Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1922 edition. Excerpt: ... SUR L'EAU CHAPTER I April 6th. IWAS sound asleep, when my skipper Bernard awoke me by throwing sand at my window. I opened it, and on my face, on my chest, I felt the cold, delicious breath of the night . The sky was a clear blue-gray, and alive with the quivering fire of the stars. The sailor, standing at the foot of the wall, said: "Fine weather, sir." "What wind?" "Off shore." "Very well, I'm coming." Half an hour later I was hurrying down to the shore. The horizon was pale with the first rays of dawn, and I saw in the distance behind the Bay des Anges the lights at Nice, and still farther on the revolving lighthouse at Villefranche. In front of me Antibes was dimly visible through the lifting darkness, with its two towers rising above the cone-shaped town, surrounded by the old walls built by Vauban. In the streets were a few dogs and a few men, workmen starting off to their daily labor. In the port nothing but the gentle rocking of the boats at the side of the quay and the soft plashing of the scarcely moving water could be heard; or at timet the sound of the straining of a cable or of a boat grazing against the hull of a vessel. The boats, the flagstones, the sea itself seemed asleep under the gold-spangled firmament, and under the eye of a small lighthouse which, standing out at the end of the jetty, kept watch over its little harbor. Beyond, in front of Ardouin's building yard, I saw a glimmer, I felt a stir, I heard voices. They were expecting me. The Bel-Ami was ready to start . I went down into the cabin, lighted up by a couple of candles hanging and swinging like two compasses, at the foot of the sofas which at night were used as beds. I donned the leathern sailor's jacket, put on a warm cap, and returned on deck. Already the...