
a
demand
for
surrender
and
a
division
of
spoils
.
There
were
at
this
time
three
gas
companies
operating
in
the
three
different
divisions
of
the
city
--
the
three
sections
,
or
"
sides
,
"
as
they
were
called
--
South
,
West
,
and
North
,
and
of
these
the
Chicago
Gas
,
Light
,
and
Coke
Company
,
organized
in
1848
to
do
business
on
the
South
Side
,
was
the
most
flourishing
and
important
.
The
People
's
Gas
,
Light
,
and
Coke
Company
,
doing
business
on
the
West
Side
,
was
a
few
years
younger
than
the
South
Chicago
company
,
and
had
been
allowed
to
spring
intoexistence
through
the
foolish
self-confidence
of
the
organizer
and
directors
of
the
South
Side
company
,
who
had
fancied
that
neither
the
West
Side
nor
the
North
Side
was
going
to
develop
very
rapidly
for
a
number
of
years
to
come
,
and
had
counted
on
the
city
council
's
allowing
them
to
extend
their
mains
at
any
time
to
these
other
portions
of
the
city
.
A
third
company
,
the
North
Chicago
Gas
Illuminating
Company
,
had
been
organized
almost
simultaneously
with
the
West
Side
company
by
the
same
process
through
which
the
other
companies
had
been
brought
into
life
--
their
avowed
intention
,
like
that
of
the
West
Side
company
,
being
to
confine
their
activities
to
the
sections
from
which
the
organizers
presumably
came
.
Cowperwood
's
first
project
was
to
buy
out
and
combine
the
three
old
city
companies
.
With
this
in
view
he
looked
up
the
holders
in
all
three
corporations
--
their
financial
and
social
status
.
It
was
his
idea
that
by
offering
them
three
for
one
,
or
even
four
for
one
,
for
every
dollar
represented
by
the
market
value
of
their
stock
he
might
buy
in
and
capitalize
the
three
companies
as
one
.
Then
,
by
issuing
sufficient
stock
to
cover
all
his
obligations
,
he
would
reap
a
rich
harvest
and
at
the
same
time
leave
himself
in
charge
.
He
approached
Judah
Addison
first
as
the
most
available
man
to
help
float
a
scheme
of
this
kind
.
He
did
not
want
him
as
a
partner
so
much
as
he
wanted
him
as
an
investor
.
"
Well
,
I
'll
tell
you
how
I
feel
about
this
,
"
said
Addison
,
finally
.
"
You
've
hit
on
a
great
idea
here
.
It
's
a
wonder
it
has
n't
occurred
to
some
one
else
before
.
And
you
'll
want
to
keep
rather
quiet
about
it
,
or
some
one
else
will
rush
in
and
do
it
.
We
have
a
lot
of
venturesome
men
out
here
.
But
I
like
you
,
and
I
'm
with
you
.
