Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30
The Fifth of September.

The extension provided for by the agent of Thomson & French,
at the moment when Morrel expected it least, was to the poor
shipowner so decided a stroke of good fortune that he almost
dared to believe that fate was at length grown weary of
wasting her spite upon him. The same day he told his wife,
Emmanuel, and his daughter all that had occurred; and a ray
of hope, if not of tranquillity, returned to the family.
Unfortunately, however, Morrel had not only engagements with
the house of Thomson & French, who had shown themselves so
considerate towards him; and, as he had said, in business he
had correspondents, and not friends. When he thought the
matter over, he could by no means account for this generous
conduct on the part of Thomson & French towards him; and
could only attribute it to some such selfish argument as
this: -- "We had better help a man who owes us nearly
300,000 francs, and have those 300,000 francs at the end of
three months than hasten his ruin, and get only six or eight
per cent of our money back again." Unfortunately, whether
through envy or stupidity, all Morrel's correspondents did
not take this view; and some even came to a contrary
decision. The bills signed by Morrel were presented at his
office with scrupulous exactitude, and, thanks to the delay
granted by the Englishman, were paid by Cocles with equal
punctuality. Cocles thus remained in his accustomed
tranquillity. It was Morrel alone who remembered with alarm,
that if he had to repay on the 15th the 50,000 francs of M.
de Boville, and on the 30th the 32,500 francs of bills, for
which, as well as the debt due to the inspector of prisons,
he had time granted, he must be a ruined man.

The opinion of all the commercial men was that, under the
reverses which had successively weighed down Morrel, it was
impossible for him to remain solvent. Great, therefore, was
the astonishment when at the end of the month, he cancelled
all his obligations with his usual punctuality. Still
confidence was not restored to all minds, and the general
opinion was that the complete ruin of the unfortunate
shipowner had been postponed only until the end of the
month. The month passed, and Morrel made extraordinary
efforts to get in all his resources. Formerly his paper, at
any date, was taken with confidence, and was even in
request. Morrel now tried to negotiate bills at ninety days
only, and none of the banks would give him credit.
Fortunately, Morrel had some funds coming in on which he
could rely; and, as they reached him, he found himself in a
condition to meet his engagements when the end of July came.
The agent of Thomson & French had not been again