You might also like

Availability alert

More about Catastrophe, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint)

• Book details
• Synopsis
• Trending among others

Book synopsis

Excerpt from Catastrophe, Vol. 1 All along the outer boulevards of Paris from the Ternes to Belleville there was no better cafe than the "Cafe de Pericles," which, thanks to its brilliant lights, could be distinguished a quarter of a league away when the twilight had set in. It had been opened in 1865 on the ground floor of a new house by a Prussian named Justus Putzenhofer, who had been attracted to Paris not only by the hope of making his fortune, but also, so he declared, by his strong liking for the French nation. In conducting this establishment he was assisted by his wife, who was still young, and by a cousin who, although apallingly ugly, rejoiced in the name of Adonis, and was amiability itself. As for Madame Justus, she was short, plump and rosy, and many frequenters of the place thought her most attractive when she arranged the plates of sandwiches on the counter and poured out the foaming Bavarian beer. No cafe keeper was ever so obliging towards his customers as Herr Justus. Whenever he heard a discontented grumble or a harsh exclamation he laid down his pipe and hastened to ascertain what had gone wrong. Nor was he ever courageous enough to dismiss a well-known customer at closing time. Not he - he simply put up the shutters, and after making sure that, no indiscreet ray of light could be detected through the chinks by the vigilant police, he allowed his customers to tarry as long as they pleased. If this practice had been discovered the worthy German would certainly have been severly punished, as closing regulations are very strictly enforced in Paris; and for this reason he was in the habit of sending his cousin Adonis to bed on these occasions, as if he doubted his watchfulness, and mounting guard himself. Seated near the window, he watched and listened, and whenever he heard the measured tread of the police approaching on their beat he would hastily say to his belated customers: "Hush! For heaven's sake, gentlemen, speak low." One night Justus Putzenhofer was thus engaged in listening while three habitues of his establishment played a game of cards together. One of them was a respectable gentlemen of the neighbourhood, named Rivet, another a young journalist, named Aristide Peyrolas, and the third a medical practitioner who had recently taken up his abode at Montmartre, Dr. Valentin Legris, a man of thirty or there-abouts. They were busy playing, and the clock had just struck the half hour - half-past one - when all at once an appalling shriek was heard on the boulevard outside. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Book details

Book category Books in English Fiction & related items Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

• Full title: Catastrophe, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint)
• Author: Emile Gaboriau
• Language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 396
• EAN: 9781331360308
• ISBN: 9781331360308
• ID: 09744338
• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Weight: 526 g
• Dimensions: 229 × 152 × 21 mm
• Date of publishing: 14. July 2015

---

---

---