But Halévy’s work for the stage bore heavily upon his later success, for when he left the dramatic field to give almost exclusive service to the novel and shorter fiction, he by no means forgot the training of the earlier period. Always his understanding of the people of the stage is apparent. In many a tale these folk appear, and never is the hand that leads them forward ungentle, even when the words of the introducer are tinged with irony. As for form, it is not especially in his plot-structure that we see traces of Halévy’s training in the drama, for he seldom emphasizes plot at all. But when he does depart from his favorite sketch form to attempt the short-story, he still writes simply; and so inevitably do the incidents succeed one another that there scarcely seems to be even a plot. Halévy’s early apprenticeship to the drama is most clearly seen, however, in his precision of outline, clear characterization, sense of dramatic values, unerring climax, and suppression of needless details. Halévy took an active part in the Franco-Prussian War, vivid impressions of which he has given us in _Notes and Memories_ and _The Invasion_--volumes which are half chronicle, half story-telling, and wholly delightful. After the catastrophe of Sedan, his fictional work dealing with theatrical folk began to appear. _Madame Cardinal_ (1870), _Monsieur Cardinal_ (1871), _The Little Cardinals_ (1880), and _Criquette_ (1883), are not really novels, but connected stories and sketches, giving a panorama of people and affairs theatrical--naturally, not of the loftiest tone. Halévy has drawn no more vivid characters than the Cardinals, father and mother, with their comedy anxiety as to the immoralities of their young ballet-dancing daughters, Pauline and Virginie, whose love affairs are portrayed with gayety and comical reality. The little Criquette is an actress who makes her début at the Theatre Porte-Saint-Martin. About this interesting central figure flit a score of perfect types of player-folk--clown, provincial manager, ardent young actor, the demi-mondaine actress, authors, chorus girls, and all the rest. _Criquette_ is Halévy’s longest tale, and shows the sketch-artist and _raconteur_ at his best.