of course, as his customer's reputation in the
money-market was unsullied. The bargain being consummated, the two friends
parted, each in a capital humor with himself; the Yankee to deposit the
notes in his strong box, and the Frenchman to his store, where, receiving
his newly-purchased goods, he immediately commenced marking them one
hundred per cent. above cost, thus making before midnight, to use his own
boast, a _profit_ of twenty thousand dollars on his purchase! Three days
afterward the official news of peace came; English goods instantly fell
one half, and our little Frenchman awoke in horror from his dream of cent.
per cent. Nine persons out of every ten under such circumstances would
have failed at once. But _nil desperandum_ was the motto of our Frenchman.
He saw that he had been '_bit_' by his commercial friend, and he
immediately set his wits at work to turn the tables upon him. So, late in
the evening of the next day he repaired to the dwelling of the importer,
and told a long and pitiful story of his embarrassments. He said his
conscience already smote him for making so heavy a purchase while in
failing circumstances, and that he had come to make the only reparation in
his power; namely, to yield up the goods obtained of the importer, on the
latter's cancelling the notes given therefor. The Yankee at first
demurred; but on the Frenchman insisting that he was a bankrupt, and that
he feared the moment he opened in the morning the sheriff would pounce
upon him with a writ that would swallow up every thing, he finally agreed
to the proposition. 'Half a loaf was better than no bread,' he thought;
and so the notes and the bill of sale were accordingly cancelled. By
daylight in the morning the Yankee was at the Frenchman's store, with his
teams, as had been agreed upon the night before, and every package of his
goods was soon removed. The two merchants again parted, the Frenchman with
a mind relieved of a heavy load, and the Yankee rather down in the mouth
at the result of his trade. Two or three days afterward, as the importer
was passing the Frenchman's store, he observed his sign still up, and
every thing apparently as flourishing as ever. He stepped in to see what
it all meant. 'Hallo! Mr. S----,' said he, 'I thought you had failed!'
'_Failed!_' repeated the Frenchman, thrusting his thumbs in the arm-holes
of his vest, and sliding his legs apart from counter to counter, till he
resembled a small Colossus of Rho