Part II: Chapter 1-5 Summary

Leon Gregoire is an important investor in the mining company that owns the Voreux mining pit. He lives comfortably in a cozy house, two kilometers east of Montsou, with his wife, his daughter and a maid. All his revenues derive from an investment in the mining company made by his grandfather a century earlier. Deneulin, a cousin in the same branch of the family, also inherited from their common ancestor's investment. However, the latter invested all his money in revamping and modernizing the Jean-Bart mine. The latter does not bring him any new revenue and he ends up trying to borrow some funds from the Gregoires. However, they refuse to lend any money to their cousin; instead, they advise him to sell the mine to the company and to stop worrying about it.

Back in the mining...