n the home of relatives;
Ernest, the older of the two surviving sons, sought his fortune in the
literary circles of Paris; and Alphonse accepted a position as "master of
the study hall" (_maitre d'etudes, pion_) at the college of Alais in the
Cevennes. The boy was too young, too delicate, and too sensitive to be
able to endure the mental suffering and humiliation to which he was
subjected at the hands of the bullies of this school.[1] After a year of
martyrdom he set out on his terrible journey to Paris. Here he was
welcomed by his brother Ernest.

[Footnote 1: See "Le Petit Chose," "Little What's-His-Name."]

The two brothers had always felt and always continued to feel the closest
sympathy for each other. Ernest believed in Alphonse's genius more than in
his own, and bestowed on his younger brother the motherly devotion which
Alphonse so gratefully and tenderly acknowledges in "Le Petit Chose," his
romantic autobiography, where Ernest appears as "ma mere Jacques."

The first years in Paris were the darkest in the brothers' lives. They
could earn scarcely enough to satisfy their most pressing needs, but both
were happy, since they were in Paris. Before Alphonse's arrival Ernest had
secured regular employment on a newspaper. Alphonse was longing for
recognition as a poet, but to earn his living he was forced to turn to
prose. His contributions to _Le Figaro_ and other newspapers soon made him
known. He wrote little and carefully, nor did he forget his literary
ideals even when poverty might have excused hurried productions in the
style best calculated to sell. His literary conscience was as strong under
the trying circumstances of his debut as later when success brought
independence.[2]

[Footnote 2: See E. Daudet, "_Mon Frere et moi_," pp. 151-152. Daudet
frequently says of himself that he was by nature an improviser, that the
labor of meticulous composition to which he forced himself was a torture,
yet he remained always true to his ideal.]

During this period he lived among the Bohemians of the Parisian world of
letters; but, though he shared their joys and sorrows, he seems to have
emerged unscathed from the dangers of such an existence. Zola met Daudet
at this time and has left us an attractive picture of him: "He was in the
employ of a successful newspaper, he used to bring in his article, receive
his remuneration, and disappear with the nonchalance of a young god, sunk
in poetry, far from the petty cares of