oon after
this, des Grassins called a meeting of the creditors, who unanimously
elected him, conjointly with Francois Keller, the head of a rich
banking-house and one of those principally interested in the affair, as
liquidators, with full power to protect both the honor of the family
and the interests of the claimants. The credit of Grandet of Saumur,
the hopes he diffused by means of des Grassins in the minds of all
concerned, facilitated the transactions. Not a single creditor proved
recalcitrant; no one thought of passing his claim to his profit-and-loss
account; each and all said confidently, "Grandet of Saumur will pay."

Six months went by. The Parisians had redeemed the notes in circulation
as they fell due, and held them under lock and key in their desks. First
result aimed at by the old cooper! Nine months after this preliminary
meeting, the two liquidators distributed forty-seven per cent to each
creditor on his claim. This amount was obtained by the sale of the
securities, property, and possessions of all kinds belonging to the
late Guillaume Grandet, and was paid over with scrupulous fidelity.
Unimpeachable integrity was shown in the transaction. The creditors
gratefully acknowledged the remarkable and incontestable honor displayed
by the Grandets. When these praises had circulated for a certain length
of time, the creditors asked for the rest of their money. It became
necessary to write a collective letter to Grandet of Saumur.

"Here it comes!" said the old man as he threw the letter into the fire.
"Patience, my good friends!"

In answer to the proposals contained in the letter, Grandet of Saumur
demanded that all vouchers for claims against the estate of his brother
should be deposited with a notary, together with acquittances for the
forty-seven per cent already paid; he made this demand under pretence of
sifting the accounts and finding out the exact condition of the estate.
It roused at once a variety of difficulties. Generally speaking, the
creditor is a species of maniac, ready to agree to anything one day, on
the next breathing fire and slaughter; later on, he grows amicable and
easy-going. To-day his wife is good-humored, his last baby has cut its
first tooth, all is well at home, and he is determined not to lose a
sou; on the morrow it rains, he can't go out, he is gloomy, he says yes
to any proposal that is made to him, so long as it will put an end to
the affair; on the third day he declares