ge man and beneath the dignity of a true financier--in other
words, a bother. The drowsy Sparkheaver holding up a Bible beside him
for him to swear by might as well have been a block of wood. His oath
was a personal matter with him. It was good business to tell the truth
at times. His testimony was very direct and very simple.

He had known Mr. Frank Algernon Cowperwood for nearly ten years. He
had done business with or through him nearly all of that time. He knew
nothing of his personal relations with Mr. Stener, and did not know
Mr. Stener personally. As for the particular check of sixty thousand
dollars--yes, he had seen it before. It had come into the bank on
October 10th along with other collateral to offset an overdraft on the
part of Cowperwood & Co. It was placed to the credit of Cowperwood &
Co. on the books of the bank, and the bank secured the cash through the
clearing-house. No money was drawn out of the bank by Cowperwood & Co.
after that to create an overdraft. The bank's account with Cowperwood
was squared.

Nevertheless, Mr. Cowperwood might have drawn heavily, and nothing would
have been thought of it. Mr. Davison did not know that Mr. Cowperwood
was going to fail--did not suppose that he could, so quickly. He had
frequently overdrawn his account with the bank; as a matter of fact,
it was the regular course of his business to overdraw it. It kept his
assets actively in use, which was the height of good business. His
overdrafts were protected by collateral, however, and it was his custom
to send bundles of collateral or checks, or both, which were variously
distributed to keep things straight. Mr. Cowperwood's account was the
largest and most active in the bank, Mr. Davison kindly volunteered.
When Mr. Cowperwood had failed there had been over ninety thousand
dollars' worth of certificates of city loan in the bank's possession
which Mr Cowperwood had sent there as collateral. Shannon, on
cross-examination, tried to find out for the sake of the effect on the
jury, whether Mr. Davison was not for some ulterior motive especially
favorable to Cowperwood. It was not possible for him to do that. Steger
followed, and did his best to render the favorable points made by Mr.
Davison in Cowperwood's behalf perfectly clear to the jury by having him
repeat them. Shannon objected, of course, but it was of no use. Steger
managed to make his point.

He now decided to have Cowperwood take the stand, and at the mention