CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Back in those days, everyone watched the weather very closely. A clear and bright day brought smiles on the faces of every townsman, while rain made the people very upset. The happiness of every family depended entirely upon the weather, because farming was everybody's business then. Therefore, the people of those days tended to be very superstitious. God was often prayed to with the hope that he might reward the country with excellent weather. When praying was not enough, people would go and visit men who said that they had the ability to know what the weather would be like in the future. Henchard went to see one of these men in a nearby village.

He had heard that the weather would be terrible that year and he wanted proof that this would be true. His plan to fight Farfrae would only be successful if the weather was bad. The fortune-telling man told Mr Henchard that it would rain very heavily in the coming months and Henchard thanked him with a large silver coin.

Immediately, the Mayor bought a huge amount of wheat from people around the area and filled his storage houses with it. He was hoping that the bad weather would cause the price of wheat to rise a great deal and that he, having most of the town's wheat in his granaries, would make the most money.

The months that followed, however, were quite sunny. In fact, the country had not seen such good weather in many years. That year's harvest ended up being an excellent one. As a result, wheat prices dropped very low and Henchard had to sell everything he had recently bought for much less than he had paid. In other words, he lost an enormous amount of money.

One day, as he and Farfrae passed one another on the street, the Scotsman mentioned that he had heard about his recent bad luck and he hoped that it had not done too much damage to the Mayor's life. Henchard, uncertain whether Farfrae was making fun of him or expressing true sympathy, pretended that things were just fine.

"I fully expect these kinds of things to happen every once in a while. Things will be better next year!"

However, that afternoon, Henchard went to the bank and was forced to give much of what he owned around the countryside to the bankers. On his way back home, he ran into Jopp.

"Fine day, isn't sir?" he said, greeting his boss.

"Fine day?" Henchard replied, angrily, "How can you say such a thing to me? You know my company's situation! Hell, you are partly responsible! You've never once argued with me or tried to change my mind about my plan! You're useless, completely useless! As of this moment, you are no longer my employee. Goodbye!"

Henchard then walked away, heading, once again, for home.

"You'll regret this, sir!" Jopp shouted behind his former boss. "I promise you, you'll regret this!"

(end of section)