Already feeling the influence of the splendid sun of Tarascon, which makes people tell “bouncers” unwittingly, he added, as he fondled the camel’s hump:
“It is a noble beast! It saw me kill all my lions!”
Whereupon he familiarly took the arm of the commandant, who was red with pleasure; and followed by his camel, surrounded by the cap-hunters, acclaimed by all the population, he placidly proceeded towards the Baobab Villa; and, on the march, thus commenced the account of his mighty hunting:
“Once upon an evening, you are to imagine that, out in the depths of the Sahara”—
APPENDIX
Obituary of Alphonse Daudet.
17th December 1897
DEATH OF A FRENCH NOVELIST.
ALPHONSE DAUDET.
M. Alphonse Daudet, the eminent French novelist and playwright, died suddenly yesterday evening while at dinner The cause of death was syncope due to failure of the heart.
Alphonse Daudet was born of poor parents at Nimes in 1840. He studied in the Lyons Lyceum, and then became usher in a school at Alais. Going to Paris to seek his fortune in literature in 1858, he succeeded in publishing a book of verses entitled Les Amoreuses, which led to his employment by several newspapers. He published many novels and tales, and about half a dozen plays. His most popular work is “Les Morticoles.” His son, Leon Daudet, is a litterateur of promise.