Page:The life and writings of Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) (IA lifewritingsofal00spurrich).pdf/35

 That gentleman's daughter, Cecilia, was one of the boy's favourite playmates. Dumas, then as always, had a great tendency to vertigo, and the mischievous girl delighted in trapping him into some such peril. Once during their rompings the youthful Alexandre fell into a pond, and ran the risk of drowning: the occasion prompted his first mot, which if it was not very witty, at least showed the lad's coolness and gaiety. He tells an amusing story of an adventure which befell him about this time. He and a companion were fighting outside a grocer's shop, and Dumas was unluckily pushed into a tub of honey. The grocer, who was busy at work inside, with a knife in his hand, ran after the terrified boy, who imagined that something worse than the fate of the blind mice was about to happen to him. The grocer overtook his victim, threw him down, raised his knife... and carefully scraped the honey off the trembling youngster's trousers.

Alexandre's first day at school was an eventful one. According to the brutal custom of the times he was subject to a series of practical jokes of a rough and painful nature. The schoolmaster found the new boy crying, and guessing the truth, punished the boys for such cruelty to a newcomer. Alexandre foresaw a warm reception outside when school was over, and his heart sank at the prospect. He