_Besides poems and plays, he has written five or six volumes of short stories remarkable for grace of sentiment, and a number of novels, chronicles, etc._ _Coppée's happy vein seems to be the familiar narrative, the genre picture. He shows a fine sympathy for the miseries and the virtues of the obscure._ [Illustration] THE LOST CHILD BY FRANÇOIS COPPÉE Translated by J. Matthewman. Copyright, 1894, by The Current Literature Publishing Company. On that morning, which was the morning before Christmas, two important events happened simultaneously--the sun rose, and so did M. Jean-Baptiste Godefroy. Unquestionably the sun, illuminating suddenly the whole of Paris with its morning rays, is an old friend, regarded with affection by everybody. It is particularly welcome after a fortnight of misty atmosphere and gray skies, when the wind has cleared the air and allowed the sun's rays to reach the earth again. Besides all of which the sun is a person of importance. Formerly, he was regarded as a god, and was called Osiris, Apollyon, and I don't know what else. But do not imagine that because the sun is so important he is of greater influence than M. Jean-Baptiste Godefroy, millionaire banker, director of the _Comptoir Général de Crédit_, administrator of several big companies, deputy and member of the General Counsel of the Eure, officer of the Legion of Honor, etc., etc. And whatever opinion the sun may have about himself, he certainly has not a higher opinion than M. Jean-Baptiste Godefroy has of _himself_. So we are authorized to state, and we consider ourselves justified in stating, that on the morning in question, at about a quarter to eight, the sun and M. Jean-Baptiste Godefroy rose.