The name of the author of “The Three Musketeers,” “The Count of Monte Cristo,” etc., appears on the title-page of two hundred and eighty-two volumes of stories, romances, and plays. He had ten assistants, who worked out details for him, the generals over whom he was Napoleon, to quote his own phrase.
Alexandre Dumas, called Père, to distinguish him from his son, the famous dramatist, was born in 1803 at Villers-Cotterets. He was entirely self-educated, devoting most of his time to the study of French history. He had extraordinary genius in imparting dramatic life and action to whatever he touched, and the whole modern school of historical writers is largely indebted to him for inspiration, as he himself is indebted to Walter Scott.
The short stories of the elder Dumas are collected in two volumes. The “Bal Masqué,” taken from the earlier volume, is an admirable bit of story-telling, and every line seems to be a well of thought, a vista of suggestion. Dumas died in 1870.
A BAL MASQUÉ
BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS
I said that I was in to no one; one of my friends forced admission.
My servant announced Mr. Anthony R——. Behind Joseph’s livery I saw the corner of a black redingote[1]; it is probable that the wearer of the redingote, from his side, saw a flap of my dressing gown; impossible to conceal myself.
“Very well! Let him enter,” I said out loud. “Let him go to the Devil,” I said to myself.
While working it is only the woman you love who can disturb you with impunity, for she is always at bottom interested in what you are doing.