he would not look much into ours: the rather,
as he was only a creditor to the tune of some
five hundred pounds. His name would not only
serve to make the acts of the committee accepted
by the general body of creditors, but behind him
the other members could hide anything which
they did not wish to be seen. The second
member of the committee was a director of the
Onyx Bank. The third was a Greek merchant,
who, not only because ours was a Greek firm,
but also because he was a personal friend of Mr.
Velardi, would be sure to make matters as
pleasant as possible.

We ourselves—that is, my partner and myself
—did not fare ill in private life while our
affairs were being investigated. I had been
able to withdraw my share of the profits every
half year, until I had got nearer six than five
thousand pounds snugly invested in Consols
and securely settled upon my wife, in the name
of two trustees. Moreover, I had a house full
of good furniture tied up in the same way.
Thus, even if our affairs were thrown into
bankruptcy, I should be able to get through my
troubles without much personal inconvenience.
My partner, Mr. Velardi, was much better off
than I. Like me, all he had—house, furniture,
carriage, and plate, together with from twenty
thousand to thirty-five thousand pounds—were
securely settled upon his wife, and so, although
in the City he had stopped payment, he was able
to keep up his snug villa at Roehampton, and
I don't think that his daily dinner was
reduced either in the quantity or quality of viands
or wine.

The investigation of our affairs proceeded
very slowly, and when the committee did
meet, it was merely to give an official
confirmation to such statements as Mr. Velardi had
prepared for their investigation. In London
every man of business is always running a
never-ending race with time, and as often losing
it. Nine merchants or bankers out of ten have
so many irons in the fire, live at so great a
distance from the City, and are so anxious to
get away early in the afternoon either to the
country or the West-end, that they have very
few hours in which they can work; for extra
duties, like that of our committee, they really
find no time, and are obliged to accept the
statements of others as truths. Our committee of
creditors met nominally three times a week, at
half-past one for two o'clock. It invariably
happened that one or other of the members was
late, and the other two had to wait for him.
Thus, anything like the work of investigation
never began until a quarter or half-past two, and
what with desultory conversation, and a general
dislike of the whole business, the clock always
pointed to three before the members knew
where they were. At from a quarter to half-past
three they broke up, being under the
delusion that they had done a good day's work
of at least two hours. Then, as the London
season came on, our committee became more
and more irregular. One member would want
to take his wife to the Horticultural Gardens,
another wished to go with his daughter to the
Crystal Palace. Thus the two months' delay we
had asked for came to an end, and we were as
far off from the settlement of our affairs as
ever.

This just suited Mr. Velardi and myself.
We wanted delay, and we obtained it by the
doings of others as if it were the last thing
on earth that we desired. At the end of
the two months, the committee agreed to draw
up a paper asking the creditors for another
delay of two months, on account of the
intricacy of our affairs, and because further time
was required to obtain a thorough knowledge of
how our firm really stood with respect to certain
foreign houses. This statement was drafted by
Mr. Velardi, who acted as secretary to the
committee, and, coming as it did from the men they
had themselves named, it was impossible for the
creditors to refuse the request. The committee
determined to work harder, and to try and obtain
some reliable account of our affairs before the
two months were out, but, like most good
resolutions, these were made only to be broken.
Just as they had begun to get something
like an insight into our affairs—that is, as
much of an insight as they could ever get of
dealings which were far too complicated to be
understood—one of their number, the director
of the Onyx Bank, was taken ill, and another
creditor had to take his place on the committee,
so the whole of the work had to be done over
again.

As good luck would have it, at about this
time a foreign house whose acceptances we
happened to hold for the amount of about five
hundred pounds, took up the bill when due,
and this—although it was a mere drop in
the ocean towards paying our creditors—we
made the most of to the committee, showing
how, if time were only given us, we should
be able to recover more money for our estate,
and asking for a further delay. This was
granted. Of the many Greek and other foreign
firms on whom we had bills, nearly all had
failed or suspended payment, so that of the
great mass of bills we held, nearly the whole
were useless. On this fact Mr. Velardi
enlarged very much, and prepared for the
committee a statement by which he showed that
our failure was brought about chiefly, if not
entirely, by the failure of other firms, and not
by any rash, or over-speculation of our own.
The figures were cleverly put together, and,
though the committee could not believe the
whole statement, they were more than half
inclined to believe half of it. If any good could
be done to such a desperate case of reckless
insolvency as ours, Mr. Velardi certainly did
that good; for, partly by management among
his Greek commercial friends, partly on account
of good turns he had done his fellow-countrymen
when himself in prosperity, he managed
to get a number of the foreign accommodation
bills withdrawn, and so reduced the claims
against us considerably. No doubt this was
effected chiefly through many of our creditors