Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XII. The Giant
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
I said that I was not English and that I was a
collector of watches. He said so was he. He
threw himself on the other mattress, wished me
good night and pleasant dreams and was snoring
in a minute. From the other side of the partition
wall a drunken woman started singing in a hoarse
voice. He growled angrily:
“Shut up, Fifine, ou je te casserai la gueule!”
The singer stopped immediately and whispered:
“Alphonse, I have something important to tell
you. Are you alone?” He answered he was
with a charming young friend who was anxious
to know what o’clock it was as he had
unfortunately forgotten to wind up the five watches he
was always carrying in his pockets. He soon fell
asleep again, the babel of the ladies’ voices
gradually died away and all was still except for the
coming of the guard every hour to look at us
through the guichet. As the clock struck seven
in St. Augustin, I was taken out of the cell and
brought before the Commissaire de Police himself.
He listened attentively to my adventure fixing
me with his intelligent penetrating eyes the whole
time. When I came to telling him of my mania
for clocks and watches, that I had been on my
way to Le Roy the whole day to have these five
watches overhauled and had forgotten all about
them when I was searched, he burst into laughter
and said it was the best story he had ever heard,
it was pure Balzac. He opened a drawer of the
writing table and handed me my five watches.
“I have not been sitting at this table for
twenty years without learning something about
classifying my visitors, you are all right.” He
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
