“I think you’d better do that,” replied Cowperwood.  “Friday or Monday will suit me, either way.  I’m really not particular.  Better make it Monday if you can.  You don’t suppose there is any way you can induce Jaspers to keep his hands off until then?  He knows I’m perfectly responsible.”

“I don’t know, Frank, I’m sure; I’ll see.  I’ll go around and talk to him to-night.  Perhaps a hundred dollars will make him relax the rigor of his rules that much.”

Cowperwood smiled grimly.

“I fancy a hundred dollars would make Jaspers relax a whole lot of rules,” he replied, and he got up to go.

Steger arose also.  “I’ll see both these people, and then I’ll call around at your house.  You’ll be in, will you, after dinner?”

“Yes.”

They slipped on their overcoats and went out into the cold February day, Cowperwood back to his Third Street office, Steger to see Shannon and Jaspers.

Chapter XLIX

The business of arranging Cowperwood’s sentence for Monday was soon disposed of through Shannon, who had no personal objection to any reasonable delay.

Steger next visited the county jail, close on to five o’clock, when it was already dark.  Sheriff Jaspers came lolling out from his private library, where he had been engaged upon the work of cleaning his pipe.

“How are you, Mr. Steger?” he observed, smiling blandly.  “How are you?  Glad to see you.  Won’t you sit down?  I suppose you’re round here again on that Cowperwood matter.  I just received word from the district attorney that he had lost his case.”

“That’s it, Sheriff,” replied Steger, ingratiatingly.  “He asked me to step around and see what you wanted him to do in the matter.  Judge Payderson has just fixed the sentence time for Monday morning at ten o’clock.  I don’t suppose you’ll be much put out if he doesn’t show up here before Monday at eight o’clock, will you, or Sunday night, anyhow?  He’s perfectly reliable, as you know.”  Steger was sounding Jaspers out, politely trying to make the time of Cowperwood’s arrival a trivial matter in order to avoid paying the hundred dollars, if possible.  But Jaspers was not to be so easily disposed of.  His fat face lengthened considerably.  How could Steger ask him such a favor and not even suggest the slightest form of remuneration?

“It’s ag’in’ the law, Mr. Steger, as you know,” he began, cautiously and complainingly.  “I’d like to accommodate him, everything else being equal, but since that Albertson case three years ago we’ve had to run this office much more careful, and—­”

“Oh, I know, Sheriff,” interrupted Steger, blandly, “but this isn’t an ordinary case in any way, as you can see for yourself.  Mr. Cowperwood is a very important man, and he has a great many things to attend to.  Now if it were only a mere matter of seventy-five or a hundred dollars to satisfy some court clerk with, or to pay a fine, it would be easy enough, but—­” He paused and looked wisely away, and Mr. Jaspers’s face began to relax at once.  The law against which it was ordinarily so hard to offend was not now so important.  Steger saw that it was needless to introduce any additional arguments.