Richard Harding Davis 
A Wasted Day [PDF ebook] 

An interesting work about the time it was written which pales in contrast to today's situation. The man in question, a Wall Street banker, takes pride in helping out a former employee from a sad circumstance in jail. The judge sees positively the firm and the work that the "great banker" is doing, and he is the hero because his name is as good as gold. The association of another man with such a man of character is enough to let him off the hook. He is happy to have wasted his day to have found that his accomplishments and the good work he's done is accomplished by society as a whole as the court room claps approval.