against the
baluster. The stranger waved his hand, and continued to descend. In
the court he found Penelon, who, with a rouleau of a hundred francs in
either hand, seemed unable to make up his mind to retain them. "Come
with me, my friend," said the Englishman; "I wish to speak to you."

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 unti