s wrinkles and by the general
character of its expression, the ingenuous craftiness of a peasant. The
strength of his body, the stoutness of his limbs, the squareness of his
shoulders, the width of his feet,--all denoted the villager transplanted
to Paris. His powerful hairy hands, with their large square nails, would
alone have attested his origin if other vestiges had not remained in
various parts of his person. His lips wore the cordial smile which
shopkeepers put on when a customer enters; but this commercial sunshine
was really the image of his inward content, and pictured the state
of his kindly soul. His distrust never went beyond the lines of his
business, his craftiness left him on the steps of the Bourse, or when he
closed the pages of his ledger. Suspicion was to him very much what
his printed bill-heads were,--a necessity of the sale itself. His
countenance presented a sort of comical assurance and conceit mingled
with good nature, which gave it originality and saved it from too close
a resemblance to the insipid face of a Parisian bourgeois. Without this
air of naive self-admiration and faith in his own person, he would have
won too much respect; he drew nearer to his fellows by thus contributing
his quota of absurdity. When speaking, he habitually crossed his hands
behind his back. When he thought he had said something striking or
gallant, he rose imperceptibly on the points of his toes twice, and
dropped back heavily on his heels, as if to emphasize what he said. In
the midst of an argument he might be seen turning round upon himself and
walking off a few steps, as if he had gone to find objections with which
he returned upon his adversary brusquely. He never interrupted, and was
sometimes a victim to this careful observance of civility; for others
would take the words out of his mouth, and the good man had to yield
his ground without opening his lips. His great experience in commercial
matters had given him a few fixed habits, which some people called
eccentricities. If a note were overdue he sent for the bailiff, and
thought only of recovering capital, interest, and costs; and the bailiff
was ordered to pursue the matter until the debtor went into bankruptcy.
Cesar then stopped all proceedings, never appeared at any meeting of
creditors, and held on to his securities. He adopted this system and his
implacable contempt for bankrupts from Monsieur Ragon, who in the course
of his commercial life had seen suc