Page:The life and writings of Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) (IA lifewritingsofal00spurrich).pdf/293

 illustrious friend and "collaborator." "I have said 'collaborator, he adds, "because people would give themselves a lot of trouble in finding another one, and their time would be wasted." The veteran still held his grip of his facts, and of his reader; but the sequel, "Le Huitième Croisade," which now forms the latter part of "Les Blancs et les Bleus," is chiefly a spirited chronique of the siege of Acre. And on that last effort, made in 1869, the year before Dumas's death, the curtain falls.

At occasional intervals Dumas issued books of tales for children, one of which ("Le Capitaine Pamphile") we have already mentioned. Of the others, "La Bouillie de la Comtesse Berthe" is the most notable: it is a pretty story, in which the "Castle of Otranto" seems turned into a haunt for dwarfs and a delight for little readers. "Le Père Gigogne" opens with a story ("La Lièvre de mon grandpère") told to Dumas by de Cherville and recounted by him; but the rest of the two volumes contains fairy-tales, chiefly translations from Hans Christian Andersen and the German.

In reply to an enquiry from us Mr Lang writes to say that although he has not these stories by him, he thinks it unlikely that any are original. In spite of this weighty opinion we are reluctant to part with two or three tales, notably "La Jeunesse