The Project Gutenberg EBook of Le pilote du Danube, by Jules Verne

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Title: Le pilote du Danube

Author: Jules Verne

Release Date: March 6, 2004 [EBook #11484]

Language: French

Character set encoding: ASCII

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LE PILOTE DU DANUBE

PAR

JULES VERNE

1920




I

AU CONCOURS DE SIGMARINGEN


Ce jour-la, samedi 5 aout 1876, une foule nombreuse et bruyante
remplissait le cabaret a l'enseigne du _Rendez-vous des Pecheurs_.
Chansons, cris, chocs des verres, applaudissements, exclamations se
fondaient en un terrible vacarme que dominaient, a intervalles presque
reguliers, ces _hoch!_ par lesquels a coutume de s'exprimer la joie
allemande a son paroxysme.

Les fenetres de ce cabaret donnaient directement sur le Danube, a
l'extremite de la charmante petite ville de Sigmaringen, capitale de
l'enclave prussienne de Hohenzollern, situee, presque a l'origine de ce
grand fleuve de l'Europe centrale.

Obeissant a l'invitation de l'enseigne peinte en belles lettres
gothiques au-dessus de la porte d'entree, c'est la que s'etaient reunis
les membres de la Ligue Danubienne, societe internationale de pecheurs
appartenant aux diverses nationalites riveraines. Il n'est pas de
joyeuse reunion sans notable beuverie. Aussi buvait-on de bonne biere de
Munich et de bon vin de Hongrie a pleines chopes et a pleins verres.
On fumait aussi, et la grande salle etait tout obscurcie par la fumee
odorante que les longues pipes crachaient sans relach

William Wymark Jacobs (September 8, 1863 September 1, 1943), was an English author of short stories and novels. He is now best remembered for his macabre tales The Monkeys Paw (published 1902) and The Toll House (in the collection of short stories The Lady of the Barge). However the majority of his output was humorous in tone. His favourite subjects were marine life: men who go down to the sea in ships of moderate tonnage said Punch, reviewing his first collection of stories, Many Cargoes, which achieved great popular success on its publication in 1896.

William Wymark Jacobs (September 8, 1863 September 1, 1943), was an English author of short stories and novels. He is now best remembered for his macabre tales The Monkeys Paw (published 1902) and The Toll House (in the collection of short stories The Lady of the Barge). However the majority of his output was humorous in tone. His favourite subjects were marine life: men who go down to the sea in ships of moderate tonnage said Punch, reviewing his first collection of stories, Many Cargoes, which achieved great popular success on its publication in 1896.