New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-10-16
DUMAS and HIS PETS.
The Great ROmanccr IN Gay and
.4necdOtic Mood.

lated by Alfred ATnson. With sixteen illustra-
tons by V. Lecomte. 12mo. pp. VI, BOP the
Macmillan Company.
If Dumas had ever undertaken to write
treatise on mathematics he would have made it
an enhancing book because he would have filled
most of its pages with talk abous himself He
could not have helped doing this. The duest
problem in the world would have been sure 30
recall to him some incident in his own expert
ence. some literary quarrel or an exploit IN inc
theatre and off he would have gone recitins
with prodgious relish an anecdote entirely irrel-
evant but altogether charming. That is what ne
did when he came to write Mes Betes' nom
inaIly history of the dogs, monkeys and other
creatures that he kept in his meragerie at Monte
Cristo but actually tissue of lively recollec-
tions not only of animals but of men and events
He is in the midst of a story about Pritchard,
one of his dogs. when he remembers why at
that period he had been obliged to go MP from
the country 10 Paris 1.-The MISUNDERSTANDING
was on the point of opening" he says ana goes
on to tell you how that playhouse had come mo
being all because the Due de Montpensler was
a charming gentleman. He is more IMAM as
cursive in this book he is wildly needless as l"
the strict scope of his enterprise. 1t only makes
him the more diverulng.
He was bubbling with humor Wheh ne sal
down to these random memories. i own DOG
and I once owned fowls" he says. and as he
looks at the sentence it tickles him hugely'
WHY" he continues. that single sentence
those nine simple words. imply a whole catas-
t-onbe in the past and give the actual state OF
things here and now into the bargain
There is a whole tragedy implicit in the words
I own a dog and once owned fowls II couIu
ever hope to be elected member OF Inc Acd"-
envy I should enjoy the certainty that one udy
At any, rate nv panegyric would be pronounced
by nv successor: and lauded by great NOME
or a great poet of the future, Noallles or d
future Viennet, / could fall asleep in CAIN re-
lance on this one sentence, ! own dog ana
once owned fowls confident that the fine inn
plication involved would not be lost on an ad-
mirng posterity." In this gay and whimsical
y-av he rattles on about his dog Pritchard, his
cat Missouri. his monkey Mile Desgarcins
and her companions Potich and the Last
of the Iaidmanors Incidentally as has been
said. he discourses of Alexandra Dumas himself
and his friends. He tells you about the cabrlo-
1et driver who once assured him that he CDumas)
was a negro He tells you how his friend Dor
val that incompc- bile actress, once brought
him little black boy in a basket of flowers and
how the imp grew up and ranged" himself He
describes the tremendous but dainty voracity OF
A certain Vicomte de W. who wagered that
won the bet-and Dumas makes you wonder II
the feat was not his own. Quite unconsciously
too. he reveals himself as certainly one Of the
most amazing sportsmen who ever tramped the
fields
It is impossible 10 attribute cruel instinct 10
the great hearted romancer. bit he undoubtedly
had quaint way of dealing with animals one
of his chapters, dealing with Mile. Desgarcins
and the Soda Water Bottle tells with what up
roarious mirth he looked on while his son gave
the monkey the bottle to uncork with her teeth
Naturally, when the explosion came, the poor
beast was pitched head over heels and smOth-
cred with soda water. But it is another story
that he tells when his dog Mouton, cesentng
kick terribly mangles his hand. He would not
have Mouton killed. THE animal attacked me
because / gave him provocation,' he said. Il
am to blame" and he endured with philosophy
the pain he had to bear before his hand was
well again. Was he a lover of animals? Did
he care for his dogs as Scott cared for his? Is
there real tenderness in this book such as 50
into their tributes to their pets? Hardly. Dumas
did not have the temperament that is touched
almost 10 pathos by the loyalty Of a dog He
ha no thoughtful intmacies with his pets To
him they were. so to say, toys, and little else.
Nevertheless, ne cherished them, after his fash
ion. and he wrote about them with playful
emotion that is not to he gansaid. We are
put into English.