And what a burden his camel carried--flour-mill, saw-mill, ash-factory, farms, a general store, lime-kilns, agency for lightning-rods and insurance, cattle-dealing, the project for the new cheese-factory, and money-lending! Money-lending?
It seemed strange that Jean Jacques should be able to lend money, since he himself had to borrow, and mortgage also, from time to time.

When things began to go really wrong with him financially, he mortgaged his farms, his flour-mill, and saw-mill, and then lent money on other mortgages.

This he did because he had always lent money, and it was a habit so associated with his prestige, that he tied himself up in borrowing and lending and counter-mortgaging till, as the saying is, "a Philadelphia lawyer" could not have unravelled his affairs without having been born again in the law.

That he was able to manipulate his tangled affairs, while keeping the confidence of those from whom he borrowed, and the admiration of those to whom he lent, was evidence of his capacity.

"Genius of a kind" was what his biggest creditor called it later.
After a personal visit to St.Saviour's, this biggest creditor and financial potentate--M.