Norwich bulletin., 1914-01-15
FIL.S-THE GREAT AMERICAN AUTHOR

is everything. I start on philosoph- ical subject, I do not try to find my characters until my subject is thor oughly thought out"
 Do you find work easy, Monsieur Dumas ?" I said
 Yes and no. I generally spend very little time writing my piece, but scratch out constantly My father once said of me: My son does not write literature but music, in his man uscripts one only sees lines and, from time to time a few words underneath
 T adore Marseilles," continued Du- mas. and it's citizens. l lived there once with Mery, who amused himself there, as everywhere, fnventing jokes. One day he put this announcement in the paper: TO sell at once, lion. Call at--street. No. .' The next day the would be buyers fiocled in, asking if it were here the lion could be found Certainly" replied Mery; ''onIy I have no time to show him to you. Go see him yourselves, he is on the fourth floor, here is the key, be sure and shut the door when you are once in. so that he cannot escape Natural ly, the curious corners left precipitate- ly"
 Come now said Dumas; let us take a look into my apartments" The house has only one story and is flank ed by a pavilion with two stories. Its walls are of wonderful thickness. All the rooms on the ground floor, the par Tor, reception room and dining room, have no partition, and all open upon a veranda which goes all around the , whole house. In the second story of the pavilion we find Dumas's study, a, large light room, simple and unpre- tentious. every space filled with books. Coming downstairs we stop in the li- brary, where we make the acquaintance of Mime. PieFsons' arm Our, host ex- plains; Because 1 found her arm ! beautiful and told her so, she had it modelled and sent to me. Our tour of ] inspection finished, we seated ourselves 1 in comfortable arm chairs out on the | broad Veranda.
 We asked Dumas to tell us of his | work which I will try and give in his 1 own words.
 "In fifteen days I wrote Monsieur l Alphonse, La Dame aux Camelias in 1 Femme I wrote in the carriage and Madame Dumas copied my work. How | agreeable it is to be able to write nov 1 els. if one were certain of preserving | ones incognito. I would give two or three plays a year to the theatre, were this the case. Unfortunately, to- day one knows the name of the author i a month before it's first presentation. That is why I hesitate to give come dy at the Theatre Francais. When one is old, one does not care to write com edies. or to play them
 A few more "reminiscences followed, and then we found We must leave.
 You have time enough, a quarter of an hour before the train comes," said our host T will accompany you to the station, it will give me a little ex- ercise.''
 All the rest of the conversation hap pened to be about romancists and dra- matic authors. Dumas pronounced Zo- la an extraordinary novelist. He said: When you write a novel, you are alone, the public does not watch you write. At the theatre you are three the author, the interpreter and the public You are in a room with a wo- man. you may throw aside les con venances' enter a third person, you be- come very conventional with this same woman and summon platitudes galore
 Well, this third person is the public.
 'The locomotive whistles, the train is about to leave. We shake Monsieur Dumas's hand, thanking him for our pleasant little visit with him and we leave Marly le Roi.
 LUCY B. SAYLES After Paul Arene.