The Winslow mail., 1915-07-17
Ry Alexander Dumas, Jr.

when she was little more than a child.
There her beauty, her wit and a name
less charm that was hers brought her
at once into notoriety.
Mobiles and rich merchants sued for
her favor She numbered her adorers
by the hundred. Her dresses and man
nerisms were slavishly copied by less
fascinating women. Her lightest whim
in costume or coiffure was enough to
set a fashion. Even her custom of
wearing a single white or blood-red
camellia in her hair or ball gown was
noticed and wondered at; and in time
it gave her the nickname: La Dame
aux Camelias ('The Lady with the
CameliasO.
But if Marguerite inspired love in
every mans heart no man had ever
been able to stir one spark of affection
In hers. Cold, her heart unawakened,
she moved through the gayest life in
the worlds gayest city.
Late hours and tireless amusement
seeking began to work havoc on Mar
guerites health. Her. lungs became
affected Her doctor ordered her to
go away for long rest. She laughed
at the command. Rest was not for her,
nor was absence from her beloved
Paris She knew lite was ebbing But
she preferred to throw away what was
left of it in gaiety rather than exc out
slowly the shreds of existence in some
dull health resort.
II was at this time she met Armand
Duval, young fellow from the prov
inces; poor but ambitious and unused
to Paris ways. Armand, like everyone
else, fell at once and utterly in love
with Marguerite Gauthier
He had no wealth to offer her. He
had nothing but his all consuming
love. And that love, by it's very
strength, awoke Marguerite's dormant
affections.
Armand was unlike any man she had
met in the cheap, vulgar world that
was hers. When she was i'll and un-
happy her other admirers used to stay
away. But at such times Armand
would spend whole nights in the cold,
rainy street, looking up at her win
dows. His devotion won her. And
she gave him heart for heart
81 shall not live long," she told him,
"but | shall Outlive your love"
He denied this vehemently And for
a space they were very happy. But
soon their romance was ended. Ar
mands father heard of his sons infat-
uation. He journeyed to Paris and had
an interview with Marguerite. Tear
fully the old man implored her to give
up his son. showing her how the affair
must ruin Armands career and cause
misery to his family.
Marguerite, to avert future sorrow
from the man she loved, consented to
set Armand free. She chose the only
method that could possibly have cured
him of his infatuation for her. She
made him believe she was tired of him
and Of their pleasant, quiet life togeth-
er and that she craved the wealth and
admiration which had been hers in
other days Also that she cared for
someone else.
In fury at her seeming fickleness Ar
mand ShOWered curses and insults up
on her and then left Paris Marguerite,
heartbrOken at losing him, fell i'll. Ar
mand learned at last of the sacrifice
she had made for him. But he learned
it too late. For Marguerite Gauthier
was dead.
(NOTE-This story was published
under the title LA Dame Aux Camel,
las" Slightly changed, it forms the
plot of the play Camille" and of the
opera la Traviata" Dumas wrote
the play from his own novel)
ALEXANDRA DUMAS the younger
was the son of the more famous
ALEXANDER DUMAS and was born
in July, 1924.
After leaving school and sowing
certain quantity of wild oats" he
settled down to serious work. He
started in fiction and succeeded; he
went on to drama; he took to writing
about art, politics, even religion-and
succeeded.
His novels are all readable. His es
says, letters and speeches generally
are brilliant and admirable in form
and daring, paradoXical, suggestive il
a very high degree. OF his sixteen
plays there is not one that is not liter
ature, while many are masterpieces.
He is believed to have assisted
George Sand in preparing several OF
his works for the stage, and is known
to have completed and produced his
fathers JOSEPH BALSAMO. His
novel LIE DAME AUX CAMELIAS
forms the basis of the opera Camille.
Dumas, the younger, was elected to