_Prince._ I passed for a sufficiently lively talker. I made court to you, if I remember, with--intelligence. _Countess._ With much, much wit. _Prince._ And you refused me!--Come, now, why? _Countess._ You do not guess? _Prince._ Not at all. _Countess_ (_she takes his hand and looks him tenderly in the eyes_). It is because I love dumb animals, my friend! FOOTNOTES: [10] Circe, according to Homer, was an enchantress who lived on the Island of Ææa surrounded by human beings whom she had transformed into wolves, lions, and swine. [11] A comedy by Molière. THE HANGING AT LA PIROCHE BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS, FILS [Illustration] _Alexandre Dumas, the Younger, son of Alexandre Dumas, was born at Paris in 1824, and died at Marly-le-Roi in 1895. His first great success came to him in 1848, with “La Dame aux Camélias,” the romantic story of a “woman with a past” reclaimed by love; afterward dramatized with such success that it decided his career. He still wrote novels and short stories, but without his father’s imagination. He was elected an Academician in 1874._ _The younger Dumas inherited a strong, good nature, weak enough to share in a few human vices, strong enough to combat them; he was a lover of order, elegance, and amateur in all arts but his own. Aiming at social and moral reformation, he was bold, logical, spiritual. By reason of his depth of background and knowledge of form, he ranks among the foremost of the nineteenth century dramatists._ [Illustration] THE HANGING AT LA PIROCHE BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS, FILS