l theirs for five
louis. His famous vintage of 1811, judiciously stored and slowly
disposed of, brought him in more than two hundred and forty thousand
francs.

Financially speaking, Monsieur Grandet was something between a tiger and
a boa-constrictor. He could crouch and lie low, watch his prey a long
while, spring upon it, open his jaws, swallow a mass of louis, and
then rest tranquilly like a snake in process of digestion, impassible,
methodical, and cold. No one saw him pass without a feeling of
admiration mingled with respect and fear; had not every man in Saumur
felt the rending of those polished steel claws? For this one, Maitre
Cruchot had procured the money required for the purchase of a domain,
but at eleven per cent. For that one, Monsieur des Grassins discounted
bills of exchange, but at a frightful deduction of interest. Few days
ever passed that Monsieur Grandet's name was not mentioned either in the
markets or in social conversations at the evening gatherings. To some
the fortune of the old wine-grower was an object of patriotic pride.
More than one merchant, more than one innkeeper, said to strangers
with a certain complacency: "Monsieur, we have two or three millionaire
establishments; but as for Monsieur Grandet, he does not himself know
how much he is worth."

In 1816 the best reckoners in Saumur estimated the landed property of
the worthy man at nearly four millions; but as, on an average, he had
made yearly, from 1793 to 1817, a hundred thousand francs out of that
property, it was fair to presume that he possessed in actual money a sum
nearly equal to the value of his estate. So that when, after a game of
boston or an evening discussion on the matter of vines, the talk fell
upon Monsieur Grandet, knowing people said: "Le Pere Grandet? le Pere
Grandet must have at least five or six millions."

"You are cleverer than I am; I have never been able to find out the
amount," answered Monsieur Cruchot or Monsieur des Grassins, when either
chanced to overhear the remark.

If some Parisian mentioned Rothschild or Monsieur Lafitte, the people of
Saumur asked if he were as rich as Monsieur Grandet. When the Parisian,
with a smile, tossed them a disdainful affirmative, they looked at each
other and shook their heads with an incredulous air. So large a fortune
covered with a golden mantle all the actions of this man. If in early
days some peculiarities of his life gave occasion for laughter or
ridicule, laug